Social Distancing Readathon #48 - February 12 - 14

Welcome to another readathon!

In the U.S. Monday is Presidents Day so you can extend the readathon through Monday if you want.

We generally run from Friday at 5 p.m. to Sunday at midnight in whatever time zone you choose, but feel free to start earlier on Friday and wrap up overnight Sunday/Monday, if that's what you want to do.

Here are some things to track throughout the weekend, if you choose:

Books read from:
Books finished:
Time reading:
Time posting:
Snacks:
Thoughts:
Non-book activities:

Total books finished:
Total read from:
Total time reading:

Who is participating -

1. SilverWolf (SilverWolf28) -- Tennessee, USA
2. Susanna (susanna.fraser) -- Seattle, Washington, USA
3. Carrie (cbl_tn) -- Seymour, Tennessee,
4. Cyrel (torontoc) -- Toronto, Canada
5. Lynda (Carmenere) -- Cleveland, Ohio, USA
6. June (June) -- South Carolina, USA
7. Lori (thornton37814) -- Tennessee, USA
8. Dee (Deedledee) -- Nova Scotia, Canada
9. Nancy (nrmay) -- North Carolina, USA
10. Kerry (avatiakh) -- Auckland, New Zealand
11. Anne (AnneDC) -- Washington DC, USA
12. Suzanne (Chatterbox) -- Rhode Island, USA
13. Luci (elkiedee) -- London, UK
14. Benita (benitastrnad) -- Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA
15. Paul (PaulCranswick) -- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
16. Jean (majkia) -- Niceville, Florida, USA

Count me in. I'll be starting early tomorrow because I have a four-day weekend--tomorrow is a vacation day, and Monday we get Presidents Day.

I'm in again!

I'm in- finishing one mystery now and then on to a non-fiction book.

Add me in, please! It's going to be a brrrr kinda weekend.

I'd like to try again, please.

I plan to relax and join in the fun here! I'm tired, and I'm hoping the cats will permit me to sleep in. I should finish at least two and maybe three this weekend!

I'm in too! In Nova Scotia we get Heritage Day on Monday: https://heritageday.novascotia.ca/content/2021-honouree-edward-francis-arab
Dee

Raining here in North Carolina and more coming.
I'll be reading this weekend.

Deep into an absolutely remarkable thing by Hank Green and
current audio book, the huntress.
Also reading the guardians by Grisham and
Becoming, Michelle Obama

Expecting lots of rain here too. I plan to keep up with the Orley Farm group read at 3 chapters per day, read next week's chapters from Chasing Vines, and read a daily short story from In the Teeth of the Evidence. Other than that, my focus will be on Race Against Time, which has been a page turner so far.

I'm in again. I forgot to post a final time in last week's readathon.

I'm in, too. I kind of fizzled out last weekend (it was my birthday and people had plans for me) but am ready to settle in with some books. Anne, Washington DC.

Forgot about President's Day.
I'm in, because why not?

I'll join in.

I'm in the UK, but as I'm not working and I could use the extended timescale to get a bit more reading dine, I'll go for a 4 day period instead of what's effectively 2 - I don't read much in the evenings any more so starting at 5 pm doesn't really work for me. I'll record anything I read after it gets light in the morning until midnight on Monday, my time. It's well after 1 am here in London.

I hope to finish Tender Earth during the day tomorrow - as the next book is very long I probably won't finish anything else but hope to make a good dent in the more than 540 pages (out of 705) remaining and the piles of library books. London has 32 boroughs each with its own local council library service so I have more than one library card as they have quite different stock.

I'm in. I don't have a three day weekend, but I plan on reading. And doing some cooking. I should finish Bruno, Chief of Police tomorrow.

I'm in and it is a holiday here for the Lunar New Year so my weekend is three full days long!

I will be reading:

Bury the Dead
The Girl with the Louding Voice
Woods, etc.
Around the World in 80 Days
The Rivers of London
Did You Ever Have a Family
A Burning

Kuala Lumpur Friday Lunch Time

I hope to check in twice a day - if I have something to report:

Books read from: 1
Books finished: 1 Bury the Dead by Peter Carter
Time reading: 6 hours
Time posting:
Food : sambal petai tempoyak with bread
Thoughts: A long weekend / a magnificent seven
Non-book activities: None

Total books finished: 1
Total read from: 1
Total time reading: 6 hours

Count me in: Jean in Niceville, FL

Saturday morning checkin: 7.40am

Books read from: Falling freely, as if in a dream by Leif Persson (audio), The Last Kashmiri Rose by Barbara Cleverly, Nowhere Child by Christian White
Books finished: 0
Time reading: 4hrs

Snacks: chicken laksa
Thoughts: hope this headache goes away
Non-book activities: food prep, sleep

Total books finished: 0
Total read from: 3
Total time reading: 4hrs

Finding the narrator, Erik Davies, on the Persson book really enjoyable to listen to.

5:20pm Friday - Set to begin reading of the following:

Behind the Beautiful Forevers
C is for Corpse
The Age of Doubt
The Long Call
Bertie Plays the Blues

It's foggy and drizzly this evening, and tomorrow's forecast is cold and rainy. It will be a great weekend for staying in and reading!

Afternoon check-in from Seattle:

We had a seven-hour power outage today because City Light is replacing the ~60-year-old utility poles on our street. I spent a good chunk of that time tucked in bed under warm flannel sheets and a quilt reading.

