Social Distancing Readathon #107 - April 1 - 3

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

I'm in! I had to pass last weekend but I'm about to start a new crop of April books.

Count me in too! I've got to read Diamond Doris for my library group read and I want to read more of Elvis in Vegas. I love reading of that era in Vegas.

I'll venture in for another try. March wasn't good to me, so here's hoping I do better in April.

I'm in Silver and hope it helps me get April off to a flyer.

I will be participating again this weekend.

I am in again, but Saturday will probably not get much reading done as Kerry and I are going to be doing stuff around the house.

I'm in. I want to finish The Kaiju Preservation Society and get off to a good start on my April CATs, KITs, and TIOLIs.

I'm in.
Finished End of Watch last night and started Thursday Murder Club for book club.

Sunny, 58 F. (14 C.) at 10a in Charlotte NC .

I'm in- reading a great thriller now.

Not sure I'll read a lot, but I'll read some. I have a shiny new 1950 census that will probably distract me a lot this weekend.

I'm in and just started on My Part of Her by Javad Djavhery, also my selection for April's Asian Book Challenge.

Shut the door! Change of plans! This readathon, for me, will be a Night Vale Readathon. All the Night Vale I requested from the library came in and I picked them up this afternoon.
So, first up is Mostly Void, Partially Stars: Welcome to Night Vale
I'll report back later with my update. :0D

Friday afternoon update
Books Read From: Unwarranted: Policing Without Permission by Barry Friedman. I started Travels In Vermeer: A Memoir by Michael White for the April Nonfiction Challenge. The topic is Travel. I am enjoying listening to 32 Yolks: From My Mother's Table to Working the Line by Eric Ripert.

Books finished in this week's Readathon: Betel Nut Mystery by Ovidia Yu
Time reading: 1 hour today while in the doctor's office.
Time posting:
Food: I had a wonderful lunch with a friend at a nice quiet restaurant in Birmingham today after my doctor's appointment. I had a fairly good cocktail, and very nice glass of wine, and a good charcuterie board. The main dish pasta was only so-so, but the rest of the meal made up for it.
Thoughts: It is hard to believe that I have logged all of these hours in this weekend Read-A-Thon for almost 2 years. Who would have thought that possible when this started?
Non-Book Activities: This will be tax weekend. I can't believe that I let taxes sneak up on me like I did.
Total books finished since the Read-A-Thon Began: 214
Total Time Reading since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 580 hours sin

I will join in some, mostly on Sunday, I suspect. I have plans tonight and a pretty full day tomorrow. My main focus this weekend is All That She Carried, which I need to finish by next Sunday for a book club discussion.

Books read from: Mostly Void, Partially Stars
Books finished: 0
Time reading: 2 1/2 hour
Snacks: No snacks, just dinner of eggplant lasagna
Thoughts: This book is weird, funny, quirky
Non-book activities: Words with Friends

Total books finished: 0
Total read from: 1
Total time reading: 2 1/2 hours

Friday evening in Seattle

Books read from: The Kaiju Preservation Society
Books finished: The Kaiju Preservation Society
Time reading: 2 hours
Time posting: 6:45 PM
Snacks: about to have a grilled cheese sandwich for dinner
Thoughts: That was a fun escapist book.
Non-book activities: Work, laundry

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

Friday night update:

Books read from: Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters, The Bird Way: A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think by Jennifer Ackerman, Garnethill by Denise Mina, Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter, and Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan
Books finished: 1, Spoon River Anthology
Time reading: ~3 hours
Time posting: 0
Snacks: None
Non-book activities: Listening to music

Total books finished: 1
Total read from: 5
Total time reading: ~3 hours

Saturday morning update:

Books read from: All That She Carried, A Familiar Wilderness, Reflecting the Glory
Books finished:
Time reading: ?
Time posting: ?
Snacks: breakfast is cereal and berries
Thoughts: It's been a long, crazy week, and I'm happy the weekend has finally arrived!
Non-book activities: Zoom chat, genealogy, sleep

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

I am really disappointed with All That She Carried so far. The blurbs sounded so good. I would Pearl rule it if I wasn't reading it for a book club. It's a trade publication, but it reads like it's written for an academic audience in a discipline that isn't mine. She lost me with the rather long explanation of the difference between an object and a thing. (She knows the difference, but she wants readers to forgive her for using them interchangeably in this book. As if it makes any difference to me. I am not a philosopher.)

