Upon My Honour

I am currently reading 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles', which, to my surprise, I am really quite into.

Admittedly, any book that actually uses the phrase 'upon my honour', is always going to get points from me, but I really am amazed at how accessible the story is.

I'm only part-way through, and I'm pretty sure that certain woe approacheth the heroine (which I'm not so into), but I think I might actually make it to the end of this classic. (Unlike '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea', which was hard, hard going and I just couldn't claw my way to the last page).

The other thing that I like about this novel is that it's quite short. Preceding Tess, I finished 'The Pillars of the Earth', which was great. I've always been a bit of a Ken Follett fan, but this 1000+ page epic in tiny print was a long haul. And before I tackle the 1000+ page sequel 'World Without End', it's nice to attack a shorter tale and take a bit of a breather.

The other reading I've been getting into is genuine Japanese manga - pretty cool once you're accustomed to the right-to-left comic style. I can't help but feel that like anime, manga is a new world I should have discovered long ago. Oh well...

Chasing 'World Without End', I'm hoping to mix things up with a bit of fantasy or sci-fi, but you just never know. The library is an amazing place...