SiS Readathon Report#1

Being 8 hours ahead of most of the others, it is mid morning for me, but should be early hours of the morning for everyone else. I went to sleep around 1:30am my time and slept until 7. Since then I have been reading most of the time, apart from the time it took me to have a bath and make some breakfast. I am actually on my own at home today, but will have to fetch my daughter at some stage. I hope to read for the rest of the day!

So, here is my report for the end of Day 1.

1.First of all, give us an end-of-day status update. Books read, pages read, you know the drill!
Total Books Read: 1 (Absolution by Caro Ramsey)
Total pages read: 558
Books read since last update: 1 (As above)
Pages read since last update: 223 (117 Absolution, 106 The two towers)
Total time read: 640 min (10hrs 40min)
How am I feeling: Happy now I am up and dressed

2.What is the favorite thing you have read today? Can't really say I have a favourite since I thoroughly enjoyed both books I am reading.

3.Which mini-challenge was your favorite? Oops, have totally failed at these, but loved the Wordle

4.What has been your favorite thing about the read-a-thon? Being able to just relax and read, as well as the twitter feed. I have been lucky that my daughter spent the night out

5.What has been your LEAST favorite thing about the read-a-thon?
Not really a problem, but the huge time difference meant I am opposite to everyone else
6.Are you on track to meet your goals?
Yes, am actually nearly there.

7.Will you be participating tomorrow? Do you have any new goals?
Yes, would like to get to 1200 pages. I plan to read for most of the day but will probably have a nap after lunch so that I am awake for most of the night too.

Spring into summer readathon update post

Update 2 - 12pm (South African Time)/4:00pm MT
This may or may not be my last update for tonight, since it is midnight now and I am getting really tired now. However, the book I am reading has got me hooked, so I may finish it.

Total Books read: 0
Total Pages Read: 355
Books read since last update: 0
Pages read since last update: 223
Total time read: 410 min (6:50min)
How am I feeling: Battling to keep my eyes open!

Update 1
I will probably update this post a few times before making a new update post, just so that I dont overload things with too many posts!
So, we are now 4 hours into the readathon and here is my first update.
Total Books read: 0
Total Pages Read: 132
Books read since last update: 0
Pages read since last update: 132 (The two towers 71, Absolution 61)
Total time read: 190minutes (3hrs 10 minutes)
How I'm feeling: Eager to read more before I get too tired! (8pm here)

Spring into Summer Readathon Starting Post

So, the readathon has begun. I have been reading for a bit but not had a chance to get on the computer before now. I cant do complicated posts on my phone, lol. So here is my start post.

What do you hope to read during the read-a-thon?

• As I said in my previous post my book list is huge, but I obviously dont expect to read all of those books and may chop and change between them.

What book are you starting with?

• The two towers by J.R.R Tolkien. This is a challenge book and I started with it at page 206.

I hope to read:

• at least 700 pages, but hopefully more. I want to finish The two towers.

Where are you going to read?

• At home for most of the time, but tomorrow will need to ferry my daughter around so will read in the car for a bit (not while driving, lol). Probably in my bed, but maybe outside or on the couch. It is actually winter here, so depends on the weather.

What will you include in your updates?


My updates will look like this:
•Total Books Read: __________

•Total Pages Read: __________

•Books Read Since Last Update: __________

•Pages Read since last update: __________

•Total time read: __________

•How I'm currently feeling:

Spring into summer readathon

The readathon commences in just under an hour and my books are all ready to go! I obviously won't read all of these, but wanted to have a wide variety in case I get bored. I definitely would like to finish Lord of the Rings, and also have an e-book which I am halfway through and so may read a bit of that too. Before I can start reading I need to drop my daughter off at her friends house where she is spending the night. I will be updating here and on twitter (@tracydurbs)
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Kids

Just had a conversation with the 13 year old that went like this:

13 year old: "Whatks for dinner?"

