Susan Used to Live on Reader Lane

[Susan]

Jamie wrote: "Susan wrote: "It's classic suspense. Seems like a good time of the year to read it, Jamie. I'll have to see what else is on your list..."

I still have to finish making it on my next day off. Right..."

Have fun putting your list/pile together. I like having lots of options, too. Just wish I could read them all....but I will, eventually

[Leni]

We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a good choice. The Third Policeman is a great book, but might be a bit too weird to read in one sitting! I'm considering putting Kindred on my list, as it is def a book I mean to read this year. But like Jamie I need to seriously trim my list, because as usual I want to read ALL THE BOOKS. lol

[Elyse]

Yes, for We Have Always Lived in the Castle! Definitely make time for that!

[Susan]

Yes, all the books! Thanks for the tip re The Third Policeman and the cheers for We Have Always Lived in the Castle. I read it many years ago and don’t remember it at all, but it seems a good fit for this spooky time of year.

[Susan]

Bingo possibilities from The Stack

*Read a book with a male protagonist
—Omeros, Derek Walcott
—March, Part 3, John Lewis, et al
—The Hare, Cesar Aira
—The Third Policeman. Flann O’Brien
—Pietr the Latvian, Georges Simenon**READ**

*Read a short story or graphic novel or manga
—March, Part 3
—Bloodchild and Other Stories, Octavia Butler (Kindle)
—Anne Tyler short story********READ**********

*Listen to 2 hours of an audio book
—The Little Prince
—The End of the Affair
— Jump Back, Paul
—Moby Dick
—Lullaby (short)

*Read at least 100 pages of a physical book (Most of mine are physical books)

*Read something you consider spooky (can be short)
—Lullaby (audiobook)
—We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson

*Read a book in a series
—Pietr The Latvian**READ**
—The Novel Habits of Happiness, Alexander McCall Smith
—Lots of choices on my Kindle —Becky Masterman, Margaret Maron, etc

*Read a book with a beautiful cover
—Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, Dai Sijie
—Omeros
—From the Meadow, Peter Everwine

*Read a book with a female protagonist
—Kindred, Octavia Butler
—We Have Always Lived in the Castle
—Democracy, Henry Adams**READ**
—Becky Masterman series, Margaret Maron series
—The Novel Habits of Happiness

*Read a book with a person on the cover
—We Have Always Lived in the Castle
—Omeros
—Kindred
—March, Part 3
—Pietr The Latvian**READ**

[Ann A]

Some great book choices there! Good luck on your bingos and your Readathon.

[Susan]

Thanks, Ann! Same to you!

[Susan]

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? A rainy start in Maryland, USA
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? Kindred, which I’ve been meaning to read for ages
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? Biscotti and tea this afternoon
4) Tell us a little something about yourself! My reading buddy is a sandy-haired, mischievous little dog who sleeps a lot but perks up when it’s time for a snack or walk.
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? This is my third Readathon, and I want to spend some time on mini-challenges and cheerleading!

[Daisey]

Looks like you have some great plans set up! Have a wonderful day of reading!

[Elizabeth]

Wow! Great stack. I listened to Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress several readathon's ago. It was a nice short "read."

[Maddie]

That is some decent planning! Good work!

[Susan]

Daisey wrote: "Looks like you have some great plans set up! Have a wonderful day of reading!"

Thanks, Daisy! Have a great day reading, too!

[Susan]

Elizabeth wrote: "Wow! Great stack. I listened to Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress several readathon's ago. It was a nice short "read.""

Good to hear. It’s been on three Readathon stacks so maybe this time, it will finally get read. Good reading to you!

[Susan]

Maddison wrote: "That is some decent planning! Good work!"

Thanks, Maddison! You know what they say about plans....especially for mood readers ;). Have a great Readathon!

[Susan]

Mid-Event Survey:
1. What are you reading right now? Pietr the Latvian by Georges Simenon. Waiting for me to get back to them: Democracy, Henry Adams and Omeros, Derek Walcott
2. How many books have you read so far? Only 1 finished, but 1/2 of Democracy and 1/3 of the Simenon, which is turning out to be a quick, action read
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? Kindred
4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? Not too many. Put the book down and dealt with them.
5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? I’m surprised I don’t have BINGO on one row yet! But I’m getting there ;)

[Susan]

Final Survey

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? Unusually for me, the starting hours were challenging because I had a hard time settling down to read.

