Social Distancing Readathon #268 - May 9 - 11
Talk 75 Books Challenge for 2025
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1SilverWolf28
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
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
2PawsforThought
>1 SilverWolf28: I’d love to join but don’t know if I’ll be able to concentrate on reading. We’ll see how I do.
3nrmay
I’m home again and ready to read.
I have finished no adult books yet in May.
Books:
WICKED AND THE WALLFLOWER
TORN THREAD
audio book is
STRANGERS IN TIME
I have finished no adult books yet in May.
Books:
WICKED AND THE WALLFLOWER
TORN THREAD
audio book is
STRANGERS IN TIME
4PocheFamily
I'll start a bit early today as some engagements this weekend will prevent my full-time participation.
I'm hoping to finish listening to Admiral Bill Halsey: A Naval Life along the way. It's a fair account of the man but lacks a lot of context with the war or political environment outside of certain military engagements. It does an excellent job of evaluating Halsey's racism and political acumen but there is a "greater war" picture, or strategic picture that the book hasn't thus far fit Halsey into. I'm only getting that half right undoubtedly - but something is missing from this book I've experienced in other admirals' biographies.
I'm hoping to finish listening to Admiral Bill Halsey: A Naval Life along the way. It's a fair account of the man but lacks a lot of context with the war or political environment outside of certain military engagements. It does an excellent job of evaluating Halsey's racism and political acumen but there is a "greater war" picture, or strategic picture that the book hasn't thus far fit Halsey into. I'm only getting that half right undoubtedly - but something is missing from this book I've experienced in other admirals' biographies.
5alcottacre
I will not be able to join in this weekend, but I wish you all happy reading!
6ChrisG1
I'm in - currently reading Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov and The Savage Sword of Conan: The Original Comics Omnibus.
8nrmay
Starting early as there are a couple of events on Sat. that l may go to.
And I’m on to cook tonight; haven’t cooked at all in the last 2 weeks when we were away. Menu is lrish salmon cakes, mashed potatoes, garden salad, & fresh strawberries for dessert. On a healthy bent after too many treats on vacation…
Other book activity:
Packed a box of books for Operation Paperback (books for soldiers).
Chose photos for the book l’m making for my granddaughter’s 6th BD. It’s “NOW WE ARE SIX”, the poem by A. A. Milne from his book by the same title, with pictures of her for each year birth-6. I’m sending her a copy of the book too.
Books:
WICKED AND THE WALLFLOWER and
STRANGERS IN TIME, the audio ed.
And I’m on to cook tonight; haven’t cooked at all in the last 2 weeks when we were away. Menu is lrish salmon cakes, mashed potatoes, garden salad, & fresh strawberries for dessert. On a healthy bent after too many treats on vacation…
Other book activity:
Packed a box of books for Operation Paperback (books for soldiers).
Chose photos for the book l’m making for my granddaughter’s 6th BD. It’s “NOW WE ARE SIX”, the poem by A. A. Milne from his book by the same title, with pictures of her for each year birth-6. I’m sending her a copy of the book too.
Books:
WICKED AND THE WALLFLOWER and
STRANGERS IN TIME, the audio ed.
9benitastrnad
I'm in again. I have little planned for this weekend. I hope to bury myself in reading. At least that is one thing the Giant Orange Gasbag can't take away from me. Even if he fires the Librarian of Congress he can't take away all those books I moved. Can he?
10nrmay
>9 benitastrnad:
I’ll be marching in protest again tomorrow.
I’ll be marching in protest again tomorrow.
11benitastrnad
Friday night/Saturday morning report
Books read from: I continued reading Schulz and Peanuts by David Michaelis doing it a few pages a day. My computer book remains Eating My Way Through Italy by Elizabeth Minchilli. I finished reading River At the Center of the World: A Journey Up the Yangtze, and Back in Chinese Time by Simon Winchester and started Murder in Mykonos. I finished listening to My Korean Deli: Risking it All For A Convenience Store by Ben Ryder Howe and started listennig to House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson.
