Week #11: 2023.09

2023-03-05

Update on 110 Reading Challenge

Okay… I actually read 110 Hours! It was a rough two days. I basically spent every free second reading in order to make it to the 110 hour mark. But I did it! It was fun and my life feels a little more empty without the challenge, haha.

Books I Finished

  • Devotion by Patti Smith: I was surprised with this one. It is a very slim volume. I didn’t know Patti Smith was an author (I just know her as the singer-songwriter) so I imagined it was going to be less about writing and more about music. Think I will be reading some more of Smith’s work!
  • The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris: I just read this on a whim and I wish I had read the reviews beforehand… For a novel with a ton of editors in them, you’d think the book would be, well, more well edited.
  • Ducks by Kate Beaton: This one had me glued to the screen (I took it out on Libby). Seriously harrowing.
  • She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen: Cute and cheesy YA queer romance!! Seriously, I think I have a cavity from reading it.
  • Rockstar and Softboy by Sina Grace: A bit campy but it was a fun read. I don’t know why but a character named Softboy was so fitting, I didn’t even think twice about it.

Books I’m Currently Reading

  • Norton Anthology of American Literature (Shorter Version) 6th. Edition by Nina Baym
  • Beloved by Toni Morrison
  • The Well-Educated Mind by Susan Wise Bauer
  • Introducing Literary Criticism: A Graphic Guide by Owen Holland & Piero
  • The Lost Years of Merlin by T.A. Barron
  • The Shallows by Nicholas Carr

Week #10: 2023.08

2023-02-27

Update on 110 Reading Challenge

I am partaking in a reading challenge that my local library is doing. So far I have read 100 hours. Which means I read 20 hours last week!

It was a loooot of reading but I didn’t quite make it to 110 hours. The challenge is over tomorrow (not sure if it’s over at midnight or like mid-day tomorrow).

Next week I’ll have a proper retrospective on the challenge as a whole.

Books I Finished

The thing about having multiple books on the go is that reading takes a little longer, BUT sometimes I am able to finish multiple books at once (like I did this week).

  • How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas Foster
  • My Pen is the Wing of a Bird by Afghan Women
  • I Used to Have a Plan: But Life Had Other Ideas by Alessandra Olanow
  • The Dispossessed
  • Displacement by Wang Xulin
  • Naturally by Saul Freedman-Lawson
  • Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
  • Oyasumi Punpun (Volume 1) by Inio Asano
  • The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams

Books I’m Currently Reading

  • Norton Anthology of American Literature (Shorter Version) 6th. Edition by Nina Baym
  • Beloved by Toni Morrison
  • The Well-Educated Mind by Susan Wise Bauer
  • Introducing Literary Criticism: A Graphic Guide by Owen Holland & Piero
  • The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris

Week #9: 2023.07

2023-02-19

Update on 110 Reading Challenge

I am partaking in a reading challenge that my local library is doing. So far I have read 80 hours. Which means I read 6 hours this week. This week was very hard for me to sit down and read… Once again, I spent a lot of time just working on my website and not doing much else other than that. I would be lucky to be able to reach 90 hours next week!

Books I Finished

  • After the Rain (Volume 1) by Jun Mayuzuki: I finished reading a volume of manga. I’ve watched the anime probably like four times, it’s just that good. This is my first time reading the manga and I’m pleasantly surprised just how faithful the anime was to the manga (so far) in terms of both plot and the art style!

Books I’m Currently Reading

  • Norton Anthology of American Literature (Shorter Version) 6th. Edition by Nina Baym: I managed to finish reading a section on speeches made by some Indigenous people in the late 1700’s. The authenticity of such speeches come into question but at the same time, the questionable authenticity also reveals a lot about the times which is interesting.
  • The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin (again): I was behind last week’s reading but I made it to chapter 9. I have to finish the book by Monday which is… Ambitious, hah.
  • The Pen is the Wing of a Bird by Afghan Women: Some of the stories are becoming to be a little too similar but each story is still such a good little experience.
  • Beloved by Toni Morrison: Just yesterday was Toni Morrison’s birthday. I had a copy of this book lying around and I thought it was a good time to start reading it (or maybe not, because I have so many books still in progress, hah).

Week #8: 2023.6

2023-02-12

Update on 110 Reading Challenge

I am partaking in a reading challenge that my local library is doing. So far I have read 74 hours. Which means I read 7 hours this week. For some reason, after Wednesday I just did not do any reading at all. I think it’s because I got super sucked into making my digital garden… Once I get started, it’s hard for me to stop!

As for the actual challenge, I would still need to read about 2 hours every day to meet the 110 goal… Not sure if it is doable but I have a lot of reading I want to get through so it might work out in the end.

Books I Read

No books were finished this week!

Books I’m Currently Reading

There are some books from last week that I’m still reading and some that I have picked up.

  • Norton Anthology of American Literature (Shorter Version) 6th. Edition by Nina Baym: Made no progress on this one.
  • The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin (again): Finished reading chapter six early last week. It’s building up to something, but I don’t know what (just kidding, I do, but I’m trying to pretend I don’t).
  • The Pen is the Wing of a Bird by Afghan Women: Read some more of this book. It’s really good. The stories vary in their quality but it’s still really good quality.
  • Literary Theory by Terry Eagleton: I brought my e-book reader with me while out and about (because reading from with an actual physical book did not fit the setting) and started reading the introduction to this book. Interesting stuff, so far.

What I Accomplished

Didn’t do much on the reading front. But I did spend a lot of time coding, both at work (crunch time), and for this website (at the time of writing this, it is the.citrus.farm). Like I said in a previous paragraph, it really is hard for me to stop when something is unfinished. I gotta see it through until it’s done! I can’t say I’m 100% pleased with it but it is good enough.

Week #7: 2023.05

2023-02-05

I can’t believe it’s already week 5 of 2023. It felt like January went by both quite fast and quite slow at the same time.

Update on 110 Reading Challenge

I am partaking in a reading challenge that my local library is doing. So far I have read 67 hours. Which means I read 12 hours this week. Continuing the streak, this is better than last week! :) I did admittedly read a lot over the weekend (and have plans to keep reading, still) but I managed to read more every day.

As for the actual challenge, I would need to read about 2 hours every day to meet the 110 goal… Not sure if it is doable but I have a lot of reading I want to get through so it might work out in the end.

Books I Read

  • The Crucible by Arthur Miller: As a non-American, I feel like this was extremely interesting to read. It really hits home how foundational Puritanical culture was for America. It is very interesting how this was based on actual trials. Really one that I need a few days to process.

Books I’m Currently Reading

There are some books from last week that I’m still reading and some that I have picked up.

  • Norton Anthology of American Literature (Shorter Version) 6th. Edition by Nina Baym: We’re (still) slowly making our way through this book. Last week we read Cotton Mather and Mary Rowlandson. This week the task was to read Sarah Kemble Knight and Jonathan Edwards. I found Edwards’s to be rather repetitive but I enjoyed the Wharton-esque nature of Knight’s excerpts.
  • Healing Rites by Mattea: This is officially a DNF. Oops.
  • The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin (again): Just finished chapter four and five this morning. I did not feel as emotional the first time I read this book but chapter four this time around, got me. Le Guin takes an interesting take, including the abolishing of family and how it could affect children. It’s interesting how Shevek’s role models in the book are both women: Mitis and Gavarab. Maybe he is trying to fill the hole that his mother left him? Curious… Le Guin is masterful.
  • The Pen is the Wing of a Bird by Afghan Women: I only have read three or four short stories in this collection so far. It is incredibly profound and mundane at the same time. I will need to keep reading!