Social Distancing Readathon #85 - October 29 - 31

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. Benita (benitastrnad) -- Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA
3. Lynda (Carmenere) -- Cleveland, Ohio, USA
4. PawsforThought -- Sweden
5. Nancy (nrmay) -- North Carolina, USA
6. Luci (elkiedee) -- London, UK
7. Susanna (susanna.fraser) -- Seattle, Washington, USA
8. Cyrel (torontoc) -- Toronto, Canada
9. Anne (AnneDC) -- Washington DC, USA
10. Chris (ChrisG1)
11. fuzzi -- North Carolina, USA
12. The_Hibernator (Rachel) - Richfield, Minnesota, USA

I will be participating again this weekend. I will be doing my knitting class again, but I will still have time to read.

I will be joining in this weekend. The Martian Chronicles will be my main read.

I’ll try my best to take part this weekend as I have two books I want to finish before the end of the month: Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes and Shirley Jackson’s The Sundial.
My brother’s family are coming over, though, and I also have some TV episodes I want to watch so we’ll see how it goes.

I'm in again.

Just started The Secrets We Kept for book club next week.

I'm in, hoping to make progress with some library books which I won't be able to renew because of other reservatons and others.

I'm back in this weekend, despite having a fairly busy schedule. I'm on altar guild duty at church this weekend, and we're in the midst of clearing out a mound of clutter in our garage so it'll be clear for the contractors we're having in to redo our main bathroom starting week after next, and reading will be a nice break from all that.

I'm in- I will be finishing Fight Night by Miriam Toews

I'll be reading this weekend. I've had an intense work week and am looking forward to some down time.

I'm in again. In the midst of The Mirror and the Light, as well as The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway. Both excellent, but lengthy & not to be rushed through. Daughter & SIL visiting with the new granddaughter, so we'll see how much reading gets done...

It's 3:56pm Cleveland time. Rainy and cold, I've got my fireplace going, book in hand, kitties close by and I'm about to start my evening of reading.

I just finished Fight Night by Miriam Toews- excellent read!

Friday update

Books reading from: Slowly reading Color of the Sea by John Hamamura and a book of short stories titled Last Chicken in America: A Novel in Stories by Ellen Litman. My main read is Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep. On audio Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris.

Books finished in the last week: none

Time reading: 1 hour at lunch today
Time posting:
Food: roast beef sandwich from Arby's and an apple.
Thoughts: My main effort in reading has been Furious Hours because I need to have that read for the book discussion in two weeks. It is fascinating, but taking longer to read because I have been knitting in the evenings instead of reading. I am looking forward to the drive to Gadsden because I am liking Other Black Girl. I can't quite figure out what direction this book is going. The narrators are great.

Non-book activities: Knitting on my sock and have things ready for the class tomorrow.
Total books finished since the read-a-thon began: 173
Total time reading for the Read-A-Thon since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 458.5 hours since April 2020.

Friday night update.

Books read from: 1 - Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
Books finished: 1 - see above
Time reading: Around four hours in total
Snacks: Tea, clementine, seed mix, chocolate
Thoughts: I can’t stop imagining how good a TV mini-series this book could be. Perfect creepy Halloween binge-watching material.
Non-book activities: Errands in town, yoga, crosswords

I'm in. I've been sick and haven't felt up to reading all week, but I hope to finish People of Darkness by Sunday evening.

Saturday - Friday night's update

Books read from: - The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
Books finished:
Time reading: About 2 hours
Snacks: Dinner was an italian wrap - Halloween candy
Thoughts: I've only read about 50 pages from TMC and already a couple of gasp worthy twists.
Non-book activities: YouTube, World Series, crochet

Update from Friday Night

Books read from: Henry and Clara - Thomas Mallon, Homeland Elegies - Ayad Akhtar, Shuggie Bain - Douglas Stuart

Books finished: none
Time reading: 90 minutes
Pages read: 76
Dinner: Mexican small plates: ceviche, guacamole, tapas, enchilada, steak, grilled trout, margaritas
Thoughts: We had actual dinner plans tonight with my husband's freshman year college roommate (who I don't think he's seen since since college) and his wife, who were visiting from out of town. It struck me that it's been ages since I had dinner with a person I don't know (since February 2020 to be precise).
Non-book activities: 20 minutes of organizing the famiiy room (I committed to chipping away at the project a little bit each day), dinner out, walk home.

