The magical number?

In January, I wrote a post about how I like to read my books. By that I don't mean where I read or if I like background noise (maybe that will be another post at some time), but the medium I prefer.
At the end of the post I said that I usually read three books at a time these days, a print book, an ebook and a book that I read out loud - mostly digital ones now because it's hard to read to a cat who's lying on your chest and also holding a book with one hand as the other one is obviously needed to pet said cat.

Then I heard a British writer and presenter saying that she reads about seven to eight books at a time. To each their own, but it made me wonder if I would be able to do that - or rather if I would even want that.

Let's first get out of the way that I'm talking about reading for relaxation.
If you study something or research for something, it's not unusual to work with several books at a time, but that kind of reading can mean jumping between chapters, skipping chapters, re-reading parts, etc. I mean reading or listening to a book from the first word to the last (including the prologue or epilogue 😉).

I'm not the first person to write or talk about that, there are a lot of posts and articles on the topic - which is also the reason why I didn't talk about benefits or drawbacks - but I'm sure you will want to know my personal take on it.
Nah, I'm kidding, it was just a topic that came to mind last weekend when I had finished a book and thought about what I should be reading next.
Then I mentioned the three books at once to a friend and she sounded very surprised. I didn't think to ask if she thought that's too few or too many or if she was surprised how stubborn I undoubtedly sounded about the number of three (I asked now, it was the last one).

Yes, I have a folder called "NOW" and no, there are never
more than two books in there.

That's not a number I actively chose, by the way. It just kind of happened because I noticed getting distracted if I tried to read more than three at once (again, not counting something I might use for research). Also they really have to be from different genres. Two vintage crime books, two children's books, two movie-related books ... absolutely a no go for me.
It used to be different when I still commuted because one book would be for the commute, another one for home, and they could be the same genre.

I'm glad that I have found the right routine for myself which doesn't leave me overwhelmed or confused, and I think everyone has to do what works for them.
I'm not a fan of "why you should read two books at once".
If people prefer reading one book after the other, for example because they think they owe the writer their undivided attention, let them do that.
If people need eight books for their happiness, fine by me.
If people like to read a fiction and a non-fiction book on the same topic or set in the same time period to have them bounce off each other, good for them (I rather start with a fiction book and then read a non-fiction if I want to know more). If people thrive on book piles around the house (I don't anymore), great!
If you like to choose between books depending on your mood (very much something I do), enjoy being able to do that.
It was interesting to read that some people felt they had to apologize for reading just one book and others for reading more than one at once. Why is that?

Public domain via pxhere

One benefit mentioned in several articles or posts was that you get through your TBR list more quickly.
I admit that I didn't understand that one completely. Granted, taking a break from one book you are struggling with and reading something easier may give you fresh energy for the first one.
All in all, I need a certain time for a book, though, and how is jumping between books going to change that? Just theoretically speaking, if one books takes me a day and another takes me a day, how do I get through my list more quickly if I alternate between them? Are there people who magically need just one and a half days for both then?
Serious question, maybe you can explain it to me.

I'd love to hear about your own routines and why you chose to read just one book at a time or several at once.

Weekend Traffic Jam - Week 159

Welcome to the Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot!
My posts for the link up will go live on Thursdays at 9:30 p.m. EDT or, if you live in the future like I do, on Fridays at 3:30 a.m. CE(S)T.

The other day my remote control wouldn't turn my TV on anymore. Of course, my first thought were batteries, but I was out of the right size. When I got some, it was so disappointing that it still didn't work. Would you believe that my TV set doesn't have a manual power button ... unless it's invisible? Pulling the plug out didn't do the trick, either.
So I ordered a new remote, they are not expensive, and spent several days - thanks to a public holiday - waiting for it. It arrived on the same day as my new TV stick which came with a remote control of its own.
Guess what! Not only could I use that remote to turn the TV on, but all the other buttons on the old remote worked just fine. The next day the power button went back to working as well. After four days. Figures.
I was so excited to watch my new DVDs ... but found the remote of the player didn't work after it had worked just fine the day before. This time, however, it was the battery. What are the chances?
Do you think that's a secret remote control plot to drive me crazy? Next they will probably try to control me!

Public domain via pxhere

Are you ready for the weekend?

As part of the reboot, we will be featuring a different blog every week.
How about stopping by and saying hello? Let them know we sent you.