Saturday morning update
Books Read From: Unwarranted: Policing Without Permission by Barry Friedman. Travels In Vermeer: A Memoir by Michael White for the April Nonfiction Challenge. The topic is Travel. I am enjoying listening to 32 Yolks: From My Mother's Table to Working the Line by Eric Ripert.

Books finished in this week's Readathon: Betel Nut Mystery by Ovidia Yu
Time reading: 1 hour late last night before bed.
Time posting:
Food: I made coffee this morning.
Thoughts: I like the style of Travels in Vermeer but the mood - very depressing. How can that be with all those wonderful Vermeer paintings in this man's life? The answer is his life - its a mess. I guess I will find out more as I read this relatively short book.
Non-Book Activities: Taxes
Total books finished since the Read-A-Thon Began: 214
Total Time Reading since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 580 hours since I started participating in the Read-A-Thon that started in April 2020.

Friday Reading:

Books read from: The Five Wounds, Great Circle, Friends Divided
Books finished: none
Pages read: 93 plus 4 audiobook chapters
Time reading: 2 hours plus 90 minutes listening
Dinner: ramen
Thoughts: My Friday evening turned out quite differently than I had planned. My brother was coming up from North Carolina and we were going to go out to eat with my daughter (Kate). Then a train delay cancelled my brother's plans, and Kate called to say she's tested positive for COVID on a rapid test and did I have a spare PCR test I could bring her. My son, whose Friday plans also got cancelled, called to see if I wanted to get dinner with him, and we went out for ramen and delivered a takeout version to his sick sister (from a distance).
Non-book activities: walked dog, returned books to the library, dinner out with Eric, coached Helen through renewing her drivers license online over facetime, delivered COVID test and ramen to Kate, loaned my car to Eric, Wordle.

Total books finished: 0
Total read from: The Five Wounds, Great Circle, Friends Divided
Total pages read: 93 plus 4 audiobook chapters
Total time reading: 2 hours plus 90 minutes listening

Saturday early evening

book: Thursday Murder Club
dinner: will be takeout Mexican street tacos, to arrive shortly
other activity:
Big deal this morning was the ribbon-cutting and neighborhood celebration of my Little Free Library!
Getting ready to watch some basketball tonight . .

Cloudy, 63 F.

Sunday morning update

Books read from: King Hereafter by Dorothy Dunnett (audio), Understanding China through comics by Jing Liu
Books finished: 0
Time reading: 1 1/2 hour
Snacks: Dinner: Middle East meatballs with rice
Thoughts: Need to find something that I want to read
Non-book activities: errands, shopping, watching k-drama

Total books finished: 0
Total read from: 2
Total time reading: 1 1/2 hours

Weekend is not going according to plan. I need to read some fantasy or scifi to get out of this slump. I have 45mins left of the 36 hour audio of King Hereafter so hope to finish today.

Saturday afternoon:

Books read from: People Love Dead Jews, A Million Years in a Day
Books finished: People Love Dead Jews
Time reading: 4 hours
Time posting: 5:00 PM
Snacks: Kit Kat
Thoughts: More people need to read this book.
Non-book activities: Farmers market, birding supply store, worked on postcards to voters

Total books finished: 2
Total read from: 3
Total time reading: 6 hours

Saturday night update for Friday & Saturday:

Books read from: Bible (KJV), God Hears Her by Our Daily Bread Ministries, The Patience of the Spider by Andrea Camilleri
Books finished: The Patience of the Spider by Andrea Camilleri
Time reading: ??
Time posting: ??
Snacks: a piece of chocolate
Thoughts: So glad the fires are gradually getting under control in our area
Non-book activities: Zoom Genealogy Chat, cross stitching, Floss Tube, and TV

Total books finished: The Patience of the Spider by Andrea Camilleri
Total read from: 3
Total time reading: ??

Books read from: Mostly Void, Partially stars
Books finished: 0
Time reading: 2 hours
Time posting:
Snacks: finished up the leftover eggplant lasagna
Thoughts: This book is so weird and sometimes shocking, it's funny
Non-book activities: Attended Volunteer workshop and luncheon at my church.