Books read from: Vesper Flights, The Duke Who Didn't
Books finished: Vesper Flights, The Duke Who Didn't
Time reading: 4 hours
Snacks: Just had a nice cold Coke Zero now that I can open the fridge again.
Thoughts: It's supposed to snow tonight, maybe up to 6 inches? Always an adventure in this city of hills, and I'm glad I have no reason to leave the house over the next several days.
Non-book activities: Great Backyard Bird Count

Total books finished: 2
Total read from: 2
Total time reading: 4 hours

Friday evening check in:

Books read from: Neverwhere, The Mountain Between Us, The Kid
Snacks: supper was just Kraft Dinner
Thoughts: I'm so happy it's a long weekend.
Non-book activities: knitting a Reader's Wrap

Total books finished: 0
Total read from: 3

Friday night 9 pm checking

Books read from:
* Bible (ESV),
* Old Testament Words for Today by Warren W. Wiersbe
* Near to the Heart of God by Robert J. Morgan
* Magnify His Name by Ed White
* The Black Lizard Big Book of Locked-Room Mysteries edited by Otto Penzler,
* Orley Farm by Anthony Trollope
* In the Shadow of Power by Viveca Sten
Books finished: In the Shadow of Power by Viveca Sten
Time reading: 3 hours
Time posting:
Snacks: left-over birthday cake & ice cream
Thoughts:
Non-book activities: playing with cats

Total books finished: 1
Total read from: 7
Total time reading: 3 hours

Kuala Lumpur Close of Play Friday

I hope to check in twice a day - if I have something to report:

Books read from: 1 The Rivers of London by Aaronovitch
Books finished: 0
Time reading: 4 hours
Time posting:
Food : Home made pizza
Thoughts: A long weekend / a magnificent seven
Non-book activities: None

Total books finished: 1 Bury the Dead by Peter Carter
Total read from: 2
Total time reading: 10 hours

10:10pn Friday

Books read from: 2 Behind the Beautiful Forevers and c is for corpse
Books finished: 1
Time reading: 2 hours

Food : Raisin English muffin, green tea
Thoughts: it's going to be a brutal week
Non-book activities: talked outside with friend, puzzling, episode of Emily in paris

Total books finished: 1 Behind the beautiful forevers
Total read from: 2
Total time reading: 2 hours

Friday is almost over. It's about 10:15 p.m. in Rhode Island

Books read from: 3, Hitler: Downfall by Volker Ulrich, Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam, The Mercenary by Paul Vidich
Books finished: 0
Time reading: 5 hours
Time posting: nada
Food : Fried rice with vegetables & shrimp
Thoughts: Brain dysfunctional. Listening to Sir Fergus the Fat alternate between snoring and purring.
Non-book activities: Ran some errands, had a nap.

Total books finished: None yet
Total read from: 3
Total time reading: 5 hours

I'm underwhelmed by Leave the World Behind. It's a thriller trying to be something Literary. The plot idea is interesting, but... Still, it's a short novel, so I may finish it. Off to the Athenaeum tomorrow to pick something up.

Friday 10:30 pm

I wanted to go ahead and post this one since I finished it tonight--even though I only read the one chapter and epilogue to complete the book!

Books read from: They Were Her Property: White Women as Slave Owners in the American South by Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers
Books finished: They Were Her Property: White Women as Slave Owners in the American South by Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers
Time reading: 30 minutes
Time posting:
Snacks:
Thoughts:
Non-book activities: playing with cats, chatting online with friend

Total books finished: 2
Total read from: 8
Total time reading: 3.5 hours

Friday night check-in
Books read from: I am about to finish Bruno, Chief of Police by Martin Walker. My book at work is Jim Crow's Children: The Broken Promise of the Brown Decision by Peter Irons. I am also slowly reading My Own Two Feet by Beverly Cleary. My recorded book is Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry.

Books finished: 0
Time reading since last report: 1 hour
Time posting:
Snacks: I had a nice simple supper of rice and some left-over Laisson Gobi. I love that fried spicy cauliflower

Thoughts:
Books Read From: 4
Books Finished: 1

Total time reading this weekend: 1

Total books finished since the read-a-thon began: 101
Total read from: 107
Total time reading since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 284 hours since April 2020.

Fri night just after midnight

books: an absolutely remarkable thing, Hank Green

dinner: shrimp scampi, pasta, chocolate truffles for dessert (early Valentine splurge)

other activity: watched the movie a good liar with Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen. Love Helen Mirren.

Kuala Lumpur Lunch time Saturday

Books read from: 1 The Rivers of London by Aaronovitch
Books finished: 1
Time reading: 5 hours
Time posting:
Food : Toast and Peanut butter
Thoughts: A long weekend / a magnificent seven
Non-book activities: Music Playlist

Total books finished: 2 Bury the Dead by Carter & Rivers of London by Aaronovitch
Total read from: 2
Total time reading: 15 hours

Early Saturday morning. 6.40 am - I woke up before 6 but am planning to go back to bed and sleep for a bit and then read a bit more! Such an unexciting life here

Books read from: 7
Sita Brahmachari, Tender Earth
Penelope Lively, Pack of Cards
Jane Smiley, Golden Age
Laura McVeigh, Under the Almond Tree
Colson Whitehead, The Nickel Boys
Lissa Evans, V for Victory
Elly Griffiths, The Night Hawks

Books finished: 1
Pages read: 151
Time reading: a few hours
Time posting: 10 minutes
Thoughts: Surprised by how many pages I read
Non-book activities: WhatsApp and Facebook reading and posting, Bejeweled Blitz, a bath, snoozing and listening to the radio

Total books finished: 1
Total read from: 7
Total time reading: a few hours (vaguely!)

Saturday morning check-in:

Books read from: In the Teeth of the Evidence, Orley Farm
Books finished:
Time reading: ?
Time posting: ?
Snacks: breakfast is pumpkin spice oatmeal and tea
Thoughts: I'm glad I scheduled my grocery pickup yesterday when I had to be out anyway so that I don't have to go out in today's weather!
Non-book activities: I was out of sorts yesterday so I ended up working on genealogy and watching Hallmark movies instead of reading.

Total books finished: 0
Total read from: 2
Total time reading: ?

Books read from: Orley Farm
Books Finished: 0
Time Reading : 3 hours (1 last night, 2 early this morning)
Breakfast: Eggs and Bacon. chocolate tea.
Non-book activities: Sleep! Feeding and caring for the dogs.

Saturday morning report on Friday night:

Books read from: Paradise, Devil in a Blue Dress
Books finished: 0
Time reading: 1.5 hours
Pages read: 55
Time posting: 0
Snacks: pizza and a glass of wine
Thoughts: I'm hoping to read a lot on this 3 day weekend but my concentration is lacking.
Non-book activities: talking my daughter through a work crisis, tv, catching up on impeachment hearings

Total books finished: 0
Total read from: 2
Total time reading: 1.5 hours

Kuala Lumpur Saturday Close of Play

Books read from: 3 Around the World in 80 Days, Woods, etc. & Did You Ever Have a Family
Books finished: 2 Around the World in 80 Days, Woods, etc.
Time reading: 8 hours
Time posting:
Food : Steak frites
Thoughts: A long weekend / a magnificent seven
Non-book activities: Music Playlist

Total books finished: 4 Bury the Dead by Carter & Rivers of London by Aaronovitch, Verne & Oswald

Total read from: 5

Total time reading: 23 hours

Pages read : 1,123

Saturday morning- it is really cold today but I still went outside for exercise. ( -12 C but sunny)
Reading from The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd and Vagabond Stars A World History of Yiddish Theatre by Nahma Sandrow

Saturday afternoon check-in:

Books read from: Race Against Time
Books finished:
Time reading: ?
Time posting: ?
Snacks: lunch was beef with broccoli, rice, egg drop soup
Thoughts: I am longing for spring.
Non-book activities: Laundry, food pickup

Total books finished: 0
Total read from: 3
Total time reading: ?

Saturday 2 pm check-in

Books read from:
* Bible (ESV),
* Old Testament Words for Today by Warren W. Wiersbe
* Near to the Heart of God by Robert J. Morgan
* Magnify His Name by Ed White
* The Black Lizard Big Book of Locked-Room Mysteries edited by Otto Penzler,
* Orley Farm by Anthony Trollope
* The Passion of Anne Hutchinson by Marilyn J. Westerkamp
Books finished:
Time reading: 2 hours
Time posting:
Snacks: lunch was chili with left-over birthday cake for dessert
Thoughts:
Non-book activities: playing with cats, dealing with a headache, watching TV

Total books finished: 2
Total read from: 8
Total time reading: 5 hours 30 minutes

Sunday morning checkin: 8.00am

Books read from: Falling freely, as if in a dream by Leif Persson (audio), The Last Kashmiri Rose by Barbara Cleverly, The story of the last thought by Edgar Hilsenrath
Books finished: 1 The Last Kashmiri Rose
Time reading: 3.5 hrs

Snacks: nachos
Thoughts: another sunny day
Non-book activities: food prep, outing to city centre to visit used bookshops, enjoy a latte, listening to music and watched a forgettable movie.

Total books finished: 1 The Last Kashmiri Rose
Total read from: 4
Total time reading: 7.5hrs

Another busy day but I also want to finish The Nowhere Child and read another chunk of The story of the last thought.

Saturday afternoon check-in
Books read from: Finished Bruno, Chief of Police by Martin Walker. My book at work is Jim Crow's Children: The Broken Promise of the Brown Decision by Peter Irons. I am also slowly reading the autobiography of children's author Beverly Cleary - My Own Two Feet. I started the next book for my real life book discussion group. It is Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town by Jon Krakauer. My recorded book is Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry.

Books finished: 1 Bruno, Chief of Police
Time reading since last report: 1 hour
Time posting:
Snacks: I had pizza for lunch.

Thoughts: I am headed out for the public library, the grocery store, the drug store, and then home to stay warm and cook some soup. I did manage to get a load of laundry done and will get the dishes out of the sink and into the dishwasher before supper.
Books Read From: 4
Books Finished: 1

Total time reading this weekend: 1 hour

Total books finished since the read-a-thon began: 102
Total read from: 107
Total time reading since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 285 hours since April 2020.

Books read from: Skeletons at the Feast, The Kid, Neverwhere
Books finished: none
Time posting: 4:40pm
Snacks: pasta
Non-book activities: went for a 4km walk

Total books finished: 0
Total read from: 4 since yesterday

Late afternoon check-in:

Books read from: Race Against Time
Books finished:
Time reading: ?
Time posting: ?
Snacks: hot tea
Thoughts: I will need a palate cleanser when I finish this book. It's an important story and very well written, but it's about some truly evil people and their actions.
Non-book activities: long nap, short walk

Total books finished: 0
Total read from: 3
Total time reading: ?

>43 cbl_tn: I got that book as a Kindle deal, and it's on my TBR

4:30 p.m. in Rhode Island

Books read from: 2, Hitler: Downfall by Volker Ulrich, The Mercenary by Paul Vidich
Books finished: 1, the suspense novel by Paul Vidich
Time reading: 5 hours
Time posting: none
Food : turkey sandwiches, I added cranberry to it.
Thoughts: Where has my energy gone to??
Non-book activities: Watching cats chase each other. They clearly have energy. Watching some documentaries.

Total books finished: 1
Total read from: 3 (the above and Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam
Total time reading: 10 hours

.

Saturday 6:30 pm check-in

Books read from:
* The Passion of Anne Hutchinson by Marilyn J. Westerkamp
* An Amish Surprise by Shelley Shepard Gray
Books finished:
Time reading: 3 hours
Time posting:
Snacks:
Thoughts:
Non-book activities: trying to place an online grocery order only to find the system down, cuddling with cats to read, getting supper started

Total books finished: 2
Total read from: 9
Total time reading: 8 hours 30 minutes

Saturday night check-in:

No time for reading Friday night or anytime Saturday. I will try for Sunday and Monday this weekend. I'm looking forward to reading Slough House and The Fairies of Sadieville. They are the newest books in series I have read from the beginning. They are fun but do not require too many brain cells.

It's 9:15 p.m.

