October Mini-Readathon

It's 1pm which means it's time for Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon! This time I'm doing a mini-readathon and will be taking part 1-5pm this afternoon, instead of the full 24 hours. The kettle is boiling and I'm looking forward to my first cup of coffee of the day. The house is empty as Him Indoors is travelling back from an overnight stay in London and the animals are asleep. I'm ready to kick back and begin a good reading sprint.

Based upon my experience with the readathon in April, I have chosen some shorter reads to indulge in this afternoon. Here's a (badly photographed) glimpse of my reading pile:

Louise Welsh was my first read for the April readathon and it was sheer luck I managed to add her to this one. I have been waiting for her latest book, The Girl on the Stairs, to come into my local library. It arrived on Thursday which I was rather excited about. The other reads on my pile include:

Monkeys with Typewriters - Scarlett Thomas
Negotiating with the Dead - Margaret Atwood
On Writing - Stephen King

I'm using this afternoon as an opportunity to catch up on my 'self-study' into the craft of writing. It's a change from my last readathon books which included memoirs, feminist theory and novels influenced by the Women's Liberation Movement.

Ah, I hear you cry, what's the orange envelope? All in good time, it wouldn't be a readathon if there were no surprises along the way. Good luck everyone and happy reading!

Comments moderation has been switched off for today so please stop by and say hello!

Almost 4.5 hours into the readathon 

It has been delightful losing myself in a book this afternoon. Once again I have been reading in my shared office with Him Indoors on our lovely new futon. The view from my new house overlooks dense woodland and I can see the forest turning a golden shade of autumn. It's a perfect backdrop to the sinister tale Louise Welsh has crafted in The Girl on the Stairs.  Jane Logan has relocated to Berlin with her partner, Petra. At first you sense Jane's bewilderment of being in a different country (as most people would do) and unable to communicate in German. On her first night in a strange new apartment she hears a violent argument from the occupants next door. Before long Jane becomes mildly obsessed with Dr Mann and his teenage daughter, Anna. To add to the danger Jane is pregnant and, as the plot speeds on, I keep finding myself appalled at the situations she keeps putting herself and her unborn child in. I flinch each time she lights up a cigarette (she's determined to give up) or when she goes wandering the streets at night. I'm starting to wonder how much I should judge Jane's interpretation of events.

I decided to take a little break at 4pm to explore the contents of my orange envelope. I have recently joined a zine subscription service and my first packet arrived this week. The zines have a real mix of visual styles and they have been a good distraction from the density of text from a book.

Him Indoors will be returning home soon so I will put my reading aside. All the best for those still reading and I'll see you in April. 

October Already

As the year rumbled into October, I felt rather cheated when frost started appearing on the ground. At the train station, I watched the smoky breath from my fellow commuters that comes with the drop in temperature. Everyone has been hoping for a late summer, especially as most of this year was a washout. No such luck. On Tuesday I stepped into the cold air, wrapped in my new winter coat.

It's hard to believe that almost six months ago I was preparing for the Dewey 24 Hour Readathon. For those that don't know, the Readathon is a glorious opportunity to spend an indulgent 24 hours reading for pure and utter pleasure. April was the first readathon I participated in, after cheering on from the sidelines, and I had a wonderful time. You can read all about my experiences by clicking on this summary blog post. 

Like the unexpected frost, October's readathon has crept up on me. It was Alex in Leed's post last week that reminded me that a readathon was coming up. Unfortunately I have made plans for part of this weekend but there is a gap on Saturday afternoon. It's a nice little reading slot that I shall spent lying on the futon in the home office (the room that catches most of the afternoon sun), mug of tea beside me and a good book to keep me company. 

Good luck to all those embarking on the full 24 hour marathon. I will be cheering you on in spirit. 

Sunday Salon: Reflections of a Readathon

Yesterday I took part in my first 24 hour readathon. I have been aware of this event for a couple of years but I've not been able to take part before. The start time of 13:00 on a Saturday (to reflect the official starting time in America) was no good to me when I was a student and when I began working in a 'proper' weekday job.

Then I noticed that some participants were bending the rules. Yes, they were reading for 24 hours but they started at 00:01 according to their time zones. Now this I could sign up to. You can read my blog posts about the day here:

Hour 0

Hour 3

Hour 8

Hour 12

Hour 16

Hour 20

Hour 24

I admit that I found the first 10 hours quite hard. On Friday I was working a very long day and included travelling across the country and back (it doesn't sound too bad when you consider that you can do it in 45 minutes on the train). However it got better as the clock moved around to the official start time of the readathon. Twitter certainly got busier and was a welcome help when I hit a reading block.

These are the main lessons I learnt from the readathon:

Don't worry if you fall asleep

I nodded off 05:00 – 08:00 and woke up in a major panic. How could I miss three hours? Did that mean I would be kicked off the readthon? Of course not. No one expects you to be superhuman. If you find yourself nodding off, give in to the snoozes. Your body will thank you for it as you head towards Hour 19.

Snacks are very important

I should have guessed that any event involving books would make snacks a very important topic. On my Friday commute home, I was horrified to realise I had no snacks in the house apart from some sad looking bananas. A mad dash to the shops left me with some bags of pretzels and hummus which disappeared rather quick. On Saturday Him Indoors very kindly made a dash to the shops to pick up some vegan sushi and crisps. Next time I plan to be better prepared and not run out of snacks at Hour 14. 

Keep hydrated

This week I have been trying to cut down on coffee for health reasons. It did leave me a bit concerned that I would not be able to consume coffee to get through the 24 hours. In the end my total coffee intake amounted to one large strong mug of cafeteria coffee at 10:00 and a top up coffee at 17:00. One big difference is that I had been drinking more water during the readathon. So more water, less coffee!

Check the pages of your books

I thought I had made a very careful decision about which books I chose for the readathon. Not careful enough. I decided to leave The Golden Notebook because it came in at over 600 pages and had tiny, tiny print. This decision was made at Hour 18 of the readathon which was not the best time to make this discovery. At Hour 22 you do not want to be screwing up your eyes, trying to read the smallest typeface known to human kind.

It's OK to give up on books

I decided to give up on Sexual Politics in the early hours of Saturday morning. Whilst I was enjoying the book, the readathon is perhaps not the best place to be tackling quite heavy feminist theory. My two favourite reads, Tamburlaine Must Die and Red Dust Road, hit the right notes of being engaging and amusing whilst raising some interesting questions. Tamburlaine Must Die made me want to run off and do some research into Christopher Marlowe (which I resisted from doing). Red Dust Road made me think about the experiences of mixed heritage women in Britain as well as the experience of discovering your biological family.

Breaks are good for your sanity

People who work with computers are advised to take a five minute break every hour. This is to give your eyes a rest and, more important, your brain a break. During the readathon, I tried to take a 10 minute break every hour to move around. I used the bathroom, topped up my water glass, loaded the dishwasher and checked into the readathon conversation on Twitter and on the homepage. As I finished each book, I took five minutes to jot down any thoughts into my notebook for reviews at a later date.

Due to circumstances, I alternated between my living room and Him Indoors's study during the 24 hours. The physical breaks between space really helped my concentration and I did feel more alert when I settled back down to reading.

I've thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the readathon. Many thanks to the organisers and all the hard work they put into making the readathon happen. I had a fabulous time :) Roll on October!

Readathon: Hour 24

Here we are then, at the end of the readathon. I finished The Tenderness of Wolves just before 23:00 which left me a bit unsure about starting a new book. I decided to tackle another feminism book The Equality Illusion by Kat Baynard. I'm a little bit jealous of Baynard who wrote this feminist call to arms in 2010, when she was only 25. Kat interviewed hundreds of women from a range of backgrounds and she includes some of their stories in this book. Some of it brought back hideous memories, such as the chapter discussing sexual harassment women face from high school right into the their workplaces as adults. There's something not right in a world when a young woman can expect to be paid less than a male colleague for doing the exact same job.

Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to finish The Equality Illusion but something tells me that I'll be returning to it quite soon.

To end, let's have some lovely stats:

Tamburlaine Must Die - Louise Welsh 149 pages

Sexual Politics - Kate Millet 108 pages (did not finish)

Woman on the Edge of Time - Marge Piercy 378 pages

Red Dust Road - Jackie Kay 288 pages

The Tenderness of Wolves - Stef Penney 450 pages

The Equality Illusion - Kat Baynard 102 pages (did not finish)

comes to the grand total of 1475 pages read since the readathon started.

