Every year for the past 5 years I have missed the start date for the Dewey 24 Hour readathon!Even though I follow them on fb, twitter & insta...I still miss it...and I almost missed it again this year.
Thanks to my mini reading & blogging slump of late, I haven't been as active as I usually am in the blogging world (maybe it's a Spring thing that occurs each year, which might explain why I miss it every year!?)
Anyhow...I've snuck in (at #901) with a few hours to spare this year...so, I'm in!
I've just signed up and checked the starting times (Sydney EST is 11pm tonight).
I have several books languishing by my bed that I would really like to finish & I'm going to use this as my incentive to do it. I'm also hoping to jump start AusReading month by knocking off two Australian books early.
In an attempt to keep things simple, I will use this post for updates.
I will check into twitter as I can (all my SM tags are in the top right hand corner for you to follow if you choose).
1. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami
Memoir, 180pgs (I will be starting on pg 61)
2. Golden Boys by Sonya Hartnett (Australian)
Literary fiction, 238 pgs (I will be starting on pg 47)
3. Nora Webster by Colm Tóibín
Literary fiction, 311pgs (I will be starting on pg 20)
4. The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka by Clare Wright (Australian)
Non-fiction, winner 2014 Stella Prize, 474 pgs (I will be starting on pg 236)
5. Stone Mattress by Margaret Atwood
Literary fiction, short stories, 268 pgs
5. Stone Mattress by Margaret Atwood
Literary fiction, short stories, 268 pgs
Courtesy of Jenna (The Relentless Reader)
Opening Meme:
1. What part of the world are you reading from today?
I'm in Sydney, Australia.
Which means my start time is 11pm Saturday - most of my readathon will actually fall on my Sunday 19th October.
2. Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
I think Nora. Curiously I've been going through a phase of reading books about death, loss and grief this year, so this one should fit that theme.
3. Which snack are you most looking forward to?
I have a Sunday afternoon tea planned with (book loving) friends - I'm making the date loaf and another friend is bringing the Adriano Zumbo macarons - delicious. Lots of good book talk guaranteed.
4. Tell us a little something about yourself.
Oh bother, this question always stumps me!
How much is a little? How much is too much? What would you find interesting?
5. If this is your first readthon what are you most looking forward to?
I'm hoping this will help me get over my weird reading/blogging 'whatever' phase.
Back on the balcony being distracted by the yacht race on the harbour & Mr Books wanting a chat!
Read Nora pgs 60 -78 (18 pgs)
Hour 15 (1pm - 2pm)
BBQ lunch with family
Read Murakami from pgs 96 - 106 (10 pgs)
Head out to afternoon tea with friends (& dateloaf #nomnom)
Hours 16 - 19 (2pm -6pm)
Afternoon tea
Hour 20 (6pm - 7pm)
Read Murakami from 106 - 111 (5 pgs)
Planted new basil & chilli seedlings - watered garden
Read Nora from 78 - 84 (6 pgs)
Hour 21 (7pm - 8pm)
Chat with Mr Books
Read Nora from 84 - 104 (20 pgs)
Dinner preparation
Total pgs read so far - 134!
Hour 22 (8pm - 9pm)
Dinner & clean up
Read Nora from 104 - 111 (7 pgs)
Hour 23 (9pm - 10pm)
Bubble bath
Read Nora from 111 - 135 (24 pgs)
Hour 24 (10pm- 11pm)
Read Nora from 135 - 174 (39 pgs)
Opening Meme:
1. What part of the world are you reading from today?
I'm in Sydney, Australia.
Which means my start time is 11pm Saturday - most of my readathon will actually fall on my Sunday 19th October.
2. Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
I think Nora. Curiously I've been going through a phase of reading books about death, loss and grief this year, so this one should fit that theme.
3. Which snack are you most looking forward to?
I have a Sunday afternoon tea planned with (book loving) friends - I'm making the date loaf and another friend is bringing the Adriano Zumbo macarons - delicious. Lots of good book talk guaranteed.
