Friday 12 October 2012

Readathon: Preparation Time

I think we all appreciate that a good readathon takes a lot of preparation and compiling of books and shuffling of papers and all that kind of stuff. I don't even know what I'm talking about right now, but tomorrow is Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon, and look! A pile of books!
When I made this pile, I thought wistfully back to the me of about a year ago who put EIGHTEEN books in her first readathon pile like that was a viable number of books to read! This is definitely more do-able, and I'm still definitely not going to read hardly any of these, obviously. But it's good to have options!

So, allow me to elaborate on ze books. Starting from the bottom there is:

  • The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling- Which I'm sort of 40% of the way through, and which I intend to read more of tonight, so we'll see how much of that is left to read by tomorrow!
  • Burton on Burton- Because, Tim Burton! And also I've had it for a while now (it even made it into last year's readathon pile!) and I want to read it. Obviously.
  • Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane- This seems like it's going to be a bit of a page turner, which is clearly what a readathon requires. And Alley keeps going on about Lehane all the time, so... I should probably see what she's talking about!
  • Let The Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist- Another leftover from last year's readathon, and a book I am determined to read for RIP this year. So even if I don't read it tomorrow, I will soon.
  • The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson- Shirley Jackson is pretty awesome. Stephen King says this is good. If I don't read it early, I will not be reading it AT ALL.
  • 5th Avenue, 5am: Audrey Hepburn and Breakfast at Tiffany's by Sam Wasson- There is a story about this book that I will tell below. I've included it in the pile because it's NEW and I'm EXCITED about it!
  • Insomnia by Stephen King- In case all the other books suck and I need to resort to King. Because really, you can't go wrong!
I haven't even thought about snacks because I'm assuming that I'll just mainly have, you know, meals tomorrow, but I believe my mum will be buying hummus, and obviously there will always be diet coke, and really, what more do I need? Nothing.

And now, for a story. Yesterday I was washing up in the kitchen when my dad came in brandishing a parcel at me, about which I was VERY excited because, hey! I hadn't ordered anything! So I obviously opened it where I stood, and found the following:
With a helpful explanatory card from Bex saying that she sent me these goodies (these very very good goodies!) as a thank you for making her baby some hats, and cause I've been having a kind of rough time lately; and I was BOWLED OVER. Like, seriously. Ugh, she's such a lovely, and now everyone knows about it, and you all can know that I LOVE her, as well. (I mean, I already did! But this is like an extra mile of loveliness).

SO! Thank youuuu Bex! Again. And until the END OF TIME.

And that was that and it was the best, and now I get to read ALL day tomorrow, and that's going to be the second best. Pretty awesome, I think you'll agree.

12 comments:

  1. Great stack!!! You've reminded me that I need to pick up some Angela Carter at the library today. Sorry, when I saw Shirley Jackson, Angela Carter came to mind? I don't know how these things happen, but they do. lol

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    1. Hahaha, I do that allll the time! So yes. Go forth and read Angela Carter (I actually just read my first book of hers, it was awesome!)

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  2. Yay Shutter Island. It is page turn-y, even if you already know how it ends. I read a big chunk of the book in one sitting.

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    1. Good to know! Seriously! I kind of don't want to read that too late either though... Hmmm...

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  3. The Haunting of Hill House will make a fantastic RAT selection!

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  4. Yay readathon piling. That's my favorite part about the whole thing, making the pile. Although I always end up reading other things.

    P.S. Those baby hats you made for Bex are adorable. I can make a decent scarf, but I just tried my first baby hat, and OH MY, not good.

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  5. Yay Burton on Burton. And Breakfast at Tiffany's (though it's not on your pile). I'm anxious to see what you think of Casual Vacancy. I got a call from the library saying it's waiting for me. Can't wait to get it Monday.

    I'm planning to read up to 3 books tomorrow. I'm aiming low this time around. I don't really have snacks planned but I'll probably drink a lot of tea. It's going to be around 20F degrees tomorrow. Brr.

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  6. Ahhh I've always wanted to try a readathon. I'd have to do it when hubby was out of town (which is never) or he'd think I was cah-razy. And also, he would just bug me continuously.

    Oooh and I've heard Let the Right One in is super good and scary!

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  7. Daaaaaaaamn I want to be read-a-thonning (or RATTING, as it shall henceforth be known, just because it's funny) but I have the work and the customers and other such things that make RATTING deeply frustrating (and fruitless). Hopefully they will be better than yesterday because three people nearly died in a horrendous 'accident' involving me, them, a stapler and the nearest encyclopedia. But I digress...

    I have two of your books on Mount TBR, on two on le epic wishlist, so I shall be following your exploits with some interest. But WHAT ARE YOU DOING ABOUT SNACKS? Lady, you cannot do RATTING with Diet Coke and hummus, it's not allowed. At the very least there must be cookies and pizza. AT THE VERY LEAST. *shakes head sadly and resolves to tutor Laura more in the art of RATTING management*

    Also, aren't booky bloggers the best? I mean really, we are totally the bestest people. I may be a tiny bit biased, but we are. FACT. Bex can be awesome AND make tea cosies shaped like cupcakes even while nine and a bit months pregnant! Plus, not only can you do hi-larious bloggy things to make me laugh instead of killing customers with staplers, but YOU CAN MAKE TINY HATS. *bows deeply to the Queen of all things*

    Right, er, that's enough from me I think. I should point out that I haven't actually finished my first coffee of the day yet, so this rambling is mostly due to insufficient caffeine intake. I'd better go pick a book to take to work today to see if I can maybe do reading in the RATTING spirit, even if I have to resort to stalking everyone else for updates and book piles and all that jazz. Laters dude - good luck and have fun! :D

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    1. OMG how long is this comment?! It's nearly longer than your whole post! *coughs and blushes* Ummm, sorry about that... :(

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  8. Shutter Island great, could never get past first chapter of Haunting of Hill House myself....good luck with that,

    I'm battling through Franzen's Freedom, with a side accompaniment of William McIlvanney, because Freedom's too heavy to read in bed,

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  9. Ooooo nice pile there lady! And awwww that was so nice of Bex!!

    I don't have a lot of snacks planned for today either, cause you know, this darn cal counting thing. BUT I do have to go grocery shopping and if I see something delicious there, I just might cave, in the spirit of the readathon! Cause readathon almost always = pigout.

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