Breaking the Book Buying Ban.

Well, I lasted a month, which is better than I thought I would do. I was doing SO WELL in avoiding the bookstores nearby until Matt asked if I wanted to go to Barnes and Noble with him while he looked for some manual he needed. It wasn't as if I could say no....

So we went. And we started walking around and I was being really good until I saw a display with books by John Flanagan. He ended his "Ranger's Apprentice" series earlier this year, and I have been a little heartbroken about it. They were such lively, fun books! I have read them since the first one came out, so seeing the series come to an end was tough. But, then I saw it sitting on the table. In addition to the last book (I already have it), there was another title with "Ranger's Apprentice" on the cover! I grabbed it immediately to read the blurb. Matt just sighed and asked what it was. I explained the whole thing to him, jumped up and down, and hugged it tight before moving to place it back on the display. He just looked at me and said, "oh just hold it."

:)

There I was clutching my little lovely in my arms when we stumbled into the fiction section. There was a big ol' sign saying "Barnes and Noble Classics: buy two get one free!" Matt looked at me and said, "Do you want any?"

He should know better.

I ended up finding another 6 classics to add to my collection. And it is all Matt's fault. The ban is also still in place. Matt knows I have had a horrible couple of weeks, so this is probably his way of making me feel better. He knows me well. :)

Here is what I got:



From top to bottom:

• Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte: I am done reading work by the Brontes for my list, but I am going to make it a goal to read all of their work at some point!
  
• The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Writings by Washington Irving: This is actually a title I need to read for my list, so now I have it. :) I might even get to it this month (if a miracle happens)
  
• Daniel Deronda by George Eliot: This is the only big Eliot title I haven't read, and I have been meaning to get a copy for ages. This was the last copy at the store, so I told Matt it was fate.
  
• Sailing Alone Around the World by Joshua Slocum: Not for my list...it just looked interesting. I also have this things for books about the sea, so this will be a great read at some point.
  
• The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy: This is actually a replacement copy. I read this one in the first year of my project, and my copy self-destructed while I was reading it. I had bought it for 25 cents at a library sale, and apparently it was on its last leg (the cover fell off completely, pages fell out as I was turning them...it was a mess). And since I loved it, I knew I needed a new copy.
  
• Billy Budd and the Piazza Tales by Herman Melville: Billy Budd is on my list, but I didn't have a copy yet! I also have grand plans to read a lot more Melville in the future, so the second title is a definite bonus!
  
• Ranger's Apprentice: The Lost Stories by John Flanagan: This is the one I clutched like a little kid. I don't know what it is about this series, but I just love it. It is FUN. It doesn't make me think too hard. And it is FUN. I cannot wait to read it to my kids one day (the series is a fantasy/adventure type and PERFECT for boys. I recommended this one a lot when I was student teaching in middle school and the boys LOVED IT).

There you have it. The evidence of my failure. I'm okay with it. Had Matt turned me loose in the store, I probably would have gone crazy. There are a ton of titles coming out in the next few months that my fingers are getting itchy over (like the new Riordan release-I didn't see it, which was probably a good thing). I need to learn some self control, don't you think? :)

I'm going to try and be good until January. Hold me to it!

Weekly Wrap-up for July 24, 2011: New Books, Decisions, and Reading.

This has been a really great week. Coming back from Florida, I went into an interview first thing Monday morning. Not only did I land the job, but they hired me on the spot! It was a great feeling and I am looking forward to teaching again (if you missed the post, there will be a link at the bottom of this one). I will be long-term subbing in the same district I was in this past school year. I will be at one of the other high schools (it is actually the high school I graduated from!) and I am teaching a vary similar set of classes to what I was teaching. I'll have sophomore and senior English again (the senior class is only a semester, so I can refine some of the things I taught this past year!), as well as one section of Government. I haven't taught Government before, so it should be a great experience.

I also had my toe check-up with the doctor on Wednesday and it looks like everything is healing nicely. It is still a little tender if I accidentally touch it just so or put too much downward pressure on the nail, but it looks great. The only bummer is that I still can't remove the nail polish from it and it is starting to look a little scary (I like pretty toes).

In reading news, I finished two books this week (not great, but good enough). I also hit the magical 100 books off my list late last night! Yay! I've been reaching for this milestone for quite some time, and I am proud to say I have read 40% of my list. Woot for that!

