Readathon: Hour 14, 15, 16, 17...24: Trying to Stay...Awake...Zzzzzz....

Sûrement Je Peux Veiller Cela Longtemps

(Surely I Can Stay Awake This Long!)

Mid-Event Survey (Abridged):

What are you reading right now? A Moveable Feast and a M.F.K. Fisher book

How many books have you read so far? 2 children's picture books: Madeline and Babar

Are you getting tired yet? Oddly, no.

Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered? Two words: Readathon Lite...

A few MiniChallenges:

Once Upon a Reading MiniChallenge

That Weekend in Paris, it had to be Swann’s Way or no way. Life was Les Miserables for Madeline. Then she became determined to Serve It Forth. “Good Morning, Midnight!” she screamed as she began her trek From the Fifteenth District that would be known as The Moveable Feast. Time Was Soft There; Tender is the Night.

Update: Hour 18 did me in. I got in a few pages of Time Was Soft There and fell asleep....But I'm back for the last thirty minutes. I've got my coffee going and I'm determined to read to the finish line.

Most Hated MiniChallenge

I try not to hate any people I meet, including those in a book. That's the wonder of a book; you can see that even the most difficult people clearly...why they are the way they are...their weaknesses, but also their strengths. And you see, over and over, the power of love to transform people.

Reading Sanctuary MiniChallenge

Were you able to escape the hustle and bustle of life? Where did you do the majority of your reading? Did you leave the house (or wherever you were) at any time during the challenge?

This was my favorite Readathon. I only left the house once, to go to a wedding shower (that I discovered is actually for today, but that's another story!) I had the fun French music going...my husband zipped out and surprised me with croissants and gelato for snacks...and I finished four French-ish books! Happy Day!

Cliffhanger MiniChallenge

"You didn't ask to be born, you didn't make the world as it is, you didn't make yourself as you are. Why torment yourself? Why not take life just as it comes?"

from Good Morning, Midnight by Jean Rhys

 

Photo by Kimdokhac

Readathon: Hour 10, 11, 12, 13: La Lecture est Fondamentale

This has to be my favorite picture of all time. I'm the "Deborah" in the chair. This was published in our town's newspaper when I was in first grade. Happily, I grew up to be a librarian working in the same town!

I'm posting this in response to Joystory's Reading is Fundamental MiniChallenge.

Readathon: Hour 6, 7, 8, 9: Lumières, Caméra... Lisez!

Lumières, Caméra... Lisez!

I'm off to a wedding shower for a few hours. Oddly, I had a wedding shower to attend during last year's Readathon. We had a terrible rainstorm and all our streets were flooded. I could not return home for many hours.

I got a bit nervous when I heard thunder this morning. Rain, too. Let's keep our fingers crossed that I am able to return to reading!

Update:  I'm back. Mmm...the shower is actually tomorrow!  Okay, back to the books!

Readathon: Hour 5: Nourrissez-moi Seymour

Nourrissez-moi Seymour

This is a challenge that is designed for moi! I'm reading Serve It Forth, M.F.K. Fisher's book, and it is all about food.

Here's a bite:

"Central heating, French rubber goods, and cookbooks are three amazing proofs of man's ingenuity in transforming necessity into art, and, of these, cookbooks are perhaps most lastingly delightful. Many an old belly has been warmed by the reading of them, and for one secret from them, steaming ruddy brown on plate, how many youthful pleasures have been counted well lost!

However, cooking in itself is, for most women, a question less of vocation than of necessity. They are not called to the kitchen by the divine inner voice of a Vatel or an Escoffier. Rather are they lured there, willy-nilly, by the piping of their husbands' empty stomachs."

In two paragraphs Fisher has managed to explain why I have never become a gourmet cook...my husband's empty stomach.

Photo by laverrue

Readathon: Hour 4: Sentence de Titre de Livre MiniChallenge

I've completed one book (okay, it was the children's picture book, Madeline!) and a few chapters from M.F.K. Fisher's Serve It Forth. That's okay with me. I'm trying to visit a few blogs every hour and do a few challenges and read a few pages. Readathon Lite.

Here's my response to Bart's MiniChallenge:

It reads: Good morning, midnight, tender is the night, a moveable feast, from the fifteenth district, weekend in Paris; Paris, time was soft there, les miserables.

Yes, deep thoughts there in that sentence.

Translated: Bonjour, l'offre de minuit est la nuit, un festin mobile, du quinzième district, le week-end à Paris; Paris, le temps était mou là, les miserables.

Readathon: Hour 3: Et les candidats agréés sont...

Here is a fun challenge for hour 3:
Mini-Challenge from 'Til We Read Again:



Favorite Female Character in a book: Anne of Green Gables' Anne


Favorite Male Character in a book: To Kill a Mockingbird's Atticus Finch

Favorite Side Kick in a book: Drover in the Hank the Cowdog series

Favorite Couple in a Book: Scarlet and Rhett in Gone With the Wind

Favorite Book Series: Janet Evanovich

Favorite Author: New favorite is M.F.K, Fisher

Favorite Book Cover: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Favorite Book of 2009: Catching Fire comes to mind
 
Agree? Disagree?

