What a wonderful week! Spring is in full force in Brooklyn right now – all the trees are blooming and the weather has been so lovely. And this week has been filled with lovely things: I saw the musical adaptation Alison Bechdal’s Fun Home on Broadway with my friend Derek, walked the Highline and shopped for books at Strand with Graham, and spent Friday night having dinner with my friends and watching our friend Glen on stage at Arlene’s Grocery, performing with his new band. And of course … the Readathon!
Here are my final Readathon stats:
- 5 books finished
- 923 pages read
- 56 minutes of audiobook time
- 4 mini-challenges completed
- Participated in 18 of 24 hours – an average of 51.3 pages per hour
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This week I shared (a ton of) photos from my trip to the Galapagos Islands, book reviews of That’s Not English and 13 Ways of Looking at the Death Penalty, my March “Polysyllabic Spree” (books bought and read during the month), a list of my Top Ten Favorite Authors, and my Readathon adventure.
READING
I’m currently reading The Thing With Feathers: The Surprising Lives of Birds and What They Reveal About Being Human by Noah Strycker. I’m on a bit of a bird kick – I just finished H is for Hawk by Helen MacDonald.
WATCHING
I have a lot of documentaries on deck to watch, but only got to one this week, the delightful “It’s Me, Hilary: The Man Who Drew Eloise.” Eloise is one of my favorite fictional characters of all time, and a kindred spirit. It was very interesting, and a bit heartbreaking, to learn about the collaboration process between Hilary Knight and Kay Thompson and their estranged relationship.
LISTENING
I started listening to the audiobook of The Stranger by Albert Camus during the readathon yesterday, and hope to finish it up in the next couple of days.
LINKING
- The finalists in the 2014 Smithsonian Photo Contest have been announced, and they are incredible. Definitely worth a look.
- Baby foxes!!!! Baby foxes!!!
- If the background on your computer needs a spring refresh, check out these new lovely downloads from Design Love Fest.
Curious to read your Review about ‘H is for Hawk’ – Have been thinking about getting it. Also, I recommend ‘Birds of Pandemonium’. This is a book I know you will like. I read and reviewed it on my blog, if you are interested.
I really enjoyed H is for Hawk – review will be coming soon. Birds of Pandemonium looks wonderful! I enjoyed your review of it, and I just put a copy on reserve from the library, thank you!
My thoughts on H is for Hawk are posted: http://www.booksuniverseeverything.com/2015/04/28/h-is-for-hawk-by-helen-macdonald/
https://blacknightblues.wordpress.com/2014/12/08/the-birds-of-pandemonium/
Looks like you had a very successful Read-a-thon. Great work! I love the picture of that tulip tree. (I never remember the proper English name…) We had frost the past two nights, and now they have all turned brown around here. :(
Thank you! It was a great readathon – I had a lot of fun! :)
That’s such a shame that the frost ruined your lovely trees! :( We are leaving for a few weeks in Michigan next week, so I’m trying to enjoy all the flowering trees as much as I can before I leave – they’ll all be gone by the time we’re back!
I, too, wonder about H is for Hawk. Is it worth picking up? I put up a spring photo on my site too this Sunday but somehow Canada might not have a glorious Magnolia tree as you show. Have fun in Michigan.
I think H is for Hawk is wonderful. I just wrote a brief review of it today, which will go live tomorrow! This New Yorker piece on it is also very good: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/03/09/rapt
My thoughts on H is for Hawk are posted: http://www.booksuniverseeverything.com/2015/04/28/h-is-for-hawk-by-helen-macdonald/