Second book done! Also, I am pathetic.

So I finished my second book a few days ago. Sister Carrie* by Theodore Dreiser. It was... okay. It was recommended by my American Lit professor when we were reading Main Street. I liked Main Street a lot. They are supposed to be sort of opposite each other, in Main Street, Carol Kennicott goes from the city to a small down and tries to culture them, whereas in Sister Carrie, Carrie is coming from a small town to the big city and getting "cultured". I say "cultured" because she really just becomes more materialistic. Carol actually cares about poetry and ideas and architecture, and Carrie just cares about money. I could definitely see why Main Street was more popular than Sister Carrie. The characters are so weak and unlikable in SC. Carol just moves from guy to guy, going to whoever can give her the best time and the most money. And she lives with all these guys without marrying them, which isn't so much an issue but just the fact that she is totally using them in the process. She is just too controlling to be naive as she seems. She "falls in love" with this guy who she uses for his money, but somehow she doesn't realize he's married? Uhhh no. I just did not like her. I don't think I'd recommend this book for anyone besides those interested in the genre. I kept reading and reading and wondering what else could possibly happen. Usually that is a good thing, but this time I just wanted it to end.

Now I am reading The Egyptologist by Arthur Phillips, who was apparently a child actor and five time winner of Jeopardy. Although what he acted in remains to be seen. Miss Jesi mentioned this book and I liked the title (great reason I know) and so I decided to check it out. It's been slow going. Only last night did I get to a point where I was reading without checking the page numbers to see how far I've gone. Part of the reason it's not so easy to get into is the fact that there are two narrators, both of whom are writing letters to someone. Epistolary is the word. The first narrator is the arrogant egyptologist who is writing to his fiance, the second is a private investigator doing research into this rich man's son. I think it only starts to pick up when the stories start to connect to one another. But it still isn't amazing or anything. Hopefully I can finish it in the next day or two.

I really am pathetic though because this is only my third book. I'm averaging like a book a week which is completely horrible. I only read at night because I have been working over 20 hours a week and that takes up a lot of time. And the rest of the time I am sleeping. I just need an afternoon or two alone on my hammock. I've also been redoing my room so that is taking up a lot of my time. But also now I am finished with the first season of Bones so less distractions!

And I don't know what my next book will be. I will have to think. It's time for another classic so we'll see.

* Blogger apparently doesn't have a handy little underline button so I am just going to skip it. Wah.