Rereadathon 4: Part two and wrap-up

The Rereadathon was hosted by Bex.

Wednesday 17th - Sunday 21st August

What I've read: I found a copy of Carrie in the Oxfam bookshop this week, which was fortuitous. I think it was reading Carrie a couple of years ago that led to me rediscovering Stephen King. I'd read The Green Mile when I was in high school and didn't even realise it was by that Stephen King because it wasn't at all the sort of genre that I associated with the name, and I read Misery and The Shining as part of my university course. But I hadn't read any of his works since then. Carrie is his first novel, and it looks so tiny on my bookcase next to his door-stoppers like The Stand. 

And Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, which I've reread every year (except for last year, when I listened to the BBC adaptation instead) since I first discovered it. My copy is looking rather well-worn now, and I may have to get myself a second reading copy. (I did have a second copy, but I lent it out and haven't seen it since. I'm not lending out my scruffy old signed edition to anyone.)

What else I've been up to:

I didn't update the blog since last Monday or Tuesday because I've been away. First I went up to Cardiff for two days, to see my friend Anna and to watch Monstrous Productions' Going Postal, which was absolutely magnificent. The casting was spot-on, with the actors playing Moist Von Lipwig, Lord Vetinari and in particular Stanley (the pin enthusiast) the stand-out performers of a wonderful cast. They put on a Discworld adaptation every year, and since they started, have managed to raise over £20 000 for Alzheimers Research UK with their plays. The Going Postal run has finished now, but I thoroughly recommend going to see their next show if you can get to Cardiff. If my local theatre group were to put on a Discworld play, I would seriously consider getting back into amateur dramatics. (But which part would I audition for? Answers on a postcard please!)

After Cardiff, I took the train down to Bath, to make a weekend of it and take part in the Bath Bookshop Crawl (which I will write about in a separate post this week.) I also had the chance to catch up with James, one of my old school friends, who I hadn't seen for a couple of years. But he's one of those friends where it's easy to just pick up from where we left off and it's like we haven't been apart. He's moving to Canada in October, so I caught him just in time.

Rereadathon Wrap-Up

How many books did you end up re-reading? Six, in the end (seven if you include the short story "How The Marquis Got His Coat Back" which I sneaked in this morning after Neverwhere.)

• On Writing - Stephen King
• Anne of the Island - L. M. Montgomery
• Feet of Clay - Terry Pratchett
• Fangirl - Rainbow Rowell
• Carrie - Stephen King
• Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman
• ("How The Marquis Got His Coat Back" - Neil Gaiman)

Which was your favourite re-read? Anne of the Island. I continue to be astonished that no matter how many times I read this series, it continues to affect me strongly, and I was in tears in the last couple of chapters - again.

What do you feel would have made the Re-Readathon a better event? A better organised host! I wanted to update more regularly and I totally flaked on the twitter chat, but unfortunately life got in the way this time around! Perhaps a few more events or challenges. Not too many - we don't want to lose too much reading time - but something to interact with the other rereadathonners.

Anything else? I see Bex was looking for a co-host for the next one. I VOLUNTEER! I feel I ought to take some responsibility for the rereadathon considering how I'm always the one badgering Bex about the next one. Maybe one for the new year?