17:35: Yep, I did just spend the last twenty minutes putting together an answer for this hour's challenge.



"The Fall of the Kings: Here Lies Arthur Under Heaven, Last Defender of Camelot; Nevermore The King Awakes".

Yes, I racked my brains for ages to come up with an Arthurian one. Titles that nearly got in: Whose Body?, King Arthur's Bones, The Final Reckoning.

18:28: Just went off to have dinner, apply copious amounts of Bonjela to my ulcer (owww), and take some anti-spasmodics lest the dinner cause gallbladder trouble (fucking stones). Now I am back and about to start reading again, after spending dinner regaling my family with tales from Howard Carter's excavation of Tutankhamen's tomb.

Aaand the mini-challenge for this hour, to imagine how you would entertain the author of one of the books you've been reading...

1. Title and author of the book: The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, Dorothy L. Sayers.
2. The menu: the food, the beverage: It'd have to involve some very good wine. I could copy out the menu Lord Peter designs for Ann Dorland near the end of the book, but that would probably be cheating, though it's a known fact that Sayers gave Wimsey the things she wanted. Anyway, some very good wine -- aged for a decent period of time -- and, hmm, probably oysters and such things. The wine is the most important part.

19:15: Still reading about Tutankhamen. Here's my mini-challenge response for the hour, a 'found poem' based on the book I'm currently reading:

'three thousand year old
linen; tombs with paint so bright
it still seems fresh now

a thumbprint in clay
overlaid by the living
thumb of a woman

reaching back to the
past; opening the tomb of
knowledge long hidden

"Tutankhamen: the
Life and Death of a Boy King" --
Christine El Mahdy.'

20:40: Still on the same book! Here's my response to the mini-challenge of the hour, set dressing for my current read...



21:54: First mini-challenge I'm not participating in -- I could, but I'm not interested in the prize. I'd rather someone who is get it. So anyway, still on the same book -- non-fiction always takes me longer. And I just got taken aside to have my eczema dressed with iodine to deal with some skin infections: three dressings on my arms and three on my face. I look ridiculous!



22:43: Just finished the book on Tutankhamen. Review here.

23:18: Looks like I won back in hour five! I shall have to look at TBD and decide on a prize next time I'm feeling sleepy and unmotivated. In the meantime, just took co-codamol for my wisdom teeth pain, ugh. Whatever shall I read next?

00:09: Just took part in this hour's challenge. I'm now reading The Broken Kingdoms, by N.K. Jemisin -- I hope I'll get round to reading The Kingdom of Gods, the sequel, before the readathon ends: I'm meant to be going home on Monday morning, and I don't want to have to drag it back with me again.

01:13: Mid-event survey...

1) How are you doing? Sleepy? Are your eyes tired? I'm not sleepy, though I might be if I wasn't in intense pain! Yay, gallstones. Fun for all the family.
2) What have you finished reading? The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (Dorothy L. Sayers), Brook Street Rogues (Ava March), Sleeping Beauty, Indeed (ed. JoSelle Vanderhooft), Tutankhamen: The Life and Death of a Boy King (Christine El Mahdy). I'm in the middle of The Broken Kingdoms (N.K. Jemisin).
3) What is your favorite read so far? Hmmm, probably the Sayers: I always love Lord Peter.
4) What about your favorite snacks? I have nommed a Snickers bar or two, which has probably not helped with the aforementioned intense pain!
5) Have you found any new blogs through the readathon? If so, give them some love! I haven't really been looking at blogs; I tend to do that the day after. I've only wandered by the blogs belonging to the hosts of mini-challenges. They've all been very fun, though!

02:00: Bugger. I have to stop now, the pain is just ridiculous, and I had to take a painkiller that will knock me out. I'll rejoin if I wake up in time. Goodnight, all.

03:40: Can't sleep so I'm back to reading. Karen Maitland's Company of Liars.

05:23: Really enjoying this book, but taking advantage of an ebb in pain to try to sleep. Tempted to keep reading -- I don't think I'd have trouble staying up for the rest of the 'thon, but I do need sleep to get better...

12:50: I drifted in and out of consciousness for the rest of the night, but didn't get much more reading done. Here's the final meme.

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? Around 1am, BST. That's when the pain first hit.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? N.K. Jemisin's books, definitely, and also Karen Maitland's Company of Liars -- that kept me engaged through the pain.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Fewer US-only prizes. Instead of using Amazon.com for prizes, use The Book Depository, that ships almost worldwide.
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? I really enjoyed the selection of mini challenges.
5. How many books did you read? I finished four, and dipped into another three.
6. What were the names of the books you read? The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (Dorothy L. Sayers), Brook Street Rogues (Ava March), Sleeping Beauty, Indeed (ed. JoSelle Vanderhooft), Tutankhamen: The Life and Death of a Boy King (Christine El Mahdy). I'm in the middle of The Broken Kingdoms (N.K. Jemisin) and Company of Liars (Karen Maitland), and dipped in and out of the audiobook of Good Omens (Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett).
7. Which book did you enjoy most? Hard to say -- I think I was most surprised by how much Company of Liars sucked me in.
8. Which did you enjoy least? I didn't read anything I really disliked, but the Christine El Mahdy was the hardest going.
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? I wasn't an official cheerleader, but I did drop some comments by. The best comments are ones that engage with what people are doing and reading: I had some lovely cheerleaders who tried to cheer me up when I was in pain, and some nice conversations about what I was reading. That works better than some kind of copy/paste "cheer".
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? I will, and I'll be a reader. I may host a mini-challenge someday: it's a nice way to get involved and I like getting books out there to people who want them...

Now I'm going to settle down to a day of, well, reading.

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It's nearly time for the readathon! Here I am all ready for it, after a good long sleep in (bless the fact that the readathon starts at 1pm here), still all cosy in my jammies and dressing gown. I have no idea what I'm going to start with, and I suppose I will only know when I pick up my Kindle and find out what book is open on it. I'll let you know... Updates will be on this post, as ever, until it gets ridiculously long.

13:03: 1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?

This time, I'm reading from Yorkshire, England.

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

I'm not sure, since I'm mainly planning to wing it. I know I'll enjoy most of the ones I've definitely planned to read!

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

Mini Snickers bars. Om nom nom.

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

I'm twenty-two, and I plan to make reading my career (in the shape of doing a PhD and then becoming a lecturer and researcher).

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?

This time, I'll stay up all through! Last time I just couldn't stay up all night due to medication, but this time I think I can manage it.

14:02: First book finished! The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, by Dorothy L. Sayers. Oh, Lord Peter.

Hmm, here's this hour's challenge:

1. If you could read any book that’s been translated into English in its ORIGINAL language, what would it be?

Oh, hell, that's difficult, because I can read most of the stuff I'm interested in, with glosses. I suppose something in Old French or Middle High German -- Diu Crône, by Heinrich von dem Türlin, maybe.

2. Include the original book’s cover if possible; if you want, also post the English cover for comparison.
3. Optional imaginary bonus points: post a sentence from the book in its original language.

Unfortunately, a quick google does not reveal any photographs or reproductions of the original manuscript, and I haven't got a dual-language edition. But it's a perfectly fantastic grail story, in which Sir Gawain is the hero.

Here's my review of The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, anyway.

15:11: Just finished reading an ARC from Netgalley -- Brook Street Rogues, by Ava March. And here's my mini-challenge response (although I can't win, as this one is US only)...

( Book puzzle )

I'll tell you what it is in the next hour, if no one has guessed.

16:04: I'm now reading Sleeping Beauty, Indeed (ed. JoSelle Vanderhooft), and I just did this hour's mini-challenge. The day is just speeding away from me -- how is it past four already? I might actually have to get dressed...

16:46: Review of Sleeping Beauty, Indeed. I've been finished for a while, but I've been attending to business, like actually getting dressed -- and pinning back the annoying little bits of my hair that kept tickling my face. Also, not sure what to read next. I might take the last fifteen minutes of this hour to flirt with a couple of different books before settling down again.

17:09: Not much flirting was required! Tutankhamen: The Life and Death of a Boy King, by Christine El Mahdy, arrived this morning, just in time, and I think I'll read that now.

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It's nearly the readathon again! Tomorrow, to be precise. I only realised last night, and only just signed up.

I am pretty much planning to read whatever catches my eye, but here's a list of possibilities:

-N.K. Jemisin, The Broken Kingdoms.
-N.K. Jemisin, The Kingdom of Gods.
-Guy Gavriel Kay, Tigana.
-June Rachuy Brindel, Ariadne.
-June Rachuy Brindel, Phaedra.
-Karen Maitland, Company Of Liars.
-David Baldwin, Elizabeth Woodville: Mother of the Princes in the Tower.
-Stuff from Netgalley.
-Dorothy L. Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey books.
-Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman, Good Omens audiobook. (If I need a break.)

I shall be reading dead tree books as well as reading on my Kindle and my tablet.

And now I'm going to poke at the library ebook lending service again to see if there's anything interestin' there.

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I'm starting the readathon early, so I can still get in twenty-four hours, since I'm going to lunch with my grandmother, who just got out of hospital, on Sunday. So I'm starting, well, about now, 11am GMT.

Because I like to start with a photo, here is a photo of me with my first book, Garth Nix's The Fall. If I still look fluffy and bed-heady and pajama'd, that'd be because I am.



Check back here for updates -- there will be a new post when this starts getting long.

11:55: Finished the first book, Garth Nix's The Fall. Total reading time: forty-three minutes. It's so short, it felt like cheating. Not sure what I'll read next. Realised I forgot to link to my 'stack': here. Writing a review of The Fall now...

12:06: Review up here. Now reading Jeanette Winterson's Lighthousekeeping, I think. I wish they hadn't picked today to fix the giant hole they made in the pavement outside...

