read-a-thon – Tabula Rasa

Bout of Books Read-a-thon Updates

Bout of Books Read-a-thon is a week-long readathon hosted here; it is a great idea for those of us who find it nearly impossible to stay up for 24 hours at a time, or spend an entire weekend continuously reading.

I will post my daily updates here, along with links to the reviews; if any!

Updates:

5/14

Hours I spent reading: 3
Total number of pages I read: 250
Number of Books I finished: 1
Books I finished: The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino
Books I started but didn’t finish: None
Total number of books I have read till now: 1
My Thoughts:
I didn’t read as much as I would have liked to on the first day. But I do still have a lot of wonderful books waiting to be read, and I will finish reading them!

5/15

Hours I spent reading: 4
Total number of pages I read: 231
Number of Books I finished:
Books I finished: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Books I started but didn’t finish: Watership Down by Richard Adams

Total number of books I have read till now: 2
My thoughts:
I have wanted to read The Picture of Dorian Gray for so long now. Ever since I read my first Oscar Wilde play. It was a beautifully haunting read, to describe which I will need a separate post… Watership Down is a huge book and I can’t wait to read my way through it. I’m excited and looking forward to the wonderfully bookish days ahead of me!

5/16

Hours I spent reading: Definitely more than 3. See, I forgot to count after the first 3 hours!
Total number of pages I read: 300
Number of Books I finished: None, or 1/2. Because I did finish reading half of Watership Down.
Books I finished:
Books I started but didn’t finish: Watership Down by Richard Adams
Total number of books I have read till now: 2
My thoughts:
Watership Down is turning out to be one of the best books I have ever read. I wonder why people find it hard to get into the book; I thought the writing was fabulously involving; but maybe that’s just me. I might read another of Oscar Wilde’s books today, as well.

5/17

Hours I spent reading: Barely 2 hours
Total number of pages I read: 100
Number of Books I finished: 1
Books I finished: Salome, a short play by Oscar Wilde
Books I started but didn’t finish: I continued reading Watership Down by Richard Adams
Total number of books I have read till now: 3
My thoughts:
I hope to read another play by Oscar Wilde tomorrow. I am taking part in a two-day creative writing workshop this weekend, so now’s the time I have left to read! I hope I finish Watership Down too 🙂

5/18 and 5/19 – Unfortunately, no reading done at all! 😦

5/20

Hours I spent reading: 2 hours
Total number of pages I read: 200
Number of Books I finished: 1
Books I finished: Watership Down by Richard Adams
Books I started but didn’t finish: None!
Total number of books I have read till now: 4
My thoughts: Watership Down – what can I say? Best. Book. Ever!

Happy Reading!

Bout of Books Read-a-thon

As I said in my previous post, I have a shelf-full of books to read and no time. I have decided to find time and to make sure that I do, I am taking part in this awesome week-long read-a-thon hosted @ Bout of Books.

Here are my goals for this readathon:

The books I plan to read:

1. Finish reading The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino; a review copy.

2. Basilica: The Splendor and the Scandal by R. A. Scotti; a fabulous non-fiction about the construction of St. Peter’s Basilica.

3. The Master Works of Oscar Wilde; a compilation of Wilde’s best plays, poems and novel (The Picture of Dorian Gray)

4. Watership Down by Richard Adams; I got it in large print, so that it will be easier to read it!

5. A Short History of the World by H. G. Wells; another non-fiction that seems great!

Other goals:

1. To read for at least 3 hours every day.
2. To post systematic updates in one updates post, unlike the last time!
3. Visit at least 3 new blogs every day!

The 24 Hour Readathon Update # 2

Currently Reading: The Little Drummer Girl by John le Carre (496 pages)

Last book read: The Shadow Out of Time by H. P. Lovecraft (70 pages)

Next up to-be-read: I’m not quite sure, anymore!

Reading stats –

Total Number of pages read: 472

Total Number of books completed: 2

The thing is, The Little Drummer Girl by John le Carre, though very interesting and action-packed, is much longer than I figured it would be. The print is very small and the pages are kind of large, so I am flitting between this awesome spy novel that I’ve been reading for hours now and shorter reads.

I read and liked Turn of the Screw by Henry James; it reminded me vaguely of a movie I had once seen, and I realized after a quick Google search that it was actually the book that inspired the movie The Others. It’s slightly dramatic and overdone and really more of a psychological horror story than the ghost story that the blurb on the back says it is. Still, a quick, good read!

And then, I just finished reading The Shadow Out of Time by H. P. Lovecraft. Ah, Lovecraft. It’s a great story. I love how Lovecraft never bothers with a good introduction or slowly inching his way into the messy, weird stuff; instead he just dives right in, and pretty much shocks you to the core of your being. Amazing book; reminded me why I loved The Case of Charles Dexter Ward so much.

Now I am signing off, till the end of the readathon, to… you know, just relax, cuddle up in bed and read. I will post a sort of master update at the end of the readathon, with all my reading stats and books I read, along with, (assuming I manage to stay awake that long) mini-reviews of all the books I manage to read in the remaining time. Happy Reading!!

Planning for the 24 Hour Readathon… not!

Ah, another read-a-thon. It’s my first time participating in Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-a-thon, and to say that I am excited would be a gross understatement. I had planned to read actual paper books, because reading e-books continuously for such a long time might actually make my eyes melt. But, as it turns out, and at the worst possible time, there is only one book left on my shelf that I haven’t read yet. And I was under the impression, that the readathon is next weekend, until, right about NOW! So I rushed out to get me some books. But obviously, as fate will have it, it’s too late and all the shops were closed. My last resort was second-hand books, you know, the ones at the roadside ‘shops’. I stopped and looked around at a few of those, but didn’t find anything that wasn’t bent or torn and that did interest me. My point being this; I had to alter my reading list quite a bit. Didn’t affect my excitement, though! Not in the least.

What do I plan to read?

1. A library book, the only single one left to be read on my shelf: The Little Drummer Girl by John Le Carre

…and that’s it. Now I’ve got to get me some e-books.

Happy Reading!

Wonderfully Wicked Read-a-thon

I came across this great read-a-thon at Aeicha’s Word Spelunking. This is my first time participating in a read-a-thon, but since I am leaving for a short vacation on Monday, it seems like a good idea to get some reading done before saying bye-bye to books altogether! I’ll post updates as and when I can and take part in whichever challenges I can!

The Wonderfully Wicked Read-a-thon is hosted at Kindle Fever and My Shelf Confessions for the weekend. The read-a-thon kicks off today, but you have until tomorrow to sign up!

Happy Reading!