Me: "the remains of last nights supper"

13 year old: "That's the problem. I just watched a programme on talking chickens and I have decided to become a vegetarian"

Me: "but you don't eat vegetables"

13 year old: "That's ok, I'll just eat the rest of the stuff!"

Now, if you don't eat meat and you don't eat vegetables (including beans etc) what is there left to eat. Surely man cannot live by Carbs alone? Any suggestions?
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The Solitude of Emperors by David Davidar

I got this book from my bookclub and when I opened it I found that most of the rest of the group had not enjoyed it at all, which made me a little concerned, but I dutifully read the book. I was glad I did, because I really enjoyed it in the end.

What is it about:
Vijay, a young man from a smallish town finds a job at a newspaper in Bombay. Whilst there he gets involved in the Bombay riots of 1992-1993 and is injured, necessitating some time off work. His boss, Mr. Sorabjee sees that he is becoming depressed and sends him off to investigate some trouble in a Niligris town called Neham. There is a Christian shrine called the TOwer of Silence which is being targeted by a Hindu group. Within a couple of days he has met Noah, a slightly older man who lives in a cemetery and helps him with his investigation. He discovers that this shrine is going to be attacked on the next feast day and attempts to prevent this. At the same time he is asked to critique a manuscript by his boss, Mr. Sorabjee.

What I liked about the book:
It is really down to earth and nothing is brushed over. The author does not shy from describing anything or exploring feelings and emotions experienced by the characters. Even some of the comments he makes on social customs etc I guess could make you feel a little bit uncomfortable if you were part of that culture. He probes issues and really puts it all out there as to the motives of the people. (There is a large Indian population here and I could see quite a few similarities.) Even the scenes with the riots really had nothing left to the imagination. The story flowed relatively easily. Throughout the book Vijay reads parts of the manuscript and in this way the author is able to discuss some quite serious things without making it seem like a lecture or instructions.

What I didn't like:
The only real gripe I have with the book is that Vijay himself seems very dull. You want to shake him and tell him to get a life! This made the book quite dry and slow at times, however all in all it is still an enjoyable book.

I will definitely look out for more books by this author.

The silver chair

Sorry I am a  bit behind with this series now, I have been writing exams and then sick and not got a chance to do any reviews. I still have to read the last one, but hope to get it from the library as soon as I get a chance to go back.
This books starts off with Eustace and his friend Jill being snatched from their school in England and back to Narnia. Jill meets Aslan and gets given some signs to watch out for in her quest to find King Caspian's long lost son. She is then sent off to find Eustace and get on with the quest which involves searching through the wastelands, into the giants land and then into the underlands, where we meet the witch, and then of course they find the prince and save the day!
I have to say that I loved this book, I found it to be so much more detailed than the others. It is definitely my favourite so far. There is much more of a plot, the children are so much more central to the story and there are many exciting adventures. The only things I didn't like was that there were times where the characters were really blind!
Favourite bits:

• I loved the description of why the school was not suitable
• The ride through the air
• The marshlands (more on this later)
• the Hall of Harfour scenes
• the underland scenes

I just have to talk about Puddleglum the Marshwiggle, I think he is my favourite character in the book so far. He reminds me of Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh, always looking on the dark side of life, whilst seeming almost cheerful about it. I love how he says that they wont like other marshwiggles because they are glum, lol. He really makes the books.
A couple of scenes which I found funny reading them in todays world, when words mean slightly different things:
1. "Gay," said Puddleglum with a deep sigh. "That's what we've got to be. Gay." ... "All right. Gay's the word," said Scrubb. "Now, if we could only get someone to open this door. While we're fooling about and being gay, we've got to find out all we can about this castle."


and.......
2. She made love to everyone - the grooms, the porters, the housemaids, the ladies-in-waiting, and the elderly giant lords whose hunting days were long past them. She submitted to being kissed and pawed about...

Quite funny in todays English, lol.