Read-a-thon - First post!

This is me, ready to read a lot!



You can see I clearly have the right superhero outfit for the job.

12:48: I'll be starting with Richard III, which is difficult, because Shakespeare's either too recent or not recent enough for me, so wish me luck? I will edit this post at least every hour or so with some updates!

13:22: I've managed to find the correct play in my massive edition, and I've read the introduction to Richard III, so I'll quickly update with the hour one meme, now!

Where are you reading from today? Cardiff, Wales. More specifically, at the moment I'm on my bed, but I may also read at my desk, or sat on my large squashy hedgehog seats. Or possibly even from my housemates' beds, desks, or the sofa downstairs...

3 facts about me: I'm a student, my special area of interest is Arthurian myth, and I can read Anglo-Saxon. But I'm not doing that today.

How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours? I'm drawing from my entire TBR mountain, which is approximately five hundred books high. I did mention what books I'm likely to read in my previous post, here.

Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)? Not particularly. Number of hours, perhaps -- I'm hoping to stay up the whole twenty-four.

If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, any advice for people doing this for the first time? I'm not! I've always meant to do it, but this is the first time it's really possible. I did do the blogathon once: my advice mainly involves remembering to eat, drink, and stretch.

14:09: Read the first act of Richard III. My housemates have been making their lunches, and now I'm really hungry. I might go put on some potato waffles... I seem to be reading so very slowly. It's annoying.

A quick answer to the Back in the Day mini-challenge -- my favourite books as a child were the Narnia books, especially Prince Caspian and Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and Anne of Green Gables -- how many times did I read that? Probably far too many! When I was a little younger than that, it was Enid Blyton. They always made me hungry: so many midnight feasts!

Now, my favourite children's book is probably Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising. I read that first when I was sixteen or so, and it's been a favourite since.

15:13: Just finished reading the third act of Richard III. Getting somewhere here! And I've had a packet of crisps, and some potato waffles. Nom.

The hour three mini-challenge is a six word celebration of the challenge. Hmmmm. "Sorry, can't talk, too busy reading"?

16:05: Not participating in the mini-challenge for this hour, so all I've got to say is that I've finished Richard III, and my review/initial thoughts on it are here. Now I'm going to go onto Nennius' History of the Britons.

Moving on to a new post now!

Read-a-thon - A new post!

A new post, cleverly timed so I can start it with a picture, like the first!

17:14: Still reading Nennius. And for the hour five mini-challenge, here is a photo of my bookshelves -- awkwardly taken balanced on top of things on my desk, but showing at least some of all my shelves!



Most of my books are in ebook form or back at my parents' place, though. Booo.

(Could also cheat, and say look at my goodreads shelves.)

Back to Nennius now.

17:51: Finished reading Nennius. Brief thoughts here. Mostly a review of the edition, more than anything else.

Not sure what I'm going to read next. Oh, no, I do know -- I'll finish the alliterative Morte Arthure. I'm on page 82 of 168.

18:30: Rather enjoying the Morte Arthure, though I'm missing Strictly Come Dancing. (I watch it so I can listen to my ballroom dancer housemate mocking it.)

For the challenge, which is microfiction -- which is kind of my thing -- I offer this, without knowing exactly where it came from:

"Vampire, hah. Vampires don't demand much. Only your blood, only your life. I ask for much more. No -- I don't ask, do I? I just take. I'll take from you, I'll take every single thing you have. I'll take the memory of your mother's hair, I'll take the memory of your father's touch, I'll take the first time you truly really wanted someone. Good and bad, I'll make it mine, easy. I don't even have to take it: you'll give it to me, willingly, surrender it all and then, when everything's gone, you'll wish you could have given me more."

19:16: Time for dinner! I won't stop for long, but I will have to stop -- my housemates are too talkative for me to read while we eat.

My answer to the Armchair Travelling mini-challenge is... hmmm. I mostly read fantasy, so I want to visit places I can only visit through the pages of books. Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea, for example. And Narnia. I'd still give a right arm (not necessarily mine) to go to Narnia.

Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising always makes me want to go up to North Wales, visit the mountain, Cader Idris, and all the places where the children go.

Arthurian literature in general makes me want to go everywhere, all over Britain, to all the Arthurian sites. Stonehenge is apparently a disappointment, but I'd still like to see it.

20:02: Just finished the alliterative Morte Arthure. Will probably now read the stanzaic poem in the same volume. Review here.

For the characters I love to hate mini-challenge, here is my list:

1. The Rider. (From Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising.)
2. Lancelot. (Any Arthurian literature. I know he's not traditionally considered a villain, but consider what he does.)
3. Richard III. (As seen in Shakespeare's play.)
4. Regal. (From Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy. Mind you, given some of the views she's expressed in the past, e.g. in her rants against fanfiction and medicating mental illness, maybe she herself belongs in this list for me...)
5. Odysseus. (Definitely not a traditional answer. But he is a bit of a jerk. I guess you could say I love and hate him, more than love to hate him.)

21:04: Reading the stanzaic Le Morte Arthur now. I really like it, so far.

22:10: Finished reading the stanzaic Le Morte Arthur. Review is here. Further updates will come in a new post, but for now I'm going to go to the loo, grab a drink, and figure out what to read next!

Read-a-thon - The show goes on

23:22: No picture to go with this post! I'm oddly tired, so I've gone and put some cans of coke in the fridge to chill. Mmm, caffeine. In the meantime, I have apple juice and I'm not afraid to use it!

Currently reading We, by Yevgany Zamyatin. Probably my last literature book of the day, given that I'm tired now. Just did some meditation and yoga to improve my focus, and had a quick chat with my housemates.

Also, elleth just pointed out to me that I won something! Heeee. I love this whole event.

(Now come on, body, don't be sleepy. I've barely been up twelve hours!)

00:05: Definitely slowing up now. Never mind: I'll probably hit my stride again when I move from the literature to the lighter books.

The mid-event survey:

1. What are you reading right now? Yevgany Zamyatin's We.
2. How many books have you read so far? Three or four, depending on whether you count separate texts as separate books.
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? I'm not sure: probably Singing the Dogstar Blues, by Alison Goodman.
4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day? No, thankfully. I've already done all my work for university, and my housemates were already planning to do dinner and stuff.
5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? Well, I'm chatting to my girlfriend and elleth via IM, along with a couple of others now and then, and I've still been having quick chats with my housemates. With IM, I've been setting myself a certain number of pages to read before I reply; where my housemates are concerned, they know I'm rushing off back to my books.
6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? How hard it is to stay awake! I deliberately had a lie in this morning, to make it easier, but it really doesn't feel like it.
7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Can't think of anything.
8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year? Hmmm... Maybe I'd get outside for a while to read out there, for a while.
9. Are you getting tired yet? Oh, yes. The fact that it's dark outside is probably not helping, and the fact that I'm used to going to bed about an hour from now to get up for lectures.
10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered? Yoga poses to stretch out if you're getting tense or tight from staying in the same position. Downward dog is nice for stretching, and I really like bridge pose for stretching the chest, neck, and spine.

01:47: Whether it's caffeine or the fact that I rolled out my yoga mat so I can regularly do a bit of yoga to wake me up, I'm pretty awake now.

About three-quarters of the way through We.

02:30: Just washed my face, which woke me up a bit... Still working on We, and wondering what to read what I'm done. Maybe if I knuckle down now, I can finish We before the end of this hour.

03:22: Finished We. Review here.

Extremely sleepy, so I'm going to do some sun salutations and wash my face in cold water. Not sure what to read next -- probably Singing the Dogstar Blues, by Alison Goodman.