Reading Away: Write Every Day Challenge, Day #20

I missed a couple of days of writing (surprise, surprise), but I made up for them yesterday, which therefore became Day #19, and today is Day #20.  I should be on Day #40 by now, if I hadn't miss so many days!


I finally finished Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood.  I don't think I have enough to say about it to write a full-blown review, but I'll mention a few things.  It took me a long time to finish this book.  Of course, I had other things to do:  take care of my son, spend time with my husband, watch all the new fall television shows, write, and read Mark Reads Harry Potter (I'm so addicted to that blog!).  But, I think my slow reading also had to do with the fact that I wasn't quite into this book until I was more than halfway done.  I was interested in it, sure, but it didn't really hook me until then.  I also think it was a bit confusing.  Not only is this set in the future, after an apocalypse, but the main character, Snowman, has flashbacks to his childhood and early adulthood, which is also later than our present-day.  It is kind of interesting though, because I just read Mockingjay, where there was a type of apocalypse years before the storyline, and the present-day in those stories is a dystopia, whereas in Oryx and Crake, Snowman's childhood is a dystopia, and his present-day story is after an apocalypse.  Overall, I enjoyed the book, but I thought the end was a bit blunt.  I wanted a little bit more closure, I guess.  But I definitely enjoyed the way Atwood unraveled the events that led up to the apocalypse.


So now I'm going to start my book club's book for this month:  The Lost Symbol, by Dan Brown.  I liked The Da Vinci Code, and really enjoyed Angels and Demons, so I look forward to seeing what Robert Langdon gets up to this time.

Write Every Day Challenge, Day #14

14 days down on the Write Every Day Challenge!  2 weeks, woot woot!


So I've just got some more random things for you today:


1)  Why oh why do they have to show Dairy Queen commercials on television in a state that does't even have Dairy Queens anymore?  It makes me want a Blizzard soooo bad!  Oh, wait, I'm wrong.  I just went to their site and found out that there are several in my state, just not that close to me.  I apologize, Dairy Queen gods, you have not completely failed me.  I guess next time I see a commercial for a Brownie Batter Blizzard, I'll pick my happy ass up off the couch and drive 40+ miles to get one!


2)  I am soooo loving the blog Mark Reads Harry Potter.  So is my husband.  He said yesterday that Mark can't put down Harry Potter, and we can't put down his blog!  It's hilarious.  A definite must-read if you are a Harry Potter dork like me.


3)  Speaking of Harry Potter, the new trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 goes online tonight at 9/8 central.  I'll be heading over to Mugglenet to view it.  So excited!


4)  I almost hit one of my friends today.  One of my friends!!!  I'm a dork.  I was backing out of a parking spot and yes, I looked behind me, and he must have been in my blind spot for a second, because when I looked again, there he was.  I wasn't that close to hitting him, but you get the picture.  When I realized who it was I debated whether I should say hi (he worked with me at my previous job and we're friends on facebook but we're not real close) and before I knew it, he was inside.  I'm a double dork.  I sent him a message on facebook apologizing for both almost hitting him and not saying hi.  Triple dork.


5)  I'm only halfway through Oryx and Crake  It's going sssllllooooowww.  It's not that I don't like it, it's just that it's not action-packed and I'm so interested in other things right now (like Mark Reads Harry Potter and No Plot? No Problem! and watching fall shows and taking care of my son, etc.).  I just did an automated renewal online so that I don't have to check it back into the library on Friday, but I still can't seem to want to read it instead of everything else.  Damn you, Mark, you've got me addicted to your blog!  I can't stop!  ;)  Hopefully I'll pick the book back up soon.  I guess I'll have to, or just turn it back in, because pretty soon I'll have to start reading the October book selection for my book club.


So I guess that's all my randomness for today.  See you tomorrow!