War and Peace is going to be my book of choice next month. I mentioned this before (or have been thinking about it anyway), that it is time to buckle down and read the rest of this novel properly now, and not in fits and starts. I have read nearly 500 out of 1,300+ pages. I made the mistake of setting it down for a while last fall, and there it has sat ever since. I pick it up occasionally, but at the rate of five pages a week (maybe) it will be years before I finish it. I don't mind taking my time with some books (I do it all the time as you have likely noticed), but this one simply has too many pages, too many characters and too much going on in the story to ignore. Even reading it through only once (especially in the way I have been reading it), I feel like I am doing a disservice to the novel.
While I will read W&P primarily, I do plan on reading Christine Falls by Benjamin Black as it is a reader's copy. I might see what other short books (or maybe I should read some short stories?) I can fit in as well. I think I might approach David Copperfield the same way M-MV is--reading a chapter a day (until I get caught up with my other reading anyway). Initially my idea was to read only W&P and The Mists of Avalon, but two really big books in one month might be beyond me. We'll see how it goes. It's probably better not to be too definite in my plans as they easily go awry. So, if in March all I seem to talk about is Tolstoy, War and Peace, Tolstoy, War and Peace...please bear with me. Maybe I will be able to read it faster than I think! Anyway, if I can manage at least 50 pages a day I might even be able to finish in a couple of weeks....
Now...thinking beyond that...do I pick up another big book afterwards? Or do I plow my way through what's left on my nightstand? I have been contemplating reading Sigrid Undset's Kristin Lavransdatter. Yesterday I noticed there is a Penguin Classics reading group (via Amazon) that is also reading this (or at least the first of the three books). (By the way if you start looking around the Penguin store on Amazon and clicking links like this one, you can get yourself into some serious trouble!). I'm afraid I might not finish another lengthy read before undertaking Don Quixote (not sure when everyone is planning on reading this?). I could pick up Swann's Way instead (a mere 496 pages). I suppose I should concentrate on Tolstoy first, perhaps?