Cynical Optimism

I made it to 2:45 in the morning.  I was super tired and that's when B got in from work so I told him goodnight and went to sleep.  Even if I'd been able to drink caffeine I don't know that I would have stayed up any later.  I am pretty pleased.  I finished 2 library books I'd already started, one of my own I'd started, 2 of my own graphic novels, and 226 pages of an American Gods reread.  I also had a lot of fun following the #readathon on Twitter.  I've got a bunch of stuff to do next weekend for school but maybe the following one I'll try to get in a solid 5 hours of straight reading!  I also want to thank #teamwordsworth for cheering me on.  Maybe next readathon I'll be a cheerleader for a bit.  Final stats! Books finished: Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin by Jill Lepore and Rorouni Kenshin Vol. 1 by Nobuhiro Watsuki, Seven for a Secret by Lyndsay Faye and March Book 1 by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell, an

Hopping on the exercise bike while reading for an hour really energized me!  I won't make it all night but I might make it until B comes home from work around 2!  I do need a snack and/or some sugar now.  Ok, a reading update!  Currently reading: American Gods by Neil Gaiman, though I might swap to another graphic novel  Books finished: Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin by Jill Lepore and Rorouni Kenshin Vol. 1 by Nobuhiro Watsuki, Seven for a Secret by Lyndsay Faye and March Book 1 by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell, though all but March I had previously started Pages read of regular books since last update: 258 Pages read of graphic novels since last update:  121 Running total of pages read: 599 Amount of time spent reading: 3 hours 25 minutes Running total of time spent reading: 6 hours 30 minutes Snacks: Breakfast was milk and cinnamon rolls, I've also had a cup of herbal tea (cinnamon spice!), food truck

just an entry in the My Name in Titles Mini Challenge ! Just in case you can't read these they are: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children Endless Nights (A Sandman book) Lost and Philosophy American God Name of the Wind I, Robot Ex Libris I had to go to librarything to find what books I had that started with A.  Also, I have a LOT that start with F.  Go figure.

An update!!   I took a break from 2 until now to go have some lunch and pick up a few things from the Farmer's Market.  Had some yummy brisket tacos and ice cream (not at the same time) and brought back collards and ham and cupcakes for later (again, these will be eaten separately).     Brisket Tacos from Delta Bound Dark Chocolate, Whiskey Pecan and Salted Caramel Ice cream from Jeni's This event was definitely the thing you should go to with like 3 friends who don't mind letting you nibble off their plates!  here's a couple shots of the trucks. Some Trucks More Trucks I also decided to jump in on the Shelfie mini-challenge! Messy shot of our only bookcases  We also have multiple boxes of books in another room that we really need to get out.    And my status on the readathon: Currently reading: Seven for a Secret by Lyndsay Faye Books finished: Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin by Jill Lepore and Rorouni Kenshin

I slept late!  I didn't even get up until about 9:30 but I did start reading at 9:45, as soon as I had some cinnamon rolls in the oven and my contacts on.  As I usually do, I've started with books that I had begun prior to the Readathon and have therefore "finished" 2 books!  My stats so far: Currently reading: Seven for a Secret by Lyndsay Faye Books finished: Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin by Jill Lepore and Rorouni Kenshin Vol. 1 by Nobuhiro Watsuki.  Pages read of regular books: 96 Pages read of graphic novels:  72 Running total of pages read: 168 Amount of time spent reading: 2 hours 25 minutes Running total of time spent reading: 2 hours 25 minutes Snacks: Breakfast was milk and cinnamon rolls, I've also had a cup of herbal tea (cinnamon spice!) and I suppose I'll do the startup meme too. 1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? Nashville, TN 2) Which book in your stack are y

Dewey's Readathon is tomorrow!  I am not sure exactly how much of the day I will get to spend reading; I have a (rather easy) final Monday and I am going to hit the Food Truck Invasion at Nashville's Farmer's Market Saturday noonish.  Otherwise, I really want to get some good reading in.  Here's my preliminary stack.  I am going to work on the main ones in the picture, not that other stack that invaded on the right there.  Though there is a new atheism book on that stack...  I have a lot of graphic novels but those will probably be early in the day or late at night.  Also, they let you feel like you're really making progress.  I also have several on my kindle that I need to work on: Insurgent , Flora and Ulysses , and Wolf Hall .  I have a LOT of variety to try.  I really want to finish rereading American Gods .  Ok, off to the grocery store to get some snacks!

