Literary Woe

I've been reading Brick Lane by Monica Ali for what feels like eternity. I had requested it from the NYPL and eagerly awaited its arrival. I started reading it and didn't quickly dive in. I like it but I don't loooove it. But then one day after starting it I made the mistake of looking at the New Arrivals shelf and spotted Claude & Camille which is a novel based on Claude Monet and his longtime model/lover/wife.

Because it was considered "new" (some of their new books are actually old news) I'm not allowed to renew it (I think) and it has a shorter lending period so I put aside Brick Lane and dove into the Claude & Camille which was easy because I did really like it.
But then I was done and it was time to finish Brick Lane which was starting to grow on me. I wanted to finish it so I could pick up my new book just in time for our little trip to Philadelphia (we're dying to get out of the city so we end up going to another city...all the beaches are too far away and expensive) So here I am on a lazy President's Day reading, reading, reading away. Something happens and the story gets a little more interesting and I'm thinking "Wow, I'm near the end...what a peculiar way to end the story." Reading, reading, reading and then I get to the end and realize that a giant chunk of the novel is missing. W-T-F.

I was so annoyed. I was annoyed that I won't be able to scratch it off my list. I was annoyed for the last however many persons used the book and failed to alert the library they returned it to that a chunk of the book was missing. I mean...the only excuse really is that you're the one who was in possession of the book when the pages fell out and now you're afraid that you'll be responsible for paying for it. Which is still just crap. These books get handled by so many people I'm sure you wouldn't have to pay for it.
Anyway, the guy who checks out my books most of the time is this very friendly, puppy dog, kinda guy (there's one cantankerous grumpster I try to avoid) and I told him and he had a deep sigh and shook his head. He signed me up to get the book again and so now I wait...

Meanwhile, I'm reading Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth which apparently is a ginormous bestseller and is getting refreshed attention because they made a miniseries out of it. (AKA That's how I heard of it, though I've not seen the miniseries)
Also, I now am the new owner of a nook, Barnes & Noble's e-reader so I will be adding a feature to the side bar. I'll have my standard Reading Right Now but I'll also have a Reading on nook. Not that this changes anything for you, dear blog reader. You'll still poop and pee and move on with your life. But...just so you know. However, in the future when more of us have nooks we can share books with each other. Apparently you can "lend" a book to a person one time for 14 days. So...one day it may happen.