Total books finished: none
Total read from: 3 Henry and Clara - Thomas Mallon, Homeland Elegies - Ayad Akhtar, Shuggie Bain - Douglas Stuart
Total time reading: 90 minutes
Pages read: 76

Books read from: People of Darkness
Books finished: People of Darkness
Time reading: 2 hours +/-
Thoughts: another good book by Tony Hillerman

I am now reading The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue and making supper- left over roast chicken, and some roasted potatoes with tomatoes and olives.
I got my flu shot this afternoon -a "drive in" flu clinic organized by my doctor's family practice group.

>19 torontoc:
I did like Pull of the Stars.

Got my Moderna COVID booster this week. Only reaction was sore arm for a couple days.

Books:
Need to get on with The Secrets We Kept but instead I've been planning a family reunion for next summer for
3 generations of cousins, all coming together in Illinois from West Coast, East Coast and Midwest.

Food:
Lunch was leftovers and must have been ages ago as I'm now starving!
Husband at this moment making porkchops and potato pancakes for dinner.

other activity:
talked to my sis on the phone
watered my plants
tended the needy old cat.

In Charlotte it's cloudy and cool, 61 F (16 C.) just before sunset

>20 nrmay: The cousins' reunion sounds very exciting.

Saturday 7 pm

Books read from: Henry and Clara - Thomas Mallon, Homeland Elegies - Ayad Akhtar, Grant - Ron Chernow

Books finished: none
Time reading: 2 hours plus 70 minutes listening
Pages read: 100
Lunch: Falafel sandwich from the farmer's market
Thoughts: I seem to do the exact same things every single Saturday.
Non-book activities: yoga, farmers market, walk the dog, 20 more minutes of organizing the famiiy room, make cheese souffle for dinner (now cooking)

Total books finished: none
Total read from: 3 Henry and Clara - Thomas Mallon, Homeland Elegies - Ayad Akhtar, Shuggie Bain - Douglas Stuart, Grant - Ron Chernow
Total time reading: 190 minutes plus 70 minutes listening
Pages read: 100

Ok, I did terribly last weekend at readathoning. Just got distracted by hanging out with the toddler and husband. I will lean in to reading over the next 24 hours, though.

So far: listening to Last Girl Ghosted, by Lisa Unger. Just started. 30 minutes in.

Going to bed. Super tired for some reason.

Books read from: The Last Girl Ghosted
Books finished: none
Time reading: 1 hour 20 minutes (total 1:42)
Time posting: not very long
Snacks: garlic mashed potatoes
Thoughts: Interesting book so far. I generally don't read thrillers, but I just felt like it today.
Non-book activities: Take a bath, put toddler to bed

I read Victorian Color Picture Books with an introduction by Maurice Sendak( really an interview)

Saturday night update

Books reading from: Slowly reading Color of the Sea by John Hamamura and a book of linked short stories that make up a novel. This one is titled Last Chicken in America: A Novel in Stories by Ellen Litman. My main read is Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep. On audio Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris.

Books finished in the last week: none

Time reading: 30 minutes today
Time posting:
Food: a hamburger and french fries for lunch and a nice slice of farmer's market bread and cheese for supper.
Thoughts: I listened to about 4 hours of Other Black Girl today while driving back and forth to Gadsden for the sock knitting class. This is proving to be an interesting book, but I am not really happy with the structure of the book. It jumps back and forth in time, but the jumps aren't making much sense to me. This is a very long novel, or at least it seems that way to me, so even though I am more than 100 pages into the book I haven't figured out what is going on. I thought this was going to be social commentary but it appears that it is also meant to be a psychological thriller. I read a short chapter in Last Chicken in America but haven't made much progress in either of my books today.

Non-book activities: Knitting class on a new sock making technique that is proving to be very interesting. I am enjoying it, but am finding out that making socks is a long and arduous process. There might be a reason why most people purchase machine made socks.
Total books finished since the read-a-thon began: 173
Total time reading for the Read-A-Thon since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 459 hours since April 2020.

Sunday morning update because I was too tired last night.

Books read from: 1 - The Sundial by Shirley Jackson
Books finished: 0
Time reading: Around four hours
Snacks: Crisps, sunflower seeds, tea, orange juice
Non-book activities: Hanging out with family, designing a jack-o-lantern for brother to carve

Sorry not to have posted properly yet, but I'm doing well on the reading. I've flown through large parts of and finished 2 or 3 books already and it's not impossible I'll finish another, though that might be Monday now, and I ll have at least 2 books to take back to the library one day this week. I have a library ebook of The Fortune Men, somewhat to my surprise, so I may return the shiny new library hardback (different libraries) for another reader in the queue to enjoy.
'
Have finished reading

editor Sinead Gleeson, The Glass Shore, an excellent anthology of short stories by Northern Irish women writers, though it's possible I finished it before 5 pm on Friday. Library hardback.

