Dewey's Read-a-Thon: Fit the Second

We've reached the end of the first quarter of Read-a-Thon, and things seem to have settled quite a bit after an extremely boisterous first few hours. Already I've made new friends, viewed new blogs, entered a few of the challenges, and of course accomplished a small amount of reading in the few spare moments I've had left. Much as the name of the event implies a devotion to actual reading, it's apparent that there's so much more to Dewey's Read-a-Thon than that. It's about camaraderie, the celebrating of a shared passion, and the making of memories as the day unfolds in a way that one couldn't easily confuse with any old Saturday.

As I read through The Time Traveler's Wife, I'm struck by so many aspects that cause the book to stand out profoundly from the rest of those I've read. To be sure, I've read a fair number of truly excellent works, but there's something about this particular title that touches me deeply and personally. One is hard pressed to draw parallels between oneself and a character so fanciful as the temporally-impaired Henry DeTamble, yet the life he attempts to lead, and the struggles he and Clare endure, despite his unique handicap are at once unique to the deepest of loving relationships and common to all of humanity. This two-fold exploration is part of what makes the story so compelling, to say nothing of the many other noteworthy nuances that contribute to the fully-formed world in which these characters dwell. I look forward to sharing my thoughts on the novel in greater detail sometime soon, as well as expounding on its cinematic adaptation. For the time being, I'm happy to find it difficult to remain at the computer. There are few things as wonderful as being caught up in a favorite book, and I aim to enjoy that experience today as much as possible.

Dewey's Read-a-Thon: 4th Hour Mini-Challenge

The morning's gone by so quickly, and with all the hullabaloo I honestly haven't gotten nearly so much reading done as I should have done. I have a feeling things will pick up soon. However, before I can get on with the business at hand, there's a mini-challenge to consider! The folks over at Capricious Reader have come up with an extremely fun little mission: compose a work of poetry using book titles. I probably spent more time on this than necessary, but I'm pleased with the results:

The Art of Being

The Art of Loving

The Inner Reaches of Outer Space

The Enlightened Heart

The Enlightened Mind

Einstein's Dreams

A Wrinkle in Time

Time for another quick dose of social media antics, then back to The Time Traveler's Wife!

Dewey's Read-a-Thon: Fit the First

I'm up I'm UP!! Barely squeezed in a nap but all is well, breakfast is being ingested hastily and coffee has already begun kicking in. Thankfully, the fine folks at Dewey's have provided a launching pad of sorts for today's mix of frantic blogging and fervent reading. WIthout further ado:

1. What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
The heart of the Rust Belt, Youngstown, OH

2. Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
Probably About a Mountain, as it's the only book with which I've zero familiarity.

3. Which snack are you most looking forward to?
Total candor here—a tin of sardines to top off my protein and omega-3 levels.

4. Tell us a little about yourself!
This week is actually the 6th anniversary of my decision to dedicate my life to writing.

5. If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what's the one thing you'll do different today? If this is your first readathon, what are you most excited about?

Touching base with other writers is something I've explored before, but it bears repeating: there are few things so important to the craft as an ongoing and meaningful exchange with a variety of fellow aspirants. I've very much enjoyed perusing the blogs of others so far, have picked up more than a few pointers through observation alone, and I'm fairly certain that the frivolity of the event will prove contagious enough to make for a truly memorable day!

Breakfast officially over, first round of coffee's down—commencing book one, The Time Traveler's Wife!

You're Doing What? For How Long?? - Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon

For all my plans for upcoming reviews and reflections, it's been a slow month for reading. Some of that has to do with the way I've tackled the challenge of my reading list, which has been much less "one book at a time" and far more "read ALL the books!". I always realize, after the fact, that amassing a sizable workload all in one place only serves to daunt me into submission, but for once the approach might actually work. Maybe it hasn't just been the construction of a literary mountain too tall to scale, maybe it's been the lack of compatriots, cheerleaders, mini-challenges with prizes...enter Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon.

I was only recently introduced to the Read-a-Thon, thanks to my friends over at A Reader's Respite. According to the Read-a-Thon's History page, Dewey was inspired by her family's participation in the annual 24 Hour Comics Day. The idea was simple: Get some people together and celebrate literature and the love of it, by dedicating an entire day to reading. That first year, 2007, there were 37 participants in the Read-a-Thon; the latest tally for 2013 includes 426 bloggers who will spend the day alternating between the books they've chosen and sharing their experiences on their blogs, Dewey's Facebook page, the Read-a-Thon's Twitter feed (#Readathon, #Dewey, #MiniChallenge, #RahRahReadathon), and even Instagram.


