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Well that was great fun and although I didn’t manage to stay awake for the whole 24 hours I did make it to 21 which I don’t think is at all bad considering Readathon ran from lunchtime to lunchtime here in the UK.
But of course The Stats:
- Last book read: The Child’s Child
- Books finished: 8
- Pages read since last update: 561
- Total pages read: 1621
- Amount of time spent reading since last update: 2 hour 37 minutes
- Total time spent reading: 13 hours 10 minutes
Stuff
The Suicide Club was great fun and turned out to be the third book on my stack which had originally been published in French, not intentional but a nice coincidence. My last book was the very enjoyable The Child’s Child by Barbara Vine, which means I started and ended the Readathon with two of my favourites of the whole exercise, nicely symmetrical.
Fundraising
I was reading to raise funds on behalf of Diabetes UK and had pledged £10 per book, so adding the £80 of my own to donations already received gives me the handsome total of £444, well above my target of £350 so I’m very grateful to everyone who donated. It means a great deal.
First of all, The Stats:
- Currently reading: The Suicide Shop
- Books finished: 6
- Pages read since last update: 220
- Running total of pages read: 1060
- Amount of time spent reading since last update: 1 hour 34 minutes
- Running total of time spent reading: 10 hours 33 minutes
Stuff
Finished The Dead Men Stood Together, a re-telling of the Rime of the Ancient Mariner which was really excellent, then age got to me and I started dozing off, so took myself to bed for a nap at 5am but I am now back and ready to keep going until the end!
First of all, The Stats:
- Currently reading: The Dead Men Stood Together
- Books finished: 5
- Pages read since last update: 248
- Running total of pages read: 840
- Amount of time spent reading since last update: 3 hours 1 minute
- Running total of time spent reading: 8 hours 59 minutes
Stuff
Break over and started reading afresh. Since my last update I’ve finished another complete novel, The House of Dead Maids “a chilling prelude to Wuthering Heights” which was really creepy and enjoyable (I like to keep the darker stuff for the middle of the night) and am halfway through book number 6, which is also creepy. Still holding up!
First of all, The Stats:
- Currently reading: in between books
- Books finished: 4
- Pages read since last update: 210
- Running total of pages read: 592
- Amount of time spent reading since last update: 2 hour 7 minutes
- Running total of time spent reading: 5 hours 58 minutes
Stuff
Read two whole books since my last update, Levels of Life by Julian Barnes which is a memoir about his grief at the loss of his wife which is very moving; and The Library of Unrequited Love, a very short first person narrative and the second book I’ve read today which has been translated from a French original.
The Book God has intimated strongly that it’s time for dinner so I shall be taking a longish break from reading but really pleased with progress so far!
First of all, The Stats:
- Currently reading: just about to start Levels of Life by Julian Barnes
- Books finished: 2
- Pages read since last update: 167
- Running total of pages read: 382
- Amount of time spent reading since last update: 1 hour 33 minutes
- Running total of time spent reading: 3 hours 51 minutes
Stuff
Finished my second book, The Boy with the Cuckoo Clock Heart, a dark fairy-tale which is also a contribution to Once Upon a Time VIII. Beginning to recognise the importance of proper breaks not only to catch up with other Readathon-ers and give my eyes a rest but also to breath between books!
First of all, The Stats:
- Currently reading: just about to start The Boy with the Cuckoo Clock Heart
- Books finished: 1
- Pages read: 215
- Running total of pages read: 215
- Amount of time spent reading: 2 hours 18 minutes
- Running total of time spent reading: 2 hours 18 minutes
Stuff
All going very well despite a necessary interruption for lunch. Have read one complete book, The Red House Mystery by AA Milne, a wonderful detective novel first published in 1922 and sadly the only one he ever wrote. Huge fun.
What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
I am reading from (currently) sunny but windy SW London, flitting about from comfy chair to comfy chair, starting at 1pm and reading (hopefully) all the way through to lunchtime on Sunday
Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
Not sure I have one particular book I’m looking forward to, they all look fantastic otherwise I wouldn’t have chosen them 🙂
Which snack are you most looking forward to?
Ah, snacks may be a problem. I’m reading for charity, Diabetes UK to be exact, because I was diagnosed last autumn with Type 2 and I have to be careful about eating between meals. But if I’m very good I may allow myself a (tiny) piece of chocolate
Tell us a little something about yourself!
