October 10-11 
(actually 
)
化身, 75-82%
I’ll definitely read some more today, as it’s still early, but this is as good a time as any for an update, since I’ve reached the end of another section. For a “horror” story, it sure talks about finance a lot. I’m getting a little tired of this family’s financial difficulties (and the accompanying vocabulary), and all their other unexciting but real concerns: good schools, aging family members’ health, etc. But these problems do serve as an essential background for the main story, wherever it may be leading. At a time of extreme financial despair, our parrot chose to speak again. His one word turns out to be prophetic once more. But can he actually predict the future, or is he somehow causing it? And is he even speaking at all, or is it the narrator who’s putting words in the parrot’s mouth while drunk and in a state of emotional turmoil?
Meanwhile, it’s starting to dawn on me that November is going to be a very busy month, as far as reading is concerned. With three book clubs starting at roughly the same time (IBC, ABC, Mystery), all three of which interest me a lot, I wonder if I’ll be able to keep up or go crazy in the process. Two of the books are going to be mysteries, so keeping up with the book club (and all the speculating) should be part of the fun. So if I have to read one book behind schedule, that would be the IBC, but that one has the lightest schedule of all, so it should be the easiest to keep up with. Well, I guess I’ll see how it goes when the time comes. Meanwhile, I should just focus on the rest of October, and hopefully not start something new that I’ll be struggling to finish once the book clubs start. 