End of Year Reading Cram Days 13 and 14

Saturday

Phew, it's almost over. I was most unimpressed when I realised that the last Saturday before Christmas was going to be filthy wet and stormy, and gloomily predicted that town would not only be very busy, but that everyone was going to be miserable as well as stressed. It was not as bad as it could have been; only had one tantrum from a child and one supercilious disgrace to the human race among the many customers I dealt with. Though I came very close to losing my temper with the latter, overall I think my general demeanor was friendly, if not jolly.

If I'd attempted jolly, I would no doubt have scared everyone off.
Hm. Maybe an idea for next year!

But I think the worst is behind me now. Apart from an afternoon shift on Christmas Eve, that's me done until Boxing Day, so I'm counting Christmas as starting from now. I really should get some presents wrapped this evening or I will find myself having to do them all on Christmas Eve. Again.

I didn't get a lot of reading done at lunch time as I was chatting with colleagues in the staffroom, but they left halfway through my break and I got through a few pages of Perdido Street Station. A plotline I thought had unceremoniously cut short has been picked up once more, and with it, so has my interest. The story has refocused on the characters, their actions and reactions, which I found far more readable than giant moths loose in the city. 

I don't expect to get much reading done tomorrow as I'll be spending the afternoon with my friend Sam and her twin daughters, before going on to a Carols By Candlelight service in the evening. I'd like to reread The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe before Christmas, or just after, and I also hope to read the other Christmas story in my A Christmas Carol paperback. I've had this book since 1996, according to the nameplate in the front (it was a Girls Brigade award when I was 11) but I don't think I've ever actually read "The Cricket on the Hearth." Maybe this year I'll put that right!

Fangirl, my Christmas present from Ellie is planned for Christmas afternoon, when presents are opened, dinner is eaten and I'm feeling stuffed and sleepy. N0S4R2 and Mr Penumbra are also high on the to-read pile, and I really ought to read my friend's Mindstar Rising before I see him again for New Year.

Saturday Stats

What I've read today: Perdido Street Station

Number of pages read today: 61

Running total: 1362 pages
Books finished: Four: The Explorer Gene by Tom Cheshire
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Perdido Street Station by China Mieville

Number of mince pies consumed during readathon: 13
My life outside books: Tentatively hoping the worst is over.

Sunday night:

Not a lot of reading time today, as predicted, but I managed to squeeze in that short Dickens story, "The Cricket on the Hearth" in between carol singing, visiting and present-wrapping. "The Cricket" is a lovely little story, a definite fireside read about a middle-aged man and his young wife, who, due to half-discovered secrets and low self-esteem, fears that he's lost his wife's love. Though less than 100 pages long, the first part of "The Cricket" establishes a very happy family, and even if John Peerybingle suspects his wife's faithfulness, I don't think there's any doubt on the reader's behalf. We can rest comfortable that it's all a misunderstanding, and wait for the truth to emerge in the third act. Despite Dickens' (well-earned) reputation for being a long-winded novelist, his shorter works prove that he can be concise when he chooses, painting vivid pictures with just a few well-chosen sentences. I really had no excuse for taking seventeen years to read this lovely story.

This afternoon, I visited my friend Sam at her parents' house, where she was staying for the weekend with her twin daughters, Alice and Evelyn. The girls are three years old and every time I see them they've grown up so much. Today, they were dancing around the living room singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and "Jingle Bells" as well as a song about a sheep from their nursery school's nativity play. Their granny very proudly informed me that Evie had been the best singer in the play. Judith joined us a bit later, with a very well-chosen Christmas present: a marble run. I think we had just as much constructing the set as the girls did rolling the marbles down the obstacle course, and Sam and her Mum were just glad the twins could keep themselves entertained for a while. 

In the evening, I went with my family to a Carols by Candlelight service, so I am now feeling that Christmas has arrived. Every year I forget that Christmas carols can be quite a challenge to sing, especially if I've had to walk to the church in the cold air, but I'm always disappointed if I don't get to sing my old favourites. After the carol service, I came home to finish wrapping my presents - two days earlier than usual! Go me! - poured myself a generous helping of Baileys, and have settled down with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. 

What I've read today: The Cricket on the Hearth,
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Number of pages read today: 142

Running total: 1504 pages
Books finished: Five: The Explorer Gene by Tom Cheshire
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Perdido Street Station by China Mieville
The Cricket on the Hearth by Charles Dickens

Number of mince pies consumed during readathon: 15 and a piece of a big one.
My life outside books: Honorary Aunt duties and carol singing. Feeling festive. Hurrah!

