Um, yeah.

So this gig is quickly becoming a list of promises I don't keep. 

No, I did not finish A Moveable Feast. No, I did not get any further in Infinite Jest than I did the first time I tried to read it. I have a lot of catch up to do, but this is not that post. 

I stopped reading Feast on purpose, on account of loving it so much and not wanting to ever finish it. I do that sometimes. It's an odd habit. But I can't claim the same intention in my abandonment of Jest. It's so dense! I love it. But it's a slow, concentrated read for me, and because present life circumstances have forced me to do most of my reading at bedtime, I just couldn't hang with someone like David Foster Wallace so late in the day. Jest deserves all of me. So, maybe this summer, maybe in a few years, maybe in ten. I feel confident I'll finish it. Someday. 

Meanwhile, I read the Twilight Saga. Twice. And would be reading it again had I not loaned those beauties out. I also read The World to Come and Mountains Beyond Mountains and The Motorcycle Diaries and A Certain Slant of Light and A Great and Terrible Beauty and The Meaning of Night and Sense and Sensibility and We Have Always Lived in the Castle.

All of these deserve their own posts, but again, this ain't it.

I left my job at the state two weeks ago and entered nursing school full time. It terrifies me and I love it, but what I do not love is how few hours there are in the week now for books. However, since I'm reading more slowly, I hope I'll also hold myself more accountable here, and actually talk about what I'm reading. 2009 marks the first year that I'm actually keeping track of what I read, and I hope to make some sort of record here as well, as the year progresses.

I also decided to read Jane Austen's novels back to back this year. I finished Sense and Sensibility last week and am 5 chapters into Pride and Prejudice currently, along with 3 short story collections, one of which, Kelly Link's Pretty Monsters I cannot say or think enough good things about.

Wednesdays are my long days for nursing school. Class begins at 7:30am and I'm on campus until 9pm when my last class lets out. Lucky for me, a book arrived by mail this past Wednesday, which I began that night. And what I can tell you is this: I'm in love and in love and in love and in love with At Swim, Two Boys by Jamie O'Neill. 

I knew this book would break my heart, it already has in some ways. But I also knew, less than 15 pages into 500+ that it would be worth whatever it asked of me. And with that, I'll bid you goodnight, and get in bed with this marvelous gift of a novel.