My 100th book was Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and was the first full book I read on Homer (my NookColor). I really enjoy how light Homer is, but my eyes do get tired a bit faster than from a paper book. That's really the only big downside. I like being able to flip easily between footnotes and the page I am reading, the search options are great, and Homer is easier to hold up in bed. So far, I am really loving it!

I am also debating making change to my list. I have a couple of poems lingering on there (you might recall I counted "The Waste Land" as a book last year), but I am thinking of removing them and adding a few larger titles that didn't make the cut. I took off 5 non-fiction titles in the first few months of this and replaced them with the Gaskell and Collins, but left those poems on there. One of the books I want to add is East of Eden by Steinbeck. If I decide to do this, what other missing titles should I add?

I already posted about the sad news of Borders closing. I still have a Barnes and Noble within ten minutes of home, so I won't be without a bookstore, but I know others won't be so lucky.

I went to Borders on Saturday just to look around. They have everything on "sale," but I knew from my experience with the store that closed a few months ago that items would only be 10% off. The store was packed and people were grabbing things like it was a race. I felt bad for the workers, many of whom I know from being in the store so often. There were a few things I wanted, so this is what I walked away with:



The stack from top to bottom:

• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
• The Turn of the Screw
• Notes from Underground
• The Double and the Gambler
• East of Eden
• Hawthorne's Short Stories
• Outliers

Don, the cashier who rung me up, told me my selections looked bleak colorwise.. I laughed. The Borders near our house is sometimes unorganized, but I really enjoy the staff (the other one 20 minutes away...not so much). Don is someone I seem to run into every time I'm there. He always comments on what I'm buying. I will certainly miss him!

My plans for the rest of the evening are to read and catch up on a little housework. But mostly read. :)

If you missed any posts from this week, here they are:

• Home at Last and Some News.
• Top Ten Tuesday: Required Reading for Teens.
• Book 95: Inspiration and Finished.
• Book 96: To Kill a Mockingbird and Book Stats.
• Why the Closing of Borders Breaks My Heart.

Happy Reading!

Weekly Wrap-up for May 15, 2011: New Books and Stress.

I have truly been running on empty all week. I fell behind on sleep Sunday night and just never caught up. With interim grades due Tuesday morning and lots of things to grade and finish during the week, I was stressed and at my limit. But, things will only be getting better this week.

I have 1 more week with my seniors before they are done, and their big projects are underway. They were put in groups of three or four, and together they decided on a broad topic (like Survival, Love/Romance, Addiction, Heroes, etc). With their group members, they developed a theme and then a thesis. Each member had to find five sources (3 fiction (1 of those a novel), 2 non-fiction), and then put together a multimedia presentation that would last 50 minutes (a little under a class period). Sound crazy? It is. They also have to write a big formal outline and an annotated bibliography of their sources, so they have been stressed. But, the first two groups went and I was thoroughly impressed, so I hope the next 5 groups are as wonderful.

I only have 5 more weeks of teaching and working at the park, so I will make it through. It really stinks not having any free time, but I'm doing okay. Tired and a little cranky, but I am managing well-enough.

Anyway, on to the books!

I've been acquiring quite a few books over the last few weeks, so I attempted to round them up for a picture. Here are most of my new additions:


From L to R:

• The four books on the left (in the primary colors) are a box set of The Game of Thrones series. We don't have HBO so I haven't been watching the series, but I have heard so many good things about them that when I got a 40% off coupon and saw the set...well...
• On top of those are two paperbacks (a collection of Robert Frost poetry and Edgar Allen Poe stories) that I won from Trisha! THANK YOU! I will love them forever.
• The next four books are my new Penguin Clothbounds. They include A Tale of Two Cities, Middlemarch, Dracula, and Gulliver's Travels. I pre-ordered them a couple months ago and I jumped up and down when they came. My only complaint is that the whole collection doesn't fit on one shelf. ;)
• The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan: Okay, technically I haven't read the first in the series yet, but I know I want to get to them sooner or later.
• Ranger's Apprentice Book 10 by John Flanagan: I knew this one was coming out, so I made sure to go grab a copy shortly after the release date. Imagine my shock when I saw the notice on it that it is the last in the series! It made me sad, but also super anxious to get to it. One day...
• Divergent by Veronica Roth: I love a good YA novel, and since hearing about this one a while ago, I knew I wanted to read it eventually. When I saw one little copy sitting on the shelf all by itself...well, it ended up in my arms.
• Archeological Study Bible: I posted about this yesterday, but I am going to start reading the Bible, and this is the edition I chose.
• A whole slew of paperbacks. Includes The Madonnas of Echo Park (a win from hosting the readathon), and three ARCS from HarperCollins (including Tolstoy and the Purple Chair), which I cannot wait to read!