Books finished: River At the Center of the World by Simon Winchester. My Korean Deli by Ben Ryder Howe
Book Thoughts: I loved River At the Center of the World and am loved it. I have a thing about travel books. I simply love to read about travels all over the world. This book's journey back into Chinese time is not back to Ancient China. It is back to about 1850. It is really about the development of modern China. There is a huge section about the Three Gorges Dam that was very informative. I am amazed about how much I didn't know about the Yangtze. I now have dreams of doing a river cruise of the Yangtze, but I know that is not going to be possible, so I really really appreciated this book and the journey it allowed me to take. My Korean
Deli was a hoot of a memoir about a WASP who was co-owner with his mother-in-law (who is Korean). It is mostly about family relationships and the hardships of working two full-time jobs while trying to make a go of it in a Deli/convenience store in Brooklyn, NY. What I found to be of particular interest was the fact that the author was also a full-time editor for the Paris Review when it was owned by George Plimpton. Those chapters were funny and also provided some insights into the world of literary publishing.
Non-Book Activities: It is another Saturday morning at the P.O. I am then going to try to make my reservations for my trip to Bozeman, MT next month. I also have to finishing potting some plants I purchased yesterday. I finished my knitting project from last week and was on my computer trying to figure out how to do a provisional cast-on when low and behold! The Mad Mowers started mowing - at 9:30 PM. I was already in my pajama's and it was totally dark outside. It was noisy and disruptive, and I didn't appreciate it at all. But what can you do with neighbors who are also your relatives.
Reading Time Today: 4 hour
Time Reading this weekend: 4 hours
Time listening:
Time posting:
Food: croissant with strawberry preserves along with coffee for breakfast
Total books finished since the Read-A-Thon Began: 504
Total Time Reading since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 1560 hours since I started doing the weekend Read-A-Thon starting in April of 2020.
Books read from: I continued reading Schulz and Peanuts by David Michaelis doing it a few pages a day. My computer book remains Eating My Way Through Italy by Elizabeth Minchilli. I finished reading River At the Center of the World: A Journey Up the Yangtze, and Back in Chinese Time by Simon Winchester and started Murder in Mykonos. I finished listening to My Korean Deli: Risking it All For A Convenience Store by Ben Ryder Howe and started listennig to House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson.
Books finished: River At the Center of the World by Simon Winchester. My Korean Deli by Ben Ryder Howe
Book Thoughts: I loved River At the Center of the World and am loved it. I have a thing about travel books. I simply love to read about travels all over the world. This book's journey back into Chinese time is not back to Ancient China. It is back to about 1850. It is really about the development of modern China. There is a huge section about the Three Gorges Dam that was very informative. I am amazed about how much I didn't know about the Yangtze. I now have dreams of doing a river cruise of the Yangtze, but I know that is not going to be possible, so I really really appreciated this book and the journey it allowed me to take. My Korean
Deli was a hoot of a memoir about a WASP who was co-owner with his mother-in-law (who is Korean). It is mostly about family relationships and the hardships of working two full-time jobs while trying to make a go of it in a Deli/convenience store in Brooklyn, NY. What I found to be of particular interest was the fact that the author was also a full-time editor for the Paris Review when it was owned by George Plimpton. Those chapters were funny and also provided some insights into the world of literary publishing.
Non-Book Activities: It is another Saturday morning at the P.O. I am then going to try to make my reservations for my trip to Bozeman, MT next month. I also have to finishing potting some plants I purchased yesterday. I finished my knitting project from last week and was on my computer trying to figure out how to do a provisional cast-on when low and behold! The Mad Mowers started mowing - at 9:30 PM. I was already in my pajama's and it was totally dark outside. It was noisy and disruptive, and I didn't appreciate it at all. But what can you do with neighbors who are also your relatives.
Reading Time Today: 4 hour
Time Reading this weekend: 4 hours
Time listening:
Time posting:
Food: croissant with strawberry preserves along with coffee for breakfast
Total books finished since the Read-A-Thon Began: 504
Total Time Reading since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 1560 hours since I started doing the weekend Read-A-Thon starting in April of 2020.
12benitastrnad
Saturday Report
Books read from: I continued reading Schulz and Peanuts by David Michaelis and am about 50 pages from finishing, doing it a few pages a day. My computer book remains Eating My Way Through Italy by Elizabeth Minchilli. I finished Murder in Mykonos and started People's Republic of Amnesia: Tiananmen by Louisa Lim. I started listening to House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson.
Books finished: River At the Center of the World by Simon Winchester. My Korean Deli by Ben Ryder Howe. Murder in Mykonos by Jeffrey Siger.
Book Thoughts: I started reading Murder in Mykonos by Jeffrey Siger this last week for the Mystery Series reading group and got so tied up in it that I spent a good deal of my free (or made free time) involved in it that I finished it this morning before I went to work. It was a good murder mystery, but what I really liked about it was the feeling of visiting a Greek island that I will never see in my lifetime and getting a sense of what it is like to live there. The book also made clear the differences between those who live there and those who visit there and how the social and cultural atmosphere is so different for the two groups. I am deeply appreciative of the author's ability to take me into that locale and allow me a window into the island life of Mykonos. This is definitely a series I will continue to read.
