Read-a-Thon 2013: Hour 19

I am several selections into The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2011edited by Mary Roach and Tim Folger. So far, everything has been interesting; I've learned a little bit about black market organ transplants and walked away wondering if legalized payment-for-donation programs might not be the worst thing ever (although I don't think that's the direction the article was leaning); learned about something called "high meat" which...ew; read a short bit that I think was an excerpt from The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York, a book I read and loved a few months back; found out that chimps seem to be a lot more fertile than humans; and was surprised when I cried during an article about neuroscience and brain surgery.

Over at Reflections of a Bookaholic, we have been issued a challenge: "...turn to page 32 of the book you are currently reading (or the nearest page with text on it) and find the most entertaining phrase to complete the following sentence:

"I would rather read than ________ any day!""

Well, I'm reading on an old Kindle, so I don't exactly have pages, per se, but between the "Look Inside!" option at Amazon.com, and some best guesses on my part, I've found what I think is probably pretty close to page 32, so:

I would rather read than SAVOR ROTTEN CARIBOU AND SEAL any day!

For sure! While I have never actually had rotten caribou or seal, I'm going to go ahead and say that it's not anything I'm in a big hurry to try.

Read-a-Thon 2013: Hour 14

I just finished Blessed Are the Cheesemakers by Sarah-Kate Lynch, and I loved it! Here, in Hour 14, Nea is asking us to share a quote from our reading.  I've already mentioned a couple of quotes that I liked, so let me see if I can find another...

OK, so Kit's life has fallen apart--he's lost his wife, become an alcoholic, lost his job, etc.-- and he's gone off to what he thinks is just a little country retreat in Ireland where they happen to make cheese. The current proprietors have decided that he's to be their new cheesemaker, but his current state has others questioning whether or not he's right for the job.

"And a man in his state is all right for cheesemaking?"
"In my experience there's not a state in the world," Fee said matter-of-factly, "that cannot be greatly improved by close proximity to cheese. Especially ours," he added.

Amen to that! Cheese makes everything better.

Speaking of that, I might go find some cheese to snack on before I pick my next read and delve into Hour 15.

2013 Read-a-Thon: Hour 11

Well, after a 9-hour...let's call it a nap, I'm back to the Thon. I feel like naps are allowed but sleeping just implies failure to plan. So, nap it is!

Kristen wants to know where we'll be reading, so here is a picture of my current location. Oh dear, can you can tell which side gets the most use? I think I need to rearrange my furniture to even out its wear and tear!

Read-a-Thon 2013: I'm Doin' It!

Well, it's been a while (three years in fact--holy cow!!) since I've participated in a Read-a-Thon, but I've been seeing the tweets coming in; I'm awake; I'm in the middle of a book that I'm loving; I've got nine e-books checked out from the library; about as many samples of potential purchases on my Kindle, awaiting further perusal; plenty of unread books sitting on my shelves; and I suspect my hubby's going to be busy with one of his hobbies this weekend (weather permitting), so, what the heck? I'm going to go ahead and participate in Dewey's 24-hour Read-a-Thon. Now, I know full well that I'm not going to make it the full 24 hours (at start time I will have already been up for 12 hours...I'd prefer if you didn't do the math on that one), but I'm going to do what I can.

My starting read? Blessed Are the Cheesemakers by Sarah-Kate Lynch. I can't help but love a book that opens with: "'You can't hurry cheese. It happens in its own time and if that bothers you, you can just feck off.'" and follows up a bit later on with: "'If you can see the magic in cheese, you can see the magic in everything.'"

OK, so wish me luck, and happy reading to all the other participants!