Hello, lovelies! If you’ve read my last few posts, you know that I’m participating in the Reading Rush and am trying to read seven books in seven days. The previous updates are linked below. Here’s my days 3 & 4 update.
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//Day 3 – July 22, 2020//
//Morning + Afternoon
Today hasn’t been the most productive reading day. I was sleepy last night, so I didn’t get to chapter 6 of Howl’s Moving Castle like I had planned. I finished those chapters this morning, but haven’t gotten a lot of physical reading done since. I watched T.V. worked out, started next week’s blog post, etc. I’m worried that next weeks blog post won’t be as good as it could be because I’m so focused on the Reading Rush and have other things to do, but I want to stay ahead on my editorial calendar while I can.
Throughout the day, I’ve been listening to Daisy Jones & The Six. I’ve already listened to three hours, which is a third of the audiobook. I’m really enjoying it so far. It’s told in an interview format, which is a really creative way to show an omniscient perspective. I can hear all the band members point of view without them needing their own chapter. It’s really cool. It’s told in hindsight, so they sometimes contradict each other based on what they remember. It adds an extra layer to the story.
The novel alternates between Daisy Jones, a singer/songwriter, and a band called The Six. I’m at the point now where they’ve met and the chapters don’t alternate anymore. I’m excited to see where it goes. The book takes place in 2012. The band members and other people involved are talking about their lives in the 1970s and their rise to fame. I haven’t been able to pick up another book. I was listening to it while cooking dinner prior to writing this.
My current plan of action for tonight is to get to page 100 of The Alchemist, read the third chapter of Organize Yourself!, which is about financial records, then read chapters 7-9 of Howl’s Moving Castle.
//Evening
After dinner, I started reading my physical books. I finished chapter 3 of Organize Yourself! and read up to page 92 of The Alchemist instead of stopping at page 100. It just felt like a good enough stopping point, and I have more than enough time to finish it over the next few days. I’ve listened to four hours of Daisy Jones & The Six, which is almost half the audiobook. I’m sure I’ll be able to finish it by Friday. Now, I’m going to read chapters 7-9 of Howl’s Moving Castle before going to sleep. It’s a very easy read, but the eBook format is slowing me down. I’m glad that it’s doing some things different from the movie because I’ve been preferring the movie thus far.
Pages Read Day 3 ~ 269 pages
//Day 4 – July 23, 2020//
//Morning
Hey, guys. I probably won’t read as much today because I have other things to do. The only physical book I plan to read today is the fourth chapter of Organize Yourself! I plan on finishing The Alchemist tomorrow, and then the only two books I’ll have left to finish will be Howl’s Moving Castle and Organize Yourself! I’m pretty sure I’m going to finish Daisy Jones & The Six today. I’ve already listened to more than half the book by this morning without speeding it up. There are about four hours left, so I should be able to get through all of it today (or finish it tomorrow by the latest.) Needless to say, I’m enjoying it a lot. I’m not as immersed in it as I was with The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, but I’m still into it.
Other things: Taylor Swift is putting out a new album tonight, and I am very excited. I’m also almost done with The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. I watched an episode this morning and there’s only one left. It’s been nice getting into a show because I’ve mainly watched movies during quarantine.
//Afternoon
I finished section 4 of Organize Yourself! which includes chapters 23-31. Everything in this section was a lot more applicable to me compared to the previous chapters because it was about organizing spaces and managing your time when it comes to cooking and cleaning. Stuff I could implement in this phase of my life.
I have two-and-a-half hours left in Daisy Jones & the Six, so I’ll definitely finish it by tonight. I listened to it throughout the day while finishing other tasks. I went to the library with my brother to return library books, outlined future blog posts, etc. I also finished watching The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel while eating lunch. It’s the best show I’ve watched in quarantine thus far.
My plan for the rest of the day is to finish Daisy Jones & The Six then publish this blog post. I should work out, but I might make today my rest day since I’ve worked out every day this week. I keep having this unsettling feeling that there’s something I need to do but can’t remember what it is. It’s probably all in my head though.
(Also, my prediction is that one of the band members is going to kill themselves at the end of the book. )
//Evening
Wow. That was really good. My review for all the books will be in my next post, but I will say that this book has been my favorite so far. It wasn’t as good as The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, but it’s up there. I won’t spoil the ending by saying if my prediction was right or not. Part of it reminded me of a Bollywood movie.
I’ve been listening to it on and off these past few hours. I was doing a Sudoku near the ending of the audiobook, and the entire time I was thinking, “am I really this bad at Sudokus?” because I kept messing it up.
I definitely want to reread the book physically, but the audiobook had a recording of one of the songs from the book at the end. That was a really cool element.
Pages Read Day 4 ~ 238 pages
//Reflection//
I can’t believe I finished a nine hour audiobook in two days. I’ve done it before, but I’ve been in such a reading slump these past few months. Most of the books I’ve read recently have been very “blah.” They were good enough books, but I hadn’t read anything GREAT that wasn’t a reread in awhile. I would put down books I knew I would enjoy like Dune or Americanah for later because I just wasn’t in the mood to read anything.
Yesterday, I was thinking (while watching T.V. ironically) that it’s so amazing that we can never run out of things to read. I say this as a privileged person who has internet access and a library, but basically I was thinking about for every terrible, boring book, there’s something amazing out there that you can read next. There are so many books out there now that there’s always potential for a new favorite book. That just made me really happy. This is just an example of the cheesy shit that pops into my mind at 1 AM.
The reason that popped up was because I was picking between My Sister’s Keeper and Jurassic Park for my next audiobook and both of them sound like they will be five stars. And then I thought of all the great books out there that I haven’t read yet.
I’m not explaining this well. I am tired and have forgotten how to write.
Anyway, my plan for tomorrow is to finish The Alchemist. I love that book, so this is an easy task. I’ll read a chapter of Organize Yourself! like I have been every day, then read a few chapters of Howl’s Moving Castle if I’m in the mood. I’ll focus on finishing that eBook over the weekend.
//Completed Challenges
Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
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- Read a book in a genre you’ve always wanted to read more of – Historical Fiction
//Books In Progress
- Organize Yourself! – pg. 137
- Howl’s Moving Castle – 38.7% (~ pg. 127)
- The Alchemist – pg. 92
(I’ve read over 1,000 pages this week!)
The next Reading Rush blog post will likely go up on Monday so that I can write the reviews for everything. If you’re interested in keeping up with my reading in real time, here’s a link to my GoodReads account. I’m going to listen to Taylor Swift’s new album now. I’ve just watched the new music video and liked it a lot. The song gave me Lana Del Rey vibes.
Until next time!
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Are you doing the Reading Rush? What are you currently reading?