September Readathon - What are you planning to read?

[Holly, That Geeky One]

How much do you think you can pack into 24 hours? Here you can specify books you are planning on reading. Or are you planning to finish ones off you've already started?

Note: Don't forget to sign up at the group event!

[Faye, The Dickens Junkie]

I'm going to aim for 400 pages over the course of the readathon, or 200 pages each day. That equals about 6 hours of reading each day for me, give or take.

[Camille]

I plan to read The Ocean at the End of the Lane and Franny and Zooey. They are both short so I'm hoping to read one on Saturday and the other on Sunday.

[Melissa]

Aitziber, do you have any suggestions for the approx. 130 page category. I don't think I'll put a number so I don't jinx myself. But I'll throw in some youth reads and children's books just for fun, and a mystery. Maybe someone could suggest a short classic, also. :)

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

I'm in the middle of five huge books that are taking me FOREVER to finish. Each was started with the best of intentions and a schedule. And, yet, I'm still reading them! :( So my read-athon plan is to work on the following:

1) 1Q84 (Murakami)
2) Don Quixote (Cervantes)
3) Outlander (Gabaldon)
4) And the Band Played on (Shilts)
5) The Eustace Diamonds (Trollope)

I'll probably record the number of pages between where I am now as were I am at the end of the weekend. Hopefully, the intense focus of this format will jump start me toward completing these (wonderful) monsters. :p

[Meg]

I would like to finish Infinite jest by David Foster Wallace. *Phew*

[Aitziber]

Melissa wrote: "Aitziber, do you have any suggestions for the approx. 130 page category."

I just want to note that you asked! :P Here are some books that Goodreads puts under 130 pages:

The Field, by John B Keane
Of Mice and Men
The Buddha in the Attic
The Little Prince
The Old Man and the Sea
Night
The Shawl
Ethan Frome
Death of a Salesman
The House on Mango Street
Bartleby, the Scrivener
Pygmalion
The Castle of Otranto

There's a lot of theater. For more short theater, there's also Shakespeare. :D

And these are some books that have editions under 130 pages, although Goodreads lists longer editions:

The Sorrows of Young Werther
The Cement Garden
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

I'd also recommend The Turn of the Screw, Heart of Darkness, The Stranger and Passing, from Iasa's picks.

[Aitziber]

Renee wrote: "I'm in the middle of five huge books that are taking me FOREVER to finish. Each was started with the best of intentions and a schedule. And, yet, I'm still reading them! :( So my read-athon plan is..."

Renee, every time that you mention getting back to And The Band Played On, I can feel myself literally vibrating with excitement. I probably need to calm down.

[Melissa]

Thanks Iasa and Aitziber!!! I'm going to the used book store tomorrow!

[Kassandra]

I'm going to aim for 350-400 pages for this readathon. This will be a bit of a stretch for me because I have to work a bit that weekend as well but I will be really happy if I can accomplish that. Titles to follow, it will depend on what I accomplish in the next two weeks. I'm so excited for this challenge!

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

Aitziber-
I know!! The Shilts and the Muraki are the two I'm most looking forward. I'm gonna try to finish the Trollope this week via audio since I'll be back in the car for several hours. DQ is the only one I'm finishing out of sheer obstinate perversity.

[Overbooked ✎]

I'm quite overbooked at the moment with my personal challenges, MOOCS, work and family life so I'm forced to pass this round, but I will be watching and encouraging from the sidelines, it's an awesome idea!

[Holly, That Geeky One]

Hopefully you'll be able to partake in other ones, Kiwi! I know we're definitely planning on doing one for December, in order to really push for those goals!

I can't decide what to read for this. Do I try get some key reading for University done (but then I'll have to take notes and that will slow me down), or should I focus on books I'm probably not going to get round to before I finish this year of Uni? Decisions!

[Kassandra]

Holly - my $0.02 is that you focus on those that you won't get around to until after your summer break. My major was heavy in assigned readings and I pretty much stopped all of my "for fun" reading during the semester.

