Social Distancing Readathon #61 - May 14 -16

Welcome to another readathon!

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. Luci (elkiedee) -- London, UK
3. Nancy (nrmay) -- North Carolina, USA
4. Dee (Deedledee) -- Nova Scotia, Canada
5. Cyrel (torontoc) -- Toronto, Canada
6. Lori (thornton37814) -- Tennessee, USA
7. Kerry (avatiakh) -- Auckland, New Zealand
8. Anne (AnneDC) -- Washington DC, USA
9. Susanna (susanna.fraser) -- Seattle, Washington, USA
10. Suzanne (Chatterbox) -- Rhode Island, USA
11. Carrie (cbl_tn) -- Seymour, Tennessee, USA
12. Benita (benitastrnad) -- Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA

I will join in!

I'm in!

I'll be finishing midnight at the Blackbird Cafe by Heather Webber.

My brother and sister-in-law here for the weekend but I'll find some time to read.

I'm in too.

I'm in- I have my Early Reviewers book to read which just got a "Trillium Award" nomination. (Ontario book award)

I will join although I won't have a lot of time on Saturday to read. Hopefully I can get some reading done on Friday night and Sunday afternoon/evening.

I'll come back in again too.

Sign me up for this weekend. I'll be getting my second COVID shot in the morning and hoping to lie low the rest of the day--reading.

Count me in again.

Wotthehell, why not. I'm working late tomorrow afternoon/evening, and Saturday afternoon (my final retail gigs) so before Sunday my time will be a bit limited. On Sunday, I plan/hope to plant the veggie seedlings I bought early this week.

Checkin: Sat 9.00am Auckland, NZ

Books read from: The cook of the Halcyon by Andrea Camilleri
Books finished: 0
Time reading: 2hrs

Snacks: none as yet
Thoughts: where's my morning coffee
Non-book activities: catching up on the news

Total books finished: 0
Total read from: 1
Total time reading: 2hrs

Hope to finish this Montalbano novel and The Fine Art of Invisible Detection this weekend. Have a ticket to a Neil Gaiman event tomorrow morning and looking forward to that.

I am in. I've got a lot on my agenda for tomorrow but I should have time to read in between chores and errands.

My main reading focus this weekend will be Inside of a Dog and The Collected Short Fiction of Ngaio Marsh.

I just finished Seven by Farzana Doctor and have returned to the new Ross King book.

I will be joining in. I will be reading, but won’t have time to post. I am traveling this weekend and attending a graduation, so I am reading. Just probably will post only once.

Friday night check-in from Seattle:

Books read from: Angel of the Overpass
Books finished: none
Time reading: 2 hours
Food: Fried chicken & salad for dinner
Thoughts: Suddenly everything in my life is talking about returning to in-person activities. Some of it is delightful, some of it overwhelming.
Non-book activities: Wrote Postcards to Voters for an upcoming special election in New Mexico.

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

Saturday 9:30 am check-in (for Friday night and Saturday morning reading):

Books read from: Bible (ESV), Near to the Heart of God by Robert J. Morgan, All That's Good: Recovering the Lost Art of Discernment by Hannah Anderson, The Soul of the Family Tree: Ancestors, Stories, and the Spirits We Inherit by Lori Erickson, An Amish Husband for Tillie by Amy Lillard
Books finished: 0
Time reading: 4
Time posting:
Snacks: Breakfast was apple cinnamon muffins, bacon, and coffee
Thoughts:
Non-book activities: Reading over board reports for meeting, petting and feeding cats

Total books finished: 0
Total read from: 5
Total time reading: 4 hours

>11 avatiakh:
Is this event with Neil Gaiman, live and in person?! Lucky you!
>15 susanna.fraser:
Got very used to staying home and my own company. Limiting my outings to no more than one a day so as not to be overwelmed.

Sat, mid-afternoon

Books: 1/3 of the way throught Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe by Heather Webber. Someone compared it to the magic realism of Sarah Addison Allen's novels, so I thought I would like it. So far, so good.

Lunch: NC pulled pork BBQ sandwich and half of a blood orange cider.

Other activity:
Hanging out with my brother and sister-in-law
jigsaw puzzle
'Sorry' - the board game
Watched the movie of Those who wish me dead. Book was better...

weather in Charlotte NC:
mostly sunny, 75 F. (24 C.)

10 pm Saturday - from 5 pm Friday

I finished a novel, Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers, on Thursday night (the story) and Friday morning/early afternoon (a historical afterword, acknowledgements and about the author). Since then and from 5 pm Friday I've read a little, but not much. Am hoping to do better now and all day tomorrow, as I have more time to focus on reading then.

