9:30 PM Update (Monica): Still awake, friends?
Are you sure?
Quick, pinch yourself! You might have fallen asleep in front of the computer and now you're just dreaming that you're reading other people's blogs! This could be a nightmare! Bum bum bum....
Obviously, I'm losing my mind. But don't worry. It always comes back. Eventually.
Castaways is just as entertaining as I remembered. It's been close to a decade since I last read it, and I'd forgotten how absolutely menacing the first part of it was. I almost wish it could have kept going -- I do have a deep love of pirates that the rest of the story doesn't quite fulfill.
And best of all, although I don't remember all the details of the novel, I'm reasonably sure that the dog makes it. (Yes. I'm talking to you, Knife of Never Letting Go. I'm talking to you.)
In other news, we've got a Mini Challenge from Fizzy Thoughts!
What's a song that reminds me of the Readathon? Oh, that's easy. It's "Who Needs Sleep" by the Barenaked Ladies! Sing along, kids!
Who needs sleep?
Well you're never gonna get it.
Who needs sleep?
Tell me what's that for?
Who needs sleep?
Be happy with what you're getting --
There's a guy whose been awake since the Second World War!
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Readathon: Halfway Update!
Update (Monica): And without further ado, we've got the official Readathon Halfway Point Meme Thingy!
1. What are you reading right now?
Castaways of the Flying Dutchman
1. What are you reading right now?
Castaways of the Flying Dutchman
2. How many books have you read so far?
Three and a half. Three and three quarters? Almost four! And some webcomics!3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?
I've got a copy of The Virgin and the Dinosaur set aside, which I've never read before and which I'm pretty sure has the best title of any book ever written. I'm thinking it'll be my 1am book.
4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day?
Oh yes. They consisted of, "Mom? Dad? I claim the living room. Please feed me from time to time."
5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?
Not too many interruptions at all! I did have to shower, at one point, and at another point needed to break out into song. But mostly it's just been reading and blogging.
6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?
I never realized how many fantastic blogs there were! I'm having so much fun reading everyone else's posts.
7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
I'd vote for large gifts of chocolate for every participant, but I do (vaguely) recognize the inherent difficulties with that idea....
8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year?
I'd think about the books I was reading ahead of time. I've mostly just been working out of my library stack, but some of them aren't very conducive to reading straight through. I need more brainless, less thinky. ;)
9. Are you getting tired yet?
DEAR GOD YES! PLEASE LET ME SLEEP!
10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered?
Um... caffeine? Oh, and posting in tandem. Shel helps keep me awake and motivated. Yay her!
Readathon: Update 12
8:30 PM Update (Shel): Okay, so I'm a little over half-way through the readathon and I really want to read in bed. I love the thought of a pillow, and my silky comforter, my cushiony mattress...mmmm, comfortable. My friends, it's not even 9 PM. How am I going to make it until tomorrow morning? I need one of you to prove your love for me and drive to Columbus to bring me a soy latte MANY soy lattes.
Now, in theory, I could just stay up reading in bed. Also, in theory, I could solve world hunger, fly to the moon and marry all ten of my favorite authors (dead or alive). But, in practice, I tried reading in bed this afternoon and lounging turned into lying down, which turned into getting under the covers, which turned into closing my eyes, which resulted in sleep. Sleep is not reading. This is a problem.
(Also in practice, I don't think marrying the corpse of George Orwell would end well for me. I imagine a dead guy would make a very lazy husband. And honestly, I'm not crazy about corpses unless they're fictional and on the hunt for brains.)
So, I will do a few nerdy stretches and have flashbacks to 9th grade gym class and then I will turn to my upright and sitting position to reread Freak the Mighty.
8:30 PM Update (Monica):
8:30 PM Update (Monica):
I’ve decided to slow down a little bit this evening -- pacing myself for tonight, obviously, and also because I'm watching Star Trek out of the corner of one eye and Captain Sisko is hypnotically attractive as per the usual -- and as such, I’m doing a ReRead.
The Castaways of the Flying Dutchman, to be more precise.