Books read from: 2, Hitler: Downfall by Volker Ulrich, The Old Enemy by Henry Porter
Books finished: none this period
Time reading: 2 hours
Time posting: none
Food : chicken curry
Thoughts: Ho hum.
Non-book activities: Talked to my father. Sorted out some issues with drains in the basement. Washed some dishes. Finished watching documentary.

Total books finished: 1 (The Mercenary by Paul Vidich
Total read from: 4 (the above and Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam
Total time reading: 12 hours

10:45pm - Saturday

Books read from: 1 C is for corpse
Books finished: 0
Time reading: 1 hour

Food : Dinner: Family Dinner for two from our local chinese restaurant (Sweet n Sour Shrimp, Chicken LoMein, Pork fried rice, egg rolls, crab ragoon, ribs
Thoughts: It's such a wonderful feeling having son home from college for a bit.
Non-book activities: Drove roundtrip to campus to pick-up son, watched Columbus Blue Jackets vs Chicago Black Hawks

Total books finished: 1 Behind the beautiful forevers
Total read from: 2
Total time reading: 3 hours

Saturday 10:45 pm check-in

Books read from: An Amish Surprise by Shelley Shepard Gray
Books finished: An Amish Surprise by Shelley Shepard Gray
Time reading: 2 hours 30 minutes
Time posting:
Snacks: I made a toasted chicken tender sandwich for supper and snacked on a few cookies.
Thoughts: I love reading with cats atop me! Who needs a blanket?
Non-book activities: a little Facebook time

Total books finished: 3
Total read from: 9
Total time reading: 11 hours

8 PM Saturday night in Seattle, with nearly a foot of snow in the past 24 hours. Good thing I don't need to be anywhere.

Books read from: Shit, Actually by Lindy West
Books finished: Shit, Actually
Time reading: 3 hours
Snacks: spaghetti for dinner
Thoughts: Snow pretty
Non-book activities: birdwatching, writing, pulling together information for our 2020 taxes

Total books finished: 3
Total read from: 3
Total time reading: 7 hours

Read 8 chapters of Vagabond Stars A World History of Yiddish Theatre- it is very good!

Saturday night check-n
Books read from: Jim Crow's Children: The Broken Promise of the Brown Decision by Peter Irons. I am also slowly reading the second autobiography of children's author Beverly Cleary - My Own Two Feet. I started the next book for my real life book discussion group. It is Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town by Jon Krakauer. My recorded book is Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry.

Books finished this weekend: 1 Bruno, Chief of Police by Martin Walker
Time reading since last report: 1 hour
Time posting:
Snacks: I made taco's from some old tortilla's and left over hamburger.

Thoughts: It is a cold wet dreary day. It started out misting this morning and cold for this time of year in this geographic area of the U.S. I got the dishes done. Sheets into the dryer. Went to the grocery store and I thought that since it was a cold day that the grocery store would not be crowded. Wrong. I haven't seen it that busy in a long time. I did stock up, but my plans to make soup and get some cookie dough into the refrigerator went awry. I just didn't have the energy when I got back. I did read for an hour this afternoon. I picked up My Own Two Feet and started reading. This is children's author, librarian, and now centenarian, Beverly Cleary's second part of her autobiography. I enjoyed the first one Girl From Yamhill so I got a used copy of this one. I confess I read the first one because I am interested in the Yamhill, Oregon area because of its great wine growing. Cleary grew up in that town, which is now the center of pinot noir production in Oregon. From there she moved to Portland where she graduated from High School. This memoir starts at the time she left home to attend college in California. It is written for children so it is easy reading. Perfect for a cold winter day's reading.
Books Read From: 4
Books Finished: 1

Total time reading this weekend: 2 hours

Total books finished since the read-a-thon began: 102
Total read from: 107
Total time reading since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 286 hours since April 2020.

Books read from: 2, The Dutch House by Ann Patchett and The Exploits & Adventures of Miss Alethea Darcy by Elizabeth Aston
Books finished: none this period
Time reading: 2 hours
Time posting: none
Food : lime selzer water
Thoughts: Where have the cats vanished to? Why is it so cold outside?
Non-book activities: Listening to the "New Standards" Saturday evening show on WNYC FM streaming. They do four hours of everything from Gershwin to Carole King (in honor of the 50th anniversary of "Tapestry") and Eva Cassidy singing "Bridge Over Troubled Water"). Just what the doctor ordered.

Total books finished: 1 (The Mercenary by Paul Vidich
Total read from: 6 (the above and Hitler: Downfall by Volker Ulrich, The Old Enemy by Henry Porter and Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam
Total time reading: 12 hours

I've done a good job starting books this weekend, but not so good at finishing many of them...

Sunday evening checkin: 8.00pm

Books read from: The story of the last thought by Edgar Hilsenrath
Books finished:
Time reading: .5 hrs

Snacks: spicy chicken rice
Thoughts: what does level 3 lockdown entail?
Non-book activities: outing to Birkenhead to visit filipino bakery, enjoy a latte

Total books finished: 1 The Last Kashmiri Rose
Total read from: 4
Total time reading: 8 hrs

Another busy day, hopefully this evening I'll do better. We're heading into a 3 day lockdown from midnight tonight, so I'll carry on reading.

>52 benitastrnad: I visited Portland in 2002 for a crime fiction convention, and we stayed for a few days afterwards and looked around at places, and the library building there is really interesting - the children's library is named after Beverly Cleary.

Books read from: 8
Penelope Lively, Pack of Cards
Jane Smiley, Golden Age
Laura McVeigh, Under the Almond Tree
Colson Whitehead, The Nickel Boys
Lissa Evans, V for Victory
Dorothy Whipple, Young Anne
Sydney Taylor, All-of-a-Kind-Family Downtown
Kerry Hudson, Lowborn

Books finished: 0
Pages read: 164
Time reading: a few hours
Non-book activities: WhatsApp and Facebook reading and posting, Bejeweled Blitz, snoozing and listening to the radio

Total books finished: 1 Sita Brahmachari, Tender Earth
Total read from: 10
See all 9 above plus Elly Griffiths, The Night Hawks
Total pages read: 315
Total time reading: a few hours (vaguely!)

Report on Saturday reading:

Books read from: Paradise, Devil in a Blue Dress, A Promised Land
Books finished: 0
Time reading: 1.5 hours reading, 2.5 hours listening
Pages read: 109
Time posting: 0
Snacks: patty melt and sweet potato fries
Thoughts: it has been snowing and icing here all day. Miserable weather is good for reading but why do people keep distracting me? Can I say no to adult daughter’s work/life drama and go back to my book?
Non-book activities: yoga, farmers market, more talking my daughter through a work crisis, made two kinds of soup, watched The Dig

Total books finished: 0
Total read from: 3
Total time reading: 3 hours reading, 2.5 hours listening

Sunday morning 10:45 am

Books read from:
* Bible (ESV),
* Old Testament Words for Today by Warren W. Wiersbe
* Near to the Heart of God by Robert J. Morgan
* Magnify His Name by Ed White
* The Black Lizard Big Book of Locked-Room Mysteries edited by Otto Penzler
* Orley Farm by Anthony Trollope
* Lavender Blue Murder by Laura Childs
Books finished: The Black Lizard Big Book of Locked-Room Mysteries edited by Otto Penzler
Time reading: 2 hours 30 minutes
Time posting:
Snacks: Breakfast was sausage gravy with biscuits
Thoughts:
Non-book activities: sleeping, grocery store run, online church

Total books finished: 4
Total read from: 10
Total time reading: 13 hours 30 minutes

Sunday lunchtime check in:

Books read from: The Kid
Books finished: none
Non-book activities: I'm trying to walk 100km a month, which means getting out and walking everyday. Today was only 2.5km.

Total books finished: 0
Total read from: 4

Sunday at noon

Books:
halfway through an absolutely remarkable thing
Have also started Becoming by M. Obama and
the guardians, John Grisham
still listening to the huntress, Kate Quinn

Breakfast: oatmeal with pecans and dried fruit. Thinking of an English muffin for 2nd breakfast.

Other activity:
watched Woody Allen movie "Wonder Wheel'. Should have stuck with my book instead. .
Reading the Sunday papers.

weather: cold and rainy in Charlotte NC.

thoughts:
working to conjure up energy to make some goodies to take to my niece and family for Valentine's Day.

Sunday AFternoon:

Books Read From: Orley Farm and Three Parts Dead - the later an audiobook.

Grilled Cheese Sandwich for lunch.

Weather : chilly(for us Floridians) cloudy and not very cheery.

Thoughts: It's been a week since our second covid shot. Far less anxiety, as far as what is going on now. One more week and we'll be even safer. Also, a week in I had a tiny sort of fever last night. Two tylenol and it was fine. I never felt badly. My arm swelled up a little and got hot and itchy but that only lasted one night.

Books read from: 7
Elly Griffiths, The Night Hawks
Penelope Lively, Pack of Cards
Jane Smiley, Golden Age
Laura McVeigh, Under the Almond Tree
Colson Whitehead, The Nickel Boys
Lissa Evans, V for Victory
Dorothy Whipple, Young Anne

Books finished: 0
Pages read: 215
Time reading: a few hours between 12 noon and 5 pm
Non-book activities: WhatsApp and FB reading and posting, including a whole set of photos of my older son as a baby which came up as a FB memory from 12/13 years ago - some particularly lovely ones with my dad and with a goat at a City Farm, Bejeweled Blitz, snoozing and listening to the radio

Total books finished: 1 Sita Brahmachari, Tender Earth
Total read from: 10 also including All-of-a-Kind-Family Downtown and Lowborn
Total pages read Friday 12 February to Sunday 14 February: 530
Total time reading: a few hours (vaguely!)

I've almost finished The Night Hawks including, I think, the inevitable scary scenes when Ruth Galloway and other series favourite characters put themselves in the way of danger and I think, ohhh, you really should have learned by #13 in the series. I think one of the things I like about this series is that Ruth and Nelson are about my age (the author's just a few years older).

Sunday noon check-in
Books read from: I have read very little in Jim Crow's Children: The Broken Promise of the Brown Decision by Peter Irons. I read a huge chunk of the second autobiography of children's author Beverly Cleary - My Own Two Feet, so far this weekend. I started the next book for my real life book discussion group. It is Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town by Jon Krakauer. I also started Dark Vineyard by Martin Walker - this is book two in the Bruno Courreges series set in France's Dordogne region. My recorded book is Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry.

Books finished this weekend: 1 Bruno, Chief of Police by Martin Walker
Time reading since last report: 2 hours
Time posting:
Snacks: I had Indian food for lunch today.

Thoughts: Clearly my Beverly Cleary memoir/autobiography has captured my weekend reading interests. It is probably because it is simple easy reading since it was intended for a children's audience so it written on about a 4th grade level. I found it perfect for a cold winter no brainer kind of day's reading. I discovered why the grocery store was so crowded yesterday. Some nitwit has declared a weather emergency for Alabama because there might be bad weather. Schools that are open are canceling for tomorrow because it will be too cold to have school. This is something that they do regularly in Alabama and that I find frustrating. Imagine the people of North Dakota calling off school because there MIGHT be bad weather. The people in North Dakota call off school because there IS bad weather. This is a practice that has frustrated me for the last 30 years that I have lived in Alabama. Their excuse is that they are not prepared for bad weather. Who is? Or is it is consistent then start preparing for it.
Books Read From: 5
Books Finished: 1

Total time reading this weekend: 4 hours

Total books finished since the read-a-thon began: 102
Total read from: 107
Total time reading since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 288 hours since April 2020.

