Once Upon A Readathon- Starting Post

So this is that readathon that I'm doing and yet keep forgetting about and it's HERE! So hopefully I won't forget that I'm doing it for the whole of these three days and just not read anything. Not that that would happen. Ahem.
Sooooo. I think what I'm going to do with this is just write a new post each morning just as an update on my progress for the previous day, and to get me focused on reading and stuff for the day ahead. We won't mention the fact that I'll probably be writing said posts the night before, or that probably no one wants all these posts on their google readers and whatnot, because dammit, I'm doing it and you can't stop me! *insert petulant tongue sticking out here*
Here are my thoughts as of right now- I've never done a 3 day readathon thing (or one that's longer than a day) and I feel that I may have some adjustment issues, in either reading too much and burning out on day 1, or not reading enough and feeling slightly disappointed by the end of it. So, I'm just going to chill out and read what I feel like only slightly more than I usually do, which I understand is the whole point of these anyway. So that's good. I have no idea what I'll be reading, other than that it'll be from the Fuck the Patriarchy reading list that I created (so actually, it's from a choice of 19 books, plus Vanity Fair. Obviously...) and I don't really have a goal for how much- I'd like to finish, say, 3 books? by the end of it (I should add that I'm unemployed, so reading that much isn't really going to be a problem) but it could be more or less- if I read some plays/short novels, then I could probably read about 5, if I just read The Second Sex, I'd probably finish that and nothing else. But I'm sure you understand that different books are of different lengths. Obviously.
So here's my first update: I woke up at 11am today (this is literally unheard of) and thus far haven't done any reading. TA DA! *jazz hands etc* Will try to be better for the rest of today.

Top Ten Tuesday

Well, who can resist a Top Ten Tuesday freebie? I know I can't. I'm using this as an opportunity to try and raise my own excitement levels about alllll the challenges I've committed to (totally willingly, I should add) and so I'm picking out the books I'm the most excited to read for the challenges. As an added thing that I just thought of, I'm also going to state which challenge the books belong to- the more challenges a book applies to, the more excited I am to read it, I guess (this is absolutely not true. Just so you know.)

Top Ten Challenge Books I'm Most Excited To Read


1. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami (Fuck the Patriarchy readathon)- I can't even tell you how excited I am to even have a Murakami book in a reading challenge, because honestly, reading his books is too exciting for me to even describe! So, not at all a challenge then, but still exciting (also, I feel like challenges shouldn't feel like a punishment. Just a thought.)

2. The Wind Through The Keyhole by Stephen King (Reading all the Stephen King thing)- What can I say? Another Dark Tower adventure that totally backtracks but still involves all the characters that I love? I'm kind of dying to read this book, and waiting, like, 33 (?) books for that to happen feels like an impossible task. And yet. I shall, because delayed gratification is awesome!

3. Middlemarch by George Eliot (The Classics Club)- Yeah, I've just been hearing many many good things about this at the moment, and my copy is SO PRETTY and I'm just really excited to read more Eliot (I've only read The Mill on the Floss so far, and it sounds like this is probably even better, so, exciting!)

4. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky (Back to the Classics/The Classics Club)- It feels kind of wrong to be excited by this, and yet I kind of really am, based only on the fact that I read Anna Karenina last year, and am now permanently like 'Russian Literature... yessssssss!' This is probably foolish, but still leads to Crime and Punishment excitement (also, I know I wrote about Crime and Punishment in my dissertation, although I can't remember in what context... so I should probably read it and see if I used it right or not!)

5. Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace (The Classics Club)- I'm not sure if I'm so much excited about this as much as I want to see if it's as pretentious as I think it might be. Only I hope it's not because if it's not then it kind of sounds like it could be life-changing. Hence the excitement in spite of the size of the freaking thing!

6. The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir (The Classics Club/Fuck the Patriarchy readathon)- I started reading this years ago at university, but if you've been you'll probably remember that downtime reading = very little, and downtime reading of non-fiction that's all feministy and shiz = basically non-existent. So yeah, I read like 50 pages, but had it out of the library SO long that I started to feel bad in case someone actually needed it and then I took it back. So, now I have my own copy, it really feels like it needs to be read!

7. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S Thompson (TBR Challenge)- Um... I've seen the movie and it was insane (mostly in a good way... I think...) and from what I can tell the book is really similar which could either be very good or very bad. We shall see. Either way, I'm kind of excited to find out.

8. The Private Lives of Pippa Lee by Rebecca Miller (Fuck the Patriarchy readathon)- I'm excited about this because it means that I'll finally be able to see the film, although I can't remember exactly what it was about the film that excited me... Hang on. *toddles over to Wikipedia* Ok, so I think that I thought there was a kind of United States of Tara/Sybil thing going on in this, but actually it seems like that's not the case. But it still sounds pretty good? We shall see.

9. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (Back to the Classics/The Classics Club)- Ok, so this is a re-read and I really shouldn't be as excited about it as I am, but I really am because Steinbeck! I do love him so! Also because I'm going to be hosting my first readalong (in October, put it in your diaries people!) and it's going to be my first book for that, and SO that's totally exciting too!

10. Bag of Bones by Stephen King (Reading all the Stephen King thing)- This is also a re-read, but I'm always excited about reading Bag of Bones because it's one of my favourite King novels. For no real reason, I guess, other than that I really like the way it feels to read. And also because it seems to be one people have never heard of, so I enjoy being like 'oh yeah, that's one of my favourites' and feeling all obscure Stephen King knowledgeable. Because that's what makes a person really really cool, you know?!

So. These may be the books I'm most excited by right now, but that's liable to change with the wind, and also the books I'm least excited about sometimes turn out to be the best (I'm looking at you, Vanity Fair). But still. These all sound like fun, so I should get to reading them!

Sunday Sundries: Play Nicely On The Internet, Children!

Hey, remember when my Sunday posts used to just be about my week and stuff? That was fun, huh? I'm thinking of changing the title to 'Sunday Soapbox' cause, well, I'm about to get up on my high horse about something that really really really pisses me off. You'll see. It'll be fun!

But firstly, let's talk about my week! It's been pretty meh- mum came out of the hospital on Monday which was awesome, but it kind of took until about Thursday for me to like completely come out of hospital mode- hospital mode being 'ARGH, I can't do anything because I'll be going to the hospital soon, and omg what are we going to have for dinner and I haven't done the washing and what would mum want me to do BLEAHFEAOUFH' which is basically like a heightened anxiety mode or something? I don't know, but either way it wasn't much fun, but I'm mostly over it now (just need to breathe and relax, baby, breathe and relax). And then Friday was all 'hey, let's go back to the hospital and give mum some chemo! Yeah!' which is clearly not as fun as all those exclamation points suggest. Just one more to go now, so... I really can't wait!

And now to the really important part of the post. On, you know, being mean on the internet. So this week I got my first abusive comment, and honestly, I was angry. I didn't feel guilty, I didn't feel bad about myself, I felt FURIOUS that someone had come to my turf and was talking to me like it. See, what I had the nerve to do was write a post saying that I found myself unable to finish watching Generation Kill, because I don't do well watching things about war. In fact, I get really bored. And, to be honest, this post was a excuse to post a few Alexander Skarsgard gifs, and just, you know, express a few opinions.

No normal person would have a problem with this, and yet, I got the rudest comment practically minutes after I posted it. Let's look at this comment, while I 'critique' exactly what was wrong with it:

Wow, this was the shittiest post ever. (Really? EVER?! Clearly you've never read my early posts! And starting with an insult, nice work.) Generation Kill is not only one of the greatest war dramas on television (Well, that's a nice opinion you have there. I'm sure it is. But what I'm saying is, I COULDN'T WATCH IT BECAUSE WAR THINGS BORE ME) but one of the greatest ever (Well, good for it. I'm sure it's glad that such an upstanding person as you has such an opinion on it). If you can't get over "not liking war things" (interestingly, I can't, because I don't want to spend my time watching things I don't like, you know?) you have no place critiquing anything (Really, anything?! Or do you mean 'you have no business disliking things that I like, bitch'?)

Well, I'm pretty pleased with my critique of that little ditty, even if it wasn't my 'place' to do so. For some reason I've decided that my anonymous commenter is male (which is totally unfair, but likes war things? Thinks I should know my place which is no doubt in the kitchen?) but either way, you know, I was greatly displeased.