4. Tell us a little something about yourself.
Oh bother, this question always stumps me!
How much is a little? How much is too much? What would you find interesting?
5. If this is your first readthon what are you most looking forward to?
I'm hoping this will help me get over my weird reading/blogging 'whatever' phase.
***************************************************************************************************************************************************
Update:
Hour 1 (11pm - midnight)
40pgs of Nora Webster
Hour 2 (midnight - 1am Sunday 19th October)
20 mins of SM before Zzzzzzzzzzzzz
Hours 3 - 9 (1am - 8am)
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
& lots of very weird dreams thanks to too much SM use before bed!
& lots of very weird dreams thanks to too much SM use before bed!
Hour 10 (8am - 9am)
Woke at 8:15am; Glorious Spring day in Sydney town
15 mins of SM
15 mins of SM
Quiet house - Mr Books & youngest at a soccer game already, eldest still in bed.
Showered, hung out the washing, updated blog post.
Hour 11 (9am - 10am)
Breakfast on the balcony with Murakami - read pgs 61-78 (17 pgs)
Take pics for Instagram & twitter.
Hour 12 (10am - 11am)
More dreaded domestics, procrastinate, go for a mid-morning walk, buy some salad stuff for lunch, stop for a coffee, SM
Hour 13 (11am - 12pm)
Made dateloaf.
Read Murakami pgs 78 - 96 (18pgs)
Total pgs read so far - 75!
Hmmm time to pull my finger out!
Hour 14 (12pm - 1pm)
Take pics for Instagram & twitter.
Hour 12 (10am - 11am)
More dreaded domestics, procrastinate, go for a mid-morning walk, buy some salad stuff for lunch, stop for a coffee, SM
Hour 13 (11am - 12pm)
Made dateloaf.
Read Murakami pgs 78 - 96 (18pgs)
Total pgs read so far - 75!
Hmmm time to pull my finger out!
Hour 14 (12pm - 1pm)
Back on the balcony being distracted by the yacht race on the harbour & Mr Books wanting a chat!
Read Nora pgs 60 -78 (18 pgs)
Hour 15 (1pm - 2pm)
BBQ lunch with family
Read Murakami from pgs 96 - 106 (10 pgs)
Head out to afternoon tea with friends (& dateloaf #nomnom)
Hours 16 - 19 (2pm -6pm)
Afternoon tea
Hour 20 (6pm - 7pm)
Read Murakami from 106 - 111 (5 pgs)
Planted new basil & chilli seedlings - watered garden
Read Nora from 78 - 84 (6 pgs)
Hour 21 (7pm - 8pm)
Chat with Mr Books
Read Nora from 84 - 104 (20 pgs)
Dinner preparation
Total pgs read so far - 134!
Hour 22 (8pm - 9pm)
Dinner & clean up
Read Nora from 104 - 111 (7 pgs)
Hour 23 (9pm - 10pm)
Bubble bath
Read Nora from 111 - 135 (24 pgs)
Hour 24 (10pm- 11pm)
Read Nora from 135 - 174 (39 pgs)
Grand Total - 204 pgs read in 24 hrs.
End of Event Wrap-Up:
I am truly amazed and fascinated by all the things that distracted me from reading today. It has been a curious study in all the big & little things that make up my regular day.
I thoroughly enjoyed meeting so many new folks (on Twitter esp) & seeing what people were reading.
But the best thing of all is how much I am enjoying the 2 books I read today.
Two very different styles & content, but totally absorbing.
My reading mojo is back!
My reading mojo is back!
Thanks to all the lovely hard-working folk at Dewey's 24 hour readathon for managing such a big event so smoothly, enthusiastically & graciously.
I'm so glad I finally got to join in my first readathon.
Next time I will add an audio book to my list so I can 'read' whilst cleaning, gardening, walking, cooking, resting etc.
I certainly haven't set my bar very high for next time, so there is only one way for me to get next readathon.
