Reading to the Finish Line

There’s only eight days left in the Winter Classics Reading Challenge, and I’ve still got two books to finish off. Not wanting to flunk out of the first challenge I’ve signed up for, I’ve adopted the tactic used for library books whose due date is approaching: dividing the number of pages remaining by days remaining, and reading at least that many pages every day. This plan was working well until I checked my calendar and realised that the last three days of the challenge are also the first three days of semester. So now I’ve got to read enough each day to finish them before I get distracted by classes.

It’s turned into something of a race between me and time; the challenge now is not just reading the classics, it’s finishing them before the arrival of deadline I’ve set myself. It’s a bit disappointing because I had decided to try not to leave things till the last minute, as I’m prone to do; but the extra challenge is sort of fun. (I guess if it wasn’t, I wouldn’t be in the habit of procrastinating.)

I’ve read enough that I should have Tess of the Durbervilles finished on Sunday, and The Canterbury Tales soon after. But no matter how close the end of the challenge is, I will definitely not be pulling an all-nighter. I learned my lesson on those after that Year 12 Psych assignment!