"Outside a dog a book is man's best friend, inside a dog it is too dark to read!" -Groucho Marx========="The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid." -Jane Austen========="I don’t believe in the kind of magic in my books. But I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book."-JK Rowling========"I spend a lot of time reading." -Bill Gates=========“Ahhh. Bed, book, kitten, sandwich. All one needed in life, really.” -Jacqueline Kelly=========

Thursday, August 4, 2022

Blog-n-readathon


Today I am embarking on a personal 24-hour read and blog event. My goal ultimately is to jar loose my reading slump and get me over the hump on several books which are dragging me down.

How I hope to accomplish this event:

  • Complete 24 hours and reading and writing reviews in at least four days. That is an average of six hours a day, which is totally doable even for this pokey reader.
  • Complete or make progress on all the books I am currently working on:
    • The Heart of American Poetry. Print. Currently at 39%.
    • The Grapes of Wrath. Print and Audio. Currently at 40%.
    • Beach Reads. Print. Currently at 46%.
    • The Girl In His Shadow. Audio. Currently at 58%
    • Lessons in Chemistry. Audio. Currently at 13%
    • Maus. Print. (I just got it from the library after being in the queue for almost 6 months.)
       
  • Write reviews for the books I do complete and for the two books I've recently completed but have reviewed, yet.
    • The Immortalists
    • The Violin Conspiracy
       

I take my inspiration from my husband who decided to finish a book which he'd been working on all summer. He sat down yesterday and did it with almost blind determination. 

I will check back in here once a day with an update of daily progress.

Day 1, Thursday, August 4th update:

  • Hours reading or blogging: 7 1/2 hours
  • The Heart of American Poetry. Print. Currently at 55% (+16%).
  • The Grapes of Wrath. Print and Audio. Currently at 44%. (+4%)
  • Beach Reads. Print. Currently at 55% (+9%).
  • The Girl In His Shadow. Audio. Currently at 67% (+9%)
  • Lessons in Chemistry. Audio. Currently at 40% (+27%)
  • Maus. Print. Currently at 25%. (+25%)
  • Wrote and published a review for The Immortalists.
     

Day 2, Friday, August 5th update:

  • Hours reading or blogging: 6 hours
  • The Heart of American Poetry. Print. Currently at 62% (+7%).
  • The Grapes of Wrath. Print and Audio. Currently at 52%. (+9%)
  • Beach Reads. Print. Currently at 79% (+24%).
  • The Girl In His Shadow. Audio. Currently at 75% (+9%)
  • Lessons in Chemistry. Audio. Currently at 50% (+10%)
  • Maus. Print. Currently at 45%. (+20%)
  • In addition, I read the children's book which won the Caldecott Award in 2022: Watercress.

Day 3, Saturday, August 6th update:

  • Hours reading or blogging: 4 1/2 hours ( I had some fairly serious commitments which impacted my inability to read as much as I wanted.)
  • The Heart of American Poetry. Print. Currently at 72% (+10).
  • The Grapes of Wrath. Print and Audio. Currently at 52%. (No progress)
  • Beach Reads. Print. Currently at 79% (No progress).
  • The Girl In His Shadow. Audio. Currently at 75% (No progress)
  • Lessons in Chemistry. Audio. Currently at 73% (+23%)
  • Maus. Print. Currently at 58%. (+13%)

 

Day 4, Sunday, August 7th update:

  • Hours reading or blogging: 5 1/2 hours ( The sunny day called out to us and we spent the afternoon at the lake with our grandsons.)
  • The Heart of American Poetry. Print. Currently at 79% (+7).
  • The Grapes of Wrath. Print and Audio. Currently at 52%. (No progress today)
  • Beach Reads. Print. Currently at 100% (Complete!).
  • The Girl In His Shadow. Audio. Currently at 100% (Complete!)
  • Lessons in Chemistry. Audio. Currently at 73% (No progress)
  • Maus. Print. Currently at 80%. (+22%)

Finale:

  • I read/blogged for 23 1/2 hours over a four day period of time. The weather and other commitments called out to me so I couldn't devote all my time to reading during each day.
  • Of the seven books, I made progress on all and completed three:
    • The Heart of American Poetry. Print. Currently at 79% (+40% total progress).
    • The Grapes of Wrath. Print and Audio. Currently at 52%. (+12%  total progress)
    • Beach Reads. Print. Currently at 100% (Complete, 54% of the book read during readathon).
    • The Girl In His Shadow. Audio. Currently at 100% (Complete, 50% read during blogathon)
    • Lessons in Chemistry. Audio. Currently at 73% (+60% total progress)
    • Maus. Print. Currently at 80%. (+80% total progress)
    • Watercress. Complete!
       
  • Blogging reviews. One complete, one in the works.
  • My thoughts: seven books is too many books to work on at once, even for me. That is especially true when three of them are audiobooks. I will finish up Lessons in Chemistry tomorrow as it is due so I'm in a race to complete it before it disappears off my device. I also bet I will finish Maus in a few days since I'm on a roll. That will leave me room and time to turn my attention on The Grapes of Wrath, my Classics Club spin book, and The Heart of American Poetry, which I can't read quickly since it is like reading a textbook. I've got momentum on my side, finally.

-Anne

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