The 24 Hours Madness – Summer Special Edition :: Updates

Update 1 –  06:40 hrs (1 hrs 30 mins since the Challenge started )

Like I mentioned, I am not an early morn person, but I did finally manage to wake up about 40 mins back and get all the necessary in order – tea, books, social media! Now we get the party started at the Dewey’s 24 hrs Readathon

Here are my inputs from the Opening Meme –

Opening Survey

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?

New, Delhi, India!

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

All, but maybe The Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles, a wee bit more!

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

Chocolates and Coffee, key to earthly happiness!

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

Daughter, Sister, Friend, Reader, Writer, Project Manager, Traveler, Cook, Control freak., in no particular order!

5) This is our VERY first Reverse Readathon! How does it feel in your time zone?

Morning, lovely rain drenched Saturday morning, around 6:00 ish!

I am now ready to READ, especially considering I have not read the whole of yesterday in anticipation of this – I will try and update as much as possible between couple of hours! Besides this blog, you can find me at the following places twirling around on the links on the upper left side of the page!

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Hour 5 Update (Almost)

I am finally off to some solid reading! My sister left for a shoot and will be late coming back, so the house is clean and quiet and all mine for some significant progress! Anyway, here goes some updates at ground level –

Time – 10:05 Local Time; 4.5 hrs since we started

Food – Breakfasted on Coffee & an enormous Omelette  (Sorry! No picture! Was too hungry to wait!)

Reading – Finished about 140 pages into The Bengalis by Sudeep Chakravarty & have now switched onto to Augustus Carp, Esq.  by Sir Henry Howarth Bashford

Bookish Notes –  The Bengalis so far seems to be a very well researched book, looking into the very genesis of the community and its modern identity, colored by the Partition of India in 1947. It’s a good reading, but heavy duty stuff, so have now changed the pace with the brilliant, laugh out loud satire of Augustus Carp, Esq.

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Hour 9 Update

Reading progresseth well and even managed to order groceries and finish laundury! Woohoo, on a roll here!  More updates at ground level –

Time – 14:30 Local Time

Food – Pasta in 4 Cheese & Bacon (YUM!)

Reading – Mid way in Augustus Carp, Esq.  by Sir Henry Howarth Bashford

Bookish Notes –   Augustus Carp, Esq. so far is turning out to be gem! I am surprised why it is not more widely read. Written in the lines of Diary of a Nobody, the book is a satire with all best wit of England brings forth in literature!

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Hour 14 Update

Reading progresseth has slowed down! Some friends dropped by in the afternoon and while that did take some precious reading time away, they are old friends and it was a pleasant unexpected surprise! Then in the spirit of Hour 14 theme, over at Dewey’s Page went for a quick 40 mins run and now finally showered and ready to read, some more!  More updates at ground level –

Time – 19:40 Local Time

Food – Coffee in a while!

Reading – 70% in Augustus Carp, Esq.  by Sir Henry Howarth Bashford

Bookish Notes –   Augustus Carp, Esq. continues to be hilarious, though the constant emphasis on the priggish tendencies of the protagonist albeit satirical on is getting a bit tedious!

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Hour 18 Update

Reading progresseth well again! My sister returned from her shoot and we had dinner and now again some non stop reading time!  More updates at ground level –

Time – 23:05 Local Time

Food – Dinner Rice, Dal (Legumes) & Paneer (cottage cheese) curry – all Indian food, all home cooked!

Reading – Finished Augustus Carp, Esq.  by Sir Henry Howarth Bashford & started The Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Bookish Notes –   Augustus Carp, Esq. was a brilliant, funny and witty satire. It did slow down a bit but then was back to its original promise! Life of priggish, Englishman in turn of century England was very entertaining! Now to the most anticipated book of my Readathon – The Gentleman in Moscow.

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The 24 Hour Madness – Special Summer Edition!

This post should have been up several days back, but work, as always intervened! Long hours and sometimes pretty horrible hours kept all good things at bay, including more reading and talking about a REVERSE READATHON! A Reverse Readathon! What is that, you ask? Ah! Let me enlighten from an explanation directly from the source – the lovely people at Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon : “we’ll start this readathon at 8:00 PM Friday, July 27 and run through July 28 at 8pm, Eastern Standard time, where we normally start at 8:00 AM Saturday. Still 24 hours.” Now for me, situated in between the borderlines of the Equator and Tropics, this is actually a Readthon in straight, normal hours and how in the world could I pass that up? Actually, let me rescind that, I would have never given up an opportunity for any Readathon, but this starting in early morning hours is kind of supra exciting!