I love this book. To be fair, if you replace the main characters with some mice and badgers and an evil rat or two, you have every Redwall book ever written. But no one ever said Brian Jacques wasn't a formula writer. Luckily, I heart the formula! Huzzah!!
Plus, I had suuuuch a crush on Alex when the book first came out. To be fair, I was young and silly. And have you seen the cover of the book? He looks like a pirate. Like a young and slightly less earring-bedecked Jack Sparrow! Love!
In other news, Shel, would you seriously want to marry George Orwell? Seriously? He seems like he'd be... kind of a downer to hang around with all the time. Unlike Terry Brooks. (Terry! Call me!!)
Readathon: Update 11
7:30 PM Update (Shel): Guys, I wanna watch a movie!
7:30 PM Update (Monica): I vote yes on the movie too! If we make it literary, does it count? I've got Pride and Prejudice!
Shel: I has P&P toooooooooo! Both the Colin Firth and the newer one. If we press start at the same time AND I page through Pride and Prejudice and Zombies does that count? Yes, maybe?
Monica: Oh, yes most definitely. And then we could go see Zombieland, which obviously has zombies, just like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which is a book, which is like reading!!
Shel: The school work needs to go away. While It has the advantage of keeping me awake...since it require so much brain power to ask, "What the Hell does this theorist mean?" at regular intervals, I want to read fun fiction stories about dogs being killed too.
Monica: See, I'm at the point in the day when my response would be "What the hell is a theorist?"
Shel: I still know what a theorist is! It's something that I'll deal with tomorrow, that's what.
Monica: I'm being dragged off to watch Deep Space Nine. The promise is that I can read at the same time without being called a nerd (which is ironic, see, coming from Trekkies). Shall we guess how long it will take that promise to be revoked?
Shel: Just have the book open on your lap. If you glance down every now and then to try to figure out where you are, well, that's a type of reading. Truth. Are you with me, readers? (Of course, you pay more attention to what we have to say than that, right? Right?!)
::: crickets :::
7:30 PM Update (Monica): I vote yes on the movie too! If we make it literary, does it count? I've got Pride and Prejudice!
Shel: I has P&P toooooooooo! Both the Colin Firth and the newer one. If we press start at the same time AND I page through Pride and Prejudice and Zombies does that count? Yes, maybe?
Monica: Oh, yes most definitely. And then we could go see Zombieland, which obviously has zombies, just like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which is a book, which is like reading!!
Shel: The school work needs to go away. While It has the advantage of keeping me awake...since it require so much brain power to ask, "What the Hell does this theorist mean?" at regular intervals, I want to read fun fiction stories about dogs being killed too.
Monica: See, I'm at the point in the day when my response would be "What the hell is a theorist?"
Shel: I still know what a theorist is! It's something that I'll deal with tomorrow, that's what.
Monica: I'm being dragged off to watch Deep Space Nine. The promise is that I can read at the same time without being called a nerd (which is ironic, see, coming from Trekkies). Shall we guess how long it will take that promise to be revoked?
Shel: Just have the book open on your lap. If you glance down every now and then to try to figure out where you are, well, that's a type of reading. Truth. Are you with me, readers? (Of course, you pay more attention to what we have to say than that, right? Right?!)
::: crickets :::
Readathon: Update 10
6:30 PM Update (Shel): Okay, I have limited my coffee intake and have eaten something. *Sigh* much calmer. *Glances around* But still no cat.
The reading I'm doing is all annoyingly academic. I'm going back and forth among a number of chapters on myth in the search of quotes for a big ol' fat an' nasty exam I'm taking. So, I type up the quotes and then write several sentences explaining how each quote relates to my argument. These sentences don't make sense to even me, the writer. I suppose that's where next week's editing process will come in. Then my goal can be to make myself make sense to myself and others. Does that make sense? Good plan? Good plan.
But I think I shall take a break from all this pesky homework soon enough and return to more fun readings for a time. I'm about halfway through Shiver. Do you think I have a lot of angst left to go? I imagine that yes, yes I do.
