Dewey's Readathon

 Dewey's Readathon is here once again, bigger and better than ever.

This time around they're celebrating 10 years of readathon wonderfulness.
Check out the blog to read all sorts of lovely memories about the early years and the inspirational Dewey who began it all.

Please check that your name is on the 1000+ list - I thought I had signed up weeks ago, but when I double-checked last night, I realised that I had somehow forgotten to follow through with my good intentions.
It's not too late to sign up here.



This will be my one and only Readathon post.

All book updates, memes or Q&A's will be added below.
Scroll down to find the bits you're most interested in.

I will check in on Litsy & Twitter for real time updates and chats around the top of each hour that I am awake and/or in reading mode.

My start time is 11pm EST, Sydney.
I will start off with a good hour or two of solid reading, before drifting off to sleep.
Most of my reading time will therefore be on Sunday the 22nd October.
You can check out your start time here.

Starting Meme

Where Are You Reading?

Sydney, Australia


What Do You Hope To Read?

I like to have a selection of books.

Some are half-finished, some are for #AusReadingMonth in November, some are for #Non-fiction November and some are for work (all the kids books).

The Austen's are left over from #AusteninAugistRBR.
The short stories of Guy de Maupassant are left over from #ParisinJuly.
That's the kind of reading (& blogging) year I've had!

I've tried to include short stories and novella's this time around to help me feel like I'm completing something, instead of just tallying pages.

Obviously I won't be reading all of the above.
But I like to have choice depending on my mood and for when I get sleepy.
I'm pretty sure I will be starting with The Ladies of Missalonghi.

Who Am I?

My name is Bronwyn and I'm a bookseller based in Sydney.
(My eldest nephew started calling me Brona when he learnt to talk. The nickname has stuck.)

I've been blogging for 8 years and readathoning for 4.

Australia, Cuba - Jan 2017

My Readathon Plans?

Readathon starts at 11pm EST, Sydney.
Therefore most of my readathon will actually occur on Sunday 22nd October.
I plan to read for a couple of hours in bed, or until my eyes won't stay open any longer!
Serious readathon reading will recommence at breakfast time.

The weather forecast is for a 22℃ day with a chance of a sprinkle of rain.

I plan to check into social media for about 10 mins at the top of every hour.

I will join in memes and updates as I can.

Snacks?

I'm not a really a snacky kind of person, but I did make chocolate crackles for the booklets this weekend (which just happens to be one of my favourites too!)
I've made a salad ready for Sunday lunch and I've filled the fruit bowl with apples.

Mr Books & I are planning on dining out at the Night Noodle Markets (weather permitting) as I figure my eyes would need a little break by then & tomorrow night is our last chance before it finishes up for another year.

Lessons Learnt?

This year I've arranged for most of the family to be out doing other stuff to leave me in peace and quiet in the house.
I'm determined not to spend too much time on social media this year.
Part of what I love about this event, is the community, but I do have to remember to read some actual books as well!

My social media accounts are here - twitter, instagram, goodreads and litsy (@Brona).

Our #TeamANZ members are - Elizabeth, Elanor, Louise, Maree, Nikks & Dimitra, with our honorary tweeter from The Netherlands, Nancy.

Starting Pages:

The Commandant - pg 19
The Real Jane Austen - pg 190

Love and Freindship

Jane Austen's Shorter Works - pg 69

Inglorious Empire - pg 36

The Best Short Stories of Guy de Maupassant - pg 62

10 Years in 10 Books

Submit one book recommendation published in each year of the Readathon (2007-2017).
Obviously my list will only be of interest to you, if you love historical fiction and memoir as much as I do!

2007

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Murakami

In 1982, having sold his jazz bar to devote himself to writing, Murakami began running to keep fit. A year later, he'd completed a solo course from Athens to Marathon, and now, after dozens of such races, not to mention triathlons and a dozen critically acclaimed books, he reflects upon the influence the sport has had on his life and--even more important--on his writing. 

Equal parts training log, travelogue, and reminiscence, this revealing memoir covers his four-month preparation for the 2005 New York City Marathon and takes us to places ranging from Tokyo's Jingu Gaien gardens, where he once shared the course with an Olympian, to the Charles River in Boston among young women who outpace him. 

Through this marvelous lens of sport emerges a panorama of memories and insights: the eureka moment when he decided to become a writer, his greatest triumphs and disappointments, his passion for vintage LPs, and the experience, after fifty, of seeing his race times improve and then fall back. 

By turns funny and sobering, playful and philosophical, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is rich and revelatory, both for fans of this masterful yet guardedly private writer and for the exploding population of athletes who find similar satisfaction in distance running.

I'm not a runner and never will be.

But there was something so utterly engaging and mesmerising about this book, I recommend it to everyone who loves really thoughtful and thought-provoking memoirs.