2. Tell us ALLLLL the books you read! Laura Ingalls Wilder Country by William Anderson, Pietr the Latvian by Georges Simenon, Democracy by Henry Adams, a short story by Anne Tyler, poetry by Peter Everwine, Derek Walcott and Paul Laurence Dunbar, and the beginning of We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson.

3. Which books would you recommend to other Read-a-thoners?
Anyone who loves the Little House books would enjoy Laura Ingalls Wilder Country which has a biography of her life combined with pictures of the places she lived in and many things mentioned in the books — Pa’s fiddle, Ma’s china shepherdess, the whatnot, etc.

4. What’s a really rad thing we could do during the next Read-a-thon that would make you happy? Fit 25 hours into a day? JK

5. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again?
Would you be interested in volunteering to help organize and prep?
I’m likely to participate next spring.

[Susan]

Notes for next time—

What worked well:

Taking a short trip out for coffee and reading in the afternoon was refreshing.

I did a 1-hour reading sprint in the evening, and it really charged up my reading mojo.

Not so well:

Listening to audiobooks while lying in bed late at night puts me to sleep. Always.

[Susy]

Susan wrote: "Listening to audiobooks while lying in bed late at night puts me to sleep. Always."

Lol, tell me about it. Same goes for very early morning (not quite awake yet), I just fall asleep again!

[Elyse]

Great job, Susan!

[Susan]

It never fails! I had two ebooks on waiting list at library which I was hoping would arrive in time for the Readathon, but on Friday the system showed they wouldn’t come for weeks. Fine, no problem. Now, one arrived Sunday afternoon (The Amulet: The Stonekeeper) and the other this morning (The Outsiders). So close....

[Elyse]

Susan wrote: "It never fails! I had two ebooks on waiting list at library which I was hoping would arrive in time for the Readathon, but on Friday the system showed they wouldn’t come for weeks. Fine, no problem..."

lol well now you've got some good books to hold your attention!

[Susan]

Elyse wrote: "Susan wrote: "It never fails! I had two ebooks on waiting list at library which I was hoping would arrive in time for the Readathon, but on Friday the system showed they wouldn’t come for weeks. Fi..."

Yes, they are definitely keeping my attention

[Susan]

Dewey’s Readathon Possibilities — April 6, 2019

*Book Love (comic from library)
*Asterix the Gaul, R. Goscinny and A. Uderzo (graphic, comic)
*The Perilous Gard, Elizabeth Marie Pope (YA)
*Our Spoons Came from Woolworths, Barbara Comyns
*Stone in a Landslide, Maria Barbal
*Vinegar Girl, Anne Tyler
*Dept of Speculation, Jenny Offill
*Tartuffe, Moliere (play)
*Clarice Lispector, Collected Short Stories
*Educated, Tara Westover (memoir)
*The Bluebird Effect, Julie Zickefoose (nature)
*About This Life, Barry Lopez (essays)
*The Best American Essays of the Century (ditto
*The Light Within the Light: Portraits of Donald Hall, Richard Wilbur, Maxine Kumin and Stanley Kunitz, Jeanne Braham (ditto)
*The New Oxford Book of Irish Verse, ed Thomas Kinsella (poetry)
*The Marriage in the Trees, Stanley Plumly (poetry)

Audiobook possibilities:
*Remembering Roth, James Atlas
*A Mind of Her Own, Paula McLain
*Parker: Selected Stories, Dorothy Parker
*Funny in Farsi, Firoozeh Dumas

[Elyse]

Susan wrote: "*Funny in Farsi, Firoozeh Dumas..."

I listened to this recently and enjoyed it! And it's nice and short. I might knock out some of my Audible monthly freebies as well. I haven't listened to -any- since they started it! I picked A Mind of Her Own too!

[Susan]

Elyse wrote: "Susan wrote: "*Funny in Farsi, Firoozeh Dumas..."

I listened to this recently and enjoyed it! And it's nice and short. I might knock out some of my Audible monthly freebies as well. I haven't list..."

