THE LOG BOOK: The February 2012 ReadaThing Record of.....

OK, there's a thread for what you PLAN to do, but this thread is for what you will do, where, how, with whom or what....

**What book or books are you reading?
**Are you reading a Dickens book or story??
**Where are you reading? (specific or vague is fine) Posting a picture of where you will be/are reading is encouraged
**How long did you read or could you read?
**Doing anything else? food, music, listening to someone snore, watching the sun rise or set...

More Important Stuff:
**Is it a GOOD BOOK? Tell us what you thought of it...

**Did it meet or exceed your expectations? **Do you recommend it? **Was it a fast read or a thoughtful read? **Did it make you laugh or cry or "be afraid, be very afraid"? **Was it boring? **Would you read it again? **Are you going to throw it off a cliff into the sea?

We aren't expecting a full review of the book, although, that's fine... just give us a flavor of the book.. tempt us into reading it or warn us to keep clear!

and have some fun with your reading! There's going to be a good group of us reading along with you... sorta... and we'll be really quiet, except for the tapping of the keyboards as people check in.

The signup page is here: http://www.librarything.com/wiki/index.php/ReadathingFebruary2012

You don't have to sign up for a time... the No Timeline Readers is further down that page.

I just got done with a few hours of reading a Windows 7 book.

Yes, it is fun!!

officially the title is MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-680): Configuring Windows 7 and I'm doing fairly well on the lesson/chapter quizzes, too!!

YES IT IS FUN!!!

Later on, I'll be reading The Face of a Stranger by Anne Perry.

Finally got home and was able to pick up the book I'm in the middle of - Rhiannon by Roberta Gellis. My plan this week is to read books I haven't read or haven't read recently enough to have an opinion, with the intention of deciding which ones to keep and which to dump. I don't think I'll dump any of the Roselynde Chronicles (of which Rhiannon is the fifth), but now I'll know for sure.

ETA - this is what I've been doing for some time, but this week I'm not allowing myself any rereads.

about to head to bed with The Alienist, which sounds pretty weird. oh well. Tomorrow I shall listen to the last bit of The Shape of Water whilst I have a pot of tea.

Night all.

#4: I've had The Alienist on my TBR pile for awhile. Please let me know what you thought of it. I do like historical mysteries.

I read a chapter of Our Mutual Friend while I ate dinner, and will read a little more at bedtime (soon). Carried on with Voices of Dickens London at lunchtime, as I will tomorrow.

I read for about an hour this morning (UK time) - White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi. I have got Bleak House lined up to read soon so hope to get some Dickens read during this readathing.

Hello everybody!

I'm glad to read that a lot of you already started this weeklong readathing. I'm still working, so I'll have to wait another four hours before starting to read.

For the start I'll intend to read:

- Dürrenmatt oder Die Ahnung vom Ganzen biography by Peter Rüedi

I like reading Dürrenmatt's books. This biography is carefully researched and written. It isn't an easygoing read but it's a brilliant inside of Dürrenmatt's life and thinking.

- Parallel to the biography I'll be reading The Mao Case by Qiu Xiaolong

I'm reading this one because I was looking for an author starting with the letter X (for my ABC challenge). It's a long time ago that I read a book from China and I hope it will be an easygoing one.

My favourite place where I'm doing most of my reading.



I hope everybody is enjoying their reading.
All the best from Switzerland

I fit in an hour this morning but now have to get ready for work. (Boo!) I started The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens. So far so good but I am not that far into it yet.

I managed to read a little bit last night. I'm reading O filho de mil homens de Valter Hugo Mãe and I'm hoping to finish it this weekend.

I have chosen Oliver Twist for my readathing time slots this week. It's hard to believe I've never read it before, since I've managed to pick up most of the plotlines just through pop culture. So far, I am really enjoying Dickens' sly and sardonic humor.

Progress: Oliver has just been taken home by the undertaker.

I fit in about 40 minutes reading Great Expectations last night. I had started last week so now I have finished chapter 20 and the first section of Pip's life. On to his great expectations!

Definitely enjoying it. Certainly different from the only other 2 Dickens I had read: A Tale of Two Cities and A Christmas Carol (of course).

I finished up The Shape of Water and am about to start listening to Agents of Light and Darkness by Simon R. Green. Also reading The Alienist and loving it. Thus putting off starting my ER read, Conqueror by Conn Iggulden

I'm reading David Copperfield and can hardly put it down. I chose it not only because I've never read it but because it was Dickens'' favorite and other Librarythingers loved it as well.

