The #24in48 Reckoning or, The Wrapup

In my last post, I laid out my overly ambitious TBR for the #24in48 readathon:

I was all ready and rearing to go for the 12:01am ET start time.  I had a big pot of tea brewed, my new mermaid blanket sprawled out on the sofa, and my first book picked.  Since it was so late/early, I decided that I needed to begin with something that would grip my attention.  So I picked Ruth Ware's The Woman in Cabin 10, about a young woman on a cruise ship who believes she's a witness to a murder.  Or is she?  Even my cat decided to get in on the readathon action.

It was the absolute right choice!  I was definitely swept up in the suspense and whodunnitness of the protagonist's story, enough so that the hours flew by.  However, it was quite late when I finally finished it.  Having been up since 6am that morning for work, I decided that it would be a good idea to get a few hours of sleep before starting another book.  Zzzzzz...

I woke up, got myself up and around, fixed some breakfast, and dove straight into Andres Barba's novella Such Small Hands.  As I was eating the mini almond croissants, I thought that they would be the perfect size for small hands.  Oh the thoughts that rattle through a readathon brain...

After that slim tome, I moved on to a collection of Roxane Gay's essays called Urgent Unheard Stories.  It was one of the Independent Bookstore Day swag items from a few years ago, but I had never gotten around to reading it.  Rectified.  Each essay dealt in some way with publishing, literature, and/or reading - but, as is Roxane's trademark, also spoke to larger social, civil, and political issues.

After that, I curled up with The Wangs vs the World, a family road trip adventure par excellence.  The father lost his makeup manufacturing business, his house, and all his millions in the 2009 recession.  His big plan to rebuild his fortune is to drive from where his family lived in Bel Air to his eldest daughter's home, north of New York City.  Himself, his two younger children, his second wife, and his nanny all pile into a Mercedes station wagon and have a bonkers trip, like something out of National Lampoon.  I fixed myself a lunch of steamed dumplings to nibble whilst I read.

After that, I picked up the only poetry collection on my TBR.  Nothing More to Lose, written by Palestinian poet Najwan Darwish, focuses on issues of ethnicity, Jewish/Arab relations, personal identity, political radicalism, and many more.  As this was a collection of poetry in translation, NOT about love, this also ticks a box on my Book Riot Read Harder Challenge list!  Woohoo!

Many of these poems were hard-hitting, so I decided my next read should go in a different direction.  Plus, it was rounding the bend toward midnight, so I knew it had to be something I wouldn't get bogged down in.  I decided to read the bindup of two of Cesar Aira's short stories - The Little Buddhist Monk/The Proof

With a guest appearance by the break dancing hot dog from Snapchat!

I only was able to get through the Monk story before my eyelids got too darn heavy, so I had to call it a night.  I was up bright,but not so early, on Sunday morning, the last day of the readathon.  After breakfast, I plowed through the very bizarre story The Proof, and moved on to what was my last read of the weekend - Marilynne Robinson's essay collection When I Was a Child I Read Books.  Despite the title, the collection centered around the author's usual stable of topics - religion, science, political discourse, community, and literature.  I started reading this in physical form, but had checked out the audiobook from my local libary (hey-o Hoopla!) so I listened to it the rest of the way.  And that, reader, took me past the 24-hour mark.  I made it!

Oh, and the good folks who ran #24in48 (Hi Rachel, Kristen, and Kerry!) set up fun challenges every 3 hours on the Readathon's blog.  They'd give you a prompt, and you posted your response (linked to your Twitter/Instagram/Litsy/blog/etc.) to share with everyone.  Here were some of my challenge posts -

Selfie: Book Face Edition!

We Need Diverse Books!

Spine Poetry!

Forget monsters, my favorite thing is tote bags!  Bookish tote bags!

In the span of 24 hours, I was able to read 7 books!  Not my entire TBR pile, but pretty darn close.  I got little sleep, ate some nibbles, and had a great time with my fellow 'thon-ers!  I can't wait until the next one!!!

Did you end up participating in the #24in48?  How did it go?  Are you feeling like a zombie on this Monday morning?  And, in case you want to mark your calendars now, the next #24in48 Readathon will be happening January 27-28, 2018!!! 



Librorum annis,