So, I did what any self-respecting person would do and rallied my troops on twitter, wherein my blogging and real life homies weighed in with hilarious/awesome comments that pretty much made my LIFE, and so really I have to thank Mr/Mrs Anon for leaving such a douchey comment in the first place. To anyone ever experiencing anything similar, I highly recommend this as a course of action, because it'll make you feel better, even if Anonymous dickhead never comes back to see the responses.

Which, of course, anonymous dickheads never do. Nope, they just leave behind their rude and abusive opinions, and never look back. Which is why, of course, it's fine to ignore them, but just as good to present logical arguments as to why their comment is that of an asshole. Much as I love the internet, this is my number one least favourite thing about it, and it was even before it happened to me- for some reason, some people think it's ok to just blow up about nothing, to comment on other people's personal opinions and to make complete jackasses of themselves, all whilst hiding behind anonymity so that they can't be tracked down and made to apologise for being scars on the face of humanity. I literally can't understand why people do it.

Actually, that's a lie. I understand it- these people believe that their opinion, above all others, are superior, and anyone who disagrees with them has to be shouted down. There's no consideration of 'does this person's opinion have any impact on my life?' or 'well, I still like Generation Kill just the same', it's just an immediate, and unnecessary, attack on someone else's thoughts. And it's not just  that, but it's the way it's expressed- believe me, I welcome debate and other opinions of course, and disagreeing with me? Totally not a big deal. For fucks sake, Alice and I have long running Murakami and The Catcher in the Rye feuds, but we manage to restrain ourselves from being abusive towards each other and can just express what we like and dislike about each of them without telling each other that the other person's opinion doesn't matter. You know, like the civilised people do.

So, listen up internet. This is what's up. Opinions are fine. Opinions are great. Opinions make the world go round. But there are two things you need to think about, at all times, when you're going to express yours on the internet:

1. Tone- Are you about to get disproportionately angry about something someone has said about something you like? Stop. Step away from the computer. Think of a way to express your opinion that doesn't involve invalidating someone else's. Don't be rude. Don't be a dick. Try it, I think it'll make you feel better.
2. Relevence- Do you even need to express this opinion? Will anyone be disappointed if you don't, and will it be more harmful if you do? This is something that people REALLY need to think about before they comment on Instagram- I don't know what it is about people's personal pictures that make people feel the need to express ridiculous opinions, but really, there's always one... For example, there's this blogging team of 2 sisters, and on a picture of both of them, someone's comment was 'you're SO much prettier than your sister'. How is that a helpful opinion?! These girls are like best friends, so clearly the 'prettier' one (they're both gorgeous, by the way) isn't exactly going to be swooning at this commenter's feet! USE YOUR HEADS, PEOPLE!

Basically, just be cool and be nice, and pretend that the internet is like real life, where you'd never go up to someone and start yelling 'YOUR DRESS IS DISGUSTING, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!' Politeness is never an inappropriate response, because you know what? There are REAL people on the internet, who don't necessarily want to deal with your toxic way of expressing yourself. So don't be a dick, ok? And bloggers, remember- if this happens to you, don't shy away, or meekly accept someone else's bullshit. Send out a battle cry on twitter, and I'll be the first one there to defend you, and I won't be the only one.

I recognise that the tone of all this is rather negative (as, indeed, it has to be) so just to shake it off I'm going to follow one of my favourite ever pieces of advice:

As I instruct you to look at this new blog that I like that you may also like too or something! (This may or may not be a regular thing. We'll see how many awesome new blogs I find on a regular basis). Anyway, this week's new (to me, I should add that. Also, I should add new-ish... Or maybe I should just direct you to it and shhh) blog that's awesome is Oh Dizzle... I think Mandy and I discovered each other through Armchair BEA, and yeah, I really look forward to her posts (which are about books AND other stuff, which is always a nice change) and I like her writing voice and clearly I'm slightly smitten with her blog! So go over to it and see it for yourself if you so desire! And have a good week! (I'm doing a 3 day readathon thing that I've remembered and forgotten about more times than I'd care to admit. So, I might not be doing it at all, we'll see what I remember tomorrow!)

