Memorial Day Readathon - Social Distancing #270 - May 23 - 26
Talk 75 Books Challenge for 2025
Join LibraryThing to post.
1SilverWolf28
Welcome to the Memorial Day readathon!
This weekend is Memorial Day, at least here in the US, so the Readathon will run through Monday. Even if you're not in the US you can still read and post on Monday.
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
This weekend is Memorial Day, at least here in the US, so the Readathon will run through Monday. Even if you're not in the US you can still read and post on Monday.
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
I’d love to join in, but as it’s Mother’s Day in Sweden this Sunday - meaning my brother’s family will be visiting, and the fact that we had the funeral for Dad yesterday I don’t know how much reading I’ll actually get done. We’ll see what happens.
3nrmay
>2 PawsforThought:
So sorry for the loss of your father. May the love of family and friends be a comfort to you.
So sorry for the loss of your father. May the love of family and friends be a comfort to you.
4PocheFamily
>2 PawsforThought: You will be missed. Sorry to read of your loss.
5PocheFamily
I'm in. Have an Early Reviewers I'm running behind on and another of Ian Toll's chunksters on WW2 in the Pacific I'm listening to. Have some others I could start or finish as well - I look forward to seeing what everyone is "up to" reading-wise as well!
6nrmay
It’s me again.
Still recovering, slowly but surely.
Current book:
GLORY BE by D Arceneaux,
humorous southern mystery.
Gorgeous day, sunny. 70F/21C
I need a short walk.
Still recovering, slowly but surely.
Current book:
GLORY BE by D Arceneaux,
humorous southern mystery.
Gorgeous day, sunny. 70F/21C
I need a short walk.
8alcottacre
I am in as much as I can be given that CFS is not leaving me alone. Maybe the extra day will help?
>2 PawsforThought: Sorry to hear about your father, Paws!
>6 nrmay: Glad to hear that you are still recovering, Nancy!
>2 PawsforThought: Sorry to hear about your father, Paws!
>6 nrmay: Glad to hear that you are still recovering, Nancy!
9ChrisG1
I'm in again - currently reading Eisenhower in War and Peace by Jean Edward Smith. My daughter & her family will be visiting for the weekend, but I expect I'll still get some reading in.
10alcottacre
Friday Night Update:
Books read from: Marmee & Louisa by Eve LaPlante (audiobook), All The Lives We Never Lived by Anuradha Roy, Freedom’s Daughters by Lynne Olson, and Tracks by Louise Erdrich
Books finished: 2, All The Lives We Never Lived and Tracks
Time reading: 2.45 hours + listening to audiobook
Total books finished: 2
Total read from: 4
Total time reading: 2.45 hours + listening to audiobook
Books read from: Marmee & Louisa by Eve LaPlante (audiobook), All The Lives We Never Lived by Anuradha Roy, Freedom’s Daughters by Lynne Olson, and Tracks by Louise Erdrich
Books finished: 2, All The Lives We Never Lived and Tracks
Time reading: 2.45 hours + listening to audiobook
Total books finished: 2
Total read from: 4
Total time reading: 2.45 hours + listening to audiobook
11nrmay
Saturday morning
Books:
Finished GLORY BE
Started FAIREST by G Levine for the fairy tale challenge this month. It’s a retelling of SNOW WHITE
Dining:
leftover phad Thai for dinner last night
Other:
last day of antibiotics so l intend to be WELL by tomorrow. My sis and BIL get home tonight from their road trip out west. We are hoping for a family get-together of some kind on Sunday or Monday with all the nieces and nephews.
Sunny, 65F/18C
Nice weather in North Carolina!
Books:
Finished GLORY BE
Started FAIREST by G Levine for the fairy tale challenge this month. It’s a retelling of SNOW WHITE
Dining:
leftover phad Thai for dinner last night
Other:
last day of antibiotics so l intend to be WELL by tomorrow. My sis and BIL get home tonight from their road trip out west. We are hoping for a family get-together of some kind on Sunday or Monday with all the nieces and nephews.
Sunny, 65F/18C
Nice weather in North Carolina!
