Social Distancing Readathon #123 - July 22 - 24

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

Hello all. I'll be reading this weekend.
No other plans besides puttering around the house. Maybe a trip to the garden center and Ikea.

Finishing Radio Girls shortly. Good one.
Abandoning Life of Pi :|

Eager to start The Book Woman's Daughter next, and then The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom.

Clear, 79 F. (26 C.) just before midnight

Not sure how much reading I will get in with everything going on here, but I am going to try!

Following my cataract surgeries, I'm being careful about exposure to bright sunshine, which is an excellent excuse for lounging around indoors and reading, as if I needed one. There is a protest tomorrow about cuts in bus services and I'm going to go to the rally at the end wearing a big hat to shade my eyes a little.

I've actually finished over 20 books this month, which I don't think I've done for a few years now, and I'm pretty confident of finishing at least one more over the weekend. Will try to actually put my book down for long enough to post here, and I'm still hoping to write a few reviews this weekend. I have lots of shiny new books, literally (library hardbacks) and metaphorically (Netgalley and bargain Kindle purchases) clamouring for my attention.

I'm in- I am finishing The Maid and a history of reporters in Europe in-between the two World Wars.

I hope to get some reading time this afternoon, although I have several short projects I need to tackle that will cut into my reading time.

I'm in! I'm travelling this weekend (for the fourth weekend in a row) but hope to have some time to read, unlike previous weekends which were filled up with talking and devoid of quiet reading time. I'm off today so will start early.

I'm in. I probably won't get any reading done this evening because of prior commitments. I'll have Saturday morning & most of the day Sunday. I'll probably continue into Monday as I have that day mostly off as well. On Saturday, I'm going to a food truck festival even though I have too many dietary restrictions to have it be feasible. I'm trying to think of it as spending quality time with my sister. Happy reading this weekend, everyone!

Count me in--hopefully I won't flake out and stop reading halfway through the weekend like last week. I want to finish The Untold Story and make progress on The New Jim Crow, at least.

Not sure how much I'll do. I don't know how many nieces/nephews and their families may come to visit.

Gardening and reading are on the weekend agenda so might as well join in. I want to do a better job of tracking the time. Trying to finish A Line To Kill tonight then The Girl in His Shadow tomorrow morning. Not sure what will follow that.

Friday Night Update:

Books read from: Elantris by Brandon Sanderson, Empress Dowager Cixi by Jung Chang, The Era of Reconstruction 1865-1877 by Kenneth M. Stampp, War Trash by Ha Jin, Plainsong by Kent Haruf, and Palu by Louis Nowra
Books finished: 1, Empress Dowager Cixi
Time reading: ~4.75 hours

Total books finished: 1
Total read from: 6
Total time reading: ~4.75 hours

I'm planning on joining in, primarily tomorrow and Sunday! No reading yet this evening, but soon I'm planning on sitting down with Djinn City and Out of My Heart.

I finished The Maid and am now looking at two books- Last Call at The Hotel imperial and maybe the new Daniel Silva.

Friday evening:

Books read from: The Untold Story
Books finished: The Untold Story
Time reading: 3 hours
Time posting: 8 PM
Snacks: steak sandwich for dinner
Thoughts: I was out late (ish) on a weeknight last night like some kind of twentysomething, and now I'm exhausted like the fiftysomething I actually am.
Non-book activities: Work, laundry

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

Friday night update

I started early. Need to make up for the reading dry spell when I was out of town for 11 days this month.

Books:
Finished Radio Girls
Started Mort(e), sci fi by Robert Repino.

Dinner: crab cakes, corn, cauliflower.

Other activity:
watered plants, filled bird bath, held the old cat, postcrossing, Facetime with my son & granddaughter.

Dark & clear, 79 F. (26 C.) at 11p

Hello. Thought I might try to join in this weekend for the first time as I usually follow this thread. I work weekends so my reading is usually sporadic or limited but I'm really close to finally finishing The Worm Ouroboros and want to see if I can knock in out by Monday.

I'm in.
Friday night update
Books read from: Philida by Andre Brink. Wench by Dolan Perkins-Valdez. Plainsong by Kent Haruf. Clementine: The Life of Mrs. Winston Churchill by Sonia Purnell. I am listening to Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal.

Books finished in this weekend's Readathon: You Don't Belong Here: How Three Women Rewrote the Story of War by Elizabeth Becker.