13:01: Half an hour left of Lighthousekeeping, which I'm enjoying very much. And the first hour's meme:

1)Where are you reading from today?
Cardiff, Wales. Mostly from my bed, at the moment.

2)Three random facts about me…
a) My desk chair is unbearably squeaky.
b) Unrelatedly, my father's affectionate petname for me is Squeak.
c) I am doing a module on Tolkien for my medieval lit Master's degree. Be jealous.

3)How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours?
About twenty-five. I've given myself lots of options!

4)Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)?
Finish at least two of the books I've stalled with.

5)If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, any advice for people doing this for the first time?
Make sure you're comfortable. You might risk falling asleep that way, but sleep will be much less tempting if you're not aching all over by hour fourteen.

14:34: Finished Lighthousekeeping. Total reading time, fifty-nine minutes. Reviewing now. Took a picture for the hour two meme, character photos. It's my silver and Welsh rose gold Clogau necklace, because the protagonist of Lighthousekeeping is called Silver and because the narrative is warm like the rose-gold. Here is the photo.

Also showered and put the oven on to pre-heat. Mini Cornish pasties, here I come!

14:59: Review up, here, and tiny Cornish pasties in hand. Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle next, I think. Not taking part in this hour's meme.

16:21: Finished and reviewed Cat's Cradle. Review here. Not taking part in this hour's meme, either, since it's pretty limited. Not sure what to read next...

16:47: Finally decided to read Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak.

18:00: I'm only about 30% of the way through Speak. It's been a slow hour. I've been yawning a lot, but a comfortable sort of yawn, not a sleepy one... Not doing the memes for the past two hours.

18:58: Still working on Speak. It shouldn't take me too long to finish, now. Not doing this hour's meme either.

19:30: Finished Speak and put up a review, here. Not sure what I want to read now. I'm going to take a tiny break and play Glitch, then have a stretch and see about dinner. I've been readathoning for nearly nine hours, now...

20:51: Stalled for a while there by the need to put some more books on my Kindle and eat dinner. Now settling down with Diana Wynne Jones' The Dark Lord of Derkholm.

21:51: Still up, and still reading, but I've decided that for various reasons, I do actually need to sleep tonight. Plus, I've only just got back the urge to read after mental health issues, and I really don't want to burn myself out. So I'm sort of stopping participating now -- I'm still going to read if I feel like it after I've had a bit of a rest, but I might not check in here.

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I've been in a rut with reading for a while. That's partly due to mental health issues, partly due to the fact that I've just started my master's degree and I'm getting into the swing of reading and research for that. (Just completed the best mini-project ever, research-wise: dragons!)

Anyway, the point is, the 24-hour readathon is coming up -- this Saturday, in fact. And I'm free weekends. In fact, I'm free most of the week, so I even get plenty of time to recover. So despite my general lack of get-up-and-go when it comes to reading, I'm hoping this event is going to help me catch up a bit and find my feet. I have a long, long list of books I may read, to provide me with something to direct my reading, without limiting my options too much. I've got a load of books I'm stranded halfway through, so I'm hoping to read those, and others I've got that I've been meaning to read for weeks or months. Others that just appealed.

Because I love lists, I've actually made lists of books for each group separately!

( Take a look-see )

Of course, even that I'm not taking as a limitation -- just a sense of direction. If something else appeals, hey, I'll go for it.

What should I start with? Something I'm already partway through, for an easy (or quicker, anyway) way to finish off a first book, or start with something fresh to get me turning pages?

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I have a confession to make.

I have, so far in my life, owned two dedicated ereaders and three other devices capable of reading electronic books.

( It really irks me that that feels like a confession. )

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Two batches of reviews for you, this fine morning.

( Rivers of London & Moon Over Soho, by Ben Aaronovitch: Aspiring wizard gets led around London by his dick, aka The Dresden Files In London )

( The King's Peace, The King's Name, & The Prize in the Game, by Jo Walton: Alternate history/fantasy Arthurian retelling, with elements from The Tain, and prominent gay characters )

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I'm always saving reviews up until I have a bundle to post -- and then the bundle gets too big. Oops. My reviews on goodreads always get posted as I finish the books in question, though, so follow me there if you want more regular (and more complete) updates on my reading material.

Oh, and starting this update, I'm going to try and put a little description by the cut, since I'm guessing it might help people find the reviews of mine that they're more interested in.

( The Inventor's Companion, by Ariel Tachna: Steampunk gay romance with examination of slavery/prostitution/caste systems )

( The Anvil of Ice, by Michael Scott Rohan: Relatively generic fantasy )

( The Winter Ghosts, by Kate Mosse: Predictable mystery with ghosts )

( The Drowning City & The Bone Palace, by Amanda Downum: Political fantasy with necromancy and trans characters )

( The Half-Made World, by Felix Gilman: A sea of moral ambiguity in the key of steampunk and Western )

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I don't think there are major spoilers in here, but just in case and since the third book came out very recently...

( Review of the Naamah trilogy: cut for potential spoilers )

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