12PocheFamily
Saturday afternoon:
Still working on:
- Twilight of the Gods - Ian Toll's WW2 in the Pacific
- The Queen of Poisons - 3rd in the fun mystery series
- Sayonara My Sweet - Early Readers - possibly a mystery, still figuring it out
Still working on:
- Twilight of the Gods - Ian Toll's WW2 in the Pacific
- The Queen of Poisons - 3rd in the fun mystery series
- Sayonara My Sweet - Early Readers - possibly a mystery, still figuring it out
13benitastrnad
Saturday report
Books read from: My continuous reading book is now Queen Lucia by E. F. Benson. My computer book remains Eating My Way Through Italy by Elizabeth Minchilli. I am reading City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami. I am listening to Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
Books finished: People's Republic of Amnesia: Tiananmen Revisited by Louisa Lim
Book Thoughts: It will be a very busy weekend but I managed to finish People's Republic of Amnesia and thought it was very good. The reviews of this book were mediocre to good, but I thought it was well done. It is not a history of the event. It is a memoir of sorts. The author talked to survivors and did a chapter on each one of them that would talk to her. In the book she is mostly interested in the question of how the Chinese government has managed to erase almost all of the history and memory of the Tiananmen Square events. For that reason I think this book is really a book about historiography - how we remember historical things and how these are then recorded. It turns out that it is very easy to erase historical events - simply, don't acknowledge that they ever happened, even in the face of overwhelming evidence. I highly recommend this book, even though it is 10 years old.
I am also hard at work on reading City and Its Uncertain Walls and am really enjoying this languid novel. I am having fun hunting for all the Murakami motifs in the book. Things like wells, holes, cats, crows, etc.
Non-Book Activities: It will be another busy weekend. I have something to attend today and tomorrow and then will have a quiet day to myself on Monday. I almost have my pot garden planted. Most of the plants are growing well, but they are growing slowly because it has been so cold and rainy. But it will make the deck a beautiful place to sit in a month. I can't believe how much potting soil has gone up in price. Amazing.
Reading Time Today: 1 hour
Time Reading this weekend: 2 hours
Time listening:
Time posting:
Food:
Total books finished since the Read-A-Thon Began: 508
Total Time Reading since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 1570 hours since I started doing the weekend Read-A-Thon starting in April of 2020.
Books read from: My continuous reading book is now Queen Lucia by E. F. Benson. My computer book remains Eating My Way Through Italy by Elizabeth Minchilli. I am reading City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami. I am listening to Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
Books finished: People's Republic of Amnesia: Tiananmen Revisited by Louisa Lim
Book Thoughts: It will be a very busy weekend but I managed to finish People's Republic of Amnesia and thought it was very good. The reviews of this book were mediocre to good, but I thought it was well done. It is not a history of the event. It is a memoir of sorts. The author talked to survivors and did a chapter on each one of them that would talk to her. In the book she is mostly interested in the question of how the Chinese government has managed to erase almost all of the history and memory of the Tiananmen Square events. For that reason I think this book is really a book about historiography - how we remember historical things and how these are then recorded. It turns out that it is very easy to erase historical events - simply, don't acknowledge that they ever happened, even in the face of overwhelming evidence. I highly recommend this book, even though it is 10 years old.
I am also hard at work on reading City and Its Uncertain Walls and am really enjoying this languid novel. I am having fun hunting for all the Murakami motifs in the book. Things like wells, holes, cats, crows, etc.
Non-Book Activities: It will be another busy weekend. I have something to attend today and tomorrow and then will have a quiet day to myself on Monday. I almost have my pot garden planted. Most of the plants are growing well, but they are growing slowly because it has been so cold and rainy. But it will make the deck a beautiful place to sit in a month. I can't believe how much potting soil has gone up in price. Amazing.
Reading Time Today: 1 hour
Time Reading this weekend: 2 hours
Time listening:
Time posting:
Food:
Total books finished since the Read-A-Thon Began: 508
Total Time Reading since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 1570 hours since I started doing the weekend Read-A-Thon starting in April of 2020.
14alcottacre
Saturday Night Update:
Books read from: Marmee & Louisa by Eve LaPlante (audiobook), Freedom’s Daughters by Lynne Olson, How to Read a Book by Monica Wood, A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers, Staying On by Paul Scott, Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch by Rivka Galchen
Books finished: 1, How to Read a Book
Time reading: ~3.9 hours + listening to audiobook
Total books finished: 3
Total read from: 7
Total time reading: ~6.35 hours + listening to audiobook
Books read from: Marmee & Louisa by Eve LaPlante (audiobook), Freedom’s Daughters by Lynne Olson, How to Read a Book by Monica Wood, A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers, Staying On by Paul Scott, Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch by Rivka Galchen
Books finished: 1, How to Read a Book
Time reading: ~3.9 hours + listening to audiobook
Total books finished: 3
Total read from: 7
Total time reading: ~6.35 hours + listening to audiobook
15nrmay
Sunday night
Books:
Finished FAIREST by Gail Carson Levine. I saw her present a program at the National Book Festival in D.C. one year. I checked to see if T-Rump had ruined that yet, but good news is it’s on for Sep 6 at the Wash. Convention Center. It’s a great free event.