My name is Christine, I am 52, Scottish-born and bred but living in London for over 25 years, I’m a civil servant and I’ve been blogging since January 2007. I’m an erratic blogger because I work full-time in what’s often a pressured job so I take a relaxed view and only post when I’ve got something to talk about. I read almost every type of book, but not much love for chick lit and very little poetry; other than that I’m willing to give most things a go (though I do have a major soft spot for sci-fi/fantasy/horror)
If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?
This is my first read-a-thon since April 2012. I don’t think I’ll be doing too much that’s different except I will be using social media especially Twitter a lot more than previously. I hope to do some visiting of other blogs but as I’m trying to raise money I feel I should probably concentrate on the reading thing!
So it’s finally arrived, the booklist has been chosen and gathered together so I don’t have to go looking for stuff. I haven’t decided the order in which I’m going to read things, will choose the next book from the stack on a whim. I have already met my charity target so feeling very good about that, and I’m really looking forward to the afternoon (& night & next morning). I’ll be posting every 3 hours or so but tweeting a lot more, so apologies in advance to everyone following me on social media, but it’s a community thing so that’s sort of the point. Just over three hours to go, excited!
What’s it all about?
Joe Lennox is a young man in his mid-twenties, American but living in Vienna having made enough money when one of his stories was turned into a successful play that he can pursue a living as a writer and put behind him the impact of the death of his brother Ross when he was a teenager.
He meets Paul and India Tate, an American couple who fascinate him, take him under their wing and their lives become so entwined that when Joe and India start an affair it has horrible consequences for them all.
Why did I want to read it?
Voice of our Shadow is one of the Fantasy Masterworks series so is clearly regarded as a classic, and I enjoyed my previous foray into the word of Jonathan Carroll when I read Land of Laughs last year.
What did I think of it?
Wow, this is a weird one. I really couldn’t put it down, reading it in one day during two train journeys (London to Manchester and back again). I love Carroll’s writing style and was really absorbed in Joe’s troubles and in his love affair with India. Then the thing happens (Paul dies of a heart attack, possibly caused by finding out about the affair) and it turns into sort of a ghost story, then it moves into something even darker and ends up with one of those “really? I mean, really?” endings that has you revisiting everything you’ve read to that point. I can see why this would turn people against the novel because it is a bit of a jolt, and up until the aftermath of Paul’s death I wasn’t even sure this was fantasy at all but it gets very very strange very quickly indeed. And although it clearly has elements of horror I didn’t really find it scary.
I’m not entirely sure about the ending, it is so bizarre and abrupt and I’m honestly not entirely sure what the implications of the twist actually are, but it doesn’t diminish in any way the enjoyment I had in reading it, and I certainly want to read more of Carroll’s work.
An odd start to my reading for Carl’s Once Upon a Time Challenge.
What’s it all about?
The Echo is the sequel to The Explorer which I reviewed here not 24 hours or so ago. It is Book Two of the Anomaly Quartet (which means hurrah! two more to look forward to but rats! no idea so far of when they will be published) and picks up the story two decades after the ill-fated (I think we can safely use that phrase) Ishiguro disappeared.
We are onboard the Lara with Mira (short for Mirakel as he was an unexpected second baby) who is the mastermind behind the expedition along with his older twin Tomas. The latter is on the ground playing an active part from a distance as an international crew heads off to investigate the Anomaly and find out what went wrong with the Ishiguro and what happened to its crew.
Of course we know what happened and can anticipate that things will probably not end well. And we are quite correct in that assumption.
Why did I want to read it?
If you read my review of the first book then you will know that there was no way I wasn’t going pick this up. Will there be answers or more of the same?
What did I think of it?
In some ways this is very similar to The Explorer, in that we have first person narrative, a crew with issues, the claustrophobia of being in space and a sense of the unknown. But that is a strength rather than a weakness; the characters of Mira and Cormac are sufficiently different to keep your attention and the central mystery of what the Anomaly is and how it “works” is to me at least fascinating. Paranoia is much more evident with this bunch than the crew of the Ishiguro and there is death and destruction as you might expect but I won’t go too much into the plot except to say that it both repeats and expands on the themes raised and stuff that happened in its predecessor.
If The Explorer was 2001 then The Echo is 2010 (one of my all-time favourite films, I love it so).
Worth noting that I read this in a single sitting on the same day I finished The Echo, which should tell you something.
Can’t wait for the next in the series, I really want to see how this all plays out. Recommended BUT needs to be read in sequence to maintain its power.
Bride of the Book God 