Hopefully Restarting

So apparently I've decided that in addition to slacking off with reading, I've been slacking on this blog as well.
I read one more book in February, Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe. But I've only read ONE book so far this month, Death Masks by Jim Butcher. I AM SUCH A SLACKER!

I'm going to start with Death Masks. 'Cause I just feel like it.
It was definitely the best Dresden book so far. And oddly, it was the one that took me the longest to finish (Let me reiterate: I am a slacker). Harry talked to himself a lot less in this one, and I liked all of the new characters who were introduced. Basically, in this book, some fallen angels get a hold of the Shroud of Turin and there might be this super crazy disease epidemic thing caused by magic. And a vampire wants to duel Harry (which ends up being a bit anti-climactic... seemed like Butcher just got sick of that subplot and ended it). There was more action, and at the same time, more character development. And the action was far more interesting than the action in the last book. Fewer fight scenes and more... clever action? I can't think how to explain it, but it was better.

So... Faustus. I liked it quite a bit. I think it's my 4th favorite book that we've read for English so far this year (1. Hamlet 2. Macbeth 3. Tale of Two Cities). So not epically amazing, but still a solid book.
The book basically tells the story of how Dr. Faustus makes a pact with the Devil in order to gain knowledge/power. He promises his soul after 24 years of service from a lesser devil. But, he doesn't even use the power he's given well, choosing to perform stupid magic tricks instead of pursuing great things. So basically he wasted his life and got damned. Sucks for him.
There were a lot of Latin/Greek phrases (none of which I recognized), mythological references (some of which I recognized), and religious references (most of which I recognized). I like allusions. I need to read more classical literature so that I can actually get them all.
I'm writing my research paper on Faustus- comparing him to Dorian Gray (which I semi-reread and re-fell-in-love-with) and Voldemort (rereading some parts of the series made me realize how much I miss HP).

But in awesome book-related news...
1. Since I miss HP, I've been listening to Mugglecast again! I've decided that I will listen to it walking to and from school which means I can listen to about 2 episodes a week. Hopefully I can catch up at least a bit. I stopped listening at episode 157, and they're now on 194. Most of the episodes are about 90 minutes, so it will take a while. But I've missed Andrew and Eric and Matt and Micah and Jamie and Laura and Ben and the rest of the Mugglenet crew! I don't even know if they're all still on the show... I'll have to catch up.
2. John Green's new book Will Grayson, Will Grayson comes out in less than a month, and I'm going to get to meet John and David at a book signing in NYC. Yay!

Total Books This Year: 37
NonFic: 16 (43.2%... I'm falling behind!)