Social Distancing Readathon #325 - June 12 - 14
Talk 75 Books Challenge for 2026
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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:
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:
3alcottacre
Despite my monthly gaming marathon with Kerry on Friday, I hope to get a lot of reading in on Saturday and Sunday!
4rhondak101book
After two busy weekends, I am back in.
My current goals are:
° reading one chapter per day in The Songs of Trees by David George Haskell
° finishing The Seville Communion by Arturo Pérez-Reverte
° finishing Deep Wheel Orcadia by Harry Josephine Giles
My current goals are:
° reading one chapter per day in The Songs of Trees by David George Haskell
° finishing The Seville Communion by Arturo Pérez-Reverte
° finishing Deep Wheel Orcadia by Harry Josephine Giles
5benitastrnad
I'm in again. It has become a weekly thing for me. Since 2020.
6ChrisG1
I'm in - currently reading Dauntless by Jack Campbell & The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson.
7nrmay
>5 benitastrnad:. Me too!
Since Memorial Day weekend, May 2020.
I’m in.
Books:
A DOG’S JOURNEY, less than 100 pages to go; should finish today.
THE KEEPER, Tana French. 2/3 way through.
Other:
Family coming back from the beach and all landing here tomorrow.
Chaos anticipated…
Picking up clutter, reshelving piles of books before house cleaner comes Sat morning in the nick of time.
Weather:
Heat wave and drought.
99F expected high today.
Water use restrictions in place starting Monday.
Since Memorial Day weekend, May 2020.
I’m in.
Books:
A DOG’S JOURNEY, less than 100 pages to go; should finish today.
THE KEEPER, Tana French. 2/3 way through.
Other:
Family coming back from the beach and all landing here tomorrow.
Chaos anticipated…
Picking up clutter, reshelving piles of books before house cleaner comes Sat morning in the nick of time.
Weather:
Heat wave and drought.
99F expected high today.
Water use restrictions in place starting Monday.
9PocheFamily
I'm in! A bunch of long ones I'll be trying to move forward on ...
I'd love to make some progress on my Life and Death are Wearing Me Out: I somehow let myself stall out. Read-a-thons are great for pushing forward and through!
I started The Mill on the Floss this week, with the goal of reading at least one chapter a day. I'm hoping the habit sticks and that I can extend it to future reads.
I've laid hands on an audiobook version of Loot, which I'd started more than 2y ago but had to return before I'd finished. A memorable start to the book, and so I'm listening to that on occasion. I'd like to clear up some of my DNFs...
I'd also like to finish the Early Reviewers book I've received, Heroes of Palmar: How One IDF Unit Revolutionized Combat Medicine in Gaza.
I'm sure a mystery will provide the last of my material for any remaining time to fill!
I'd love to make some progress on my Life and Death are Wearing Me Out: I somehow let myself stall out. Read-a-thons are great for pushing forward and through!
I started The Mill on the Floss this week, with the goal of reading at least one chapter a day. I'm hoping the habit sticks and that I can extend it to future reads.
I've laid hands on an audiobook version of Loot, which I'd started more than 2y ago but had to return before I'd finished. A memorable start to the book, and so I'm listening to that on occasion. I'd like to clear up some of my DNFs...
I'd also like to finish the Early Reviewers book I've received, Heroes of Palmar: How One IDF Unit Revolutionized Combat Medicine in Gaza.
I'm sure a mystery will provide the last of my material for any remaining time to fill!