Non-Book Activities: I worked this morning and then came home and planted some of the plants I had purchased this last week. It is now above 80 degrees F and too hot out there in the sun, so I am inside where it is cool, drinking ice tea and typing in LT. I am also trying not to cry due to the dastardly state of crumbling that our country is now in, and I am so worried for the future. The neighbor boy, (8 years old) came over to visit while I was potting the plants, and so we talked about what I was doing and why. He has not the slightest interest in gardening but he did taste a leaf of spearmint and told me he didn't like it. I explained what herbs were and which of my pots had edible plants in them, so that he doesn't come over some day when I am not here and taste something that will make him sick. I worry that he might do so because he will assume that since he tasted one plant that all plants are tasteable. In a few minutes I will go to town and purchase 2 more bags of potting soil and when it cools off this evening I will pot some more plants.
Reading Time Today: 2 hour
Time Reading this weekend: 6 hours
Time listening:
Time posting:
Food: a cheese runza and one mandarin orange washed down with plenty of unsweet iced tea!
Total books finished since the Read-A-Thon Began: 505
Total Time Reading since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 1562 hours since I started doing the weekend Read-A-Thon starting in April of 2020.
Books read from: I continued reading Schulz and Peanuts by David Michaelis and am about 50 pages from finishing, doing it a few pages a day. My computer book remains Eating My Way Through Italy by Elizabeth Minchilli. I finished Murder in Mykonos and started People's Republic of Amnesia: Tiananmen by Louisa Lim. I started listening to House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson.
Books finished: River At the Center of the World by Simon Winchester. My Korean Deli by Ben Ryder Howe. Murder in Mykonos by Jeffrey Siger.
Book Thoughts: I started reading Murder in Mykonos by Jeffrey Siger this last week for the Mystery Series reading group and got so tied up in it that I spent a good deal of my free (or made free time) involved in it that I finished it this morning before I went to work. It was a good murder mystery, but what I really liked about it was the feeling of visiting a Greek island that I will never see in my lifetime and getting a sense of what it is like to live there. The book also made clear the differences between those who live there and those who visit there and how the social and cultural atmosphere is so different for the two groups. I am deeply appreciative of the author's ability to take me into that locale and allow me a window into the island life of Mykonos. This is definitely a series I will continue to read.
Non-Book Activities: I worked this morning and then came home and planted some of the plants I had purchased this last week. It is now above 80 degrees F and too hot out there in the sun, so I am inside where it is cool, drinking ice tea and typing in LT. I am also trying not to cry due to the dastardly state of crumbling that our country is now in, and I am so worried for the future. The neighbor boy, (8 years old) came over to visit while I was potting the plants, and so we talked about what I was doing and why. He has not the slightest interest in gardening but he did taste a leaf of spearmint and told me he didn't like it. I explained what herbs were and which of my pots had edible plants in them, so that he doesn't come over some day when I am not here and taste something that will make him sick. I worry that he might do so because he will assume that since he tasted one plant that all plants are tasteable. In a few minutes I will go to town and purchase 2 more bags of potting soil and when it cools off this evening I will pot some more plants.
Reading Time Today: 2 hour
Time Reading this weekend: 6 hours
Time listening:
Time posting:
Food: a cheese runza and one mandarin orange washed down with plenty of unsweet iced tea!
Total books finished since the Read-A-Thon Began: 505
Total Time Reading since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 1562 hours since I started doing the weekend Read-A-Thon starting in April of 2020.
13benitastrnad
Sunday Report
Books read from: I continued reading Schulz and Peanuts by David Michaelis and finished it. My computer book remains Eating My Way Through Italy by Elizabeth Minchilli. I have a good start on People's Republic of Amnesia: Tiananmen Revisited by Louisa Lim. I started listening to House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson.
Books finished: River At the Center of the World by Simon Winchester. My Korean Deli by Ben Ryder Howe. Murder in Mykonos by Jeffrey Siger. Schulz and Peanuts by David Michaelis.