Started reading NETTLE & BONE, fantasy by T Kingfisher.
My new audio book is THE DRAGONBONE CHAIR but l’ll have to finish the fantasy above before I start another.
Dining: brunch - cereal, strawberries, egg salad on toast. Tea time - half a BLT. Dinner - chicken & veg. I have had no dessert or adult beverages since l got sick and don’t even miss it now. My sense of taste and smell aren’t back to normal yet.
Other:
hosting family brunch here tomorrow.
I made stuffed curried eggs this evening. And OJ popsicles for the kids!
Books:
Finished FAIREST by Gail Carson Levine. I saw her present a program at the National Book Festival in D.C. one year. I checked to see if T-Rump had ruined that yet, but good news is it’s on for Sep 6 at the Wash. Convention Center. It’s a great free event.
Started reading NETTLE & BONE, fantasy by T Kingfisher.
My new audio book is THE DRAGONBONE CHAIR but l’ll have to finish the fantasy above before I start another.
Dining: brunch - cereal, strawberries, egg salad on toast. Tea time - half a BLT. Dinner - chicken & veg. I have had no dessert or adult beverages since l got sick and don’t even miss it now. My sense of taste and smell aren’t back to normal yet.
Other:
hosting family brunch here tomorrow.
I made stuffed curried eggs this evening. And OJ popsicles for the kids!
16benitastrnad
>15 nrmay:
Interesting. The National Book Festival used to be outdoors on the Mall. But the convention center is a good facility as well.
Interesting. The National Book Festival used to be outdoors on the Mall. But the convention center is a good facility as well.
17benitastrnad
Saturday report
Books read from: My continuous reading book is now Queen Lucia by E. F. Benson. My computer book remains Eating My Way Through Italy by Elizabeth Minchilli. I am reading City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami. I am listening to Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens.
Books finished: People's Republic of Amnesia: Tiananmen Revisited by Louisa Lim
Book Thoughts: I am about half done reading City and Its Uncertain Walls and am really enjoying this languid novel. However, it is the kind of book that requires a bit of concentration, so I am not finding enough time to sit with it for sustained reading. I am having fun hunting for all the Murakami motifs in the book. Things like wells, holes, cats, crows, etc.
Non-Book Activities: It was another busy weekend. I just can't seem to find enough time to stay at home, so my unpacking has stalled and my reading as slowed. This weekend was full of the normal Decoration Day activities. I had a church reunion on Saturday evening and got to see people I haven't seen for years. Sunday was the normal church activities in the morning. I even had time to read a bit before I got sleepy enough to take a nap. Then the church service at the cemetery in the afternoon. Sunday night was spent at my Aunt's annual birthday party. She had a catered meal and my cousin made homemade ice cream using is popper engine to make the 20 gallons of ice cream. Thankfully there is absolutely nothing on the agenda for today except to catch up, write up, and send out the reunion plans.
Reading Time Today: 1 hour
Time Reading this weekend: 4 hours
Time listening:
Time posting:
Food:
Total books finished since the Read-A-Thon Began: 508
Total Time Reading since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 1574 hours since I started doing the weekend Read-A-Thon starting in April of 2020.
Books read from: My continuous reading book is now Queen Lucia by E. F. Benson. My computer book remains Eating My Way Through Italy by Elizabeth Minchilli. I am reading City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami. I am listening to Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens.
Books finished: People's Republic of Amnesia: Tiananmen Revisited by Louisa Lim
Book Thoughts: I am about half done reading City and Its Uncertain Walls and am really enjoying this languid novel. However, it is the kind of book that requires a bit of concentration, so I am not finding enough time to sit with it for sustained reading. I am having fun hunting for all the Murakami motifs in the book. Things like wells, holes, cats, crows, etc.
Non-Book Activities: It was another busy weekend. I just can't seem to find enough time to stay at home, so my unpacking has stalled and my reading as slowed. This weekend was full of the normal Decoration Day activities. I had a church reunion on Saturday evening and got to see people I haven't seen for years. Sunday was the normal church activities in the morning. I even had time to read a bit before I got sleepy enough to take a nap. Then the church service at the cemetery in the afternoon. Sunday night was spent at my Aunt's annual birthday party. She had a catered meal and my cousin made homemade ice cream using is popper engine to make the 20 gallons of ice cream. Thankfully there is absolutely nothing on the agenda for today except to catch up, write up, and send out the reunion plans.
