Read All of the BBC Top 100 Reads Part 4

I love doing this task, purely because it's one I can do in the background and although time consuming, it's one I can just keep chipping away at, without too much hassle.

My latest reads have been Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy - I'm so glad I saw my friend Frenchy Phil in a play adaptation of this the other year, as it gave me a good insight into the plot and the passions involved. Although a little long and over analysed in places, I did enjoy my first Russian novel. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens - I put Dickens with my Austen appreciation - I can quite happily watch any film adaptation, but the novels themselves, I struggle to get to grips with. The Tale of Scrooge visited by the three ghosts, is so well known that I felt that helped me through the reading, instead of appreciating the text by itself. The Colour Of Magic - Terry Pratchett - my first ever Terry Pratchett novel and unfortunately due to this list it won't be the last. I don't get it at all. It feels like he's just thrown a load of characters and text on paper and hoped for the best. Couldn't even tell you the basis of the plot - just couldn't get my head around this one! Dune by Frank Herbert - I don't do sci-fi and this one was exactly how I would imagine a sci fi book to be like. Dull and very boring! The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton - I'm slightly biased in the fact that I loved Enid Blyton growing up, yet for some reason I'd not read this one! Reading a book filled with saucepan men and magical trees feels almost drug induced as an adult, but there is no denying that Enid was the queen of story telling in her day. The Princess Diaries - Meg Cabot - this one really surprised me as it's nothing at all like the film, in fact it's probably alot more grown up than the Disney version. The tale of a young girl that discovers she's a princess is still one worth reading. Tess Of The Durbervilles - Thomas Hardy - I love Hardy with a passion - his women characters are always so strong and well written. This story is so heart rendering - a young girl that tries to better herself by immersing herself into the heritage of noble standing where she meets the man who will be her down fall. She later falls in love with another man, but has the dilemma of not knowing whether to divulge her past - I loved it.

So I'm just over half way there now, the only problem being, that the majority of the reads left are the big ones, but I'm still going to try and push for this one to be finished this year if possible. Wish me luck!