Book Thoughts: I have lots of books on the go and will have lots of road time. That means that I will listen to several books while I am traveling. I am about to finish Lager Queen of Minnesota and will start two of the books from Sabaa Tahir's series. I plan on listening to Torch Against the Night and Reaper At the Gates while driving back and forth. I also plan on listening to Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin - but won't do that until I am on my way back. I am reading Wench for a real life book club that I won't be able to participate in, but I am far enough into the book that I am interested, so will finish it. Plainsong is a reread for me and I am bringing the other three books by Haruf with me for vacation reading. I won't have poolside time to read this coming week but I will have quiet time. (I hope.) And all that road time to listen to books. More road time is less phone time so I will get lots listened to this weekend!
Time reading: 1 hour so far today. I didn't really get much time to read at lunch.
Time posting:
Food: I ate at a new German restaurant. It's not really a restaurant but it did have tables to sit at and good food.
Nonbook activities: I will have to get up early to pack my suitcase and get my other stuff into the car. I want to be out of here by 9 AM because I have to stop at the public library to pick up my recorded books for the trip. Then I will hit the road and stop in Birmingham to pick up a good loaf of bread to take home with me.
Total books finished since the Read-A-Thon Began: 248
Total Time Reading since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 649.5 hours since I started participating in the Read-A-Thon that started in April 2020.

Gardening and reading are on the weekend agenda so might as well join in. I want to do a better job of tracking the time. Finished A Line to Kill last night and almost done with The Girl in his Shadow. Not sure what is next but need to get into the garden early so will find something in my audible library.

I'm here!

Books read from: The Pride of Chanur
Books finished: None
Time reading: about an hour
Snacks: sesame sticks
Non-book activities: Organizing, cleaning before my sister arrives, next Friday; baked bran muffins and blanched vegetables early Saturday morning to avoid heating up the house midday.

Friday Night Status:

Books Read From: The Worm Ouroboros by E.R. Eddison & What If It's Us by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera
Time Spent Reading: 01hr07min & 30min (~2hrs)
Other Activities: Short workout after I got home from work, finally bought boxing gloves and a punching bag that I've wanted for ages now, and an episode of Drawfee while I ate. Might sneak in a little more reading before I fall asleep yet.

Books Finished: N/A
Total Time: 01hr37min
Total Pages: 42 pages

Progress to Saturday 5 pm Central time:

Books read from: Bible (KJV), God Hears Her by Our Daily Bread Ministries, Death by Beach Read by Eva Gates
Books finished: None
Time reading: ??
Time posting: ??
Snacks: Ate at a restaurant today that served REAL banana pudding--homemade custard and all! YUM! I'd go back just for that banana pudding.
Thoughts:
Non-book activities: petting cats, cross stitch, visiting with family

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

Saturday evening:

Books read from: This Will Not Pass, The New Jim Crow
Books finished: None
Time reading: 2 hours
Time posting: 7 PM
Snacks: homemade kale chips
Thoughts: Both books I'm reading are interesting and compelling, but so depressing I keep putting them down.
Non-book activities: Farmers market, writing, made kale chips

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

Late night, Saturday

>23 susanna.fraser:
I know what you mean; mine are depressing too . .

Books:
The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom. Hist fic, Afr/Am slavery
Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival and Hope in an American City, Pulitzer Prize winner by NY Times journalist, Andrea Elliott.
Mort(e) by Robert Repino. Sci fi, ants take over the world.

Lunch - half a club sandwich and a peach; dinner - Chinese take-out, choc chip cookies

Othe activity:
Started watching The Old Man with Jeff Bridges. Based on the adventure/suspense novel by Thomas Perry.

Saturday Night Update:

Books read from: The Era of Reconstruction, 1865-1877 by Kenneth M. Stampp, War Trash by Ha Jin, Plainsong by Kent Haruf, Brewster by Mark Slouka, and Palu by Louis Nowra
Books finished: 1, The Era of Reconstruction, 1865-1877
Time reading: ~4 hours

Total books finished: 2
Total read from: 7
Total time reading: ~8.75 hours

My goal for this weekend's reading is to finish Caribbean, here we are on Sunday morning and I have 40 pages left. I think I can do this!

Sunday afternoon check in:

Books read from: Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper and Djinn City by Saad Z. Hossain
Books finished: Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper
Thoughts: I haven't been reading as much as I'd expected this weekend, but I managed to finish one book and abandon another. Djinn City just wasn't grabbing me for whatever reason, so back to the library it goes. Remarkably Bright Creatures is up next.
Non-book activities: Knitting and watching the Great British Bakeoff

Total books finished: 1
Total read from: 2

Finished Caribbean, it was interesting, but a little long at 667 pages. Such a diverse area, I'm thinking it was difficult to put together a historical fiction work about such a diverse area into one book, but the author did pretty well. As always with Michener, it was sweeping in scope. We will always be left to wonder what this area would be like if slavery never was a thing. To put distances in perspective, Kingston Jamaica and the island of Barbados are 1500 miles (1923 km) apart.
Total books finished: 1
Total books read: 2
Non book activities: tending the chickens and singing in a choir.
Snacks: trail mix and left overs from my meal at a restaurant from yesterday and my big water bottle gets toted all around with me while reading.