As it's my first Read-a-Thon, I'm not sure how well I'll be able to juggle tasks; I have enough trouble focusing on Twitter when it's the only thing I'm doing. But I've got some simple meals lined up for the day, plenty of tea and coffee to keep me going, and three solid choices to hold my attention as the day progresses. First on the list is The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger.

My first encounter with this title was the movie, which caught me completely off-guard and left me in tears (more on this in a future Page-to-Screen review). It's a bittersweet exploration of causality, determinism, and free-will, set against the backdrop of a relationship that unfolds in a different order for each of its participants.

By the end of my second read-through, it had become my favorite book. I found myself yearning to follow the last page with the first and begin reading it anew. Since then, I've made a habit of re-reading it once a year, but this time around I've faltered quite a bit—I've been stuck on page 110 since mid-September. So I've decided to make it the priority when Read-a-Thon begins tomorrow morning at 8am.


For my second choice, provided I finish The Time Traveler's Wife, I've selected About a Mountain, by John D'Agata.

I know little about this book, but it comes highly recommended by one of my closest writer friends. I was first intrigued by this quote, which he had posted some time ago:

"This is not an honorable place. It is not the marker of a glorious deed. Here is nothing at all of worth buried. This place is a message and a portion of a message-world. Pay attention well. We are earnest. This message-giving was great for us. It seemed to us that we were a very great people."

The blurb on the back of the book describes it thusly: "When John D'Agata helps his mother move to Las Vegas one summer, he begins to follow a story about the federal government's plan to store nuclear waste at a place called Yucca Mountain, a desert range near Las Vegas. Here is the work of a penetrating thinker whose startling portrait of a mountain in the desert compels a reexamination of the future of human life."

I expect that I will, after all's said and done, regret not having read this promising book sooner.


Should I complete both The Time Traveler's Wife and About a Mountain before 8am Sunday morning, my final choice is Henry Miller's Tropic of Capricorn.

Miller's Tropic of Cancer—the first in a trilogy, of which Capricorn is the last volume—is renown for being one of the first major victories against censorship in the 20th century. All three volumes (Cancer, Black Spring, and Capricorn) explore Miller's life and struggles as a writer. I had begun reading this back in June, but my introduction to Miller was quickly supplanted by numerous volumes of Hemingway's work. By the end of the month I'd taken up fishing, and left Miller's deftly woven proto-Beat stylings by the wayside.

Before that had happened, though, I had come to appreciate the way that Miller had turned his life into literary material, and was struck by how much I identified with much of his experiences. Having previously experienced some difficulty convincing myself to write my story, I was emboldened by his success, and became inspired to attempt a similar effort. As my NaNoWriMo novel will be written in this vein, it behooves me to immerse myself further in Miller's world, and I can think of no better time to do so than amidst the obsessive reading frenzy of Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon
 

So for now, I'm doing my best to clear a number of comfortable reading places, prepping the coffee maker, and hopping off to bed at an uncharacteristically early hour. 8:00am comes pretty quickly, and I'm going to need my rest—it's going to be a long, exciting, amazing day of reading.

Back in Action - a Quick Report from the Front Lines

Greetings from the far side of Summer! It's been a spectacularly busy few months, and there's no sign of things slowing anytime soon. I'll have some fresh reviews and musings up in the coming weeks, but nothing can distract from the imminent arrival of November, and that of course means it's time for another NaNoWriMo!

 It would be nice to be able to say something along the lines of "Now, those of you who followed last year's effort...", but there honestly wasn't much of an effort to follow. I'd decided to enter at the very last minute, with absolutely zero preparation and barely an inkling of an idea. And while I've tinkered with Breggin's Grasp since abandoning the WriMo, the goings have been mighty slow.

This year, however, I made up my mind well in advance, and signed up as soon as the site allowed. I'll detail some of my preparations soon, but suffice it to say there have been many, including the creation of my favorite means of self-inspiration, the cover.

This year's WriMo attempt won't be Science Fiction. Much as it pains me to leave the comfort of my favorite genre, I've felt a change of literary scenery might do me some good. My summer reading list included the likes of Ernest Hemingway and Henry Miller, both of whom had a tremendous influence on me. I may not be able to fully comprehend Hemingway's Iceberg Theory as yet, and Miller's proto-Beat prose might well be some of the finest I've ever seen, but I'm confident I can manage to satisfy the urge to write in a similar vein.

All in all, I'm rather upbeat about the remainder of the year. It's been an interesting one, and I look forward to expounding upon it further in the near future. For now, I've amassed a mountain of preparatory reading, and every tick of the clock brings me that much closer to November's starting gun.