Total books finished: 0
Total read from: 1
Total time reading: 4 1/2

The Spring weather has been delightful, so I've been outside most of the day working in the yard.

Books read from: Dutchman's Flat by Louis L'Amour
Books finished: 0
Snacks: pizza for dinner, too tired to cook!
Non-book activities: mowing, weeding, other outside chores I need to do before the heat arrives in a few weeks.

Total books finished: 0
Total read from: 1

Saturday night update:

Books read from: All That She Carried, Heart of Darkness, Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
Books finished: Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
Time reading: ?
Time posting: ?
Snacks: hot chocolate
Thoughts: It's been a stressful weekend so far, with a lot of distractions. A graphic novel was just what the doctor ordered!
Non-book activities: work :'( shopping, laundry, long walk

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

Saturday night update
Books Read From: Unwarranted: Policing Without Permission by Barry Friedman. Travels In Vermeer: A Memoir by Michael White for the April Nonfiction Challenge. The topic is Travel. I finished listening to 32 Yolks: From My Mother's Table to Working the Line by Eric Ripert and started listening to Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead.

Books finished in this week's Readathon: Betel Nut Mystery by Ovidia Yu. 32 Yolks by Eric Ripert
Time reading: 1 hour listening while catching up on my home office work this morning and 1 hour of listening while driving around doing errands today.
Time posting:
Food: I picked up a cheap Little Caesar's pepperoni pizza for supper.
Thoughts: I like to read books about famous Chefs, artists, and sometimes other celebrities' and when I saw that 32 Yolks was Ripert's memoir I put it on my TBR list. Ripert is the head Chef of Bernardin in New York City and it has had 3 Michelin stars for almost 30 years. I found this book very interesting and it introduced me to several sauces about which I knew nothing, so I learned something from it as well. I hope that Ripert writes another memoir as this one is only about his early life growing up in Gascony and Andorra and ends with him moving to the U.S. for his first job in a restaurant in the Watergate Hotel when he was 21. I want to know about the rest of his life. I am going to try to listen to Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead this month. I have not managed to finish reading a single book by this author, so we will see if this book breaks the string of non-hits. I know he is a popular author, but I just can't get into his books. I am doing this book as a Read-Along with a small group of other readers here on LT so maybe that will motivate me to finish.
Non-Book Activities: Taxes, cooking, and grocery shopping
Total books finished since the Read-A-Thon Began: 215
Total Time Reading since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 582 hours since I started participating in the Read-A-Thon that started in April 2020.

Saturday night update:

Books read from: The Bird Way: A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think by Jennifer Ackerman, Garnethill by Denise Mina, Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter, Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan, The Fell by Sarah Moss, and Black Birds in the Sky by Brandy Colbert.
Books finished: 0
Time reading: ~5.25 hours
Time posting: 0

Total books finished: 1
Total read from: 7
Total time reading: ~8.25 hours

Saturday night update:

Books read from: The Bird Way: A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think by Jennifer Ackerman, Garnethill by Denise Mina, Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter, Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan, The Fell by Sarah Moss, and Black Birds in the Sky by Brandy Colbert.
Books finished: 0
Time reading: ~5.25 hours
Time posting: 0

Total books finished: 1
Total read from: 7
Total time reading: ~8.25 hours

Saturday night update:

Books read from: The Fell by Sarah Moss, Black Birds in the Sky by Brandy Colbert, The Bird Way: A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think by Jennifer Ackerman, Garnethill by Denise Mina, Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter, and Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan
Books finished: 0
Time reading: ~5.25 hours
Time posting: 0

Total books finished: 1
Total read from: 7
Total time reading: ~8.25 hours

Saturday Reading (posted Sunday):

Books read from: The Five Wounds which I need to finish by Monday evening for book group discussion, Great Circle which I'm listening to
Books finished: none
Pages read: 164 plus 3 audiobook chapters
Time reading: 3 hours plus 1hour listening
Dinner: steak and salad
Thoughts: It's kind of unusual for me to just read one book steadily from beginning to end. I have to because I started this long book too late to take my time. I think I prefer dipping in and out of multiple books, but I'm enjoying immersion in one story.