10rhondak101book
Friday Night Summary, Alabama, USA
Books Read From: 4
The Songs of Trees by David George Haskell, The Seville Communion by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Deep Wheel Orcadia by Harry Josephine Giles, and Six Suspects by Vikas Swarup
Total Books Completed: 1
Deep Wheel Orcadia (review written)
Books Read From: 4
The Songs of Trees by David George Haskell, The Seville Communion by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Deep Wheel Orcadia by Harry Josephine Giles, and Six Suspects by Vikas Swarup
Total Books Completed: 1
Deep Wheel Orcadia (review written)
12benitastrnad
Friday Startup from Kansas USA
Books read from: Return to Sender by Craig Johnson. Circling the Sun by Paula McLain. My continuous reading book is still Katharine Graham's Washington by Katharine Graham. My computer book is Walking It Off by Doug Peacock. I am listening to Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman
Books finished: Return to Sender by Craig Johnson.
Book Thoughts: This was book 21 in the Longmire series. It was standard Longmire fare, but great fun to read. The plot centers around the Post Office. The longest postal route in the US is in Wyoming. It is 307 miles long and runs through the Red Desert in southern Wyoming. Johnson does such a good job of using everyday life things as the basis for his plots and doing his homework regarding things like working for the Post Office. I whipped through this one in 3 days.
Activities: I had lunch today with another LT'er and really enjoyed it. Another friend and I drove down to Abilene to a Thai resturant. I had green curry and it was very very good. The conversation was really good and great fun.
Reading Time: 1 hours
Time listening:
Time posting:
Food: green curry and a fried tofu appetizer
Total books finished since the Read-A-Thon Began: 592
Total Time Reading since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 1801 hours since I started doing the weekend Read-A-Thon starting in April of 2020.
Books read from: Return to Sender by Craig Johnson. Circling the Sun by Paula McLain. My continuous reading book is still Katharine Graham's Washington by Katharine Graham. My computer book is Walking It Off by Doug Peacock. I am listening to Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman
Books finished: Return to Sender by Craig Johnson.
Book Thoughts: This was book 21 in the Longmire series. It was standard Longmire fare, but great fun to read. The plot centers around the Post Office. The longest postal route in the US is in Wyoming. It is 307 miles long and runs through the Red Desert in southern Wyoming. Johnson does such a good job of using everyday life things as the basis for his plots and doing his homework regarding things like working for the Post Office. I whipped through this one in 3 days.
Activities: I had lunch today with another LT'er and really enjoyed it. Another friend and I drove down to Abilene to a Thai resturant. I had green curry and it was very very good. The conversation was really good and great fun.
Reading Time: 1 hours
Time listening:
Time posting:
Food: green curry and a fried tofu appetizer
Total books finished since the Read-A-Thon Began: 592
Total Time Reading since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 1801 hours since I started doing the weekend Read-A-Thon starting in April of 2020.
13alcottacre
Friday Night Follow Up:
Books read from: The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (audiobook), The Discovery of Heaven by Harry Mulisch, and Every Tongue Got to Confess by Zora Neale Hurston
Books finished: 0
Time reading: ~1.5 hours + listening to audiobook
Total books finished: 0
Total read from: 3
Total time reading: ~1.5 hours + listening to audiobook
Not a lot of reading last night because of both fatigue and gaming. I am hoping for better today!
Books read from: The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (audiobook), The Discovery of Heaven by Harry Mulisch, and Every Tongue Got to Confess by Zora Neale Hurston
Books finished: 0
Time reading: ~1.5 hours + listening to audiobook
Total books finished: 0
Total read from: 3
Total time reading: ~1.5 hours + listening to audiobook
Not a lot of reading last night because of both fatigue and gaming. I am hoping for better today!
14PocheFamily
Early Saturday, somewhat less hot & humid than yesterday NJ:
Books read from: Loot and The Mill on the Floss
Books finished: fat chance! Likely to be another Zero weekend here
Time reading: less than 2 hours, but give me a chance to find a chore to avoid and I'll show you what a star procrastinator I can be
Dined out! A rarity here as our youngest hated to go out and trained us well to get delivery when we don't feel like cooking. But we did! Tried out a fairly new restaurant tucked into the neighborhood across the way: great, simple, classic Italian cuisine. It's New Jersey ... did you expect something other than Italian?
