The Casual Vacancy Book Progress

I read 123 pages in The Casual Vacancy yesterday, putting me at page 130.  So far I've really been enjoying it.  It's a lot different from Harry Potter.  There's a lot of cursing and talk about dirty stuff, but it helps capture life in a suburb quite well, from my experience in a Texan suburb.

When I take the book to work, I take the sleeve off, because I don't want it getting messed up... and I don't just read things because I want other people to see that I'm reading.  Except internet people.  You're special.  

The kids are at war against their parents.  The people on the council are at war with one another about the low income part of the suburb (part want to help it, part want to redraw the town lines to get rid of the low income part, or at least keep the kids from going to the same school as their kids, etc.).

Jo's writing style is similar to that of Harry Potter in that it is very character-driven, and the location plays the role of yet another character.  Jo's always been good about integrating the location into the story in a really big way.  Can you imagine Harry Potter without Hogwarts??  I didn't think so.  Even in the last book when they're not at Hogwarts for the majority of the book, it still plays a big part.

That being said, I've still got 373 pages remaining in the book, so it could still get better or disintegrate into a horrible book.  Knowing Jo's writing style from the Harry Potter series, however, I doubt the latter.

Well, now I have 87 days remaining to read 5,549 pages, leaving me with an average of 63.78 pages (rounded up to 64 pages) per day.  The number keeps going down by a page, because I keep reading more than I need to.  I'm okay with that if you are!


Finished Reading
The Star Wars Trilogy by George Lucas (720 pages)

Currently Reading
The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling (on page 130 of 503, 26% complete)

To-Read
Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery (272 pages)
The Traitor Queen by Trudi Canavan (509 pages)
Texas A&M: Traditions and Spirit by Carolyn Bible (80 pages)
Brave New World Aldous Huxley (259 pages)
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner (261 pages)
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (528 pages)
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (1037 pages)
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (190 pages)
Orientalism by Edward W. Said (395 pages)
Notes from the Underground, The Double and Other Stories by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (464 pages)
Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas (845 pages)
On Writing Well by William Knowlton Zinsser (336 pages)