Seize the Day by Saul Bellow

Seize the Day by Saul Bellow
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book sort of reminds me of Death of a Salesman. It's easy to relate to Wilhelm even while judging him (and while judging myself by association). The sentences are wonderful and still very relevant to modern life. I also appreciate that the book is on the shorter side. Bellow packed a lot into a small space and nothing is belabored.

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Love Poems by Pablo Neruda

Love Poems by Pablo Neruda
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this in English and in Spanish, and I wasn't crazy about this collection. I thought the poems were just a little better in Spanish. I especially liked the laughter poems in Spanish better. I find the English easier to understand because I'm more comfortable with it, and the Spanish a bit more musical, but there's not a huge difference in these particular poems for me. Love is a maybe the most difficult topic for poetry, and this just left something missing for me.

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Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon - April 2017

Wrap up time! I read 5 short books during the readathon in addition to spending time with my family at Miranda's soccer practice, James's t-ball game, and cooking out on our deck. A wonderful day! My favorite book of the readathon was definitely Coraline. I read a total of 687 pages! My reviews for all the books are below.

The Murders in the Rue Morgue	Poe, Edgar Allan	38 pp
The Soft Machine	Burroughs, William S.	184 pp
The Grownup	Flynn, Gillian*	64 pp
King Henry VI, Part 3	Shakespeare, William	239 pp
Coraline	Gaiman, Neil*	162 pp

My original TBR pile was Moonraker (which I started pre-readathon), The Soft Machine, and TInkers. The only one of those I read was The Soft Machine, so I'm going to try to wrap up Moonraker today, and start Tinkers this week.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Coraline by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My last read for the spring Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon. A perfect children's book that's exciting and fun for adults too. It's about bravery, loyalty, family, and love. A classic! Can't wait until James (and then Miranda) is old enough to read it and appreciate it.

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King Henry VI, Part 3 by William Shakespeare

King Henry VI, Part 3 by William Shakespeare
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Finally read part 3, although not as good as Part 1 and 2. It's a lot of war, politics, and intrigue without the delightful details that set apart Part 1 and Part 2. Probably enough war, politics, and intrigue these days in real life to suffice for all of us lately.

Love free classics on Kindle though! I know it's only hour 15 of the readathon, but it's bedtime. No promises I get up early enough to finish another one. #readathon

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The Grownup by Gillian Flynn

The Grownup by Gillian Flynn
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I read this because I'm doing a readathon today and it's really short. But it's hilarious, terrifying, and kind of awesome. Unfortunately it's not without a little bit of a plot hole, but it's forgivable. I can't say what it is without spoiling the story though but we can discuss if you read it.

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The Soft Machine by William S. Burroughs

The Soft Machine by William S. Burroughs
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

The absolute worst book I've ever read. -5 stars. It's like someone out of his mind on drugs trying to write sex adventures as poetry disguised as a novel. "Experimental" and also a total failure. I feel like the author is just making fun of me for persisting for 182 pages.

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The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe

The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Just... not good. It's Poe's version of Sherlock Holmes or something. Bad.

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The Dead Lecturer by Amiri Baraka

The Dead Lecturer by Amiri Baraka
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

When I don't like something that's well-respected, I suspect the problem is me. That's fine. I'll take the blame here. It's not for me.

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Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare

Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This play is extremely violent and as a result, it's very difficult to push through. The characters are one-dimensional in a way that is unusual for Shakespeare. However, if you're a lover of Quentin Tarantino's movies you might love this play.

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The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley

The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A very interesting book about how peyote/mescaline affect perception and consciousness. Mescaline is the active property occurring naturally in peyote and some other breeds of cactus. It was particularly interesting to me in light of the meditation and mindfulness books I've read this year. Huxley takes mescaline, records it, and have friends observe him and ask him questions while he's on it. It's a very interesting format.

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Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon - October 2016

On Saturday, I participated in Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon where you read as much as you can for 24 hours. In my time zone I was supposed to start around 8 a.m. and finish Sunday at 8 a.m. Sleeping is optional. My friend Michele came to town though, so I tried to read as much as I could before seeing her, and a little bit the next morning while she was sleeping, but I definitely did not spend 24 hours reading this time. I'm excited to try again in April!

In preparation for the readathon, I pulled the smallest books I could find from my dad's books, and a few other books that I had already started working on. I knew my pile was way too ambitious, but everyone else had big exciting piles so I wanted one too.

Too ambitious for one day.

I ended up reading three small books, mostly while riding on the LIRR to get to and from New York. The Doors of Perception and The Dead Lecturer are my dad's old books, so I made a little dent in my project to read all his books. I also read little bit of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee and Stranger in Strange Land (which is a re-read for me).

My three readathon books.

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This was a relatively quick read- 4 hours for the 24 in 48 Readathon. I was glad to finally get to this science fiction classic, but it didn't really stand the test of time. I'm sure it was brilliant in 1895, but now that it's been in the sci-fi consciousness for over a 100 years, it's been surpassed by many books of its genre. Even for such a short book, it doesn't read quickly with plenty of boring bits. It's not particularly happy either, nor is the "fun gloomy" of the dystopian novels we've become accustomed to in this century.

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