Category: Challenges

My third check in for my reading project of Jane Eyre.  Now three weeks in, my goal being 70 pages a week, I have just crossed over the 210 page line.  This report was due on the blog this past Sunday and I don’t know how I forgot… but yeah.  I forgot.

Pages 141 – 210 reveals Jane and Rochester staring to get to know one another.  There is the fire in his bedroom (I am still confused about that one) and Jane rushes in and saves his life which he is overly grateful…. and then the next day…

gone.  (Please don’t let him be bipolar….. I dealt with that in Wuthering Heights with Kathryn and I was about to kill her myself in the end of that one!)

Then we move on to the fact that Rochester likes to party PARTY and he is gone for what is it, like two three weeks, hanging with  friends about ten miles away which in this time, is like being in another country!  When he does return, he brings the party with him and then all those people proceed to stay at his house for the next two weeks… (so odd… I would go nuts having company that long!)

Of course, now enters Miss Ingram.  Some hot mama from another family who despite her loveliness, her lovely singing voice,tallness, gorgeous hair, AND her talent at a piano… still remains single. 

I instantly do not like her. 

Next to Imgram (I can not recall her first name right now… Jane looks plain.  Plain Jane.  I mean, seriously, Jane’s hair will never do what Imgram’s does….

To conclude my recap here – I am now beyond an odd fortune teller part where if I am getting that right… is Mt Rochester (and what sort of insecurity is that????  Spying on his guests!) and if it wasn’t him.. then I misunderstood that whole part.

I leave you with this…. I am into the book.  I have another recap due on Sunday – pager 210 – 280.  I did not have time today to put up a rating but know I would not put it down now…. I am invested and now I have to know what will happen with the snarly lipped Imgram and the shy plain Jane.

Week two of my heir to the Eyre challenge (I am really tired today – please just ignore the ramblings… ).  My goal was to average 10 pages a day and today, 14 days in I have just closed the book at page 140.  AND in all honesty, I read the majority of my commitment for this week this afternoon.

So where am I?

Jane is now in Thornfield Hall and in these last 70 pages has met her charge, explored the lands, met Mr. Rochester, and now I have just finished several pages of his (Rochester’s) interrogation of Jane…ie.    where do you come from?  How did you get this job?  Where is your family?  Do you find me handsome?(yeah… I thought that was random and awkward too).

Yet Jane is…. growing on me.  Yes it is too early to say yet if we will be BFF’s…. but I am finding it a bit ironic that I have recently praised Harlan Coben this week for creating witty characters that I love… and now here is Charlotte Bronte bringing to life this witty 18-year-old Jane who is quick to respond and not afraid to add some zip to her responses, even in the presence of her employer.  And I am sorry to say Harlan Coben but I have to give extra snaps to Charlotte Bronte for being witty and brilliant about a hundred plus years before you were born. 

So here we are… I am not really sure what Mr. Rochester is getting at by being mostly closed off and grumpy and then occasionally chatty (is booze involved?  I don’t know..) but currently he reminds me a bit of Heathcliff (Wuthering Heights) dark and broody and I did not like Heathcliff EVER so am wondering if I will ever like Rochester… and then because I am tired and rambling I wonder why the brilliant Bronte sisters write of such dark unpleasant men, and I wonder where they found such a man appealing and I wonder what their dad was like?

As of now… here is my current rating:

This concludes this weeks Eyre report.  To see back reports of how each week is going – they are linked below:

The Eyre Report Week #1

Anyone else reading along?  What are your thoughts at this point?

It has been a week since I have forced challenged myself to read Jane Eyre.  On the original post you will see I clearly called out my past grievances attempts to read this and my fail after fail… due to:

1.  boring

2.  the language (not bad language) but old school language… which I guess really… is bad language. 😛

3.  Something shiny distracted me

4.  I dont want to!

My self challenge was to read 10 pages a day average, and then weekly report back as to how it is going. 

Currently on page 70, I am now seeing Jane at school after her harsh treatment of her so-called Aunt.  Just a few pages ago she had dropped the slate in front of Mr. Brucklehurst and been punished by standing on top of a stool in front of the whole class.  Now she has been swept away along with her one friend (?) Helen Burns to Miss Temple’s chambers where they are currently sharing tea and cake.

At this point the story has my interest and I have no idea why it does this time when at no other time have I made it this far.  I am curious about the cruel and strict head master Mr. Brucklehurst.  I am also curious about Jane’s large language for a ten-year old girl.  To me she speaks as some one much older. 

I confess that I know nothing of where this story is going as I have not watched a movie about this either.  I am guessing we are going to watch Jane grow up into if not a beautiful woman on the outside, perhaps on the inside. 

I probably would have read more this past week but honestly have been wiped out every night and fell asleep after reading only a few pages nightly.

My rating at this point in the book:

I know a couple of my readers mentioned reading this along with me.  I would love to hear how you are doing on this. 

Ok…. it is time.  I am going to tackle Jane Eyre.  Well… the book that is…. not really Jane, or at least not yet… it may come to that later, but for now… I want to start the book and hopefully this 4th time of trying to read this book that this time… THIS TIME I will be able to actually finish it.

SO what am I doing differently?

1. baby steps, I am going to challenge myself to read 10 pages of Jane a day starting today.  My book here is 462 pages (UGH….) so my goal is 46 days from today at the latest.  I can read more pages per day but not less.
2. Keep it fun.  I will give weekly updates of the progress.  I also mean to record my book mood during this read as well.  If I am bitter, bored, amused, defiant, annoyed, interested…. you will know. 

The goal – is to finish if not as myself and Jane Eyre being friends, then at least we will be acquaintances. 

I don’t know about you all… but I had a GREAT January! (click on the pics to go to my lists of what I read)

I hit 12 states in January and 4 out of the US. 

7 of the books I read in January were not read… they were LISTENED to!  Go audio!

1 book for the e challenge…

2 books on the Dystopia Challenge

1 book read off the recommended blogger reads list

I read/listened to 16 books/audio in January. (3 of these I have yet to review)

Page count for January:  3060

Total audio minutes:  2 days and 19 minutes (holy cats that sounds like a lot!)

4 of the authors were male and 12 were female. 

13 of the 16 were new to me authors.

That’s my recap.  How did your January go? 

Here it is!  The final counts of where I read for 2011.  I had a lot of fun with this.  I did not read intentionally… just wherever, but it was interesting to see where it all landed on the map.  Some states, apparently make great settings for books.  😀

To see my map – it is here.  To see the layout – see below:

Alabama 
Alaska  1
Arizona
Arkansas
California  9
Colorado
Connecticut  2
Delaware
Florida  2
Georgia  2
Hawaii  1
Idaho
Illinois  9
Indiana
Iowa  1
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana  1
Maine  5
Maryland
Massachusetts  9
Michigan  2
Minnesota  5
Mississippi  3
Missouri  1
Montana
Nebraska  1
Nevada  2
New Hampshire  2
New Jersey  2
New Mexico
New York  15
North Carolina 2
North Dakota  1
Ohio  2
Oklahoma  1
Oregon  2
Pennsylvania  5
Rhode Island  1
South Carolina
South Dakota  2
Tennessee  1
Texas 4
Utah  2
Vermont  2
Virginia  2
Washington  4
West Virginia 1
Wisconsin  1
Wyoming  1

Australia  1

China 2

England 3

Ethiopia 1

Israel 1

Kenya 1

Montenegro 1

London 5

Monte

Nepal 1

Poland 3

Romania 1

Saudia Arabia 1

Singapore 1

Spain 1

Southwest Pacific Waters 1

Switzerland 1

United Kingdom 3

Books that were “out of this world” or dystopia types that gave no clue where they were from are not on the map… or are any books that mention no where they are located such as Small Town Sinners, The Black Shard, and Cut.

I missed 13 states but look forward to seeing how 2012 will turn out!  Its fun to get excited about the setting of a book and my book club laughs when we are talking books and I ask what state it is in 😛 

If you participated in this challenge in 2011, and have not already done so, please link your wrap up post below.

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If you want to participate in 2012 and have not signed up yet, you can do so here.

This is the post I have sooooo been looking forward to… but also dreading, as I knew it would take some work.  The recap of the year as far as counts, and challenges…

Looking at the chart above that put me at a total of  140 for the year.  With a combo of books and audio, in most months I was able to listen to more audio then I was to read.  Actually, some of the months surprised me at how little I had read. 

As for 2011 Challenge Wrap Ups…

Success!  AT 140 I achieved and over achieved this challenge!!!

Success!!!  This challenge I had set at the highest level… OBSESSED – which was 20 audio books.  I ummmmm…. I… came in at 64.  😯

Fail:  This was such a good challenge for me and I did accomplish a couple… but old habits die hard and I found myself doing what I usually do… purchasing the coveted book… and placing it on the  “someday” shelf. 😳

Half Fail:  This challenge was where I was suppose to find books that I really wished I had read and then do so… I started out well, but then stopped keeping track….

I think a fail… this did not count outdoor biking or it would have been a win!  😀

Success!!!  My goal was to read/listen to  30 library books in 2011.  I finished at 32.

My Where Are You Reading Challenge post will be a separate one as that is my own challenge.