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

New Pages that were added/modified this week

• My Birth Chart
• The Prenatal Lunation
• The Well-Educated Mind by Susan Wise Bauer

Summary of things I learned this week

• Hellenistic astrologers put a lot of importance on the Prenatal Lunation (as much importance as the big 3) but I still don’t know why. Seems to be used for a lot of predictive purposes.
• The stages of learning the Bauer proposes in The Well-Educated Mind seems to be very similar to the three perspectives method.
• Zodiacal releasing is a very interesting timing technique. I am hesitant to use astrology for predicting anything but I do enjoy seeing patterns from the past. Right now I’m in a level 3 and level 4 loosing of the bond. When I look at the foreshadowing periods I’m just like… Okay, interesting. I don’t see how that relates to the now, haha!
• I’m dreadfully terrible at history and as a non-American, especially dreadful at American history. I’ve been reading the Norton Antholoy and a lot of it so far is historical texts. I am currently reading the section of Jefferson and I’ve never laid my eyes on the Declaration of Independence until now. It’s all very interesting but… I want to get to the prose!