Moday morning checkin: 8.30am

Books read from: The Nowhere Child by Christian White, Eight Detectives by Alex Pavesi
Books finished: 1 The Nowhere Child by Christian White
Time reading: 2 hrs

Snacks: -
Thoughts: so many books to read
Non-book activities: messaging daughter in London, internet activity, tidying up in kitchen, sleep

Total books finished: 2 The Last Kashmiri Rose, The Nowhere Child
Total read from: 5
Total time reading: 10 hrs

Level 3 lockdown for the next three days, so I'll be reading.
Started on my e-loan of Eight Detectives because there are 4 people waiting for it.

>64 avatiakh:: I missed that your daughter is in London. How long has she been here for?

Sunday afternoon check-in:

Books read from: Race Against Time
Books finished: Race Against Time
Time reading: ?
Time posting: ?
Snacks: lunch was roast chicken, asparagus, and petite potatoes with lemon butter
Thoughts: Just finished my first 5-star book of the year!
Non-book activities: Zoom church, cooking lunch, genealogy. I've just connected with one new cousin in each grandfather's family. I never knew either grandfather's family growing up, and one of my grandfathers died in 1943 so I never even knew him, so it's always exciting to find those connections.

Total books finished: 1
Total read from: 3
Total time reading: ?

>65 elkiedee: Over ten years now. She and her partner left NZ for Japan and spent a winter there working in the snow before continuing to the UK. They're UK citizens now.

Sunday 4:00 pm

Books read from: Paradise, A Promised Land
Books finished: 0
Time reading: 65 minutes reading, 103 minutes listening
Pages read: 72
Time posting: 0
Snacks: lunch was Moussaka with orzo

Thoughts: I have been reading very very slowly. I might switch to something lighter just to feel like I’m making progress.

Non-book activities: yoga, laundry, Dishes, dog walk, New York Times

Total books finished: 0
Total read from: 3
Total time reading: 4 hours 5 minutes reading, 4 hours 13 min listening

It's already late afternoon in Rhode Island, to my astonishment.

Books read from: 2, Hitler: Downfall by Volker Ulrich, Lorna Mott Comes Home by Diane Johnson and The Exploits & Adventures of Miss Alethea Darcy by Elizabeth Aston
Books finished: 1 The Exploits & Adventures of Miss Alethea Darcy
Time reading: 5 hours
Time posting: none
Food : hot cross buns
Thoughts: Tired of being fatigued??
Non-book activities: Dealt with a few e-mails, checked Facebook.

Total books finished: 2 (The Mercenary by Paul Vidich and The Exploits & Adventures of Miss Alethea Darcy by Elizabeth Aston
Total read from: 7 (the above and The Old Enemy by Henry Porter, The Dutch House by Ann Patchett and Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam
Total time reading: 17 hours

Well, at least I'm getting plenty of rest this weekend, and hopefully won't have a recurrence of tremors in my left hand that bothered me so much early last week. That was scary.

Sunday evening check in:

Books read from: The Kid, The Mountain Between Us
Time posting: 6:30pm
Snacks: I just ordered pizza!

Total books finished: 0
Total read from: 4

Sunday 6 pm update

Books read from:
* The Passion of Anne Hutchinson by Marilyn J. Westerkamp
* Lavender Blue Murder by Laura Childs
Books finished:
Time reading: 4 hours
Time posting:
Snacks: Late lunch was a baked chicken breast on Spanish rice with Mexican cheese sauce
Thoughts:
Non-book activities: mostly a lot of cat petting

Total books finished: 4
Total read from: 10
Total time reading: 17 hours 30 minutes

Sunday 5 PM from Seattle

Books read from: Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies by Seth Holmes and Tremontaine: The Complete Season 1 by Ellen Kushner
Books finished: 0
Time reading: 4 hours
Snacks: My husband is making lentils for dinner
Thoughts: I wish I'd skipped that afternoon nap--I've got that post-nap fog where you're more tired than if you hadn't bothered.
Non-book activities: birdwatching, writing, Zoom church

Total books finished: 3
Total read from: 5
Total time reading: 11 hours

Sunday evening check-in:

Books read from: Orley Farm
Books finished:
Time reading: ?
Time posting: ?
Snacks: pumpkin spice oatmeal, tea
Thoughts: I'm excited to have connected with several cousins this weekend!
Non-book activities: Long phone conversation with newly discovered cousin, cleaning up the kitchen, walking the dog, laundry

Total books finished: 1
Total read from: 3
Total time reading: ?

I'm going to read a story from In the Teeth of the Evidence, this week's chapters from Chasing Vines, and then call it a day. It's been another successful readathon for me, even though I had some unexpected but welcome distractions!

Sunday 10 pm check-in:

Books read from:
* The Passion of Anne Hutchinson by Marilyn J. Westerkamp
* Lavender Blue Murder by Laura Childs
Books finished: Lavender Blue Murder by Laura Childs
Time reading: 2 hours 30 minutes
Time posting:
Snacks: a cookie
Thoughts:
Non-book activities: mostly a lot of cat petting

Total books finished: 5
Total read from: 10
Total time reading: 20 hours

10:25pm - Sunday

Books read from: 3 C is for corpse, The Age of Doubt and Bertie Plays the Blues
Books finished: 1
Time reading: 3 hours

Food : leftover Chinese for dinner
Non-book activities: Puzzle

Total books finished: 2 Behind the beautiful forevers & C is for corpse
Total read from: 4
Total time reading: 6 hours

I will continue readathon on Monday for holiday

I finished Vagabond Stars since it is the first edition 1974- I know that a lot more has happened with Yiddish theatre since then. But the early chapters were very good.
Dinner- mashed sweet potato, salad, left over baked chicken and apple for dessert.

Sunday, midnight. I'm such a night owl.

Books:
still reading the same as mentioned above; mostly an absolutely remarkable thing.
However, I got distracted today by
Other activities:
took treats and valentine's to my niece and her little ones. Talked to my son about a visit to California this summer. Talked to my sister who made an offer on a new house; she's moving back here to N.C. soon. Watched PBS - all creatures great and small and the long song.

dinner: leftover pasta and ice cream

Weather: cold and cloudy, more rain tomorrow.

