Category: Events

Ready for the Read-a-Thon!

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It’s almost Read-a-Thon time again! I really enjoyed participating in my first Read-a-Thon in April – I didn’t actually get much reading done, but I had fun taking part in mini-challenges, I found some great new blogs to add to my Reader and I even won a book!

I’m looking forward to this weekend’s Read-a-thon as I’ve been so busy recently I feel as though I’ve had very little time for reading (or blogging), so this will give me a chance to catch up. I will probably have to go out for an hour or two near the beginning, but after that I shouldn’t have any more interruptions for the rest of Saturday. The way the start and finish times have worked out for my time zone, I will still have time to read when I wake up on Sunday morning too. I’m not going to attempt to read for 24 hours – I need my sleep!

So what am I going to read? Well, I don’t want to feel under any pressure so I’m not setting any targets for numbers of books or pages read. I’m currently reading The Night Watch by Sarah Waters, so unless I finish it before Saturday, that will be my first book to read. I also want to read some more books for the RIP challenge. I’m definitely going to read The Victorian Chaise-longue by Marghanita Laski as it’s short and I’ve been keeping it specially for the Read-a-Thon. I also have some classics on my pile, including Dracula (which I’m halfway through and enjoying) and The Haunted Hotel & Other Stories by Wilkie Collins (I’d like to dip into this one and read at least a few of the stories). I could also try to finish Bleak House as I only have a few chapters left to read. If the classics get too heavy, I do have some lighter books on my shelves too.

I bought a new chair earlier in the week, not specifically for the Read-a-Thon, but it’s very comfortable and in a quiet corner where I should be able to concentrate. In April I was able to do some of my reading outside in the garden in the beautiful spring sunshine, but I don’t think the weather’s going to be warm enough to make that an option this time!

Will you be participating? What are your plans?

Bleak House Readalong: Chapters 20-32

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I didn’t post my Bleak House Readalong update last Wednesday as it was Book Blogger Appreciation Week, so in this post I’ll be discussing Week 4: Chapters 20-25 and Week 5: Chapters 26-32.

*Please note: If you haven’t read as far as chapter 32 of Bleak House, you may encounter spoilers in this post.*

In the first 19 chapters of the book, we were introduced to a bewildering number of characters and storylines. As I mentioned in my previous update, the story had so far felt disjointed and slightly confusing. In these next few installments though, things finally start coming together and the story is beginning to get really interesting. There were still a few new characters (the Smallweed family, Mr George, the Bagnets and Mr Bucket the detective), but I think we’ve met all the major ones now.

I won’t even try to write a full summary for these chapters, but here are a few of the more important plot developments: Charley, the orphan girl we met earlier in the book, arrives at Bleak House as Esther’s maid. Richard changes career (again! I wish it was really as easy as that) and joins the army. Everyone seems to be very interested in Captain Hawdon’s handwriting, Caddy Jellyby marries Prince Turveydrop, Esther becomes ill – and in Chapter 29, the identity of Esther’s mother is revealed! I was very surprised by this because, although I had already guessed who it was, I hadn’t expected to find out so early in the story and had thought it would come towards the end of the book.

So overall, I found these chapters much more compelling than the previous ones because it feels that things are actually starting to happen now. And this section ended on an exciting note, when one of the characters spontaneously combusts! There are still some parts where I’m struggling to stay interested (Chapter 25: Mrs Snagsby Sees It All – was there any point to that chapter?) but I think I’m going to enjoy the rest of the book.

You can see other readalong participants’ thoughts on Bleak House here.

BBAW: Unexpected Treasure

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I knew I wouldn’t be able to participate fully in Book Blogger Appreciation Week this year because I’ve been ridiculously busy recently, both at work and at home, and just haven’t had time to prepare anything. Today’s question, though, is one that I really wanted to answer:

Wednesday—Unexpected Treasure
We invite you to share with us a book or genre you tried due to the influence of another blogger. What made you cave in to try something new and what was the experience like?

Looking back at the list of books I’ve read so far this year there are quite a few that I probably wouldn’t have thought of reading in the days before I started blogging. I used to stay very much within my own comfort zone and while there’s not necessarily anything wrong with that, as long as you’re enjoying what you’re reading, it did mean I was missing out on a lot of great books and authors. I had never considered reading Georgette Heyer or Sarah Waters, for example, before I saw so many other bloggers reviewing their books. I would probably also never have been aware of Persephone books; I’ve now read and loved three of them and have another two waiting on my shelf.

