Holiday Readathon December 2-5

Liza at WhoRuBlog is hosting a Holiday Readathon for December 2-5. I'm joining, because... well, because it's fun! I already missed a day, but I read a book yesterday (The Devil's Queen by Jeanne Kalogridis), so I'm feeling productive all the same. Readathons always make me feel very productive, for some reason, even though sometimes after they're finished I get the opposite effect (i.e, reading indigestion!) and have to take a break from reading for a week or so!

Here's a tentative reading list (I've already finished the first book, Alle sieben Wellen by Daniel Glattauer,  the much-anticipated sequel of Gut gegen Nordwind):

• Alle sieben Wellen by Daniel Glattauer
• Annexed by Sharon Dogar
• Delirium by Lauren Olivier (already started)
• Runemarks by Joanne Harris
• The Brotherhood of the Holy Shroud by Julia Navarro (already started)
• Il cimitero di Praga  by Umberto Eco

Well, let's say that a good goal for this weekend could be catching up and finishing with all the books I've recently started and not finished ('cause for some weird reason I keep going from one book to the next and then leave them around unfinished, until I feel inspired to pick them up again. Go figure).

Good luck with the readathon, readers, and have fun!

End of the Read-a-thon (not much of a success for me)

So the read-a-thon finished already... needless to say, judging for my lack of updates, it wasn't really a success for me. I slept (less than usual, but still almost a complete night's sleep), even though I woke up in the middle of the night to read a book. After I finished it, I went back to bed :P

So, without further ado...

Total no. of books read: 3.5 (Rotkaeppchen muss weinen, Best Friends Getting Sorted, The Boyfriend Trap, and about 300 pages of The Little Stranger)

Total time spent reading: I guess about 6 hours

Total no. of pages read: 789 (not too bad, but not too good either)

Blogs visited: ahem... let's drop it, shall we? Next read-a-thon, I'm going to sign up to be a cheerleader. That should be fun.

And that's about it, folks... Enjoy your Sunday. I think I should start blogging again and write mini-reviews for the books I read... It would be a good exercise, plus otherwise I'm not even going to remember what I read after a few months. Too many books out there to read, too little time, I'm sure you know it.

24-hour Readathon! A late start

So, today is the 24-hour read-a-thon. I knew, but I'd forgotten, so I'm starting to read just now (yeah, I know...) Anyway, even if I had remembered, I still would've gone out to the fair in the nearby town, so never mind the fact that I'm starting like 4 hours later. Still a lot of time to read. I've also acquired a new book - the Italian translation of Rotkaeppchen muss weinen by Beate Teresa Hanika, a German photographer/author/former model. The book, which is YA (I think) and deals with the subject of child abuse, was apparently translated into English as Learning to Scream (the original title is something like Little Red Riding Hood must cry, so they changed it quite a bit). It sounds very interesting, plus the cover features a red and yellow butterfly on a darker, swirly background... and I love covers with butterflies. Here's the Italian cover, if you're curious:

Pretty, eh? Wouldn't you pick up a book with such a cover? 16 euros is not exactly cheap, but they don't have this book in any of the libraries I have access to.

Yesterday I also went to the library and had a look at the book-crossing corner. I found two treats: a practically-new Penguin edition of Joyce's Dubliners (yay!) and a heavily commented edition of Jane Eyre. I pocketed them both. I also took a couple of books for younger teens, but I expect I will be taking them back after reading them, so someone else will enjoy them. Dubliners and Jane Eyre are mine! (evil little laugh).

So, here are the questions of .Hour 1..

Where are you reading from today?

My room in north-eastern Italy.

3 facts about me …

 27-year-old. Currently (sadly) unemployed, in spite of a hundred or so job interviews. Owner of a black cat names Brutus alias Pato, the Potato Kitty (ahem). 

How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours?

I haven't actually chosen a few. But I have a huge pile of library books, plus four or five books bought recently which I haven't read yet, so I've got plenty of choices.

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)?

No real goal, also I'm starting late and I don't know if I'll manage to stay up all the time (probably not). My goal is just to have fun, and visit/comment on a fair number of blogs. I've seen there are, like, more than 400 participants (geez!), so plenty of blogs to visit, too.

If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, any advice for people doing this for the first time?

I've done it once already... it practically was a reading overdose. It took me two weeks to get back to normal, lol, and I didn't even stay awake all the time! Anyway, don't overdo it. If you feel like sleeping, take a nap. No one will blame you for it, plus you read better when you are rested.

EDIT: It's an hour and a half since I supposedly started this read-a-thon and I still haven't read one page. Too much distractions, what with typing out this long entry, visiting other blogs, commenting, entering contests, blah blah blah. I think I should just turn off the computer and check back in a few hourse. Otherwise it will be just a blog-a-thon without the read-a-thon.

Hour 7

Title of book(s) read since last update: finished Rotkaeppchen muss weinen. Started Best Friends Getting Sorted by Rosie Rushton.
Number of books read since you started: 1
Pages read since last update: 195
Running total of pages read since you started: 195
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 2 hours
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 2 hours

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Library Loot (July 21-27)

The new button for Library Loot is so pretty that I just *have* to participate again. And yes, I'm currently reading a lot of library books. The library in the summer has this incredible appeal to me... it's like an irresistible pull. No idea why, lol.

Library books I have at home right now:

• The complete works of Elsa Morante, book 1
• Butterfly by Sonya Hartnett (Italian translation)
• Tithe by Holly Black (Italian translation)
• In the Land of Lost Things by Paul Auster (Italian translation)
• In the Woods by Lyn Gardner (Italian translation)
• The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forrester (Italian translation)
• Anatomy of Criticism by Northrop Frye (Italian translation)
• Etoile errante (Wandering Star) by  J. M. G. Le Clezio (Italian translation)
• Deutschstunde by Sigfried Lenz (Italian translation)
• Splitter by Sebastian Fitzek (Italian translation)

I've been waiting to receive through inter-library loan:

• Alice nel Paese della Vaporità (steampunk re-telling of Alice in Wonderland)
• The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness (Italian translation)
• Melacotones helados by Espido Freire (Italian translation)

I've been making full use of the new possibilities offered by inter-library loans. They come in handy.