My own weekend readathon

The Sunday Salon, What I'm Reading

In the midst of the busyness, the chaos, sometimes it is just good to step back, step down and relax, read. That is what I am planning to do most of this weekend, my own weekend readathon.

I need it as this past week has been full of medical appointments and this coming week promises more of the same, for both me and my wife. In short, we’re both OK or will be in the not too distant future, thanks to a change in diet, physical therapy, and medication, with the latter being not as much as the others. And on Thursday, we’re getting away for the day to a winery up on Seneca Lake in New York, where my wife already has said the rule of the day is no medical talk…which I’m more than fine with.

So here are the potentials:

  • The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware, which I started last night and probably will continue this afternoon. I have checked this out several times in print and on ebook, but haven’t gotten to yet. Maybe this time I will.
  • Black Diamond, the third in the Bruno, Chief of Police series, by Martin Walker: I renewed this one after not getting to it the first go-around. Now I’m going to try again.
  • How Did It Begin?: The Origins of Our Curious Customs and Superstitions by Dr. R & L. Brason: One of my coworkers lent me a copy of this, thinking I might be interested.
  • Mrs. Byrne’s Dictionary of Unusual, Obscure, and Preposterous Words by Josefa A. Heifetz Byrne: I mentioned this one last week and it’s more one I’ll dip into from time to time, probably like the one listed right before this.
  • Unsettling America: An Anthology of Contemporary Multicultural Poetry, edited by Maria Mazziotti Gillan and Jennifer Gillan, which I also had in another readathon list recently. It will be another that I most likely will just dip into periodically throughout the weekend.

At the end of each day, I’ll try to keep you updated here on the blog. We’ll see how that goes too.

6 p.m., Saturday night

I finished The Death of Mrs. Westaway. Here is what I wrote on Goodreads:

I kept getting this one out of the library and then not reading, mainly just because I didn’t get to it. I think I also probably blanched at the use of italicized flashbacks, but I was pleasantly surprised that they didn’t reveal everything, unlike in other books I’ve read.

Of course, I forgot until I started typing in the quote block here on WordPress.com that it also would appear in italics, but it seems apropos, does it not? While on Goodreads, I looked back and noted that I read The Woman in Cabin 10 and In A Dark, Dark Wood, both in 2016, and that I also liked them. I have not read The Lying Game yet or her latest The Turn of the Key.

4 p.m., Sunday afternoon

I haven’t done as much reading as I wanted to today, but I am still doing a little. This morning and earlier this afternoon, I dipped into How Did It Begin? which I am about halfway through. I probably won’t finish it today as it is more a book to dip into than to read in one sitting or in one day. Here are my thoughts on Goodreads:

Not to be read in one sitting. As for other reviewers’ comments that the book is outdated and doesn’t cite sources, author was in his 80s when he wrote book and did research for Enclyopedia Brittanica. My main critique is with the subtitle of “curious customs” and his overuse of exclamation marks. Some customs he describes really aren’t that curious and does he really need to use that many exclamation points?!!

I now am reading Black Diamond, but only am about 50 pages in. So far, though, so good.

10:30 p.m., Sunday night

I didn’t read tonight. Instead, I watched two episodes of Midsomer Murders, but I’ve decided to continue my readathon tomorrow morning since the rest of my week is pretty full.

Reading anything good lately? How about this weekend? Have you ever read any Ruth Ware? What did you think, if you have?

Published by Bryan G. Robinson

Blogger formerly known as Unfinished Person. Still an unfinished person...

Published

23 thoughts on “My own weekend readathon”

  5. I haven’t read any of Ruth Ware, even though I actually own three of her books which I picked up from a thrift store a while ago. They, like many, just haven’t seemed to make it to the top of the pile.
    We are in the midst of our second seasonal bout of colds. One child gets it, and passes it on so we all tend to fall like dominoes.
    All your options for your personal readathon sound entertaining, enjoy!

    Have a great reading week, and stay well.

    Like

  6. A personal readathon sounds wonderful! I’ve borrowed Mrs. Westaway from my library (twice!) and not gotten around to reading it, so maybe there’s hope for me, too. Enjoy your time on Seneca Lake… we’ll be there next month 🙂

    Like

  8. Finishing James Herriot and already told you I read a John Grisham book and liked it. Then there is my sappy Jan Karon Mitford book, which I always read slowly because she shoves a lot in there. May look into a Jack Reacher book this week because Warren likes them – but I don’t always (rarely) like what he does so we’ll see how it goes.

    Like

    1. I’ve read about five or six Jack Reacher books, but I stopped after he saved the world for the fifth or six time…and doesn’t refer back to the other times he saved the world. But the ones I read were fun. I liked Robert Crais’s books too for a while too and then “grew tired” of them too. Some series just don’t hold up for me. Others, like the Harry Bosch series by Michael Connelly, mostly have survived over the long haul.

      Like

        1. I don’t think they’d really be your “cup of tea.” But you always can give them a try. The ones you might like that I’m sure Warren has are the Donald Westlake books, especially his Dortmunder series. The Parker series is a lot dark, but Warren and I like them (still have to find them to read them all).

          Liked by 1 person

          1. Oh my gosh. We forgot to get the Parker books for you. I will see if he does have them all or not in paperback. If he does, I’ll smuggle them out one by one for you to read. He won’t see this comment because he doesn’t actually read my blog. He just clicks like on Facebook. 😉

            He has all the Westlake books and has suggested Dortmunder a couple of times. I’ll probably try them. I did like a couple of the Fletch books. Weird but interesting.

            Like

  9. In the past week, I’ve had discussions with friends about plantar fasciitis, poison ivy, back pain, wrist swelling, and sinus problems. Good grief. It feels like we now do nothing but talk about our physical ailments.

    What a nice way to spend the weekend. Your own readathon. You can read a little and watch some tv and read some more and snack and read again and take a walk and read some more. Perfect.

    I will take a look at your updated post at the end of the day tomorrow or later in the week.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Physical ailments are what I hear a lot about at the library where I work too. And my coworkers hear from me. 😉 I just finished my first book, but probably am taking a break for a while or even until tomorrow.

      Like

  10. Mrs. Byrne’s Dictionary sounds like something I would enjoy — added it to my Goodreads. Sometimes we just need to do our own readathon (I’ve seen this referred to as #fakereadathon.) Enjoy your books!

    Like

Comments are closed.