As I finished reading Metro 2035, I began to read a book detailing Rasputin’s life and everything he had done during it. Through learning about his exploits and the various types of people he encountered and influenced, I wondered how he could end up becoming the corrupt man he turned into. He was described as a man who wandered from place to place, never settling in one area for long, except for the village which he was from. Despite having a family, he would constantly take month longs trips away from his home which grew his influence as a holy man, leading to his rise to power. Much of the information known about him is not exactly clear, as he was as much of a legend as he was a man, which distorts the truth around him and his character. Many accounts of Rasputin all agree on his rise being greatly assisted by his innate charisma, and his supposed healing of Alexei, the hemophiliac heir to the Romanov throne. We will most likely never know anything completely solid about his beginnings, as he was one of millions of those who originated from Siberia, a vast and frozen part of Russia. His origin only served to increase his mysticism and the stories surrounding him.

The book I am currently reading is Metro 2035, by Dmitry Glukhovsky, and it is the last in the series. The series takes place in a post apocalyptic wasteland, centered around the metros of Russia. The denizens of the metro all believe that the entire world besides them has been killed in the war causing them to take refuge in subway stations, except for Artyom, the main character.  He refuses to believe that the entire world has simply vanished because of the war. Because of his determination to find others and one day live on the surface once more, he constantly ventures out onto the radiation scarred Earth, to hopefully find more survivors throughout the world. The determination he carries, despite the fact that he is ostracized because of his beliefs, is a trait heavily embedded into his character, and is one that should be embedded within everyone’s character, as determination is needed to create a change in the world, despite how others might view your thoughts.  Galileo had done the same as Artyom, and despite being shunned by all, he changed science forever.

Reading every day has been relatively easy, but finding the right time for is more of a challenge than I had assumed. I typically have to shift between the things I am doing quite often, which means that having a lengthy time for uninterrupted reading is a bit difficult to find. As a result of it, I’ve had to more clearly budget my time and find a time where I would have no interruptions to my reading. I don’t often have the space to sit in quiet and just read, except for the mornings or late night, which is when I usually end up reading. Despite not having long reading sessions, I still am able to read a chapter or two in that time, which is more than I thought for the book I am currently reading. Overall, reading every day has helped me more clearly look at what I need to finish in a day and figure out when exactly I have some time to read.