Book Thoughts: I finished Schulz and Peanuts. All 672 pages. This is a book I started back in January 2025 for my real life book club. Each January we read the biography of our choice and then have 10 minutes to tell the group about it. I usually read a biography of some literary person and this year it was Charles M. Schulz. This biography was controversial when it was published in 2007. The family had given the author permission to do the biography and had cooperated with him by freely giving interviews and providing access to source materials. When the book was published they were unhappy with the final product and revoked their endorsement. I liked this biography. The author got permission from the comics syndicate that owned the rights to the Peanuts cartoons to use them in the biography and it really made this biography a great book. The author maintains that the comic strip is biographical and that Schulz is Snoopy. Snoopy's fantasies are really Schulz acting out his imaginings. I read this book slowly, a few pages at a time. It took 5 months to read, but I read it. And good reading it was.
Non-Book Activities: I had lots of activities today. Church and playing the piano. Then my real life book discussion group met from 3-5PM, and now I am going to sit down and watch the last episode of this season of Call the Midwife and knit. Or write in my book diary.
Reading Time Today: 2 hour
Time Reading this weekend: 8 hours
Time listening:
Time posting:
Food: chili mac for lunch and a sandwich and ice cream for supper
Total books finished since the Read-A-Thon Began: 506
Total Time Reading since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 1564 hours since I started doing the weekend Read-A-Thon starting in April of 2020.
Books read from: I continued reading Schulz and Peanuts by David Michaelis and finished it. My computer book remains Eating My Way Through Italy by Elizabeth Minchilli. I have a good start on People's Republic of Amnesia: Tiananmen Revisited by Louisa Lim. I started listening to House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson.
Books finished: River At the Center of the World by Simon Winchester. My Korean Deli by Ben Ryder Howe. Murder in Mykonos by Jeffrey Siger. Schulz and Peanuts by David Michaelis.
Book Thoughts: I finished Schulz and Peanuts. All 672 pages. This is a book I started back in January 2025 for my real life book club. Each January we read the biography of our choice and then have 10 minutes to tell the group about it. I usually read a biography of some literary person and this year it was Charles M. Schulz. This biography was controversial when it was published in 2007. The family had given the author permission to do the biography and had cooperated with him by freely giving interviews and providing access to source materials. When the book was published they were unhappy with the final product and revoked their endorsement. I liked this biography. The author got permission from the comics syndicate that owned the rights to the Peanuts cartoons to use them in the biography and it really made this biography a great book. The author maintains that the comic strip is biographical and that Schulz is Snoopy. Snoopy's fantasies are really Schulz acting out his imaginings. I read this book slowly, a few pages at a time. It took 5 months to read, but I read it. And good reading it was.
Non-Book Activities: I had lots of activities today. Church and playing the piano. Then my real life book discussion group met from 3-5PM, and now I am going to sit down and watch the last episode of this season of Call the Midwife and knit. Or write in my book diary.
Reading Time Today: 2 hour
Time Reading this weekend: 8 hours
Time listening:
Time posting:
Food: chili mac for lunch and a sandwich and ice cream for supper
Total books finished since the Read-A-Thon Began: 506
Total Time Reading since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 1564 hours since I started doing the weekend Read-A-Thon starting in April of 2020.
14ChrisG1
Weekend summary:
Books read from: Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov, The Blessing Way by Tony Hillerman, The Savage Sword of Conan: The Original Comics Omnibus
Books Finished: Second Foundation and The Blessing Way
Pages read: 400-ish
Sunday was, appropriately, filled mostly with Mother's Day doings, only a little bedtime reading done.
Books read from: Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov, The Blessing Way by Tony Hillerman, The Savage Sword of Conan: The Original Comics Omnibus
Books Finished: Second Foundation and The Blessing Way
Pages read: 400-ish
Sunday was, appropriately, filled mostly with Mother's Day doings, only a little bedtime reading done.
15benitastrnad
Weekend Wrap-up
Books read from: My continuous reading book is Queen Lucia by E. F. Benson. My computer book remains Eating My Way Through Italy by Elizabeth Minchilli. I am also reading People's Republic of Amnesia: Tiananmen Revisited by Louisa Lim. I started listening to House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson.
Books finished: River At the Center of the World by Simon Winchester. My Korean Deli by Ben Ryder Howe. Murder in Mykonos by Jeffrey Siger. Schulz and Peanuts by David Michaelis.
Book Thoughts: I started a new continuous reading book that I will keep in the bathroom. This one is an omnibus edition of all of the Mapp & Lucia books. I am starting with Queen Lucia. I am finding the writing style a bit funky. I would almost say that it is stream of consciousness, but isn't quite that. It does have really long long sentences with lots of commas where one sentence would be an entire paragraph. This makes it hard to read at times, but I figure that I will get accustomed to it the longer I stay with it. I wanted to read the Levant Trilogy but I simply can't find the book, so Mapp & Lucia got the nod. I am looking forward to this continuous reading series.