Books read from: 3 Did You Ever Have a Family, A Burning & The Girl With the Louding Voice
Books finished: 1
Time reading: 10 hours
Time posting:
Food : Lebanese Chicken Biriyani and felafel.
Thoughts: A long weekend / a magnificent seven
Non-book activities: Music Playlist; watch my beloved Leeds United get hammered at Arsenal

Total books finished: 5 Bury the Dead by Carter & Rivers of London by Aaronovitch, Around the World in 80 Days by Verne, Woods, etc. by Oswald and Did You Ever Have a Family by Clegg

Total read from: 7

Total time reading: 33 hours

Pages read : 1,409

I ran out of steam on Sunday afternoon with tired eyes and a little bit of distraction due to planning a Valentines Day dinner for two. The good lady wife was unfortunately under the weather and my elaborate plans came to naught!

Still 5 books over the weekend is something I am pleased with.

Sunday, midnight.

>77 nrmay: I'm not a night owl; I'm not a lark. To cite a meme I posted on my FB page today, I'm a Perpetually Exhausted Pigeon.

Books read from: 1, Hitler: Downfall by Volker Ulrich,
Books finished: 1 (see above)
Time reading: 5 hours
Time posting: 30 mins??
Food : chicken pot pie.
Thoughts: Brain dead. (See reference to perpetually exhausted pigeon, above)
Non-book activities: A little bit of organization. Made lunch/dinner. Battled migraine.

Total books finished: 2 (The Mercenary by Paul Vidich, The Exploits & Adventures of Miss Alethea Darcy by Elizabeth Aston and Hitler: Downfall by Volker Ullrich
Total read from: 7 (the above and The Old Enemy by Henry Porter, The Dutch House by Ann Patchett, Lorna Mott Comes Home and Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam
Total time reading: 22 hours

I'll keep reading tomorrow, although I also will have to do some work.

One interesting thing about this Ullrich bio of Hitler (beyond the fact that he relies almost exclusively on contemporary sources, mostly German, and evaluates claims of later historians) is the eerie echoes I hear when contemplating Donald Trump. No, not genocidal mania. But the paranoia, the shrieking at underlings and accusations of betrayal and treachery (not to mention the frequent firings). The fact that those underlings shook in their shoes and feared confronting him. The fact that both Hitler and Trump saw themselves as the sole people able to "save" their countries, and tended to hyperbole when describing their achievements. The idea that they should never be deprived of their power, and that it should be absolute. The biggest difference? Thus far, Trump is a less effective, less "thoughtful" Hitler. By thoughtful, I mean that Trump is ahistorical, whereas Hitler was at least knowledgeable about the history he proceeded to distort; he actually had read a fair amount, from history to military stuff. (Hitler also wasn't lazy, alas.) Effective? Well, Hitler channeled his megalomania into a world war, which Trump (so far) hasn't done. No, I'm not trying to draw false comparisons. I know that for all his rhetoric, Trump could never have organized anything like the Holocaust and didn't have the philosophy (however twisted and insane) that led to that. We should thank heavens that Trump was as ineffective as he was.

I haven't read the first volume of Ullrich's bio yet, as I feel I've read a lot about Weimar and post WW1 Europe recently, but this book was good enough (balancing the timeline/facts with comments on themes ranging from the Berghof to the Holocaust and the July 20 plot) for me to double back to it, but not just yet. It was just very intense to immerse myself in that story. I continue to struggle with the problem of evil in the world....

Sunday midnight

Books read from: Paradise, A Promised Land
Books finished: 1
Time reading: 3 hours 15 minutes reading, 1 hour 47 minutes listening
Pages read: 128
Time posting: 5 min
Snacks: dinner was chips and guacamole, skirt steak, roasted Brussels sprouts, beet salad (ordered delivery from fancy Mexican place because it's Valentine's Day)

Thoughts: I finished a book! I'm going to continue to read for a little while before I go to sleep but won't be posting until morning.

Non-book activities: dishes, dinner,

Total books finished: 1
Total read from: 3
Total time reading: 7 hours 20 minutes reading, 6 hours listening

>78 PaulCranswick: Hope Hanni feels better soon. That's a very impressive number of pages and books finished.

Monday morning check in:

Books read from: The Kid, Skeletons at the Feast, Such a Fun Age
Books finished: none
Snacks: leftover pizza and coffee
Thoughts: I'm thinking of returning Skeletons at the Feast to the library. The writing and the plot are great but I just can't face the bleakness of the story right now.
Non-book activities: I have to do some cleaning today so I don't get buried under an avalanche of my own filth.

Total books finished: 0
Total read from: 5

Monday 9:00 am (still reading)

I have President's Day off today, and although I have to catch up on some work, I will continue reading.

Books read from: Devil in a Blue Dress, Seven Guitars
Books finished: 1
Time reading: 2 hours
Pages read: 111
Time posting: 15 min

Snacks: espresso

Thoughts: Trying to make the most of a day off.

Non-book activities: sleeping

Total books finished: 2 (Paradise, Devil in a Blue Dress)
Total read from: 4
Total time reading: 9 hours 20 minutes reading, 6 hours listening

Monday morning check-in

Books read from: Slough House, The Data Detective
Books finished: 0
Time reading: 5 hours
Time posting: 10:15 AM
Snacks: coffee, bagel, boiled egg

Thoughts: Tim Harford, the author of The Data Detective, has a great podcast called More Or Less on statistics.

Non-book activities: cleaning

Total books finished: 0
Total read from: 2
Total time reading: 5 hours

I decided not to carry my reading over into today since I will head into work to cover the afternoon/evening shift before long. I read about 30-45 more minutes out of a new book The Tombigbee River Steamboats: Rollodores, Dead Heads and Sidewheelers by Rufus Ward. When I purchased the book, I feared it might be more focused on the lower part of the river, but it appears the author may be from Columbus which is in an adjacent county to the one in which I grew up. The river was important in my family's life, and it is great to see the author's treatment of it in a bygone era--the age of steamboats. I purchased the Kindle version when I bought it, but I think this is one I want to own in print so I'll be on the lookout for a used copy in good shape. This book will make its way into my genealogical narratives when appropriate. It's quite readable, and I'm loving the photographs which mostly come from the Columbus-Lowndes County library.

Monday afternoon check-in
Books read from: I have read very little in Jim Crow's Children: The Broken Promise of the Brown Decision by Peter Irons. I started the next book for my real life book discussion group. It is Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town by Jon Krakauer. I also started Dark Vineyard by Martin Walker - this is book two in the Bruno Courreges series set in France's Dordogne region. My recorded book is Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry.

Books finished this weekend: 2 Bruno, Chief of Police by Martin Walker, and My Own Two Feet: A Memoir by Beverly Cleary
Time reading since last report: 15 hour
Time posting:
Snacks: oatmeal for breakfast and I will have ramen noodles for lunch in a few minutes.

Thoughts: I had not planned to participate today because today as a regular workday for me. However, with the weather advisory the university decided to call off school today, so I had a workday at home. It is raining and getting colder so the rain will start freezing soon. My colleague and I worked on our journal article and we posted our revision today. That means I can bake cookies today and read for the rest of the afternoon.
Books Read From: 5
Books Finished: 2

Total time reading this weekend: 5.5 hours

Total books finished since the read-a-thon began: 103
Total read from: 107
Total time reading since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 289.5 hours since April 2020.

So much for good intentions. I've done almost zero reading today.

6 PM Seattle time on Presidents Day:

Books read from: Tremontaine: The Complete Season 1 by Ellen Kushner
Books finished: 0
Time reading: 2 hours
Snacks: Waiting on delivery from Shake Shack
Thoughts: Wish the snow would melt faster--I'm hoping to make a store run tomorrow without having to shovel the driveway.
Non-book activities: birdwatching, writing

Total books finished: 3
Total read from: 5
Total time reading: 13 hours

Monday 11 pm (end of President's Day weekend)


Books read from: Seven Guitars, Difficult Women, A Promised Land, Locking Up Our Own
Books finished: 0
Time reading: 2.5 hours, 2 hours listening
Pages read: 170
Time posting: 1 hour

Snacks: curried chicken and rice, glass of red wine

Thoughts: Time to gear up for the work week.

Non-book activities: zoom yoga, made banana pancakes, started a sourdough loaf, laundry, dishes

Total books finished: 2 (Paradise, Devil in a Blue Dress)
Total read from: 6
Total time reading: 11 hours 50 minutes reading, 8 hours listening

Books read from: 5
Elly Griffiths, The Night Hawks
Penelope Lively, Pack of Cards
Jane Smiley, Golden Age
Laura McVeigh, Under the Almond Tree
Colson Whitehead, The Nickel Boys

Books finished: 1
Pages read: 91
Time reading: A few minutes late Saturday evening, then some time Sunday morning, fell asleep when I went upstairs to read so a little more Sunday evening and finally finished the last few pages of The Night Hawks just before midnight!
Non-book activities: WhatsApp and FB reading, and a Zoom meeting to discuss a campaign for a project which local councillors on the Planning Committee want to vote down for very dubious reasons and are hiding behind equally dodgy excuses.

Total books finished: 2 Sita Brahmachari, Tender Earth and The Night Hawks
Total read from: 10 - details of the other 3 above
Total pages read Friday 12 February to Sunday 14 February: 621
Total time reading: a few hours (vaguely!)

Monday update: Tuesday 8:15am

Books read from: 1 The Long Call
Books finished: 0
Time reading: 1.5 hours

Food : Beer battered cod and mac n cheese
Non-book activities: Puzzle, watched a couple of episodes of the American Pickers

Total books finished: 2 Behind the beautiful forevers & C is for corpse
Total read from: 4
Total time reading:7.5 hours

Tues at noon, weekend wrap-up

Books:
finally finished an absolutely remarkable thing. :|
now engrossed in the seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo; liking it a lot.
I took a long walk between the raindrops and listened to the huntress by Kate Quinn.

food:
dinner last night was takeout BBQ from my new favorite place. I like eastern NC style BBQ with the vinegar-base sauce and red slaw.
>88 susanna.fraser:
thinking of you with sympathy, Susanna. I lived in Seattle for a long time and never found great BBQ.

weather: sunny, 50 F. in Charlotte NC

other activity:
looking at porch furniture online. New sun porch will FlNALLY be finished tomorrow when the HVAC mini-split unit is due to be installed.
Took 5 months to complete. Work began in SEPT to merely extend existing porch 4' and install windows.

(frozen) Tuesday evening checkin - I didn't plan on participating today but since I was at home all day I spent time in between Zoom meetings reading bits and pieces.

Books read from: I have read very little in Jim Crow's Children: The Broken Promise of the Brown Decision by Peter Irons. I started the next book for my real life book discussion group. It is Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town by Jon Krakauer. I also started Dark Vineyard by Martin Walker - this is book two in the Bruno Courreges series set in France's Dordogne region and it is where I spent most of my reading time today. My recorded book is Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry.

Books finished this weekend: 2 Bruno, Chief of Police by Martin Walker, and My Own Two Feet: A Memoir by Beverly Cleary
Time reading since last report: 1.5 hour
Time posting:
Snacks: supper will be left over Thai Take-out

Thoughts: It is freezing in Tuscaloosa. We even had snow on the ground this morning. I made a batch of soup and it was so good. nice and warm. I read a couple of chapters in Dark Vineyard and once again food is front and center. So far there has been an incident at a winery and a visit to a cheese maker. The descriptions of the French countryside are wonderful - as are the descriptions of the food. Tomorrow it is back to work.
Books Read From: 5
Books Finished: 2

Total time reading this weekend: 7 hours

Total books finished since the read-a-thon began: 103
Total read from: 107
Total time reading since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 291 hours since April 2020.

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/329902