2022 #thankfullyreading Weekend has kicked off

Click on the image to be taken to Jenn’s kickoff post.

Officially the event, hosted by Jenn of the blog Jenn’s Bookshelves, began on Wednesday and runs through Sunday. Unofficially, I began this past weekend as I was/am off until Monday.

How will/did you celebrate Thanksgiving?

My wife, who is a 911 dispatcher, worked this morning, so she prepared part of Thanskgiving dinner earlier in the week. We had some last night to celebrate our 26th wedding anniversary and will have some again after she sleeps a little. Right now, as I draft this, I’m watching the Mystery Science Theater 3000 Turkey Day Marathon, and we might watch some more later after she awakes.

What’s in your TBR pile of the weekend?

I started with listening to a bit of Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story, written and read by Bono. Also on my list are Paul Newman’s autobiography, The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man and the Serge Storms series by Tim Dorsey, of which I’m on the 14th: When Elves Attack. Apropos or not, the latter is a Christmas tale of sorts.

How much time do you think you’ll have for reading?

A lot. However, will I use it to read all the time? Today, not so much. Tomorrow, a little more and hopefully Saturday and Sunday, even more.

What book are you starting out with?

See above.

Are you reading print, ebooks, or audio?

In addition to listening to Bono’s memoir, I’ll be reading Newman’s autobiography in print and Dorsey’s book on ebook.

What books will you be talking about during Thanksgiving dinner?

My wife and I probably will be talking about whatever MST3K episode is on at the moment. If you’d like to tune in, here’s a link (you even can rewind and it makes great background music):

So how about y’all? How are you spending Thanksgiving?

Starting 2022 Thankfully Reading Weekend Early

That’s what I am doing today. Officially the event, hosted by Jenn of the blog Jenn’s Bookshelves, begins on Wednesday and runs through next Sunday.

Click on the image to be taken to the sign-up post for this year’s event.

As I mentioned in my last post, I’m off for “9 Days, 17 hours, 30 minutes”. I have a list of possibilities of what I want to read, watch, and listen to. This morning, I’ve already started to listen to Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story, written and read by Bono, which is on the list. Also on my list are Paul Newman’s autobiography, The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man and the Serge Storms series by Tim Dorsey, of which I’m on the 14th: When Elves Attack. Apropos or not, the latter is a Christmas tale of sorts.

Even as I’m writing this, I’m listening to Bono’s memoir. I just fell into it and now I don’t know when today I will be able to get out of listening to Bono’s ~~tenor~~ baritone voice accompanied by his, and his band’s, music, some “reimagined” just for this recording. I’ll leave you with a sample:

My First Book of 2022

So, without further ado, here is the first book I plan to read this year:

The Art of Living: The Classical Manual on Virtue, Happiness, and Effectiveness by Epictetus, a new interpretation by Sharon Lebell: For the last two years, I have read the same book for my first book of the year: Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, as translated by Gregory Hays. I had borrowed a copy of it from Prime Reading in late 201, but when I tried it, I had a difficult time reading the archaic translation. I then came across several reviews mentioning a modern translation by Gregory Hays. It fit the bill perfectly for two years running, but I thought it would be a bit much to read it as my first book of the year for a third year.

That brings me to this year’s selection, which is in the vein of Hays’ book, with this being a reinterpretation of the works of Epictetus by Sharon Lebell. I sampled it before purchasing it and again, like Hays’ translation, it seems to resonate with me. As it is short, I don’t know if I’ll read all 93 of the selections at once or read them over a week or two or more. I haven’t decided yet, but however, I do it, I’m looking forward to it.

Later today, Sheila of the blog Book Journey will be sharing photos of people from around the world with their first book of the year too. I e-mailed my (Photoshopped since my book is an ebook) photo above to her and mine should be among them, if my e-mail went through. Even if it didn’t, to see what others have selected as their first book to read this year, visit Sheila’s blog later today.

So do you select a first book to read each year? If so, what will be the first book you read this year or maybe you’re already reading it?

Kicking Off 2021 Thankfully Reading Weekend

So, as I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I’m participating in the 2021 Thankfully Reading Weekend, as hosted by Jenn of the blog Jenn’s Bookshelves (clink link in image to be taken to today’s post). This is my kickoff post for the event that starts today and runs through this Sunday, which happens to coincide with five days that I have off from work. Here are a few questions Jenn suggested we could answer, and which I will:

How will/did you celebrate Thanksgiving? My wife usually has to work Thursday night and this year is no different. We’re still having Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow (and Friday, thanks/no thanks to a box of produce arriving late).
What’s in your TBR pile for the weekend? Too many books that realistically I probably won’t get to.
How much time do you think you’ll have for reading? A lot as my wife works midnight shift all weekend and sleeps during the day.
What book are you starting out with? How We Change (And Ten Reasons Why We Don’t) by Ross Ellenhorn. I already started early this morning when I woke up too early as my mind was racing and wouldn’t let me sleep.
Are you reading print, ebooks, or audio? Mostly ebooks, although I do have a few print books checked out from our library. No audio planned, but I do own a few I’ve been meaning to get to.