Devouring Books: Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami

"Why do people have to be this lonely? What's the point of it all? Millions of people in this world, all of them yearning, looking to others to satisfy them, yet isolating themselves. Why? Was the Earth put here just to nourish loneliness?"

Ah. Just when you think you'll never finish a book ever again because you're halfway through Vanity Fair and can't get into anything else, but you also can't carry that around with you because it's massive, you pick up a Murakami book and finish it in two days, and also remember what reading's all about. I mean, that's what you do if you're me, obviously. How I've lasted 3 months without reading a Murakami book is beyond me, but finally, finally! More weirdness and confusion and sadness and completely wonderful loveliness.

Let's see. Where to begin? Firstly, Sputnik Sweetheart was translated by a different dude than the guy who translated the other two Murakami books I've read, which isn't something that I'd normally mention except that, well, I could kind of tell! At least, I could a bit at the beginning (which was before I knew it had been translated by some other dude) where I was like 'this feels a bit... clunky' and then checked out the translator and it was some guy who wasn't the other guy (isn't this the best storytelling ever?) Anyway, basically all this meant was that at the beginning I was slightly apprehensive that this maybe wasn't going to be that good, but something happened that meant either the translator or I got more into it, or maybe that the story just took over from the writing, but either way, I loved it.

So, like all Murakami things I've read so far (all three of them) Sputnik Sweetheart kind of defies classification. It's very mysterious, and yet not a mystery (although at times I was like *gasp* revelations!); there are events and moments that seem unconnected to the main narrative, although I'm sure if I thought about them for long enough I'd come up with some kind of explanation; and there are some homosexual feelings expressed but it doesn't at all feel like a GLBT book. Above all, I guess, it fits into the very special 'Murakami' Genre: all the hallmarks are there (ears, cats, different worlds, super sophisticated exploration of sexuality) and, well, at the moment this select genre (which is made up of, I think, 12 novels) is kind of my favourite, so how could I dislike Sputnik Sweetheart?

You want to know about the story? Ok, so the narrator (whose name we never discover because there's a wonderful passage about how he can't talk about himself, because he doesn't really even know who/what he is yet, so how can he tell us any 'facts' about himself?) is one of Murakami's lonely boys (TM) who loves a girl who is his best friend, but who feels no desire for him, or anyone, until she meets a woman who she does have sexy feelings for, and although it sounds kind of like a love triangle, it very much isn't because there's no struggle, just an acceptance that everyone likes who they like, and that no-one in the situation can do anything to change it. It's all very complex and sad and kind of super wonderful.

So... I've come to that point as I do in every Murakami review where I don't want to say anymore, because 1) I don't want to really give anything away, and 2) there's not really anything I can say to do his books justice. And to be honest, I can't think of any solid reasons as to why you MUST read them- all I can tell you is that they make me feel ridiculously sucked in and attentive and AMAZED and just, sometimes paradoxically, really happy. But that's just me! You might be pissed off by the crazy, and just want concrete happenings, and that's fine, but it's apparently just not what I'm looking for with Murakami. And I'm never disappointed!

I read this book as part of the Fuck the Patriarchy Readathon. If you'd like to donate to Rape Crisis, please visit this Justgiving page. Thanks!

Skarsgard, I Love You, But Clearly Not Enough To Keep Watching Generation Kill

I'm fairly convinced that Alexander Skarsgard is a perfect human being- he's Swedish, he's a pacifist, he's really really funny, and well, HAVE YOU SEEN HIS FACE AND ALL THE REST OF HIM?! Ahem, but no really, I think he's the shiz, and so naturally, I'm all about wanting to see all the things he's ever done ever that exist on film. Especially if they involve him getting all topless and stuff. Ahem.

So anyway, naturally after watching ALL THE TRUE BLOOD and sitting through Melancholia (GOD, Melancholia...) and watching the Paparazzi video over and over again on YouTube, I figured it was time to watch Generation Kill, because full episodes! Much Skarsgard! Plus there's always the possibility of his taking his top off, because, you know, I hear it gets all hot in Iraq!