This week our spotlight is on Crafty Gardener.

Linda from Crafty Gardener says: "Welcome, I'm glad you stopped by for a visit. Like life, this site, is a collection of many things.
I love crafting and I love gardening … hence my name was created … Crafty Gardener, who in real life is Linda.  Now I’m retired I have more time to do all the things I love to do, and I often wonder how I had time to go to work.  I’ve been sharing my love of gardening and crafting since my site was established in 2004 with my own domain as a gift from my family.
Gardening is just one important part of my life. Family is the most important part.  We have been married 50+ years, have 3 beautiful daughters and handsome son-in-laws and four wonderful and energetic grandchildren that keep us smiling and young!
...
There is also crafting, reading, sewing, genealogy, and all the other little things that make our life interesting and important. You can follow the drop down menus at the top of the page to see lots of my ideas, patterns, recipes, books and more."

Marsha from Marsha in the Middle started blogging in 2021 as an exercise in increasing her neuroplasticity. Oh, who are we kidding? Marsha started blogging because she loves clothes, and she loves to talk or, in this case, write!

Melynda from Scratch Made Food! & DIY Homemade Household - The name says it all, we homestead in East Texas, with three generations sharing this land. I cook and bake from scratch, between gardening and running after the chickens, and knitting!

Lisa from Boondock Ramblings shares about the fiction she writes and reads, her faith, homeschooling, photography and more.

Cat from Cat's Wire has what she calls a jumping spider brain. She has many interests and will blog about whatever catches her attention - crafts, books, old movies, collectibles or random things.

Rena from Fine Whatever Blog writes about style, midlife, and the "fine whatever" moments that make life both meaningful and fun. Since 2015, she's been celebrating creativity, confidence, and finding joy in the everyday.


Here are some of my picks from last week's link up.

I wish I could have seen that exhibition, looks like Gail had a lot of fun.

Nicole is enjoying her morning room.

Amalia introduces us to Dawn and Dusk, so cute.

Jeanne made such a beautiful flowering tree mosaic.

Mie found a lovely place to visit - with goats!


Let's link up!

Guidelines:
This link party is for blog posts only. All other links will be deleted.
Please link only blog posts you created yourself. Please link directly to the URL of your blog post and not the main address of your blog.
Please do not link to videos, sales ads, or social media links such as YouTube videos/shorts, Instagram or Facebook reels, TikTok videos, or any other social media based content.
Please do visit other blogs and give the gift of a comment. 

Notice:
By linking with Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot, you assert that the content is your own property and give us permission to share said content if your post or blog is showcased.
We welcome unlimited, family friendly content. This can include opinion pieces, recipes, travel recaps, fashion ideas, crafts, thrifting, lifestyle, book reviews or discussions, photography, art, and so much more!
Thank you for linking up with us! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Silent movies - In Night and Ice

I don't think that I need to tell you much about the RMS Titanic. In the early hours of April 15, 1912 the ocean liner hit an iceberg on her maiden voyage and sank within a few hours.

Now move over, James Cameron! 
The film I present to you today is the second film about the disaster (the first one didn't survive). It was released in 1912 only four months after the sinking of the Titanic and is called "In Nacht und Eis" = "In Night and Ice".

The movie is starting like a newsreel for the cinema.
First, we get shown how the passengers board the ship (and even at that point the intertitles give us examples for who survived and who drowned!).

Next we see how what the passengers do on board - games, walks on the deck and meeting in the "posh 'Café Parisien'".
I'm especially intrigued by the second game where the two men try to, uhm, push one another out of the circle just using their feet?

We also see the crew at work, the Captain, the First Officer on the bridge, a sailor in the crow's nest, the stokers in the boiler room, the wireless operators, while the passengers (the wealthy ones, the others get just a short mention) get ready for a nice evening.
Then the First Officer gets the iceberg warning and from there it gets a little less documentary.

I'm torn about that. On one hand the shock of the people in the café or in the cabins when the ship starts to move got to me more than I expected. I'm usually not one to watch disaster films or documentaries for exactly that reason.
On the other hand we've got this ...