I am not the weepy type (in movies, yes, but very rarely in books), but if anybody can make me that way, it is Charles Dickens and it has happened a few times in this book already.

Some humorous parts in the first chapters too. I'm so happy I chose this book!

Finished Rhiannon - eh, not as good as the others in this series. But I'll read Sybelle, the next (and as far as I know last) in the series for my next book.

I used my hour to read Liberty's Exiles. I am enjoying it; I never really thought about this part of U.S. history. But there's something about the way this book.is written that keeps putting me to sleep!

I've been reading Dickens' Bleak House most of the week and I'm at about the half-way point. The only other Dickens I've read is Great Expectations and that was in high school (eons ago). No idea why I haven't gotten to more of his work because I'm absolutely loving it.

Bleak House is one of my favorite Dickens books! Glad you're enjoying it!

HI all. Some great reading going on. I have David Copperfield on my TBR mountain. I just don't know if I will be able to fit it in this week. I have a book club book to read Lost Symbol by Dan brown. And a library book I just picked up Extremely Loud and Incredibly close by Jonathan Safran Foer. I will be reading mostly from them since They are both due back at the library this month and I only have about 2 weeks to read them.

I did finish my current read of The Woman in Black by Susan Hill last night. And I loved it. Now I am ready to go see the movie sometime tomorrow.

I'm going to read Set in stone by Linda Newbery tonight in my hour. Also probably before the hour, and more than likely afterwards :) It's my last library book - after that I'll dig into the huge TBR pile.

I have a couple of things I need to take care of, so I can't really set fixed reading times with good conscience (reading keeps me from doing things I should to already), but I signed up for no timeline. I started Faith of the Fallen by Terry Goodkind this morning, which will keep me occupied for the rest of the week.

I've managed to finish White is for Witching and yesterday I made a start on God's Philosophers. Not sure what my next fiction read will be but I might make a start on Bleak House.

I originally signed up for the no timeline readers but when I actually do a full hour of reading I am adding my name to that part of the wiki. Not too sure if pre-planning will work for me:)

I finished 1491 this morning so will go back to The Mystery of Edwin Drood now. Not sure what will be next.

I've read about 3 hours during our ReadaThing, 2 hours this morning in bed.
I'm reading Prophet's Prey: My Seven-Year Investigation into Warren Jeffs and the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints by Sam Brower and it's pretty gross and sad. It's very interesting though and now I have less than 100 pages to go.

I've been listening to (from librivox) a few chapters from Dickens' Sketches by Boz each day of the RT.
I also found this piece from the BBC on Dickens' 1842 visit to America rather interesting:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00n3t9g

I'm enjoying Sketches by Boz more than I thought I would . . . so far lots of really fun short character and scene "sketches" . . . they really paint pictures . . . I can see how Dickens' might have used the project to think about and play with characters and scenes he would fill out in later books . . .

Hope everyone is having fun!

This is my first ReadaThing ever so I'm excited! The perfect weekend for it, kind of gray and gloomy outside. I signed up for the no timeline readers but I'm not sure if I did it right. I've been reading Half Blood Blues which is a tremendously beautiful work of literature and has totally knocked my socks off. Sadly I'm almost done with it, and then I'll be moving on to my Early Reviewers book All Different Kinds of Free. I took some pictures of my reading spot but haven't figured out how to add them into a post yet, so those will be added once I've got the hang of that. Happy reading, everyone!

#26: you're in the "no timeline readers" list now, litfan.

Welcome & Enjoy!!

I am reading recent nonfiction about Louisiana. I am on a committee to select the best book about Louisiana published in 2011 (and submitted for the committee's consideration). The deadline is looming, so I have no choice but to spend my reading time with them. We have some excellent entries this year.

I have now started the Dickens part of the Readathing - Bleak House is going well.

I've just finished The Mao Case. It's a wonderful crime fiction from China. Diving into an other world was like escaping from the occidental life. CI Chen's subtle approaches finding out what happend in the past, is showing how governments are keen to keep people in the dark, so that the disreputable past can still stay in a blaze of glory.

Now, I'm reading Fighting Ruben Wolfe by Markus Zusak. I'm reading this one because I was looking for an author starting with the letter Z (for my ABC challenge).

# 27: thanks! Much appreciated.

I finished Half Blood Blues yesterday and it was brilliant all the way to the end. Started All Different Kinds of Free and I'm liking that one so far too. Today is another rainy, chilly day so I'll be curling up to read with a warm blanket, a cat or three, and a hot cup of coffee!

#31: Litfan, you are welcome!

