November Group Read: Check in the Third

[glinda]

It's the end of week three of the challenge, how goes it for all of you? Hope you've all had a better reading week than I have, mine really doesn't bear close scrutiny! (I finished a book! It wasn't one from my list/pile.)

Are we starting to flag a bit as November grinds on or have we triumphs to share? Anyone defeat a book that's been taunting them for long and weary? Share your reading triumphs and disasters in the comments below.

Comments

[steorra]

I finally finished the main text of A Stó:lō-Coast Salish Historical Atlas! Still not actually done the book - working on Appendix 1 (Stó:lō Historical Timeline) and I also want to read Appendix 2 (Stó:lō Petitions and Letters). That's about 25 large pages before I'm actually done.

[kore]

I finished some books! A couple of mysteries and the Diary of a Bookseller series, which really weren't as funny as I'd thought they'd be. Still failing at reading a serious novel which demands attention, but I'm just not sure I can do that right now. I have a ton of rec lists and a list of my own but I just can't seem to get stuck into a novel in particular, unless it's based on trashy true crime, or it's a thriller/mystery. /o\

I got Barack Obama's autobiography but did not realize it is ALMOST EIGHT HUNDRED PAGES. It looks great but OMFG that is a lot to read right now. I also read the new Sylvia Plath biography a little while back, which is over 1100 pages! That took quite a while and it was hard to hold a book that long in my head over different reading sessions. (I typically just gobble books.) I get the feeling I'm reading a lot of nonfiction because it's less immersive, less emotionally challenging....maybe I'll try some short stories. or Michelle Obama's autobiography, which looks 1) intriguing and 2) a lot shorter

[peaceful_sands]

I finished 'Fractured', 'The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow' and 'Bad Pharma' and am now a little over a third of the way through 'Vanity Fair' but I'm finding that heavy going - not really enjoying it at the moment, this might be my mood.

Have to say that both Fractured (second part of the slated series) and Bad Pharma were good. I highly recommend Ben Goldacre for anyone interested in popular Science/medicine writing.

I've made a bit of a start on Dissolution and will alternate bits of Vanity Fair with Angel by LJ Ross this week. I'm on track to have finished 10 books this month which was the first part of my goal (I've already finished 9), they will all have been from the waiting pile (also part of my goal), the only aspect that I'm dragging behind on is I'm now on book 6 of the 7 I'd listed with Dissolution, but I'm not sure I'm going to have time to make it through it and no 7 in paper form (some of the others have been audio books which means I can listen while doing other none brain challenging things like the washing up or crocheting Christmas presents).

[kalloway]

I am through all of my library books still due this month; the rest are all due in December/have a potential renewal.

Still about half of my shelf to go, however, and I have to admit to losing a bit of motivation. Nothing has been a complete miss (unlike with the library books) and I suspect it's more general world-fatigue than not wanting to read.

[kore]

I have to add a note, I started grazing through Obama's book and his charming actually modest yet intellectual voice overcame my reservations, JUST LIKE ALWAYS. I bet it's even better in the audiobook version!

I also reread a Kinsey Millhone (I is for Innocent) and had forgotten how well Grafton writes, so that was definitely a step up from trashy thrillers.

[glinda]

That's excellent progress tho! I'm trying to focus on the library books in my pile too this week. If I can do 50 pages a day this week I should get a couple finished! *crosses fingers*

[glinda]

Excellent progress, good luck with finishing it off!

[glinda]

Excellent progress all round! Also, ooh Obama does have a very nice voice, I bet he'd have a really compelling audio book narrator voice.

[glinda]

That sounds like excellent progress, and you're nearly at your target - audiobooks to the rescue! I do like crafting while I listen to audiobooks...that's probably why I tend not to have too much of an audiobook back-log, I get through them much quicker than physical books because I can multi-task!

[krait]

Ack! Somehow I've missed both the previous check-in posts on my reading list; I actually swung by the comm because I was wondering if none had been posted.

I have finished:
Half the Day is Night, Maureen McHugh
Primary Inversion, Catherine Asaro

I'm mostly through:
Spock's World, Diane Duane
Throne of the Crescent Moon, Saladin Ahmed

I started Merchant of Dreams by Anne Lyle, but had to stop a few pages in when I realised this was the second book in a series and I hadn't read the first!

Still hoping to get through at least two more, though I've been interrupted by a sudden need to reread the entire Chanur series.

[kalloway]

Yeah, I'm pretty happy with what I've gotten through! Definitely read some stuff that's just been sitting around for ages and would still be sitting otherwise. I think I'll keep loading that particular shelf up and getting thru what I can when I can.

(And, uh, keep reading my library books.)