Thoughts: Must. Tackle. The Dungeon. Today. Ugh: it's gotten to the point in the basement where there are spiders here and there, and that cannot be allowed to continue. Hoping my audiobook will take my mind off of the work necessary in this chore.
Books read from: Loot and The Mill on the Floss
Books finished: fat chance! Likely to be another Zero weekend here
Time reading: less than 2 hours, but give me a chance to find a chore to avoid and I'll show you what a star procrastinator I can be
Dined out! A rarity here as our youngest hated to go out and trained us well to get delivery when we don't feel like cooking. But we did! Tried out a fairly new restaurant tucked into the neighborhood across the way: great, simple, classic Italian cuisine. It's New Jersey ... did you expect something other than Italian?
Thoughts: Must. Tackle. The Dungeon. Today. Ugh: it's gotten to the point in the basement where there are spiders here and there, and that cannot be allowed to continue. Hoping my audiobook will take my mind off of the work necessary in this chore.
15ChrisG1
>11 fuzzi: I finished it this morning - very enjoyable & I'll be continuing in the series.
16fuzzi
>15 ChrisG1: I think I read the next two, liked them, but life got busy and I didn't continue.
I started The Westing Game last night.
I started The Westing Game last night.
17ReneeMarie
>12 benitastrnad: I've never read a Longmire, but I might have to pick that one up. I just finished reading Mailman by Stephen Starring Grant. Parts of it were damn funny...and strangely fascinating.
18benitastrnad
Saturday Report from Kansas USA
Books read from: Circling the Sun by Paula McLain. My continuous reading book is still Katharine Graham's Washington by Katharine Graham. My computer book is Walking It Off by Doug Peacock. I finished listening to Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman.
Books finished: Return to Sender by Craig Johnson. Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman
Book Thoughts: I finished listening to Light Between Oceans for the LT Group Read. It was a good novel and would make a great book for a book club discussion. There are lots of things going on in the book that are all good discussion points. The book is about lying and honesty. It is also about marriage relationships and relationships between parents and children. Book clubs would talk about these ideas for hours. I listened to this book and found the narrator to be irritating. He modulated his voice at the end of sentences and paragraphs to the point that it was so soft I couldn't hear the endings easily. I had to keep turning up the volume and then there were parts of it that were too loud. Since it was a CD I am sure the problem wasn't with the CD. It had to be a problem with the recording. There is no doubt in my mind that the recording affected my attitude about the novel.
Activities: It was a sort of wasted day. I had planned to clean out the car, but that didn't happen. Will have to do some of my comptuer work to get ready for ALA tomorrow and get some of the packing done.
Reading Time: 1 hours
Time listening:
Time posting:
Food: leftover green curry for supper
Total books finished since the Read-A-Thon Began: 593
Total Time Reading since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 1802 hours since I started doing the weekend Read-A-Thon starting in April of 2020.
Books read from: Circling the Sun by Paula McLain. My continuous reading book is still Katharine Graham's Washington by Katharine Graham. My computer book is Walking It Off by Doug Peacock. I finished listening to Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman.
Books finished: Return to Sender by Craig Johnson. Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman
Book Thoughts: I finished listening to Light Between Oceans for the LT Group Read. It was a good novel and would make a great book for a book club discussion. There are lots of things going on in the book that are all good discussion points. The book is about lying and honesty. It is also about marriage relationships and relationships between parents and children. Book clubs would talk about these ideas for hours. I listened to this book and found the narrator to be irritating. He modulated his voice at the end of sentences and paragraphs to the point that it was so soft I couldn't hear the endings easily. I had to keep turning up the volume and then there were parts of it that were too loud. Since it was a CD I am sure the problem wasn't with the CD. It had to be a problem with the recording. There is no doubt in my mind that the recording affected my attitude about the novel.
Activities: It was a sort of wasted day. I had planned to clean out the car, but that didn't happen. Will have to do some of my comptuer work to get ready for ALA tomorrow and get some of the packing done.
