Writing and ALL CLEAR

So, how is everyone doing with NaNoWriMo? I did great for two weeks (no, I'm not officially signed up--I'm trying to finish a pre-existing draft). I still have a ton of ideas, but my kids have basically not slept at all the past week, and it's hard to get far when they are using your head as a jungle gym. So I make wild notes all day and hope to put them to good use soon. I'm not terribly distressed--I learned the hard way last year that if I put a lot of pressure on myself, I can churn out words, but I can't make them mean something. To mean something, I've actually got to have time to internalize what I'm writing, what the characters are doing, and why. And since I aim to write things that are both entertaining AND meaningful in some way, I think that's time well spent. As long as the ideas are still coming, I'm good.

The other thing that's been going on a lot is the fact that my girls have discovered some book series are are excited about read-aloud time with them. So every night we've been doing major marathons with the Little House books (still in Farmer Boy), Alcatraz, and Percy Jackson. I'm trying to get a little reading time in myself as well. I did manage to finish Connie Willis's ALL CLEAR by staying up late last night. I'm looking forward to other people reading it, because I'd love to discuss. Anyone else read it?