Read-a-thon Post 7

My last read-a-thon post. In the last hour, I finished Halting State (and the author interview) and managed to start, and finish, The Iron Man in the last 20 mins! I'd hoped to also fit in its sequel, The Iron Woman but didn't quite manage it too.

I've just added £4 to my Year of Readers fundraising page for Book Aid as the additional contribution for those two books - I'd really hoped to do much better than 450 pages and I suspect that going to sleep for 10 hours of the 24 didn't really help my cause! Whilst it's great fun taking part in mini-challenges and visiting other participants to see how they are getting on, it did have a really big impact on my actual reading time so perhaps I should have been a cheerleader this time around.

I'll finish off with the last hour challengebefore I take the dogs out for a walk in the lovely sunshine:

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? The first hour I took part - I was late starting and was worried I wouldn't catch up and then spent an hour or so visiting other people and doing challenges rather than reading my book so I then felt even worse!
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? I've learned that I should have sought out and read more Young Adult fiction as several people looked like they were really enjoying that genre and it'd be relatively easy to read when tired. I think I should have also probably lined up a couple of (short) graphic novels as well as some low-thought/high-value "easy" fiction like something by Georgette Heyer or similar. Next time!
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Nope. I really enjoyed myself!
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? There was a great feeling of team spirit that made it a real pleasure to take part.
5. How many books did you read? Only two.
6. What were the names of the books you read? Halting State by Charles Stross & The Iron Man by Ted Hughes.
7. Which book did you enjoy most? Halting State! Great fun and I will post separately about it later.
8. Which did you enjoy least? It seems hardly fair to pick on The Iron Man as it was the only other book I read and the prose it gorgeous.
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? I was not a Cheerleader but I'd say that I thought they did a great job! I've been visited, and encouraged, by some lovely people and those on twitter were really prolific!
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? I'll definitely participate. I'd like to be a more organised reader who has not just got back from holiday with dodgy sleep patterns and I'd also like to be a cheerleader and sponsor a bookish prize.

Read-a-thon Post 6

Cracking through my book now and Mr B is kindly making me another coffee so that I can read without interruption. Well. Other than the internet!

Here's my Hour 22 challenge limerick:

There was an avid reader called Peta
Who thought that nothing could be sweeter
than to read for twenty-four hours
but she found she lacked the powers
so hung her head and admitted defeat-er

:D

Read-a-thon Post 5

As I write this post I am trying awfully hard not to cry and not really succeeding. That's because I've been reading Dewey's blog as part of the hour 21 challenge. I never "met" Dewey although I did visit her blog a few times, saw her commenting on other people's blogs and (of course) saw that she was instrumental in the organising of community activities like this one.

So. Why am I (still) in tears? All it took was for me to click over onto Dewey's blog and read the post by her husband from the 2nd Feb this year when he received the Coraline treasure chest. Gulp. I then scrolled down and saw the "giving season" last post Dewey made on the 23rd November, planning her activity for the month ahead, and that just about finished me off.

Reading through some her posts (and I really can't choose a favourite for this challenge) it's clear that I missed out on getting to know a really lovely, influential and community spirited woman. Reading through some of the comments made when her death was announced, it's obvious that she touched a lot of people's lives and that friends made online can be just as important as those in the "real world".

I'm really glad that her online presence continues to be felt through activities like this read-a-thon and Weekly Geeks and that people like me can get to know her even though she is no longer here. It strikes me that I've not really thanked Hannah (WordLily), Ana (Nymeth), and Trish (Hey Lady!) for the incredibly hard work that they've put into making this read-a-thon a fitting tribute to her legacy. Thank you - you've done a great job.

Read-a-thon Post 4

Oh dear, dear me. I might just be the worst read-a-thon participant ever. After posting last night I started reading again and then. Erm. Fell asleep and only just woke up. I blame post-holiday body clock but it really is rather pathetic. Five official hours to go and I really need to up my game and finish my first book!

Just popped in to visit Debbie's mini-challenge and what a great idea it was to get lots of people joining BookCrossing. Inspired and I've joined up so will mark up a bunch of books later today and release them this week.