The First Officer and the Captain proved to be real pros (the characters and the actors). A fine piece of overacting. I went from genuinely feeling sorry for the passengers to giggling hysterically in less than two seconds.
You would probably have to watch it yourself to understand why.
They kept running away, together or individually, coming back, looking through the binoculars, grabbing their heads, stretching out their arms, repeat. It was simply too much - well, for me anyhow.

We also get to see the collision of the ship with the iceberg.
This is supposed to have been an 8 meter model. Is it just me who doesn't believe that?

Although people panic and run back and forth a lot, none of the scenes are sensationalist in any way. We don't see people jumping off the ship or drowning. The film doesn't concentrate so much on the horror itself as on bravery and heroism which is very nicely illustrated by the captain calling out to the passengers on the deck: "Be British!" (oh the stereotype) while the band is playing "Nearer, My God, to Thee".

One of the brave crew members is the first wireless operator.
There's a long scene of the wire operators sending out distress messages in Morse, getting up, sitting down, and move levers a lot (no idea if that's how it's done in the way they did, it didn't look very organized and, shame on me, I giggled again).

You see a lot of people running back and forth by this window.

The ship keeps sinking.
 

There's a very touching scene when the Captain releases the first wireless operator from his duty (the second one is about to leave the ship), but we're told they are both ready to go down with the ship and only think of the rescue of the passengers.

In the end, we are informed that the Captain gets pushed overboard by a wave (ignore that there are no such waves in the movie), helps a drowning passenger to a lifeboat, but refuses to get on it himself.
It takes away a little from the effect, though, that he seems to walk in the water instead of swim ...

This is one of the earliest disaster movies and it featured special effects that hadn't been seen like that in German movies before.
The director was 24 year old Romanian Mime Misu who had a rather short film career despite the success of this movie.
"In Nacht und Eis" was filmed in different towns, on a German ocean liner, on moving sets, and on a lake.

It's also interesting that for decades the movie was believed to be lost. During the hype around Cameron's "Titanic" it was mentioned in a newspaper article and several people reacted to that saying that they in fact had copies. I will never cease to be amazed by old treasure turning up like that.
If you are interested in more information on the film, check out the site Titanic's Officers which has info on the officers, but also a lot of articles, one of them about this film. Also, the website owner collaborated with several people to provide a version of the remastered film with English intertitles.

Now you want to know how I liked the movie because you are a bit confused by my conflicting statements?
Well, I actually quite liked it (giggles or not), and although it's 40 minutes long and some of the scenes weren't super exciting - like the ladies getting dressed for the café - I wasn't bored.
Okay, so there was some unintended comic relief, but I felt a bit guilty for giving in to my childish giggling fit. You know how I'm always the one to emphasize that we have to take the age and history of a film into account.
I can't deny having been taken by surprise by the jump from the newsreel vibe to highly dramatic acting, though.

You also have to remember that this was just a few months after the disaster which must have added to the emotions of the audience which wasn't suffering from oversaturation yet as we do today.
There are still people arguing about what exactly happened and why today, and you can imagine how much more different information and opinions there must have been around at the time of filming.
So the film may not be completely accurate, but still a good watch.


Sources and further reading:

1. "In Night and Ice" (with English intertitles) on the YouTube channel "Titanic's Officers"
2. Dan Parkes: "In Nacht und Eis" - "In Night and Ice" - 1912 German Titanic Film. On: "Titanic's Officers" website

A Good Book & a Cup of Tea - June 2026 link party

Welcome to the A Good Book & A Cup of Tea (A Monthly Bookish Link Party)!
This link up is for book and reading posts or anything related to books and reading (even movies based on books!).

Each link party will be open for a month.
My co-hosts for this event are Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs.
You can link up with any of us.

As this is my first time as a co-host and it was short notice, I didn't choose any features from the May link party, but I promise to be better prepared next time.


These are the guidelines:

1. For bloggers, you can link unlimited posts related to books and reading. They can be older posts or newer posts. These can be posts about what you’re reading, book reviews, books you’ve added to your shelf, reading habits, what you’ve been reading, about trips to the bookstore, etc. You get the drift.
2. Link to a specific blog post (URL of a specific post, not just your website). Feel free to link up any older posts that may need some love and attention, too.
3. Please visit at least two other bloggers on this list and comment on their posts. Have fun! Interact! Get some book recommendations.
4. Readers can click the blue button below to visit blog posts.
5. If you add a link you are giving me permission to share and link back to your post(s).

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter