Weekly Wrap-up for August 22, 2010: Book Slumps and Expectations.

I have been in a bit of a slump. It has been taking me longer, and longer to get through some novels. I think a big part of that is I have been grabbing some bigger volumes. Also, I've been sticking to things outside my comfort zone, which makes slogging through them rather tiresome.

This week, I really tried to make a conscious effort to just bite the bullet. And I did a most excellent job. The last two Sherlock Holmes novels were sitting on my nightstand for well over a month, just waiting to be read. I would eye them occasionally, but left them. On Wednesday afternoon, I decided to just get it over with and started in on His Last Bow, book 8 of 9. I ended up flying through the 8 shorts stores and immediately went into The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes on Thursday. I finished it Thursday night in bed. Amazing? Yes.

Although, when I finished, I felt rather sad. After all, Sherlock and Watson have become friends of mine in our 6 months together. I know that these stories will remain favorites on my shelves and that I will return to them again and again.

But in good news, I FINALLY got to add The Complete Sherlock Holmes on my "Finished Books" List and it came in at number 55. Surprisingly enough, when I went to cross it off my whole list of 250 books, I found that it was also number 55. Strange? I thought so!

I'm looking forward to talking about Sherlock and Watson in the near future!

Since Friday night, I have been trying to get through the first 85 pages in my edition of Bleak House for Amanda's readalong. Sadly, I think I am still prejudiced against Dickens. But I am trying and I WILL make it through the whole book.

My motivation for getting through those 85 pages (which I succeeded in last night) is that I am going to re-read The Hunger Games and Catching Fire just in time to pick up a copy of Mockingjay when it is released on Tuesday. I was originally going to wait to read it until I was done with this project, but I fear that it will be much like the Harry Potter craziness, and I don't want it to be spoiled for me. I read far too many book blogs to avoid spoilers. Anyway, I have high expectations for it, so I am excited to get my hands on the beautiful blue cover!

In addition to those three Suzanne Collins titles, I think I might grab something by Henry James off the shelf (maybe Daisy Miller) or Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, or Charlotte Bronte's Villete. The latter has been calling to me from the shelf, even though I have never read anything by Charlotte before. We shall see though!

I have also been thinking about the read-alongs I have been hosting. I have had mixed success. I know that I am going to put them on hiatus, especially since I am participating in the Bleak House readalong, as well as one on Madame Bovary in October and one on Doctor Zhivago in November. Needless to say I will have my hands full of readalongs in the near future and I am not sure if I will continue to host any for the remainder of the year. Of course, I am always up for it, but I am not sure what options to offer. I am thinking about hosting War and Peace in the new year-perhaps through January and February. Would there be interest in that?

Anyway, have a wonderful week! Look forward to the beginning posts about my blogoversary!