Now for the books line up – since work has been so crazy lately, I have not had  the usual luxury to plan and consider and plan! Fortunately, I did manage to sneak in a spate of Book Buying a week before and that alone gives me enough ammunition for the  ‘great read’! So here goes my list –

1. The Bengalis – A Portrait of a Community by Sudeep Chakravarty – Published in 2017, this book has gained a lot of appreciation for its nuanced and impartial socio-political portrait of a community split between two countries – Bengal in Eastern India & Bangladesh. I am very curious as ethnically, I belong to this community and this history with many of its finer telling on the Cultural Revolution in 1800s and the Partition in 1947, have close links home!
2. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles – A book that has been on my TBR for some time and a book I am very excited to start. Set in the immediate years after the Russian Revolution, it follows the life of Count Alexander Rostov as he stays in Moscow as an unrepentant bourgeois. I have never read any book by Towles but I have heard so many great things about this one, that I cannot wait to get started. Also this is historical fiction and historical fiction, set in a time and a place that I am always interested and eager to read about! So double yay!
3. Augustus Carp Esq. by Henry Howarth Bashford – Another book lying in my TBR forever and one that I had major problems getting hold off! But finally I have managed to get a copy and I am on Chapter 4 and all I can say was it was well worth the wait! A satire of the best kinds following the life of an middle class Englishman at the turn of the century as he waddles, yes that the word, waddles through life!
4. We Were The Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter – Yet another historical fiction, following the lives of the three generations of the Kurc family as they struggle in the aftermath of Poland’s conquest by Nazi Jews and are asked to pay the price for being Jews!
5. Open Book – Always a good idea not to plan for an additional book as we always need that one book on the fly , when the very best laid plans fail!

That now is the plan for tomorrow, when I start for change, all bright and shiny at the early morn! This early morn may be a tad difficult as I am really a night person, but I will be there, by morn, for sure!

As always, I will run an update post and will be going nuts on Twitter (here) & Insta (here)! And now, nothing much left to do,except say, Let’s READ!

Hour 24 Update – The 24hrs Madness:: Chapter 4

Finally, we are set! We have kickstarted the Readathon, hosted by the lovely folks over at Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon! I will try and keep updating as I usually do, every 4 odd hours on this blog. I am also moderating Hour 6 over at GoodReads, so super excited about that! To kick start the blogging part of this madness, I start with the standard opening meme –

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?

India!

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

Oh! Man! All of them!! But maybe Dear Mrs. Bird a bit more than the others! Just a little tiny bit more!

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

Hmmm…..Cake? Also there is lovely dry snack recipe of roasted Foxnut that I recently tried and its yum!

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

Daughter, Sister, Friend, Reader, Writer, Traveler, Dreamer, Cook

5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?

Stretch more; walk around more!

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Hour 5 Update

Not much reading done so far as Dad finally after a prolonged illness is well enough to go back home, but there are a 1000 things including his medicines to be sorted and neighborhood well wishers who are dropping by to wish him a safe journey and good health! While all of this is very kind, why does this have to happen on the Readathon night! Anyway, here goes some updates & news –

Time – 21:30 Local Time; 5 hrs since we started

Food – Pizza Dinner

Reading – Dear Mrs Bird by AJ Pearce

Bookish Notes –  100 pages into the book! Loving it! Plucky, funny and sometimes clumsy heroine, who dreams of a job as a Lady War Correspondent only to end up working for a woman’s self help column. The entire ensemble so far is great and the narrative both realistic and fun!

Current Food & Future Read

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Hour 8 Update

Reading is slow as exhausted from an exhausted day! Have to get a nap soon!

Time – 00:30 Local Time; 8 hrs since we started

Food – Tea

Reading – Dear Mrs Bird by AJ Pearce & Persuasions by Jane Austen

Bookish Notes – Dear Mrs. Bird is one of those books you do not want to end and enjoy in slow pace because otherwise it will be all over! To do justice to one and be loyal to another have started an umpteenth re-read of Persuasion? Whats there not to like with Captain Wenthworth around?!?

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Hour 20 Update

Reading is down to a crawl with getting all logistics of Dad going back to his town and the start of a stomach bug for self! Such is life!

Time – 13:30 Local Time; 20 hrs since we started

Food – Apple Juice

Reading – Dear Mrs Bird by AJ Pearce & Persuasions by Jane Austen

Bookish Notes – Wonderful authors and wonderful books!

