Tuesday, March 31, 2020

What We Read in March

March felt like a slower reading month for me. I read 6 books, which is a decent amount. But the first 5 were read in the first half of the month. I read one book during the last 2 weeks of the month - which is when the COVID-19 crisis started to hit home in Minnesota. That's also around the time when I started to work from home. I guess the combination of working from home (which means I miss out on reading time on the bus) while caring for Paul has sort of worn me out and shortened my attention span in the evening hours. I still read before bed at night, but usually for only 30-45 minutes or so - compared to an hour+ before COVID hit.

I'm finding that I'm drawn to lighter books right now. There are a couple of book club books that are heavier that I'm reading but once I'm through those, I intend to seek out some lighter books.


I usually break my reading down into hits and misses. This month I'll just highlight my 2 favorites.

The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai - This is a very heavy book as it's about the AIDS epidemic in Chicago in the 1980s. It's fiction but much of it is based on real events and people. It's a heart-breaking read. It took me 2 weeks to finish it given the heavy content.

The River by Peter Heller - This is another book from Modern Mrs. Darcy's summer reading guide. I read it after hearing how much my friend Amber liked it. It was a great thriller that really kept you turning the page. Unlike most thrillers these days which tend to be domestic thrillers, this is a "man vs. nature" kind of thriller. I'd like to read more by this author!

Paul's Reads


Our little reader loves to make piles of books for us to read to him. The Pookie books by Sandra Boynton are by far his favorite. He has a couple new bedtime book obsessions - "I am a Bunny" and "Little Owl's Night." It's interesting what he is drawn to. Neither of these bedtime books are ones we would choose!

He's also been really into the Ranger Rick Cub magazines he gets every other month. Grandma Joan bought a subsciption for him last year and we've kept every one we've received. I'm glad I did that. He was less into them when he was younger but now he's at the perfect age to look through them. I highly recommend this as a gift idea for a toddler in your life. They list an age range of 0-4 on the website.

What are you reading these days? Has your reading increase or decreased during this time of social distancing? 

9 comments:

  1. We got the Ranger Ricks for a few years and yes, definitely were not hits when they first came but eventually they got read. I just actually donated the rest of them to Isla's 2nd grade teacher last year. I also have to say they are great for art projects / practicing tearing skills ha! My reading has sucked. I can't concentrate. I did finish Where the Crawdads Sing quite quickly but that's because it was my book club book and we decided to check in via zoom. So I hurried to finish. Otherwise it's taking me foreeeeeeever. And I am sticking to light books. I just can't focus. I also can't fall asleep right away. Isla had Little Owl's Night and I loved that book. The illustrations are so beautiful.

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  2. I loved the River as well; I actually read it in one night! I could not put it down and got very little sleep that night but it was totally worth it.

    As you know, I am still working from the office, so things have not really changed that much for me. However now that I am not studying, I would have thought I would read more, but I have been working a lot in the yard and doing some house projects, so things haven't changed much there. What has changed is that now I am running by myself (tears and frowns!) and so am listening to more audiobooks! I am also driving to work, so where I was studying on the bus I am now also listening to audiobooks on my commute, so that portion has picked up a lot! I just finished The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, which was an enjoyable audiobook!

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  3. I also really liked The River, and then read another Peter Heller book and haaated it, lol.

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  4. I'll have to look into Ranger Rick for the boys. Thanks for the recommendation.

    I can'imagine you're losing book time right now, but your choices look like good ones.

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  5. My 2-year old has been getting Highlights Hello for the past year or so. It is a really cute little magazine. Also indestructible/waterproof pages!

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  6. My reading life has picked up dramatically with COVID-19, as we talked about. I read 14 books in March! It helps that I live alone and am not much of a Netflix binge-r, so I have copious reading time. I also try to take a break from working every 1-2 hours and read a few pages of my book, hehe. Sneaky reading time!

    The Great Believers! <3 That's going to be a favorite of 2020 for me.

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  7. I haven't read as much lately, either. The problem is that I started a long book I don't love and I can't get into it! I really just need to return it and check another one out, but ebooks are slim pickings at the library right now, as you can imagine.

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  8. Oooh, I like Man vs Nature conflicts in novels!

    I was waiting on a book order, since the libraries are closed, and now that it has arrived, I've been doing a good amount of reading. Easter break is coming soon, so I will have a break from working from home, and that will give me much more time to read, which I am excited about.

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  9. You did well! March definitely was a slow month for me and I had a hard time focusing on books, they didn't even work well as a distraction for me. My mind kept wandering off...

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