Coming up for air after several hours of bookish fun!
When I got my hair cut yesterday, the hairdresser asked if I had any exciting plans for the weekend.
I answered enthusiastically that I was going to have the house to myself and read for twenty-four hours.
“That sounds great!” The exclamation mark in her voice was so unexpected, I wondered if it was sincere or if she would have responded the same way if I’d said I was going to be working on a mosaic made entirely from the legs of insects or that I was excited to start my study-at-home chimney sweep course. “Is it for a cause or anything, or just for fun?” she asked.
“Oh, just for fun,” I answered, trying not to sound sheepish. I’d only had very fleeting thoughts of using the readathon as a way to raise money for a cause, and her question reminded me of what an indulgent weekend I’d planned for myself.
I’ve mostly brushed it aside, though, in the excitement of reading all day! I refuse to even feel nerdy about it because it’s just so awesome!
An Early Start: October 21
I found myself with some time Friday afternoon and evening and was craving something kind of scary, so I started the readathon early with Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane on audio. I’ll write up a thorough review after the readathon, but for now I’ll just say that although the choice was semi-accidental (the other audio books I’d planned to check out for the readathon had already been checked out), it was absolutely perfect for my mood, the weather, and my circumstances Friday evening. And it gave me a chance to get food prepped for the main event!
The Real Readathon: October 22
8am:
I started the day with a ten-page sprint through all of my readathon books. I got the idea from the Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon site. Basically, I read the first ten pages of every readathon book. The sprint led to three realizations:
- I’ve picked some awesome books for the readathon.
- I picked too many awesome books for the readathon.
- I read about one page per minute (at least when I’m doing a ten-page-per-book sprint).
After the sprint, I decided to focus on Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante and In the Woods by Tana French for my paper books, and Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch for my audiobook (it’s 32 hours long, though, so unless I find a way to stretch time, I won’t be finishing that one before 8am tomorrow).
Snacks: Kale salad with tahini dressing and 32 ounces of water.
10:30am:
Listened to The Goldfinch while I took a long walk then ate lunch and did some chores around the house (put out the new door mats, noticed that we really need our gutters cleaned, wiped down the bathrooms).
Lunch: leftover vegetable stir fry, a brown rice tortilla, chocolate-covered frozen banana slices, and a handful of roasted squash seeds.
12:40pm:
Read twenty-odd pages of Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay.
1:30pm:
Blog update!
Other notes:
-This morning I decided on a whim not to turn on any lights today. This works fine except in the kitchen, which is in the middle of the house and far enough away from windows that detail work is a little difficult. I use an oil lamp in there and imagine I’m on the Hempstock’s farm.
-I’m making updates in my newly-started bullet journal, but they’re not nearly as cute as other people’s bullet journal updates, so I won’t be posting any photos of my bullet journal unless I feel inspired to bust out the colored pencils and cuten things up next time I’ve got the audiobook going.
-I sense that I’m getting a little restless, so I might seek a change of venue soon. I was going to walk to the library, but walking 2 1/2 miles to the library in the rain sounds only slightly more appealing than walking 2 1/2 miles back home in the rain. So if the rain keeps up, maybe I’ll seek out another reading nook under my own roof.
Okay, off to visit a few other readathoner’s blogs, and I just realized I’ve not yet had any coffee so I’m going to go make some coffee, and then hit the books again.
Woo-hoo! Readathon!
Imperfect Happiness 