Dewey's RAT Wrap-up

I just didn't feel like updating throughout the event this time. I've been struggling with a blurry eye, and seeing on the computer is harder even than reading. I'm happy with my results, considering everything. It helped that I could read outside in natural light quite a bit. I look forward to participating more fully next time.

2001: A Space Odyssey - Last 90 pgs, finished

The River Between - Last 137 pgs, finished

Fight Club - 119 pgs

Two Kinds of Truth (audio) - 142 pgs

Hours: Didn't track reading hours, but audio was 2 hrs 47 min.

Pages: 488

Dewey's Readathon October 23, 2021

It's fall Dewey's time again! I'm traveling and have a start time of 2:00 p.m. (I prefer a morning start), but I'll join in and see how much I can do. I'll probably sleep more than usual. Here's my planned stack, although there may be one or two changes. Most of my books will be on Kindle (with a few on audio as well). Here's a photo of the three paperbacks I have, followed by a complete list:

On the '1001 Books to Read Before You Die' list, which I'm plugging away at:

2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke, in progress

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk 

The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe

The Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy

The River Between by Ngugi wa Thiong'o, in progress

The Last September by Elizabeth Bowen

Suspense/mystery theme for October:

The Girl on the Train (audio) by Paula Hawkins (finished just before Readathon)

The Scapegoat (audio) by Daphne du Maurier

Two Kinds of Truth (audio) by Michael Connelly

Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers

I'd Know You Anywhere - Laura Lippman (added just prior to start)

There! That's my traditional 10-book list. Some Readathons I'll finish a couple, but other times I'll just jump around - it's always nice to have options.😉 

Bout of Books 32 Updates

Day 1

Peaches For Father Frances by Joanne Harris (already in progress) - 129 pgs

Day 2

Peaches for Father Frances - 68 pgs

Version Control (already in progress) by Dexter Palmer - 14 pgs

Pages read today: 82

Day 3

Peaches for Father Frances - 74 pgs, finished

Version Control - 10 pgs

Pages read today: 84

Day 4

Version Control - 40 pgs

Day 5

Version Control - 68 pgs

Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away by Christie Watson - 20 pgs

Pages read today: 88

Day 6

Version Control - 25 pgs

Day 7

Version Control - 49 pgs, finished

Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away by Christie Watson - 89 pgs

Pages read today: 138

Final total: 586 pages

A far cry from my 1000-page goal. Oh well - maybe next time!

Bout of Books 32

I'm in, even though I have a busy week. I have a longish flight on the last day, so should be able to rip through some pages!

The Bout of Books readathon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It’s a weeklong readathon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 16th and runs through Sunday, August 22nd in YOUR time zone. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are reading sprints, Twitter chats, and exclusive Instagram challenges, but they’re all completely optional. For all Bout of Books 32 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team 

Hours 17 - 24

 Since previous update:

The Animators - 146 pgs

Version Control - 45 pgs (audio)

Final total, hours: 9 hr 42 min (6 hr 35 min reading, 3 hr 7 min audio)

Final total, pages: 430

By foregoing social media, I got in more hours than I normally would for a Reverse Readathon. I prefer the schedule starting in the morning so I have the whole day and evening to read. I'm happy I finished the two books I had in progress and started two others. With all the bad news right now (Delta variant of Covid, wildfires, extreme draught), it was nice to 'disappear' for several hours. That's the best thing about reading!

Hours 1 - 16

Midaq Alley - 145 pages, finished

Bad Blood - 59 pgs (audio), finished - This was SO interesting.

The Animators - 20 pgs

Version Control - 15 pgs (audio)

Running total, hours: 3 hr reading, 1 hr 43 min audio

Running total, pages: 239

Dewey's Reverse Readathon 8/6/21

I'm planning to do a low-key version of this Readathon, with no social media. I'm very much into watching the Olympics, so I'll use any 'break' time to catch up on what's happening. Here's my stack:

In progress:

     Midaq Alley by Naguib Mahfouz (on 1001 list)

     Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou

The others are from the ToB's Tournament of Favorites:

     The Animators by Kayla Rae Whitaker

     Stephen Florida by Gabe Habash

     Skippy Dies by Paul Murray

     Version Control by Palmer Dexter

I'm breaking my tradition by not having 10 books in my stack, but I still have a lot of variety here.

I'll be ready to start at 6:00 p.m. tomorrow and will come back here to update a few times!

Bout of Books 31 Updates

 As usual, I'll keep all updates in this one post. The previous BoB the week of January 4th was a tough one, for many reasons. This time around I am fully vaccinated, enjoying lovely spring weather, and just generally feeling more hopeful and upbeat. Also, the hubs is out of town this week (for the first time in well over a year), so I plan on reading up a storm!

I prefer to 'start fresh', but this time I have five books in progress. I'll edit the titles to be in bold as I finish:

Growth of the Soil by Knut Hamsun

The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race by Walter Isaacson

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells (audio)

Bella Tuscany by Frances Mayes

Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

I hope to finish all these, (except for the poetry book), plus more. 😊

Day 1

The Code Breaker - 45 pgs

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood - 58 pgs

Pages read today: 103

Day 2

The Code Breaker - 18 pgs, finished

Leaves of Grass - 21 pgs

Growth of the Soil - 10 pgs

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood - 21 pgs

Pages read today: 70

Day 3

Leaves of Grass - 18 pgs

Growth of the Soil - 40 pgs

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood - 62 pgs

Pages read today: 120

Day 4

Leaves of Grass - 6 pgs

Growth of the Soil - 46 pgs

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood - 46 pgs, finished

Murder in the Mews - 42 pgs (audio)

Pages read today: 140

Day 5

Murder in the Mews - 84 pgs

Day 6

Leaves of Grass - 30 pgs

Growth of the Soil - 85 pgs, finished

Murder in the Mews by Agatha Christie - 54 pgs (audio)

Pages read today: 169

Day 7

Murder in the Mews - 130 pgs, finished (audio)

Leaves of Grass - 10 pgs

Bella Tuscany - 50 pgs

Killing Floor by Lee Child - 50 pgs (audio

Pages read today: 240

Final total: 926 pages

I missed my 1,000-page goal again, but maybe next time! The week ended up busier than I thought it would be. Signing off until Bout of Books 32 or another readathon comes along. 😁

Bout of Books 31

 A week focused on reading as much as I possibly can? Yes, please!

The Bout of Books readathon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It’s a weeklong readathon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 10th and runs through Sunday, May 16th in YOUR time zone. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are reading sprints, Twitter chats, and exclusive Instagram challenges, but they’re all completely optional. For all Bout of Books 31 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

Hours 19-24 and Summary

This was my 20th Dewey's Readathon (not counting the Reverse ones)! My first was in October, 2010.

Since last update:

The Vanishing Half - 54 pgs

Murder in the Mews - 20 pgs

Final total, pages: 872

Final total, hours: 12 hr (8 hr 10 min reading, 3 hr 50 min audio)

This is crazy, but my goal was 12 hours and I hit it EXACTLY! I didn't even know it until just now when I added in my middle-of-the-night time. What are the chances??? 

Here's my summary:

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day - 234 pgs, finished - This had been on my TBR for years and years, so I'm glad I finally got to it. It was a fun, easy read that zipped right along. Perfect for the RAT.

Hello, Universe - 311 pgs, finished - 2018 Newbery winner. Lovely book also perfect for the RAT (and really padded my page count 😊) I think I'll add a Newbery winner each readathon until I catch up.

The Vanishing Half - 138 pgs - Audiobook. This is very good, but maybe not quite living up to all the hype I've heard.

Covid Chronicles - 105 pgs - Very impressive comics anthology, covering most all aspects of COVID and how it has affected our lives. I'm so glad I happened upon this in someone's Goodreads thread and that my library had a copy.

The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race - 49 pgs - Walter Isaacson is one of my favorite nonfiction writers, and he isn't disappointing with this one.

Bella Tuscany: The Sweet Life in Italy - 15 pgs - Follow-up to 'Under the Tuscan Sun'.  What can I say? Great writing and Italy!

Murder in the Mews - 20 pgs - I started this in the middle of the night, and can't wait to get back to Poirot today. 

This was a very successful readathon for me! I gave 7 of the 10 books in my stack some love, and was very happy with the varied selections. Most of all, I was able to put the world aside for this 24 hours. It helps that my family has been very fortunate during the pandemic (and we're now all fully vaccinated). My heart goes out to those less fortunate. I hope all RAT participants had a great time. Can't wait to do it again!

Hours 13-18

 Since last update:

The Vanishing Half - 3 pgs (audio)
Covid Chronicles: A Comics Anthology - 61 pgs
Bella Tuscany - 15 pgs

Hello Universe - 311 pgs, finished

Running total, pages: 798 (children's and graphic helps)
Running total, hours: 7 hr 50 min reading, 2 hr 17 min audio

I'm not really sleepy yet, but the eyes are tired so I'll switch to audio for awhile. I'm hoping to keep going for at least a few more hours!

