#HSReadathon --- High Summer Read-a-Thon

This year, the High Summer Read-a-Thon is going to run concurrently with the last four days of Wicked Wildfire Read-a-Thon. That's not going to cause a particular problem since both of these are very laid-back events. Neither read-a-thon has a particular emphasis on challenges—it's really all about reading, blogging (or sharing on Facebook or Twitter if you don't have a blog), and being part of community of readers.

As with other read-a-thons, my own goal is simply to do a better job of sharing what I'm reading via this blog. I'm sitting on a couple of library books which will need to be returned in the next week, so I'll probably focus on completing those. Right now I'm reading Heavenly Pleasures, the second book in Kerry Greenwood's cozy mystery series starring baker Corrina Chapman, which I may finish before the read-a-thon begins. This one is an eBook checked out through my library's subscription to Freading.com. Also checked out are Demon Drums by Carol Severance and The Healer's War by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough.

#WWReadathon Status Updates

When it comes to read-a-thons, I'm torn between using a single post containing an ongoing status or creating separate posts. Since this read-a-thon is one of the longest around, I think a single post will be easier to maintain. If I miss an update, I can easily correct it later.

Updates

Monday, 14 July: I almost forgot about the Wicked Wildfire Read-a-Thon, so I was late in signing up. I had a library book downloaded to my Kindle that I needed to finish because it was due, so I settled in to read the last ~71 pages of Running Blind. Then, I turned to another library book, Death of an Outsider and read the first 39 pages. I also visited several web sites of other #WWReadathon participants, cooked a cornbread taco casserole for supper, and watched the latest episode of Major Crimes.

Tuesday, 15 July: Death of an Outsider is a very short book, so I was able to finish it and return it to the drop-off box at my local library. With that done, I started reading Andy Weir's The Martian which has been highly recommended. The library's book club will be discussing it at the September meeting. I didn't get very far into it, but it is definitely looking like a good read.

Wednesday, 16 July: It was a busy day, and I didn't get much reading done. I made progress in The Martian and have decided that I definitely like it. The main character is very likeable and although his situation is dire, he gets busy trying to solve the problem instead of getting mired asking "why me?"

Thursday, 17 July: It was also a busy day, and I only found time to read during lunch and supper. That meant that I read 141 pages in The Martian, putting me well past ½-way through the book. This is definitely going to be one of the best books I've read all year.

Friday, 18 July: I used my lunch hour and supper as reading time and after supper I had only 65 pages left in The Martian, so I took the book to bed with me and finished it around 23:30. Yay! Now the challenge is to decide what to read next.

Saturday, 19 July: You'd think that I'd get more reading done on a day when I don't have to work, but that wasn't the case. I had so much that I needed to get done. I started reading Heavenly Pleasures by Kerry Greenwood, the second book in her Corrina Chapman cozy mystery series.

Sunday, 20 July: I found even less time to read on Sunday than on Saturday! I'm enjoying Heavenly Pleasures. (Who wouldn't like a book about a bakery and a chocolate shop?) I just need to use my free time for reading rather than other chores.

Monday, 21 July: Back to work and I found a little bit of time to read during my lunch break. It was a busy day all day long and when evening came, I took time to watch a couple of shows on TV instead of read.

Tuesday, 22 July: Finally back to a more usual amount of time spent reading. I am still reading Heavenly Pleasures, but I'm nearing the end. At bedtime I was 80% of the way through it.

Wednesday, 23 July: Finally finished Heavenly Pleasures during lunchtime. I thrashed around the rest of the day, reading 9 pages in Charlotte Tweed and the School for Orphaned Dragons by Allegra Skye and 6 pages of U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton.

Thursday, 24 July: The last day of the read-a-thon and I was still thrashing around. I read 19 pages in Torch of Freedom/i> by David Weber and Eric Flint before settling down to read more of Charlotte Tweed and the School for Orphaned Dragons. I was making good progress by bedtime and should finish it in the next day or two.