6:30 PM Update (Monica): Hey all! Still keeping on keeping on? We're coming up on hour ten(?) of the 24-Hour Readathon, and I don't know about you, but I... am dreaming of Taco Bell Ultimate Nachos. I've promised myself that if I make it until midnight, they'll be mine. Mmmm. Nachos.
Anyway! I've finished Little Brother and loved every minute of it, even the minutes when I was scared out of my mind and staring at my cell phone trying to determine if it featured an illegal government wiretap. Thanks, Mr. Doctorow. I really needed to be more paranoid.
Next up are *either* Those Who Walk In Darkness or Dragons of Babel. I haven't read either one, but I got them for a buck each when the bookstore near my house closed down, and one of them at least is crying out to be loved.
Let me know which one you think I should start on, friends! Until I get a suggestion... well, I suppose I'll just have to read Doctor Who fanfiction, won't I?
(Take your tiiiiime....)
The reading I'm doing is all annoyingly academic. I'm going back and forth among a number of chapters on myth in the search of quotes for a big ol' fat an' nasty exam I'm taking. So, I type up the quotes and then write several sentences explaining how each quote relates to my argument. These sentences don't make sense to even me, the writer. I suppose that's where next week's editing process will come in. Then my goal can be to make myself make sense to myself and others. Does that make sense? Good plan? Good plan.
But I think I shall take a break from all this pesky homework soon enough and return to more fun readings for a time. I'm about halfway through Shiver. Do you think I have a lot of angst left to go? I imagine that yes, yes I do.
6:30 PM Update (Monica): Hey all! Still keeping on keeping on? We're coming up on hour ten(?) of the 24-Hour Readathon, and I don't know about you, but I... am dreaming of Taco Bell Ultimate Nachos. I've promised myself that if I make it until midnight, they'll be mine. Mmmm. Nachos.
Anyway! I've finished Little Brother and loved every minute of it, even the minutes when I was scared out of my mind and staring at my cell phone trying to determine if it featured an illegal government wiretap. Thanks, Mr. Doctorow. I really needed to be more paranoid.
Next up are *either* Those Who Walk In Darkness or Dragons of Babel. I haven't read either one, but I got them for a buck each when the bookstore near my house closed down, and one of them at least is crying out to be loved.
Let me know which one you think I should start on, friends! Until I get a suggestion... well, I suppose I'll just have to read Doctor Who fanfiction, won't I?
(Take your tiiiiime....)
Readathon: Mini Challenge
At the Mini Challenge of request of Things Mean A Lot, I decided to throw down Little Brother with a mere twenty pages left to go, and instead read me some good old Fallen, one of my favorite webcomics of all time.
It features one of the most attractive, broody, pierced, hair-over-the-eyes Fallen Guardian Angel-type characters in the entire world, as well as a miniature, nicotine addicted dragon girl, a talking scythe, and a ton of miscellaneous animal-shaped demigod descendants. Oh, and Singe, the saucy main character. We like Singe.
I do NOT recommend you read it, because you'll hit the last frame and say "wtf, she hasn't updated in three years!? The story just comes to an abrupt end?! What... what happens!? Why!? WHY AIDO!?!?"
Then, if you're like me, you'll pine and pine and keep yourself happy by just rereading the silly thing over a couple times, and occasionally stalk her LJ and other webcomic.
Okay, but really, read it anyway. It's absolutely brilliant, and even unfinished webcomics are magical things.
It features one of the most attractive, broody, pierced, hair-over-the-eyes Fallen Guardian Angel-type characters in the entire world, as well as a miniature, nicotine addicted dragon girl, a talking scythe, and a ton of miscellaneous animal-shaped demigod descendants. Oh, and Singe, the saucy main character. We like Singe.
I do NOT recommend you read it, because you'll hit the last frame and say "wtf, she hasn't updated in three years!? The story just comes to an abrupt end?! What... what happens!? Why!? WHY AIDO!?!?"
Then, if you're like me, you'll pine and pine and keep yourself happy by just rereading the silly thing over a couple times, and occasionally stalk her LJ and other webcomic.
Okay, but really, read it anyway. It's absolutely brilliant, and even unfinished webcomics are magical things.