Hours 7-12

 Since last update:

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day - 68 pgs, finished

The Vanishing Half - 39 pgs (audio)

Covid Chronicles - 44 pgs

The Code Breaker - 49 pgs

Running total, pages: 408

Running total, hours: 4 hr 35 min reading, 2 hr 7 min audio

Went on a nice audiowalk and sat at the park for a bit. I didn't sleep very well last night, but I'm about to go have a cup of tea, dinner in a little while, and hopefully last for a good many hours yet!

Mid-Event Survey

 Mid-Event Survey:

1. What are you reading right now? The Code Breaker, Covid Chronicles, and The Vanishing Half
2. How many books have you read so far? 1 complete, 3 partial
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? Murder in the Mews. I'm in the mood for Agatha Christie.
4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? Only my husband chatting a little, and running into a neighbor on my audiowalk. Nothing significant.
5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? Again, the time is going by too fast!

Hours 1-6

 Aaack! The time is going too fast. 

The Vanishing Half - 42 pgs (audio)

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day - 166 pgs 

Running total, pages:  208

Running total, hours: 2 hr 20 min reading, 1 hr 7 min audio

(I know you're only supposed to italicize newspapers and magazines, but I like doing it with my book titles.) 😁

I think I'll stick with updating every 6 hours or so. My goal is at least 12 hours of reading this time!

Opening Survey

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? Utah
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? The Vanishing Half

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? Frozen Orange Cream Bars!
4) Tell us a little something about yourself! In my free time, if I'm not reading I'm probably watching sports.
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to? My goal is always to squeeze in a few more hours of actual READING.

Dewey's Readathon April 24, 2021

It's almost time for another Dewey's 24-hour Readathon! This one is extra special because it falls exactly two weeks from when I receive my second Covid vaccine! I have not been going into stores (my stores are great about curbside pickup), so as April 24 is also Independent Bookstore Day I may have to make a quick trip and go INSIDE my local indie to pick up a book or two. YAY!!!! 😀📗📘 I do plan to still wear a mask because of the people who are not yet vaccinated, the variants and because it can't hurt and might help!

ETA 4/21/21 - THE STACK (I alway have 10 books to allow for mood reading):

From the bottom:

The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race by Walter Isaacson - I just got this from the library and only have it for 3 weeks, so I'd better get started!

Covid Chronicles: A Comics Anthology edited by Kendra Boileau and Rich Johnson - looks like a timely choice for my graphic selection

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett - been meaning to read this for a while (also have on audio from the library)

Hello Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly - 2018 Newbery winner - I'm a few years behind on these

Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta - YA - been on the TBR a few years

Bella Tuscany by Frances Mayes - getting my travel fix vicariously

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson - one of the oldest books on my TBR and it looks like fun

Mystery of the Brass-Bound Trunk by Carolyn Keene - I always have a Nancy Drew for when I get sleepy brain fog :)

On Kindle: 

Murder in the Mews by Agatha Christie - tradition to also have an Agatha Christie

Death of a Liar by M.C.Beaton (also on audio) - this light series is great for audiowalking

Whew! Now to plan food and get excited for 6:00 a.m. Saturday!

Bout of Books 30 Updates

 Day 1

Acid for the Children by Flea (already in progress) - 72 pgs

Day 2

Acid for the Children - 64 pgs

Day 3

Acid for the Children - 61 pgs (finished)

I'm not paying much attention to page totals for this BoB. Along with many others, I was glued to the TV today due to the mob storming the U.S. Capitol. I'm so sad at what is happening in this country, and the "alternate reality" in which so many seem to be living. I do plan to continue with the BoB, as I'm one of those who needs reading to unwind and temporarily detach from what is happening around me. 

Day 4

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell - 20 pgs

The Vanishing of Katharina Linden by Helen Grant - 45 pgs

The Source of Self-Regard by Toni Morrison - 14 pgs

Day 5

The Vanishing of Katharina Linden - 33 pgs

The Source of Self-Regard - 20 pgs

Day 6

The Vanishing of Katharina Linden - 33 pgs

The Source of Self-Regard - 40 pgs

Day 7

The Vanishing of Katharina Linden - 136 pgs (almost finished)

The Source of Self-Regard - 22 pgs

Final total: 72 + 64 + 61 + 79 + 53 + 73 + 158 = 560 pages

I only had one decent reading day, but it's been a tense week to say the least. I hope we're all more relaxed, able to focus, and vaccinated by the next BoB!