John Green was looking for Alaska, but Eowyn Ivey has found it

I've finished my first book from the list!  I've finished John Green's Looking for Alaska.  I first started reading this last Friday and I only had 80 pages to go so I figured that I would be done shortly after breakfast.  As it turned out, the fates were conspiring against me and I was being foiled at nearly every turn of the page.

Firstly, I overslept my alarm.  This meant having to walk to the mainline train station so I could catch the train to work.  I do this whenever I am late, as catching the tube from Watford takes about an hour and 10 minutes whereas catching the train takes only 20 minutes plus a 10 minute tube journey.  Of course, the downside is that it takes about 20 mins to walk to the station instead of 10 mins to the tube... and it means I have less time to read overall because most of it is spent walking.  So that was the first hurdle.  I only managed to read about 30 pages in the end.

Then I didn't get to take my lunch - we were busy at work and the lunch hour that I would normally have was suddenly not available.  Yeah, I get paid overtime... but what about my precious reading time?  I tried to grab little snatches here and there and managed another 20 pages or so, but reading in short doses doesn't really work for me, I feel like I'm constantly being interrupted and I cannot concentrate as a result.

Finally, on the way home, the tubes were severely delayed and I was forced to catch the train again.... although with only 30 pages left I managed to finish the book.

I highly recommend it.  I can see why he's popular - it's published by Harper Collins children's books, which is probably why most adults will find it a breeze to get through.  I don't want to spoil it so I won't say too much about the actual plot apart from adolescent love with a touch of spirituality.  It's good.  Give it to your teenage kids to read, and the older ones too (and the slightly more mature younger ones, I guess).

I'm now onto The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey.  I got lucky at the Barbican Library the other day and managed to grab this off the returns shelf.  I'm learning to scour these shelves for the more popular items.  The early bird and all that malarky.  I could reserve these items, but that costs money, and I'd rather spend that on the books that the libraries haven't bought yet.

 
I'm already well into this new book.  Again, I don't won't to post any spoilers here for those of you who haven't read either books but I must point out that some themes seem to be seeping from one book into another  Well, Alaska for a start.  Funnily enough I had assumed that the last book actually was about Alaska, given it's title.  This book is, but there is another particular theme that The Snow Child opens with which the last book spends quite a few chapters on.

Anyone, onwards and upwards.  Note I'm actually now counting up the number of books I have currently finished, and counting down the days left in which to finish at least 100.  This is because I've decided I can definitely read more but I'm not bold enough to give an exact figure.  I just figure it will be more than 100.

Tomorrow, it's back to Caitlin Moran.  And maybe publishing my final list.  Although David tried to upset me by publishing another list on my facebook wall, this time from a group of teachers who have picked their top 100 favourite books... but I won't be distracted..... seriously I won't even look at this list.... och, well, maybe just a peek.

Days Left:    355

Books Read:   1