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Hour 23 Update

Finished only one book, but what a winner it was! Also started off on another book, that promises to be brilliant!

Time -17:10 Local Time; 8 hrs since we started

Food – Coffee

Reading – Dear Mrs Bird by AJ Pearce & Death Comes For The Archbishop by Willa Cather

Bookish Notes – These brilliant women and their brilliant stories! Mesmerizing, enriching and truly remarkable!

The Fourth Attempt at the 24hrs Madness

Many moons ago (actually over 1.5 years ago; excuse the dramatics!) I was casually meandering over my fellow blogger’s post, when I stumbled upon Brona’s post on Dewey’s 24hrs Hours Readathon – a reading event, that happens twice a year, where a bunch of book crazies across the world come together and read for 24hrs. Its not literally 24 hrs, but as much as you can and of course, the idea is to bond with fellow bookish people, discuss books, food, running (anything that keeps you awake!) and have fun! I started on a whim back in the October event of 2016 and have ever since looked forward to the event with great anticipation and eagerness! This year is no different and on April 29th, I embark with all my fellow book crazies on this 24 hour madness!

The big question is what books do I read? The organizers this time have come up with a very unique and intriguing  concept of a Scavenger Hunt and the idea is to match books to some of those categories; nothing is mandatory, but it is  a lot of fun to compare and discuss and talk when we participate in such group efforts , so here goes –

1. Death Comes to the Archbishop by Willa Cather – This is part of my Official 2018 TBR Pile Challenge’s April Read and also neatly fits in the category #25 Bust the TBR – (on the TBR shelf for more than a year)
2. Shakespeare – The World as a Stage by Bill Bryson – I think it’s high time I read some biographies and I love Bryson’s writing, so I am really looking forward to this one. This also fulfills category # 10 – Learn something new (Read a non-fiction book, be that self-help, biography, autobiography, etc) of the Scavenger Hunt
3. The Echo of Twilight by Judith Kinghorn – I cannot do a 24 hour reading event without 1 Historical Fiction; ok, make that 2! This one comes highly recommended by Helen, whom I have much faith in! This one goes towards category # 16  – Visit 50 countries of the Scavenger list! Set in Scotland!
4. Dear Mrs. Bird by AJ Pearce – This is the second historical fiction for the reading list, and yet another recommendation by Helen. Goes towards category #6 – Unknown Books (Read books with less than 1,000 Goodreads ratings) of the Hunt
5. Persuasion by Jane Austen – I live by every wise word of Ms. Austen and in this arduous attempt, will not be abandoned by her! (Yes! Dramatics again! The pre-madness effect!) This addresses Category #5 –  – Popular Books (Read books that have more than 100,000 Goodreads ratings)

Cautionary Warning – Just because I have made this list, does not mean, at the last minute I will NOT change my mind and add or delete some book from the list!! But for now, this is the plan to kick start with!!

Now for those who may be new to this sort of thing, I do not in anyway consider myself an old hand, but I did learn a thing or two, over the last couple of events,  which I am happy to share –

1. Start with shorter books; they get the momentum going and keep you pumped up when you are at your reading best, which is usually the initial hours!
2. Choose books which you are really looking forward to reading and have a set of options; if one does not work for you, switch gears and pick another up, so that the interest keeps flowing
3. Stock up plenty of food and drinks; whatever works for you and you like. It is already very very hot in my part of the world, so I avoid caffeine and instead go for cooling  and nourishing drinks like Buttermilk, which I drink by the gallon!
4. Interact with your fellow readers. For me, personally, one of the most enjoyble part of this event is when I get to in and chatter with all my fellow book readers. There are host of mini challenges and hourly events which help flow the conversation and exponentially increase the fun quotient! It’s like a virtual all night party!
5. Have Fun!!!!!

I am also playing a host for an hour over at the Dewey’s GoodReads page! The organizers do such an awesome job, each time, every time and this is a small way for me to help out. I am still waiting for Gabby to confirm which slot, but I will be around for sure!

Well, that’s about it for now!! I am really really excited and cannot wait for Saturday to come around and finally get started! See you all, in 3 days!!!

Dewey’s 24Hours Readathon – The After Hour Post

Another readathon has come to an end and I must say I will miss it!! Once more I had a brilliant, fun filled time   with loads of discussion, laughter and more book added to my TBR. My best readathon so far in terms of both my social interactions as as well as the books read. I managed to complete 3.5 novels and that is something of an achievement, considering I slept off for full 6 hours!! It was an incredible time hosting Hour 6 on GoodReads and then participating in all the varied and mind challenging question that come through the 24 hours discussion hours. A big big thank you to all our hosts and moderators for once again hosting one of the largest and best Readathon’s ever!

