doing slightly better at reading, not so much at science!

I have read quite a bit more of Cloudstreet, and I'm finding it incredibly good!

Last night I read for about 45 minutes, which felt SO SO good after studying pretty much all afternoon. Science still doesn't make any sense, and I just feel really overwhelmed by the amount of stuff I have to know. If anyone has a really good, simple way of explaining the nitrogen cycle in terms that I will understand, please tell me! I really need to learn it.

But I'll tell you what I DID learn today: I learnt that Psycho is a REALLY scary movie. We were watching it in music because we are studying film music (so much fun!) and I spent the entire "shower scene" facing the opposite direction, staring at my best friend while she told me what was going on. It was fun.

And THAT was completely unrelated to the project, but I am trying to make this blog post nice and long so I can spend lots of time writing it so I don't have to go back and revise simultaneous equations (maths is not as bad as science, but still pretty bad!)

BACK to Cloudstreet... WOW Tim Winton is good! The writing is really simple but he is such a good storyteller. I am so attached to the characters, particularly to Quick Lamb. Quick's younger brother Fish was in an accident and suffered some form of mental trauma or brain damage, and Quick is such a caring older brother, who just wishes his brother was OK again. Quick blames himself for Fish's accident, which is heartwrenching considering how much he cares about Fish. There is a particularly poignant section that tells of Quick's habit of cutting out stories of refugees and people in natural disasters and sticking them on his wall so he could remember how lucky he was not to have suffered like them, or like Fish did.

I also like Rose Pickles, a girl in the other family. She seems to have a very honest view of life, and I think, particularly as she grows older, she could turn out to be a fascinating character.

Anyway, Cloudstreet is a really beautiful book (so far) and I'm looking forward to finding out what happens! I'm also really excited about moving onto my next book ASAP, which should be The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta, if I can get a copy by the time I need it. If not, I'll probably have to read Tales from Outer Suburbia or Wuthering Heights because I have Looking for Alaska on reserve from my local library but it hasn't come in yet (much to my frustration).

Please keep commenting, suggesting books and following!