When you put it like that, I think I deserve to go to bed. Good luck to all those still taking part. Remember, lots of snacks and micronaps are the way to go.

Readathon: Hour 20

I can't quite believe I have been up for almost 20 hours! In 4 hours it will all be over and I can get some kip.

I finished Red Dust Road, a touching memoir by the writer Jackie Kay. This is probably one of my favourite reads of this readathon. Kay raises so many questions about identity, culture and how that all adds up to create an individual. I'm also cheered by some of her references to archives on her searches. The archivist she meets at Aberdeen University Archives tells her that they are "afraid of pens and bottled water." I may consider incorporating that into my day job when I have to tell researchers to hand over their contraband ink.

The next book I picked up was The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penny. Some of the reviews described it as a 'real page turner' and I felt that would hurry me along. I did toy with picking up The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing. Unfortunately I did not realise that it clocks it at over 600 pages and the typeface is microscopic. Lesson learned for the next readathon: do not choose books that are over 400 pages withs small letters.

For the remainder of the readathon, I have retreated back to Him Indoors's study. He's finished work for the day and it seems unfair to expect him to sit in silence in the living room whilst I read. The study is quite cosy and it seems a fine place to spend the last four hours of my first readathon.

Soon I'm going to tuck into vegan sushi, curtsey of cutely named Jo Sushi and polish off some more beer.

Readathon: Hour 16

The afternoon has been full of stops and starts. I finished Woman on the Edge of Time and felt rather disturbed by it. The book was originally published in 1976 in the US. The Women's Press published this book in the UK and it's easy to see why. Piercy covers issues such as domestic abuse, drug and alcohol addiction, prostitution, racism,  women within the psychiatric care system, gender boundaries and motherhood. I've made some notes and I'll write a more detailed review after the readathon has finished.

At 13:00 GMT, the readathon kicked off in the US which has resulted in more traffic on the Twitter #readathon. Mini challenges have also popped up on the official readathon blog. None have ticked my fancy so far but there's still 7 hours left to go. I read this great blog post from Irish/Gail about surviving your first readathon. Sadly I forgot stock up on snacks but Him Indoors kindly went on a snack run for me. I now have vegan sushi and Kettle crisps to look forward to later. 

I have been having Twitter chats with AlexInLeeds, a readathon veteran. Do pop over and have a look at her posts.

I'm hurtling through my fourth read, Red Dust Road by Jackie Kay. It's a humorous and touching account of Kay tracing her biological parents. Kay was born in Scotland and adopted by the Kay family: Communists living in Bishopbriggs which is just outside Glasgow. The Kays beliefs meant it was difficult for them to adopt children. Many adoption agencies in Glasgow in the 1950s and 1960s were run by religious organisations. Prospective parents were expected to provide proof that they attended church on a regular basis. I have so much admiration for John and Ellen Kay for refusing to compromise their beliefs. Kay's mother remembers taking Jackie and her brother Maxie, also adopted and from an African background, to Mull and being asked if the children knew any English. Ellen's response was 'Bloody cheek seeing as half of them still spoke Gaelic and not a word of English!'

On a side note, it's 16 hours in and I'm only on my second cup of coffee. However I'm suspecting the two hour nap I had earlier this morning helped!

Readathon: Hour 12

After some strong coffee and vegan porridge for breakfast, I have been feeling a lot more alert for the past 4 hours. Only 12 more hours left to go! I have been thoroughly enjoying Woman on the Edge of Time. It's a great book to read in one sitting. I suspect if I had been dipping in and out the book, say on my commute to work, I might have given up on it. Connie has started travelling to a Utopia-esque future in 2137 which comes with a whole range of made up words and changes in language. The strong coffee has helped me charge through the book!

I hijacked Him Indoors's office for the first half of the readathon. Our kakariki is kept in the living room and I felt it was unfair to keep him awake for 24 hours. He likes us but he still sleeps with one eye open when we're in the room with him. It was quite pleasant sitting in the office and taking advantage of the monster sound system Him Indoors has set up in there. Alas, he was to work today (the scourge of being self-employed) so I have retreated to the living room.

The readathon starts in one hour for the America participants so I imagine things will start getting busy. I'm hoping to finish Woman on the Edge of Time just after 13:00 then get started on my next non-fiction read. Jackie Kay's memoir about searching for her biological parents, Red Dust Road, has been silently calling me so I'll move onto that.