So yes, lots of new reads to get to at some point and only a handful from my list.

This week was full of posts, which you may have missed. The whole blogger debacle from Thursday night really messed up my posting schedule, so I decided to reschedule them over the last couple of days instead. Here are the posts from this week:

• The Bible Reading Project
• Vanity Fair June 2011 Readalong Sign-ups
• The Last Jane Eyre Post
• Wide Sargasso Sea Finished.
  
• Mary Barton Book Stats

I hope you all have a great reading week!

Weekly Wrap-up for March 13, 2011.

Hi there.

I am still on a blogging break. I really needed to step back for my own sanity, and with the amount of craziness that has happened this week, I know I made the right decision. I can't talk about everything now, but I am sure I will reveal bits and pieces in the future.

Anyway, you will see some posts going up this week. I am going to continue hosting for my readalongs, as well as getting the one for April up and running. You'll see posts for The Three Musketeers, Atlas Shrugged, and the last post for War and Peace that never seemed to make it up. Again, I am really sorry about that.

I am doing some reading, but my focus has been on other things this week. I already broke my book buying ban since the Borders that is closing near my home reduced their prices again this week. I have a serious problem. I think Matt is on the verge of taking away all book buying rights, so my ban has been reinstated after a serious splurge yesterday. But these are the new titles sitting on my shelves (oh, and I need more of those as well...)



The left pile includes (from bottom to top):

• The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan
• The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
• Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane by Suzanne Collins
• Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins
• The Witches by Roald Dahl
• The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham
• Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham

The right pile includes (from bottom to top):

• One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
• Brighton Rock by Graham Greene
• Possession by A.S. Byatt
• Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner
• Electra and Other Plays by Euripedes
• Ethan Frome (Deluxe Edition) by Edith Wharton
• Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson
• Metamorphoses by Ovid
• Heir to Sevenwaters by Juliet Marillier
• The Sea Wolf by Jack London

Lots of new titles and quite a few from my book list. It is hard to say no to books that are 40% off. It is also incredibly sad to see a bookstore half empty when two weeks ago it was bursting.

I hope you are all doing well, and I hope to be rejoining you all sooner rather than later.

Happy Reading!

Outta the Rut Readathon Post 1:

Well, it is currently 1:11pm and I have not read a single page. I am off to a great start! ;)

I have excuses though! Yesterday when I got home from school I was absolutely exhausted and my brain was throbbing. A couple hours later, a full on migraine was happening. I ended up crawling into bed a little before 8pm and made the husband rub my neck and shoulders (I get CRAZY big knots in my neck and shoulders when I get migraines). Thankfully, I drifted off to sleep.

I was up this morning at 7 and helped Matt get out the door to go to work. The head was still throbbing angrily, so I took a lot more drugs and nestled into bed for a few hours watching Friends until my mom texted me.

A Borders store near us is closing and their sale was starting this morning. So, I got dressed and off we went. We got there 10 minutes before the store opened and there were a LOT of people there waiting to get in. Once in the store, I headed straight towards the YA section to see if some of the new books were marked down. Unfortunately, all the books in the store were only 20% off and since I can get some of those hardcovers and such cheaper online, I let them be. I spent the rest of the time combing the fiction shelves and looking for some classics that I have had a hard time finding. I ended up deciding on 17 books (yeah, a lot) that were mass market size. Again, since everything was already 20% off, some of the bigger books were still a little pricey. Since they will eventually be marked down more, I am going to wait it out to see what I can get them for later (Oh, you'll see what I ended up buying in tomorrow's post).