Readathon: Update 9
Update 5:30 PM (Shel): HeyGuys! GuessWhat? I'veHadCOFFEEEEEEEEEEEE! Lot's of it. The words seem to be jumping around on the page. That's normal, right? RIGHT! LALALA. Reading! Coffee! Read!Read!COFFEE!
IThinkI'mGoingToReadALoudToMyCat! Where are you, cat?! WHERE?! I think my cat is avoiding me. IWonderWhy?
IThinkI'mGoingToReadALoudToMyCat! Where are you, cat?! WHERE?! I think my cat is avoiding me. IWonderWhy?
Readathon: Update 8
4:30 PM Update (Monica): That's it.
It's official.
After I'm done with Little Brother, I'm going to read Redwall or something. Something light. Something involving furry animals who *don't* have their backs broken (Mancheeeeee!), and something that does not in any way involve an evil Homeland Security.
...
Am absolutely *loving* Little Brother, as an aside. I mean, it's an absolute mindwarp, but I can't get enough of Marcus! Plus, who hasn't always wanted to know tips for countering potentially illegal surveillance?!
I do find myself wondering how much sense any of it would make to an older, less-tech-inclined reader. I'm not saying that I'm wildly knowledgeable about the ins and outs of everything computer-related, but I can read xkcd without too much confusion, and I can keep my system running relatively smoothly. I wonder how the book would read, though, to someone who doesn't have a working knowledge of blogs and filters and public keys.
Are you all still rocking solid, friends? Keeping the reading going? Stay strong!
It's official.
After I'm done with Little Brother, I'm going to read Redwall or something. Something light. Something involving furry animals who *don't* have their backs broken (Mancheeeeee!), and something that does not in any way involve an evil Homeland Security.
...
Am absolutely *loving* Little Brother, as an aside. I mean, it's an absolute mindwarp, but I can't get enough of Marcus! Plus, who hasn't always wanted to know tips for countering potentially illegal surveillance?!
I do find myself wondering how much sense any of it would make to an older, less-tech-inclined reader. I'm not saying that I'm wildly knowledgeable about the ins and outs of everything computer-related, but I can read xkcd without too much confusion, and I can keep my system running relatively smoothly. I wonder how the book would read, though, to someone who doesn't have a working knowledge of blogs and filters and public keys.
Are you all still rocking solid, friends? Keeping the reading going? Stay strong!
4:30 PM Update (Shel): No, I am not staying strong. A cute adorable cat is curled in a ball, asleep beside me.
...
She looks so happy.
...
Staring isn't making her stop.
...
Push.
Thump.
Mrrrrrrrrph.
An angry kitty is glaring at me, ya'll.
If I can't nap, nobody can!!!!!!!!!
So, I'm trying to be a good little student and do assigned reading. But, my brain keeps thinking about Shiver, and Alcatraz Versus the Knights of Crystallia. Those books are much more fun. And I know there'll be time for them later. Because I won't be able to sleep tonight. Not with all this coffee. And my new fear that my cat will seek revenge for me waking her up.
Back to the books! Charge!
Readathon: Mini Challenge
In answer to the Feed Me Seymour! Mini-Challenge over at Linus's Blanket, I'm posting a description of food (drink...) coming straight out of Little Brother by Cory Doctorow.
The Turkish coffee shop on 24th street fixed me up good with a go-cup of Turkish coffee. Basically, Turkish coffee is mud pretending to be coffee. It's thick enough to stand a spoon up in, and it has way more caffeine than the kiddee-pops like Red Bull. Take it from someone who's read the Wikipedia entry: This is how the Ottoman Empire was won: maddened horsemen fueled by lethal jet-black coffee-mud. (90)
Mmm.
Shel, you and I are obviously going to have to get us some of that for our 2-5 am Challengeathon.
The Turkish coffee shop on 24th street fixed me up good with a go-cup of Turkish coffee. Basically, Turkish coffee is mud pretending to be coffee. It's thick enough to stand a spoon up in, and it has way more caffeine than the kiddee-pops like Red Bull. Take it from someone who's read the Wikipedia entry: This is how the Ottoman Empire was won: maddened horsemen fueled by lethal jet-black coffee-mud. (90)
Mmm.
