So here is my reading wrap up for March, April, and May. 

March

1. Golden in Death (In Death #50) by JD Robb - 4 stars

2. Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera - 3.5 stars

3. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot - 2.5 stars

April

1. Pox: An American History by Michael Willrich - 4.5 stars

2. A Distant Melody (Wings of Glory #1) by Sarah Sundin - 3 stars

3. The Scandalous Suffragette by Eliza Redgold - 3 stars

4. The Final Days by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein - 5 stars

5. Beauty Queens by Libby Bray - 4 stars

6. The American Plague: The Untold Story of Yellow Fever, the Epidemic That Shaped Our History by Molly Caldwell Crosby - 4 stars

May

1. The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty - 1 star

2. Eisenhower 1956: The President's Year of Crisis - Suez and the Brink of War by David A. Nichols - 4 stars

3. War on Peace: The End of Diplomacy and the Decline of American Influence by Ronan Farrow - 5 stars

4. Oklahoma City: What the Investigation Missed - and Why It Still Matters by Andrew Gumbel and Roger G. Charles - DNF

5. Stillhouse Lake (Stillhouse Lake #1) by Rachel Caine - 1 star

6. Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth by Sarah Smarsh - 4.5 stars

7. The Dead & the Gone (Last Survivors #2) by Susan Beth Pfeffer - 3 stars

8. 1666: Plague, War, and Hellfire by Rebecca Rideal - 3 stars

9. The Girls of Mischief Bay (Mischief Bay #1) by Susan Mallery - 4 stars

10. A New Life (West Meets East #1) by Merry Farmer - 2.5 stars

Goals and Challenges:

GoodReads: 40/125 (32%)

Library Love: 17/24 (70%) - I am thinking of moving up my goal to the next level

Participated in BoB28

Participated BL's Snakes & Ladders 2020

Participated in Dewey RAT

Participated in 24 in 48 Stay at Home RAT

 I am Finished!

Nine rolls.

Eight prompts filled.

Five books off my physical reading shelf read.

No ladders, yet also no snakes. 

Previous Rolls

1. Space 1: Author is a Woman

A Distant Melody (Wings of Glory #1) by Sarah Sundin, 355 pages (worth 2 rolls) - Finished 4/9/2020

2 You rolled 2 dice:

Timestamp: 2020-04-10 00:43:11 UTC

Space 11

You rolled 2 dice:

Timestamp: 2020-04-10 00:44:57 UTC

Space 19: Set in UK

The Scandalous Suffragette by Eliza Redgold, 234 pages, set in London, Manchester, and the Kent countryside (worth 2 rolls). Read April 9th-14th. 

3. You rolled 2 dice:

Timestamp: 2020-04-15 13:56:05 UTC

Space 24

You rolled 2 dice:

Timestamp: 2020-04-15 13:57:14 UTC

Space 28: Written between 1900 and 1999

The Final Days: The Classic, Behind-the-Scenes Account of Richard Nixon's Dramatic Last Days in the White House by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, originally published in 1976 (456 pages without the index). Worth 2 rolls when completed. Read 4/16-4/22.

 4. You rolled 2 dice:

Timestamp: 2020-04-23 00:31:33 UTC

Space 32

You rolled 2 dice:

Timestamp: 2020-04-23 00:32:04 UTC

Space 41 - Characters involved in politics

Eisenhower 1956: The President's Year of Crisis - Suez and the Brink of War by David A. Nichols (286 pages without notes or index). Worth 2 rolls when completed. Read 4/17-May 11.

 5. You rolled 2 dice:

Timestamp: 2020-05-12 21:04:28 UTC

Space 48

You rolled 2 dice:

Timestamp: 2020-05-12 21:04:48 UTC

Space 59 - Book published more than 10 years ago

I am using a book that I read during the game. The American Plague: The Untold Story of Yellow Fever, the Epidemic that Shaped Our History by Molly Caldwell Crosby (285 pages without notes and index). Read 4/25-4/27. Worth two rolls.

6. You rolled 2 dice:

Timestamp: 2020-05-15 01:35:41 UTC

Space 70

You rolled 2 dice:

Timestamp: 2020-05-15 01:36:02 UTC

Space 73 - Categorized as YA

Another book I read during the game is Beauty Queens by Libby Bray (396 pages; I listened to the unabridged audiobook). Read 4/25-26th. Worth 2 rolls.

7. You rolled 2 dice:

Timestamp: 2020-05-16 14:56:03 UTC

Space 78

You rolled 2 dice:

Timestamp: 2020-05-16 14:56:24 UTC

Space 82 - Urban Fantasy

The Dead & the Gone - 309 pages.  Read 5/15-16. Worth one roll.

8. You rolled 2 dice:

Timestamp: 2020-05-19 00:27:52 UTC

Space 94 - Nonfiction

Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth by Sarah Smarsh. Read 5/13-14. Worth 2 Rolls.

9. You rolled 2 dice:

Timestamp: 2020-05-19 00:41:19 UTC

Space 100 - Right on the nose, how 'bout that?

1666: Plague, War, and Hellfire by Rebecca Rideal (234 pages of reading material).

Title: Beauty Queens

Author: Libby Bray

Publish Date: May 24, 2011

Publisher: Scholastic, Inc

Format: Audiobook

Length: 14 hours, 8 minutes

Source: Sunflower OverDrive Library 

Date Read: April 25-26, 2020

Review

A fun romp in the jungle that tackles a lot of patriarchial claptrap that teen girls have to deal with on a daily basis. You wouldn't think it would be as funny and biting if you just read the premise of the book, but it is a witty and yet searing look at societal standards. I just want to take this moment and say I STAN the one, the only, Taylor Renee Crystal Hawkins, Miss Texas with every fiber of my being. 

Here's the deal - I read this book for my IRL book club; I borrowed the hardback version from the library before the lockdown happened. But I couldn't get through page one of chapter two; I just had a block where I couldn't get into the book or even in fiction. So it sat on my bedside table until the weekend before our monthly meeting. I decided to try the audio version so that I could get through the book before the meeting. I can't stress this enough - LISTEN TO THE AUDIOBOOK! Seriously, there are a lot of characters and it helps with having different accents and the chapter break "ads". 

Other than Miss Texas, I really loved Miss California Ashanti, Miss Colorado Nicole, and Miss Michigan Jennifer were my favorites. The only girl I couldn't stand was Miss New Hampshire Adina - god, she was the most "woke Twitter" personality but she couldn't lead her own head out of a paper bag. Taylor was designed to be the ying to Adina's yang, but Taylor overshadowed Adina and Adina came out looking petty and sour. Then there are the pirates. Boy/young men pirates from a reality tv show. They were wonderful partners for the girls. 

It's ridiculous on paper, but the plot and characters come alive via smart written story and a great narrator (the author herself). The accent change from Miss California in one scene must have been hard to record. I will say that the villain's voice sounded an awful like Sarah Palin, which just added to my gleeful joy in listening to the story, especially when the villain gets her ending.

Highly recommend on audio for a fluffy, laughing good time on a weekend.

Update #3

Since I was up yesterday a hour before the start of Dewey, by 11pm I was so tired that I could not get my eyes to focus on words. So I set my alarm for 4:30am and went to sleep. Got up with my alarm to give me two and half hours of reading before the end of Dewey. I will end up with not finishing either book for the readathon, but I'm 67% done with Plague and 35% done with Beauty Queens, so I think I made a decent mark on this round. 

Closing Survey

1. 1. How would you assess your reading overall? I think I did a decent job 
2. 2. Did you have a stategy, and if so, did you stick to it? No strategy, just read as much as I could
3. 3. What was your favorite snack? This morning's breakfast brought to you by Apple Cinnamon rice crisps and English Breakfast tea.

