48-hour TBR read-a-thon – halfway point
So, an update on my progress so far in the 48-hour TBR read-a-thon. Yesterday I started well, finishing off Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book (which I was already three-quarters through) before reading Saturday by Ian McEwan, on the back of a recommendation from Kath of [Insert suitably snappy title here…]. That turned out to be an excellent choice, keeping me so absorbed that I was awake until 1 a.m. when I finished it.
Today I decided to tackle Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut, which I’ve been eager to read for a while but then I mentioned this to a friend on Thursday who said she thought it was horribly hard-going, so that put me off. Some encouragement via Twitter put me back on track and I am definitely liking it so far. I’m only halfway through, partly because it’s not a quick read despite its short length, but also because I wasn’t able to entirely ignore the rest of the world today.
I’ll write proper reviews at a later point, but for now some quick summaries:
The Graveyard Book is an evocative, imaginative adventure with intriguing characters and, in true Gaiman style, doesn’t shy away from tough subject matter. However, I just wasn’t absorbed by it and kept putting it aside to read other things instead.
Saturday, on the other hand, was all-consuming and brought together politics, self-discovery, brilliant characterisation and outstanding writing. My only complaint would be that the main character is so irritatingly, snobbishly upper middle class; but that’s part of the point of course.
And now I’ll get back to the reading. I hope all my fellow read-a-thoners are enjoying their weekend reads!
(If you missed my last post and are wondering what all this is about, Wallace of Unputdownables challenged her readers to join her for a 48-hour TBR read-a-thon this weekend. I am still intending to read the Southland Tales books by David Kelly, Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Double Fault by Lionel Shriver. Or at least, that’s the slightly unrealistic aim.)
It’s going well, Kate! I don’t think I read Saturday, but I might well do so in future. I loved On Chesil Beach and didn’t love The Atonement. So it might go either way.
Keep it going. Will you finish SH5 today? It should be possible.
Judith My opinion of McEwan books varies a lot too. Loved A Child in Time, thought Atonement was good but not great, and there was another I read that I found so dull I’ve forgotten its title!
OK. Now stop watching me play Scott Pilgrim and get back to it.
Sounds like you’re making excellent headway!
Hooray! Glad you liked Saturday. I get a tiddly bit nervous when I make a recommendation like that but it worked out so phew. Yep, the main character is a bit painfully la-di-dah but I agree that this is the point of the book. Anyway – go you! You’re making far more progress than me at this stage but today I have the house to myself and a sleepy dog so fingers crossed I get to finish Snow!
Just checking in to see how you’re getting on. Are you still reading?
Kath Oh, I loved Snow but it took me a long time – definitely a book to linger over.
Judith Still going! Half of a Yellow Sun is amazing but also intense. Suspect I won’t finish it today.