Books

Today the weather was a bit chilly. The temperature during the day was only around 18 degrees, and from time to time the rain made the ground slippery, which made my outdoor activities impossible. So instead, I spent the day at home, finished the second Harry Potter book, and rewatched the movie too. It made me realize that it took me much longer to finish the second book than the previous one, even though it was approximately the same length. The difference was only about thirty pages, but I skipped a few days without reading because I was busy with other routines. Honestly, I had planned to finish it in about eighteen days by reading at least one chapter each day.

Last month, I actively started reading the first Harry Potter book, “Philosopher’s Stone.” Every day during lunch, and sometimes at night, I read one chapter. Now I can say that I’ve basically finished it — I only have the last two chapters left. So I hope to finish this part tomorrow and begin the second one, “Chamber of Secrets.” Naturally, this book wasn’t very big, only 332 pages and 17 chapters, and I spent about twenty days reading it. Probably, I could’ve finished it a bit earlier if I hadn’t skipped some days. However, I still have some doubts about whether I can finish the remaining six books by the end of this year. Because those books are much bigger — for example, part 5, “Order of the Phoenix,” has around 800 pages, while the others are smaller, with about 400, 500, or 600 pages each.

This Monday wasn’t usual for me. While my previous Mondays were workdays, today I had a day off and spent it following my usual weekend routine. The weather was unpredictable, though, and by the evening the rain had already started. Despite that, the temperature felt much more comfortable — around 15 degrees — and the wind wasn’t as chilly as yesterday. By the way, my bike ride happened under the sun, so I had a great opportunity to enjoy what was probably the last sunny day for a while, because the forecast says the rest of the week will be cloudy and a bit rainy.

Later in the evening, I got a notification saying my order had been delivered to the pick-up point. After work, I finished my usual routine and walked there. Luckily, it wasn’t far from my place, so I could enjoy a short walk and get some fresh air. I also want to point out one nice thing about the time here — even at 6 PM, it was still bright outside, and the streetlights weren’t even on yet. Honestly, that feeling made me happier than getting the books, at least for a moment. But once I checked them, the books completely took over. Now the only problem is finding enough free time to actually read them all.

After waiting for almost a month, my first order finally arrived. I ordered the book from the online store Ozon. Even though it was a local shop, the book was delivered from abroad. I placed the order on February 9, and on March 11 I received a message saying that the book had arrived. Unfortunately, that was the same day I flew to Moscow. It was a bit disappointing because I couldn’t pick it up immediately, so the book had to wait for me. But when I finally received it, I felt really happy. I had been waiting for it for a long time.

I’ve already started reading it, and today during lunch I managed to read about thirty pages. Honestly, the book is very interesting and really pulled me into the process. The author shares his personal story about learning languages and explains how he started. At the same time, he gives practical advice and useful methods.

Today I finished two chapters of my book “Alice in Wonderland”—Chapter 6, “Pig and Pepper,” and Chapter 7, “A Mad Tea-Party.” I read them during my lunch break, which took about fifteen minutes, and I plan to read the next chapter later in the evening after my walk. So far, everything is going well, and I’m very involved in the reading process; it’s enjoyable and interesting, and I want to keep up this habit throughout the month and finish the book. I’ve even planned how long it will take me, and if I read one chapter each day, I can easily finish it without any worries. I’ll also have enough time for my old book, “The Best Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,” which is very important to me, since I made a promise to myself to keep reading it until I understand it 100%.

Today the weather was quite cold. The outside temperature was around –13 degrees, but it felt like –19. I felt this clearly during my evening walk. While I was walking, my face was extremely frozen, even though there was no wind outside. The hood of my jacket, especially near my throat, was covered with white frost. By the way, I walked for about one hour and covered approximately three kilometers.

During my walk, I visited several places. First, I walked along the embankment, and then I went to Sabantuy Park. On the embankment, everything was usual: I saw only a few cars parked in the parking area and one child with his father swinging on a swing. In Sabantuy Park, I saw many skiers. They were actively skiing between the trees, and I couldn’t even take a picture because they were very fast and skilled.