Sigrid Nunez, What Are You Going Through
about a woman who has been asked to provide companionship for a terminally ill friend, a very contemplative novel but with far more wit than one might not expect. It was October when I lost my mum, and this could have been a difficult read, and I would hesitate to recommend to anyone newly bereaved, but I think I actually found it really helpful and relevant. Netgalley, for review

Sally Rooney, Beautiful World, Where Are You
Two women who are friends, two men, two complicated relationships. 3 of the characters are around 30, one a little older. I was disappointed in Rooney's first novel, loved the second, Normal People and the TV adaptation, and really enjoyed reading this too. It's told through a lot of long emails as well as passages detailing conversations and arguments, and a bit of sex. Hope this one gets adapted for TV too. I can see why some people are disparaging and this one won't be for everyone.

Lots of books on the go as usual.

Have read a few pages of Harriet Evans, The Beloved Girls via Netgalley

Top of the pile is Mary Lawson, A Town Called Solace, on the Booker longlist but would have definitely appealed to me anyway. Though again, this features a death from terminal illness in hospital. I have less than 100 pages to go.

Books read from: Last Girl Ghosted
Books finished: none
Time reading: 1 hour 20 minutes ( 3 hours total)
Time posting: minimal
Snacks: more mashed potatoes
Thoughts: enjoying it so far
Non-book activities: working on cleaning kitchen and doing laundry while listening

Sunday noon updated - not much new to report

Books reading from: Slowly reading Color of the Sea by John Hamamura and a book of linked short stories that make up a novel titled Last Chicken in America: A Novel in Stories by Ellen Litman. My main read is Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep. On audio Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris.

Books finished in the last week: none

Time reading: 30 minutes so far today
Time posting:
Food: my regular Sunday morning cappuccino from Starbucks.
Thoughts: I am going to be cooking this afternoon and am going to experiment with a new method for making a butternut squash pasta sauce. It should be really good and I can make the sauce today. Refrigerate it and make the pasta on Tuesday after work. Mix everything together and have the pasta dish for the wine club on Tuesday night. I should also have left overs to eat for lunch for the rest of the week.

Non-book activities: my regular Sunday morning phone call to my sister.
Total books finished since the read-a-thon began: 173
Total time reading for the Read-A-Thon since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 459.5 hours since April 2020.

Saturday night and Sunday morning

Books read from: Henry and Clara - Thomas Mallon, Grant - Ron Chernow, Shuggie Bain - Douglas Stuart

Books finished: 1: Henry and Clara
Time reading: 3 hours plus 22 minutes listening
Pages read: 152
Breakfast: Bagels with smokes salmon, coffee
Thoughts: I finished a book! I feel like I've been reading Henry and Clara for ever, and it's overdue at the library. It's been an interesting read because it's historical fiction that is completely intertwined with both my Presidential biography reading project and my current Civil War reading. Henry and Clara were the other occupants of the Lincoln's box at Ford's Theater the night of his assassination. Their real and fictional lives intersect with all the real historical figures that populate Lincoln biographies and other history. (And I heard of this book when rereading Sarah Vowell's Assassination Vacation.)

Non-book activities: Great British Baking Show, planning details of a weekend trip next weekend,

Total books finished: 1
Total read from: 4 Henry and Clara - Thomas Mallon, Homeland Elegies - Ayad Akhtar, Shuggie Bain - Douglas Stuart, Grant - Ron Chernow
Total time reading: 6 hours plus 92 minutes listening
Pages read: 270

I read about 200 pages of The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue- it is excellent.
I had to go to two hardware stores today to buy light bulb and a new filter for my humidifier.

Sunday night update.

Books read from: 1 - The Sundial by Shirley Jackson
Books finished: 1, see above
Time reading: Around 5 hours
Snacks: Tea, clementine, toast
Thoughts: I can’t quite believe I managed to finish the books I’d set out to finish.
Non-book activities: Building Lego with nephew, hanging out with family.

