Gooooood Morning Readathon!

I’ve slept in, made a pot of coffee and officially welcomed all participants of da house to Dewey’s fall 2020 24RaT (being hubs, and Kuki, Sumi & Effie our feline supporters). Now I just want to put up a short start-of message and GO READ!!!

Are you read-a-thonning this weekend as well? If you’re from a different time zone you’ll notice I’m ahead of the official kick-off. That’s because it’s so much more exciting to awake to the event and get going right away — how it started with our founder Dewey. So I’m not cheating (it’s not even a contest LOL); just making the most of it :-) I feel I can as this is my 11th (?) year participating.

So, it 10:45am and I am picking up Petite.

Advertentie

Dewey’s Fall 2020 24 Hour Readathon

Hooray! Only two more nights till Dewey’s fall 2020 24 hour readathon (24RaT for short)! Although officially starting at 2PM in my time zone, I’ll probably begin right after waking up as I’ve kept the weekend free and Mr Gnoe and I love to start our Sats & Suns with coffee, cats and books smartphones books in bed.

I’m confident I’ll be able to finish my current read: Petite (Little), by Edward Carey; an historical novel about the life of Madame Tussaud. Right now I’m at chapter 27 of 72 so I have quite a bit to go.

I saw a friend posting enthusiastically about this book and decided to pick it up with my recently renewed library subscription. So far it’s an ejoyable read.

Of course I’ll also be playing Book Bingo — and Petite will help me smoothly cross off “read a book with with illustrations” and “with a person on the cover”.

I will probably mostly be updating on Instagram (@gnoe) and I hope to see you there!

Springtime Readathon

24 hour readathon

Yay, the spring edition of Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon has come around again! I’ve kept most of my diary free and will do a LOT of reading this weekend (based in Utrecht, the Netherlands).

The picture above shows a selection of my Mount To Be Read (TBR). I will be choosing from this after I have finished my current read (of which I’ll tell you in a minute).

But I will definitely starting a new arrival (not to be confused with recent release); Donkey Work by Doreen Tovey. A children’s book, of which I’m usually not a fan, but I am VERY much looking forward to this one!

I am also very pleased that I will be having two local reading buddies this time Muizz and –if he doesn’t bail out– Mr Gnoe.

Currently Reading

On my nightstand are currently two nonfiction books and a novel. I hope to finish the latter quite quickly — after having started it sometime LAST YEAR early 2016!!! *shock* It’s The High Mountains of Portugal by Yann Martel and I’ll tell you more about it later.

Please check in on Litsy, where I’ll be posting my updates.

My readathon update post

This post consists of quick updates on my reading and socialising in the 24 Hour Readathon. New updates will be posted on top during the day.

Hour 24 – THE END

This last hour I spent reading two more stories in Ghostly:

• Click-Clack the Rattlebag ~ Neil Gaiman (2013)
• They ~ Rudyard Kipling (1904)

I *almost* finished the latter; having only five more pages to go.

Total pages read: 173
Total amount of time read: 4.55 hrs
Hours listened: 1
Hours watched: 2
Books finished: 1
Stories read/listened to: 6
Total amount of time spent relevantly socialising: 5.35 hrs

I will need to double check my numbers though ;)

Hour 22-23

Uh-oh, after reading P.G. Wodehouse’s Honeysuckle Cottage (which unexpectedly made me chuckle and read out parts aloud to Mr Gnoe), I just spent 70 minutes on selecting five nominations for my book group. Well, just shows you I take these things seriously.

These are the ones I suggested:

1. The Golden Legend ~ Nadeem Aslam (latest novel from one of my all-time favourite authors)
2. Dear White People ~ Justin Simien (must-read, recommended by my friend @rehanu)
3. My Cousin Rachel ~ Daphne du Maurier (classic haunting tale that I haven’t read yet and seems appropriate for this time of year)
4. Portrait of a Turkish Family ~ Irfan Ogra (highly recommended 1950 autobiography that I’m curious about but can’t remember who mentioned this)
5. The Keeper of Lost Things ~ Ruth Hogan (something light that speaks to my love for objects (a museum girl at heart))

Next Saturday we’re choosing one as our next read. Any of them that you want to plug to my fellow book club members???

