good evening mr. darcy

Okay, I'm doing this. I've had reading it on my "to-do" list for two-plus years now and it's been sitting on my bookshelf at least five times longer than that (my copy cost $4.95; current Amazon price: $8.54). So no more excuses. Even though I'd much rather watch either the Colin Firth (cuz he's the perfect Mr. Darcy) or Keira Knightley (seven words: the walk through the morning fog scene) versions, I'm going to read this book... all 334 tiny pages, written in 19th Century English that hurts my brain, of it.

Would you like to know how I know I'm going to read this now versus the three or four times I've started and never finished it before?

The reason is simple.

What I really would like to be reading right now is a new book by Meg Wolitzer titled The Intertestings: A Novel, which is getting rave reviews from The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, and my writing idol Judy Blume, who has tweeted that she's "reading and enjoying it so much right now."

But I'm not allowing myself to buy that until I get to page 300 of Pride & Prejudice. And I'm not allowed to open it when it arrives from Amazon Prime until page 334 is read. Yes, I'm basically bribing myself.

I'm currently on Chapter 7, page 22. Only 54 chapters and 312 pages more to go!