Social Distancing Readathon #260 - March 21 - 23

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 traveling for the weekend, but may read on the plane, so I'm gonna try this.

I have no plans for the weekend (hooray!) so will try to read as much as possible. Last weekend I read 0 pages, so I guess it can only be better this time.

I'm in the middle of Peer Gynt so hope to either finish or get a good way through that one. I'd like to get a few short stories finished to, for the European Grand Tour challenge.

I’m mostly free this weekend and plan to read when l can. I’ll start early today after dentist apptmt this morning. I have one other event today - a tea party this afternoon.
I’m nearly finished with a Harlan Coban thriller.
Started WITCHCRAFT FOR WAYWARD GIRLS

In! After about 10 crazy-busy days I finally have time to breathe and read (and catch up on sleep). Looking forward to several books waiting for me on Kindle, and two on paper ... no plans to tackle which ones first. I look forward to 5pm to find out!

I am in for the first time in a couple of weeks. Thank you for hosting again, Silver!

I have a pretty low-key weekend planned and it's supposed to rain. Probably a good time to curl up on the couch with a good book.

I'm in - got a nasty cold, so I'm not going anywhere & should get plenty of reading in...currently reading God's Chinese Son by Jonathan D. Spence and That Way Lies Camelot by Janny Wurts.

7:27pm ADT
I'm reading Watch Out for Her by Samantha Bailey. It was a contender for Canada Reads this year.

I also have no plans for the weekend so will be participating.

Friday startup

Books read from: I am reading Schulz and Peanuts by David Michaelis and managed to do my 2 pages today. My computer book is Eating My Way Through Italy by Elizabeth Minchilli. I started and finished Agent Sonya: Moscow's Most Daring Wartime Spy by Ben Macintyre. I will start reading Two For the Lions by Lindsey Davis tonight. I finished listening to Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid in the car and in the house I am listening to 1776 by David McCullough.

Books finished: Agent Sonya: Moscow's Most Daring Wartime Spy by Ben Macintyre

Book Thoughts: I started and finished reading Agent Sonya in one week. It captured my interest and kept it so that I didn't do much other reading. Macintyre specializes in writing about espionage and I read this book for the Nonfiction Challenge. The topic for March was espionage and since I have several books by Macintyre on the shelves I decided it was time to get at least one off the shelf. Macintyre has an easy reading narrative nonfiction style that reminds me of Candace Millard so reading this book in one week was not a chore.

Non-Book Activities: I have to work in the morning and since it is the end of the week will have to balance the books. So far that is the most intricate and hardest part of the job at the Post Office. I don't look forward to doing it.

Reading Time Today: 1 hour
Time Reading this weekend: 1 hours
Time listening:
Time posting:
Food: leftover homemade chicken and pastry soup for lunch. It was not a good recipe. I added a note in the cookbook to add a bay leaf and thyme just to give it some taste.

Total books finished since the Read-A-Thon Began: 495
Total Time Reading since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 1539 hours since I started doing the weekend Read-A-Thon starting in April of 2020.

Friday Night Update:

Books read from: Friends and Heroes by Olivia Manning (audiobook), Till Human Voices Wake Us by Victoria Goddard, Wish You Were Here by Stewart O’Nan, The Hangman by Louise Penny, Sylvia Beach and the Lost Generation by Noel Riley Fitch, and The Lost by Daniel Mendelsohn
Books finished: 1, The Hangman
Time reading: 2.5 hours + listening to audiobook

Total books finished: 1
Total read from: 6
Total time reading: 2.5 hours + listening to audiobook

Friday night

Books:
Just finished SIX YEARS by H Coban.
My 6th TBR book in March. My goal is to read all my own books through the end of the month, in an effort to pare down my library. But l already countered that good effort by bringing home 2 bags of books from the library book sale this weekend. One stack is for the grandies; others for military personnel through Operation Paperback; and yes, a few more for me that l couldn’t resist.

Other book activity: found more cookbooks to unpack and fit on the already-full shelves. I managed to fit them in, but we need to weed a few.

Other activity:
Tea party was fun this afternoon - lots of baked goodies, finger sandwiches, beautiful flowers.
Napped. Watched an episode of REACHER.

Dinner: chicken, sweet potato, corn on the cob. Cannolis for dessert.

Update on Friday’s reading.