Hour 21

Been updating this post and doing some socialising on the web/IG/Litsy. I love how so many of us are reading haunted haunting tales; I don’t recall that from previous autumn editions but it may very well be that I’m more sensitive to it now because I’m reading ghost stories myself this time. Neither the spooky genre nor short story collections appear much on my nightstand.

Hour 13-20

Oops. I went to bed for what was intended to be a 4 hour nap… and awoke at nine. Half an hour to make coffee, brekkie, feed the critters etc. and now I gathered everything and everyone on the bed to continue for the last stretch. It’s awesome fall weather outside mmmmmm real cosy! Next ghost story up is P.G. Wodehouse’s Honeysuckle Cottage (1925).

How are you all doing???

12th Hour

I read the 1904 ghost story The Mezzotint by M.R. James in Ghostly.

Total pages read: 100
Total amount of time read: 2.55 hrs
Hours listened: 1
Hours watched: 2
Books finished: 1
Total amount of time socialised: 3.30 hrs

Hour 6-11

How can it be hour 11 already? I haven’t gotten that much reading done yet! Time flies when you’re having fun and I was out with my film club friends watching Gone Baby Gone, an adaptation of Dennis Lehane’s novel directed by Ben Affleck. It’s a captivating and intelligent mystery that I can definitely recommend – though not to the tender-hearted. I’m putting Lehane on my list of authors to read! The film itself took two hours but of course we had lots to talk about afterwards and I know all these ladies from the book community. All in all I was away from home for a full four hours.

It’s almost 1AM over here and I’m starting the next story in Ghostly but I’ll probably won’t be able to finish it before my eyes get too heavy and I need to go sleep for a bit…zzz

See you later! Read on!

Hour 3-5

I finished “Donkey Basics“, reading 35 pages in 50 minutes. Surprisingly enough the chapter about breeding was much more interesting than expected.

I finally got to listen to the 15 minute story Memento Mori by Stephanie Victoire aka @weepingwillow84 on instagram; a perfect September tale nominated for the BBC National Short Story Award 2017!

As I wasn’t done cooking and doing housework in a quarter of an hour (lol) I continued with Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn on Audible for about 45 minutes. Now I’m writing this update while having dinner: a chill-veggie kind of stew with spinach and avocado & olives on the side. Don’t worry, Mr Gnoe isn’t here so I’m not being rude ;)

Next up is my film club… Will share later what adaptation we watched!

Total pages read: 80
Total amount of time read: 2.20 hrs
Hours listened: 1
Books finished: 1
Total amount of time socialised: 1.15 hrs

Hour 1-2

I have read for one and a half hour and in that time I finished the 1911 ghost story The Beckoning Fair One by Oliver Onions. I hadn’t expected it to affect me so much! I really need a break now and am glad to have selected books to alternate with this collection. Like… donkeys! Those always make my heart smile. But first I’ll stop by some other participants!
(Pages read: 45)

Hour 0 Opening meme

I answered most of the questions for the traditional opening meme in my intro post but here’s a summary.

1. I’m reading from Utrecht, the Netherlands, Europe (mostly at home).
2. The books in my stack that I’m mostly looking forward are my two current reads that I hope to finish: Ghostly (Audrey Niffenegger) and “Donkey Basics” (Margret Keijzer).
3. Strangely enough I’m not looking forward to any specific snack… but to eating healthy today!
4. J-Lit (Japanese literature) is a favourite genre and I’m a sucker for donkeys and (other) rescue animals – the older the better ;)
5. I intend to take healthy snacks and drinks and get as little distracted as possible…

24 Hour Readathon ~ Autumn 2017

WOW, I’ve been so much looking forward to this October 2017 edition of Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon! It’s my favourite fall event :) I’ve done a minimum of prepping and will be participating low key as my main goal is to just read at long(-ish) stretches of time. I slowly seem to crawl out of a reading slump that’s been going on for years and I’ll do anything it takes to keep going forward!!