Next time I will add an audio book to my list so I can 'read' whilst cleaning, gardening, walking, cooking, resting etc.
I certainly haven't set my bar very high for next time, so there is only one way for me to get next readathon.
Onward and upward!
And now goodnight from Down Under.
You have a great reading list.
ReplyDeleteI'm not in Australia (I'm in the Pacific Northwest of the US) but am taking part in the read-a-thon, as well. This will be my second time participating, and I'm very excited! Things kick off at 5am my time, so I probably won't start until a few hours into the event, though.
Best of luck to you!
Thanks.
DeleteI figure I'll read for an hour or 2 at the start, before my eyes get too heavy to continue (I've had an afternoon sleep today to ensure that I last until 11pm!!)
I've seen Margaret Atwood on several lists. I still haven't read her. She definitely needs to go on my TBR list. See you throughout the day!
ReplyDeleteAwww, I've missed it once as well! That sucks. But happy to have you this time around! Enjoy today! Or should say tonight :) :) It;s gonna be so much fun! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you didn't miss the readathon this time around! Have a fantastic day! Night? Lol
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your reading! Sounds like some good choices, and an afternoon book tea sounds luscious too. Have fun!
ReplyDeleteI've never read that particular Atwood book. I can't wait to hear about it.
ReplyDeleteGreat that you're reading with us this year. This is my sixth Readathon and it's always a great time. The Atwood book is in my TBR pile too, but I won't be getting to it today.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy and good luck! I'm not looking forward to the overnight reading hours cause I'm used to going to bed at 10pm :-)
ReplyDeletegood luck. Hope you're still awake. My start time was 4am. Yeah, that didn't happen. More like 5:30.
ReplyDeleteI haven't pulled an all nighter since uni - the 25 yrs since then means my body doesn't respond as well to such things!!!
DeleteSo I got a healthy 7 hrs sleep last night, ready to tackle the big read today :-)
Have fun and good luck!
ReplyDeleteOne of these years I will join in on this.
How's it going? Are managing a lot of reading time? Is it the middle of the night there now? Have fun!
ReplyDeleteI love to hear anything about my fellow readers...what they do during the day...what they like to do...and, most of all, what they like to read.
ReplyDeleteIf you need a little singing boost as you read along: Here's Singing My Way Through the Readathon!
Enjoyed your tweets during the readathon. I look forward to reading your book reviews!
ReplyDeleteI think I finally worked out how to use twitter effectively.
DeleteThanks for the feedback - I enjoyed doing them :-)
Great reading list, I hope you recover from the readathon; I'm sure you did, you were smart enough to sleep
ReplyDeleteTa.
DeleteI will certainly be raving about Nora Webster in a soon to be posted review :-)
It sounds like you had a lovely reading day (and happy distractions). I call that a successful read-a-thon!
ReplyDeleteThank you, when I reflected on things this morning, I also realised it was a lovely, lovely way to spend a Sunday.
DeleteTime with family & friends, time to read, garden, go for a walk and have a bubble bath - a very successful day :-)
Oh I've wanted to participate in this for a long time too... There's always something in the way- usually work of course, and the Australian start time is a killer. This year of course I'm in Paris, and while I have read some in the past day I couldn't attempt a readathon, too busy with my Parisathon. Glad you got to do it- I'll have to look forward to participating some other time.
ReplyDeleteReadathon...or Parisathon?
DeleteI think I know which one I'd be rather doing Louise!!
Very envious of your many trips to Paris & I look forward to the posts and photos - my Parisathon is still 3 & half yrs away.
The next Dewey Readathon is 25th April 2015 (which means that we would be reading mostly on our Sunday 26th) with a long w/e Monday as well :-)
So glad you enjoyed your first readathon! One of these days, I'll manage to participate.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you got a chance to participate! I adore the Dewey readathon, but I was out of town this time and missed it. It's so much fun to be a part of the community of readers that participates around the world!
ReplyDelete