Finally, to end this brilliant, stimulating 24 hrs, the final set of questions –

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?

4:30 AM IST……I was beginning and really beginning to feel really really sleepy and despite my valient efforts, I lost the battle and slept for 6 straight hours

2. Tell us ALLLLL the books you read!

• Lady Susan by Jane Austen
• The Ladies of Missalonghi by Colleen McCullough
• Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
• Wild Strawberries by Angela Thirkell (Halfway mark)

3. Which books would you recommend to other Read-a-thoners

• Lady Susan by Jane Austen
• The Ladies of Missalonghi by Colleen McCullough

4. What’s a really rad thing we could do during the next Read-a-thon that would make you smile

Maybe do a readathon once in a quater instead of a twice a year (I know! I know! I am pushing it)
5. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? Would you be interested in volunteering to help organize and prep?

Of course I will participate again and Yes, me shall volunteer more next time!

Again to end, a  big shout out to the entire awesome team that put up the event and all my tribe of fellow readers, who read through the event!

Dewey’s 24 Hrs Readathon – Updates

Update 1 –  17:00 hrs (30 mins before the Challenge starts )

Here we go again, I am all set to party at the Dewey’s 24 hrs Readathon as all preps fall into place-

• House Cleaned – Check
• Fridge Stocked – Check
• Kindle Charged – Check
• Power Nap – Check
• Friends and Family notified about the next 24hrs DND Policy – Check
• And finally the book pile 🙂

I think we are finally all sorted here! I am now ready to READ, especially considering I have not read the whole morning and it is nearly 17:00 hrs here in part of the world. I will do a every 4hrs update but we will see how things go! Besides this blog, you can find me at the following places twirling around –

Twitter – @cirtnecce (https://twitter.com/cirtnecce)

Instagram – jayantichakraborty (https://www.instagram.com/jayantichakraborty/?hl=en)

GoodReads – cirtnecce (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/7832287-cirtnecce)

Now can we please get going??!!

Opening Meme Update –

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?

Delhi, India

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

The Ladies of Missalonghi  by Colleen McCullough

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

Not snack but dinner – my sister is cooking some awesome Indian style mutton! (Happy Dance)

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

Sister, Friend, Daughter, Project Leader, Reader, Traveler, Reader, Writer, Cook….er…did I mention Reader??!

5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?

Keep the first few books short and sweet to get the rhythm going. Also drink and I mean DRINK plenty of water!

Update 2 – 20:00 (2.5 hrs since we started)

Book Update – Finished Lady Susan by Jane Austen

Snack Update – Tea

Take on Book – A much awaited re-read; one of the earliest works of Jane Austen, where you can see the promise of P&P or Emma or Persuasuion. Lady Susan is a scheming, artificial, flirtatious and materialistic woman, who is forced to visit her brother-in-law in the country, following a scandal in the family in Longford with whom she had been staying. She looks forward to the visit with little interest and only to bide time, but the arrival of her sister-in-law’s brother, Reginal De Courcy makes thing interesting for her as she is determined to make a conquest of him despite his very apparent dislike for her. More confusion is added when Fredrica, Lady Susan’s much neglected but excellent daughter joins her to add another complication in Lady Susan’s grand scheme.  Austen at her usual in the best possible representation of the society of her time. While she remains absolute in her support for good understanding and correct moral behavior, she nevertheless knows how to have fun at all that was frivolous and foolish in her contemporary society. The best thing that I like about the book is she makes no apology or explanations for the conduct of Lady Susan and in her, we find a full veined conniving vamp, who does not suffer and die, but lives moderately happily till the end!

Update 3 – 23:00 (6.5 hrs since we started)

Book Update – The Ladies of Missalonghi  by Colleen McCullough

Snack Update –  Dinner – Mutton cooked by my flatmate with Naan 🙂

Take on Book – It’s a wonderful read so far. Australia comes alive in the hands of  Ms. McCullough. I had read that this novel had courted major plagiarism controversy on its publication as it seemed to resonate closely with The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery. However, so far into the first odd 40 pages, it seems to have as close resemblance to The Blue Castle as do all books of similar nature to Cinderella.

Also I am moderating the Discussion for this hour over at GoodReads, so hop over and let me know your thoughts!

