It’s here, it’s here, it’s finally here!
It’s time for the Dewey 24-hrs Read-a-Thon! And I – along with hundreds of people around the world – will do nothing but read and read for a whole day and night!
My read-a-thon plan is basically that I have no plan – I have a pile of selected books that I’d like to read, my trusty Kindle loaded with alternatives, and I am simply going to read as much as I can while eating yummy snacks! And as always, I will try to stay awake for the full 24 hours (I’ve yet to succeceed).
I will be updating this post throughout the day and now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s time to go sit down in my brand-new comfy reading chair and get this show on the road!
14.00: And we’re off!
1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
Bruxelles, Belgium
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
I’m not really sure, I’m looking forward to them all, but both “The Watcher in the Shadows” and “Tales of Terror” have been on my TBR-must read for a long time!
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
The carrot cake and the pulled pork that has been wafting out its delicious smell since 6 a.m.!
4) Tell us a little something about yourself!
I am 33, I’m originally from Denmark, but currently living in Bruxelles, and I will be reading from my brand-new comfy reading chair and (as previously) joined there today by my extremely cute, stuffed pet dragon, Rognar The Destroyer!
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today?
Not much, I think I have found a nice way of read-a-thon’ing (we should definitely make that a real verb!), but I will try again to stay awake through the whole thing.
16.20: The Poor Hanged Maidens
I’m off to a great start and have just finished my first book – “The Penelopiad” by Margaret Atwood. A re-telling of the story of Odysseus’ wife Penelope – what did she actually do those many, many years waiting for him to come home while being beset by Suitors? And why were her twelve maids hanged by Odysseus when he finally came home?
This was a very different story than I had expected, as it was quite humorous – something I don’t usually connect with Atwood, but she pulls it off and tells a different and convincing story of Penelope.
Now I will put in some headphones for a little audiobook time while I get some things done around the house 🙂
18.15: Dresden and dinner
I’ve spent the last few hours taking a walk in the sun, preparing dinner and doing some housework while being accompanied by none other than wizard Harry Dresden! As must be clear by now, I absolutely adore the Dresden Files and especially when narrated by James Marsters – and it is perfect for still reading while not having to sit down all day 🙂
Now it’s back to the comfy chair with William Faulkner’s classic family tale “As I Lay Dying” (with the strange and kinda scary horse-eye cover… I’m really hoping to get to figure out why on Earth there is a creepy horse-eye on this book!)
21.15: Southern drawls and pulled pork
I’m about 2/3 of the way through “As I Lay Daying”. When I had looked at the book, I hadn’t begun to imagine that it would take me this long to read it, but the constantly changing narrators and thick Southern vernacular means that each sentence must be read carefully. But I don’t mind at all, because it’s such a beautiful story! Of grief and hardship and family, and I am happy for it to last as long as it has to.
So, before I dig in to the last pages, I will go and get my 3.5 kg (7 pounds) pulled pork out of the oven and settle down for some lovely dinner.
00.30: Wuh, huh… I mean.. I think that…
I just finished reading “As I Lay Dying” and I honestly don’t know what to write. I’ve never read a book like it, and I can’t tell you why I’m currently completely out of sort because of it. It just got to me – crawled under my skin and into my head, and I think I might never stop thinking about it… And yet, I’m also sure that it’s not for everyone. It’s got heavy vernacular, not much actual action and some of the strangest and hard-to-follow characters, I’ve ever seen.
Now, the only thing to do is to continue with another book I expect to love by one of my all-time favourite authours: “The Watcher in the Shadows” by Carlos Ruiz Zafòn
02.50: Breaking out the secret weapons!
We’re past the halfway point of the read-a-thon, and I am surprisingly fresh (Jinx!), and halfway through my third book “The Watcher in the Shadows”. I do however attribute most of my freshness to the bringing out of some of my secret read-a-thon weapons: all-time favourite authors (Zafón) and my new Hogwarts comfy pants! I mean, you just know it’s going to be a great night when you’re wearing something that looks like it might be official Hogwarts night clothes, right?! 🙂 Hope you’re all having a marvelous time out there!
05.30 – 08.30: Sensible? What do you mean, I have to be sensible?!
So, after having finished the lovely and quite scary “The Watcher in the Shadows”, I realised that while I was relatively fresh, I do have a pesky high-pressure job to get back to on Monday morning, and unless I wanted to destroy any chance of being functionable, I might need a bit of sleep. So, I capitulated and spent a few hours in Dreamland, before embarking on the final hours with you.
10.30: Golden rays and Chinese girls
I spent my morning sitting in a makeshift “chair” made from sofa cushions next to the open balcony doors, watching the light turning from golden yellow to white. My pensive Moomin cup and a book about a Chinese small town girl trying to make it in the city of Beijing keeping me company. It’s a different, but charming and melancholy book about the hunger for something more, something bigger.
Now I just have to decide what to read for the final 3 hours of the read-a-thon!
14.00: Unfortunate Events, fairy tales and the End
I’ve spent the last hours of the read-a-thon reading about the fate of the poor Baudelaire children in “A Series of Unfortunate Events 2” and finished the wonderful 24 hours with a short, but sweet tale of clocks, princes and giving your heart away in “Clockworks” by Philip Pullman.
I’ve had another wonderful read-a-thon, and I’m already waiting for the next one! I’ve travelled the literary world with American classics of hardship and family, frightening and lyrical stories by favourite authors, struggled against ennui alongside a Chinese woman, despaired with the Baudelaire children, and wept and laughed at the injustice of the twelve hanged maids.
I’ve read 6 books for a total of 1178 pages, and 3 hours of an audio book, which I am very satisfied with as I loved everyone of them!
Thank you all for your wonderful comments and support, it made all the difference! And see you again in April 😉