Mary Walker is my hero.

 I work for a library supply company and one of the items we supply is books.  One day I saw the title of a book was The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read by Rita Lorraine Hubbard and Oge Mora.  I was intrigued and had to look it up.  This is an amazing true story about an unbelievable woman who learned to read at 116 years old.  Most people sit around by the time they are seniors and very few people make it to 116 years old but Mary Walker spent the twilight years of her very long life learning to read, write and do basic math.  She remained adventurous until the end even taking her first plane ride at the age of 118.

The book was written for children but I think it should be given to everyone who turns 50 and certainly to everyone who retires as a reminder that this is a time when you have a choice.  You can sit back and wait to die or you can keep going to a better future however short or long that future may be. Mary Walker was born a slave and suffered many tragedies.  Her husband and all three of her children had died before she started taking reading classes.  No one would have blamed her if she had sat in a rocking chair and and looked out the window until the end of her days but she learned to read and she continued to interact with the world and do new and different things!!!  

I turned 54 in September and, though I would love to think that I will live to see 116 and still have more than half of my life ahead of me, realism says that I won't likely make it more than 20 years or so if I'm fortunate and less if I'm not.  Still, I, like Mary Walker, get up every day with a choice.  Do I coast to my retirement and eventual death or do I get up each day with a desire to learn new things and adventure past my front door?  My choice is that Mary Walker is my hero and as I age I want to be just like her.

Thoughts on finishing a book you hate

 I've been watching quite a bit of BookTube lately and I've noticed this trend where people seem to feel that if they start a book they have to finish it.  To this I say, there may have been as many as 4 million books published in 2023 alone.  Even in the 1990s there were something like 180,000 books being published yearly just in English.  With all of those amazing books out there why torture yourself with a book that isn't right for you?  If you don't like the setting, if you hate the characters, if the plot makes no sense or your finding the book well written but horribly depressing move on!  You will absolutely die before you manage to read all the books you want even if you only stick to the ones you like and live to be as old as the oldest person currently alive so why waste your precious time on a book you hate.

Purgatory's Shore by Taylor Anderson

 

I started Purgatory's Shore by Taylor Anderson a while ago but reached around 85 pages and stopped reading.  This is not because I dislike the book but because I have to be in the right mood for a book with this much military emphasis. My brain doesn't always feel like tracking the minutia of the story\s  military hierarchy, types of guns, types of fighting and so on.  All of it can get jumbled in my head if I'm too tired or to sick to track it.  Right now I'm felling better and greatly enjoying the book.  Hopefully I will continue to feel well enough that I can finish it.

Finished River of Darkness

 

I managed to finish River of Darkness by Rennie Airth something i was beginning to think would never happen because every time I sat down to read I fell asleep.  It wasn't the book's fault as it is a descent police procedural though I was disappointed that you were introduced to the killer early in the book.  I'm never a huge fan of books with parts written from the killer's point of view.  I have no desire to spend any time in a killer's head.  I also had the nagging feeling that the book was coming across with a lot more modern ideas than would have been likely between WWI and WWII.  Still the story was engaging, the characters were likeable and the little bit of romance was a good way to lighten a rather dark story.  On the whole I'm not sorry I purchased this used book for $3.87 in 2012 even if I still have no memory of doing so.  (Amazon keeps good records which is how I know it didn't just magically appear in my bag of books)

Quote from River of Darkness by Rennie Airth

Stackpole blushed bright red.  He left them to pull out the car's dicky and brush off the seat.

Dr. Blackwell watched him, smiling.  "Poor Will.  He kissed me once, when I was six and he was eight, and he doesn't know to this day whether I remember it or not."

Madden burst out laughing"

                                                     -River of Darkness by Rennie Airth

An unexpected moment of levity in a mystery novel about the murder of an entire family.

Beauty and River of Darkness

 

I finished reading Beauty by Robin McKinley and was just as enchanted with the story this time as I was as an adolescent though with a very different point of view.  As an adolescent I really enjoyed the romance of the story and didn't really feel that the story began until Beast entered the  picture.  As a 52 year old, I was enchanted with the story as a whole.  It is a beautiful retelling of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale with a nice, simple and cozy storyline.  Nothing ground breaking in the book but when you are done with it you feel as though you've had a mostly relaxing vacation in another world and are now better ready to face daily life.

Having finished Beauty you would think I would get back to Stalking Darkness by Lynn Flewelling but I've actually moved on to River of Darkness by Rennie Airth.  This is not a nice cozy story but it, so far, has been a good police procedural mystery set in the same timeframe, more or less, as the Ian Rutledge novels by Charles Todd.  I'm not sure it is very accurate to the timeline as I've questioned some of the ideas of it being a little too modern but it has been fairly enjoyable puzzle of a mystery.  I like the main character and am curious about the whodunit and seem to be progressing fairly well with the book.

Beauty by Robin McKinley

 I know I said I'd be reading Stalking Darkness by Lynn Flewelling next and I'm actually 95 pages into that book but my brand new used copy of Beauty by Robin McKinley came today and I couldn't wait to start it.  