Reading Time: 1 hours
Time listening:
Time posting:
Food: leftover green curry for supper
Total books finished since the Read-A-Thon Began: 593
Total Time Reading since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 1802 hours since I started doing the weekend Read-A-Thon starting in April of 2020.
19PocheFamily
Sunday early update:
Books read from:
- Loot
- The Mill on the Floss
- Murder Most Royal
Books finished: ha!
Time reading: 3+ hours
Thoughts: I totally get what you're saying about audiobooks, @benitastrnad, as the Library/Libby audiobook version narrator of Loot reads every sentence as though it is its own paragraph (hard to describe the problem more precisely). I sampled it on Audible this morning - a much better narrator. Possibly. But reading the paper was superior to either, imo. However, I'm reading this now to get a DNF off the list, and beggars can't be too much like the Jif Mom.
Non-book activities: Yay me! I got through nearly 3 large boxes left unpacked from our last move 12 years ago, and found wonderful reminders of grandmothers, children's art & school projects, photos from our youth - the random flotsam that had been floating loose in our previous basement. Hmm. Seems a pattern might be here ... anyways, I've been sorting and at least consolidating items into one place (box, closet, etc.), tossing (frequently), or designating as worthy of passing on (rarely). It wasn't really an activity I could listen to Loot while doing. I think there's maybe 1.25 boxes like this remaining to be reviewed. And no spiders encountered yet! But the occasional web-iness must be coming from somebody!
Books read from:
- Loot
- The Mill on the Floss
- Murder Most Royal
Books finished: ha!
Time reading: 3+ hours
Thoughts: I totally get what you're saying about audiobooks, @benitastrnad, as the Library/Libby audiobook version narrator of Loot reads every sentence as though it is its own paragraph (hard to describe the problem more precisely). I sampled it on Audible this morning - a much better narrator. Possibly. But reading the paper was superior to either, imo. However, I'm reading this now to get a DNF off the list, and beggars can't be too much like the Jif Mom.
Non-book activities: Yay me! I got through nearly 3 large boxes left unpacked from our last move 12 years ago, and found wonderful reminders of grandmothers, children's art & school projects, photos from our youth - the random flotsam that had been floating loose in our previous basement. Hmm. Seems a pattern might be here ... anyways, I've been sorting and at least consolidating items into one place (box, closet, etc.), tossing (frequently), or designating as worthy of passing on (rarely). It wasn't really an activity I could listen to Loot while doing. I think there's maybe 1.25 boxes like this remaining to be reviewed. And no spiders encountered yet! But the occasional web-iness must be coming from somebody!
20rhondak101book
Sunday Morning Summary, Alabama, USA
Books Read From: 5
The Songs of Trees by David George Haskell, The Seville Communion by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Deep Wheel Orcadia by Harry Josephine Giles, Six Suspects by Vikas Swarup, and Wilful Cruelty by Rhys Dylan
Total Books Completed: 2
Deep Wheel Orcadia (review written)
The Seville Communion (review written)
Books Read From: 5
The Songs of Trees by David George Haskell, The Seville Communion by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Deep Wheel Orcadia by Harry Josephine Giles, Six Suspects by Vikas Swarup, and Wilful Cruelty by Rhys Dylan
Total Books Completed: 2
Deep Wheel Orcadia (review written)
The Seville Communion (review written)
21alcottacre
Saturday Night Summary:
Books read from: The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (audiobook), The Discovery of Heaven by Harry Mulisch, and Every Tongue Got to Confess by Zora Neale Hurston
Books finished: 0
Time reading: ~1 hours + listening to audiobook
Total books finished: 0
Total read from: 3
Total time reading: ~2.5 hours + listening to audiobook
I thought my Saturday reading would be better than Friday's was, but that did not prove to be true. I am being reminded that I am not as young as I once was.
Books read from: The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (audiobook), The Discovery of Heaven by Harry Mulisch, and Every Tongue Got to Confess by Zora Neale Hurston
Books finished: 0
Time reading: ~1 hours + listening to audiobook
Total books finished: 0
Total read from: 3
Total time reading: ~2.5 hours + listening to audiobook
I thought my Saturday reading would be better than Friday's was, but that did not prove to be true. I am being reminded that I am not as young as I once was.
22ChrisG1
Weekend summary:
Books read from: Dauntless by Jack Campbell, The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, Up in Honey's Room by Elmore Leonard
Books finished: Dauntless
Pages read: 450-ish
Books read from: Dauntless by Jack Campbell, The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, Up in Honey's Room by Elmore Leonard
Books finished: Dauntless
Pages read: 450-ish
23PocheFamily
Books read from:
- Loot
- The Mill on the Floss
- Murder Most Royal
(Random, not necessarily connected) Thoughts: Okay, so Loot is historical fiction, a story wrapped around the nuggets of early 19th c. historical events and people. It's interesting, and I enjoyed it because the author has a visually rich style and there are a lot of interesting ideas in the book about displacement in different cultural settings. And I'm not sure the ending suited the beginning of the book. But the tone of the book, while appealing, lost in comparison to The Mill on the Floss. On the other hand, I find the beginning of that book a bit uneven, which is probably why I started and stopped last time (more than a decade ago) I tried to read it. Some chapters are charming, but others flat. Sometimes the writing is truly beautiful, but it's not like "every word was gorgeous" or something. I retreated to a simple mystery each night.
Non-book activities: Happily got in a few more plants, some low growers for the pollinator bed. Some perennial, others are annuals. I love looking out and seeing the bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.
Total books finished: 1 - which is 1 more than I thought I would finish
Total read from: 3
Total time reading: Maybe 10 hours?
- Loot
- The Mill on the Floss
- Murder Most Royal
(Random, not necessarily connected) Thoughts: Okay, so Loot is historical fiction, a story wrapped around the nuggets of early 19th c. historical events and people. It's interesting, and I enjoyed it because the author has a visually rich style and there are a lot of interesting ideas in the book about displacement in different cultural settings. And I'm not sure the ending suited the beginning of the book. But the tone of the book, while appealing, lost in comparison to The Mill on the Floss. On the other hand, I find the beginning of that book a bit uneven, which is probably why I started and stopped last time (more than a decade ago) I tried to read it. Some chapters are charming, but others flat. Sometimes the writing is truly beautiful, but it's not like "every word was gorgeous" or something. I retreated to a simple mystery each night.
Non-book activities: Happily got in a few more plants, some low growers for the pollinator bed. Some perennial, others are annuals. I love looking out and seeing the bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.
Total books finished: 1 - which is 1 more than I thought I would finish
Total read from: 3
Total time reading: Maybe 10 hours?
24benitastrnad
Weekend Wrap-up from Kansas USA
Books read from: Circling the Sun by Paula McLain. My continuous reading book is still Katharine Graham's Washington by Katharine Graham. My computer book is Walking It Off by Doug Peacock. I returned to listening to Secret Keeper by Kate Morton.
Books finished: Return to Sender by Craig Johnson. Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman
Book Thoughts: It was a good reading weekend. I managed to finish 2 books. Both of them were good but not outstanding. I was a little disappointed in Light Between Oceans. I think I had built up its impact and then found out that it didn't match up. That was a letdown. Light is a very good novel, but it explores some very difficult human questions and that makes the reader think deeply about how they would have handled the situation. It is the story of a marriage that struggles to survive because both partners are not good at sharing feelings or personal data so that the other person can try to understand each other. The novel was very well written, and the author does a good job of writing in a historical context about issues that are medically newly recognized medical conditions. These are early onset menopause and PTSD and how they combine with our expectations and definitions of femininity and masculinity.