End of Year Reading Cram: Days 10-12

What a week! Of course, with a week to go before Christmas, the shops are getting busier and during peak hours all I've been able to do is stay within a few feet of the counter and serve a steady stream of customers. Most people are full of Christmas cheer, if somewhat distracted, but  I've been coming home each evening feeling shattered and somewhat grumpy. This readathon has been a good distraction for me.

Wednesday evening was pretty miserable outdoors; wind and rain raging outside, so I disappeared into A Christmas Carol in a cosy armchair in front of the fire. Even though I've read the book dozens of times, and seen many adaptations over the years, to my shame I could not fight off the tears when the Ghost Of Christmas Yet To Come shows the Cratchit family facing their grief over Tiny Tim with love and courage. That gets me every time.

I think everyone is very familiar with A Christmas Carol, but this year it felt more relevant than just a cosy classic. With foodbank usage increasing tenfold on the Isle of Wight in the past two years, Scrooge comes across as the callous monster Dickens intended, rather than a mere grump. I think his "Bah, humbug" is misinterpreted a lot of the time; after all, you can buy black Santa hats with the phrase embroidered on the front. But Dickens does not condemn Scrooge for disliking magic and sparkle. Christmas, Dickens argues, is a time to stop with the navel-gazing and to remember what is important; to think of oneself as part of the larger community, the human race. Scrooge's sin is his flat refusal to do that.

Thursday and today I've been reading through Perdido Street Station, and hope to get to the end today. Although I have really enjoyed Mieville's world-building in New Crobuzon, the grimy, steampunky city full of strange creatures, I'm finding the main plot - the battle with the terrifying giant slake-moths - less interesting than that which was promised in the first half. The storylines which interested me more seem to have petered out or come to an abrupt and unsatisfying end about halfway through, and the novel has become quite slow and very verbose. I like to think I have a very good vocabulary, but Mieville's long words and complicated descriptions often leave me feeling quite overwhelmed and longing for a dictionary.

Wednesday Stats

What I've read today: A Christmas Carol

Number of pages read today: 82

Running total: 1117 pages
Books finished: Three: The Explorer Gene by Tom Cheshire
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Number of mince pies consumed during readathon: 11
My life outside books: Hectic tiring day, cosy evening

Thursday Stats

What I've read today: Perdido Street Station

Number of pages read today: 131

Running total: 1248 pages
Books finished: Three: The Explorer Gene by Tom Cheshire
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Number of mince pies consumed during readathon: 11
My life outside books: Zzzzzz!

Friday Stats

What I've read today: Perdido Street Station

Number of pages read today: 53

Running total: 1301 pages
Books finished: Three: The Explorer Gene by Tom Cheshire
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Number of mince pies consumed during readathon: 11
My life outside books: Adding the finishing touches to some handmade Christmas presents

End of Year Reading Cram: Days 8 and 9

Monday:

As we start the second week of Dana and Jenny's Reading Cram readathon, I find myself still reading the same books as a week ago, perhaps a drawback of having more than one thing on the go at once. Perdido Street Station was never going to be read in a week, but a couple more evenings of undistracted reading should polish off The Explorer Gene and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Then onto the Christmas classics: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and A Christmas Carol, which really ought to be read in the next week.

Today I have been finishing off part 5 of Perdido Street Station, in which Isaac and his comrades are preparing an epic showdown against the hypnotic dementor-moths. Judith and I are reading this book together as an informal 2-person book club, and I'll be meeting her from work to discuss the story so far. Then, this evening, a group of us will be going to see The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (which I stubbornly stick to pronouncing "Smorg" even though I've long suspected that the film's pronunciation is actually correct.)

On the whole, I was pretty happy with An Unexpected Journey, but I am approaching part two with a lot more caution and suspicion. The Page Lady, who crocheted 13 beards for her and her friends to wear to the midnight showing of part 1, and who has sound judgement when it comes to Middle-Earth, came away from part 2 very disappointed. This time, I want very much to disagree with her. Other friends have spoken favourably of the film, and I've stayed well away from reviews (even Page Lady's) because I'd prefer not to have my opinion influenced by others. I know my enjoyment of Oz: The Great And Powerful was affected by having read a critical blog post about its portrayal of female characters. I'm wary of The Hobbit part two because the promotional material has been full of Peter Jackson and his people justifying changes they've made from the book, until I wonder whether I'll even recognise the film as The Hobbit. I'm particularly nervous of how they will present the Elves. The trailer seems to be playing up the warrior aspect, which certainly comes into force at the end of the story in the Battle of Five Armies, but I'd like to see more of the fey, otherworldly creatures that we meet in the book, to contrast with the all-wise and powerful beings of Lord of the Rings.