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

From some time on Friday to 11.50 pm Sunday

editor Sinead Gleeson, The Glass Shore - FINISHED 29.10.21
Sigrid Nunez, What Are You Going Through - FINISHED 31,10,21
Sally Rooney, Beautiful World, Where Are You? - FINISHED 31,10,21
Mary Lawson, A Town Called Solace
Nadifa Mohamed, The Fortune Men
Julia Alvarez, In the Time of the Butterflies
Elaine di Rollo, A Proper Education for Girls

Books finished: 3
Books read from: 8
Pages read: 515

Time reading and posting: Lots of both but not actually measured
Snacks: A lurid orange Halloween cake nd tasting the funsize bars for Trick or Treaters. (Decided to trick or treat myself). Tea.
Book related activities: LT and Goodreads updates. Choosing what books I'm going read next. Book discussions on Mumsnet. Browsing library and digital library catalogues.
Non book related activities: Social media, radio and TV, WhatsApp, Bejeweled Bliz, giving out chocolate, helping with Conor's computer science homework, radio and TV

Total books finished: 3
Total read from: 8
Total pages read: 515

Wow, this has NOT been a great weekend for reading, but I did manage to finish 1 short book:

Books read from: Ghost Days: An Anna O'Brien Collection, Guest House for Young Widows
Books finished: Ghost Days: An Anna O'Brien Collection
Time reading: 3 hours
Snacks: Beef stew cooking low and slow in the oven for dinner
Thoughts: I at long last found a missing notebook with my mother's memories while cleaning out boxes in the garage today and whooped so loudly in my joy that my husband speculated Auburn had somehow scored a touchdown vs. Alabama despite it being A) Sunday and B) still a good 3-4 weeks before the Iron Bowl.
Non-book activities: Cleaned the garage, altar guild at church.

Total books finished: 1
Total read from: 2
Total time reading: 3 hours

From midnight to 2 am

Books read from: 1
Mary Lawson, A Town Called Solace

Books finished: 0
Books read from: 1
Pages read: 68

Non book related activities: Radio and TV, Bejeweled Blitz

Total books finished: 3
Total read from: 8
Total pages read: 583

Sunday night update

Books reading from: Slowly reading Color of the Sea by John Hamamura and a book of linked short stories that make up a novel titled Last Chicken in America: A Novel in Stories by Ellen Litman. My main read is Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep. On audio Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris.

Books finished in the last week: none

Time reading: 1.5 hours so far today
Time posting:
Food: lunch at the local Indian restaurant. I have been picking up food from here for over a year and today I went inside and sat down to eat. It was nice and it gave me an hours worth of reading time over lunch.
Thoughts: I made the squash pasta sauce and it turned out to be delicious. Tuesday I will boil the pasta and thin the sauce with the pasta water and voila! I will have a main dish for the Wine Club meeting. Furious Hours is easy reading and I am finding the writing style to be that of a country lawyer telling a story. Makes this approach to the story very different. It is for a book club meeting in two weeks so it should give our group lots to talk about. I didn't finish a book this weekend and that is disappointing. Oh well, I did do other things and I can't spend all my time reading.

Non-book activities: cooking and watched Call the Midwife and Grantchester
Total books finished since the read-a-thon began: 173
Total time reading for the Read-A-Thon since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 460.5 hours since April 2020.

Sunday night

Books read from: Grant - Ron Chernow, Shuggie Bain - Douglas Stuart, Jitney - August Wilson, In the Cafe of Lost Youth - Patrick Modiano

Books finished: 2: Jitney, In the Cafe of Lost Youth
Time reading: 3 1/2 hours
Pages read: 200
Dinner: Indian takeaway, Halloween candy
Thoughts: Halloween is back! My block goes all out for Halloween, blocking the street to cars, decorating houses, hosting a costume contest and other activities. We typically have over a thousand kids come to our door. Last year Halloween was canceled due to COVID, and we weren't sure whether people would opt to stay home this year. Nope.

Non-book activities: Carving a jack-o-lantern, handing out candy

Total books finished: 3
Total read from: 6 Henry and Clara - Thomas Mallon, Homeland Elegies - Ayad Akhtar, Shuggie Bain - Douglas Stuart, Grant - Ron Chernow, Jitney - August Wilson, In the Cafe of Lost Youth - Patrick Modiano

Total time reading: 9 1/2 hours plus 92 minutes listening
Pages read: 470

Sunday Night summary:

Books read from: The Mirror and the Light, by Hilary Mantel, Call for the Dead, by John Le Carre, The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway

Books completed: Mantel & Le Carre
Pages read: 500

Non-book activities: Watched college football, gave away candy to costumed young-uns

Are we doing it again this weekend?

Social Readathon #86

I have taken the liberty of creating the thread for 5-7 November.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/336521#n7646667

>41 elkiedee: Thank you!