Readathon: Hour 2: Une Visite à la Salle de Lecture

Une Visite à la Salle de Lecture

Readathon: Hour 1: Permettez à la lecture de commencer!

It's Readathon time! And here I am in...Paris!

Okay, not really. But I have French music playing. I'm dressed all in black (oh-so-French). And, most importantly, I have French books to read.

Permettez à la lecture de commencer! (Let the reading begin!)

MINI-CHALLENGE

Where are you reading from today? 

I'm in Paris. (In my dreams, anyway.)
3 facts about me …
I'm a primary school librarian.
I read literary fiction and creative nonfiction and children's picture books.
I am learning French and all things French for a trip to France this summer.

How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours?
Twenty or so possibilities.

Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon?
I hope to read a book or two and visit lots of blogs.

If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, Any advice for people doing this for the first time?
Don't worry too much about pages read. It's fun to read, but it's lots of fun to visit other blogs.

Photo by Al lanni

Read-a-Thon or Read-a-Thon Lite?

It's tomorrow! The Read-a-Thon is tomorrow!

I'm not the organizer and I'm just a baby Readathoner, but I loved it so much the five times I participated that I wanted to encourage you to try it, even if it's just to put your toe into the water.

Want to do that? To take a quick dip?




Here's the way to do a Readathon Lite:

Readathon: The challenge is to try to read and blog for twenty-four straight hours.
Readathon Lite: Read and blog until you are tired. Go to sleep. Wake up. Read some more.

Readathon: Read continually. Eschew all invitations, including those of your loved ones for meals. Take a book with you into the bathtub. Avoid all human contact, including the cries of your offspring and pleads of your spouse. Be strong. Read.
Readathon Lite: Read. Take a break. Walk. Go eat with your family. Read some more. Take another break. Eat a few Hershey Kisses. Play with your dog. Read a little more.

Readathon: Read War and Peace. Have Moby Dick as backup. In case you finish W&P.
Readathon Lite: Have a nice stack of funny books, chick lit, ya fiction, a book of poetry, graphic novels, some magazines, even some children's picture books. Read in little bursts. Read whatever strikes your fancy. Stop when you want. Read something else.

Readathon: Visit every blogger that signed up for the readathon. Write long blog posts about the readathon. Enter every hourly competition. Spend so much time blogging that you do not actually read anything.
Readathon Lite: Update your blog. Visit a blog or two every hour and leave a comment. Enter a few competitions. JMHO, but these are the most fun part of the readathon.

Readathon: Stay up all twenty-four hours. Go to bed as soon as the readathon is over. Sleep all the next day and find you can't go to sleep that night. Wake for work on Monday cranky and irritable. Explain to everyone that you spent all weekend in a twenty-four hour readathon. Wait for appropriate responses of admiration and envy. Instead, hear comments like, "Why would anyone try to read for twenty-four hours? Who would do that?" accompanied by hoots of laughter.
Readathon Lite: Sleep when you need to. Wake up on Monday refreshed and happy. Tell your best reading buddy about the readathon and share your favorite reads with her.

So how do you signup for Readathon Lite? Same place as Readathon. Hope to see you there!




I'm ready!

My wonderful reading room is waiting.

I've read the tips for readers. Helpful.

I'm signed up.

I've seen all the prizes.

I've bookmarked feeds for participants.

I'm planning to read and review an enormous stack of Books About Paris.

Whew! That should do it!

Ready to go!

French Obsession

French Obsession: A Week in Which I Find I Have Acquired 22 Books on France and Read 0 Real Books

When I do something, I do it.

I'm doing France right now. I'm listening in the car to CDs that teach children French songs. I'm practicing French using apps on my iPhone. I'm requesting books from the library on France. I'm ordering books on Amazon on France. I'm listening to French music at home. I'm stockpiling French novels and children's books for next weekend's Readathon. I made a wiki for our trip and have been copying and pasting ideas there. Obsessed.

Don't laugh, but here is my French TBR:

Okay. I'm stopping here and not including all the where-to-go books and CDs and software and iPhone apps. Trust me. My French TBR is HUGE.

Now, here's what I actually read last week:

Three books in a week looks good, right?

But, looking more closely, I find that actually completed just two small children's picture books and one thin book, a book that's really a chapter in the M. F. K. Fisher collection, The Art of Eating.

And, I'm contemplating later this afternoon going through my 1001 Children's Books to Read and requesting all the French children's books I can find from the library. More books? Eek.

The problem is clear.

I...must...push...myself...away...from...this...computer....

But, before I go, what do you think? What should I read first?

 Anything (Oh, please don't tell me!) that I missed?