Reading Time Today: 1 hour
Time Reading this weekend: 4 hours
Time listening:
Time posting:
Food:
Total books finished since the Read-A-Thon Began: 508
Total Time Reading since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 1574 hours since I started doing the weekend Read-A-Thon starting in April of 2020.
18alcottacre
Sunday Night Update:
Books read from: The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Books finished: 1, The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Time reading: 49 minutes
Total books finished: 4
Total read from: 8
Total time reading: ~7.17 hours + listening to audiobook
Let us hope that my reading by end of day today looks better than Sunday!!
Books read from: The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Books finished: 1, The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Time reading: 49 minutes
Total books finished: 4
Total read from: 8
Total time reading: ~7.17 hours + listening to audiobook
Let us hope that my reading by end of day today looks better than Sunday!!
19PocheFamily
I'm sorry to hear the National Book Festival will be indoors, but maybe it's cheaper than renting all those tents, worrying about weather/security, and damaging the lawn of the Mall? I note that it's only one day now, too :( I was lucky enough to catch Colson Whitehead and Marilynne Robinson the year I went - a studied in contrast between high energy and calm personalities! Looks like the speaker schedule will be out about a month before ... we'll all have to look & see in August!!
My Memorial Day weekend wrap-up: sorry so lengthy, feel free to skim/skip
Books read from: 4
- Flights by Olga Tokarczuk
- Sayonara, My Sweet by Lea O'Harra
- Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945 by Ian W. Toll
- The Queen of Poisons: Marlow Murder Club, Book 3 by Robert Thorogood
Books finished: - The Queen of Poisons: Marlow Murder Club, Book 3 by Robert Thorogood
Quotes: "These are the kind of histories I like to read." - Ian W. Toll on the Pacific War Trilogy, of which Twilight of the Gods is the 3rd installment.
Thoughts: Unlike the 2nd volume of the Pacific War trilogy, this volume was dealing with such massive casualties with every event - seemingly always in the thousands, tens of thousands, or over a hundred thousand, that how does one linger meaningfully over each event? The kamikaze toll on the USS Franklin (CV-13) (807 killed and 487 wounded), the USS Indianapolis (CA-35) (~300 of its 1200 crew survived), or the firebombing of Tokyo on multiple raids (the night of March 9-10, 1945 alone killed more than 100,000 - perhaps more measurable in terms of square miles destroyed than lives because the records were consumed by fire also): these are each the sole subject of many books.
There is something meaningful about reading the history of events which are only 80 years in the past yet seem so far away. It's not ancient history. It was interesting to think about the conquest of Okinawa as only happening in May, 1945.
Lastly, It's also interesting to read a history of such devastating events which dramatically changed Japanese culture and society while simultaneously reading a contemporary Japanese murder mystery (fiction). I'll be thinking about this and Ruth Ozeki's A Tale for the Time Being, read a while ago, for some time to come I think.
Non-book activities: Dog walking and weeding. It's finally drying out. I seem to have lost only one basil plant despite the rain and temperature drop.
Total books finished: 1
Total read from: 4 because I was exercising ENORMOUS restraint. Gotta get that "Currently Reading" category whittled down!!
Total time reading: At least 20 hours. Really enjoyed each book tremendously and will probably finish the other three in the next few days. It was hard to stop reading at all this weekend!
My Memorial Day weekend wrap-up: sorry so lengthy, feel free to skim/skip
Books read from: 4
- Flights by Olga Tokarczuk
- Sayonara, My Sweet by Lea O'Harra
- Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945 by Ian W. Toll
- The Queen of Poisons: Marlow Murder Club, Book 3 by Robert Thorogood
Books finished: - The Queen of Poisons: Marlow Murder Club, Book 3 by Robert Thorogood
Quotes: "These are the kind of histories I like to read." - Ian W. Toll on the Pacific War Trilogy, of which Twilight of the Gods is the 3rd installment.
Thoughts: Unlike the 2nd volume of the Pacific War trilogy, this volume was dealing with such massive casualties with every event - seemingly always in the thousands, tens of thousands, or over a hundred thousand, that how does one linger meaningfully over each event? The kamikaze toll on the USS Franklin (CV-13) (807 killed and 487 wounded), the USS Indianapolis (CA-35) (~300 of its 1200 crew survived), or the firebombing of Tokyo on multiple raids (the night of March 9-10, 1945 alone killed more than 100,000 - perhaps more measurable in terms of square miles destroyed than lives because the records were consumed by fire also): these are each the sole subject of many books.
There is something meaningful about reading the history of events which are only 80 years in the past yet seem so far away. It's not ancient history. It was interesting to think about the conquest of Okinawa as only happening in May, 1945.
