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A New Way of Living | Weekly Snapshot

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I don't know about you guys but this has been one of the longest weeks ever. With schools closed and work moved to home, this has been a new way of living. When the changes and shutdowns came just before last weekend, there was no time to really process the information. Within days, life had changed. And then on Monday, I reported to work, from my home, with kids also at home. It was when Friday finally rolled along that I felt the gravity of the situation, how we'll be rarely getting out for weeks, if not for months. How schools were likely going to be closed for months. How work still had to be done remotely or worse, there was no work to do anymore due to layoffs or a shutdown. How there was not going to be any dining in restaurants for months.


That was a very sobering thought. I didn't sleep until 1.30am that night.

How are you all doing? What are some of your tips to keep your sanity on while we get through this very difficult time? Some of you are in places that are …
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Throwing my hat into the ring (or, rather, joining Bout of Books readathon)

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Bout of Books

After much consideration, browsing (and snooping) through other bloggers' posts, and loving the idea of this event, I've decided to take part in the Bout of Books readathon. I've seen this event mentioned many times in the blogosphere, but have never been a part of it before. Now is probably a good time to do it. My reading has considerably slowed down, my trysts around the online book world has reduced, and I find myself often wondering what happened to my dedicated reading hours. It took finishing an amazing book in four hours to make me want to do this. Bout of Books starts today and runs all the way to the 18th. It will be great to be able to just read and rediscover all the thrills it brings with it.

So here are my goals for the week:

1. Find at least two hours every day when I can just read. I need to get away from online and TV distractions as much as I can. I also need to not read unless I will get a good amount of undistracted time with the book. My enjoyment of the book tends to suffer when I am reading a sentence here or there and doing something else.

2. Finish at least two books. Try to aim for a third as well.

3. Keep my reading as diverse as possible. I need to stick to the goals of my Armchair Reading Project.



As far as books go, I am mostly going to read what I am in mood for but I do have four books I am hoping to get to.

1. Delusions of Gender by Cordelia Fine
2. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
3. The People of Forever are not Afraid by Shani Boianjiu
4. We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo

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Comments

Shannon @ River City Reading said…
Glad you're joining in! I've always wanted to read Delusions of Gender, so I'm happy to see someone picking it up :)
May 12, 2014 at 7:00 AM
bermudaonion(Kathy) said…
Good luck, Aths!
May 12, 2014 at 7:36 AM
Christina T said…
I am thinking of joining the read-a-thon too. I have participated in Bout of Books a few times in the past and I missed the recent 24 hour read-a-thon. This is much more manageable since it goes all week long.


I have heard good things about We Need New Names and The People of Forever are not Afraid. I loved The Joy Luck Club and the movie is a favorite.
May 12, 2014 at 8:45 AM
Vasilly said…
I love the look of your stack! Good luck!
May 12, 2014 at 10:48 AM
Sam_TinyLibrary said…
Yay, you decided to join in :)
I'm reading We Need New Names too, just started it today and so far it's very good. I also really enjoyed People of Forever, so you have some great reading ahead of you this week!
May 12, 2014 at 3:32 PM
Athira / Aths said…
I just started reading it and it is intriguing so far!
May 12, 2014 at 6:42 PM
Athira / Aths said…
Thank you, Kathy! :-)
May 12, 2014 at 6:42 PM
Athira / Aths said…
I like the low-pressure aspect of the weeklong readathons too! I feel like it's much more motivating.
May 12, 2014 at 6:43 PM
Athira / Aths said…
So glad to hear that you liked it! I started with Delusions of Gender. I may start with We Need New Names next.
May 12, 2014 at 6:44 PM
literaryfeline said…
I think your goals are very reasonable! Good luck with the readathon! I missed hearing about this until late and so am not participating, but I figure I can unofficially join in by trying to make more time for my reading.


I really enjoyed The Joy Luck Club when I read it and hope you will too. Delusions of Gender sounds like an interesting read. I don't read a lot of nonfiction, but the subject matter interests me so I might pick it up if it's good.
May 13, 2014 at 1:30 PM
Kim Ukura said…
Good luck with the Bout of Books, it always sounds so fun! I hope you find alot of time to read from your pile.
May 13, 2014 at 9:34 PM
Care said…
Let me know when you finish Delusions of Gender - I am reading it, too!
May 16, 2014 at 10:04 AM
Athira / Aths said…
Delusions of Gender is intriguing so far. But it's hard to read it at one go, so I have to put the book down once in a while. I did not read as much as I hoped to during the readathon but it was still fairly good.
May 17, 2014 at 11:04 PM
Athira / Aths said…
Thanks! I didn't do as well as I wished I did, but it was still good enough.
May 17, 2014 at 11:05 PM
Athira / Aths said…
So far it's good, but I'm reading it slow - it's hard to read too much of it at one go.
May 17, 2014 at 11:05 PM
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