Once I moaned, groaned and resigned myself to the fact that I had to go in and do my civic duty, I looked on it as an opportunity to read – something I never have enough time to do as I would like. I spent two days sitting in the jury pool before I was placed on a case and then I spent another half day waiting for them to choose the rest of the jurors for the case. Once I was actually on the case I was bounced in and out of the courtroom quite a bit while the judge and the lawyer consulted, and then again for lunch breaks. I was only too happy for once that I had plenty to read.
Completed During Jury Duty:
- Double Fault, by Lionel Shriver
- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot
- The Lotus Eaters, by Tatjana Soli
- Willow, Julia Hoban
- Amulet, Kazu Kibuishi
- The Redbreast, by Joe Nesbø
Made A Considerable Dent In:
- Gone With The Wind, Margaret Mitchell
- Her Fearful Symmetry, Audrey Niffenegger (I actually finished this one yesterday for my BTR show with J.T. from BiblioFreak Blog)
- An Old Fashioned Girl, Louisa May Alcott
- Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women, by Harriet Reisen
I’m still recovering from the experience so I find I can’t manage more than this list, and I am also anxious to get some blog visits in, so I’ll end here. I must say that the Louisa May Alcott biography is excellent. She had such a fascinating life.
Other reviews and posts:
I have never done Jury Duty and always thought I would like to…. now I am not sure anymore
You did get some reading done and looks like to be good reads as well so there is that. I would love to read the Louisa May Alcott book. Have a super week 
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That's great you were able to get all that reading done!! I love having excuses like that to read more. =)
Wow, that's way more than I got read when I had jury duty! How long was your trial?
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I was on jury duty for two weeks, so I had quite a few days when I was able to get a substantial amount of reading done.
Great list of books! I haven't had to do jury duty (being self-employed and all), but I'm glad you were able to participate in the system. I have both LMA books in my TBR and well as The Lost Summer of LMA….
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I probably could have done the self employed option but I really didn't think I was going to get a case. The last time I sat around for three days, reading, and then went home. I am glad that I had a civil trial and not a criminal one.
Well despite the fact you did not want to go, it seems like it allowed for some great reading time. Great Job!
How funny – who ever thought that jury duty would be an opportunity for a readathon?!!!
It looks like you got a lot in! That is pretty impressive for just a few days. I look forward to your thoughts on The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, especially. I've been really interested in that book.
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Hm, you're sort of making me want to do jury duty… I actually had a summons earlier this year, but got out of it because Daniel was about 7 weeks old and didn't take a bottle and was far too small for solid food.
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Well there is the whole court part that is not as fun. It's hard to just sit still and listen all day. There were times that I struggled to stay awake in the jury box. At the end the lawyers thanked us for staying awake and being attentive I guess not everyone is successful!
Ok, I never thought I'd be jealous of someone else's jury duty but I am, now. You got so much done! The Alcott books look like something I need to read. I grew up about 20 minutes away from where the Alcotts (as an older married couple) lived. :0)
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I was there for two weeks, so I definitely had time to get through a few things. The Alcotts are fascinating. Who knew there was so much drama prompting Little Women.
I had to report for jury duty once too but I didn't get picked for the trial – I still had to go for 3 days though. I found the process pretty interesting and I did get a lot of reading done too!
Welcome back to blogging and I look forward to your book reviews again
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Thanks for the welcome back. I definitely missed blogging.
You did get a lot of reading done! I may just have to call and see if I can get called for jury duty soon–I need a break from work anyway!
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It is a nice break from work if you won't be stressed out when you get back from all that you have to do. I love the guilt free reading. What else could I do?
I've never had jury duty, but I am one of the few who wants to. Moving around certainly hasn't helped my name get called. Regardless, I'm glad you put a positive spin on it and got some great reading done!
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It's the perfect excuse because it was out of my hands. At some points they wanted you to have your phone and stuff turned off, so if you weren't reading there wasn't much you could do.
Well darn, maybe we all need to be hoping for jury duty. (If anyone with my local courts system reads this, I'm just kidding!)
Yes, this is why I don't mind jury duty!
Glad you're done!
I am hoping to get picked for jury service, purely so I can spend the two weeks reading in peace!
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The opportunity to get in some good reading time is one reason I don't complain all that much about jury duty – it looks like yours was VERY productive! I'd really like to read that Alcott biography.
I am always amazed how even the most innocuous writers have these fascinating lives with dark secrets, and crazy upbringing. Nothing like what I would have imagined for her.
I'm enjoying the Louisa May Alcott biography too, but have to say that I thought the beginning with her early years and the background about her parents was a bit dry. I'm liking the parts about her grownup life better, but at times it can be a bit of a downer (reading about all of the trials she had to deal with).
Congrats on all the reading you got done during jury duty. I've only served once and was immediately placed on a jury, so there wasn't any reading time for me.
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I haven't found the parent bit to be dry so much as too long. I'm guessing that they are spending so much time there is because all of that stuff shaped her, but there are a lot of episodes of them just being poor and crazy repetitively. I am just getting to where she is writing and living on her own, so I guess they spent about half the book on her parents.
Boo. No reading time. It's just wrong to put you on a jury right away. I still had a lot of time to read even then because they gave 2 hour lunch breaks and then the judge would excuse us when she had to have conferences with the lawyers.
Can't wait for Tuesday!
Jury Duty isn't bad if you can get some reading in. The last time I served, the court was super efficient and had me going from one panel to the next which left me with no reading time in between.
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well – you found the silver lining in jury duty. I was called late last year and had some great reading lined up but then I got there and realized they had wi-fi so I spent the whole two days working. I should have never mentioned the availability of wi-fi to my colleagues!
Glad you made the most of your jury duty!
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Any opportunity to read Gone With the Wind is precious. Who killed RHETT? It's never been written, until NOW! http://www.deathofrhett.blogspot.com
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You make a good case for jury duty–if it means I will get reading done, I am all for it! You read and are reading some great books, particularly Gone with the Wind, my all-time favorite book!
Wow! I’m impressed. Sounds like I need to get assigned to jury duty to get some reading done!
I'm impressed! Looks like I need to get assigned to jury duty to get some reading accomplished!
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I am impressed that you took such good advantage of the jury duty time. I have yet to serve and I hope that get called while I am still looking for work, so that I do not have to take time off to go.
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Glad to hear you got some good reading time in, even if it was because you were on jury duty! I sat on a jury once and got lots and lots of reading done on my breaks and lunch!
Wow… that's a LOT of reading done! Good work!
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WOW! That's just a few books. and a few are of many pages. Glad you could have a fun week of reading.
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That's sort of how I felt about my bus rides to and from Madison — annoying, but a good chance to read. I'm glad you made the best of what could have been awfully boring!
Wow – by mentioning all the reading you got done, you made jury duty actually sound appealing!
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