Beauty is not the first words of Robin McKinley I ever read as that was actually the first couple pages of The Blue Sword which my ADHD impacted brother, who still can't keep track of any of his possessions at nearly 60 years of age,  accidentally left in the back of our car one day.  (It should be noted that I'm only slightly better at keeping track of my belongings as we both inherited neurodivergence from our father and it has greatly impacted executive function in both of us.)  The Blue Sword will forever in my mind be know as the orange juice book for what I could remember of the first couple of pages a few years later when I saw the cover again.   However, I didn't get past that number of pages before it was reclaimed by my brother and it would be after I read Beauty before I ever had the chance to finish that story.

Beauty does probably have the claim of being the most read book of my adolescence.  I must have read it at least 20 times though I had to borrow it from the library every one of those times.  I managed to find a copy of the cover art of the book I read and it is at the top of this blog post though, try as I might, I couldn't find a good condition copy of the book with that cover art on it for what I can afford.  Anyway I'm now reading Beauty again.  We will see how it goes.

The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley

 Finished The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley.  This remains a much loved story that I enjoy the reading of.  It is taking me longer to read books than it did when I was younger but I suspect that has more to do with the fact that I have trouble reading for long periods of time.  I can't seem to sit still and keep getting distracted.  The end of the book had to be fueled by carrots and mini cucumbers and bacon cheddar ranch dip from Sam's Club.  I have to say that is very good dip.

Started The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley

I'm not overly excited about starting Stalking Darkness by Lynn Flewelling which in my mind I've nicknamed Depression are US so I decided to take a short break and started The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley.  This remains one of my favorite books from adolescence.  I, of course, related to the largely misunderstood Aerin and really was as lonely as she seemed to be in the book as I had a very difficult time making friends.  Having said that, in my 50s, I'm obviously much more settled by I still enjoy the simple, fun story.  

When I pick up this book I'm often left wondering why books have become so big?  It is a lovely complete story at 227 pages but sitting next to Stalking Darkness seems to be undersized.  I find I miss shorter books.  You could feel accomplished by reading one in a day even if you only had a couple of hours and they were much easier to hold and carry.  When I was a teen I could get 6 or 7 in my always oversized purse and never run out of reading material even if it turned out I didn't like a particular book.

Finished Luck in the Shadows

 Since I had a bit of time and a great deal of determination I was able to finish Luck in the Shadows by Lynn Flewelling today.  I forgot that it ended with to be continued though I remembered that the first two books were part of the same story.  I enjoyed the reread but am glad to now be able to move on to an actual book.  For some reason I read much slower on screens and it is really annoying but since I've misplaced my physical copy of the book there was no help for it.  I have the other books in physical copy.  I'm not really looking forward to Stalking Darkness by Lynn Flewelling but it is the obvious book to read next.  So on to a not so cheerful read.

The Skeleton's Knee

Finished The Skeleton's Knee by Archer Mayor.  Descent mystery which just had to have people getting shot and killed during the story though the primary mystery was about a 20 year old corpse and another shooting that took place at the same time.   I liked Joe and enjoyed the mystery but I think I need to find a cozy with a 20 year old mystery because I could really do without worrying about the current characters.  I've gotten old at 52.

Let's talk Sjogren's syndrome and reading

 Sjogren's syndrome is one of the many autoimmune disorders that a person can be unfortunate enough to have.  It is probably one of the better ones as these things go especially compare to Rheumatoid Arthritis and crohn's disease but it still causes issues big and small and some of them, at least for me, are with reading.

I have two problems.  The first is that dry eyes causing blurry vision.  I try to solve this with eyedrops and for the most part it works though I'm about to try an eye ointment to see if the good effects last a bit longer.  

The bigger problem for me is joint and muscle pain.  It is very hard to enjoy reading when it causes you pain and holding a book or kindle for more than 5 minutes definitely causes me pain.  However I'm determined to find a way for this to work.  Right now it is by reading from my desktop computer when the kindle gets to heavy but I'm going to try some other ideas.  My thoughts are a wrist brace as the most pain is in my wrist and the added support might be helpful or a pillow tablet and book support.  

If anyone stumble's across this post and has better suggestions please share them and I'll be posting a follow up post in case I can help someone else.

New favorite quote from Luck in the Shadows.

"Seregil rubbed absently at the hidden scar and reflected that, on the whole, his life seemed to be in greater disarray than usual."

Luck in the Shadows and The Skeleton's Knee

 I love YouTube and was looking for someone on BookTube I wanted to listen to but there wasn't anyone who came close to my taste in books.  Most likely this is a combination of the fact that I'm years out of date on books and that the books I read are all over the place.  

Currently I'm rereading Luck in the Shadows by Lynn Flewelling and listening to The Skeleton's Knee by Archer Mayor.

Luck in the Shadows is a much loved fantasy book that I have enjoyed a number of times before.  The last time was in 2021 though I don't remember much about it as that year was the year my mother passed away and by the time she passed I had spent a number of years sleep deprived in the extreme.  I believe I first read this book in 2004.  Unfortunately I'm missing a number of details and I've never gone past the original trilogy so when I started to read Shadow's Return, book 4 in the series, I found the references confusing.  So we begin again.  Below there may be spoilers.

