I’ve just surfaced from Savvy for a few minutes to brew a new cup of tea and figured it might be time to write another post.

The second challenge of the readathon is hosted by Miss Remmer, who asks:

…Write a post on your blogs about your kick off strategy. What have you surrounded yourself with for these early hours of the challenge besides your books? Is there a coffee thermos, lucky book mark, snacks, pillow…. We want to know how you have prepared so you do not have to leave your cozy reading space (by the way – we’d like to know what is too…. (are you still in bed, a chair, the couch…..)

Although I began the day reading in my rocking chair in front of my happy light, once my English muffin was done, I retreated to our red couch, where I can read lying down. I have all five bulbs in the lamp lit next to me and am curled up under a purple plaid wool blanket. Of course, the laundry hasn’t been put away, so I’m wedged between clean clothes and the giant fairy pillow Karen gave me so many years ago. But it is definitely a cozy reading spot.

For a while Posey joined me, curled up in my lap, but after a while she wasn’t there any more, so she must have realized she no longer had my attention and left. My tankard of tea grew cold and I pulled myself out of Kansaska-Nebransas long enough to finish the last couple mouthfuls of cold brew before hopping back on a pink bus.

My iTunes is up and playing on shuffle, but for the most part I don’t hear the music. If it were to stop, though, I’d hear the absence of music and it would yank me from my story. Luckily, though, I have so much music on my computer that it would outlast a weeklong readathon and still have a few tunes to play. And that’s just what’s ripped to the computer. Rudi and I must have at least as many cds as books jammed into our tiny apartment.

Challenge 3 is from Bobbie, who asks us for nominees:

Favorite Female Character in a book: Jo in Little Women
Favorite Male Character in a book: Harry Potter from the eponymous series probably
Favorite Side Kick in a book: Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter series
Favorite Couple in a Book: Anne and Gilbert in the Anne of Green Gables books
Favorite Book Series: Harry Potter (but only because some of the Anne books get a bit treacly)
Favorite Author: Barbara Kingsolver (although there are several others I love, sot that answer would vary depending on the moment)
Favorite Book Cover: Hmmm, while I like my books to have judgeworthy covers, I’m not sure I pay sufficient attention to them…. The Eyre Affair maybe
Favorite Book of 2009: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Is it bad that we’re just coming up on the end of Hour 3 and I’m already starting to ramble?

No? Well, good. I’m going to head back to the couch with my cup of tea and see if Mibs and her friends and brothers get to Salina or not…

As I wrote last night, I’ve decided at the last minute to embark upon Dewey’s Readathon today. There will be lots of reading, some mini challenges, and an audio book or two.

Before I start reading, here’s the first mini challenge of the day:

Where are you reading from today?

I’m located in Washington, D.C., in the outskirts of the ultra-hip and increasingly overly commercial Dupont Circle neighborhood. I’ll be spending a portion of time reading in my apartment, affectionately known as the Burrow; outside at local coffeehouses; and from diverse other locations, such as my community garden plot.

3 facts about me …

1. I’m a procrastinator, which is why I didn’t commit to doing the readathon until the nth hour.
2. I am not a morning person.
3. I have three cats, who have no problem with my reading, just so long as I remember to feed them and let them sit on my lap.

How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours?

I don’t have a set number of books in my To Be Read (TBR) pile, but our apartment periodically seems to be an ever-growing TBR pile, so I don’t think it’s going to be a problem.

But I am starting my day with Ingrid Law’s Savvy, which I’ve been looking forward to reading for quite a while.

Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)?

No goals. Goals tend to have the opposite effect on me as with most people and usually mean I abandon them (and their cause) early on.

Rather, I guess, my goal is just to have fun and read some good books.

If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, Any advice for people doing this for the first time?

I did the readathon a few years ago (the last one before Dewey died), but wouldn’t really call myself a veteran. Plus, what works for me wouldn’t necessarily work for anyone else.

Oh, and I’m going to use this image for my challenge responses because Rudi was particularly taken with it last night. I believe he may be hoping it’s part of the readathon rules that I have to read in a bikini or in just my underwear. Alas (for him), I’m more of a pj pant and hoodie kind of girl…

Once again, I am planning to take part in Carl’s Once Upon a Time Challenge. My plan is to explore Quest the Fourth, wherein I commit to reading five books that fall within the genres of fairy tales, folklore, mythology, and fantasy. Then I will follow that up with an early June reading of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

In addition to the Shakespeare, I hope to choose from:

Kristin Cashore’s Graceling
Michael Scott’s The Sorceress
Homer’s The Odyssey
Arabian Nights
Brian Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Rick Riordan’s The Last Olympian
Shannon and Dean Hale’s Rapunzel’s Revenge
Susan Cooper’s Greenwitch
Jeanne DuPrau’s The City of Ember
Zora Neale Hurston’s Mules and Men
Katherine Howe’s The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane

Got any other suggestions? Or recommendations from the list above? I’ve got until Midsummer’s Eve to finish reading them all.

