Sunday, August 30, 2015

Beat the Heat Readathon Week 1 Summary


Today I am halfway through the Beat the Heat Readathon.  

My Goal and Progress:
Between August 24 through September 6, I said that I would read 3 books: Landline, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and Three Shirt Deal. Here is my progress to date:


Landline by Rainbow Rowell (2013)
308 pages, 9 hours and 3 minutes (audiobook)

8.24.15 - Started! Listened 1 hr. 16 mins.
8.25.15 - Listened 2 hrs. 6 mins.
8.26.15 - Listened 3 hrs. 8 mins.
8.27.15 - Finished! Listened 2 hrs. 33 mins.

My MINI review in 200 words or less:  Overall, I enjoyed Landline.  I thought the premise was clever and the characters were unique and likable enough.  (Four year old Naomi a.k.a "Nomi" - meow! - was a hoot!)  I thought some of the phone conversations between Georgie and the "Neil of 1998" via the magic landline phone were a little drawn out and repetitious, but perhaps they had to be in order to accurately reflect the phone conversations of young love.  (I remember talking on the phone for 5 hours one night with my high school sweetheart and I can imagine that our conversation, due to sleepiness and fatigue, sounded like it was in slow motion, too.)  Georgie and Neil's landline phone conversations also evoked memories of when my husband and I were dating.  It's essential to remember those moments, to remember why you fell in love with that person, after you've been married for a while and have fallen into the marriage/kids/work/life routine.  The book was cute, entertaining, and served as a reminder to essentially never take the ones you love for granted and to always keep trying. 

Rating: ★★★


Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote (1959)
127 pages, 2 hours and 52 minutes (audiobook)

8.28.15 - Started! Listened 2 hrs.
8.29.15 - Finished! Listened 52 mins.

My MINI review in 200 words or less:  I honestly don't have a lot to say about this novella other than it was OK.  For me, listening to it was like eating a Digiorno frozen pizza.  It wasn't bad and it was satisfying on a basic level, but it wasn't good enough to make a lasting impression like a Chicago-style Giordano's pizza.  I don’t regret listening to it, but honestly, I feel no better off having listened to it than I did beforehand.  Having only seen the movie once or twice, and not remembering much about it, I didn’t have any expectations.  I did picture Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly, even though Holly is blonde in the book – I just couldn’t help it!  The image of Audrey wearing that black dress, eating breakfast while looking in the window at Tiffany's is an iconic American motion picture image. I was a little surprised by Miss Golightly’s crass language.  From what I remember, Holly was much more sophisticated and classy in the movie.  The “book version Holly” wasn't classy by any stretch of the imagination; she was simply a wanna-be.  All-in-all, the book was OK.  I felt neither happy or sad at the end, just neutral.

Rating: ★★★


Three Shirt Deal by Stephen J. Cannell (2008)
(Book # 7 in the Shane Scully series)
336 pages, 9 hours and 33 minutes (audiobook)

8.29.15 - Started!  Listened 1 hr. 21 mins.







Are you participating in the "Beat the Heat Readathon"?  How's your progress towards your goal?  

Happy reading and thanks for stopping by!


My rating system:
★★★★★ = Awesome!  Good chance I own a print copy!
★★★★ = Very good.
★★★ = Good.
★★ = Not good.  I finished it, but did not like.
★ = Absolutely loathed it!  I may not have even finished it.

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