Books read from: Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen
Time reading: About three hours
Snacks: Had some biscuits and chocolate with tea in the evening
Thoughts: So often books by the authors I’m a bit intimidated to read because they’re “the greats” turn out to be raucous and full of madness rather than the dry and highfalutin read I somehow I always expect.
Non-book activities: Work, dinner, Duolingo, pilates, shower, quiz show on TV.

Media read from:

Confessions, by Saint Augustine 207 minutes
Franny K Stein Mood Science, by Jim Benton 24 minutes

Media finished: none

Time reading: 231 minutes

This morning I read from Daisy Jones and the Six and now am watching the Life of Emile Zola.

Saturday noon update:

Have started off with We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young, about the Ia Drang valley battle in Vietnam, November 1965. I am inexperienced at reading about land wars; am thinking Band of Brothers may really be the only land battle I've read about that didn't involve Marine landings. Anyways, I feel totally out of my depth in several ways: I haven't previously read much on the Vietnam war despite having been alive during its last 9 years. It just WAS, if you know what I mean. And our history classes never even got near it chronologically, possibly partially because it was still too fresh and raw for my teachers. I also don't know much about the US Army and its history of engagements in the Pacific theater over time. Anyways, I'm having to supplement with YouTube film, maps, and I'm sure I'll be all over the interwebs in short order trying to understand what I'm listening to. It's a captivating and graphic story (be forewarned). I just wish I had a broader Vietnam War framework already in my head to plug all this information in! But sometimes you just have to jump in and start somewhere.

After some yardwork I'll pivot to Incredible Stories at the Bus Stop: A Flash Fiction Collection on Human Experience, an LT Early Reviewers win.

Time in so far: ~4.5h total, not tracking very precisely

Late-night Saturday

Book:
up late reading
A DAUGHTER’S A DAUGHTER by Agatha Christie writing as Mary Westmacott.

Lunch: out at a Mexican place
Dinner: leftovers

Other book activity:
Today was last day of library bk sale and you could fill a bag for $5. I came home with 3 more bags of bks. 🙄 Some for me, the grandies, soldiers, and the Little Free Libraries - mine and my nephew’s.

Update on Saturday.

Books read from: Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen
Time reading: Roundabout three hours
Snacks: Too many biscuits and a small bowl of potato crisps
Thoughts: Why is Saturday always the day I end up doomscrolling for hours?
Non-book activities: Long walk, organising iPad’s bookmarks, social media, Duolingo, dance aerobics.

Media read from:

Master of the Phantom Isle, by Brandon Mull 24 minutes
Thomas Cromwell: The Untold Story of Henry VIII’s Most Faithful Servant, by Tracy Borman 100 minutes
The Economist: Rise of the Superhuman 18 minutes

Media finished:

Franny K Stein: Mood Science, by Jim Benton

Time reading: 143 minutes

Other than listening to my current audiobook, Friends and Heroes, while doing projects around the house yesterday, I got no reading at all done. I am certainly hoping for better today!

Read from today:
Daisy Jones and the Six
Watch Out for Her
Invisible Influence - finished

Sunday evening

Books:
dipped into a few new ones today -
MR CAVENDISH, I PRESUME
RED BADGE OF COURAGE
BACKROADS OF NORTH CAROLINA: YOUR GUIDE TO GREAT DAY TRIPS & WEEKEND GETAWAYS
WITCHCRAFT FOR WAYWARD GIRLS
I would like to finish the first 3 of those (all TBRs) by the end of March.

Brunch:
bacon, egg, English muffin, V-8, coffee
Happy hour: G&T, sushi.
Dinner: husband fixing it now

Other bk activity:
sorted through the many bks l bought at the bksale, separating out the bks for soldiers and adding others to my shelves.

🌞 sunny, 68F/20C,
an hour before sunset

Sunday Night Update:

Books read from: Till Human Voices Wake Us by Victoria Goddard, Wish You Were Here by Stewart O’Nan, and The Lost by Daniel Mendelsohn
Books finished: 0
Time reading: 1.85 hours

Total books finished: 1
Total read from: 6
Total time reading: 4.35 hours + listening to audiobook

Not nearly as much reading done as I had hoped for, but not surprising due to my exhaustion level. Maybe next weekend. . .

Update on Sunday's reading.