Reading Report: I am almost done with The Face of a Stranger by Anne Perry. I forget how much I like this series, and historical mysteries in general. I want to continue reading the series, but have other books that are calling to me from my TBR mountain!! I may go to The Night Circus next.

#28 I'm very interested in all things Louisiana--is there somewhere I can access the list of what's under consideration for the best of 2011?

I managed to read a little over an hour's worth of Our Mutual Friend yesterday (some of which, admittedly, was re-reading bits I read almost a month ago, to sort out the characters a little). I've now finished Book 1 and am really enjoying being immersed in the Dickensian world. I also took a brief side-trip to read Of Mice and Men which is one of the brightest little gems of American fiction, despite its terribly sad subject matter.

Just finished Fighting Ruben Wolfe by Markus Zusak. A fast-paced brilliant story about two brothers finding their place among the lower part of the social ladder. A family with strong bonds and a lot of love. Boxing, fighting and winning.

Now, I'll start reading Flash and Bones by Kathy Reichs. It's more than a year ago I've read a Reichs. This one I've got borrowed from Natijovi. She strongly recommended it, so I'm looking forward to having a good read.

After reading for 2 hours this morning I finished Prophet's Prey: My Seven-Year Investigation into Warren Jeffs and the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints by Sam Brower. If you like reading about organized crime you will like reading this book.

Finally figured out how to post pictures of my little reading corner so here goes:





One of my favorite places in the house and it's been getting a lot of use this weekend!

Litfan, ooooh, I like your reading spot, too!! and I LOVE your bookshelves!!!

Thanks skittles! It has always been my dream to have a "book nook" and when we got our house I was finally able to have one :-) The chair is usually commandeered by our brown tabby but today he was nice enough to share with me.

Got several hours of reading in today; finished All Different Kinds of Free and have just started an ARC of Enchantments which is rather interesting so far. It's narrated by Rasputin's eldest daughter and set in 1917 Russia just after his death.

Hope everyone is having a good time reading!

I've just finished my first few chapters of Bleak House. It's already got me hooked. I usually have a hard time with Dickens, but this one seems good.

I managed to do a lot of reading this weekend! Didn't finish O filho de mil homens de Valter Hugo Mãe because I had a bunch of shortstories to read (they're for a contest in which I'm one of the judges) but I think I'll be able to finish it tonight.

I stupidly forgot my copy of Oliver Twist at work Friday, so I had to improvise the rest of the weekend and switched off to a library book, 1Q84. I'm about 200 pages in, and I have no idea what's going on. Hopefully the next 800 pages or so clears it all up. :)

Happy 200th Birthday, Charles Dickens!!!

How are the Dickens Readers doing with their books??

If you haven't posted, Please let us know!!!

On Chapter 15 of Our Mutual Friend, and Chapter 3 of Voices From Dickens' London!

Immensely enjoying David Copperfield, reading mostly in the evenings with a cup of tea (sometimes a cookie or two) on the couch in my living room and walking about a little bit too as I read.

For the Dickens part of the readathing I'm reading Bleak House. I'm up to chapter 22, it is going slowly and I'm reading it in bed for an hour in the morning and another hour at night. I am getting used to it but as I haven't read any Dickens, apart from A Christmas Carol, in a very long time I'm not finding it an easy read. I think I like it though:)

I am still reading The Mystery of Edwin Drood ... on chapter 15 of 22 right now. I had set it aside for a couple of days to re-read The Omnivore's Dilemma for a book group. But now I'm back on the Dickens track.

I'm still reading The Alienist and listening to Agents of Light and Darkness. I did finish one book so far, The Shape of Water

Finished Sybelle - finally. I like the early ones in that series a lot better than the later. Now I need to pick a new book - and as always when there's a ReadaThing on, I'm frantically busy. Ah well. I think I'll go back to Lythande by Marion Zimmer Bradley (which I started about a month ago and put down for other books). Need to stick to light reading all this week, I'm afraid. Maybe I'll get in a few minutes on Geology of the Sierra Nevada, though.

So far I have gone through two books... Or rather one and 3/4 of a book.

I am reading A Tale of Two Cities for the Dickens of a readathing because I wanted to do a dickens story /and/ I needed to read something for the 12 in 12 challenge group, where the book needed to have two, second, be the second, have elements of February, etc. It was a perfect blending of the two things.