Update 4 – 4:00 (10.5 hrs since we started)

Book Update – Finished The Ladies of Missalonghi  by Colleen McCullough and started on Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay (This is where I go rouge on my planned Readathon TBR)

Snack Update –  Dark Chocolate

Take on Book – Shy and quiet, Missy Wright has lived all her 33 years under the direction of her mother and aunt, working hard and long everyday to etch out a living on the Missalonghi. Her only pleasure is reading, and the recent assistant to the Library, Una has opened her literary pleasure to a whole new world of novels of romance and adventure. But as a new stranger enters the town of Byron, long held to be the domain of Hurlingford family, of whom Missy’s mother and aunt belong too, things begin to change. Suddenly Missy is not quiet ready to accept her quiet wall power life anymore and when shares of the Byron Bottling Company start to go out of the control of Hurlingsfords and of which her aunt and mother own some shares. its time for Missy to start thinking big! The Blue Mountains come alive in this novel by Ms. McCullough. Never have I yearned to visit Australia so badly as I have in the last few hours!! The characters are wonderfully drawn out and I really liked how Missy and Dursialla’s characters evolved and the mother and daughter came to a closer and better understanding. I am have certain mixed feelings about some of the “otherworldy” interventions, which made me waver between a 4 or 5 rating on GoodReads, but despite that, the book is wonderful read!!

Starting to feel really really sleepy!!

Update 5 – 10:30 (16 hrs since we started)

Book Update – Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

Snack Update –  COFFEE!

Take on the Book – Not much to say as sleep claimed me after the initial 50 pages and I woke up after 5 hours. Still groggy! Why is it on days without the Readathons, I can read through the night and still be fresh as daisy in the morning??!!! But woe is me when the Readathon happens and I succumb to sleep!!! Arrrgggghh!

Update 6 – 1:30 (21hrs since we started)

Book Update – Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

Snack Update –  Water! Had toast and tea earlier fro Breakfast!

Take on the Book – On page 142 and so far, ho hum! The children in the book come across as 10 times smarter than the adults. The modern day protagonist is a 45 year old American journalist, Julie who has been living in Paris for last 25 years; married to a French architect (how very original!) who is “charming” which is a good enough reason for Julie to be married to him for 16 years. He treats her like a peice of shit including cheating on her and all she does is act like a wet rag. Why a woman of independent means with a strong support system will put up with such a marriage is beyond me and I am out patience with Julie going about how charming Bertrand is!!! The modern day narrative is so flat that I can see the plot twist 10 pages into the book. The only thing keeping me going is the actual history of  Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup of Jews in German-occupied Paris in 1942 and the plot line around the little girl who escapes from the camp in 1942.

Update 7 – 16:30 (23 hrs since we started)

Book Update – Finished Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay; Started Wild Strawberries by Angela Thirkell

Snack Update –  More Tea and chicken cutlets

Take on the Book – I cannot honestly say I enjoyed Sarah’s Key. The heroine remained a wet rag who needed validation of worth from her 10 year old daughter (how screwed is that??!!) She flies all the way to Italy to tell a stranger something that will tear his life apart and until she has actually told him everything, she did not realize how much damage she can do to an innocent person – and this is 45 year old woman. The characters were all flat and many of them completely unnecessary! The only important thing about the book because of which I ended up giving it a 3 star was it highlighted one of the most horrific and overlooked history of World War II , where the French Police let more than 11000 Jewish children first get separated from their parents and then letting them die. The history was well researched and reminded/educated many modern readers about Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup of Jews in German-occupied Paris in 1942

Wild Strawberries is so far reading like a mad adventure into the life and times of the Leslie family, who lived in the idyllic setting of English countryside in-between the war years!

Dewey’s 24 Hours Readathon – October 2017

Exactly a year ago, while meandering over the book blogs of my friends, I wandered over to see what Brona was upto and accidentally discovered what was to be one of the most enriching and rewarding reading events – Dewey’s 24hrs Reading Marathon! Since that fateful day, I have been devoted to the cause of readathon and have been looking forward to it with much anticipation!

This year is especially important as I am volunteering as a host for the first time every – for hour 6. I am nervous about the whole thing and keep thinking I will blotch it up, but I  have great experts to fall back on and therefore hope I will avoid making too much of a fracas. But I am very happy to be part of the league of the brilliant volunteers who keep this event going with such enthusiasm and generosity of time and spirit!

