Update on 110 Reading Challenge

I am partaking in a reading challenge that my local library is doing. So far I have read 39 hours. Which means I just read 8 hours this week. That’s a little over an hour per day… At the current pace I’m going, I would need to read almost 2 hours per day. Am I sweating? Maybe.

Books I Read

• The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin: I just finished reading this book and… Wow! I want more. I really wish the book didn’t end on such a cliffhanger. Ursula K. Le Guin is brilliant. She was able to weave really dense anarchist theory into a wonderful narrative. This was a great thought experiment.
• It Never Happened Again by Sam Alden: I was intrigued by the medium this artist chose for this graphic novel. Alden drew this novel in pencil. The first story was rather loose and sketchy, whereas the second story was more tight and detailed. They were both touching stories.
• Aya by Marguerite Abouet: This was another graphic novel that I devoured. It was a quick read. The contents aren’t exactly the most lighthearted, but the characters were lively and dynamic, which made me keep reading. Teenagers are gonna teenage.

Books I’m Currently Reading

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

• The Cybernetic Tea Shop by Meredith Katz: I haven’t made much progress on this one since last week. I was too absorbed in The Dispossessed!
• Norton Anthology of American Literature (Shorter Version) 6th. Edition by Nina Baym: We’re slowly making our way through this book. I just finished reading excerpts from Thomas Harriot, William Bradford, and John Smith. I never really understood the cultural significance of The Mayflower (I remember reading some book where some character bragged about having an ancestor who stepped off of The Mayflower and being like “okay?”) so this was interesting to read. This section was somewhat religion heavy.
• Healing Rites by Mattea: I’m still finding that this is dragging on a bit. I made it to the third story, but… I could not care more. Hopefully once I get through this story, the rest will be easier to read.

RE: Nighttime Routine

I still struggled with my nighttime routine last week. However, last night I was in bed by before 22:00, and I hope the trend continues. My goal is ultimately to wake up around 04:00-04:30 every day. I was making a schedule for myself, and I never realized how little free time I have. There are about 4 hours of free time that I have every day (if it’s a good day) and 1 hour of free time if it’s a bad day. Of course, my “free time” will be dedicated “study”/“school” time once school starts in the fall.

Spending Time with Family

Lately, I’m also trying to spend more time with family. My parents are aging and now that I’ve moved back home, I’m trying to be around them more. We went out for lunch over the weekend and I went for a walk with my dad.

Exercise???

One of the things that I’ve realized is that if I want to go to the gym, how?? I can’t go in the morning because it would eat at my study time. But if I go in the evening, I will have to go to bed later. There is literally no space. I think maybe I will exercise over lunch. There is no other way around it, unfortunately. The old adage of “School. Work. Social Life. Gym. Sleep. Pick three.” seems to ring true here.