Activities: I spent most of the day yesterday trying to get my computer to work so that I could lead our Zoom book group. We had a good book to discuss and the technology failed us. That is a rarity because Zoom has worked so well for so long. I think I need to purchase a new computer and I am not looking forward to doing so.
Reading Time: 2 hours
Time listening:
Time posting:
Food: leftover green curry for supper
Total books finished since the Read-A-Thon Began: 593
Total Time Reading since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 1804 hours since I started doing the weekend Read-A-Thon starting in April of 2020.
Books read from: Circling the Sun by Paula McLain. My continuous reading book is still Katharine Graham's Washington by Katharine Graham. My computer book is Walking It Off by Doug Peacock. I returned to listening to Secret Keeper by Kate Morton.
Books finished: Return to Sender by Craig Johnson. Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman
Book Thoughts: It was a good reading weekend. I managed to finish 2 books. Both of them were good but not outstanding. I was a little disappointed in Light Between Oceans. I think I had built up its impact and then found out that it didn't match up. That was a letdown. Light is a very good novel, but it explores some very difficult human questions and that makes the reader think deeply about how they would have handled the situation. It is the story of a marriage that struggles to survive because both partners are not good at sharing feelings or personal data so that the other person can try to understand each other. The novel was very well written, and the author does a good job of writing in a historical context about issues that are medically newly recognized medical conditions. These are early onset menopause and PTSD and how they combine with our expectations and definitions of femininity and masculinity.
Activities: I spent most of the day yesterday trying to get my computer to work so that I could lead our Zoom book group. We had a good book to discuss and the technology failed us. That is a rarity because Zoom has worked so well for so long. I think I need to purchase a new computer and I am not looking forward to doing so.
Reading Time: 2 hours
Time listening:
Time posting:
Food: leftover green curry for supper
Total books finished since the Read-A-Thon Began: 593
Total Time Reading since the Social Distancing read-a-thon began: 1804 hours since I started doing the weekend Read-A-Thon starting in April of 2020.
25rhondak101book
Weekend Wrap-up, Alabama, USA
Books Read From: 5
The Songs of Trees by David George Haskell, The Seville Communion by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Deep Wheel Orcadia by Harry Josephine Giles, Six Suspects by Vikas Swarup, and Wilful Cruelty by Rhys Dylan
Total Books Completed: 3
Deep Wheel Orcadia (review written)
The Seville Communion (review written)
Wilful Cruelty
Books Read From: 5
The Songs of Trees by David George Haskell, The Seville Communion by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Deep Wheel Orcadia by Harry Josephine Giles, Six Suspects by Vikas Swarup, and Wilful Cruelty by Rhys Dylan
Total Books Completed: 3
Deep Wheel Orcadia (review written)
The Seville Communion (review written)
Wilful Cruelty
26alcottacre
Sunday Night Synopsis:
Books read from: The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (audiobook), The Discovery of Heaven by Harry Mulisch, Every Tongue Got to Confess by Zora Neale Hurston, and The Last Sweet Bite by Michael Shaikh
Books finished: 0
Time reading: ~1.9 hours + listening to audiobook
Total books finished: 0
Total read from: 4
Total time reading: ~4.4 hours + listening to audiobook
Books read from: The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (audiobook), The Discovery of Heaven by Harry Mulisch, Every Tongue Got to Confess by Zora Neale Hurston, and The Last Sweet Bite by Michael Shaikh
Books finished: 0
Time reading: ~1.9 hours + listening to audiobook
Total books finished: 0
Total read from: 4
Total time reading: ~4.4 hours + listening to audiobook
27fuzzi
Nothing finished, but I continued reading The Westing Game. It's okay, so far. I'm not getting drawn in to the story or characters much. It appears to be a lighthearted And Then There Were None story. And I am not a fan of mysteries.
I'm also reading Job in my Bible, and a commentary on Job at the same time.
I'm also reading Job in my Bible, and a commentary on Job at the same time.