Lastly, It's also interesting to read a history of such devastating events which dramatically changed Japanese culture and society while simultaneously reading a contemporary Japanese murder mystery (fiction). I'll be thinking about this and Ruth Ozeki's A Tale for the Time Being, read a while ago, for some time to come I think.
Non-book activities: Dog walking and weeding. It's finally drying out. I seem to have lost only one basil plant despite the rain and temperature drop.
Total books finished: 1
Total read from: 4 because I was exercising ENORMOUS restraint. Gotta get that "Currently Reading" category whittled down!!
Total time reading: At least 20 hours. Really enjoyed each book tremendously and will probably finish the other three in the next few days. It was hard to stop reading at all this weekend!
20benitastrnad
>19 PocheFamily:
You have been reading some interesting books. You are right about reading history - there is always so much to think about. Tiananmen (the book I finished this week) was only in 1989 and it already seems like so far in the past.
You have been reading some interesting books. You are right about reading history - there is always so much to think about. Tiananmen (the book I finished this week) was only in 1989 and it already seems like so far in the past.
21benitastrnad
Weekend Wrapup
Books read from: My continuous reading book is now Queen Lucia by E. F. Benson. My computer book remains Eating My Way Through Italy by Elizabeth Minchilli. I am deeply into City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami. I am listening to Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens.
Books finished: People's Republic of Amnesia: Tiananmen Revisited by Louisa Lim
Book Thoughts: I didn't get to spend as much time reading this weekend as I wanted to. Even yesterday. It was a rainy cool day and I spent most of it on the phone instead of reading. However, I did manage to get about 40 pages read in the Murakami book - which I am enjoying very much.
Non-Book Activities: It was a quiet day but full of talk. Talk. Talk. on the phone. Then my 8-year-old cousin came to visit, and it was more talk. I did get the dishes done. But I tried to make a new batch of granola and do it while talking on the phone. Since I was distracted, I managed to forget to add the vegetable oil and the vanilla. As a result, the granola is tasteless and dry. Aside from being put out about my level of reading this weekend, now, I will have to put up with dry granola for the next two weeks. I was not happy.
Reading Time Today: 1 hour
Time Reading this weekend: 5 hours
Time listening:
Time posting:
Food:
Total books finished since the Read-A-Thon Began: 508
Total Time Reading since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 1575 hours since I started doing the weekend Read-A-Thon starting in April of 2020.
Books read from: My continuous reading book is now Queen Lucia by E. F. Benson. My computer book remains Eating My Way Through Italy by Elizabeth Minchilli. I am deeply into City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami. I am listening to Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens.
Books finished: People's Republic of Amnesia: Tiananmen Revisited by Louisa Lim
Book Thoughts: I didn't get to spend as much time reading this weekend as I wanted to. Even yesterday. It was a rainy cool day and I spent most of it on the phone instead of reading. However, I did manage to get about 40 pages read in the Murakami book - which I am enjoying very much.
Non-Book Activities: It was a quiet day but full of talk. Talk. Talk. on the phone. Then my 8-year-old cousin came to visit, and it was more talk. I did get the dishes done. But I tried to make a new batch of granola and do it while talking on the phone. Since I was distracted, I managed to forget to add the vegetable oil and the vanilla. As a result, the granola is tasteless and dry. Aside from being put out about my level of reading this weekend, now, I will have to put up with dry granola for the next two weeks. I was not happy.
Reading Time Today: 1 hour
Time Reading this weekend: 5 hours
Time listening:
Time posting:
Food:
Total books finished since the Read-A-Thon Began: 508
Total Time Reading since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 1575 hours since I started doing the weekend Read-A-Thon starting in April of 2020.
22ChrisG1
>19 PocheFamily: I just finished the Jean Edward Smith biography of Eisenhower & it's rekindled my interest in WWII. I'm adding the Pacific War Trilogy to my TBR.
23ChrisG1
Weekend summary:
Books read from: Eisenhower in War and Peace
Books finished: none (I just finished the above this morning).
Pages read: 600-ish
My daughter, with her husband & two little ones arrived Friday night and left Monday morning, so Friday & Monday were my heaviest reading days. We had a great visit, but (as always) were ready for some peace & quiet by the time they left.
Books read from: Eisenhower in War and Peace
Books finished: none (I just finished the above this morning).
Pages read: 600-ish
My daughter, with her husband & two little ones arrived Friday night and left Monday morning, so Friday & Monday were my heaviest reading days. We had a great visit, but (as always) were ready for some peace & quiet by the time they left.
