09 « April « 2011 « Medieval Bookworm

Read-a-Thon Update: Hour 9

It’s time for a (late) dinner and that makes it a great time for an update! I have finished three books so far:

Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal
Touching the Void by Joe Simpson
Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

I loved Howl’s Moving Castle – it’s wonderful to have read two amazing books already today! I am definitely adding more Diana Wynne Jones to my next book order. It is a shame that I have now only discovered her after her passing, but I am glad to have a huge backlist to work through before I face the fact that there won’t be any more.

I have since started reading Lady Isabella’s Scandalous Marriage by Jennifer Ashley. It wasn’t in my pile, but I didn’t really want any more fantasy and my choices suddenly seemed too fantasy-heavy. This should be a nice break from that.

As for the stats, I have read for 6 1/2 hours so far and have finished 922 pages. I’m really pleased with that – I think I’m doing better than last time!

How is everyone else doing? Have you read anything amazing so far?

Read-a-thon Update: Hour 5

We’ve now been reading for 4 hours – so entering into hour 5!

Books Read:

Shades of Milk and Honey, Mary Robinette Kowal
Touching the Void, Joe Simpson

I’ve managed to finish both, bringing me up to a total page count of about 500. I loved the first; the second I didn’t enjoy quite so much, as I’m not particularly familiar with mountaineering and while the story itself was gripping, I kept wondering why on earth Simpson ever wanted to climb the mountain in the first place! Still, though, a good read-a-thon book, as I kept reading to find out what happened to him after the accident (since he wrote the book, it’s obvious he survived).

In total I’ve been reading for 3 hours and 45 minutes. It’s been a little more difficult because it’s a lovely sunny day outside; though I’m not actually out in it, I am enjoying the sun through the windows and the nice breeze coming through at least!

How is everyone else doing? I am going to start reading again shortly, after a few blog visits; I can’t decide whether to read Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale or Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones, and I still plan to finish my current read, Dreams Underfoot by Charles de Lint, at some point during the Read-a-thon. We’ll see!

To evoke the British countryside and provide a bit of a visual for this otherwise text-heavy post, here’s a random picture of Rievaulx Abbey:

Read-a-Thon Starting Line

It’s time for the Read-a-Thon! This is my fifth one, which is hard to believe, but no less exciting for that! I’m looking forward to getting started today and meeting all of the new Read-a-thon participants as well as the ones I know already. I have my netbook, have eaten lunch, have snacks ready and a husband on meal duty, and a huge pile of books to choose from, so I am all set to go.

Here is the stack at the start:

There are actually two stacks there, but never mind. I couldn’t stop putting more books on the pile. As it stands, though, I am starting out with Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal. I have heard amazing things about this book since well before it was published, it’s a Nebula nominee, and it arrived in the mail yesterday so I’m very excited to read it. Best of all, it’s short and I’m told it reads quickly – so it is the perfect Read-a-Thon book! I aim to continue reading it until I’ve finished, and then come back for an update, so I’ll see you all in a couple of hours.

ETA to add the intro meme:

1)Where are you reading from today?

My flat in Beverley, England.

2)Three random facts about me… food-themed, as I’ve done this before, and part of the read-a-thon fun is the snacking:

I like cheese and hamburgers but not cheeseburgers.
I forced myself to like tea about 4 years ago and have become an addict, so will be drinking a lot over the next 24 hours!
I would quite happily eat pizza every day.

3)How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours?

16. I know. I got excited.

4)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 really, I’d like to read more than 12 hours (my current average) and at least 4 books.

5)If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, any advice for people doing this for the first time?

Definitely pick short, fun books, don’t get sucked into the internet (particularly twitter) and take breaks when you need to!

Good luck to all the participants!