When it comes to what books I read, I've tried lots of different arrangements. Sometimes I pick a book series and read as many of them as I can. Sometimes, I pick a few books that have been languishing on my shelves for a long time (*cough* years *cough*) and do my best to finish them. While those tactics certainly have their merits, I've found that, for me, it's more fulfilling to read shorter books, because I get that great sense of accomplishment for finishing the things. That's not to say that it's a bad idea to read longer books during a readathon - not at all. In fact, it might be the perfect excuse to psych yourself up to read that doorstopper you've been putting off. It's just not my preference. At least not this time.
I always make a TBR pile in advance of readathons, so that I don't have to spend time wondering what to read. As the name suggests, this challenge is to read for 24 hours over the 48-hour weekend, so time is of the essence. I like having diversity of genres, topics, writing styles, formats, etc. Therefore, my readathon stack is usually pretty tall and interesting. I don't think there's ever been a time when I've read all the books on my TBR, and that doesn't get me down.
These are the books that I'm putting on my 24in48 Readathon TBR -
The Little Buddhist Monk and The Proof, by Cesar Aira
Nothing More to Lose, by Najwan Darwish
Such Small Hands, by Andres Barba
Oola, by Brittany Newell
One Hundred Apocalypses and Other Apocalypses, by Lucy Corin
Eve Out of Her Ruins, by Ananda Devi
When I Was a Child I Read Books, by Marilynne Robinson
Six Decades at Yaddo, edited by John Cheever
The Woman in Cabin 10, by Ruth Ware
The Wangs vs. The World, by Jade Chang
Another fun part of readathon prep is to consider the food and drinks that I want to have on hand. Since the readathon starts at midnight, it's important to have nibbles and drinks on hand to make sure I don't get too drowsy...probably brewing a large pot of English breakfast tea. To keep things balanced throughout the weekend, I'll need to make sure I have things from each of the C Food Groups: Cheese, chips, crudites, caffeine, and chocolate. I might even mix up a garden salad if I'm feeling extra wild. Who knows?!
We'll see how I get on with these books, the foodage, and the readathon in general, in the next post. Are you participating in the 24in48 readathon? What books are you planning to read?
Librorum annis,