[Overbooked ✎]

Thanks Holly, I work on Saturdays and I try to catch up with family life on weekends so my reading is limited on weekends. December sounds good, hopefully things will slow down for the holidays.

I'm with Kassandra I would go for reading "for fun", it's great to push one selves but in my view the spirit of a Readathon should be reading-for-pleasure rather than a chore.

Best of luck to all September Readathon participants

[Melissa]

I'll third that motion, go for pleasure Holly!!!

[Alessandra]

You should definitely go for pleasure Holly :)

I think I'll use this opportunity to start the LotR series (and most likely re-read the Hobbit first 'cause I want to re-read it for weeks now). My goal will be to get as far as possible :)

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

Devil's Advocate. It is nice to be a bit ahead in your reading assignments. Especially if the list is long. It's a miserable feeling to be scrambling to catch up. If the read-athon gives you an advantage then use it! >:-)

[Melissa]

Iasa and Aitsiber, I've picked up a stack of short novels from the library and set to go! And your suggestions are in the stack I'm reading!

I have about 5 youth reads and about 6 short novels, also hoping to add about 8 children's stories from the 1001 Books you should Read before You Grow Up. This should finish up my own personal challenge of 50 children's books for 2014. This should be a productive weekend! :)

[Aitziber]

Melissa wrote: "I've picked up a stack of short novels from the library and set to go! And your suggestions are in the stack I'm reading!"

Cool! Let us know which titles you picked! :)

[Melissa]

Aitziber wrote: "Melissa wrote: "I've picked up a stack of short novels from the library and set to go! And your suggestions are in the stack I'm reading!"

Cool! Let us know which titles you picked! :)"

Aitziber, so this is my list, but does not include the YA books:

-The Pearl; READ 9/6/14 Very Good
-Of Mice and Men; READ 9/7/14 My favorite of the short novels of John Steinbeck
-The Buddha in the Attic; READ 9/7/14 Not my favorite, but great info.
-The Shawl READ 9/6/14 I liked this, but very sad
-The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros; READ 9/6/14
-Animal Farm
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

These were the books I was able to find at the library, I'm trying another used book store for a few more, even though this is more than enough. I am looking forward to this stack!

[Maikku]

Doing harm
The Giver
Cop town
Fifty Shades of Grey

[Melissa]

Maikku wrote: "Doing harm
The Giver
Cop town
Fifty Shades of Grey"

Fun choice of books, Maikku!

[Aitziber]

I'll probably still be reading The Charioteer, although I hope I'll finish it that weekend. I'm just going to be busy all next week. I have to cover other people's shifts at work for three days, and clean my place top to bottom because I have a guest coming in. :P So, I'll hopefully read around 100 pages, but maybe not even as much. :x

[Amber]

For the readathon at my book club, I am going to start with The Finisher by David Baldacci for our monthly readathon and the final two books of the 80AD series then go from there.

[sonya]

I'm going to read red mist

[Kassandra]

Sonya, is that by Patricia Cornwell?

[Emily]

Harry potter number 1

[Bouchra]

I haven't been here for a while, been busy with life and other things, but this read-a-thon caught my eye. I am going to aim for 1000 pages over the weekend.

Hopefully a good bunch of that will not be Stephen King as I want to finish what I'm in the middle of right now (Shining series)

:)

[Kassandra]

Best of luck on reaching 1000 pages Bouchra!

[Kassandra]

Iasa, 400 pages is still a fantastic goal! Hopefully you will have fun on Saturday and are able to get back to reading on Sunday.

[Kassandra]

2 days to go until the readathon!! Hubby and I have booked a hotel so he can work while I read and we won't have any distractions. I'm like a kid getting ready for Christmas.

[Amber]

I put maybe as I'm doing an all month one at the reading for pleasure book club.

[Melissa]

Kassandra wrote: "2 days to go until the readathon!! Hubby and I have booked a hotel so he can work while I read and we won't have any distractions. I'm like a kid getting ready for Christmas."