Total books finished: 0
Total read from: The Five Wounds, Great Circle, Friends Divided
Total pages read: 277 plus 7 audiobook chapters
Total time reading: 5 hours plus 2.5 minutes listening

Sunday morning

Books:
chugging along with Thursday Murder Club which I'm enjoying.
Planning on a long walk today to listen to A Conspiracy in Belgravia.
I like this whimsical series about Charlotte Holmes, supposed sister to Sherlock.

Only coffee as yet this a.m.

Time read:
I can never answer this as I read whenever I have a few minutes or more.
When I'm eating, waiting, walking, riding, resting, procrastinating, holding the old cat, bedtime.

Thoughts:
That was one thrilling basketball game last night! Go Tar Heels!!

My neighborhood book club meets this week.
We read Mr Mercedes which I liked enough to immediately read the other 2 in the trilogy.
I met Mr King once at a library conference.

Finished 9 books in March -
6 were from the TBR shelves; 5 of these were added to the Little Free Library. :)
36 for the year so far.

Sunny, 63 F. (17 C.) at 11am in Charlotte.

Sunday afternoon:

Books read from: A Million Years in a Day
Books finished: A Million Years in a Day
Time reading: 2 hours
Time posting: 4:35 PM
Snacks: granola bar
Thoughts: Of course it turns cold (OK, chilly) and rainy now that we're finally in April.
Non-book activities: Church, writing, about to head out to the Kraken game

Total books finished: 2
Total read from: 3
Total time reading: 8 hours

Sunday evening update:

Books read from: Heart of Darkness, All That She Carried
Books finished:
Time reading: ?
Time posting: ?
Snacks: lunch was skillet beef, potatoes, and cheese, and cabbage
Thoughts: I love spring!
Non-book activities: church, cooking lunch, walking the dog, nap, laundry

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

Sunday night update (For Saturday night and Sunday):

Books read from: Bible (KJV), God Hears Her by Our Daily Bread Ministries, Someday the Plan of a Town: Poems by Todd Boss, All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake by Tiya Miles
Books finished: Someday the Plan of a Town: Poems by Todd Boss
Time reading: ??
Time posting: ??
Snacks: dark chocolate caramel
Thoughts: Exhausted but very glad the really bad sinus headache I had this morning is now gone
Non-book activities: cross stitching, FlossTube, and playing with cats

Total books finished: 2 - The Patience of the Spider by Andrea Camilleri and Someday the Plan of a Town: Poems by Todd Boss
Total read from: 5
Total time reading: ??

Sunday Reading

Books read from: The Five Wounds, The Sentence, Waking Up White
Books finished: The Five Wounds
Pages read: 176 plus 5 audiobook chapters
Time reading: 3 hours plus 2 hours listening
Dinner: turkey and cheese sandwich and lentil salad, apple
Thoughts: We spent most of the day driving from DC to Vermont (for the opposite of a staycation--working remotely while away from home). I finished my book group book and started listening to The Sentence with my husband.

Total books finished: 1
Total read from: The Five Wounds, Great Circle, Friends Divided, The Sentence, Waking Up White
Total pages read: 453 plus 12 audiobook chapters
Total time reading: 8 hours plus 4.5 hours listening

Sunday night update:

Books read from: The Sea Wolf by Jack London, The Fell by Sarah Moss, Black Birds in the Sky by Brandy Colbert, The Bird Way: A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think by Jennifer Ackerman, Garnethill by Denise Mina, Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter, and Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan
Books finished: 3, The Sea Wolf, The Fell, and Black Birds in the Sky
Time reading: ~5 hours
Time posting: 0

Total books finished: 4
Total read from: 7
Total time reading: ~13.25 hours

Monday morning update:

Books read from: Dutchman's Flat by Louis L'Amour and Ruth (King James Bible)
Books finished: Ruth (King James Bible)

Non-book activities: worked in the yard after church, was too tired to read much in the evening
Total books finished: 1
Total read from: 2

Books read from: Mostly Void, Partially stars - Elvis in Vegas - Bowdrie - Judges - Ruth
Books finished: 3
Time reading: 5 hours off and on
Time posting:
Snacks: bagel and over easy egg, baked potatoe with cheese and broccoli
Thoughts: I love reading of young Vegas and young Elvis. What a pair!
Non-book : a visit to my neighbor who is home after spending almost a year in nursing homes. Distributed song books at my church’s Mission.