I’m writing from a coffeeshop near my MiL’s house, where I have a view of outside. Roughly every five minutes the weather changes. Right now, for instance, it’s sunny, but there is an ominous sheet of clouds overhead. Just after I arrived a few hours ago, it began sleeting. There have been snow showers — several an hour — and a little bit of misty rain, as well. However, nothing sticks to the ground and because Salt Lake is a desert, the pavement dries quickly. I hope Rudi’s weather up in Park City involves less rain and more snow for his skiing adventures.

I know I promised you book reviews, and it’s still possible I’ll write them this weekend. But I’m just not feeling the love at the moment. All three books I’m behind on posting — The Help, The Elegance of the Hedgehog, and Shades of Grey are each deserving of a thoughtful review. I don’t want to rush them. But I also know that the longer I wait to write them up the more I’ll forget of the nuances of each novel, so I’ll try to get to them soon.

Just for tonight, I’m skipping post 2010.7, which talks about The Help, because it was just too good to allow my review to go out as is. In the meantime, I offer you the book I read for the first half of my California trip:

Austenland, by Shannon Hale

From the jacket: “Jane is a young New York woman who can never seem to find the right man — perhaps because of her secret obsession with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. But when a wealthy relative bequeaths to her a trip to an English resort catering to Austen-obsessed women, Jane’s fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman suddenly become more real than she ever could have imagined. Is this total immersion in a fake Austenland enough to make Jane kick the Austen obsession for good, or could all her dreams actually culminate in a Mr. Darcy of her own?”

My take: In this cute tale of a woman so caught up in her fantasy life that she’s unwilling and increasingly unable to focus on her real life, Jane is a graphic designer living the modern fairy tale life in New York City. Except she can’t find her Prince Charming, or in her case, Mr. Darcy as portrayed by actor Colin Firth.

An eccentric but sharply aware great-aunt dies, willing Jane a trip to an Austen immersion “camp” in England. Arriving, Jane is told to hand over her iPod and cell phone and is assigned Regency-period clothing, schooled in old-fashioned social niceties, and introduced to an estate’s worth of actors and guests designed to make her feel as if she’s stepped right between the covers of Pride and Prejudice.

Adventures and misadventures ensue as Jane compares her past “dating” disasters with the eligible men with whom she is role-playing: young Colonel Andrews, the second son of an earl; Mr. Nobley, a dashing but brooding gentlemen; and Martin, playing the part of Theodore the gardener, with whom she’s supposed to have no contact.

The book isn’t high art and isn’t as accomplished as the young adult fiction that Hale is best known for. But it’s a good romp, particularly if you’re an Austen fan or if you’ve ever fallen in love with a character straight off the page or screen.

Pages: 196

I forgot to post this last Saturday, so caught up in the snow was I. Conveniently, I didn’t finish anything new this week, so it won’t be overshadowed by anything else.

Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco S. Stork

From the jacket: “Marcelo Sandoval hears music that nobody else can hear — part of an autism-like condition that no doctor has been able to identify. But his father has never fully believed in the music or Marcelo’s differences, and he challenges Marcelo to work in the mailroom of his law firm for the summer … to join ‘the real world.’ There Marcelo meets Jasmine, his beautiful and surprising coworker, and Wendell, the son of another partner in the firm. He learns about competition and jealousy, anger and desire. But it’s a picture he finds in a file — a picture of a girl with half a face — that truly connects him with the real world: its suffering, its injustice, and what he can do to fight.”

My take: I started hearing a lot about this book at the end of last year, when it appeared on several best-of-young-adult-literature lists, and so, when I saw it in a display at the library, I picked it up.

I’m glad I did. Marcelo has a unique voice amongst the characters I’ve read before. Half the time he refers to himself in the third person and half the time in the first. He has a tough time discerning sarcasm (I was reminded somewhat of Sheldon’s perpetual confusion in The Big Bang Theory.), is often confused by people’s emotions and underlying motives, and likes to work in a methodical way that enables him to minimize errors. When he’s forced to work at his father’s law firm, that’s a big problem, where petty jealousies, selfish subterfuge, and cut-throat competition define the rapid-fire paced workplace. And that doesn’t even begin to get into what it’s like to work for your father, especially when he’s made it clear that he feels you’re coddled and not living up to your potential.

The only bright light is his supervisor, Jasmine, who, despite declaring that she hadn’t been in favor of his hire, works hard to make sure he’s able to do his job. And when he makes a discovery that will change the tenor of his days, Jasmine is there with him to assist in what will become his summer’s quest and a crucial decision in his life.

I always find it fascinating to see into the thought-process of another, and this book really gives you a glimpse into that. The end of the book brought a smile to my face and I can only wish good thoughts for Marcelo in the next (unwritten) chapters.

Pages: 312

I finished this novel on January 31st, giving me three novels that were begun and completed during the month. Thanks to the NaJuReMoNoMo folks.