I did end up with some great things that I have been searching for and having a hard time finding, plus some classics titles that will be fun reads in addition to my project. I have recently been debating making a secondary list because there is SO MUCH MORE I want to read and a lot of these books would be my choices.

In any case, it was a successful couple of hours spent in a crazy bookstore. It did make me sad to see all those books waiting for a good home. I also felt bad for the workers-knowing some will be out of a job. And of course, who likes to see a bookstore closing its doors?

I can argue that my craziness is buying books is because I want to support my bookstores. And while that is certainly true, we all know its because I have that disease (you know, the "I want it so I can read it" disease). But I am glad I could continue to make purchases. And I will continue to support my local bookstores, much to my husband's dismay.

Anyway, now that I am home and my headache is nearly gone (I can still feel some pressure in the back of my neck), I can focus on doing some reading, rather than just adding MORE books to my TBR pile. Although, I do need to put all of these away before hubby comes home and kills me.

First up in terms of reading is Oliver Twist. I'll be back when I finish it. :)

For those of you participating or reading this wonderful Saturday afternoon, how is it going so far? Are you procrastinating like I am? If so, GET TO READING PEOPLE! ;)

Weekly Wrap-up for February 13, 2011: Long Week, New Books, Readalongs, and More.

You know you're a teacher when you consider 6am sleeping in. That's when I got up this morning and of course, the husband is sleeping away. :) He was out with some friends last night, so I suppose I can let him sleep in a little longer. Besides, if he's sleeping it means I can get in some blogging and reading this morning!

Anyway, this week has been a long one. Last week the kids were coming off having Monday off for teacher professional development. We had school Tuesday, two snow days, and school Friday. Needless to say, they were all glassy eyed by Wednesday. I ended up changing some of my lesson plans to help the poor things out, but I'm still happy with where we are.

My classes reading Of Mice and Men are only through the second chapter, and so far the general consensus is that the book is weird. I actually wasn't a huge fan of it when I read it for the first time last year, but it is growing on me with this reread. Surprising!

My seniors are reading The Glass Castle and are supposed to be through page 139 by class tomorrow. That book is a huge hit and they are really getting into it. That makes me happy.

The only bummer is that the entire school seems to be coming down with some sort of plague. Everyone is coughing all over the place. I hope I don't get it, but I have been feeling super run down the last few days and I'm all congested. Yesterday I kind of lounged around the apartment after my cleaning regime in the morning and felt like death. I actually laid down at 7:30 last night and watched some TV with Matt before he went out. I woke up at 11, groaned, and went back to sleep. I must have needed it and I feel a little better this morning (but still congested).

In bookish news...

Even though I spent my book allowance for the month...and maybe a little more...Matt and went shopping yesterday evening for some things we needed. And we stepped into the bookstore because I had coupons and such burning holes in my wallet. I walked away with the two books you see at left. The top one is The Jungle Books by Rudyard Kipling and the bottom one is Across the Universe by Beth Revis. I know that the bottom one isn't a classic, but I have been anxious for this title since I saw it was being published. I am a huge sci-fi fan and this book seems right up my alley. I also LOVE the fact that the publisher gave it a reversible cover. I have it switched to the one inside (I kind of prefer this one over the faces). I think that's a great idea and I hope that more publishers go with this idea!

Reading wise, this week was not so hot for me. I made very little progress in Oliver Twist. I think feeling under the weather had a huge impact on the fact that I simply didn't read very much this week. I am still chugging through War and Peace and have a post that will go up later today over the third section. My plans were to read Across the Universe last night, but yeah, I fell asleep so early! Hopefully I get to it one night this week.

This week I am going to finish Oliver Twist no matter what. I also have a few other books on my shelf that are calling to me. I have a 4-day weekend coming up, so I may just have a mini-readathon and plow through some things. Anyone want to join me?

I hope you all have a great week!

Happy Reading!

Weekly Wrap-up for February 6, 2011: Weird Week and Yes, More Book Acquisitions.

This week was a little all over the place, don't you think?

We finished up our first semester LAST week with exams and all of that, so the first two days of this week I had to finish grading and upload all of those grades. It was time consuming and stressful. Not to mention, we had "snowpocalypse" headed our way, so I made doubly sure that I uploaded and finished all of my grades Tuesday before going home.