Yes, those short Audible freebies seem perfect for the Readathon as a change of pace/direction plus clearing the decks. I’ve listened to a couple, but honestly find it hard to keep up — I’ve started picking shorter freebies for just that reason. I’m glad you liked Funny in Farsi; it sounds good and a little different. Maybe we can trade thoughts on A Mind of Her Own sometime :)

[Elyse]

Susan wrote: "Elyse wrote: "Susan wrote: "*Funny in Farsi, Firoozeh Dumas..."

I listened to this recently and enjoyed it! And it's nice and short. I might knock out some of my Audible monthly freebies as well. ..."

Yes! I haven't slated any audiobooks for Dewey's yet so I can add it to my list. :)

[Susan]

What fine part of the world are you reading from today? A cloudy, grey morning in Maryland, USA
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope. I loved her book, The Sherwood Ring, when I was in middle school, and just found out she had also written this one.
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? Hummus snack pack with crackers and baby carrots
4) Tell us a little something about yourself! I’m retired and enjoying having time for fun things like Dewey’s, but this time, I’m missing my little reading buddy. Monkey was a mischievous old dog, who passed away Tuesday. :(. I’m going to take a nice walk later (listening to an audiobook) in his memory.
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? This is my fourth Readathon, and I want to spend some time on mini-challenges and cheerleading!

[Elyse]

Oh no I'm so sorry about the loss of your dog. :*( It's the worst. I hope you enjoy your walk today in honor of him. <3

[Susan]

Susan, I hope you are making good progress today and more then anything enjoying your day reading!

[Ann A]

I'm so sorry about the loss of your dog/reading companion. I lost my furry buddy last August and still miss her like crazy. Hope you're enjoying your RAT so far.

[Susan]

Elyse wrote: "Oh no I'm so sorry about the loss of your dog. :*( It's the worst. I hope you enjoy your walk today in honor of him. <3"
Thank you, Elyse. I ended up taking a nap instead, but he would have enjoyed that activity, too ;).

[Susan]

Susan wrote: "Susan, I hope you are making good progress today and more then anything enjoying your day reading!"

Thanks, Susan! I hope you are enjoying your day reading, too. Can’t believe it’s half over!

[Susan]

Ann A wrote: "I'm so sorry about the loss of your dog/reading companion. I lost my furry buddy last August and still miss her like crazy. Hope you're enjoying your RAT so far."

Thank you, Ann A. I’m sorry about your loss of your fur pal. They add so much to our lives and leave a hole when they go. Hope you are enjoying your reading day.

[Jana]

I'm so, so sorry for your loss. I hope today brings you some relief.

[Susan]

Mid-Event Survey:
1. What are you reading right now? The Bluebird Effect: Uncommon Bonds with Common Birds by Julie Zickefoose — beautiful illustrations and observations on 25 types of birds (I’m just on #2)
2. How many books have you read so far? Well, nothing finished yet, but I’ve dabbled a lot:
—The Perilous Gard, Elizabeth Marie Pope
—Educated, Tara Westover
—The Bluebird Effect, Julie Zickefoose
—The Valley of Fear, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (audiobook)
—Memento Mori, Charles Coe (poetry)
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? I want to get back to The Perilous Gard and find out what happens next.
4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? Not many. Just carried on :D
5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? I think because I did the pre-Readathon challenge #2 this week, I feel more laid back than usual about finishing books and freer to read st whim today.

[Susan]

Jana wrote: "I'm so, so sorry for your loss. I hope today brings you some relief."

Thank you, Jana. Reading and chatting with folks online is helping. I hope you are having a good day of reading!

[Ann A]

Oooh, if you like birds, I have a recommendation for you: Mozart's Starling. I loved it. Hope you're still hanging in there and not getting sleepy!

[Susan]

Ann A wrote: "Oooh, if you like birds, I have a recommendation for you: Mozart's Starling. I loved it. Hope you're still hanging in there and not getting sleepy!"

Thanks for the tip! I’ll check it out. I gave up and went to sleep for awhile. How about you?

