It's Dewey time again

I almost let the Fall 2015 edition of Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon slip by. It starts bright and early on Saturday morning and as the title says, runs for 24 hours. While I like to participate in read-a-thons, Dewey's is the most intense of all them all. It challenges readers (over 1000 this time around) to read as much as they can in the 24 hours of the event. This read-a-thon is held twice a year and runs from noon UCT on a Saturday to noon UCT the next day. Everyone starts and ends at the same time, so since I live in Texas, my start time is 7am CDT.

I have a couple of library books checked out that I need to read and return, so I'll be focusing on those off the bat. I'll be starting off with Calculated in Death by J. D. Robb as well as The Aeronaut's Windlass by Jim Butcher. Yes, I'll be reading two books, bouncing back and forth between them. And as soon as I finish one or the other, I'll be plunging into The Banished of Muirwood by Jeff Wheeler or perhaps The Heretic's Apprentice by Ellis Peters. Now, I reserve the right to change my mind—particularly when I'm sleepy and get a bit grouchy. But for now, I have a bit of a plan.

Sunday Summary: 11 October 2015

I keep having to pinch myself to remember that it's really October. The year is flying to a close so quickly! This week I again completed three books, but that's one short of the number I need to read each week if I'm going to get to 200 by the end of the year. I should find a little more time to read next week since I have several flights and I'll be taking my suppers alone.

Where I've been reading

Ah yes! I've been in Florida. From Monday through Friday, I attended a conference in Orlando and then drove up to my sister's house just north of Orlando to spend the weekend. I enjoyed the conference very much. Many of the technical sessions were educational and I picked up some new information about the software that I use. I also enjoyed getting to spend time with various colleagues throughout the week.

 

What I've been reading: Completed this week

The Union Quilters
by Jennifer Chiaverini
Format: Hardback
Source: borrowed from the library
Completed: 4 October

★★★★☆

The Union Quilters is the 17th (of 20) books in the Elm Creek Quilts series. Set in the time of the U. S. Civil War, the women of Elm Creek Valley in Pennsylvania are left behind when their husbands, sons, and brothers are mustered into the Union Army. The Bergstrom women—Anneke and her sister-in-law, Gerta—join with their neighbors to make quilts and raise funds to support the troops from their community. Weaving the account of the company's battles in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia with the stories of the community they left behind, Jennifer Chiaverini has delivered a compelling account of a war that changed the very fabric of American life.

Stacking the Shelves (52)

This week was a bit weird when it came to new books. First of all, I've been away from home all week and won't return to Texas for another week. So I'm reading whatever happens to be on my Kindle. However, last week, I put a HOLD on the next two In Death books at the library thinking like the previous book, I'd have to wait the full 21 day checkout period before they became available. On Sunday, I received notice that both were ready for download. I had already downloaded one book, and that gave me three new library books to read. And then last night, I received a notice that the library had purchased The Aeronaut's Windlass on my recommendation and it was being held for me. Of course I downloaded it right away. I'm just lucky that the library gives me a 21 day check-out period.

Review: The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra

The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra by Vaseem Khan
Published August 2015 by Mulholland Books
Source: eGalley ARC from NetGalley

On the day he retires, Inspector Ashwin Chopra inherits two unexpected mysteries.

The first is the case of a drowned boy, whose suspicious death no one seems to want solved.

And the second is a baby elephant.

As his search for clues takes him across the teeming city of Mumbai, from its grand high rises to its sprawling slums and deep into its murky underworld, Chopra begins to suspect that there may be a great deal more to both his last case and his new ward than he thought.

And he soon learns that when the going gets tough, a determined elephant may be exactly what an honest man needs...

Month in Review: September 2015

September was a pretty good month for reading. I read fewer books—only 15—which contributed to falling behind just a little bit in my annual goal. However, some of the best books I've read all year were among the ones read this month.

So now that we're at the 3/4 mark in the year, Goodreads tells me that I'm 1 book behind schedule to complete 200 books this year. I hope to make a bit faster progress toward this goal by selecting books that “read fast”. That's generally a factor of the vocabulary and writing style of the author. My reading mood can also affect whether or not I'm reading a book slowly or quickly.

I've read 42,674 pages toward my secondary goal of 50,000 pages. (I set the page goal to keep myself from getting to the total number of books by reading short books.) I'm way ahead of the pace to complete 50K pages.

Sunday Summary: 4 October 2015

As I write this, I'm sitting in the living room of a dear friend who lives in Auburn, AL. We're here to celebrate Homecoming, the annual gathering of alumni for parties, tailgaiting, and football. We have made it a tradition to get back to Auburn each year for Homecoming even though we now watch the game on TV instead of trekking to the stadium. We have BBQ planned for supper around half-time and lots of snacks for before and after. No one will leave here hungry!

Where I've been reading

You wouldn't believe my travel schedule this past week. I flew 7 segment in 3 days to get from Dallas to Poughkeepsie to Louisville and back to Dallas. This was to facilitate two back-to-back meetings in Poughkeepsie and Louisville, respectively. As soon as I landed in Dallas, hubby packed me into the car and we started cross-country toward Auburn. With all those flights, I did have plenty of time to read—when I wasn't dozing. I didn't take as much advantage of the time in the car because I was definitely sleeping to make up for the overnight flights on Tuesday night.

 

Stacking the Shelves (51)

Congratulate me. Another week has gone by and I haven't bought a book. I'm still satisfying my craving for new (or new-to-me) books by borrowing from the library.

From the library:

So, did you ever watch White Collar on television? You know, a charming con-man gets sprung from jail and works with the FBI to capture other con-men. Well, that's sort of the premise of Janet Evanovich's new Fox and O'Hare series which starts with The Heist. Nick Fox is a con man and he gets partnered with FBI agent Kate O'Hare—with a huge slush fund to draw from to set up their cons. It's a fun series with high-speed chases, first class flights, champagne and chocolate, and a bit of romantic tension on the side.