Shel, you and I are obviously going to have to get us some of that for our 2-5 am Challengeathon.
Readathon: Update 7
3:30 PM Update (Monica): Patrick Ness, I am sorry to tell you this, but I loathe you. Loathing. Unadulterated loathing, as they say in the song.
Because of you, I'm not only super sad and vaguely teary-eyed, I'm also filled with the need to read The Ask and the Answer. Which, presumably, will make me super sad and teary-eyed ALL OVER AGAIN!
It's a vicious cycle of sorrow.
Seriously, though, what a great book! Well-written, awesome characters, spaceships, and a dog! Granted, the dog doesn't make it through the entire story... but maybe... he'll come back in the sequel? Like some sort of fake-out a la Ian Malcolm in the Jurassic Park novels? We can hope.
Next up, I'm going to be working my way through the rest of Little Brother by Cory Doctorow. I made it halfway before deciding it was freaking me out too much. But since I'm already depressed, I figure I might as well keep the crazy going.
Hope y'all are still having a good time!
3:30 PM Update (Shel): Huh? Wha-what happened. I was Reading Shiver. Grace was kissing Sam and crying at the same time because THIS IS SAM'S LAST YEAR. And then I blinked and two hours had passed. And my poor index finger was smooooshed, holding my place in Shiver.
How could I have already fallen asleep?! We're not even half-way yet. This is not a good sign. If a reader is tempted by sleep early on, forever will it dominate my path as a Jedi. Wait what?
Any way. I am enjoying Shiver, but I think I shall wonder away to do some homework reading for a time. How will I possibly stay awake for that? A central line of coffee, my friends.
Because of you, I'm not only super sad and vaguely teary-eyed, I'm also filled with the need to read The Ask and the Answer. Which, presumably, will make me super sad and teary-eyed ALL OVER AGAIN!
It's a vicious cycle of sorrow.
Seriously, though, what a great book! Well-written, awesome characters, spaceships, and a dog! Granted, the dog doesn't make it through the entire story... but maybe... he'll come back in the sequel? Like some sort of fake-out a la Ian Malcolm in the Jurassic Park novels? We can hope.
Next up, I'm going to be working my way through the rest of Little Brother by Cory Doctorow. I made it halfway before deciding it was freaking me out too much. But since I'm already depressed, I figure I might as well keep the crazy going.
Hope y'all are still having a good time!
3:30 PM Update (Shel): Huh? Wha-what happened. I was Reading Shiver. Grace was kissing Sam and crying at the same time because THIS IS SAM'S LAST YEAR. And then I blinked and two hours had passed. And my poor index finger was smooooshed, holding my place in Shiver.
How could I have already fallen asleep?! We're not even half-way yet. This is not a good sign. If a reader is tempted by sleep early on, forever will it dominate my path as a Jedi. Wait what?
Any way. I am enjoying Shiver, but I think I shall wonder away to do some homework reading for a time. How will I possibly stay awake for that? A central line of coffee, my friends.
Readathon: Update 6
2:40 PM Update (Monica): Seriously? Seriously?!
Guys, this is the most depressing book in the history of the world.
Patrick Ness what is wrong with you!? How could you off Manchee!? "Todd?" Why are you doing this to me!?
...
Fifty more pages to go. Don't know if I will make it.
Guys, this is the most depressing book in the history of the world.
Patrick Ness what is wrong with you!? How could you off Manchee!? "Todd?" Why are you doing this to me!?
...
Fifty more pages to go. Don't know if I will make it.
Readathon: Update 5
1:30 PM Update (Monica): Oh. My word.
Shel! Why didn't you warn me sooner that Knife is a ridiculously depressing book!? You know how I am about novels that lack sufficiently happy endings!
Of course, I'm not at the end yet. I suppose it still has time to all turn out well.
At the moment, though, I'm slogging through knee-deep depression.
I *do* like the aliens and the spaceships and the advanced tech! It keeps taking me by surprise, set as it is against the backdrop of struggling subsistence farmers with deep, dark secrets....