****************************************************************************************************

Update #2

Got through 35% of The American Plague and 35% of Beauty Queens. Then I took a time out for dinner with the family and a virtual wine tasting party (my friend set up a face to face wine tasting party for the end of March, but when the stay at home order came down, she needed to regroup and find a work around - she did via delivering plastic shot glasses of wine and cheese, crackers, fruit, and chocolate caramels, then we met up on Zoom). Now I am going to quickly do some cheerleading my fellow Dewey readers, then get back to Plague.

This afternoon my son wanted in on the Dewey action, so he listened to chapters 7-15 of Wings of Fire #7: Winter Turning. The WoF series is VERY popular with the older elementary school age kids, both books and graphic novel versions. My son is listening for free from the Epic app. He really likes audiobooks because he can color, play with Play-doh or Legos and still get a story in - it works with his ADD. 

***************************************************************************************************

Update #1

I got in 3 hours and 14 minutes on the audiobook - I am really glad I chose the audiobook rather than slogging through reading. The audiobook is fantastic and the narrator really does a great job giving different voices to each character. But now, I am going to switch to a physical book. First up at bat is The American Plague.

*******************************************************************************************

OP

It's time! It's also 7am in the morning here in Kansas. *Yawn* Going to start by listening to a couple of hours of the audiobook so I can give the caffeine and breakfast time to kick in. Pages in parenthesis are the page counts minus the indexes, sources lists, selected bibliography, etc. 

TBR

1. Eisenhower 1956 (286 pages)

2. The American Plague (285 pages) - 35% done

3. Minority Leader (218 pages)

4. War on Peace (309 pages)

5. Oklahoma City (353 pages)

6. Beauty Queens (14 hours 8 minutes) - 35% done

Opening Survey

1. What fine part of the world are you reading from today? Wichita, Kansas

2. Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? War on Peace 

3. Which snack are you most looking forward to? Chex Honey Nut Mix and beer

4. Something about yourself: part of the fun of readathons for me is the prep and watching other prep - getting TBRs ready and acquiring snacks/drinks

5. If you participated in the last readathon, what's one thing you'll do differently? I made sure to have all household chores done yesterday so that I don't feel guilty for reading all day when there's laundry or dishes to do.

This is my #FridayReads and Dewey RAT TBR pile in one single post. 

My base library re-opened their curbside service this week - just on two days, but it is so easy to email them a list of items wanted and get a bag of books in return. So all but one is from my libraries. I am a bit behind on the Library Love challenge since my library was closed, so I am making up some ground there as well. 

I know these seem like heavy topics to read in 24 hours, but my mind is actually soothed by reading something heavy and it not be any COVID-19 or politics. It's really engrossing to learn about other periods of crisis, disaster, strife and see people come out the other side - changed for sure but it is in a way hopeful?

For Friday, I want to finish Pox. I have one chapter and the epilogue left to get through.

For Dewey RAT and Sunday: 

1. Eisenhower 1956: The President's Year of Crisis/Suez and the Brink of War by David A. Nichols - this is for S&L 2020 and from my own shelf.

2. An American Plague: The Untold Story of Yellow Fever, the Epidemic that Shaped Our History by Molly Caldwell Crosby - a nice follow up after finishing Pox. 

3. Minority Leader: How to Lead From the Outside and Make Real Change by Stacey Abrams - hoping I can come away with a few tips to make my volunteering activities more impactful.

4. Oklahoma City: What the Investigation Missed - and Why It Still Matters by Andrew Gumbal and Roger G. Charies - did you know earlier this week was the 25th anniversary of this bombing? At the same time we are having armed demonstrations at state capitols no less. History you bitch.

5. War on Peace: The End of Diplomacy and the Decline of American Influence by Ronan Farrow - another book that has been sitting on my wish list to read. There's no time like the present, eh?

6. Beauty Queens by Libby Bray - listening to this on audiobook that I downloaded from my local library's OverDrive. My IRL book club is meeting Monday night to discuss it. I am just not in the mood to read a fluffy book, so I hope to get through it via my ears while I do some cross stitching, coloring, or playing Star Dew Valley.