Going back to the question above, the biggest plunge I have taken into something new is when I decided to try an entirely new medium: the graphic novel. Before I began blogging, I had never even thought about reading a graphic novel. I didn’t have any prejudices about them; it had honestly just never occurred to me that I might enjoy one – and I had no idea how popular they were until I saw so many of them being reviewed on such a lot of blogs. So, this summer I finally read my first graphic novel (I should really call it a graphic memoir) which was Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. I don’t want to thank one individual blogger for bringing that book to my attention, because I had seen it mentioned by so many people, but all of you who said it was the perfect choice for a novice graphic novel reader were completely right! I haven’t had a chance to read another one yet, but I’m glad I now know that there’s no reason for me not to read them.

Thanks to everyone who has influenced my reading and encouraged me to try something new!

Bleak House Readalong: Chapters 14-19

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I’m a few chapters ahead of the readalong schedule again, but this post is based on my thoughts at the end of Chapter 19.

*Please be aware that this post may contain spoilers*

It’s week 3 of the readalong, I’m more than 230 pages into my edition of Bleak House, and Dickens is still introducing new characters and new storylines in every chapter!

In this week’s installments, Esther accompanies Caddy Jellyby to the dancing school where her fiancé Prince Turveydrop works. We also meet his father, Mr Turveydrop, who is always talking about the importance of ‘Deportment’ – very annoying! In chapter 15, Mr Skimpole reappears with news that the debt collector Mr Neckett has died, leaving his three children orphaned. The oldest girl, Charley, is taking care of her brother Tom and the baby Emma, as well as going out to work.

The Snagsbys invite the Chadbands for tea and Mrs Chadband turns out to be a face from Esther’s past. Richard changes career again, deciding he wants to be a lawyer this time. And on a visit to Mr Boythorn, Esther encounters Lady Dedlock, who seems strangely familiar although she’s sure she’s never seen her before.

There are an unbelievable number of characters in the first 19 chapters of this book alone! Luckily, I haven’t had too much trouble remembering who they all are. At the moment it’s difficult to tell which of the characters will play a major part in the story and which won’t. Maybe they all will!

As I mentioned last week, I prefer the chapters narrated by Esther to the others, as they are easier to follow. However, we are now starting to see some indications that Esther is not being completely honest with the reader and is choosing what she does and doesn’t want to tell us (usually in relation to a certain young surgeon called Mr Woodcourt).

“For I was so little inclined to sleep, myself, that night, that I sat up working. It would not be worth mentioning for its own sake, but I was wakeful and rather low-spirited. I don’t know why. At least, I don’t think I know why. At least, perhaps I do, but I don’t think it matters.”

I’m enjoying the book but it still feels quite disjointed and confusing. It still seems that storylines are being started and then abandoned just as they’re starting to get interesting, and characters are being introduced then disappear for several chapters at a time. I’m sure that when things start to come together later in the book I’ll be able to appreciate the importance of these early chapters more. I think I just need to be patient!

More posts on the Bleak House readalong here.

Bleak House Readalong: Chapters 8-13

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This is Week 2 of the Bleak House Readalong. I’m slightly ahead of the readalong schedule this week, but will keep this post restricted to chapters 8-13.

*If you haven’t read the book yet, you might encounter some spoilers.*

13 chapters into the book now and it still feels that not much has actually happened yet; Dickens is still bringing in new characters and new storylines. I’m enjoying the chapters narrated by Esther the most as I’m finding the other chapters a bit harder to follow.

In this week’s installments, Esther receives a marriage proposal, Richard tries to choose a profession, and a law-copier called Nemo is found dead from a suspected opium overdose. We meet Mrs Pardiggle who, like Mrs Jellyby, is supposed to be a ‘philanthropist’, but whereas Mrs Jellyby neglects her children, Mrs Pardiggle brings her five sons with her everywhere she goes and forces them to invest in charities that they are too young to know anything about.

We also meet a drunken brickmaker and his wife Jenny, who has a black eye and is nursing a sick baby. Other new characters include Mr Boythorn, an old friend of Mr Jarndyce’s who visits Bleak House, a ‘law-stationer’ called Mr Snagsby, and Jo, a homeless crossing-sweeper.

It will be interesting to see how Dickens is going to weave all these storylines and characters together. A lot of things don’t make much sense at the moment, but I’m hoping that everything will start to become clearer soon. I’m enjoying the book more than I was last week, though – and Esther isn’t annoying me as much now.

For more opinions on this week’s installments, see the list of participants at The Zen Leaf.