You don't think alone in a hotel room without kids is not a distraction? :D

[Alessandra]

I'm with Melissa. Isn't that more of a distraction as the kids? :D

At the moment I'm considering to change the books I wanted to read, but I probably just take all options with me and read what I feel like reading :D (I'm going to my parent's house and I hope they won't distract me too much, but I need some kind of company)

[Natalia]

Winner stands alone
House of the spirits
We need new names
Autumn of the patriarch
By the river piedra I sat down and wept
The years with Laura Diaz,.......

Wish me luck!

[Kassandra]

Lol, there may be some distractions, it's true...but I think that time will be made up by not having to clean the house this weekend!

[Kassandra]

Iasa, I was thinking about bringing the banner to hang outside of the hotel room, or perhaps post it on the wall as motivation for me (and a reminder for my hubby). We'll see. I'll be keeping the spirit alive somehow!

[Melissa]

Will anyone believe the banner? And does a banner really stop a hubby? :D I think your read-a-thon takes the cake!!! Plans for next time...

Alessandra, that actually would be perfect, all of your meals will be cooked and served. It might be better than a Bed and Breakfast. I know if I went home, my mom would take great care of me and might even join in on the read-a-thon.

[Kassandra]

Lol, Melissa your hubby must be a lot like mine. Nothing deters them! I will not be swayed though, I'm staying strong. This may be my only chance for this type of reading indulgence for the rest of the year so I'm going to make the most of it.

[Brenda (aka Grandma)]

Kassandra, that sounds great! Have a wonderful time.

Have fun everyone and good luck with your goals :) I'm just shooting for 100 pages or so.

[Polly]

564 pages in between baking with the kids with one eye on them another eye on my book - makes me look cross eyed. Happy reading everyone!

[Melissa]

Kassandra wrote: "Lol, Melissa your hubby must be a lot like mine. Nothing deters them! I will not be swayed though, I'm staying strong. This may be my only chance for this type of reading indulgence for the rest of..."

I always told myself I'd stay strong, but now I have 4 children. :D!!!

[Melissa]

Mmmmm, maybe I need to do some baking for the weekend, too! Cake would go good with tea!

[Alessandra]

Melissa wrote: "Alessandra, that actually would be perfect, all of your meals will be cooked and served. It might be better than a Bed and Breakfast. I know if I went home, my mom would take great care of me and might even join in on the read-a-thon."

That's exactly what I thought. If they're around my mum probably will join in. She enjoys reading as much as I do :) I'm more concerned about my read-a-thon if they're not home, because I'll have to take care of our dog and that shorty always wants attention when she knows you don't have time for her :D But I'm positive that I'll have a lot of time to read nevertheless :)

Cake and tea sounds lovely!

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

Good God, Gertie! I'm gone for two days and miss everything. Recap: Melissa & Kassandra have lots of sex and babies. Everyone had tea and cake!

[Kassandra]

Alessandra it sounds like you have the perfect set up for the readathon. How fun!

Oh Renee, we've missed you! Welcome back. You're so funny - no babies for me yet but we just started working on that so I guess that's justification for the attention.

Now on to more important things - the readathon starts in less than 24 hours!!!

[Alessandra]

Sounds perfect, doesn't it? I need such a perfect set up right now 'cause I want to fit in as much reading as possible. After the readathon I should start studying for uni and that'll eat up a lot of free time I normally use to read *sights*

10 hours 'til it starts where I live at!!! So hyped already! :D Just packed my books! I'm ready! (Just need to finish work and get to my parents house :D)

Nice recap by the way & welcome back Renee! :)

[Kassandra]

Alessandra - I love that you're packing books too! Best of luck with your readathon (9 hours, 45 minutes to go for you)!

[Faye, The Dickens Junkie]

Augh! I got into The Walking Dead TV series recently, I've been on the list for the season 4 DVDs at my library for ages, and they've decided to give them to me TODAY for one week only. This is a highly addictive show that I cannot stop watching once I start! Can I resist them until Monday??? Heeeeeelp!!!