End of the Road

I've reached the finish line, or more accurately, the finish line has reached me in the #48HBC.  Upon visiting other participants' blogs, I've decided to include some of my "random reading" in my total hours.

First off, I completed reading Jon Scieszka's Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Almost True Stories of Growing Up Scieszka.  It took roughly an hour, from 3 - 4:30 pm (I did have to stop and console my dog during a thunderstorm, then wrap him up in a blanket and swaddle him in my lap to finish reading.)  This book had its humor.  I enjoyed the short chapters and episodic tales.  Students would read this for pleasure, while teachers can use it for modeling autobio writing.  My complaints were that some of the chapters fell short, and the black and white family photos were hard to make out.

Yesterday, I also spent 40 minutes getting through only 10 pages of my MLIS course text: The Organization of Information.  In it, I learned all about the wonderful world of descriptive metadata, and more specifically finite vs continuing resources, FRBR entities, and the 8 levels of an ISBD surrogate record.  (In library school, you learn to use acronyms and abbreviations for just about everything, as annoying as it is.)

Upon awaiting the return of True Blood's 5th season (what a messed up show that is!) I read another 30 minutes of Watership Down.

I've also decided to count my time listening to 35 minutes of chapter one in One Second After by William R. Forstchen while I was getting ready for a dinner Saturday night.  Written in 2009, the main character Jon sure seemed out of touch with reality - buying Beanie Babies for his daughter's 12th birthday and looking utterly baffled at this thing called a text on his cell phone.  It didn't help that the introduction was written by his "good friend" Newt Gingrich.  That was a warning I should have stopped there.  I deleted the audiobook with no plans of listening to it any further, especially after reading more reviews about it.

Final Tally:

10 hours and 10 minutes reading
1 hour and 30 minutes blogging
5 completed books
866 pages read

If I donate $1 per 50 pages read, it would be roughly $17, so I think I'll round it up to an even $20.  My money isn't going toward RIF, however.  I have two non-profit organizations that I pledge my money to every year, and I'd like to keep that practice going.  Therefore, I'll be sending $20 to LiteracyKC and RoseBrooks.

In my haste to get this posted as near to 7 as possible, I forgot to mention how my weekend went for me.  I will say that for the most part, none of my reading selections were a total let down.  I enjoyed my time reading, but felt the guilt-laden pull of life preventing me from succumbing completely to the challenge.  Mornings worked best for me, as I could curl up on my couch with my coffee cup beside me.  Things like showering and cleaning the house tore me away in the afternoons.  (My husband cleaned our vents this weekend and left behind a wake of dust and ceiling popcorn on the floors of every room!  He, being satisfied with a job well done, didn't clean up after himself, so I had to get out the vacuum and broom and sweep everything up in every room.  I also had to clean the kitchen, fold laundry, pick up, etc.)  It's hard for me to sit still for long.

My Reading Space: