Re-readathon: Days 5-8

Day 5

I've been re-reading: The Secret History, Gone Girl
I've been not re-reading: The Sellout, Oroonoko

Pages re-read; 49
Pages not re-read: 126

Books finished: Orooonoko

Total pages re-read: 265
Total pages not re-read: 505


 I realise my attempts to re-read more than I read is going to be foiled by the fact that my uni reading is not re-reads. Oh well.

I fell asleep again this afternoon... whoops. Really must stop doing that. Still super busy with uni work, which is cutting down on my reading time considerably. But I did manage a teeny bit of The Secret History in the morning and a bit of Gone Girl before I went to bed. I'd forgotten how downright unlikeable Nick is. Reading Amy's parts, in light of what I know now, I'm wondering how much of it is actually true.


Day 6

I've been re-reading: Gone Girl, The Secret History
I've been not re-reading: Moranifesto, The Sellout

Pages re-read; 104
Pages not re-read: 150

Books finished: Moranifesto

Total pages re-read: 369
Total pages not re-read: 665


Not a terrible day for reading, especially since I ended up falling asleep super early and sleeping for about 12 hours straight through to next morning. Oh well.

I finished Moranifesto, which I intended to finish before the re-readathon but oh well, better late than never. As always Caitlin Moran is hilarious, but maybe not quite as hilarious in her previous books? I think this might be more to do with more political themes in this one. Hmmm. I enjoyed it very much all the same.

Still liking Gone Girl, still liking The Secret History. I'm realising I have very little memory of what actually goes on in The Secret History beyond, like, the main big things, so that's nice I guess.


Day 7 and 8

I've been re-reading: Lumberjanes Vol. 1: Beware the Kitten Holy, Gone Girl, The Secret History, Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
I've been not re-reading: The Sellout (I've also realised I haven't been counting another set text from uni that I've been reading all week, but oh well. Factor in 50ish pages for that!)

Pages re-read; 209 (plus a chapter of Mansfield Park - damn you kindle version and your lack of page numbers!)
Pages not re-read: 150

Total pages re-read: 576
Total pages not re-read: 815



Blogger has been super unco-operative the past few days, so I'm only getting to put this up now!

I started re-reading the first Lumberjanes book because I love them so, and who doesn't love graphic novels for bumping up your word count? Uni also finally came through with Mansfield Park which I can count as a re-read, yay. Since I read it last I have acquired a cat called Thomas which is making the references to Sir Thomas a lot more giggle-inducing. Doesn't help that the book also has a Mrs Norris... Catsfield Park anyone?


The Final Stats
Books read from:
Rereads: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, The Secret History by Donna Tartt, Lumberjanes Vol 1: Beware the Kitten Holy by Noelle Stevenson et al, Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Not-rereads: Romantic Outlaws by Charlotte Gordon, Moranifesto by Caitlin Moran, The Wonder by Emma Donoghue, The Sellout by Paul Beatty, Oroonoko by Aphra Behn, Surpassing the Love of Men by Lillian Faderman

Books finished:
No rereads! But I did finish all of my not-rereads which is fairly impressive I hope.

Total pages re-read: 576 plus a chapter of Mansfield Park
Total pages not re-read: 815 plus 50 pages or so of Surpassing the Love of Men

Okay so not re-reads won this round, but I think I can safely blame that on uni. All in all I think I didn't do too badly, considering what a hectic week I've had!

Re-readathon: Days 1-4

Day 1 and 2
I've been re-reading: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, The Secret History by Donna Tartt
I've been not re-reading: Romantic Outlaws by Charlotte Gordon, Moranifesto by Caitlin Moran, The Wonder by Emma Donoghue

Pages re-read: 94
Pages not re-read: 261

Books finished: Romantic Outlaws, The Wonder

As I've said in my intro post, I was a wee bit late starting the re-readathon due to being in Dublin on Sunday at a gig. I got home from the gig at 3.30 am and had work at 6 am. You do the maths. As a consequence I spent most of Monday after work sleeping.

I also haven't, umm, been re-reading that much. I decided to go ahead and finish two of the books I was currently reading- not re-reads, but still brilliant, so I thought I'd just stick them in my stats for posterity.


Day 3
I've been re-reading: Gone Girl
I've been not re-reading: The Sellout by Paul Beatty

Pages re-read; 77
Pages not re-read: 9

Total pages re-read: 171
Total pages not re-read: 270

Okay so purely for gimmicky reasons and also to make it look like I'm reading more than I actually am, I'm going to continue putting my not-rereads in my stats. If at the end of the week the re-read number is higher than the not-re-read, then I'll be happy.

I'm back at uni this week and it's seriously kicking my arse already. I stayed up late tonight finishing my reading because I'm determined not to be behind already in week 1, dammit.

Gone Girl is interesting. It's very weird that I'm picturing the movie characters- having seen the movie since my first read of it- so that's a bit annoying. But I'm already picking up on all the little details that the movie missed. I'll have to rewatch it after I finish rereading it...

Also I think Gone Girl lends itself pretty well to a reread. I don't think it's a spoiler to say that something happens in the middle of it which drastically changes how the first half of it reads... so re-reading the start of it again is interesting, and I can start to unpick things I wasn't aware of the first time around.


Day 4

I've been re-reading: The Secret History
I've been not re-reading: Moranifesto, The Sellout, Oroonoko by Aphra Behn

Pages re-read; 45
Pages not re-read: 109

Total pages re-read: 216
Total pages not re-read: 379


So after staying up quite late last night I ended up falling asleep after work... whoops. So I spent most of the evening working on uni reading and not re-reading. I've also been reading Moranifesto in a an attempt to finish it and also because the format of short essays which is nice to fit in in my study breaks.

On the actual re-reading front! The Secret History is so good. It's sucking me right in just like last time and it's a great feeling :)

Re-readathon: Intro

The re-readathon is finally here! I'm super excited not only because I'm a co-host this time round (!) but also because I'm a big champion of re-reading books. I spend last night pulling books off my shelves and getting excited to reread some of them so I'm raring to go! The re-readathon is basically just an excuse to re-read as much (or as little) as you like for a week. You can sign up at Bex's blog here and share your progress throughout the week with the hashtag #ReReadathon on social media.

The schedule:

I'm going to be pretty absent for today and tomorrow, as I'm going to Dublin tonight to see Conor Oberst, will probably get home late and then have very little sleep before work at 6 am on Monday, and honestly then the rest of Monday will probably just be me sleeping. Fret not, I will reappear before my challenge on Tuesday :) 

Opening Survey

1. Tell us a little about yourself!

Hello! I'm Gee, my pronouns are they/them, and I'm from Belfast. I'm doing a MA in English Literature which starts up again on Monday and I'm super excited. I love cats and am currently addicted to creme eggs.

2. Have you participated in a re-readathon before? How often do you re-read books?

I'm pretty sure I've participated in all of Bex's re-readathon's before, with varying levels of success! I love re-reading and am quite honestly a little puzzled by people who don't. That said, with what I call 'TBR pressure' it's sometimes difficult to find the time to just kick back and re-read old favourites without worrying about all the new books you should be reading instead, so that's why I love re-readathons.

3. What is your current favourite book?

Oh boy, way to put me on the spot. I'm going to go with Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë as it's been on my mind a lot lately, what with the excellent BBC drama about the Brontës To Walk Invisible on over Christmas there and fine tuning the details for my Jane Eyre tattoo that I'm hoping to get soon. Erm, yeah, the fact that I'm getting a tattoo should tell you I love that book an inordinate amount. I've read it countless times, studied it at school and uni on three separate occasions and I'm still in awe of it. 

4. What do you love most about re-reading? Or what makes you wish you re-read more?

For the most part, when you're re-reading a book you already know it's going to be awesome. Unless you're re-reading a book and find it isn't quite as good as you remembered, or you're re-reading a book you never liked in the first place... which are different experiences which are also super interesting. Re-reading is a comforting activity for most people I think, and it's one of the things that makes you realise why reading is so important in the first place.

5. What's on your TBR? What are you going to re-read first?

I did post a preliminary TBR a while back but here's my revised version, aka random books I pulled off my shelves at 1 am last night:

The tan-coloured book above The Diary of a Young Girl is T.S. Eliot's The Wasteland and Other Poems but the rest of the titles are fairly easy to see I hope!

I realise this is a massive pile of books and I will certainly only get through a few but it wouldn't be a readathon without a highly over-ambitious book stack now would it? I'm going to be starting with Gone Girl, and I'm very interested to see how/if it holds up now that I know All The Things.

Let the re-reading commence!

Re-readathon, yay!

I'm so happy Bex at An Armchair By The Sea is hosting another re-readathon- I really enjoyed the last two. I've had a bit of a hectic start to the month so I'm looking forward to getting stuck into some old favourites :)

So here's my provisional to-read pile!

First up we have Oranges are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson, which is long overdue for a re-read- I think it's been five years? Re-reading her wonderful memoir Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? recently has reminded me of what a travesty this situation is. So, definitely want to get to this one.

Next priority is Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, because I started re-reading the series a while back (I think it was actually during one of these re-readathons) and I've sort of stalled on it. Plus it's Goblet of Fire and we all know it's one of the best in the series.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell-  I loved this book and was hoping to re-read it soon anyway, but I recently read Carry On- set in the fictional fantasy universe Fangirl's main character writes fanfiction for- and that's just made me want to read it even more.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt- I've been meaning to re-read this for ages, and I even shortlisted it for the last re-readathon- but I just haven't got around to it. It's one of those books I think will be interesting on a re-read- knowing about the characters what I do now and all that. That's as much as I can say without spoiling it for anyone who hasn't read it yet!

 A Game of Thrones by George R R Martin- I recently started re-watching the TV series and it's really made me want to go back to the books- I've already read them twice but there's so much in them you really do need to read them a few times. I wasn't planning on re-reading them until we had a release date for The Winds of Winter, the sixth book in the series, so that I had a nice new one to read at the end of it- but it seems that could be a while away yet, and I can't wait. I'm not totally sure if I'll read this during the re-readathon- if I do it'll probably take up the whole time- but I might make a start on it, at least.

Sandman: Doll's House by Neil Gaiman- I started re-reading the Sandman series during one of the other re-readathons... and promptly forgot about them. This was actually the first one in the series I ever read, so I'm quite fond of it for that reason. Also, graphic novels are great for boosting your page count ;)

So that's my current book pile! Of course it could all change with bits and pieces on my kindle but we'll see what I feel like on Monday. I can't wait!

Re-readathon #2- Week 2!

Monday and Tuesday

The past couple of days have been a depressing WORK-SLEEP-REPEAT so I haven't had the chance to update... or even read all that much, really. I've slightly lost track of my page numbers too... so the figures are my best guess! I've started on Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, which is so wonderful. I've read these books basically every year since 1999, and I'm still finding little things that are making me want to write fanfiction. Like, how did Petunia find out about her sister's death? Was it really just opening the door the next morning and finding her now-orphaned nephew? I like to think someone came to see her during the day when Vernon was at work- maybe Lupin or someone, because everyone else was doing stuff- and told her, and she just kind of absorbed it and didn't say a word to her husband. Because my favourite headcanon is that Petunia was secretly very fond of Lily, although she'd never admit it.

On the non-re-reading front, I've started reading The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion. It's one of those books I've been hearing a lot about although I never thought it would be my cup of tea- but I'm actually really enjoying it. It's funny and sweet and just a nice, easy read.

Reading: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling

Pages read: 150

Total pages read: 663

Books finished: none

Total number of books finished: 2

Non-reread pages read: 198

Wednesday

I finished another book!

Philosopher's Stone is such a quick read- I always forget that. The mystery's solved and they go through the trapdoor and BOOM, it's over. There's a bit at the very end where the Trio are talking about wait, did Dumbledore know that this was going to happen? And in hindsight it's actually really sinister. I never noticed that before.

I'm planning to finish The Rosie Project before I move on to Chamber of Secrets. 

Reading: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling

Pages read: 73

Total pages read: 736

Books finished: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Total number of books finished: 3

Non-reread pages read: 64

Thursday and Friday

 I spent Thursday mostly at work or finishing The Rosie Project, so not much to report on the re-reading front. But I finished it, yay! I swear, this re-readathon is doing good things for my normal reading too. I started Chamber of Secrets late on Thursday night and it's going well. It was actually my favourite book of the series for quite a bit, and I can remember why- the whole mystery of the Chamber and the petrified people is just so, so good. Also, Lockhart, who we all love to hate. And maybe love just a tiny bit.

Reading: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

Pages read: 121

Total pages read: 857

Books finished: none

Total number of books finished: 3

Saturday

Work was extremely busy today, so I had to stay late, and of course when I got home Doctor Who was my priority- the new series started tonight. It was great but ended in a very cruel cliffhanger. I'm not going to be able to think of much else all week...

Anyway. I've started reading Jo Walton's My Real Children, which I'm absolutely in love with so far. It's about an elderly lady with dementia who remembers two different lives and doesn't know which one is real. I'm loving the mystery of it as well as the historical perspective. So, that's distracted me a bit from Chamber of Secrets... but I still got a bit read today, as far as the Polyjuice Potion incident. I'm hoping to finish it tomorrow to wrap up the readathon nicely!

Reading: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

Pages read: 48

Total pages read: 905

Books finished: none

Total number of books finished: 3

Sunday

I got Chamber of Secrets finished and I decided to finish reading My Real Children instead of starting Prisoner of Azkaban. It made me cry! Seriously, such a good book. 

All in all, a really successful re-readathon! I read a total of 987 pages of rereading, and something similar in non-re-reads. It's much more reading than I've been doing lately, so it's been great to dedicate some time to some great books! Thanks to Bex for hosting, we should do this again some time :)

Reading: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

Pages read: 82

Total pages read: 987

Books finished: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Total number of books finished: 4

Books finished:

• Ready Player One - Ernest Cline (I was about two thirds in at the start of the rereadathon, but ssh!)
• Good Omens - Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - J K Rowling
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J K Rowling

Non-re-reads:

• The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood (again, about the last 100 pages)
• Where'd You Go Bernadette - Maria Semple
• The Rosie Project - Graeme Simsion
• My Real Children - Jo Walton

Re-readathon challenge! - Favourite re-reads list

So Bex has challenged us to make a re-read list- either books that we re-read the most, or books that you want to re-read in the near future. To start with books I re-read most often:

Harry Potter series, JK Rowling: Yeah, no surprise to anyone who knows me. I've read the whole series almost every year since there only were three books in the series. There's something weirdly comforting about being able to come back to Harry Potter and the words I first read at the age of six that have followed me my whole life.

Among Others, Jo Walton: I read this book in January 2014, read it again several weeks later, and then reread it again recently and it still holds up wonderfully. And that's not to mention the many times I pick it up just to browse through it and read a few favourite bits. I have trouble articulating what this book means to me- I happened to read it at a time in my life when I desperately needed it, and it's been a strange source of comfort to me ever since.

Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien: I've read the LoTR series... six times? And The Hobbit a few more times than that as well. I was a massive LoTR nerd around the time the movies were coming out and I've read them again in recent years. The Hobbit is just wonderful.

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte: Kind of my favourite book of all time, sort of, depending on the criteria. I love Jane Eyre- I couldn't even say how many times I've read it. I also studied it at GCSE, A Level and at undergrad. And I'm still not sick of it. I still notice different things in it each time.


And books I want to reread soon, which I won't get to this fortnight but will hopefully get to soon:

High Fidelity, Nick Hornby I loved this when I read it more than four years ago, but I don't remember it very well. I also don't read enough about music despite being a big Music Person.

The Crimson Petal and the White, Michel Faber: I've been meaning to reread this for ages, but I think I'm always put off by the size of the damn thing! I absolutely loved it when I read it though. It ticks so many of my personal boxes: evocative descriptions of the Victorian era, prostitutes, women.

Notes on a Scandal, Zoe Heller: It's weird, because I never even expected to like this book. It was assigned reading in first year of uni, and for some reason bits of it keep coming back to me- mostly Barbara stuff. She's so subtly sinister, and there's all the unreliable narrator stuff that I love.

The Casual Vacancy, JK Rowling: Because more JKR, why not? Seriously though, ever since the TV adaptation came out I've been craving a reread of this. The TV show was good, but nowhere near as good as the book. Or so I remember.

Re-readathon #2

It's here! Bex is hosting another re-readathon, this time over two weeks.

I'll be taking part probably just a little bit, as I have library books and stuff to read, but I'm sure I'll be able to fit in a few old favourites. 

This is my humble book pile:

I'm keeping things pretty simple. I happen to be already most of the way through my second reading of  Ready Player One, so finishing that off will be the first order of business. Then I plan on reading Good Omens, which I haven't read in a stupidly long time and for some reason slipped my mind for the last re-readathon. Seriously, when I first read this book, I hadn't read any other Neil Gaiman except for Sandman. THAT's how long ago it was. Then I just plan on reading as much of the Harry Potter series as possible, as that's also long overdue for a reread. I'm excited!

Monday

5.45 pm: I spent most of today playing with my cats and fighting with my laptop, which has been acting very weird lately. I did manage to finish The Blind Assassin, which I wanted to get out of the way before I got stuck into rereads. I've got work tonight even though I'd much rather be reading more Ready Player One- still, I'll hopefully get a little bit read in my break and when I get home. 

Later: I not only managed to finish Ready Player One, but I got started on Good Omens as well! I realise I remember virtually nothing about it except some memorable character names- you don't forget names like Wensleydale and Thou-Shalt-Not-Commit-Adultery. 

Reading: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

Pages read: 109

Total pages read: 109

Books finished: Ready Player One

Tuesday

8.00 pm: I'm off today, so I read a bit of Good Omens in bed over a nice leisurely breakfast. Then it turned into a nice afternoon so my flatmates and I headed down to the library to read/study. Although, I actually brought a library book with me- Where'd You Go Bernadette? by Maria Semple- which isn't a reread but so far I'm really enjoying it, so, shh. It'll be back to Good Omens for the rest of the day though, hopefully.

Reading: Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

Pages read: 55

Total pages read: 164

Books finished: none

Total number of books finished: 1

Non-reread pages read: 96

Wednesday

1.58 am: It's technically Thursday I suppose. I work weird hours- sometimes my shift starts at 6 am, sometimes it finishes at 6 am. This week is more along the line of work nights/sleep mornings, so plenty of unsociable hours.

I thought I didn't get much read today but I actually did, just in my break at work and for a little while when I got home. Good Omens is as hilarious as I remembered- little bits of it are coming back to me now, wonderful things like "Have you got your ane scissors?" and "They'd come here to spoon and, on one memorable occasion, to fork." And the footnotes! I never thought I'd be giggling at a footnote about firelighters. 

Reading: Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

Pages read: 104

Total pages read: 268

Books finished: none

Total number of books finished: 1

Non-reread pages read: 15

Thursday

2.02 am: So, I actually read quite a lot this morning... the problem was, it wasn't a reread. I can't help it; I'm really enjoying Where'd You Go, Bernadette? - although the title seems pretty inaccurate to me- I'm two-thirds through it and she's only just gone missing. It's told mostly through emails and letters which is such a quick, easy, way to read and I'm just charmed by it all, basically.

So, Good Omens has fallen on the back burner a wee bit... but I am planning to read more of it before I go to bed. Which will be around 4 or 5, because my job has made me a vampire.

Reading: Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

Pages read: 51

Total pages read: 324

Books finished: none

Total number of books finished: 1

Non-reread pages read: 99

Friday

8.26 pm: I really need to get my chronic procrastination under control before I go back to uni. I got up at about 1, went into town, faffed about on the internet a bit, made dinner, faffed about some more... and now it's an hour before I have to leave for work and I've hardly read anything. Oh well. Hopefully I'll get a bit read during my break and when I get in in the morning if I'm not too tired... although I suppose that will technically count as Saturday reading. Night shifts, you are confusing.

Reading: Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

Pages read: 58

Total pages read: 382

Books finished: none

Total number of books finished: 1

Saturday

8.43 pm: Between when I got home this morning and when I woke up this afternoon I managed to finish Where'd You Go Bernadette?, yay! It was great, I'm glad I'm finally cracking into my library books. It's strange that it took a re-readathon to make me do it, but there you have it... I got a bit more of Good Omens read today too, but only a wee bit- I'm back off to work now soon. Off tomorrow though!

Reading: Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

Pages read: 25

Total pages read: 407

Books finished: none

Total number of books finished: 1

Non-reread pages read: 

Sunday

12.33 am: I finished Good Omens today, yay! I've gone back home for the night as I'm off and have been sitting reading beside two cute kitties all night. It's bliss. Except when little six-week-old Checkers tries to walk over my keyboard... he's adorable though, so I forgive him. I'm going to read some library books for a bit now but I'll hopefully make a start on Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone tonight or tomorrow!

Reading: Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling

Pages read: 106

Total pages read: 513

Books finished: Good Omens

Total number of books finished: 2

Non-reread pages read: 93

What I'm reading now, adventures in tattooing, and some challenges!

Hello! It's been a full two weeks since Bout of Books, so I figured an update was due.

So I started a new job during Bout of Books and I'm settling in pretty well, I think. It's actually quite nice working again- I'm so much more productive when I'm working. When I'm off I tend to just lie about watching reality TV and browsing Reddit, while if I'm at work all day and come home with just a couple of hours before bed I'm far more likely to actually want to play the ukulele or read a decent book. So that's good.

That said, I hardly read anything last week- for two days in a row I read absolutely nothing, and on the third day I managed about 10 pages. That's pretty shameful for me. A day when I read nothing at all just feels wrong.

I did finally finish NOS4R2 though, after reading it for far longer than I should have. Weirdly, that happened to me with Joe Hill's Horns as well, I think I was reading that for about the entirety of October... Overall I liked it, but I think I ruined it for myself slightly by taking so long to read it and having too high expectations after reading so many rave reviews. Still, I'd definitely recommend it if it sounds like your thing.

I've been a bit better about reading in the past few days, though- I've finally been able to give The Blind Assassin the time it deserves as well, and I'm really enjoying it. It's so hard to describe, and not really what I thought it'd be at all. Mostly it's the story of Iris Chase growing up in the Depression which is pretty fascinating, but then you've got extracts from her sister's novel (the 'The Blind Assassin' within the book) which is sort of a fantasy story within a story... it's odd and interesting and I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes.

In an effort to pick myself up out of my recent reading slump, I started rereading Ready Player One which I read and loved a couple of years back. It's still so good- maybe even better than I remember, as I understand more of the references this time around. Also, I'm terrible at remembering plot intricacies so I can't remember how it ends, which is working to my advantage. In case this one slipped your radar, it's set in the future, where a sort of MMORPG called OASIS has essentially usurped society. When the creator of OASIS dies, he leaves his fortune to whomever can solve the puzzles hidden all around the world. Just everything about this book is so good- the world-building, and all the geeky references and the character. I can't put it down.



In other book-related news, I got my first ever tattoo on Tuesday! I mean I'd been totally sure what I wanted for well over four years, but I finally bit the bullet and got it done.

Yep, I finally have words from Harry Potter branded on my arm forever, and it means so much to me. I've had an obsession with Harry Potter from the age of six, and 'expecto patronum' means so much to me. I've struggled with depression for most of my life, and the Dementors = depression metaphor has always resonated strongly with me. 

Professor Lupin continued, 'The Patronus is a kind of positive force, a projection of the very things that the Dementor feeds upon - hope, happiness, the desire to survive - but it cannot feel despair, as real humans can, so the Dementors can't hurt it.' Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, p. 176

That, tied in with how books have helped me in my darkest times, all basically adds up to words that I'm proud to have on my arm. 

There's also various stuff happening on book blogs in the next few weeks, which I'm looking forward to taking part in. First up, Bex at An Armchair by the Sea is doing another re-readathon, this time over two weeks! I had a wonderful time during the last one, but I'll be taking a pretty casual approach to it this time- I've got library books and I want to finish The Blind Assassin, so I'll be rereading just a little on the side. I'm thinking I'll start with Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, and then see how far I can get in the Harry Potter series :)

                                       

Then there's R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril, aka RIP X, which is an event running between 1st September and 31st October encouraging reading gothic/horror/supernatural/suspense etc books. I'm a big fan of seasonal reading, so I definitely want to take part in this to some extent. The problem is, I don't have a whole lot of things on my shelves that would fit into this category! So we'll see what I can rustle up at the library, if anything.

Also, Alice over at the wonderful Reading Rambo is hosting a read-a-long of Matthew Lewis's The Monk! I study 18th and 19th century literature so I've heard a lot about this book and how influential it has been but I've never actually read it, so, time to change that with my first ever read-a-long! Also, the Amazon summary made me laugh out loud (the devil is disguised as a woman disguised as a monk, wut), so there's that.

So yeah, that's all my news! I'll be back tomorrow, hopefully, for Bex's Re-Readathon!

Re-readathon: Wednesday and Thursday, plus Re-readathon challenge

Wednesday
Reading: The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, Persuasion by Jane Austen, Nana by Emile Zola
Pages read: 176
Total pages read: 479
Books finished: Persuasion by Jane Austen

11.00pm
Pages read so far: 149

Why is it days off always seem to be the busiest? I have no classes on Wednesdays, so I always think I'm going to have an easy time of it but it never quite works out that way. I had to get groceries this morning, then go to an essay writing workshop and then drive home so I can vote tomorrow, and I've been pretty much studying all night. So I've actually had less time to do my own thing than yesterday. I'm sort of up to date with my uni reading though now, which is great.


I finished Persuasion today- only a day after I was supposed to, hurray! It's an odd one. I can't quite figure out how I feel about it. I think it's probably second-last to Mansfield Park in my mental ranking of favourite Austens. but there's something about it I like. The fact that the heroine is considerably older than usual, and her relationship takes so much longer to figure out- it feels more realistic somehow.

Nana is... still Nana. I like it, but it's not easy going at all. It's in French, nineteenth-century French on top of that, and it's so long. The chapters are all like forty pages too, and since I'm reading it for uni I'm thinking about themes and imagery and metaphors and historical context and.... 

Bleh.

On the Actual Reading For Fun side, I was totally intending to start on How to Be a Woman last night but I ended up picking up The Woman in White instead. God, it's so good. I forgot how delightful it is. It's so Victorian and the characters are so vivid and Marion is just the best, isn't she?

Back to Nana now for a bit, then I'm getting into bed with Wilkie Collins.

... Not in that way.


Thursday
Reading: The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, How to be a Woman by Caitlin Moran, Nana by Emile Zola
Pages read: 161
Total pages read: 640

4.50pm
Pages read so far: 38

Another busy day off here. I went voting this morning and to the library to return a book- and for once I actually left the library without checking any books out! Seriously, that's a big thing for me. Then I got the bus back up to uni. Sometimes I can read on the bus, sometimes I can't, and today was a definite no. Which was a shame, because I really could have done with that time to read more of Nana...

Anyway. Read a bit of The Woman in White over breakfast, then made a tiny start on How to be a Woman. I'm really looking forward to reading more of it later on, when I get bored of all this uni work.

Re-readathon Challenge

Bex wants to know what book we read over and over. I'm going to be fantastically unoriginal here: mine is definitely the Harry Potter series!

I was planning on taking a picture of my full collection of HP books before I came back up to uni- but nope. So, settle for the only one I have with me, my old, well-read, slightly-battered copy of Philosopher's Stone.

Actually, it was originally my brother's- he got the first three (then the only ones released) for his tenth birthday. I was a book-hungry six year old and I read them straight after he did. I loved them, and have loved them ever since. I don't know how many times I've reread the series- but on average probably about once a year. I grew up with them- I was fourteen when Deathly Hallows was released and, not to sound clichéd, but they were my childhood. They still make me laugh and cry every time. I've definitely reached for them in bad times. I'm hopefully getting 'expecto patronum' tattooed on my arm in a few weeks, as a tribute to how books and positive thinking have got me past my own Dementors. Just... Harry Potter, forever.

Re-readathon: Monday and Tuesday

Monday
Reading: The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes & Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman
Pages read: 47


So, not a lot of reading went on today. Saturday was my girlfriend's birthday, so Monday was our day doing birthday things. We went to the zoo, because that's what Mature Adults do on birthdays. It was awesome, mostly because it actually stayed dry the entire time! Then we went out for dinner and back to mine for Monopoly DC Comics edition (which is a thing) and Game of Thrones. So, all in all a really nice day, but not one for reading.

I read a bit of Preludes & Nocturnes in the morning and I'm thankful to graphic novels for making my page count look bigger than it is... I forgot how damn good these books are. Just, everything about them, all the different layers, mixing myth and religion and DC comics and the art is gorgeous and... I'm probably going to keep reading the rest of the series now that I've started.


Tuesday
Reading: Preludes & Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman, Persuasion by Jane Austen, Nana by Emile Zola, The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
Pages read: 256
Total pages read: 303


12.30pm
Pages read so far: 90

I've got a full day of classes today, it's very much back to business. Ugh, final year. On the plus side, I managed to read a fair chunk of Preludes & Nocturnes this morning while getting ready- anyone else read while not only eating breakfast, but also brushing their teeth and drying their hair? Just me? :P Also, so totally not the reason I was a bit late to class this morning. Nope, not at all.

I'm going to read a bit more over lunch now, before I go back into class for the rest of the afternoon. I'm wondering if I can get this book finished today...


10.50pm
Pages read so far: 242


I finished Preludes & Nocturnes! I forgot how much I love these books. I definitely want to keep rereading the series- whether that happens this week remains to be seen...

So damn good.

I've also managed to read a little of Persuasion and Nana for uni. Persuasion was technically supposed to be read before today's seminar, but if I've read it before, after all. Even if I remember... not all that much about it. It's an interesting one though.

Nana is... such a weird book, oh my god. I'm seriously behind on my reading for that as well (you know, along with everything else- it is the second last week of the semester after all) but I remember it pretty well since I only read it a year ago, so it's all good. 

I'm going to make a start now on How to be a Woman by Caitlin Moran, which should be fun if it's as good as I remember.

Rereadathon!

It's finally here! Bex's Re-Readathon starts tomorrow and I'm super excited. This week is my second last week as an undergraduate and the pressure is seriously on- so it'll be great to escape with some old favourites.

This is my to-read pile:

From top to bottom:

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J K Rowling: 

I don't really need to introduce this, do I? I've read it almost once a year since I was six. I'm surprised I don't have it memorised, to be honest. I've been feeling lately it's time to reread the Harry Potter books once again.

Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson

 I last read this four odd years ago, and remember loving it- but I don't remember much about it! What I do remember is that it's a surprisingly funny, very autobiographical story about a girl growing up in a deeply religious home who discovers her sexuality- and there's a lot of wonder Winterson-y oddness too. I've been meaning to re-read this since I read Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?, Winterson's autobiography- which was itself nearly three years ago... So it's long overdue!

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Last read December 2012. Since I'm nearly at the end of my university life (as an undergrad, at least) I figure I should reread this. It's a scholarly sort of thriller and there's a murder in it, the circumstances of which I can't quite remember.

Among Others by Jo Walton

Some day I may dedicate a whole post to this book- I read it last January and it hit me hard. You know when sometimes the right book comes along at just the right time? I reread it pretty quickly after that, but haven't looked at it since, though the characters and places have been ticking over in my head ever since. It's about a girl at a horrible boarding school in the 1970s, reading lots of science fiction and using books to escape. And there are fairies.

How To Be A Woman by Caitlin Moran

Last read in 2010, this is a sort of memoir/introduction to feminism that had me laughing so much I had to put it away, struggling to keep a straight face, on the train. I read Moran's other two books- the collection of essays Moranthology and her coming of age novel How to Build a Girl- quite recently and they've made me remember how awesome this book was. So I can't wait to read it again!

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel

Sometimes I feel like this book was written just for me, because it ticks so many of my boxes. About books? Check. Lesbians? Check. Coming of age? Check. Lesbians? Check. Dysfunctional family? Check. That said, I'm a bit shaky on remembering exactly what went down in it. Plus it recently got made into a Broadway musical, which is something I definitely need to check out.

Preludes & Nocturnes (The Sandman #1) by Neil Gaiman

I read The Sandman books at a very young age- probably too young, I think I was between eleven and fourteen... thank my older brother for that. I'm always banging on about how good they are but I haven't read the series all the way through since then (and I actually haven't read The Kindly Ones at all- for some reason it was the only one the library didn't have, and graphic novels were prohibitively expensive when I was a teen...) So, yes, I really, really need to fix that.


On the Kindle:

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
I'm kind of torn on this, because I really do want to reread it but it's so long! Like, if I read nothing but this I probably still won't finish it in a week. Oh well, I've added it to the list anyway. This is another book that ticks so many of my personal boxes- Victorian! Family secrets! Mysterious characters! I read it in 2011 so it deserves a reread.

The Magicians by Lev Grossman
It's difficult to know how to describe this book. It tends to get branded 'Harry Potter for grown-ups!' a lot, which is... sort of true, sort of not true. I've also heard it described as if Bret Easton Ellis wrote Harry Potter, which is probably a better description in my mind. Basically, the characters discover that the setting of their childhood favourite books (which is so-totally-not-Narnia) is real and they go to school to learn magic, but to me, it's a lot more about the experience of being an intense fan of fantasy novels than actually being a fantasy novel in itself. Or something. Anyway, I read and loved this and the sequel a while back, and the third book in the trilogy came out recently so I need reread the first two, as I'm a bit sketchy on the details.


As far as goals, I'm hoping to read about 100 pages a day, or read about 2-3 of these. Uni permitting...

Also, it's occurred to me that the books I'm reading for uni at the moment, Persuasion by Jane Austen and Nana by Emile Zola are both rereads, so I can totally count those towards my page total. Huzzah!

Readathons readathons readathons!

I love readathons. I used to do the 24-hour ones on LibraryThing back in the day, and I've been 'reading along at home' to a lot of the week long ones like Bout of Books, but I haven't done any in forever- mostly because with uni, work and trying to have a life and other interests I often don't have the time. But I'm determined to make time, and by fortuitous coincidence three readathons are coming up in the next few weeks, just as I've finally started my blog to take part in them!

First up is Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon, which I've done a few times over the years but I've missed the last couple. It's on the 25th April, and you can find out all about it here. I won't be able to participate for the full twenty-four hours, because 1) I work on Saturdays, 2) I sacrifice my sleep for nobody and nothing, and 3) I have coursework due the following week. It'll probably be a spectacular failure, but I'm going to take part anyway and see how much I can read even under the circumstances.

Next up, Bex at An Armchair By The Sea has had the wonderful idea of a re-readathon, a week dedicated to rereading old favourites. I love rereading books and actively judge those who say they don't, but with my big pile of unread books and library books it's hard to get around to doing it sometimes. I've got loads of possibilities already in my head and I'm really looking forward to it.

Some books that I'm considering:

Honestly, there's so many books I want to reread, I could completely diverge from this list, but these are the main ones.

Last but definitely not least, the following week is Bout of Books. From the blog itself:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 11th and runs through Sunday, May 17th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. 

Since the week before will be dedicated to rereading, I'm hoping to use Bout of Books to focus on my library books. I have a library addiction that has frankly spiraled out of control as of late, so it'll be good to focus on that.

So! Tell me, are you participating in any of these readathons? :)