Total books finished: 3
Total read from: 5
Total time reading: 9 1/2 hours

>41 Carmenere: love Bowdrie!

Weekend wrap up
Books Read From: Unwarranted: Policing Without Permission by Barry Friedman. Travels In Vermeer: A Memoir by Michael White for the April Nonfiction Challenge. The topic is Travel. I started listening to Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead.

Books finished in this week's Readathon: Betel Nut Mystery by Ovidia Yu. 32 Yolks by Eric Ripert
Time reading: I spent several hours reading on Sunday morning and so am about to finish Travels in Vermeer, but didn't do much reading Sunday afternoon or evening. I only managed to finish 1 book this weekend. I thought I would get more time to read than I did.
Time posting:
Food: I spent most of Sunday cooking. I made another batch of red rice and quinoa salad. While looking through my refrigerator I found a bunch of old apples that needed to be used up so I baked a nice batch of apple, raisin muffins. They were very tasty this morning.
Thoughts: I have listened to about 70 pages of Harlem Shuffle and I don't think this book is going to change my mind about the boring writing of Colson Whitehead. The first 70 pages of this book have been totally boring. I have not managed to finish reading a single book by this author, so we will see if this book breaks the string of non-hits. I know he is a popular author, but I just can't get into his books. I am doing this book as a Read-Along with a small group of other readers here on LT so maybe that will motivate me to finish.
Non-Book Activities: I did lots of baking and did NOT do my taxes. That means that next weekend will be a tax marathon.
Total books finished since the Read-A-Thon Began: 215
Total Time Reading since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 585 hours since I started participating in the Read-A-Thon that started in April 2020.

Weekend wrap up
Books Read From: Unwarranted: Policing Without Permission by Barry Friedman. Travels In Vermeer: A Memoir by Michael White for the April Nonfiction Challenge. The topic is Travel. I started listening to Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead.

Books finished in this week's Readathon: Betel Nut Mystery by Ovidia Yu. 32 Yolks by Eric Ripert
Time reading: I spent several hours reading on Sunday morning and so am about to finish Travels in Vermeer, but didn't do much reading Sunday afternoon or evening. I only managed to finish 1 book this weekend. I thought I would get more time to read than I did.
Time posting:
Food: I spent most of Sunday cooking. I made another batch of red rice and quinoa salad. While looking through my refrigerator I found a bunch of old apples that needed to be used up so I baked a nice batch of apple, raisin muffins. They were very tasty this morning.
Thoughts: I have listened to about 70 pages of Harlem Shuffle and I don't think this book is going to change my mind about the boring writing of Colson Whitehead. The first 70 pages of this book have been totally boring. I have not managed to finish reading a single book by this author, so we will see if this book breaks the string of non-hits. I know he is a popular author, but I just can't get into his books. I am doing this book as a Read-Along with a small group of other readers here on LT so maybe that will motivate me to finish.
Non-Book Activities: I did lots of baking and did NOT do my taxes. That means that next weekend will be a tax marathon.
Total books finished since the Read-A-Thon Began: 215
Total Time Reading since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 585 hours since I started participating in the Read-A-Thon that started in April 2020.

Monday morning summary:

Books read from: My Part of Her by Javad Djavahery, Home Free by Kamila Shamsie, The Confessions of St. Augustine
Books finished: My Part of Her

Pages read: 270-ish
Non-book activities: Tax season! NCAA basketball tournament

Final update:

Books read from: King Hereafter by Dorothy Dunnett (audio), Understanding China through comics by Jing Liu, Asadora vol 2 by Naoki Urasawa, The Beauty of the Wolf by Wray Delaney, The Captain's Daughter by Peter F. Hamilton (audio)
Books finished: 2 King Hereafter, Understanding China through comics
Time reading: 2 1/2 hour
Snacks: muesli, coffee
Thoughts: starting to enjoy reading
Non-book activities: housework, food prep

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

Cried as listened to the end of Macbeth in King Hereafter, a great historical novel even though I took my time with it. I have to get back into the habit of audiobooks.

>48 avatiakh: Adding King Hereafter to the BlackHole. Thanks for the recommendation of that one, Kerry.

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/341090