It is now 2024

It is now 2024 and I just saw that I haven't published anything on  here since 2020.  It has been a tough few years.  

1. My mother was very ill and had been very ill for a number of years and I was caught up taking care of her.  She has since passed away.  

2. I'm not going to read previous posts but when I started this blog I was able to read quite a bit at work but that hasn't been the case for over 11 years.

3. For many years the majority of my reading was audio books but I am just now getting back into reading physical books and e-books so what I may say here will be a mix.

4.  I just want to keep track of the books I read and what I'm thinking about them.  In short this will be for the joy of books and if someone happens to come along and want to comment maybe we will have a fun conversation.

Readathon April 2020 Closing post

How would you assess your reading overall?

 My overall reading was good and I was able to get a whole book done in the 6-7 hours I actually had to read.  I had hoped to have more time but since I haven't moved to a private cabin in the woods by myself that was wishful thinking at best.
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Did you have a strategy, and if so, did you stick to it? 

My only strategy was to read when I could and so I guess I stuck to it.  It's always easier to stick to the simple plans.

What was your favorite snack? 

Marinated mushrooms and chocolate/white chocolate truffles.

Wanna volunteer for our next event?  

Volunteering for anything just isn't in the cards for me as long as my mother lives.  Caregiving is a better than full time job it turns out which negates most things except eating and sleep and sleep is pretty iffy.


Final Thoughts: I read an actual book for probably the first time in 2 years.  I've listened to many books as I would go insane without stories and audio books are my lifeline to sanity but reading has been impossible.  Carving out the time, even on readathon day, was very interesting as my brother needed tax/stimulus check help, my mother doesn't understand the whole concept of give your daughter a day off and my niece had a complete meltdown  while caring for her but reading did happen and I very much enjoyed it!  I should mention that in principle my family supports giving me a break on readathon day but in practice it won't happen as long a my mother lives and I love my mother a lot more than reading.

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon April 2020

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?

Williamsport, Pennsylvania USA


2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

Where the Dead Lie by C. S. Harris.  I meant to read this a year ago but the read-a-thon day turned out to be a no read day and I haven't had much time to read since.  I'm really hoping to be able to accomplish this today so it won't be still waiting next April!
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3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?


Marinated mushrooms and I hope to make some healthier snowball cookies while listening to a book later.


4) Tell us a little something about yourself!


I'm so happy to be participating again.  I need a low people, high read day.  You would think being stuck at home with a stay-at-home order would mean lots of these days but, between being a caregiver for my very disabled mother and dealing with my very extroverted adult niece, I find that I have less alone time or time to read than I did when I was working.  It's funny because, since someone is always talking to me, I can't even listen to audio books.  I'm hoping they can keep each other occupied today and I'll get a day to read!



5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today?

Haven't really participated for a few read-a-thons though I started last April.  I'm going to try hiding behind a closed door today to see if that allows for more reading time.

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?

Williamsport, Pennsylvania USA


2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

Where the Dead Lie by C. S. Harris.  I've been meaning to read this for a while and there are 2 newer books in the series so I need to start getting caught up.



3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?


Dove milk chocolate coconut creme eggs.  I've been eating Keto so this is definitely not normally on the menu but decided to take today off from being "good" food-wise. 


4) Tell us a little something about yourself!


I'm so happy to be participating again.  I wasn't able to  in October because my mother was in the hospital but things are going a bit better for her now and my niece is being her caregiver for the day so I can read!!



5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today?

Didn't participate in the fall because my mother was in the hospital but today will be all about the reading and I don't plan on doing much else.

Spring 2018 Dewey's 24 hour read-a-thon opening questionaire

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?

Williamsport, Pennsylvania USA


2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

Since Uncompromising Honor by David Weber is probably out due to exhaustion (too much to keep track of when your brain is fried) I think it's probably Burn Bright by Patricia Briggs.



3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

The Almond Nut-thins and Kit Kat bars I bought couponing the last few weeks.  Nothing makes yummy food taste even better like saving money!!


4) Tell us a little something about yourself!


Today it is probably audio books all day because when I'm this tired I do better listening instead of reading.  This works out as I need to go work on cleaning out my grandmother's house (she passed away in December) and listening to audio books makes it possible to do that and still participate in the read-a-thon.



5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today?

Didn't participate in the fall because of family issues but it was the first one I've missed in years.  Don't plan on doing much different from previous years.

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon Mid-Event Survey 2017

Mid-Event Survey:

1. What are you reading right now?

Heartbreak Hotel by Jonathan Kellerman


2. How many books have you read so far?

Four


3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?

Hamster Princess: Ratpunzel by Ursula Vernon

4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?

Off and on mostly mother related.  She's very disabled and used to me caring for her whenever I'm not at work.  My niece has mostly taken over for the day but I still get pulled in.  It's still much, much better than last year or even last readathon.  Anyway I just do what needs doing and then get back to enjoying the day.

5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?

None really.  Everything is going pretty well.