Category Archive

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!

So the year of no challenges (which in my head was really the year of very few challenges) is only six days old and I’m already committing to my second. This is Long Awaited Reads Month where the aim is to pick up books that have been on my radar for a while but not yet read.

I haven’t decided what to go for yet but it will be one of these three (all in my collection as hardcovers bought when first published):

• The Children’s Book by AS Byatt
• Dead Air by Iain Banks
• Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

I suspect I might go for Jonathan Strange simply because I am so so cross with myself that I haven’t read it yet.

You can find more about LARM on Ana’s blog here.