With the possible exception of the folks who are directing the decisions about library services for Hennepin County, I’m not sure if anybody else is paying as much attention to the library situation as I am. I’m checking the website every day or so, massaging my hold list, checking the status of anything coming available to me and just generally watching the news.
So I know that I don’t have to rush through anything – nothing that has been checked out since March 14 is due yet and won’t be due until a minimum of three weeks after libraries begin to open back up (no date on that yet). I’ve actually read all but one of the physical books that I have checked out (just picked one up yesterday from curbside pick-up) and I only have two audiobooks that aren’t finished.
That knowledge did not keep me from staying up late on Sunday night however. I was reading The Murder of Mary Russell by Laurie R. King, one of my favorite series and the clock was advancing towards my usual bedtime, about 10. Normally I say to myself, “keep reading until you fall asleep” and this works pretty well but the book was good and I wasn’t getting tired. I just kept going. 11 o’clock, midnight…. one… two… I felt like I was a kid reading under the covers, doing something illicit and I had to remind myself that I can stay up as late as I want. It’s not like I have anything specific that I have to be out of bed for in the mornings.
Finished at 2:45 a.m. Enjoyed it thoroughly and although I was a little droopy on Tuesday, it was worth it. I went to bed at 8 that night.
What’s the last book you remember staying up late to finish?
Trail Baboon 
The Kindgom of the Blind – Louise Penny – I only had to make it to midnight though… But when I do that, I’m so sleepy I have to reread the ending in the morning.
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That was a good one!
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Rise and Shine Baboons,
The last book I could not stop listening to was “The Gifted School” by Bruce Holsinger. It is about a group of parents in a community like Colorado Springs (based in Colorado) who do not know when to stop themselves from “helping” their children. It rings true to the recent college admissions scandals that have been prosecuted (but lost in the news to COVID) in the last months.
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Jacque, that’s a topic that intrigues me. When my daughter went through the school system I was personally shocked at the anxiety of parents who were ready to cheat in any number of ways to help their kid get off on the right foot in the economy. Example: in a high school class, kids were asked to make model homes for some class. One of my daughter’s friends was an architect who turned the project over to a model builder in his office, entirely ignoring the requirement that the project was to be done by the kids.
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I had the same thoughts when YA was in elementary school and junior high. When I would see the projects that other kids did, it was so clear that they weren’t doing them by themselves. YA was frustrated with me because I wasn’t more help every now and then.
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Hard to remember my last “finished-at-two-am” read, but I’m guessing it was Robert Crais’ “The Wanted,” an Elvis Cole/Joke Pike novel. Gotta love that combination of crime fighters.
*BSP* I also hear good things about “Straight River” and “Castle Danger” being worthy late-night reads. By some dufus named Chris Norbury. *end BSP*
Chris in Owatonna
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I seem to recall that I read “ Straight River” pretty much all the way through in just a couple of sittings.
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I most definitely lost sleep over “Castle Danger,” especially as I neared the end.
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🙂 🙂 🙂
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my last extended read was david sadaris and his delightful blips . just one more just one more just one more. what’s the next one about oooohhh that sounds fun what does he say…
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i am a tv junkie so reading doesn’t keep me up but movies do so i have had to learn to accept that if i really care i can always go back so i don’t need to stay awake but i miss some great stuff resting my eyes while scenery is a primary part of the offering
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I wondered what would happen to concert venue was with musical artists during the pandemic and it has resulted in all sorts of wonderful live broadcasts that are very cool to listen to my check these out I think Hamilton is on tonight
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HAMILTON ™ is on Disney+ tomorrow night. I know; we’re counting the hours.
Thank goodness we got that better internet, thank goodness I could get a year free of Disney+ through Verizon wireless.
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Yes. I also am counting the hours and the dollars. Last year when we were in NYC tickets to that were still $350 per person. I signed up for 1 month of Disney plus for $6.99!
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I haven’t been reading the sorts of things that would compel me to stay up late, besides which I have been doing most of my reading early in the morning lately, besides which the things I have been reading have ranged from 450 pages to 700 plus, so there’s that. Probably the most engrossing fiction I’ve read relatively recently is Richard Powers’ The Overstory. It’s just shy of 500 pages. I’ve already talked about it here, so I won’t repeat myself.
The project of transcribing abolitionist letters has concluded. While it was in progress, that was a lot of what I was reading and the reading was sometimes slow going, though fascinating. Inspired by the letters I was reading, I also picked up biographies of William Lloyd Garrison and Theodore Parker and read them through. Sometimes the letters I transcribed were the same letters quoted in the biographies.
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I feel bad, i haven’t been reading the way some of you are. Like tim, movies will keep me up. I may drift off a few times, but then I get my second wind. Especially if I have my phone to play with and keep myself awake.
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I have been up late a few times when I’m not done with bookwork and I’m meeting the accountant in a few days. Never pulled any all-nighters doing that, but 1 or 2 in the morning.
And occasionally doing theater it’s been 1AM.
A few years ago I was lucky enough to be part of a show that went to Theater L’Homme Dieu in Alexandria.
I programmed lights until about 1:30AM. The cast and crew were sitting around a bonfire passing around a bottle. I think I sat there until 4. Sometimes I’d think ‘Go to bed you idiot’. But that was a pretty nice night and I’m glad I did it. And I didn’t have to get up until 10.
Normal bedtime for us is close to 1. If we’re in bed before midnight it’s a big deal.
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I wake up most nights at 2:45, lie awake until 4:00, and then fall into an uneasy sleep until 6:30. I blame Trump and the virus.
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Why not blame him? He is terribly negligent.
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Heck, yeah! And the humidity! We didn’t suffer like this when Obama was running things.
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Ha! I just snorted my iced tea up my nose!
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I usually read before turning the lights out at night but not often do I read past midnight. There have been some books that kept me going, though. The Maggie Hope series from Susan Elia MacNeal is hard for me to put down. The original three Dragon Tattoo books kept me up way past midnight as did a few of Jo Nesbo’s books. I did read “Castle Danger” in two sittings – hard to put down the further I got into it.
I just subscribed to Disney Plus because of “Hamilton”. I did see it here in Minneapolis but am excited to see Lin Manuel Miranda in the lead.
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I usually fall asleep pretty easily, so it has to be a real page turner to keep me up for long. I do recall the time I started Camille late one evening. There is an all-too-descriptive scene in which the body of Camille is exhumed, not far into the book, and I couldn’t sleep after reading that, so I just read the whole book in one gulp.
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OT – Just got word that Michael Shmidt is in hospice care in Chicago and close to death. His wife, Barbara Barrow, recently passed, and now Michael is in the end stages of his battle with colon cancer that has spread to his liver. He also had a pacemaker put in ten days ago. As I’m sure most of you know, Michael wrote a host of wonderful songs, among them “The Dutchman,” Sister Clarissa,” and “Spoon River.” I wish him a peaceful exit. This has been a long struggle, he deserves a good rest.
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