Non-Book Activities: It is going to be a long hot week and I have lots of pot gardening to do.
Reading Time Today: 1 hour
Time Reading this weekend: 9 hours
Time listening:
Time posting:
Food: chili mac for lunch and a sandwich and ice cream for supper
Total books finished since the Read-A-Thon Began: 506
Total Time Reading since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 1565 hours since I started doing the weekend Read-A-Thon starting in April of 2020.
Books read from: My continuous reading book is Queen Lucia by E. F. Benson. My computer book remains Eating My Way Through Italy by Elizabeth Minchilli. I am also reading People's Republic of Amnesia: Tiananmen Revisited by Louisa Lim. I started listening to House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson.
Books finished: River At the Center of the World by Simon Winchester. My Korean Deli by Ben Ryder Howe. Murder in Mykonos by Jeffrey Siger. Schulz and Peanuts by David Michaelis.
Book Thoughts: I started a new continuous reading book that I will keep in the bathroom. This one is an omnibus edition of all of the Mapp & Lucia books. I am starting with Queen Lucia. I am finding the writing style a bit funky. I would almost say that it is stream of consciousness, but isn't quite that. It does have really long long sentences with lots of commas where one sentence would be an entire paragraph. This makes it hard to read at times, but I figure that I will get accustomed to it the longer I stay with it. I wanted to read the Levant Trilogy but I simply can't find the book, so Mapp & Lucia got the nod. I am looking forward to this continuous reading series.
Non-Book Activities: It is going to be a long hot week and I have lots of pot gardening to do.
Reading Time Today: 1 hour
Time Reading this weekend: 9 hours
Time listening:
Time posting:
Food: chili mac for lunch and a sandwich and ice cream for supper
Total books finished since the Read-A-Thon Began: 506
Total Time Reading since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 1565 hours since I started doing the weekend Read-A-Thon starting in April of 2020.
17PocheFamily
Weekend wrap-up:
Books read from: Admiral Bill Halsey: A Naval Life and The Last Party: A Novel
Books finished: both
Thoughts: The Halsey biography didn't attempt to persuade the reader to like its subject or not, but whereas that might've been annoying/disappointing in some biographies, on this one it felt less like impartiality and more like ambivalence. I should go read some reviews of this book as it might help me figure out what was unsatisfying about it. It offered some new perspectives (to me) of the battles of Leyte Gulf in particular, so worthwhile, just not awesome.
The Mackintosh murder mystery was set in Wales and the author took pains to introduce Welsh words, a nice touch and done in a natural way.
Non-book activities: celebrating a relative's 90+ birthday. I love birthdays, so of course I had a good time.
Quote (Adm. Bill Halsey): ATTACK REPEAT ATTACK
Total books finished: 2
Total read from: 2
Books read from: Admiral Bill Halsey: A Naval Life and The Last Party: A Novel
Books finished: both
Thoughts: The Halsey biography didn't attempt to persuade the reader to like its subject or not, but whereas that might've been annoying/disappointing in some biographies, on this one it felt less like impartiality and more like ambivalence. I should go read some reviews of this book as it might help me figure out what was unsatisfying about it. It offered some new perspectives (to me) of the battles of Leyte Gulf in particular, so worthwhile, just not awesome.
The Mackintosh murder mystery was set in Wales and the author took pains to introduce Welsh words, a nice touch and done in a natural way.
Non-book activities: celebrating a relative's 90+ birthday. I love birthdays, so of course I had a good time.
Quote (Adm. Bill Halsey): ATTACK REPEAT ATTACK
Total books finished: 2
Total read from: 2
18nrmay
Weekend summary
Books:
Finished
WICKED AND THE WALLFLOWER
NOW WE ARE SIX, A. A. Milne
HOSTAGE, Willo Davis Roberts
Still reading:
RULES by Cynthia Lord
TORN THREAD
and audio book, STRANGERS IN TIME by D Baldacci.
Books:
Finished
WICKED AND THE WALLFLOWER
NOW WE ARE SIX, A. A. Milne
HOSTAGE, Willo Davis Roberts
Still reading:
RULES by Cynthia Lord
TORN THREAD
and audio book, STRANGERS IN TIME by D Baldacci.