Books read from: 4
Liz Moore, The Words of Every Song
Hisham Matar, The Return
Elizabeth George Speare, The Witch of Blackbird Pond
Patrick Gale, Three Decades of Stories

Books finished: 0
Pages read: 41
Thoughts: I hate shoe shopping
Non-book activities: Shoe shopping hell! An expedition to buy some much needed shoes for C from a local branch of a sportswear shop. School uniform allows trainers (sneakers) but they have to be completely black and very plain, and this is something of a challenge, as is persuading a 12 year old that you're not objecting to his choice of shoes but you do need to feel confidence that the fit is ok when he walks around and they won't hurt his growing feet etc. And I'm also a bit nervous about school but at this point I'm more worried about being able to send him in in shoes which keep the rain out and don't hurt his feet than I am about the letter of the uniform.

Total books finished: 0
Total pages read: 41
Total read from: 4
Total time reading: Not nearly enough, Did I say I hate shoe shopping?

Saturday 6:30 PM check-in:

Books read from: The Soul of the Family Tree: Ancestors, Stories, and the Spirits We Inherit by Lori Erickson, An Amish Husband for Tillie by Amy Lillard
Books finished: The Soul of the Family Tree: Ancestors, Stories, and the Spirits We Inherit by Lori Erickson
Time reading: 2 hours
Time posting:
Snacks: Homemade taquitos for lunch; cheese & crackers for supper
Thoughts:
Non-book activities: genealogical society board meeting, petting and feeding cats, napping with cats, finishing a crossword puzzle book

Total books finished: 1
Total read from: 5
Total time reading: 6 hours

It will probably be tomorrow afternoon before I review the book I completed on my thread.

Books read from: The Windsor Knot by SJ Bennett
Books finished: 0
Time reading: 2hrs

Snacks: ham sandwiches for lunch
Thoughts: ouch. I hurt. Very glad I swapped out my last retail shift.
Non-book activities: quick errand to dollar store for basics, starting to prepare for yard sale next Saturday

Total books finished: 0
Total read from: 1
Total time reading: 2hrs

I did listen to an old Thomas Perry mystery featuring Jane Whitefield -- the first in the series, which remains one of the best -- to help me cope with last night's migraine, but I'm not counting that.

>17 nrmay: Yes. Just got back from the event. Masses of people so we didn't bother with the book signing queue. He currently lives on Waiheke Island which is a ferry ride away from Auckland city so was an 'in person' event.
Getting to hear him talk in person has been on my bucket list for a long while so was very happy to get to this.
There were some great questions from the audience at the end of the session too which rounded off the morning nicely.

Checkin: Sun 2.30pm Auckland, NZ

Books read from: The art of invisible detection by Robert Goddard
Books finished: 0
Time reading: 2hrs

Snacks: potato, feta, egg, spinach frittata
Thoughts: need to read my own books
Non-book activities: trip to central city for Neil Gaiman event, watching Korean tv

Total books finished: The cook of the Halcyon by Andrea Camilleri
Total read from: 2
Total time reading: 4hrs

It's just after midnight Sat night/Sun morning in Rhode Island. I had forgotten that tomorrow late a.m. (well, Sunday late a.m.) is a Zoom reunion of everyone who has ever worked for the Wall St Journal in NYC, which includes yours truly. So I shall have to get some sleep quite soon.

Books read from: The Windsor Knot by SJ Bennett and the audiobook of The Spider: Inside the Criminal Web of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell by Barry Levine
Books finished: 2
Time reading: 4.5 hours

Snacks: a strawberry jam crepe
Thoughts: Well, the mystery was unexpectedly good and entertaining; the nonfiction book disappointed. It promised to delve into Epstein's network and what he actually did for people, but the author clearly doesn't understand finance or wealth management and simply calls Epstein a "financier". Also, too much gratuitous rehashing of all the gory details of this dreadful case, without shedding enough new light on what actually happened (there's a lot of "it may have been" or "so and so may have thought" in this book, which always is annoying, and a giveaway sign that the author either isn't a great reporter or couldn't get to the facts, or the facts didn't live up to his hopes.)
Non-book activities: watered the veggie seedlings, due to be planted tomorrow weather permitting.

Total books finished: 2
Total read from: 2
Total time reading: 6,5 hours

I think I'll move on to another mystery, and seek out a nonfiction audiobook. I also want to finish Nives by Sacha Naspini, which is simultaneously hilarious/quirky and an intense character study.