11PM: Met Judith from work, only to find that she had to stay on an extra half hour because her bus had made her very late starting her shift. So I used that time to take a long-way-round pootle to the post office to pick up a parcel which hadn't been delivered on Saturday because no one was in. It turned out to be a shiny new hardback copy of Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl, which I've been wanting to read since I first heard about it. A teenager obsessed with a particular book, off to university and trying to juggle fanfiction and the real world? Now why does that sound familiar? I think this book was a present from Ellie - it was sent straight from the Book Depository, and was the only surprise book parcel I was expecting, so thank you Ellie. (And if it was not Ellie who sent it, please own up now so I can thank you.) I think Fangirl will be excellent Christmas afternoon reading, when we're all stuffed and sleepy.

Judi and I spent the afternoon mooching around in the living room, eating homemade mince pies, cakes and cheese, and generally feeling Christmassy, discussing our thoughts on Perdido Street Station, which I can't really share because they are too spoilery. Suffice to say, one of the more interesting plotlines appears to have come to an abrupt end, rather disappointingly, and the world of New Crobuzon is not a very nice world at all.

We went to the 7PM showing of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, which I will review properly before very long. I was probably right to approach the film with caution and not expect my vision of the book to be beamed onto the big screen. Yes, it was padded, yes it probably could benefit with a generous trim, and yes, there was an unsurprising added subplot that I could not be havin' with at all, but all in all I enjoyed the film a lot, and would gladly go to see it again. 

What I've read today: Perdido Street Station

Number of pages read today: 41

Running total: 797 pages

Number of mince pies consumed during readathon: 9

My life outside books: Hobbit tonight! Excited but wary.

Tuesday 

4PM: The last day of my nice long weekend has shaped up to be a very lazy one, grey and drizzly and generally rather sleepy. I spent most of the morning writing up my thoughts on the second Hobbit movie for the blog: in short, though the film was undoubtedly the weakest in the series so far, I enjoyed it for the most part. This afternoon I've actually finished a book - the first book to be finished during this readathon or even this month. I sat myself down to read the final installment in The Explorer Gene, reading about Bertrand Piccard, the third in a direct line to boldly go where no man has gone before, in his case around the world non-stop in a balloon. 

9PM: So I spend the first eight days reading the same books and then on day nine I finish two of them! Finally it feels like I'm getting somewhere on this readathon. I've finished my reread of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and because of the three-year cliffhanger between the books being published, it feels like a good place to stop for now while I pick up some festive reading. Goblet of Fire ends when it's just started getting very dark and very interesting (boy, how we picked over those last few chapters in sixth form looking for clues to what was to happen next!) I think I'll put this series aside till I've done some festive reading, though. Order of the Phoenix is a big book and one which I enjoy the least; it always feels like an effort to go through the oppressive "no one believes Harry and Umbridge is highly unpleasant" plot. 

Back at work tomorrow after a long weekend. These evenings are worse than when I've only had one day off at a time, as I've snapped out of work-mode fully and have no real desire to get back into it. Especially with just one more week till Christmas. Come on, Edwards, you can do it!

Just read on the internet that a film version of the Sandman comics is set to be made. I wonder how they'll condense that sprawling epic into a couple of hours screen time! I have one request regarding this: Cumberbatch for Dream, please! (I know that he is the fan choice for pretty much everything that Tom Hiddleston isn't, but I can't imagine anyone better suited to the role. It's his voice, or one very like it, that I heard in those white-on-black speech bubbles, and he's worked on a Gaiman adaptation before, as the Angel Islington of Neverwhere. Please, universe. Do this for me!

What I've read today: The Explorer Gene
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Number of pages read today: 238

Running total: 1035
 pages
Books finished: Two: The Explorer Gene by Tom Cheshire
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling

Number of mince pies consumed during readathon: 9
Quote of the day: "Extreme adventure, the real one, is not for showing off in public, nor is it an escape from reality, or a wish, whether conscious or not, to get high on adrenaline... It is a life-sized mirror and the opportunity to discover some new inner resources. Adventure is the breaking point when we realise that we can no longer be satisfied with reproducing automatically what we learned, that this won't do anymore." - Bertrand Piccard

My life outside books: A nice lazy day, end of a long weekend.