Does anyone else long to read the "books" that the Tommy Taylor graphic novels describe?  In Tommy Taylor and the Ship that Sank Twice by Mike Carey and Peter Gross we get just that, mixed in with the story of the real Tommy's birth and first year. The book-within-the-book is pretty good, though if it was released as a real book today people would think it was plagiarized from Harry Potter.  There are similarities but there are supposed to be!  I give this one a 6 and a must read for fans of the series. Locke and Key: Alpha and Omega by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez is the final book in the Locke and Key saga. It is a good final installment.  While nothing mind blowing (to me anyway) happens, everything does get wrapped up.  a 5.  Fables 19:  I think I might be done with Fables.  I just loved it so so much through the War issues but since then I am just not feeling it.  I didn't much care about Mister Dark, I don't particularly care about Snow and Bigby

A bit of a roundup!  I get so far behind, especially on these YA type books that I can read relatively quickly.  I have to get back to regular blogging! I finished Dodger by Terry Pratchett .  I loved the character of Dodger though the plot was just ok.  I liked learning about some of the historical detaiIs of life for the lower classes in Victorian England.  I also really liked the Afterward, describing some of the real lives of people in the story.  If Pratchett writes more adventures of Dodger, I will definitely read them.  a 5. I also just finished The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart .  I wanted to like it more than I did.  I rather thought it was going to be like The Series of Unfortunate Events books from the description.  It wasn't really, except that there are smart kids involved, fighting some wicked adults. It just didn't hold my attention very well.  I bet kids would enjoy it though.  a 5 from me. Ash by Malinda Lo is a GREAT book! It

The library's ebooks are just killing me!  I seem to get more as fast as I read them!  I read Stealers of Dreams by Steve Lyons , which is another Doctor Who book.  This one has Nine, Rose and Captain Jack landing on a planet where people can't lie, tell stories or make up fiction.  At first it seems like it is just a government crackdown but the Tardis team begins to see people actually go crazy from imbibing fiction.  When Rose has problems, Jack and Nine work to save her.  I liked this one ok but most of the time the trio is separate which is less fun.  overall a 5 from me.

I listened to Longbourn by Jo Baker by  over the course of a few weeks.  It is a retelling of Pride and Prejudice with a focus on the household staff.  Sarah is the young housemaid who has to wait on the Bennett girls while trying to figure out what she wants to do with her life.  There's the new footman, James, who maybe likes Sarah and brings a "mysterious past" with him.  I wanted to like it going in but I really ended up not enjoying it.  I felt the main character often made stupid choices and the whole "he pretends to hate her because he's really in love with her" plot is over-used. Also, I always feel like Wickham is bad enough, and the Lydia/Wickham couple are punished enough by their having to be married to each other, that I always feel retellings that make him worse are just piling on.  Wickham can be a bad guy without also being a child molester!  I kept listening (the reader is really very good) but ultimately this one fell flat to me.  a 3.

As I have been taking big, important tests these last 6 weeks, I've had very little time for reading.  I've just been studying, doing school work for the one class, doing my practicum hours, and trying to spend what little time I have left with B or occasionally exercising.  I finished up my last test on Friday (I won't know how I did for a few weeks) and this week is spring break!  Well, it is spring break for the school system in which i am doing my practicum, which means I don't have to go to it this week.  Anyway, before Saturday I was only reading very occasionally: 10 minutes before dozing off at night, 30 minutes while on the exercise bike, those kinds of things.  So it was a bit of a joy that i was able to gorge myself on words this weekend!  I read: Death Cloud by Andrew Lane : the first in a series of books about a teenage Sherlock Holmes, authorized by the estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  It isn't a bad book; it sets up many of the things that fan