But. I totally forgot that I really really really hate watching war things. Like, literally all war things. I've been lured into watching a fair few war things because they involved actors that I basically want to jump all over and do bad things with (Black Hawk Down: Orlando Bloom/Josh Hartnett/Ewan McGregor, Platoon: Johnny Depp, Jarhead: Jake Gyllenhaal) but about 15 minutes in I'm bored out of my MIND. Here are a few reasons why:

• I really fucking hate war: I do. So I don't especially like watching people doing it, and I find it really hard to sympathise with soldier characters when I do especially in conflicts that I don't necessarily agree should have happened (aaand, this is where I stop before I insult anyone who knows anyone in the military. Which isn't what I'm trying to do! This is just how I feel about fictional accounts of wars and things.)
• Face blindness: When there are loads and loads of actors all wearing the same uniform, I get this ridiculous face blindness that completely invalidates the point of watching things because there are cute boys in them. Admittedly, I can usually find the person I watched it for (although, I swear, it took most of the Black Hawk Down to find Orlando Bloom) but not being able to distinguish between anyone else's faces sure does make it hard to figure out relationships between characters, and thus work out a lot of plot points. So that's kind of a problem.
• There are no ladies!: Or rather, there are ladies, but they're always always victims of some kind because they're the civilians whose lives are being destroyed by whatever conflict. They don't get a voice, obviously, and since we still live in the dark ages, there obviously aren't any women in various dangerous situations, even though they let women in the army these days. Go figure. Oh wait, sorry, I did forget one other lady thing- there's the women that they left at home that they talk about in rarely a respectful or loving manner. Cause that's what has to happen if you get a bunch of dudes together...

So. Just a tiny taster of the issues I have with war things. And so, clearly, Generation Kill wasn't the best thing for me to make a priority on LoveFilm, but did I not explain about the Skarsgard thing? I did, right?

So, his face propelled me through 3 and a half episodes (where, honestly, I can't really tell you much about what went on. Things got blown up and the Marines didn't have enough batteries) and then I just decided that I had to move on with my life because I'm never going to like war things. Never. Even with Skarsgard. Even with Depp, for gods sake! As far as I can tell, though, Generation Kill seems like it's probably a good example of a war thing, so by all means, if that's a thing you like, then you should probably give it a go. Just don't get sucked into the Skarsgard trap, because even he's not worth it. Wow, that was difficult to write...

Top Ten Tuesday

Oh the trials I've had with this week's TTT! First of all I was going to do it because I misunderstood the point of the list and had one all ready, and then when I realised I was like 'ohhh, fuck this' but NOW I'm like 'hmmm... I'm not looking like finishing a book any time EVER so I should probably make a list'. And so this is it! The most begrudged list ever, because I love you all so much that I don't want you to miss me for a whole week. I'm amazing, I know.

Top Ten Books for People Who Liked X Author


If you like Stephen King, you might like:


1. Dracula by Bram Stoker- I literally know nothing about horror novels beyond Stephen King, but I read Dracula last year and it was extremely awesome, and also, I know it inspired 'Salem's Lot in all kinds of ways, so there's that.

2. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley- Because, whilst it's mildly scary and peril-ish, it also deals with the emotional side of things in a way that Stephen King often does too. And it's sort of awesome.

3. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins- Ok, hear me out, because even though this is all mystery rather than horror, it's definitely a bit creepy and uneasy making and well, utterly amazing. And basically I just want everyone to read it, so go and do that!

If you like Margaret Atwood, you might like:


4. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley- Clearly I've only read Atwood dystopias, but this is kind of a great one that I think remains relevant today. Or I did when I read it years ago...

5. 1984 by George Orwell- You know. Another dystopia and all that. And also, it's terrifying. Like The Handmaid's Tale

If you like Nora Ephron, you might like:


6. Bill Bryson- Because they both have the knack of making the everyday hilarious, and of being awesome. Damn, I'm sad about Nora...

7. How To Be A Woman by Caitlin Moran- See: Hilarious. And amazing.

8. Girls- Lena Dunham is like in LOVE with Nora Ephron, and I think that sometimes comes through in her tv series. And it's awesome so you should just watch it anyway.

And if you liked The Help by Kathryn Stockett:


Then there's really no hope for you. I recommend therapy, OR if you really want to read about the 'black experience' in America, then go for The Color Purple by Alice Walker, or I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou.