Sunday night check-in (for Saturday evening to present time):

Books read from: Bible (KJV), God Hears Her by Our Daily Bread Ministries, Death by Beach Read by Eva Gates
Books finished: None
Time reading: ??
Time posting: ??
Snacks:
Thoughts: I may finish an audio book and perhaps the Eva Gates book later this evening. Not sure about the Gates book, but I'm going to try to complete the audio book while I have a chance. I've mostly been in the car with my brother so I couldn't bring him in on the last 30 minutes or so of a book!
Non-book activities: Zoom genealogy chat, petting cats, church, watching FlossTube, cross stitch, visiting with family

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

Sunday Night Update:

Books read from: War Trash by Ha Jin, Plainsong by Kent Haruf, Brewster by Mark Slouka, Cove by Cynan Jones, A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher and Palu by Louis Nowra
Books finished: 3, War Trash, Brewster, and Cove
Time reading: ~4.5 hours

Total books finished: 5
Total read from: 9
Total time reading: ~13.25 hours

Books read from: This Will Not Pass, The New Jim Crow
Books finished: None
Time reading: 3 hours
Time posting: 8 PM
Snacks: French toast for dinner
Thoughts: We'll be having the Seattle version of a heat wave this week (the normal kind where it's in the upper 80s and low 90s, not the heat dome from hell we had a year ago, but I'm still going to be spending most of my time inside enjoying the fact we had central air put in a few years ago).
Non-book activities: Writing, listening to podcasts

Total books finished: 1
Total read from: 3
Total time reading: 8 hours

Sunday night wrap up:

Books read from: Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt and The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson
Books finished: 0
Thoughts: Apparently Djinn City was definitely not matching my reading moon, but Remarkably Bright Creatures is
Non-book activities: Getting dinner together

Total books finished: 1
Total read from: 4

Reading posts from the US, I'm just thinking how funny it was that in all my visits there (maybe 7/8), I've never really experienced summer heat or staying in an excessively hot place - a few nights in Las Vegas in October but that was in a bubble - an air conditioned casino hotel and the Travelodge over the road - and crossing the road was literally the only time I spent outdoors.

A lot of England is rainy today - it's not yet raining here but might do later, at the moment it's quite cool in my front room and it's alright. I didn't leave the house but there were lots of local events in London that benefited from yesterday's pleasant sunny day, rather than the dangerous heat levels of last week.

Monday morning update for Sunday night:

Books read from: Bible (KJV), God Hears Her by Our Daily Bread Ministries, Death by Beach Read by Eva Gates, Breaking Silence by Linda Castillo
Books finished: Death by Beach Read by Eva Gates, Breaking Silence by Linda Castillo
Time reading: ??
Time posting: ??
Snacks:
Thoughts: Need to review the completions
Non-book activities: cross stitch & sleeping (of course)

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

Sunday Night Status:

Books Read From: The Worm Ouroboros by E.R. Eddison & What If It's Us by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera
Time Spent Reading: 01hr16min & 19min (~2hrs)
Other Activities: Got home from work this morning and took my new bike out for a ride (first time I've ridden one in over a decade) and forgot how much of a workout they can be, but it was nice. Followed up with a short workout inside and some chicken fajitas for dinner. Feeling accomplished for the day.

Books Finished: The Worm Ouroboros by E.R. Eddison - Finished it today after reading it off and on for the last 7+ months, goal accomplished for the weekend.
Total Time: 05hr06min
Total Pages: 132pgs

Monday morning update
Books read from: Philida by Andre Brink. Wench by Dolan Perkins-Valdez. Plainsong by Kent Haruf. Clementine: The Life of Mrs. Winston Churchill by Sonia Purnell. I am listening to Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal and A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir.

Books finished in this weekend's Readathon: You Don't Belong Here: How Three Women Rewrote the Story of War by Elizabeth Becker. Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Rayan Stradal. A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir

Book Thoughts: I listened to an entire book in the 18 hour trip from Tuscaloosa to Munden. It was certainly a good listen!
Time reading: 18 hours of listening time while on the road.
Time posting:
Food: A Little Cesare's Pizza when I left Tuscaloosa. Supper with friends in Kentucky. Breakfast Sunday morning with those same friends, and plenty of Starbuck's coffee along the way.
Nonbook activities: Driving through RAIN! and it is so nice and cool here in Kansas today.
Total books finished since the Read-A-Thon Began: 250
Total Time Reading since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 667.5 hours since I started participating in the Read-A-Thon that started in April 2020.

Monday Update

Books read from: The Pride of Chanur, 1 Corinthians (KJV)
Books finished: The Pride of Chanur

Non-book activities: Helping my father with RV maintenance (he's 94), and setting up a new aquarium after my 29 gallon sprung a leak!

Saturday-Monday

Books read from: From Here to Eternity by Caitlin Doughty, The Orphan Sky by Ella Leya, Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris
Books finished: From Here to Eternity by Caitlin Doughty
Time reading: 7 hrs., 43 min.
Snacks: pork with a fork (pulled pork without the bun), blue raspberry Italian water ice, bananas, tortilla chips, Outshine popsicles
Non-book activities: food truck festival with my sister and nephew, MN Orchestra concert (reason I went: The Moldau, with In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theater), being very weary (had a lot of low-energy time on Sunday where even reading felt like too much activity)

Total books finished: 1
Total read from: 3
Total time reading: 7 hours, 43 minutes

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/343177