Readathon: Hour 8

You might be wondering why I did not update a bit earlier. The embarrasing truth is that I slipped into a nap around 05.30 and only awoke half an hour ago. It was very odd to be aware of the darkness of the night and wake up, well after dawn.

Before I started my slumber, I began reading Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy. It's not the cheeriest of books.The story opens with the lead character's neice, Dolly, arriving at her door after being beaten by her pimp/husband. Connie tries to protect her but when the husband arrives, a scuffle breaks out. One more thing - Connie has been previously admitted to a psychartic institution which is why she ends up by the end of the first chapter.

I did think this was an appropriate book to pick up after dipping into Sexual Politics. Both Connie and her neiece have been protrayed as 'weak' and almost like posessions that belong to Dolly's husband. Once Connie has been admitted to the psychartic ward, everyone stops listening to or believing what she says. I'm hooked on Connie's story and what will happen to her next.

Readathon: Hour 3

Here we are at Hour 3 of the Readathon. I decided to start with a short book, Tamburlaine Must Die by Louise Welsh. Welsh writes from the perspective of Christopher Marlowe, an Elizabethan playwright and apparent rival to Shakespeare, in his final days before his mysteriously death in 1593. It was a gripping read and a real page turner. I finished the book by 01.30 and it was time to choose my next target.

I toyed with continuing with my 'light' theme but decided to go for Sexual Politics by Kate Millet. Although I studied Sociology at university, very little class time was given to feminism. The (mostly male) lecturers treated feminism as a necessary evil: not something they believed in but part of the curriculum. Millet's work was published in the 1970s and, I suspect, one of the first calls to arms for women. She hangs her analysis on literature but uses that to analyse the patriarchal society we live in. What bothers me is that this book was written over forty years ago and women are still having to deal with the same bullshit. My inner rage is keeping me going through what is a very informative book. I cannot wait until the chapter where Millet analyses D.H. Lawrence. She has a very funny, tongue in cheek way of writing whilst tackling some 'big' theories. 

Only 20.5 hours left to go. 

Readathon: Hour 0

Here we are at Hour 0 of the Readathon. I feel a bit like a renegade because I'm starting 13 hours before the 'official' start time. You can read my rather boring and obvious reasons for doing so here.

Choosing books for the readathon has been a tricky task. On Tuesday I went through my bookshelves and removed books that fitted the following criteria. One: books were written by a 'woman'. Two: books I could contemplate finishing during the readathon. For example, Gillespie and I has been teasing me from my bookshelves. However it does weigh in at 624 pages and I already had the tome of The Tenderness of Wolves sitting on my book pile. I'm due a holiday in June so I reluctantly put Gillespie and I back on the pile. Until the summer, my friend. 

Here's a group shot of my long list (please ignore my cluttered sofa, complete with a polar bear blanket!):

Him Indoors originally thought these books were for the charity shop box. Oh dear, how misinformed was he?

It was interesting to see my tastes venture towards fiction written by women. Out of the thirty six books I chose for my long list, twenty four were fiction, four were autobiographies, seven were feminist theory and one historical analysis of London in the eighteenth century. I had planned to alternate reading fiction with non-fiction but it might not be as simple as that. I've decided to keep the long list to hand, just in case I find I'm not enjoying some of my reads. So here's my short list that I'm planning to tackle today:

Fiction:

The Golden Notebook – Doris Lessing

Woman on the Edge of Time – Marge Piercy

The Tenderness of Wolves – Stef Penny

Tamburlaine Must Die – Louise Welsh

Stand by books:

The Complete Stories – Flannery O'Connor

The Secret Life of Bees – Sue Monk Kidd

Non-Fiction

Sexual Politics – Kate Millet

Full Frontal Feminism: A Young Woman's Guide to why Feminism Matters – Jessica Valenti

Red Dust Road – Jackie Kay

The Pearly Gates of Cyberspace: A History of Space from Dante to the Internet – Margaret Wertheim

Stand by books:

Cancer Vixen – Marisa Acocella Marchetto

The Equality Illusion - Kat Baynard

I am under no illusion that I will finish all books on this list by midnight tonight. However I'm going to have a good crack at it. Let the reading commence!