2008

A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz

An irreverent comic adventure, spanning three continents, about a father and son against each other and against the world. 

For most of his life, Jasper Dean couldn’t decide whether to pity, hate, love, or murder his certifiably paranoid father, Martin, a man who overanalyzed anything and everything and imparted his self-garnered wisdom to his only son. But now that Martin is dead, Jasper can fully reflect on the crackpot who raised him in intellectual captivity, and what he realizes is that, for all its lunacy, theirs was a grand adventure. 

As he recollects the events that led to his father’s demise, Jasper recounts a boyhood of outrageous schemes and shocking discoveries—about his infamous outlaw uncle, Terry, his mysteriously absent European mother, and Martin’s constant losing battle to make a lasting mark on the world he so disdains. It’s a story that takes them from the Australian bush to the cafés of bohemian Paris, from the Thai jungle to strip clubs, asylums, labyrinths, and criminal lairs, and from the highs of first love to the lows of failed ambition. The result is a wild rollercoaster ride from obscurity to infamy, and the moving, memorable story of a father and son whose spiritual symmetry transcends all their many shortcomings. 

A Fraction of the Whole is an uproarious indictment of the modern world and its mores, and the epic debut of the blisteringly funny and talented Steve Toltz.

I couldn't put this book down.

It was funny, quirky and thoroughly absorbing.

For lovers of weird family stories and a fine example of modern Australian literature.

2009

Tinkers by Paul Harding

An old man lies dying. Propped up in his living room and surrounded by his children and grandchildren, George Washington Crosby drifts in and out of consciousness, back to the wonder and pain of his impoverished childhood in Maine. As the clock repairer’s time winds down, his memories intertwine with those of his father, an epileptic, itinerant peddler and his grandfather, a Methodist preacher beset by madness.  

At once heartbreaking and life affirming, Tinkers is an elegiac meditation on love, loss, illness, faith, and the fierce beauty of nature.

Not always an easy book to recommend.

It's slow pace is tedious to some, but I found it haunting and beautiful.

2010

Hare With the Amber Eye by Edmund de Waal

2011

Pure by Andrew Miller

2012

Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel

2013

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

2014

This House of Grief by Helen Garner

2015

The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro

2016

Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift

2017

Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie

Hour One
11pm - midnight

The Ladies of Missalonghi
pages read: 48

TOTAL: 48pgs


Hour Two
midnight - 1am

The Ladies of Missalonghi
pages read: 16

Fell asleep around 12:30am

TOTAL: 64pg


Hours Three - Ten
1am - 9am
slept


Hour Eleven
9am - 10am

The Ladies of Missalonghi
pages read whilst eating breakfast and enjoying my first cup of buddha's tears tea: 38

TOTAL: 102pg


Hour Twelve
10am - 11am

The Ladies of Missalonghi
pages read with another cup of buddha's tears tea as I waved the family off on their outing: 58

TOTAL: 160pg


Hour Thirteen
11am - midday

The Ladies of Missalonghi
pages read: 36

TOTAL: 1 book completed - 196pg


Hour Fourteen
midday - 1pm

On Doubt (revised edition)
pages read after a walk to my local cafe for a coffee break: 20

TOTAL: 1 book & 216pgs


Hour Fifteen
1pm - 2pm

On Doubt (revised edition)
pages read over coffee and second breakfast: 94

TOTAL: 2 books completed & 310pg

Hour Sixteen
2pm - 3pm

On Listening
pages read after a leisurely walk home to clear my head: 47

TOTAL: 3 books finished & 357pgs


Hour Seventeen
3pm - 4pm

Miss Happiness and Miss Flower
pages read: 50

TOTAL: 3 books & 407pgs


Hour Eighteen
4pm - 5pm

Miss Happiness and Miss Flower
pages read: 86

TOTAL: 4 books completed & 493pgs


Hour Nineteen
5pm - 6pm

Family break to do stuff together


Hour Twenty
6pm - 7pm

The Real Jane Austen
pages read after dinner break: 2

TOTAL: 4 books & 495pgs


Hour Twenty-One
7pm - 8pm

The Real Jane Austen
pages read: 20

TOTAL: 4 books & 515pgs


Hour Twenty-Two
8pm - 9pm

The London Eye Mystery
pages read whilst lazing in a bubble bath: 59

TOTAL: 4 books & 574pgs


Hour Twenty-Three
9pm - 10pm

The London Eye Mystery
pages read: 29

TOTAL: 4 books & 603pgs


Hour Twenty-Four
10pm-11pm

The London Eye Mystery
pages read: 93

TOTAL: 24hrs - 4 books finished & 696 pages read

Another fabulous readathon dine and dusted.
See you all again in April 2018.

Until then, happy reading!