10 PM Saturday in Seattle

>17 nrmay: We went to a Mariners game tonight and sat in their fully vaccinated section. We were still supposed to mask unless we were eating or drinking, but that left plenty of time to be maskless, interacting with other maskless people. It felt weird for sure, but it was also lovely

Books read from: Angel of the Overpass
Books finished: Angel of the Overpass
Time reading: 3 hours
Food: Ballpark hotdog and soft pretzel
Thoughts: This was a perfect evening for live baseball.
Non-book activities: Mariners game, farmers market, library

Total books finished: 1
Total read from: 1
Total time reading: 5 hours

Sunday morning update:

I read a little bit of Inside of a Dog Friday evening and yesterday. My day took an unexpected turn yesterday morning. Instead of going to the groomer's, Adrian spent the morning at the vet's. He seemed to be in distress and I didn't want to end up at the emergency vet this weekend. His vet is open until 1 p.m. on Saturdays, and they worked him in. The good news is that his gallbladder situation is no worse. The bad news is the cost of all the ultrasounds and bloodwork is adding up.

Books read from this weekend: Born a Crime by Trevor Noah, Nomadland by Jessica Bruder, and The Truth According to Us by Annie Barrows.

Finished:
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
Noah's memoir talks about his upbringing in South Africa along with information about apartheid and it's impact.

Weekend is over for me and I've still got a bit of The fine art of invisible detection by Robert Goddard to go. I'm not that engaged with the story so it slows down my reading.
I also have a children's book, Mulbridge Manor by James Reeves, on the go.

Nonbook activity - watched final episode of season 6: Line of Duty
Snacks: steak & broccoli dinner

Sunday 9 p.m. check-in:

Books read from: Bible (ESV), Near to the Heart of God by Robert J. Morgan, All That's Good: Recovering the Lost Art of Discernment by Hannah Anderson, An Amish Husband for Tillie by Amy Lillard
Books finished: An Amish Husband for Tillie by Amy Lillard
Time reading: 4 hours
Time posting:
Snacks: Corn dog for supper
Thoughts: I finished the two I wanted to complete. Now I need to review both.
Non-book activities: Napping, Petting and feeding cats, working crossword puzzles, watching TV

Total books finished: 2
Total read from: 5
Total time reading: 10 hours

Late night Sunday - from 10 pm Saturday

A rather frustrating weekend, reading and otherwise - interruptions, fatigue and silly arguments. I did read just over 100 pages but haven't finished any books, though I'm much closer to finishing The Return, book #8 this month and book #56 this year.

Books read from: 6
Hisham Matar, The Return
Elizabeth George Speare, The Witch of Blackbird Pond
Patrick Gale, Three Decades of Stories
Rosemary Dinnage, Alone! Alone!: Lives of Some Outsider Women
Louise Welsh, Death is a Welcome Guest
Sarah Moss, Summerwater

Books finished: 0
Pages read: 104
Non-book activities: I think we need to get the kids to do their homework, and we did eventually do that today. But I find it really annoying that Conor was set history homework to design a recruitment poster for Christians to join the Crusades. This seems culturally insensitive in this area and this school (lots of Muslim families and one of London's bigger Jewish communities nearby) and it's very anachronistic and confusing historically (literacy, availability of paper, the organisation of feudal society)

Total books finished: 0
Total pages read: 145
Total read from: 7
Total time reading: Not nearly enough, Did I say I hate shoe shopping?

Monday morning check in

Books read from: I read a significant chunk in Brilliance and Fire: A Biography of Diamonds by Rachelle Bergstein. I started reading Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes for a book club that I am joining up here in the borderlands of Kansas/Nebraska. I listened to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rawling and started listening to Golden Tresses of the Dead the last Flavia DeLuce novel by Alan Bradley on this trip.

Books finished: Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan.
Time reading: 2 hours the entire weekend, but I listened to about 5 hours while driving from Topeka to home.
Time posting:
Food: This morning was a bagel and coffee. Coffee was made with the new coffee pot I purchased for my mother's house last Christmas. I am happy to report that the Bonavita 8 cup coffee maker works great. Now getting ready for my lunch which is a left over breakfast sandwich from Panera.

Thoughts: It has been a rainy wet trip. I started out driving in mist and ending it up in a driving rainstorm. I loved Botany of Desire. Pollan has such a unique way of presenting information and a unique way of looking at the food world that it makes you take a second look at your own habits and activities. Great stuff in that book. Well worth reading. I also listened to the entire book Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and think it is a very good kids book, but I still have trouble understanding why so many people were attracted to these books. The writing is naive and the plot simple. The author spends way too much time summarizing the plot throughout the book. This 800 page behemoth could have been 600 pages easily.
Non-book activities: I attended the law school graduation and had a great time with my niece and sister. We ate, ate, and ate. We talked, talked, and talked. It was a fun weekend. Both of us drove on home and went to visit our mother who is in a nursing home rehab facility. I hope to be able to bring her home this coming weekend, so now have to go about setting up all the services she is going to need in the coming weeks. I will be starting on that this afternoon when I go to visit her again. I can't believe that I don't have to wear a mask all the time. I do at the nursing home, but won't have to do that most other places I will be going.
Total books finished since the read-a-thon began: 125
Total read from: 133
Total time reading since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 370 hours since April 2020.

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/332341