To make this week even weirder, we only had students two days this week. Monday was a Professional Development day, so the students were off. Then we had school Tuesday, where the kids had all new classes and I scared all of my students :). Wednesday and Thursday we were off after getting snow dumped on us. Friday the students were back and we spent the class periods trying to catch back up and get things straight.

So yes, weird week that has thrown me completely off.

To combat the stress, I spent most of my first snow day (Wed) reading some "fun" reads. My mind has been working overtime recently, so I pulled a YA series off the shelf and dug in (it is the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan-the first book is The Lightning Thief). I managed to read the first two books and half of the third on Wednesday. I finished up the third one by Friday night and spent a lazy Saturday reading the last two in the series. Yep, I read the whole series of five in a matter of a couple days. It was a good breather from the heavy reading I have been doing lately. My brain needed the break.

I also read some more War and Peace and prepped some more posts. If it hadn't been for my stress load, I would have been almost caught up with books finished. Oh well, more posts for this week. :) For the record, I really would like to be caught up, so that the posts go up as I am reading the book, not a month after. I have been working on getting there, but I don't want to double post in a day, know what I mean? Slowly I think I'll get there.

I was also bad this week and went book shopping. Yeah, I know, I know. After those stacks of books I brought home last week from the library sale, how could I possibly buy more books? You see, I have this disease, called "I want it so I can read it" and it means that I bring home far too many books.

This stack is from two different trips this week:


Starting from top to bottom:

• Joseph Andrews and Shamela by Henry Fielding: I found this little gem in the used section of my local bookstore. While neither title is on my list, Tom Jones is. And when I remember that Shamela is a spoof of Samuel Richardson's Pamela, which IS on my list, I knew I need to grab this. It was in great condition!
  
• A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines: This is another title off my list that I managed to find in the used section of the bookstore, and I swear that this copy is brand new. I have read this once before (it was a required book in my eleventh grade English class), but didn't have a copy.
  
• The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins: Since I love The Woman in White, I know that I am going to want to read this other Collins title on my list this year. Its inevitable. I think I may save it for around Halloween, since I have heard this one is a little more suspenseful?
  
• Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky (Pevear and Volohonsky translation): While I already own a copy of Crime and Punishment, and have already read it for my project (it was book 2), this copy jumped into my arms from the used section. I was eventually going to get a copy of this translation because I know I am going to reread it, so I am so excited that I found a copy in such great condition!
  
• Twelfth Night by Shakespeare: I really do adore the Barnes and Noble Shakespeare editions. I think they have done a marvelous job on them. They're pretty well-researched and look great all lined up together on my shelf. :) Now that this one is sitting on my shelf, I only have 3 more to acquire until I have the set (I like sets of books, did you know that? I told you, its a disease).
  
• The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson #5) by Rick Riordan: This title (and the next one) were from my one planned book trip this week. My friend who works at a bookstore told me that this one was finally released in paperback (that was my excuse for not reading the series earlier. I picked up the first four at a Scholastic book fair and I wanted the fifth one to match in paperback. I know, I told you. Disease, okay?). I grabbed a copy and told myself I would finally read the series, since I have seen so many rave reviews!
  
• Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston: I selected this as the book for the second month of the new book club I started. I subbed for another teacher a couple weeks ago and her AP English class was discussing this novel. It was on my list anyway, but based on that classes' discussion, I knew I needed to read it with a group!

I hope you enjoyed looking at that stack, which unlike all my other book loot pictures recently, was taken on my desk. You can see some of the random stuff littering it (I've been busy). :)

Anyway, I am hoping for a much better week this week. The first Oliver Twist post will go up Tuesday (aren't you curious to see what I make of this Dickens title?), some posts on Romeo and Juliet, my first post for the Ulysses readalong, as well as the beginnings of my thoughts on Doyle's The Lost World.

Yep, another busy week.

Happy Reading!

Weekly Wrap-up for July 18, 2010: Birthday and More Books.

Another week has flown by and since it was spent on vacation, I feel like it has REALLY gone by quickly! I also had my 25th birthday on Thursday and decided to do a giveaway in honor of it, so I hope you will enter.

