The Classics Club's first readathon.

The first readathon of the year! Very exciting!

It's a 24 hour one, and I'm aiming to get to at least 12, hopefully more, but probably not the full 24 hours as I have lots to do tomorrow. But, I have a few books picked out, so we'll see how it goes.

Firstly, The Blessing by Nancy Mitford. Charlotte has me curious, and it's about time I read a novel by Nancy. I read the Mitford Sisters letters  afew years ago and loved them. I also have Meditations by Marcus Aurelius - this is one of my Penguin Greats. I've also picked out A Town Like Alice, by Nevil Shute, which I think I may start with: it's on my 100 Greatest, and it's one of those, like To Kill a Mockingbird, I've said I'd read "next" for far too long. Then, A Russian Gentleman by Aksakov - poor Sergei gets pulled down and put back unread for every readathon. Hopefully this will be his time! And, the same with Diary of a Madman by Gogol. Next, Henry James - for many readathons I've read one of his novellas, and this time I've picked Washington Square. I also have Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms, Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge, and finally The Water-Babies by Charles Kingsley.

I think this will be enough to keep me going for a few hours! I must confess, there's a part of me considering The Three Muskateers by Alaxandre Dumas, however, for a readathon, part of the fun is reading lots and lots of books, not just sticking to one chunkster. But, as I say, I'll see how it goes.

I'll update this post regularly, and once in a while I'll check in with folk. Have fun everyone!

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Myshkin and Oliver.

15:41 - Just finished The Blessing by Nancy Mitford (so much for starting with A Town Like Alice!). Absolutely wonderful in a way I hoped Oscar Wilde would be but was most definitely not. Very happy at my introduction to Nancy's novels.

Meanwhile, the sky here has gone purple so there may be some heavy rain in store. The budgies are beginning to roost after a busy day with their readathon - as you can see from the picture, Myshkin went to sit with Oliver (very rare), but Oliver refused (understandably as Myshkin has been known to beat him up). And I'm going to make some lunch (pizza, if you're interested) and begin a new book, this time I'm definitely going for A Town Like Alice. I know nothing about this book at all, but I do remember it was one of the first adult books I got out of the library when I was a child, though I admit I thought it was going to be about Alice in Wonderland (I was very young in my defence and thought the only Alice was Alice Liddell).

17:52 - Lunch has been had, and the first random read - Carlyle's House by Virginia Woolf. It's absolutely tiny (80 pages or something), so I thought I might as well! And now I really am reading A Town Like Alice. I've even started it. And let it be said - budgies do not smell.

21:18 -  Finished A Town Like Alice, my 87th book of my 100 Greatest. I honestly don't know what to say about it! I did enjoy it, though.

Next up, as you can see, a Krispie Kreme doughnut (they should not have been allowed into the UK), and The Mayor of Casterbridge. Thomas Hardy is one of those authors I think I love, however my experience is fairly mixed. I've never hated a Hardy, but there's been one or two that didn't grab me as much as I would have thought.

So, I shall check in with one or two folks and get back to reading!

22:56 - So much for Hardy: at the last minute, I decided I wanted to read "something lovely" so I went with The Water-Babies, and yes, it was lovely. And, as it happens, in finishing that book I have read my 310th book since starting this blog! That's not a particularly round number to get excited about, but never mind!

Next up, not Hardy but One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. Like Aksakov, this is another one that keeps on being pulled down and put back with each readathon (so much so I thought I'd read it already). But, unlike poor Aksakov, I shall read it this time. I do, however, pledge to read A Russian Gentleman either tonight or tomorrow afternoon!

00:31 - Just finished One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, which is my 70th book on my Classics Club list. And, as I'm half an hour from the twelve hour mark, I'm going to head to bed. There are two books waiting for me: Meditations by Marcus Aurelius and poor Sergei. I do believe it is now time for A Russian Gentleman. I think this will be my last update on my blog for The Classics Club readathon, but I may be around on Twitter and Goodreads for a wee bit longer. I'm intending to read until Big C gets home, and then tomorrow I'm having my own cheat readathon as I cannot, try as I might, stay awake for another twelve hours! I'll no doubt be up before the readathon officially ends, so I'll update in a new post tomorrow morning and hopefully after that squeeze in one or two more books! So, I'll catch you all then, and good luck to those who are reading through the night!