The other mini-challenge at the moment is one about re-reads. Gosh. Off the top of my head, and by looking at my nearby book shelves for the really battered spines, I'd have to say that Pride & Prejudice, Emma and Sense and Sensibility (all by Jane Austen) are on that pile. I've read books by Tad Williams several times with his War of the Flowers probably coming up top there. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett has been read several times. Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks is looking pretty creased as is A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth - both books I love re-visiting every couple of years or so.

Must stop blogging and reading about the read-a-thon and get back to reading for it...

Read-a-thon Post 3

Phew! Dinner cooked by hubby and eaten by me then watched a couple of episodes of Malcom in the Middle with Mr B as a break so am ready to get back to it! I've decided it might be best to avoid twitter in the near future as it's far, far too distracting and I've not even finished Book 1 yet!

It's also time for another mini-challenge, this time from The Curious Reader on the topic of libraries.

1. What is the name of your local library? What city is it located in? I live in Norwich and pass my library on my walk to work. Our city library burnt down when I was at University and The Forum was built on its former site. A substantial part of the building is now the Norfolk and Norwich Millennium Library and (amongst other things) the building also contains a heritage centre and the 2^nd Air Division Memorial Library which houses a collection of unique materials about American culture and the Second World War. Here's a picture of The Forum building:
2. 
3. How often do you go to the library? If you're a regular, do the staff know you? It's the busiest lending library in the United Kingdom (for the last two years in a row!) so sadly you don't get personal relationships with the staff. It's also self-service loans/returns so not much chance to get to know them either!
   
4. Do you browse while you're there or just pick up items you have placed on reserve? I think I've only ever reserved one item and that was the audio version of The Graveyard Book. This could be because I am cheap and don't like paying the reserving fee though! It's got a fairly large collection of books so I can treat it like a bookshop and browse for something new or consult the catalogue to see if any of my wishlist are on the shelves.
   
5. What is your favourite thing about your local library? It's filled with (free) books!
   

Read-a-thon Post 2

A quick read-a-thon update from sunny Norwich!

1) I got horrifically distracted by the twitter #readerthon feed for far too long.
2) I spent aaages trying to solve the fabuolus book cover challenge hosted by Bart. I know I got twelve right and that I will kick myself over several that were horribly familiar and I am pretty sure I own them but could not find them on my bookshelves. Looking forward to the result
3) I took Halting State into the garden with me and accidentally ended up sowing seeds.
4) I took Halting State to bed with me as it was a quiet spot to read in peace and... fell asleep for an hour.

Off for dinner now. Will come back refreshed and revitalised soon!

Read-a-thon Post 1

Here's my read-a-thon Hour 1 meme post! Which is a little late as I have been dropping off a birthday present to a two year old friend of mine.

Where are you reading from today? My house! Mainly in the bedroom curled up in the warmth but I might spice things up and also read in the sitting room for a while. The sun is actually out so I might well also do some reading in the garden which is a pretty exciting optionto have in England!

3 facts about me … 1) My middle name is Siobhan. 2) I have two Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. 3) I own far, far too many books.

How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours? Ha! I have sorted through the extensive TBR pile and whittled it down to a short list of around ten books which are all relatively short and should be quick to read. I need to finish off my current book (Halting State) before I can get started on those. I should also confess that I was looking at the shortlist and wishing I'd thought to order some of my really want to reads from my wishlist in time for this weekend. As if I have not already got enough choice!

Edited post to add in a photo of my shortlist. When arranging the books for a photo it got a bit longer...

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'm just happy to participate and am looking forward to using the excuse that I am doing a read-a-thon to spend most of this weekend.

April 2009 Read-a-thon

After watching the read-a-thon take place from the sidelines last year, I decided to take part this time around as it all looks such good fun! The UK start time is 1pm today - I'm not sure how many update posts here I will manage to complete over the next 24 hours but I will definitely be updating my twitter account at regular intervals. The official hashtag is #readathon if you want to join in.

I have a TBR pile of at least 150 books so this also strikes me as a perfect opportunity to curl up and make some inroads into that stash. Getting my caveats out of the way early, I will be going to bed at some point tonight and I do also have a number of post-holiday household chores to complete (boo!) but I am really looking forward to getting as involved as possible.

I've also decided that any book completed between 1pm today and 1pm on Sunday will incur a "bonus" donation to BookAid of £2. Having said that, I'd better make sure I read plenty of books in the next 24 hours!