So much to do, so little time

So, another quarter has started. I've had all of my classes and all I can say is that it's going to be a doozie. Tons of books, lots of reading, and exams upon exams - which oddly enough I'm not too rankled about as I'm feeling a little burnt out on papers lately and am willing to accept anything else. This quarter I'm resolved to turn a new leaf (as I am almost every quarter) to mend my procrastinating ways and start early on all things important - no more end of quarter madness. Will I actually make these changes? It's debatable, I always have such good intentions but well . . . it clearly hasn't panned out in the past so it may not this time either but I will try and try again, I'm nothing if not optimistic.

At the moment I'm feeling a little torn between reading for class, doing taxes, and reading my new book from the library. Taxes have taken a back seat to books, after all books are much more exciting than taxes (ick!). But should I read school books or fun books? I know I should read school books but fun books are just so much more . . . fun. It's like falling off the wagon at the first bump, how did I ever expect to make it the whole ride? Clearly at this rate if I can't prioritize serious school reading I'm never going to be able to turn a new leaf and be uber productive and avoid procrastination . . . oh dear.

The problem isn't ameliorated by the fact that I'm already in the midst of three fun books which I started over spring break.
The Earthsea Quartet - My father gave me this in high school and I finally decided to commit myself to reading it. I know that sounds strange, committing oneself to reading a book, but the circumstances under which it was given to me have a lot to do with that. My father gave it to me since I had so enjoyed the Lord of the Rings trilogy and it was of a similar genre and he thought I would enjoy it also. But I decided to not read it since I was afraid that it just wouldn't be able to compete with the Lord of the Rings. This fear is born from a similar experience I had with Jane Austen and Thomas Hardy. Hardy was recommended to me by my father since I had so enjoyed Austen but when I read Hardy, not long after I had whisked through several Austen novels, he just put me to sleep. In retrospect I may have not given Hardy as much of a chance as I ought but there it is, I wasn't impressed upon first trial. Anyway my point is that I didn't want to have that same experience with LeGuin and thought that perhaps a break from the genre altogether might be beneficial. Little did I anticipate that break to be years upon years. So, The Earthsea Quartet came back from Japan with me over winter break but I didn't even start reading it until a month ago - this is the sad state of affairs around here.
Persepolis - Note to Sherry: I can just imagine your exasperation, I know, I know. I'm finally reading it. It got buried under so many other books that it really didn't have a fighting chance until now. Besides, in comparison to The Earthsea Quartet this pace is downright speedy!
Time Was Soft There - I haven't gotten very far in this yet so I'm not entirely attached. But it sounded so lovely on the staff recommendation card at the bookstore that I was suckered into finding it at the library. It's about a bookstore in Paris called Shakespeare & Co., a store which I just fell in love with when I was there. It is the epitome of the bookstores that I daydreamed of as a child, scruffy around the edges, vast while being compact, and it is as much a visual feast as it is a literary one. Of course, the fact that it's on the banks of the Seine just across from Notre Dame doesn't hurt either. On a tangential note, how many kids daydream about old scruffy bookstores? What an odd child I was.

Do you see my dilemma? They're so fun . . . or at least full of the promise of fun. How could I decided between these three books and school books, let alone the new book that I got at the library today?