End of Year Reading Cram: Days 6-7

Saturday

In the penultimate Saturday before Christmas, of course work was ridiculously busy. The good thing about weekends is that we don't have deliveries then, so there isn't the mad rush to get that all put out before the next lot comes in, while juggling a dozen jobs and all the customers. I was pretty much tied to the counter from ten till about half past 3, but though there was a constant stream of customers, they were pretty manageable on the whole. We had enough staff in, for once, and at least the day goes quickly when you're working non-stop.

Most of my day's reading took place over lunch. I was grateful to have the staff room to myself for most of my break, so I got stuck back into The Explorer Gene, reading about Jacques, the second generation of Piccards, who took over his father's work building a "bathyscaphe" (a kind of submarine) and being one of only 3 people ever to go to the bottom of the Marianas trench. For science, of course!

Saturday evening was the shop's Christmas meal out, which was delicious, enormous and a lot of fun. My manager (nattily dressed in a Christmas snowman jumper!) brought his girlfriend along, who I actually knew from school. It was good to catch up with her after ten years. Towards the end of the evening, probably as revenge for being outed as a former kissogram (which I think was pretty much common knowledge, but she looked shocked and embarrassed for the first time since I've known her) my colleague Joan made us all share stories of things we've done after drinking too much. Simon had woken up one morning to find a pub's hanging sign at the end of his bed, while James went missing for two days while his wife was pregnant. My story, of rambling at length to a new acquaintance about all the rude bits in Chaucer and Shakespeare, must have confirmed the impression I'm convinced my colleagues have of me as a weird academic type who doesn't really know how a twenty-mumble-year-old girl is supposed to act. (To be fair, that's not an inaccurate picture of me, only I don't think I'm all that clever, I just find books more interesting than the real world.)

What I've read today: The Explorer Gene

Number of pages read today: 50

Running total: 557 pages

Number of mince pies consumed during readathon: 5 1/2

My life outside books: Work's Christmas meal out. We've earned it.

Sunday

7 PM: What a miserable old day it is outside. But though I love summer for its bright sunshine and outdoorsiness, I've come to appreciate the winter for lazy afternoons with a book in front of the fire, perfect conditions for a readathon. I've lit some Christmassy scented candles, put some more baubles and ornaments on the tree and tinsel everywhere, and spent the afternoon sprawled on the sofa catching up with Perdido Street Station. I'm about halfway through the book now, and Isaac and his friends have been set against the government in their quest to end the giant moths' reign of terror. There has been betrayal, the sentient hoover has made its changed condition known - though who programmed it is still a mystery - there is a capricious and crazed giant spider-creature who seeks for the world to be woven into patterns only it can see, and terror has ensued. What has not happened is a lot of action centred on the station itself, and I have yet to find out why the book is titled as it is.

10PM: Mum cooked a delicious roast beef dinner this evening, which was a lovely surprise. I carried on with Perdido Street Station for another hour or so. Isaac and his comrades have certainly got in over their heads with regards to these moths. After a shocking turn of events, the plot seemed to wander off in favour of some really horrifying parasitic hand-creatures doing battle with the dementor-moths. Mieville has a very warped imagination when it comes to peopling his world with beings other than the fantasy stereotypes. Also, the "cleaning construct" has led our protagonists to a junkyard of sorts, to a meeting of its own kind, the sentient machines. Quite what these machines have planned is not yet clear, whether they are friend or foe or have a completely alien agenda. I've started to feel my attention waning, so I'm thinking I'll get ready for bed and then put on Love Actually and do a bit of knitting. I'm not back at work until Wednesday now - nice long weekend - so I can afford a late night. 

What I've read today: Perdido Street Station

Number of pages read today: 199

Running total: 756 pages

Number of mince pies consumed during readathon: 7

My life outside books: Decking the halls with boughs of... tinsel and baubles... fa la la la la la la la.

End of Year Reading Cram: Days 3-5

After two pretty good readathon days, my reading time has been rudely imposed upon by work. It's really starting to get busy now in the last two weeks before Christmas. I've been quite surprised how late people have left it and am expecting the next couple of weeks to be a special kind of chaotic. A customer asked me on Wednesday if I was planning to stay chirpy right up to Christmas Eve. It must be a pretty good year if I'm still getting described as "chirpy" in December! Back in September when I had a nasty emotional crash, I couldn't see how I was going to make it through the next three months, but here I am and I've just got six more days at work before Christmas day. I think I can do it!