Statistics

Monday, 14 July

Number of books I've read today: 2
Number of pages I've read today: 110
Number of books completed today: 1

Tuesday, 15 July

Number of books I've read today: 2
Number of pages I've read today: 119
Number of books completed today: 1

Wednesday, 16 July

Number of books I've read today: 1
Number of pages I've read today: 54
Number of books completed today: 0

Thursday, 17 July

Number of books I've read today: 1
Number of pages I've read today: 141
Number of books completed today: 0

Friday, 18 July

Number of books I've read today: 1
Number of pages I've read today: 164
Number of books completed today: 1

Saturday, 19 July

Number of books I've read today: 1
Number of pages I've read today: 35
Number of books completed today: 0

Sunday, 20 July

Number of books I've read today: 1
Number of pages I've read today: 20
Number of books completed today: 0

Monday, 21 July

Number of books I've read today: 1
Number of pages I've read today: 48
Number of books completed today: 0

Tuesday, 22 July

Number of books I've read today: 1
Number of pages I've read today: 98
Number of books completed today: 0

Wednesday, 23 July

Number of books I've read today: 3
Number of pages I've read today: 65
Number of books completed today: 1

Thursday, 24 July

Number of books I've read today: 2
Number of pages I've read today: 58
Number of books completed today: 0

The Books

#WWReadathon Starting Position and Goals

As Monday morning dawned, there were two unfinished books that I was actively reading. (There are more unfinished books around, but the rest of them have been set aside, perhaps forever.) On my Kindle, I was reading Running Blind by Lee Child, the fourth book in his popular Jack Reacher mystery/thriller series. The Kindle indicated that I was about 86% of the way through the book, so I'm estimating that I was somewhere around page 445 of 516. The other book in progress was The Map That Changed the World by Simon Winchester, an audio book. I am almost exactly ½ way through, with 4 hours and 43 minutes remaining from a total of 9 hours and 59 minutes. (Hmmm…makes me wonder why they didn't make it one second longer and call it 10 hours.)

My goals for the read-a-thon are simple: I want to publish what I'm reading here on the blog. Since this is a normal work week, I don't see any way that I can read much more than usual, but I can put more emphasis on the social aspect by posting to the blog and communicating with other read-a-thon participants.

Books queued up to read very soon which are most likely to show up this week:

#WWReadathon -- Wicked Wildfire Read-a-Thon

I almost missed it! The Wicked Wildfire Read-a-Thon begins today. The goal is to “dedicate the days of July 14-24 to as much reading as possible”. Now, I don't think I can squeeze in any more reading than I usually do, but I can post about it on my blog, tweet using the hashtag #WWReadathon, and join one or more chats in the WWReadathon room. I might even find time to participate in one or more of the challenges.

So, although I'm getting a late start linking up with other participants in the read-a-thon, I do know what I've been reading so far today. I'll be back later to post about my starting position and goals for the week.

New books at Freading - 2014.07.14

This morning I took a quick glance at the new arrivals at Freading.com and found some very interesting titles had been added to the collection. The newest books still show "Coming Soon", so it may be a week or so before the books get loaded to the server. For now, it's fun to just look at the catalog and think which books one might want to borrow.

For the middle school set, the first eight books in Bonnie Bryant's Pony Tails series will soon be available. Horse-crazy girls will enjoy meeting May, Jasmine, and Corey; three girls with only one thing in common. They love ponies. The series goes on for eight more volumes, so let's hope that they show up at Freading as soon as possible. In the meantime, get started with Pony Crazy and move on to May's Riding Lesson, Corey's Pony is Missing and the rest of this series recently added to the Freading site.

Also for the middle school set—and maybe of more interest to the boys— are the Boxcar Children series. Now, these books have been available at Freading for quite some time. What's new is that Spanish translations of several of the books are now listed as "coming soon". It looks like their availability on Freading is tied to their publication date of 29 July. If so, then at the end of the month, Spanish readers can check out the first three books in the series: Los chicos del vagón de carga (The Boxcar Children), La isla de las sorpresas (Surprise Island), and El misterio de la casa amarilla (The Yellow House Mystery).

P.S. You can find the English editions of the Boxcar Children books here .

Adult readers may enjoy the Alan Graham Mysteries by Malcolm Shuman. This five volume series features archaeologist Alan Graham tackles both ancient and contemporary mysteries in Louisiana's Bayou country. And, these books show consistently high ratings at Goodreads.com. Start with Burial Ground and continue on through the rest of the series.

Teens aren't left out, either. You may want to check out fantasy novels The Zodiak Collector by Laura Diamond and Twell & the Army of Powers by Kate O'Leary.

Lastly, a group of books from Intercollegiate Studies Institute, A Student's Guide to ... offer a college-level survey of various broad topics—covering both fundamentals as well referring the reader to additional published books on the subject. Consider checking out A Student's Guide to Music History, A Student's Guide to Natural Science, A Student's Guide to Philosophy, or A Student's Guide to U. S. History, among many others.