Bleak House Readalong: Chapters 1-7

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Charles Dickens’ Bleak House is a book that, like Middlemarch by George Eliot, I have attempted to read before but abandoned after a few chapters. This summer I took part in a Middlemarch readalong and finally finished the book (and ended up loving it) so I’m hoping that this Bleak House readalong will be equally successful. I’ve read Chapters 1-7 this week and have now passed the point where I lost interest and stopped reading the last time.

In Bleak House, Dickens divides the narrative between an orphan called Esther Summerson and an unnamed omniscient narrator, which is an interesting technique but one that isn’t really working for me. The book begins by telling us about a long-running court case called Jarndyce and Jarndyce, which has gone on for so many years that the original parties in the suit are now dead and nobody can remember what it was about. In the opening chapter Dickens tells us about the fog that is enveloping London, which can be seen as a metaphor hinting that the court case and much of the following story is going to be shrouded in fog as well.

“Fog everywhere. Fog up the river, where it flows among green aits and meadows; fog down the river, where it rolls defiled among the tiers of shipping and the waterside pollutions of a great (and dirty) city. Fog on the Essex marshes, fog on the Kentish heights. Fog creeping into the cabooses of collier-brigs; fog lying out on the yards, and hovering in the rigging of great ships; fog drooping on the gunwales of barges and small boats…”

When Ada and Richard, two wards of court, are sent to live with John Jarndyce in his home, Bleak House, Esther is asked to accompany them. At the moment we don’t know why this is, or how Esther is connected with the Jarndyce suit. On their way to Bleak House, they meet a variety of interesting people including Mrs Jellyby, who seems more interested in Africa than in her own family, an eccentric old lady who has been closely following the Jarndyce case, and the old lady’s landlord, Mr Krook.

The first seven chapters are concerned with setting the scene and not much has happened yet. I’m not really a lover of long descriptive passages but most of those were confined to the first two chapters. From the third chapter onwards, when the story really began, I started to enjoy it.

We are introduced to a huge number of characters in the first seven chapters. So far I’ve found it easy enough to remember who they all are, but I suspect that it might get more confusing later. One of the problems I had on my first attempt at reading this book was that Esther irritated me – and unfortunately she’s still irritating me this time. I hope I’m going to like her more as the book continues. I also dislike Mr Skimpole. He takes money from Richard and Esther to pay his debts, but everyone seems to think that’s okay because he’s such a harmless, childlike person.

“When you come to think of it, it’s the height of childishness in you — I mean me —” said Mr Jarndyce, “to regard him for a moment as a man. You can’t make him responsible. The idea of Harold Skimpole with designs or plans, or knowledge of consequences! Ha, ha, ha!”

So far I’m undecided about this book. I’m not loving it yet, but I’m not hating it either. Although Bleak House is a very long book (over 700 pages in my edition) and I’m only around 80 pages into it, I don’t think I’ll have any trouble finishing it. I found with the Middlemarch readalong that making a long classic my secondary book to read alongside several shorter books is a method that works perfectly for me.

I’ll try to post another progress update next Wednesday, when I hope to be able to tell you that I’ve started to love the book!

You can see other participants’ thoughts at The Zen Leaf.

Celebrating Georgette Heyer at Austenprose: August 1st–31st 2010

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Some exciting news for any Georgette Heyer fans out there – throughout August, Austenprose will be hosting a month long celebration of Heyer’s work! I feel honoured to have been asked to take part in this event as I’m still very new to Heyer and have so far only read two of her books.

Here is the official announcement of the event from Austenprose:


‘Celebrating Georgette Heyer’ at Austenprose – August 1st – 31st, 2010

Stylish, witty and historically accurate, novelist Georgette Heyer has been delighting readers with her romantic comedies for eighty-nine years. In honor of her birthday on August 16th, Austenprose.com www.austenprose.com will feature a month long event ‘Celebrating Georgette Heyer’ featuring thirty-four book reviews of her romance novels, guest blogs, interviews of Heyer enthusiast from the blog-o-sphere, academia and publishing and tons of great giveaways.

Our very special guests will be Heyer expert Vic Sanborn of Jane Austen’s World and Deb Werksman, acquiring editor of Sourcebook Casablanca and the catalyst in re-introducing Heyer to a new generation of readers.

The festivities start August first with a review of the newly re-issued Georgette Heyer’s Regency World, by Jennifer Kloester. Don’t be a wet goose. Chase away that fit of the blue-devils by attending this bon ton affair.

See this post for more information, including an event schedule.

My review of The Masqueraders is due to be published at Austenprose on Wednesday August 4th. I hope you enjoy the celebrations!