Now comes the agony and the ecstasy part – what to read and what not to read, that is the QUESTION!! I am sure I will not be able to read all of them, but I need a variety to keep me going and this exhaustive list, on which I have been ruminating over the best part of the month, would do that at the very least if not more. So here goes –

1. Lady Susan by Jane Austen – The wise veteran souls of the Readathon tell me and correctly so, that we must start with short books of novella variety to get us going for the long reading hours; Austen is my all-time favorite feminist and Lady Susan brings this too combination beautifully! I was planning to re-read this for a while and October seems to be a perfect date!
2. The Ladies of Missalonghi by Colleen McCullough – I was planning to read this with Brona for her #AusReadingMonth; but the book arrived early and I excitement anymore!
3. Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery – I have been re-reading through the Anne series and I hope to make a significant progress on this one.
4. The Semi-Attached Couple by Emily Eden – I randomly started reading The Semi-Detached House and am enjoying it immensely. I am hoping to finish it by today and it makes sense to include the sequel in the Readathon
5. Land between the Two Rivers by Nitish Dasgupta – A History of Bengal, the region of East India where I ethnically belong from and whose History keeps fascinating me.
6. The View from the Cheap Seats by Neil Gaiman –This wonderful collection brings together ideas on arts, politics, culture and everything under the sun by one of the wittiest and insightful writers of our times. I had started reading this sometime back and hope to make substantial progress through the Readathon
7. The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Through The Window and Disappeared by Jonas Johnson – Much before this book became a much hyped best seller with all the razzmatazz of a Hollywood adaptation, my flatmate had given me a enthusiastic review of the novel, recommending strongly that I read it. Somehow I never managed to do that but I am determined to let this Readathon pass, without atleast starting on this one!
8. Open Book – Any bookworm worth his or her book will tell you that we readers like exploring and despite all reading plans, there will be that one odd book that we will pick up randomly and suddenly get completely absorbed in. I leave this slot open in the expectation of exactly such event!

So there is my list and I hope and I really hope that I am able to make some significant movement in my reading plans for this year. As most of you know this has been yet another crazy busy year with very limited reading time, but I hope to make most of it for these 24hrs.

As always, I will keep a running update post, sharing my insights and my reading progress and what I believe to be one of the best part of the readathon – food updates. Besides this I will be on Hour 6 with all the activity and abounding enthusiasm over at Dewey’s. Finally I am hoping, my longtime partner in all kinds of reading adventure, Cleo will be able to join me this time, for what promises to be a joyride!!

Thus, without further ado, let’s hop on when the ride arrives!! 29 hrs more to go!!!

Finally, The Wonderful October!

In the words, of L.M. Montgomery, via Anne of Green Gables “I‘m so glad I live in a world where there are October“. I cannot think of a more perfect way to show gratitude for the month of October…fall is here and winter is on its way. It means relief for the searing heat of Indian Summer, wood fire smokes, festivals and celebration and finally a year end, where for the mad year of 2017, I can slow down a bit and take a breathe to read and write! Needless to say, I am overjoyed that October is HERE!

From a bookish perspective, I am hoping to finally get going and pick the pace up! As I write this, I am conscious of the fact that every time I have made a statement like that this year, it has turned into an unmitigated disaster! So I am keeping all my toes and fingers crossed for this month and hoping things will go as planned! To begin with, I am coming at a near close of The Pickwick Paper by Charles Dickens Read Along, organized by O. It was the longest read along ever and I was pleasantly surprised at how much I loved this book on this revisit! I will also finish the much delayed The Raj at War by Yasmin Khan and I really have to stop procrastinating and finish Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol. In terms of new books to read, a whim took over me couple of weeks back and I started re-read the Anne of Green Gables series by the brilliant L.M. Montgomery. I am currently on Book 3 – Anne of the Island and I hope to finish the series between October and November. I am also re-reading Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I have no reason to re-read this novel that I have read 1236 times, except you never need a reason to re-read an Austen! Speaking of re-reads, I was looking over O’s blog and I saw she was planning to re-read The Brother Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky again; I loved the book when I read it more than a year back with Cleo and Ruth’s more recent review was making me itch to back and read it again. Therefore I re-read The Brother Karamazov again, only this time, I take my time to ponder over many instances of brilliance of Dostoevsky, something I did not do fully, the last time in my haste to reach the end! I do not see myself getting around to it till end of the month and will probably take the whole of winter to finish it!