I spent most of this past week up north at my family's cottage in Gaylord. We spend a lot of time simply relaxing and doing nothing. I got a lot of "fun" reading done while we there too! I took One Hundred Years of Solitude with me to make sure I had the first half done in time for yesterday's post. I really enjoyed it and I look forward to reading the second half in the near future (hopefully this week). In addition, I decided to take a few light-hearted and fun books with me. I took books 7 and 8 in John Flanagan's Ranger's Apprentice series (Erak's Ransom and The Kings of Clonmel) as well as all three novels in Sara Douglass' Darkglass Mountain trilogy, of which the third was just released.

It was really, really weird to be reading something not from my list. I flew through both of Flanagan's novels at breakneck pace and started in on Douglass. I am almost done with the 600 page first book of the trilogy, but I am loving it. It is nice to take a little break from the heavy reading I have been doing. But, I can't wait to get back to An American Tragedy which was shoved aside this past week.

While up north, I made Matt do a little book shopping with me at a glorious used book store in downtown Gaylord. My aunt had told me about it so I made it a point to go. It was a glorious little shop called The Book Swap. The owner was in and she was a lot of fun to talk to. Matt found a couple of books as well. I wish we could have spent more time in the shop looking around, but it was dreadfully hot and someone (not me) was a getting a little grumpy.

Anyway, here is what I found:


The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery. Believe it or not, this is really one of the only "children's books" on my list. In the future I plan on reading some more children's classics from my past as well as other recommendations, but this one should be coming up soon. And, believe it or not, I have never read this. I am really looking forward to it.


Therese Raquin by Emile Zola. Back in December I fell in love with Zola's Germinal so I am going to make it a point to read Zola's works (eventually). I read some mixed reviews of this one during the Classics Circuit Tour, but I have a gut feeling I am really going to enjoy it.

The Earth by Emile Zola. Well...I couldn't pass up one Zola for another and I was having a hard time deciding between the two. This one ended up coming home with me as well and while I don't know as much about it as the previous title, I think it is another title I will like.


Sapphira and the Slave Girl by Willa Cather. I found this in a random hidden pile and the glorious cover called to me (seriously, isn't it awesomely 70s?). It is one of Cather's lesser known works and I am insanely curious. This title is also hard to find so I had to snatch it up.


Lucy Gayheart by Willa Cather. This is another lesser known Cather novel and it shared the same glorious cover as the previous (I could not find a picture and our camera is currently dead, but believe me, it is just as awesomely 70s as the previous).

After I found the Cather novels Matt was getting grumpy (told you it wasn't me), so we headed out in Alpenfest and enjoyed the rest of our day downtown. These new editions are going to find their way onto my shelf in the near future!

I hope you all have a great reading week!

Sunday Salon: February 28, 2010.

It is really hard to believe that it is the end of February already! Time is simply flying by and I can't believe that I have been married for two months already. I suppose you could say that time flies when you are having fun.

This has been a great month overall. I got a lot of reading done and probably posted way too much. I am pretty much caught up on my backlog of posts, so they will slow down a bit.

In exciting news, I am launching my first giveaway later this week, so keep checking back for it. I am giving away some exciting things (I think), so please enter!

I also went to the bookstore this week to pick up the copy of Gone With the Wind that I ordered a week ago. Would you believe that neither bookstore in my city had a copy? And these are the big chain stores! But, now I have my huge copy and I am contemplating reading it. I might put it off for something a little darker. I have been reading a lot of women writers recently and I think I need some manly influences in my reading.

While picking up my copy, I wandered through the store and noticed some amazing new editions by Penguin that seemed to just appear. You might have seen them:




The store also had Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Tess of D'Ubervilles, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Wuthering Heights, and Great Expectations in similar styles. I thought they were all beautiful. They are wonderful hardcover editions, complete with ribbon bookmark. I absolutely loved all of them and wanted them all, but I managed to only buy one (Cranford), since I already own the other titles. I think in the future (money permitting), I am going to have to get all of them. They are such beautiful editions and I love Penguin classics. Penguin does a great job and I find that all of their classic editions are well done. I am so excited to add that green volume to my shelves.

Anyway, I managed to read O Pioneers! as well as Little Women this week, which was a really good week in reading (over 600 pages). Again, I am not sure what I am going to read next. I was thinking about The Great Gatsby, but I might go for a play since I have been ignoring all those titles except for Shakespeare.

Happy reading everyone!