But the fact that so many people across the globe are reading and interacting about it at the same time is of course a big part of the thrill so you’ll also find me hopping a few blogs, and mainly post as @gnoe on Instagram, Litsy and now and then Twitter (@graasland). Join me there?!

My plans

Part-time participant

I’m never able to read for the full 24 hours so I’m not going to try. Just as much as I can! Next to that I will try to make my other activities book related. My film club is gathering tonight and it’s my turn to choose a movie. So I suggested a few adaptions of literature. I had hoped to watch Red Sorghum from Zhang Yimou again (one of my all-time favourites), but I wasn’t able to get a copy in time. Now my bet is on either Ben Affleck’s Gone Baby Gone (based on a story by Dennis Lehane), or Alan Parker’s Midnight Express (Billy Hayes) – both available on Netflix. Which one would you pick if you could join us?

Nominating the next read for my book club is also up to me this month. I have a long list of options ready in Goodreads but I can only suggest five… Picking and sending out those is on my chore list for today as well.

Books

During the RaT I’ll definitely be reading the following two books:

• Ghostly, A Collection of Ghost Stories ~ Audrey Niffenegger
  Thoroughly enjoying this selection of haunting fiction for the month of Spooktober. I’m currently at page 137 in Oliver Onions’ 1911 tale The Beckoning Fair One. Since I don’t read a lot of short story collections I will alternate this with other books.
• Ezel-basics (Donkey Basics) ~ Margret Keijzer
  A while ago I stranded at chapter 8 of 12 in this nonfiction book about donkeys; probably because I don’t care about the subject of breeding. I’m really into rescue animals and know there’s a surplus of animals looking for a home without needing to add to that amount. Besides, as a volunteer at the Ezelsociëteit donkey sanctuary my interest goes out to the wellbeing of and caring for these wonderful creatures.
• A novel from Mount TBR, to be chosen at the moment I’ll be starting it.

Optional reads

During household tasks and such I hope to listen to @weepingwillow84’s short story Memento Mori, broadcasted on BBC Radio4 on September 22nd. Chances are I won’t be allowed access though as I’m not an inhabitant of the Commonwealth…

I have plenty of books on my shelf that I’m looking forward to. Don’t you just love picking a new read that fits your mood? A few titles to choose from:

• The Marriage Plot ~ Jeffrey Eugenides
• The Sisters Brothers ~ Patrick De Witt
• De wijnrepubliek (The Republic of Wine) ~ Mo Yan
• Lord of the Flies ~ William Golding
• Here I Am ~ Jonathan Safran Foer
• Monica, mijn vader (Monica, My Father) ~ Maaike Sips
• De offers (The Sacrifices) ~ Kees van Beijnum
• The Lives of Others ~ Neel Mukherjee
• The Master and Margarita ~ Mikhail Bulgarov
• Ghana Must Go ~ Taiye Selasi

Plus several J-lits. I’ve been neglecting my favourite genre and decided to join in Dolce Bellezza’s 11th Japanese Literature Challenge, running through January 2018 (sign-up post to be written later).

• The Book of Tea ~ Okakura Kakuzo
• Kokoro ~ Natsume Sōseki
• The Unconsoled ~ Kazuo Ishiguro

Then there’s also that DNF that’s been bugging me: The High Mountains of Portugal by Yann Martel that I would still like to give another chance. It -literally- drove me crazy with its (so far) 87 pages of one Tomás driving a car on a quest to I’m-not-sure-what-yet.
These days I usually quit when the narrative still doesn’t grab me around page 80, but I’ve had trouble getting into Martel’s books before and they were totally worth pushing through the hard part.

Any of these you want to recommend? Or advise against? I would love to hear your thoughts!

Local starting time: 14.00 o’clock.
Reading from Utrecht, the Netherlands, Europe