It’s here, it’s here, it’s finally here! The time to get comfy, pick a book and read with thousands of readers from around the world for the next 24 hours. What could possibly be more wonderful? Oh, and did I mention the snacks? And the community? And the comfy? And the BOOKS?? Let’s get started!
The goals for this, my 5th Dewey’s are simple as usual:
Try to read a lot.
Eat snacks.
Wear comfy clothes.
And have a wonderful time with all the other lovely readers!
I know, I’m super-ambitious!
As per usual, I will be updating this post throughout the day, but I will also be active on Instagram, Goodreads and possibly also Twitter.
First, some basic info:
1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
Bruxelles, Belgium
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
Well, I don’t like to play favourites, but “Bird Box” by Josh Malerman is my “stay-awake-through-fear” read for the darkest hours, and I have such high expectations!
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
Hmm… Can I say “all of them”?? 😀
4) Tell us a little something about yourself!
My name is Camilla, I am 34, I’m originally from Denmark, but have lived in several different countries and am currently reading from Brussels. I love to read most genres of books, but have a soft spot for all things magical, fantastical and a little bit disturbing.
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today?
Not a whole lot. I feel like I’ve found what works well for me, but this year I think I’m going to try and time exactly how much time I spend actively reading out of the 24 hours:)
13.55: Is it time yet???
I’m in my reading chair, holding the first book in my hands, snacks at the ready, Care Bears comfy-pants on, and just waiting, waiting for the start… Come on already!
15.32: Friendship and weird worlds
I’m about half-way through my first book of the readathon, “The Rest of Us Just Live Here” and so far, I’m really liking its strange story of friendship, off characters and strange supernatural happenings almost as an afterthought. The sky over Brussels is incredibly grey and rainy, but somehow I don’t mind so much – it seems perfect for cuddling up in my chair with a cup of tea and the book.
17.56: One book down! Where to next?
I just finished my first book “The Rest of Us Just Live Here” by Patrick Ness, and I really enjoyed it. It’s a very different kind of book, and the idea is brilliant – instead of focusing on the unlikely heroes of most YA supernatural tales, the story deals with the more “normal” people that are on the fringes of that main story line. Each chapter of the story starts with a short resumé of what is happening in the “real” story of a girl at the center of a vast supernatural plot for control of the Earth (think everything from Twilight to Percy Jackson). That flipping everything on its head works brilliantly, I think, and Ness manages to show very well how even those of us not at the center of the “saving-the-world” storyline are also important people with big issues and loves and heart breaks. It’s not perfectly done, but I adore the idea and it was perfect for a first readathon book 🙂
Now I just have to decide what to read next…? I’ll probably spend some time going around visiting blogs and cheering a bit before deciding.
19.27: A bit of hysterics and now for some Pratchett!
So there I was, happily hopping around visiting blogs and cheering, and suddenly the stupid computer refused to do anything I wanted it to! So, being the very rational and calm person I normally am, I threw a minor fit, because this cannot happen in the middle of the readathon!!
Luckily, I’ve married a man with a lot more patience then me who banished me back to my reading chair while he calmly figured out what was wrong, and I started reading about Pratchett’s silly dragons and people living on dust motes. Silly and funny, and now the computer works again.
21.04: Vampire tales with a Scottish accent
The original plan for dinner was foiled by lack of focused shopping yesterday, so instead I loaded up some Victorian vampire stories on my phone and had the glorious David Tennant read them to me in his best Scottish. The stories are from a series called “A Night with a Vampire” read by Tennant on BBC4 and include stories by Fritz Lieber, Richard Matheson, Edith Wharton, Guy de Maupassant and Angela Carter. Perfect for an October readathon!
I’m about half-way through “Dragons at Crumbling Castle”, which turned out to be short stories, so while fun and silly, they’re not difficult to kep long-term focus on, so I think I’m going to switch over to one of my shorter books for a change of pace, and instead finish the Pratchett book later.
00.38: Long and dark hours in the Carpathians
I chose “Embers” by Sándor Márai as my next book, as its ominous cover and haunting description has been in the back of my mind for a very long time. And it was fine, but just that. I felt that while the atmosphere and heart of the story was strong and exactly what I had expected, its length (although only 230 pages) was overwhelming and repetitive, which eventually just made me want to get it over with.
Now, I’ve been invited for a midnight stroll with J, and I hope to come back fresh and ready for a new literary adventure! 🙂
02.09: It’s time for the big (bird) guns!
Back from a lovely cold walk, I’m ready to start the task of making it through the night, so I will start my most anticipated read “Bird Box”. It’s by far the longest book of my stack, so I might takes some breaks in the middle, but let’s see how it goes. The hubby is asking the nachos, so I guess it’s time for some night time snacks 😉
05.57: The birds did their job – maybe a little too well?
I’ve just turned the last page in “Bird Box” and it was amazing! Just as good and effective at keeping me awake as I had hoped, and a very unique and scary take on the dystopian tale. Strangely, the last 80 pages of the book are actually a short story, so the ending came a lot sooner than expected. Which means I’m now still wide awake even though I had planned for some sleepy time… I do have that pesky job to get to on Monday 🙁
I think I will go back to some silly Pratchett or maybe even a few Eastern European fairy tales and see how I feel in a little while.
09:07: Come morning, come suns… No, wait.
After trying to read several different things after the last update, I decided that maybe my mind would know what to do all on its own if I hit the bed, and lo and behold, it’s now 2½ hours later, and I’m ready to spend the last hours reading “The Miserable Mill”. With some tea, some breakfast and my duvet in the reading chair, I’m more than ready!
11.39: Those poor Baudelaire children!
I’ve just closed the last page on my traditional read – the fourth book in the “A Series of Unfortunate Events” – and as always, the stories are a bit silly and a bit sad, and very perfect for the readathon. I only read the series for the readathon, so with another 9 books to go, I have plenty more traditional reads to come.
I also managed to finish “Dragons at Crumbling Castle” which was a lot more childish and clearly written by a much younger Pratchett (he wrote most of the stories during his teens), so not as wonderful as most of his later work, but it was a fun book to read in-between some larger stories.
Now, I will have to decide what to spend the last couple of hours of the readathon on reading, but I still have both “Watchmen” and the lovely fairy tales to choose from.
13.58: There has to be some Gaiman…
My last two hours have been spent with the gorgeously illustrated Eastern European fairy tales in “The Kingdom Under the Sea and Other Stories”, and it was the perfect read to round off the last wonderful 24 hours of reading 🙂 But it was so short that I found myself with almost a whole other hour to go once it was done, so I decided that indeed a readathon is not complete without some Neil Gaiman, and I spent the last hour reading “Seasons of Mist” – Volume 4 in the Sandman series, which is just so mind-blowingly amazing that I cannot do it justice with any words.
14.02: And now, we’ve come to the end.
No matter how much you read or how much you want it, Dewey’s always ends too soon. My bed is whispering to me though, so I will be happy to heed its call after having spent the last 24 hours once again a part of one of the most rewarding and wonderful communities!
I’m very pleased with how much I managed to read this time, and ended up with the highest number of pages read so far: 1,668 pages (+218 graphic novel)
“The Rest of Us Just Live Here” = 352 pages
“Dragons at Crumbling Castle” = 368 pages
“Embers” = 249 pages
“Bird Box” = 381 pages
“The Miserable Mill” = 194 pages
“The Kingdom Under the Sea and Other Stories” = 124 pages
“Seasons of Mist” (graphic novel) = 218 pages
I had a blast reading and chatting and snacking, and as soon as I wake up, I will want it to be April and time for another readathon! But for now, I will say goodbye and goodnight. See you next time!
