I'm currently reading Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. I started it in 2005.
Ha. Me too. I brought it with me to London, almost finished it on the plane back, and then completely lost my momentum. Very Large Books are hard.
You're not gonna jokey-rhyme your way out of this one.
Willow ,'Sleeper'
We're Literary 2: To Read Makes Our Speaking English Good
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Dana - Jan 11, 2006 5:44:37 pm PST #9756 of 10002
"I'm useless alone." // "We're all useless alone. It's a good thing you're not alone."
Consuela - Jan 11, 2006 5:56:04 pm PST #9757 of 10002
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix
The way I read Jonathan Strange was by getting sick and staying home for two days. I read fast, and being home and offline for 2 days really gave me the time to get through it. I also thought it read pretty easily.
Jars - Jan 12, 2006 1:30:42 am PST #9758 of 10002
I think I read Johnathan Strange in about a week. I even tried to drag it out I was enjoying it so much. That and Anna Pavord's The Naming of Names were probably my favourites from last year.
Megan E. - Jan 12, 2006 2:09:55 am PST #9759 of 10002
I read Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell in 2004 and enjoyed it muchly. I had a long layover at an airport and read about 200 pages in one gulp which I think helped to keep my attention. It was probably my favourite book that year. I don't think I have a favourite of 2005 - at least I can't think of anything right now.
Anne W. - Jan 12, 2006 2:11:14 am PST #9760 of 10002
The lost sheep grow teeth, forsake their lambs, and lie with the lions.
Jonathan Strange had a few bits where I felt it bogged down (and I honestly can't remember where those were), but other than that, I enjoyed the book. I actually read it fairly slowly, and it felt as if I were inhabiting the book for a good two weeks or so. It's not often I can find a book that I can live in like that.
§ ita § - Jan 12, 2006 4:00:28 am PST #9761 of 10002
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell is my car book, so unless I haul it upstairs and have a long sitdown, it'll take a while. Of course, my inside book, The Algebraist isn't doing much better.
In non-fiction news (at which I'm much better), B&N just delivered Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction, Castle, and Mosque by David Macaulay. The first two I remember lovingly from high school (I think I used one of them in a project), and Mosque is new and in colour. I can't wait to sit down with them and some tea.
Jars - Jan 12, 2006 4:03:27 am PST #9762 of 10002
ita, I've been reading The Algebraist for about four months now and am only a hundred or so pages in. I will finish it. Oh yes.
§ ita § - Jan 12, 2006 4:05:04 am PST #9763 of 10002
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
I don't dislike The Algebraist, but it's really not dragging me along for the ride. I don't miss it the way I miss Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. I think it needs more attention to do it justice, and I'm just...not. I will address that this weekend.
Calli - Jan 12, 2006 4:05:28 am PST #9764 of 10002
I must obey the inscrutable exhortations of my soul—Calvin and Hobbs
I recently finished Folly, by Laurie R. King. It's not part of her Sherlock and Russell series or her Kate Martinelli series, but I really liked it. It made me want to move to the San Juan islands. (Not that that's a hard sell for me.)
sumi - Jan 12, 2006 4:24:16 am PST #9765 of 10002
Art Crawl!!!
I'm so glad that you guys are enjoying or have enjoyed Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. I recommended it to a friend and she HATED it -- stopped reading it in fact.
Jars - I had the same experience as you did -- I tried to drag out the ending so that I wouldn't be done. I started reading it late in 2004 but I think I finished it in 2005.