Saturday, June 28, 2008

Read-a-Thon Coverage Take 3

Update: 12:53 p.m., Sunday
I managed to read until almost 2 a.m., but I didn't have the energy to come back and check blogs anymore, nor to update mine. Sorry! I didn't mean to fall asleep either. I was reading and then thought I'd just rest my eyes for a second ... and didn't wake up until 7 a.m. I read again until 8:30, when I left for my long run. So, I think all together I did 15 hours of reading and 183 pages. Not such a great total, but at least I have something to beat for next year. Thanks everyone for cheering me on. The comments made my heart smile in a big way.

Update: 10:43 p.m.
I spent the last section of time reading one of my friend's blogs, which she just began posting on. It's a little risquee compared to my little book blog here, but she makes me laugh and I don't see here nearly enough so I'm glad I now have a connection to her through her writing. I also read more of David Sedaris' new book, which I've really enjoyed so far. I'm now up to 141 pages. Still kind of low, but definitely improving. My enthusiasm was wavering there for a bit, but I just took a shower to wake me up so I'm feeling refreshed and ready for the second half.

Update: 8 p.m. (hour 11)
Still reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.
I managed to read 28 pages in the last couple of hours, which puts me at 105 pages for the day. I feel like this is really low compared to other readers. I never thought I read this slowly.

Anyhow, since my last update I also ate dinner and went for a walk as part of one of the mini-challenges. The walk was really nice, and Coco was really happy to have gotten out of the house. I haven't taken her running at all this week because she had a limp earlier in the week. She was walking fine today so I'm assuming her paw is healed. There was a nice breeze despite the 90-degree weather. And the best part was that I could finally see the sky! Here in Sacramento we've had a depressing haze of wildfire smoke suffocating us for nearly a week so I was glad to see blue skies again. Also, it smelled like jasmine outside. To me it's the smell of summer in California. I loved it. Oh, and the crows were cawing overhead. I think they were coming in to roost. Anyway, it was a nice break, so I was grateful for that challenge, and little Coco was as excited as ever to go for a walk. OK then, back to reading...


Update: 5:24 p.m. (hour 8?)
Still reading the same books, mostly Animal, Vegetable, Miracle this hour.
I'm up to 77 pages now (yes, another hour with only 11 pages read).
On the plus side I've managed to wean myself of checking the computer and reading all the blogs instead of focusing on my books so that's good, right? However, all this reading about food has gotten me hungry. I made banana-oatmeal muffins during a recent break (really, it doesn't take that long and I read while I was waiting for them to bake). Now my house smells delicious and I had a yummy snack before dinner. Next hour I want to read more than 11 pages and then I'm going to stop for a bit to prepare and eat dinner with my boyfriend. I should be back around 8:30. See you then!


Update: 3:51 p.m. (going on to hour 7)
What I'm Reading: When You Are Engulfed In Flames by David Sedaris and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
Pages Read This Hour: 24
Total Pages Read: 66
Books Completed: 0
Mini-Challenges Participated In: 2
Minutes Spent Blogging (reading and writing): 65

Updated 2:48 p.m. (Hour 5 - almost 6)
What I'm reading: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
Pages read this hour: 11
Total pages read: 53
Books completed: 0
Mini-Challenges Participated in: 2
Minutes Spent blogging (total throughout read-a-thon, reading and writing): 60

This last 1.5 hours was spent reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. I really like the chapter I just finished, which was about how Kingsolver learned to make her own cheese and why. I never realized how easy cheesemaking could be. I've always been interested in it, but was worried I'd make some fatal mistake. It seems though that you can make cheese just using milk from the carton and cheese cultures. Somehow I'd always though I'd have to get it directly from the cow, sans pasteurization (don't ask me why I thought this, considering pretty much everything in this country is pasteurized). Anyway, I was super excited and plan to get the book she recommended about cheesemaking. Also, reading about food made me hungry so I took a short break to pick some tomatoes and basil for a tomato-mozarella-basil salad. Yum!

Updated 1:11 p.m. (Hour4)
What I'm Reading: When You Are Engulfed In Flames by David Sedaris and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
Pages Read This Hour: 31
Total Pages Read: 42
Books Completed: 0
Mini-Challenges Participated In: 2
Minutes Spent Blogging (reading and writing): 50

I was reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, in the beginning of the day, but the pressure of the clock was making it difficult for me to concentrate so I decided to switch over to the new David Sedaris because the essay format would make it easier for me to break away if I wanted to check up on challenges and whatnot. Hopefully I'll get back to Kingsolver's book soon though.

In coming hours I will update this post unless a mini challenge comes up, in which case I'll write a new post.

Hope the rest of you are faring well!

16 comments:

Ana S. said...

I hope you're enjoying David Sedaris!

Eva said...

I just read a book of essays (by Nick Hornby), and it was a nice break-up.

Kristi said...

Sounds like you're doing great! I have both of those books on my wishlist. I'm reading one of Sedaris' older books (Me Talk Pretty One Day) right now. Keep going. I'll try to make it around later to see how you're doing.

Unknown said...

How wonderful to end up making cheese because of a book you read.

I'm hosting a book giveaway just for Read-a-thon participants. Check my blog to enter. It's open until Wednesday.

http://www.readywhenyouarecb.blogspot.com

Keep reading!

Maree said...

Isn't it great _ the places reading takes us sometimes. :)

Eva said...

Those muffins sound delicious!!!

Eva said...

I'm glad your puppy's ok! And I love the smell of jasmine. :D

Dewey said...

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle really isn't a quick read, though. There's so much to digest (pun!) that I think anyone would read it more slowly than fiction. I know I did!

Eva said...

Whoot! Keep it up! Here's hoping for a second wind. :D

Anonymous said...

I hope you're still reading. Good for you to take some time to connect with a friend!

Care said...

Hello! I'm cheering you on!

Eva said...

We're in the home stretch!! *happy dance*

Eva said...

We're soooo close now!

Eva said...

Congrats!! I hope you had a ton of fun!!

Anonymous said...

Well, I'm a little late in commenting but congrats on making it through (even if you did fall asleep!)

Zakiye said...

thanks for taking the time to look at my blog, but you really shouldve been reading. lazy bitch. love ya!