Thursday, however, I did find myself getting stressed and irritable. The day got off to a bad start when my supervisor rearranged my to-do list for me, and I was still trying to finish my first job of the morning when my colleague came in mid-afternoon. I finished at half past 5, waved goodbye to my colleagues who were doing the late-night-shopping shift, and spent a happy hour finishing off my Christmas shopping. Despite my best intentions, I didn't get much reading done that day because I got caught up finishing off a couple of hand-made Christmas presents. (I am so going to be Molly Weasley if I ever grow up. I've no plans of marriage or children myself, but I fear I'm going to be that relative who sends everyone ugly Christmas jumpers. Mwahahaha!)

The story so far: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. 

Harry has got through the second Triwizard Tournament with flying colours, but something fishy is afoot in the Hogwarts grounds. Again, I was struck by how much more depth there is to the books to all the subplots that are either rushed through or completely skipped in the film, such as the Ludo Bagman red herring, and the madness and death of Mr Crouch, which is a really eerie and unsettling scene which the film galloped through at top speed and plenty of confusion. 

The Explorer Gene.

I have followed the exploits of Auguste Piccard, the first man to boldly go up into the stratosphere in a balloon, as well as those of his twin brother Jean, and other sciencey pioneers who have built on his experiments. Having conquered the sky, Auguste then turned to designing a vessel to boldly go to the bottom of the ocean - eventually to be piloted by his son Jacques. "Only dead men have sunk below this." 

Wednesday Stats:

What I've read today: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Number of pages read today: 88

Running total: 420 pages

Number of mince pies consumed during the readathon: 5 1/2

My life outside books: Met Judith for lunch.
Quote of the day: Ron: "I could have taken those mer-idiots any time I wanted."
Hermione: "What were you going to do, snore at them?"

Thursday Stats:

What I've read today: The Explorer Gene

Number of pages read today: 26

Running total: 446 pages

Number of mince pies consumed during readathon: 5 1/2

My life outside books: Christmas madness really kicking in at work, though customers still in good spirits for the most part.

Friday Stats:

What I've read today: The Explorer Gene
Number of pages read today: 61
Running total: 507 pages
Number of mince pies consumed during readathon: 5 1/2
My life outside books: Christmas shopping complete, parcels posted. Bring it on!

Reading Cram Read-a-thon Day 2 and Top Ten Tuesday

12:15PM: I spent most of yesterday evening reading Perdido Street Station, and reached the end of part two. I went to bed quite early, as I could barely keep my eyes open, but managed to get in a couple more chapters of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire before falling asleep. Hagrid's secret past has been splashed all over the Daily Prophet, in a subplot that I don't think was touched on much during the films. I can't help feeling that Rita Skeeter must be based upon J. K. Rowling's own experiences with evil journalists (and if she were a muggle, Miss Skeeter would be the Daily Mail's darling. What a nasty piece of work.)

I made the most of my day off this morning by not setting my alarm clock and sleeping in late. I read another chapter of Perdido Street Station over breakfast, though since then I've really just been pottering around, dancing round my room to my Dreamboats and Petticoats CD and getting sucked into the internet. Time to put that computer away, Edwards! Get reading!

3:30PM: Oops.

Everyone seems to be talking about NOS4R2 among my bloggy friends. I've had my eye on it since it was first released, but was going to wait for the small paperback to be published. But with all the internet chatter about this book, and the fact that it is apparently a Christmassy horror story, I couldn't wait another year, and as I just needed to spend another £10 at Waterstone's before I got a free gift card, I decided to treat myself to an early Christmas present.

Perdido Street Station: The story so far:

Isaac's study of assorted birds, bugs and other winged creatures has brought him into contact with a brightly-coloured creature which has a strange effect, seemingly with powerful psychic or empathic abilities. This creature has been stolen from a research facility, where its siblings have been treated with caution, even fear. This cannot end well. My suspicion is that it will incite all sorts of nastiness from the people of New Crobuzon.

10PM: After coming back from town, I intended to get stuck back into my book for the rest of the afternoon, but after updating the blog, I ended up sorting out all my photos from the last 15 months and deciding which ones need to be printed for albums. I still love having physical photo albums to look back over my memories. Then I remembered I still hadn't reviewed the film of Catching Fire, so I put that right (scheduled for tomorrow morning when I'm back at work.) I settled back into my book for an hour or so, where some very strange events came to pass. First, as far as I can make out, someone programmes a hoover to make it become sentient. You may call it a cleaning construct all you like, but as far as I'm concerned it's a hoover. Now, quite what the plot has planned for a sentient hoover, I am yet to find out. Also, the weird psychic, drug-addicted caterpillar-creature Isaac has been studying has hatched out of its cocoon as a man-sized killer moth, and has freed its fellow man-sized killer moths from the research facility to cause chaos across the city. Despite how silly this may sound, it's quite suspenseful stuff, and I'm keen and dreading to see what happens next.