[Susan]

Closing Survey:
1) What hour was most daunting? 4 or 5, when I had a hard time settling down to anything

2) Tell us ALLLLL the books you read!
Memento Morí, Charles Coe, poetry — FINISHED — 85 pages
Book Love, Debbie Tung, comics — FINISHED— 144 pages
The Perilous Gard, Elizabeth Marie Pope, YA — 85 pages
The Talisman Ring, Georgette Heyer, romance — 100 pages
Snowdrift, Georgette Heyer, romance — a short story, 19 pages
The Valley of Fear, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, mystery (audiobook) — listened for 45 minutes
Educated, Tara Westover, memoir — 53 pages
The Bluebird Effect, Julie Zickefoose, natural history — 32 pages (intros and 2 chapters)
The Country House, Roy Strong, gardening — read 5 pages
Total: 543 pages

What was your favorite snack? Snack pack with hummus and crackers, freeze dried mango

What was your favorite facet of the day? The reading sprints were invigorating! Also, Book Love by Debbie Tung was perfect reading for the Readathon — comics about reading which made me nod with recognition or laugh out loud.

Wanna volunteer for our next event? Maybe.

[Ann A]

I love the variety in your reading material. I'm going to check out Book Love - it looks like fun. Congrats on a great Readathon!

[Elyse]

Susan wrote: "Closing Survey:
1) What hour was most daunting? 4 or 5, when I had a hard time settling down to anything

2) Tell us ALLLLL the books you read!
Memento Morí, Charles Coe, poetry — FINISHED — 85 pag..."

Oh darn, I didn't realize Book Love was set up like that! I would've thrown it in! At least now I know it'll be a quick read. I got it from NetGalley, it used to be "advanced." lol. You did great, Susan! Mmm hummus is always good!

[Susan]

Ann A wrote: "I love the variety in your reading material. I'm going to check out Book Love - it looks like fun. Congrats on a great Readathon!"

I think you’ll enjoy Book Love, Ann — it is such fun :)

[Susan]

Elyse wrote: “

I forget how I stumbled on Book Love right before the Readathon but then I forgot all about it until last night. Hope you enjoy it, Elyse! Some of the cartoons would make great posters for the perfect reading library :)

[Susan]

My goodness, the Reverse Readathon is coming right up! Time to start planning my reading list and snacks ;)

[Susan]

Since this is a “reverse” Readathon, I’m going to “reverse” how I pick which books to read. The plan is to mainly pick books I’ve acquired in the past month or so instead of picking books from my old TBR piles.

Book choice ideas:
Quiet Girl in a Noisy World, Debbie Tung (graphic, library)
Don Quixote adaptation by Ilan Stavans (graphic, Spanglish)
Taking Turns: Stories from HIV/AIDS Care Unit 371, MK Czerwiec (graphic)
Girl, Rebecca Goss (poetry)
Collected Poems of Robert Hayden (poetry)
A Small Person Far Away, Judith Kerr (YA, Kindle)
Backlight, Kanji Hanawa (Kindle, Mini)
Tokyo Performance, Roger Pulvers (Kindle, Mini)
Island in Companion, Kazufumi Shiraishi (Kindle, Mini)
The Secret Countess, Eva Ibbotson (YA, Kindle)
Lost Children Archive, Valeria Luiselli
The Tale of Genji, Shikibu Murasaki (TBR book in progress)
The Plot Against America, Philip Roth (loan from friend)

Audiobook possibilities —
Cheerful Weather for the Wedding, Julia Strachey
A Grown-Up Guide to Dinosaurs, Ben Garrod
The Dispatcher, John Scalzi
A Mind of Her Own, Paula McLain
Parker: Selected Stories, Dorothy Parker

I can’t believe the Reverse Readathon is just a week away!

[Jan Schwartz]

Holy! Ur going to read all that? I must be the slowest reader ever. I could never read that much in 24 hrs.

[Susan]

Jan Schwartz wrote: "Holy! Ur going to read all that? I must be the slowest reader ever. I could never read that much in 24 hrs."

Oh, gosh, no! That’s just my list of possibilities to pick from. I could never read all those in a week!

[Jan Schwartz]

Lol!! Ok now I feel better. I usually just continue with whatever I’m in the middle of.

[Susan]

Susan wrote: "Since this is a “reverse” Readathon, I’m going to “reverse” how I pick which books to read. The plan is to mainly pick books I’ve acquired in the past month or so instead of picking books from my o..."

Nice list!

Lost Children Archive is one of my favorite reads this year.

[Susan]

Jan Schwartz wrote: "Lol!! Ok now I feel better. I usually just continue with whatever I’m in the middle of."

Sounds like a plan! ;)