Harrison's 2012 Progress Thread of Doom and Pie

[Harrison]

Beware, all who enter here.

...Or not, whatever.

May:
Number of pages read: 2006
Percent of monthly goal (3,333): 60%
Pages per day to keep on track: 147

June:
Number of pages read: 0
Percent of monthly goal:
Pages per day to keep on track: some_number_here

July:
Number of pages read: 0
Percent of monthly goal: 0%
Pages per day to keep on track: some_number_here

[Harrison]

May 1st:

Pages: 56
Book: The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings #1)

Got off to a slow start today, partly because I forgot it was May already.

Just so everyone knows, I'll be posting these the day after the day I'm writing about, and will pretend that I don't know that I'm doing better the day after the day I'm writing about. Make sense?

Anyway, I decided to start with The Fellowship of the Ring, by Tolkien. The trilogy has been sitting on my shelf for ages, but the first time I tried to read it (years ago), it was too difficult. So, at the urging of one of my friends, I've decided to pick it up again. So far so good!

[Harrison]

May 2nd:

Pages: 108
Book: Same as above

I didn't even plan on reading exactly 108 pages today. I didn't even know I had, until I counted them up just now. Funny how that works out. Starting to fall a bit behind, but I'm still not too far gone to catch back up!

I finished up to chapter seven today. It's a nice story, I'm glad that I tried to read it again. There are a few things that irk me about it, though. The main thing is, so far it asks more questions than it answers. It reminds me of The Neverending Story..."But that is another story for another time." Those (approximate) words were the bane of my existence while reading it. Perhaps it's too soon to be sure whether the questions that are being raised will be answered later on, but I suspect not.

Also, it doesn't seem to flow very well, for some reason. I can't quite describe why, but maybe it'll hit me later.

[Harrison]

May 3rd:

Pages: 104
Book: The Fellowship of the Ring (46 pages); Secret at Sea (58 pages)

Gah! Still behind!

I picked up another book at the library. Reading two books is so much better than one, no?

I finished chapter ten of The Fellowship of the Ring. It's going along very nicely, if a little slowly. I do like all the little details about hobbits and other aspects of the world, but it'd be nice if some of the "queerer" things were explained in such detail.

Secrets at Sea is a book by Richard Peck. It's been a very good book so far. Very unique, I must say. It's about mice. The narrator is Helena, the oldest of the three sisters and one brother that make up the family. One day, the "Upstairs Cranstons" decided to go to Europe, off across the ocean. Of course, mice are terrified of water, but due to some unusual circumstances, they decide to go on the ship. At least, I think they do. I haven't gotten that far yet, but the cover shows four mice on a ship, so I assume they do...

I stopped in the middle of chapter five of that one.

[Harrison]

May 4th:

Pages: 286
Book: The Fellowship of the Ring (106 pages); Secret at Sea (180 pages)

I think that should catch me up! I spent a lot of time reading today.

I finished chapter two of "book two" in The Fellowship of the Ring, looking forward to continuing it. I'm starting to get used to the style, maybe, and it's becoming more engrossing.

I finished Secrets at Sea. It was a bit of an easier read than The Fellowship of the Ring, to be sure, but still a good book. I thought it was just a little bit too...well, perfect, to me. I don't know how to explain it without giving spoilers, so I won't try. You should read it sometime.

[Harrison]

May 5th:

Pages: 68
Book: The Fellowship of the Ring

Almost done with this book! I finished chapter five of "book two" today. Then I'll start The Two Towers. They're difficult to read quickly, so probably not the best choice for Noveldom and Beyond, but I'm still glad I decided to read them.

[Harrison]

May 6th:

Pages: 99
Book: The Fellowship of the Ring

And...finished! This was a really good book, I'm very glad that someone convinced me to try reading it again. May 7th will see the beginning of The Two Towers! I'm looking forward to it (actually, since this is the evening of May 7th, I can tell you secretly that I'm on page 168 ).

[Harrison]

May 7th:

Pages: 167
Book: The Two Towers

Not much more to say about today. Still reading!

[Harrison]

May 8th:

Pages: 136
Book: The Two Towers

Finished chapter four of "book four" today! I can't believe I'm already almost done with this book. Either I'm getting used to it and reading faster, or I'm getting used to it and reading longer. Or both, maybe?

[Harrison]

May 9th:

Pages: 24
Book: The Two Towers

...I just read one chapter today. Oops. So, I managed to finish chapter five of "book four," but I guess I was just busy or not in the mood for reading or something. I'll have to try harder tomorrow.

[Harrison]

May 10th:

Pages: 104
Book: The Two Towers (71 pages); The Return of the King (33 pages)

Yep, The Two Towers is finished! I read one chapter of The Return of the King, as well. The end is drawing nigh!

[Harrison]

May 11th:

Pages: 131
Book: The Return of the King

Did pretty well today, I think. Everything is starting to draw to a close now, it's so exciting!

[Harrison]

May 12th:

Pages: 107
Book: The Return of the King

Just about done, now. Everything is getting wrapped up, happy ending, etc. Just the appendices and maybe a chapter or two are left! I finished chapter five of "book six" today.

[Harrison]

May 13th:

Pages: 69
Book: The Return of the King

Finished! With the story, anyway. It was more than just a chapter or two, I wasn't expecting that part after what seemed to be near the end. You know, the one about the Shire. Yeah, that one. Exactly. Now just the appendices await, and then I'll be done!

[Harrison]

May 14th:

Pages: 99
Book: The Return of the King

Whew, made it to part two ("Writing") of Appendix E. These are quite interesting.