To end, in other reading adventures, the October round of Dewey’s 24hrsReadathon is coming up – 21st October is the date. I have been having so much fun since I joined up last October, that there is no way I am passing this one up! I have yet to decide what books I will read for the event, but I am sure, I will have PLENTY to choose from! I know for a fact that The Rector by Margaret Oliphant, recommended by Jane and pending from September will for sure be on the Reading Plan, but I have yet to decide on others! This is the 10th anniversary of the event, and the hosts are running a 30 days short challenge to celebrate the occasion and you can find the details here. Finally, there are also hosting the short run up weekend challenges to the main event – this weekend (Oct 6-7), they are asking you to read a book that has been on your TBR for more than a year – considering I have endless number of books in that category, it took me some time to narrow it down and finally I decided to ease into it with a fun mystery – The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L Sayers. I loved her when I read Busman’s Honeymoon and I am hoping to enjoy this to a T! Also for the October event, in a departure from my usual Reader only participation, I have offered my self as a host for a couple of hours, so that I can help the hosts in a small way as a show of thanks for the awesome event they have been hosting for years now!

That’s that for the month folks! Happy October and lets be thankful that we live in a world with October 😉

The End of the 2nd Madness….

How much I had looked forward to the Dewey’s 24hour Readathon and now, its all over! Like always, it was a brilliant, exhilarating experience of reading non stop and bonding with a tribe that slept, ate and dream books! I call them my tribe, because only spirits that felt so closely to books could have participated and enjoyed this mad rush of 24 hours of reading and more reading and yet more reading! I know so many who remained sleep deprived and many who had to change their personal life schedules and routines to be a part of the event and yet many others, who though they tried hard, could not join because of some pressing commitment!This tribe of bookworms, brings such a wonderful sense of belonging, of being a part of larger geekdom and just being ok about being passionately fond of books! The Dewey’s 24hour Readathon epitomizes this sense of bonding of book readers across continents and oceans!

So how did I do? Well I still finished 2.5 books, the same as last time, a cumulative of 800+pages. But unlike last time, I loved all my 3 selections  – Bones of the Hills by Conn Iggulden, Men at Arms by Terry Pratchet and The Histories by Herodotus. The first two I finished and the latter, well I am still trying! I unfortunately could not make any headway into either Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol or The Instance of the Fingerpost by Ian Pears, but there are more weekends ahead and I hope to conquer more! I loved all the three that I read. Conn Iggulden made History of Mongolia come alive and made the historical characters, humane with deep insights into the culture and the history, that went into making the Mongol Horde. Terry Pratchett is Terry Pratchett; Captain Vimes is off to become a gentleman, but he cannot stop being a Copper when there are murders and lost kings of Ankh-Morpork to be found. With deep understanding of human nature. and dwarfs and trolls and an amazing sense of humor, Sir Terry wove another tale of brilliance and satire! Herodotus continues blending History and myth to take us across to ancient Greece, Persia and introduce us to long lost races like Scythian’s and Phoenicians!

Needless to say I had awesome fun in this April Readathon. I was really looking forward to it and now wait with bated breath for October! I want to take a moment and give a shoutout to our amazing hostess at Dewey’s @estellasrevenge and @capriciousreadr for your energy, encouragement and sense of fun!! Thank You guys and the entire team of Deweys! Look forward to chatting with you all again, come October!

The Return of the Maddness – Updates on 24 hours of Non-Stop Binge Reading

Here we go –

Update 1

Hour 1  –  05:27 PM IST

The Pile –

Let’s Start!!

Opening Survey from Dewey’s 24hour Readathon

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?

India

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

Toss up between Bones of the Hills by Conn Iggulden & Men at Arms by Sir Terry Pratchett

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

Something I make myself – Chocolate Fool; a concoction of Greek Yogurt, Cream and Chocolate
4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

Full Time Project Manager, Part Time Writer (wish it was in reverse) constant reader, frequent traveler, occassional cook, daughter/sister/friend and trying everyday to be a decent person
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?

I participated in the 2016 October Readathon. The one thing I did do differently was while I still have a motely crew of books, I kept the number of books in the list on lower side, so as to not confuse myself and lose precious time in deciding what  to read next!

Update 2

Hour 4 – 08:49 PM IST

Books – Switching between Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett (Page 70) and The Histories by Herodotus (Page 255)

Take on the Books –  Herodotus is brilliant as he takes on a sweeping narrative, part history and part derived from myths, across ancient Greece, Persia, Libiya and India. I am fascinated with the descriptions of the Scythians and think they may be closely related to present day Mongols. Will look it up later. In Men at Arms, Lance Corporal Detritus (Troll), Lance Corporal Cuddy (Dwarf) and Lance Corporal Angua (Werewolf) join Vimes, Carrot, Fred and Nobby to find out what really happened the Assassins Guild! Brilliant, funny and idealistically real, Sir Terry as always takes my breathe away – I am still laughing aloud at head honchetta/honcharina/honchessa!!