This evening I took over the kitchen and baked some delicious Christmas goodies: sugar cookies, Christmas cupcakes and a batch of fruit and nut shortbread, which should be ready to come out of the oven any minute. I am not posting photos because although they taste delicious, they look nothing like the photos in the recipe books, alas. I started icing the cakes when they were still warm, and it turned out a bit messy, but I ate the worst of the evidence.

I'm off to bed in a minute, for an early night and to see if I can get to the end of part three of Perdido Street Station before meeting Judith for lunch tomorrow.

Stats:

What I've read today: Perdido Street Station

Number of pages read today: 127

Running total: 332 pages

Number of mince pies consumed during the readathon: 3 1/2

My life outside books: I am a baking queen!

Top Ten Tuesday: The to-read pile

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the ladies at The Broke and the Bookish

Well, my to-read pile has more than ten books on it, but the following are likely to be read sooner rather than later.

1. Mindstar Rising - Peter Hamilton. This is a loan from a friend, who described it as "detective fiction set in the not-so-distant future." Aside from that I know very little about the book, but look forward to finding out.

2. From a Buick 8 - Stephen King. Because I haven't read any King for a while, and my brain is itching to read some more. This one was on the 3 for £5 offer at the Works, so I had to snap it up.

3. Interworld - Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves. A Neil Gaiman book I haven't read yet? Better put that right!

4. Shine Shine Shine - Lydia Netzer: A book I picked up on my last-but-one trip to London: "This is the story of an astronaut who is lost in space, and the wife he left behind."

5. Mr Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore: Robin Sloane: A book about books, bookshops, and bookshop customers. What's not to love?

6. Something Borrowed - Paul Magrs: The sequel to Never the Bride which I read on holiday this summer. If it's as good as the first, I'm in for a treat. This is a library book, and I've already renewed it once, so I ought to get to this one soon.

7. The Cuckoo's Calling - Robert Galbraith: Yeah, we all know "Robert Galbraith's" real identity. Though I didn't buy it because it's by J.K. Rowling, the extra publicity made me actually look at this book and decide it looked good. I enjoy crime fiction, but don't read that much of it because when I'm in the crime section of a bookshop or library, I don't really know where to start without a particular author or title in mind.

But before I get started on The Cuckoo's Calling, I ought to finish my reread of the Harry Potter books. I don't like having more than one book or series on the go by the same author or in the same genre at any one time.

8. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J. K. Rowling. Also Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows.

9: A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens. 
10: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C. S. Lewis: These two are essential December rereads, for obvious reasons.

Reading Cram end of year read-a-thon: Day 1

7:30PM

So here we are at the start of another read-a-thon, a lovely way to wrap up the year. It's nearly the end of day one, but I've been working, so have only managed to read a couple of chapters, before work and at lunch time. Now I've had my dinner and made a large cup of coffee for myself, and will shortly put my computer away and get lost in a good book in front of the fire.

What I'm reading:

I've got three books on the go at the moment: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (a Christmassy reread), The Explorer Gene, and China Mieville's Perdido Street Station. I'm aiming to finish the first two this week, and to read up to the end of part three of Perdido Street Station by Wednesday, when I am next seeing my friend, with whom I'd doing a readalong.

The story so far: 

In a city where humans and strange creatures coexist, Isaac and Lin are an inter-species couple. Isaac is a scientist, while Lin is an artist, half-human, half insect(ish). Both have been commissioned with unusual tasks. Isaac, Lin and some of their bohemian friends visit a fair to try to find answers for Isaac's problem, but instead they are horrified by the freak show they find within.

Stats:

What I've read today: Perdido Street Station
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Number of pages read today: 205

Running total: 205 pages

Number of mince pies consumed during the readathon: 1 1/2

My life outside books: Went into the supermarket to buy sandwich fillings, came out with a bagful of Christmassy food. I regret nothing!
Quote of the day: "Art's something you choose to make... it's a bringing together of... of everything around you into something that makes you more human..." - Derkhan, Perdido Street Station.