Books read from: Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solchenitsyn
Books finished: 1 Peer Gynt
Time reading: About two hours
Snacks: Sponge cake, grapes.
Thoughts: Why are some people so lazy that even when they're throwing things away they can't be bothered with throwing it in the right place?
Non-book activities: Long-ish walk, doomscrolling, Duolingo, HIIT training, prepping for work on Monday,

Weekend Summary:

Books read from: That Way Lies Camelot by Janny Wurts, God's Chinese Son by Jonathan D. Spence, and The Chrysalids by John Wyndham.
Books finished: That Way Lies Camelot
Total Pages read: 300-ish

Not as much reading as I expected. The nasty cold gave me head fog. I watched a LOT of the NCAA basketball tournament.

I enjoy reading the wide variety of books read and non-book activities this little group manages every weekend. Always a pleasurable thing to read on Mondays... my offering below:

Books read from: We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young, The Wandering Mind, Incredible Stories at the Bus Stop: A Flash Fiction Collection on Human Experience, Stories of Your Life and Others, Unnatural Death: A Scarpetta Novel (Kay Scarpetta)
Books finished: 1 - We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young by Harold G. Moore and Joseph L. Galloway
Time reading: Happy hours. Lost count. Nobody minded. It was glorious.

Snacks: Every time I passed through the kitchen. It was obnoxious. Even the dog got tired of trotting in after me.
Thoughts: I'm not the least bit like a monk. I don't think I'm bothered by this, but will check in on the thought again later.
Non-book activities: Dog walking, looking up things on maps/interwebs, and feeling others' grief at a distance. A brief cheerleading call (from my end) to a kid at a distance.

Total books finished: 1
Total read from: 5 - yeah, it was hard to settle in
Total time reading: Forgot to track at first and then gave up trying, I confess. Total slacker about it.

Weekend wrap up

Books:
finished MR CAVENDISH, I PRESUME
now reading DOUBLE IDENTITY by M Haddix.
finished a couple Stephen Crane short stories from RED BADGE OF COURAGE AND SELECTED STORIES
Still reading TBRs off my own shelves this month.

Other:
ordered a 8647 T-shirt for the Hands Off rally coming up on Apr 5. I’ll be there..

I finished my weekend read last night.


Pioneer Preacher by Opal Leigh Berryman

What an enjoyable read this was. The story is based upon the author's own experiences, growing up in the early 1900s American west, specifically western Texas, but also eastern New Mexico. It is not a children's book, but as there is nothing graphic within it is suitable for pre-teens as well as adults. I didn't expect for it to pull me in and not let me stop reading, but it did. Recommended for those who like good tales well-told.

Other:
The weather has been mild and dry, so I've been outside working in the yard, gardens, etc. before the heat and humidity and insects of summer arrive. I'll get more reading done if I get a rainy day, or once the temperature climbs into an uncomfortable range.

Weekend Wrapup

Books read from: I am reading Schulz and Peanuts by David Michaelis and managed to do my 2 pages today. My computer book is Eating My Way Through Italy by Elizabeth Minchilli. I started reading Two For the Lions by Lindsey Davis tonight. I finished listening to Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid and am listening to 1776 by David McCullough.

Books finished:Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Agent Sonya: Moscow's Most Daring Wartime Spy by Ben Macintyre

Book Thoughts: I really enjoyed Carrie Soto Is Back. In fact I have liked every book I have read by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Carrie Soto was a character who appeared in Reid's book Malibu Rising. I thought she was an intriguing character The in Malibu Rising and wanted to see what Reid did with the character in a full length novel. It was worth the time it took to listen to it. The novel is set in the 1990's and that time period seems like ancient history to me. The novel was a retelling of the great women's tennis stars of the 1980's: Martina Navratilova and Chris Everett. I wonder what Reid will write about next? I did lots of reading this weekend but didn't find time to spend on the computer.

Non-Book Activities: This weekend was tax weekend for me. I hope to be able to send my tax returns off tomorrow.

Reading Time Today: 1 hour
Time Reading this weekend: 1 hours
Time listening:
Time posting:
Food: sandwich foe lunch and left over King Cake

Total books finished since the Read-A-Thon Began: 496
Total Time Reading since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 1540 hours since I started doing the weekend Read-A-Thon starting in April of 2020.

Here's the next readathon: https://www.librarything.com/topic/369579