Sunday Sundries: The Midway Point

Well. This week was going fine until Wednesday night, when I was out having fun at a gig (my friend knows the drummer, it's all very cool) and my mum was simultaneously having a high temperature, and as we later found out, a urine infection (apparently a common chemo infection type thing, obviously not all that pleasant for her, but nothing to properly worry about. I think) and was at the hospital by the time I got home. Cue: hospital visits and housekeeping and general grumpiness and disproportionate anger at various situations. And the week started so well!

So. I'm attempting to put all that out of my mind for tonight at least (I'm writing this early Saturday evening, because I'm not sure when I'll have time tomorrow cause the hospital steals all mine) because me and Alley and Alice and Megs are going to be attempting to watch Clueless together across 4 different time zones and it could be a complete disaster or it could be the greatest thing ever or, obviously, both. I'll know by the time I post this, and if I have time I'll put a little ps at the bottom of this  post to let you know how it went. But if I don't, you know, leave me alone, my mum's in hospital! (And also, I had to sleep. Probably. This is all getting very meta...)

Anyway, so there's that. But the real purpose of this post is to lay out allll my reading progress for the first 6 months of the year because I like to do my little admin tasks and to see what I've done and what I've still got left to do. Yes, even though I complain because the challenges are 'all too much!' for me, actually, this part of them, the tallying up of what I've done is the actual best bit. Apart from the reading, I guess, but who cares about that?! (Me. I do. And you probably do too if you're reading this.)

SO! Where to begin? I really don't know. Let's see...

I've read 11 Stephen King books so far this year, which seems like less than I feel like I've read which is probably because The Tommyknockers was so very very bad. I guess I've had a few self-enforced breaks from Stephen King this year too, which probably explains the slightly low numbers there.

For The Classics Club I've read 6 books, which isn't amazing but isn't really bad either, and I don't really think of that as a challenge so much as just a guide to the classics I should read, mainly because I basically own all of the ones on my list and haven't read most of them yet, so there's that.

Aaaaand, what else is there? Ok, well, let's talk about the Back To The Classics challenge. Cause it's my least impressive achievement and yet, YET, I'm still quite impressed with myself. I may have only read one extra classic since last time (I'm now at 3 out of 9) BUT I am currently reading another one, and I have firm plans for another (Grapes of Wrath readalong in October you guys? You'll love it!) so I feel pretty good about my plans. Although less good about reading Crime and Punishment at any point ever. Feels like a winter book to me...

And then there's the TBR Challenge, in which I'm almost where I should be at this point of the year- I've read 5 of 12 books so far, and I would have read 6 if one of them hadn't BORED me from the very beginning (Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. Don't even tell me that it changed your life or whatever, because I just can't. Still, at least I got rid of another book) so, yeah, that feels pretty good too! I think I have a few of these on my Fuck the Patriarchy reading list for July and August (more on that later) too, so... I think it'll get done. It'll be good.

And finally, and this is my BIGGEST achievement- in the Off the Shelf challenge, which, last time I'd read a grand total of 3 books for, I've now read THIRTEEN books for! Which is still not really enough considering that I've got waay more books than that that I need to read, and I'm still reading library books, AND I didn't add to that list at all last month, but I'm still super proud of that, and it's only 2 books where I should be at this point to make my hopeful yearly total, so it's all good.

Aaaand, now I feel good about my challenges again, so yay! And since today marks the beginning of the Fuck the Patriarchy Readathon, I think I'm going to add that book list (which I've modified slightly since I made it) to my current challenges tab, where, by the way, you can always go to look at my progress if you're so inclined, even though I realise literally no one cares about my challenges progress but me. But I do, so y'all have to hear about it! Ha.

Oh yeah, and apparently I'm doing some 3-day readathon thing like next week? That I've managed to mostly forget about as soon as I signed up for it, but which I am pretty dedicated to because OH! I agreed to read 20 books in July and August, and 3 days of reading as much as I can therefore sounds like a pretty good idea! Um, so yeah, there's that, which I probably could have waited til next week to inform you about, but there we go. Sensibleness=not really a thing with me at the moment. Oh yeah, and ALSO I haven't finished a book for about ten million years (I dunno, a week?) so it could be a lean lean blog week. You poor bastards.