Medieval Bookworm

I’ve made some good progress so far I think – I’ve managed to read one, very small (92 page) book, which I really disliked, called The Passport by Herta Muller.  It just felt very scattered to me in terms of story and was completely fixated on imagery and allegory.  I would prefer a coherent narrative to surreal phrases full of meaning every time – but never mind, it’s out of the way!  I’ve moved on The Lost City of Z by David Grann and I’ve read 50 pages so far; it’s excellent and I think I’m finally about to feel pleased about the fact that I’ve signed myself up to read all day!  And I can’t forget that I have an excellent pile awaiting me when I’ve finished this one, too.

Without further ado, I’ll answer the questions for the first meme and then get back to reading.

Where are you reading from today?

I’m currently in Beverley, in East Yorkshire, England.

3 facts about me …

I can’t remember what I used last time.  I’ll think up some new ones.

1. I am probably the world’s newest SEO (search engine optimizer).  I help Google find the sites people want to see.  But I’m a historian at heart and in my spare time.
2. I’ve been married for almost a year now.
3. I’m going to be in Paris in two weeks for my anniversary.

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

I think it was 14.  No, I’m not going to read 14 books – I’d like to read at least five though.

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)?

I’d like to read five books and do some blog commenting, probably after I’ve finished my next book.  I want to get out and cheer a bit, although I haven’t signed up for an hour.  Mainly because I’m unpredictable and can’t stay awake too late.

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

Just enjoy yourself and be happy with what you read!  Don’t spend too much time on the challenges, because they *will* suck up your time, although they can be fun.  Go out and visit people, but remember to read as well.  And get on Twitter (I’m @mbookworm) – it’s a lot of fun when you’re looking to stop reading print for a bit.

Good luck everyone!

My Read-a-Thon went out with a whimper.  I got halfway through The Brontes Went to Woolworths before I started feeling nauseated from not eating in good time this morning – my husband was still sleeping or I’d have sent him.  I need to remember to keep food in the bedroom next time!  Needless to say, I couldn’t really focus on it or the computer, which is why this wrap-up is so late.  I stopped reading well before the last hour.

My final tally:

I finished four and read from two other books which aren’t listed – Germinal by Emile Zola and the aforementioned The Brontes Went to Woolworths.

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?

Probably Hour 11, when I went to sleep, and Hour 22 when I started to feel sick.

2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?

How I Live Now and On the Edge were both great choices.  Wishful Drinking was a fast read but I didn’t like it all that much.

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?

Not for the co-hosts, they did a wonderful job!

4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?

Everything!  I wished I could participate more in the mini-challenges and next time I am determined to be more active on twitter during my breaks.  I felt a little isolated even though I had cheerleaders coming to my blog.  I didn’t feel that way either of the last times, so I think I need to focus a little more on community and a little less on solely reading.  I still don’t really like where my timezone is – things get most exciting after I’ve fallen asleep!

5. How many books did you read?

I finished 4 and read some from two others.

6. What were the names of the books you read?

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff, Archangel’s Kiss by Nalini Singh, On the Edge by Ilona Andrews, Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher, and read from Germinal by Emile Zola and The Brontes Went to Woolworth by Rachel Ferguson.

7. Which book did you enjoy most?

Either How I Live Now or On the Edge.  Both great books.  I think I may have preferred the first one there on second thought.

8. Which did you enjoy least?

Wishful Drinking.  It would work better as the stand up act it originally was.

9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?

I wasn’t a cheerleader.

10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?

I’m 100% likely.  Next time I want to sign up for an hour’s cheering for sure.  I want to feel more involved and not isolated in my book the entire time, but I still want to get a few books read.

I can never remember to stop at the actual hours and post, I tend to just stop whenever I feel like it.  I’ve just read Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher for a change from fiction.  It was okay and relatively interesting, but I can tell just reading it that it would work much better as stand-up comedy.  Still, it only took me an hour.

Right now there’s a panty-worthy mini-challenge going on, hosted by Rebecca at The Book Lady’s Blog, who is definitely doing her part to make reading sexy! This one’s easy for me as I’ve had the same panty-worthy author since age 14 or so.  Stephen King.  He’s a bit, um, old for me, but I have loved his books for most of my life and I’m regularly impressed by the stuff he continues to put out.  When he’s good, he’s really, really good.  I just ignore the ones that aren’t good!

In the interest of equal opportunities, I would also quite happily choose Juliet Marillier, Jacqueline Carey, or Robin Hobb.

I can’t believe I’ve been reading so long already!  I think I’ve given up on my goal to continue reading Germinal in between.  Maybe later.  Right now, though, I’m heading for Archangel’s Kiss by Nalini Singh, which oh-so-conveniently arrived in the mail yesterday (or maybe the day before – I’m getting bad at entering books into LibraryThing when they show up!).

Oh, and I also wanted to liven up this post with a picture.  So here’s the new fish we got this morning before all the reading fun started.  We wanted a big fish for the tank and since I can’t have a cat in this apartment, I got to choose: