There's this one particularly impressive blog, titled, 'bookmarked' whose owner may or may not be the same age as I am. I am of course amazed and stunned by the extensive efforts of these bloggers at reading, writing, and finally reviewing. I am in awe of their accomplishment (I as a book lover look favorably upon all others who cite reading as a hobby and interest, if not an obsession), and wish of course that I could credit the same to my name. But alas, what have I done in the past couple of years?! I remember reading so much, regularly in high school--from fanfictions to books obtained from booksale--and also my [puny] efforts at documenting my undertakings and showing something for my reading, be it efforts at writing stories that mostly were stunted and never saw closure, joining book sites like shelfari that I since have quitted, and the occasional attempts at blogging. But now, already in college, it's sad that I don't really have something grand to show for these efforts, especially now that my academics rightly stay on the top spot in my list of priorities.
I know too that classes would already officially start in two days and yet I've just tonight reacquired a copy of the purported masterpiece, Katherine by Anya Seton which I've also just started reading (blame amazon for all the positive and REALLY convincing reviews--so take caution if you want to avoid getting hooked to a book, especially one that's more than 500 pages long--if you still haven't been swayed already). I read through the preface and that little bit about the author of course and it's interesting to note that Seton's own father was English born, and if I understood correctly, her first time in England came about from the book's research perforce (a new word, from the book)*.
Katherine btw is the story of a woman of the same name, Katherine Swynford who according to some articles I've unavoidably skimmed over in the net (from excitement and eagerness!) soon becomes the Duchess of Lancaster (ancestor to the Tudors, including Henry VIII whose extensive philandering that resulted to two decapitations has not obviously been endeared to me and holds not my admiration (not that I know truly much about the politics of his reign of course)), but only after major trials and tribulations (eh?). I've saved pages of historical accounts of the Duchess but have so far avoided reading about more significant information.
I have every intention of finishing Katherine--and what's more, reading every word. I am set on my course and decision to savor it and enjoy it, for how long it might take. That means no cheating for me this time, ho ho ho. And I hope of course that I could post a decent review after finishing what I hope to be a very enjoyable 500plus pages.
Perhaps I could even start a book blog on my own this way (It'll take a very long time though, and have chances of speeding up only during long, completely idle breaks). As I've a quite hectic life outside of the literary sphere I enjoy languishing in for bouts of time, I could read slowly..and surely. I can still stick to an old favorite while attending to my academics and other priorities.
On a side note, another new word - german (not the proper noun pertaining to a nationality). ADJ. Originating from 'germain' (French)/germanus (Latin), relating to a 'beginning', a 'germ', meaning 'closely-related'. Illustration (from Katherine):
One of my nuns..is cousin-german(/cousin) to the abbot'.
Source: my much-loved Encarta Dictionary
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