Shel! Why didn't you warn me sooner that Knife is a ridiculously depressing book!? You know how I am about novels that lack sufficiently happy endings!
Of course, I'm not at the end yet. I suppose it still has time to all turn out well.
At the moment, though, I'm slogging through knee-deep depression.
I *do* like the aliens and the spaceships and the advanced tech! It keeps taking me by surprise, set as it is against the backdrop of struggling subsistence farmers with deep, dark secrets....
Readathon: Update 4
12:52 PM Update (Shel): I have returned as well! And I have brought with me my old but improved (since it now has an autograph!!!!!) copy of Savvy home. Seeing Ingrid Law speak was great fun. She's very good with children and spoke encouragingly about her writing process.
I'm still not feeling it with the school books, so I'm going to continue on my merry way through Shiver. Grace and Isabel just finished another of their intense and antagonistic chats. Why can't we all just be friends?
Wows, Monica. Points to you for taking on Stitches and The Knife of Never Letting Go in one day. Were there not more intense books available? Ones that dealt with more difficult issues about the human condition, hmmm? Did the library run out of copies of Bunny Party?
I'm still not feeling it with the school books, so I'm going to continue on my merry way through Shiver. Grace and Isabel just finished another of their intense and antagonistic chats. Why can't we all just be friends?
Wows, Monica. Points to you for taking on Stitches and The Knife of Never Letting Go in one day. Were there not more intense books available? Ones that dealt with more difficult issues about the human condition, hmmm? Did the library run out of copies of Bunny Party?
Readathon: Update 3
12:30 PM Update (Monica): Ooh, good choice on my part picking a book I could read in an hour. It filled me with a sense of accomplishment! It also filled me with a sense of relief, with the realization that no matter WHAT happens to me in life, at least I will never be a fifteen-year-old whose parents lied about my cancer and didn't bother to tell me I was probably going to die.
Which is certainly a load off my back!
I'm going to be posting real, actual, lengthy reviews of all the books I'm reading today (and I'm sure Shel will too), but not right now. Right now I'm too flush with excitement over my first book, and am ready to start the next one!
And what do we have next, friends? Why, it's The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness! I realize everyone and their brother has read this sucker already, but somehow it slipped my radar. Obviously, today of all days is perfect for remedying this serious error. ;)
Keep on reading!
Which is certainly a load off my back!
I'm going to be posting real, actual, lengthy reviews of all the books I'm reading today (and I'm sure Shel will too), but not right now. Right now I'm too flush with excitement over my first book, and am ready to start the next one!
And what do we have next, friends? Why, it's The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness! I realize everyone and their brother has read this sucker already, but somehow it slipped my radar. Obviously, today of all days is perfect for remedying this serious error. ;)
Keep on reading!
Readathon: Update 2
11:30 AM Update (Monica): I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm here!!!
::: bounces onto the blog :::
I promise, I will never attempt do to a 24-hour Readathon after getting seven hours sleep total over the course of five days eeeever again, because apparently it leads one's body to shut down and sleep until eleven am. ;)
Anyway! I hope y'all are having a fantastic Saturday thus far! I've started my (late) morning off with Stitches by David Small. Perhaps, in retrospect, I should have picked something more cheerful, but it's too late to go back. I'm invested!
Don't you just love graphic novels, friends?
Check out Small's "preview" for Stitches for yourselves, because I have to tell you, there's no way I'm going to be able to adequately explain how much I'm loving the stark-yet-beautiful illustrations.
::: bounces onto the blog :::
I promise, I will never attempt do to a 24-hour Readathon after getting seven hours sleep total over the course of five days eeeever again, because apparently it leads one's body to shut down and sleep until eleven am. ;)
Anyway! I hope y'all are having a fantastic Saturday thus far! I've started my (late) morning off with Stitches by David Small. Perhaps, in retrospect, I should have picked something more cheerful, but it's too late to go back. I'm invested!
Don't you just love graphic novels, friends?
Check out Small's "preview" for Stitches for yourselves, because I have to tell you, there's no way I'm going to be able to adequately explain how much I'm loving the stark-yet-beautiful illustrations.
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