I was already at the end of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin when the readathing started, so I got to finish that as part of my reading. This was a great book, especially if you enjoy Chinese culture. It blended storytelling with "actual life" and made for an all around wonderful time. It's a book for younger readers, of course, but I enjoy reading those as much as "grown up" books so that wasn't at all a problem for me. I had picked this one out because I needed a Dragon-based book for the Year of the Book challenge, where you read at least one book each month that contains the animal of this year in the Chinese Zodiac (this is the year of the dragon) as a major part, either as a character or plot item. If it hadn't been for that challenge, this book would have gone unread for some time simply because I kept passing it up for other things.

While reading the first book I was listening to Relaxing Orient, which is beautiful music for reading to. Most of the time for Tale of Two Cities, I'm having the kindle read it to me, but when I'm reading on my own, I listen to a rain soundtrack. Reading a book on Chinese culture around Chinese New Year was awesome. I love managing to be in the moment like that.

So far I've been able to keep to my schedule, with some extra hours thrown in because I can listen while driving, cleaning rat cages, making dinner, doing dishes, etc.

I'm not allowed to post a picture of where I'm reading at the lunch hour, because there are children involved, but I am reading in my classroom regularly from 1-2 in the afternoon because that is their nap time. I can try and get a picture that doesn't involve the children some time... Maybe when I next update again tomorrow, if I remember...

This is where I usually read at home. Either in that chair, or on the floor beside it, depending on how I feel. It's the same place I always read... I'm very routine oriented that way. I have my spots and I stick to them. :)

For anyone further interested on my experiences in reading, I am part of World Reading Circle, a group that another lt'er and I created here, whose soul purpose is to share quotes, thoughts, experiences, music, comments and more as you're reading. Simply go to the group page and you will find the thread for Where the Mountain Meets the Moon... And my experience with Tale of Two Cities.. once I've posted it from leaving here. ;)

Got in some reading this evening, sitting in one of the chairs here this evening! I'm on a "working vacation" in Bermuda at the moment (vacation from LT, but spending my days doing research in the Bermuda Archives). Having this view to "come home" to after a long day of research is quite a treat!

I'm reading Richard Conniff's The Species Seekers, and quite enjoying it.

Opened "Pickwick Papers" at random and greatly enjoyed Christmas/wedding celebrations!

I'm probably going to finish Bleak House tonight and for those of you struggling with it I do hope you persist. I found it to be a terrific read.

#50-- what a cozy spot to read! Looks very inviting.

# 51-- what a view!!! I don't know if I could concentrate on a book for getting distracted by all the beauty around me!

Not much time to read this week due to very long days at work but I'm going to try to get some reading in bed tonight.

Tonight I will be starting Alloy of Law and I'll be in my favourite reading corner:

My favorite reading spot, which I often share with my little dog, Callie, as long as I'm not reading something that makes me laugh out loud.

I am so envious!! These spots are gorgeous!

and I am so behind!!

Today is the last day of ReadaThing!!

7 hours left!!!

bye!! gotta get back to my books!!

Just finished Flash and Bones by Kathy Reichs. Well, the first part was a little bit boring and not an usual Reichs where the speed is right away from the start. The second half was much better and to the end really fast-paced.

So, it was a amazing week and I was able to finish three books and a couple of chaptres of the Dürenmatts biography. Thanks to my family keeping me reading and the freezing temperature outside there was next to my job not much of any disruption.

skittles :-D thanks a lot for organizing this great week and I'm looking forward for the next ReadaThing :-)

>57 skittles:
What?! Nearly over already?!!

Back to reading! :-)

Over the course of this ReadaThing week I read all of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, finished 1491, and did a quick re-read of The Omnivore's Dilemma.

I finished and REVIEWED Dickens' Bleak House. Breathtakingly good.

I finished The Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card and am done with part 1 of Great Expectations by Dickens.

Since my last update I finished O filho de mil homens de Valter Hugo Mãe and started Ricochet by Sandra Brown.

And the ReadaThing is over!!

If you still have books/reading to 'report', feel free to comment..

but there are three questions at the end of the Announcement thread to answer.... PLEASE??!!??
http://www.librarything.com/topic/130871#3228910

Thanks to all for a great ReadaThing!!

I was very remiss in not reporting in at the end of the February ReadaThing. I read my scheduled two hours and approximately six unscheduled hours. Books: Creole Genesis by Craig Bauer and Congo Square by Freddi Evans.

A week was a good length of time for me. I'll be up for another ReadaThing in April. A theme would be fun, if it's broad enough that I can use one of my BOMBS books.

Thanks to skittles and any other organizers for making the ReadaThing possible.

I finished my second ReadaThing book yesterday - it clocked in at 1891 pages, so it took me a while!

Vote for our next ReadaThing here:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/138278