Snacks Update – Dinner – Tuscany Chicken & Pasta Salad

Update 3

Hour 8 – 00:36 AM IST

Books – Bones of the Hill – #3 The Conquerer Series by Conn Iggulden (Page 106)

Take on the Books –  One of my all time favorites! I love this entire series that Mr. Iggulden has written about the rise of Chengez Khan and his dynasty. Stripping away commonly held myths, with deep research, this historical fiction constitutes everything that a good historical fiction must have – powerful narrative that mixes easily with the time it was set in, with great story telling and accurate history! This volume is an especial favourite – the first that I ever read, and was mesmerised by he brilliant writing as I rode with Chengez Khan to conquer Persia and Europe. It also has one of my biggest book crushes of all time – Subutai is right up there is my pantheon of bestest bookboyfriends, along with Fritz William Darcy, Captain Alex Randall and Ari Ben Cannon!

Snacks Update – Water & now Coffee

Update 4

Hour 12 – 04:31 AM IST

Books – Bones of the Hill – #3 The Conquerer Series by Conn Iggulden (Page 249)

Take on the Books –  Still loving the read. Though the change in the character of Changez Khan from a far seeing ruler to someone blinded by personal prejudice is a bit difficult to digest, but then sometimes success does change a person completely. The narrative is still brilliant and I who usually skip battle scenes, is hooked on page to page. Subutai still rocks!

Snacks Update – Sandwich and Rose Tea to fight of slight onset of sluggishness!

Mid-Event Survey!  
1. What are you reading right now?

Bones of the Hill by Conn Iggulden

2. How many books have you read so far?

Half way through two different books

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?

Reading till the end with minimum or no sleep…can my body do it? that’s the question!

4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?

Some, but good interruptions; using them as breaks!

5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?

How much I still enjoy the event! Also trying to keep up on social media can be a tad taxing!

Update 5

Hour 19 – 11:46 AM IST

Books – Bones of the Hill – #3 The Conquerer Series by Conn Iggulden (Page 260)

Miscellaneous Note – no traction as fell off to sleep for 5 hours! 😦

Snacks Update – Masala Tea to get the day going!

Update 6

Hour 23 – 04:01 PM IST

Books – Bones of the Hill – #3 The Conqueror Series by Conn Iggulden (Completed) Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett (Page 107)

Take on the Book – As always, Bones of the Hill leaves me speechless. The rise and the betrayal are overwhelming and it leaves much to ponder over, especially when one cannot really dismiss the thoughts under the guise of fiction. The rise of the Mongols did happen and what the great Khan went through despite all the negative history surrounding him, cannot be evaded Mr. Iggulden tries to give Subutai the due he deserves in the books of history – unfortunately, the Mongols produced a host of brilliant men 800 years ago and giving space to all of them is an ask. Despite the author manages to etch out the great General’s character and bring in the more humane side of him, especially when he leaves for his final command under Chengez Khan; your heart torn as you see one of the best General’s is history of warfare struggle to keep his loyalty to the Man who had raised him and to the boy who looked up to him. One of the best pieces of historical fiction, where Mongols, come alive and you can hear the war cries assaulting you from the pages of the book!

Snacks Update – Lunch – Traditional Indian Dal (Legumes) Rice & Saag baji (Spinach fry)

Update 7

Hour 24 – 05: 28 PM IST

Books –  Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett (Page 213)& The Histories by Herodotus (Page 321)

Take on the Book – Brilliant, intuitive, kind and hilarious – simply put. vintage Terry Pratchet

Snacks Update – Tea

Closing Survey

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?

Early morning – around 6:00 AM

2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a reader engaged for next year?

• Historical Fiction – The Conquerer Series by Conn Iggulden
• Fantasy/Humor – The Discworld Series, especially the Vimes & The Witches novels by Terry Pratchet

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next season?

I think you guys are just perfect! Though I think the Goodreads page could be simplified instead of multiple threads!

4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?

I think the Mini Challenges were awesome!

5. How many books did you read?

2.5

6. What were the names of the books you read?

• Bones of the Hills by Conn Iggulden
• Men at Arms by Terry Pratchet
• The Histories by Herodotus

7. Which book did you enjoy most?

Bones of the Hills by Conn Iggulden

8. Which did you enjoy least?

NA…I chose well this year! I loved everything I read!

9. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?

I repeat, once again, on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest, I would say 20! Role would be a Reader, maybe even a host!