New favorite book alert!

Last week I finished a great one called "Enemy Women" by Paulette Jiles. While I'm not usually a Civil War buff, this one (a historical fiction) honed in on a particularity about Missouri, that it was apparently not wholly Rebel or Union, but each county or farm, even, was something different. Anyway, it's about a young girl that gets sent to prison in St. Louis for Rebel spying, catches TB, falls in love with her Union captor, who helps her escape, then embarks on a "Cold Mountain"-esque trek back to her farm to find her family. It's beautifully written.

After reading such staunch, serious stuff, and living a nightmarish finishing up school, I have embarked on a ChickLit streak that will last through my beach weekend. So far I have read two books by Helen Fielding that have kept me in stitches, and am now on a Katie Fforde, although I have one more Fielding waiting...

Taking Up Residence

I am reading a book called "The Far Pavilions"- at a generous 900+ pages, it's taking me forever. It takes place in colonial India. I feel like I know all about it now, I am near to stooping to call Alan "sahib" and the girls "bai". ("Louise-bai, go pick up your shoes!") The story is so lush and long and epic, I do want to live inside this one. Currently, my life is so crazy I would climb inside ANY book.... except maybe "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair. You know, I don't think I'd be too keen on living inside "The Kite Runner", either.

Big Commitment

Read books first, or watch movies based on the books first? I can't commit. You never know either way whether or not it's a good idea. It could be a fabulous book, and you wished you wouldn't have ruined it by watching the movie first. Or maybe the book is rubbish and you like the movie better. Or maybe you watch the movie and see, "hey, that's based on a book.... I will try to read it"- and find a jewel.
All this to say... today I checked "Bleak House" (movie) out of the library. I started the book last summer (I think it's pushing 800 pages... and mind you that's 800 pages of Dickens) but couldn't finish because we had houseguests, we were swimming, blah blah blah.... but the movie has been on my list. So I got it from the library today. If you think you're escaping something long by watching it, think again... it's 465 minutes long. That's as long as the first two LOTR movies, and probably without the battle scenes and elves.
*sigh*
How can I fit in 8 hours of movie watching (and of the SAME movie, too?) within the time limit the library has set to borrow their materials??
Even worse, what if it's fabulous (I've heard it is...) and then I have to put aside 3 months to read the book....??