My Turn of the Year Readathons: Wrap Up

The turn of the year has been quite exciting, in terms of my reading life. I have done two readathons, the first one was My Personal Readathon on 30-31 December 2013 with my fellow (mostly) Indonesian bloggers, and the other was The 2nd Annual Classics Club Readathon on 4th January 2014. A bit details of them:

My Personal Readathon

It was a 36-hours readathon, beginning at 8 am on 30th December, until 8 pm on 31st December. I have prepared two books for this event:

 

I began at sharply 8 am with Aesop's Fables, but after few hours I was getting bored (it contains so many fables with very similar topics), so I decided to read the two books simultaneously. I was glad to find that The Jungle Book was very amusing, so I made it a sweet refuge whenever I found Aesop's Fable slightly irritating. I restrained myself to only read one chapter of The Jungle Book before going back to Aesop's Fables. And doing this, I have successfully finished the two books (total 441 pages) three hours before the readathon was over. I was thinking about grabbing another book, but could not decide which one, so in the end I ended my readathon anyway. I was satisfied with the result, especially as I have been neglected The Jungle Book for few years, before finally had chance to read it, and found it a new treasure! Here is my review of The Jungle Book; while Aesop's Fables' would be following.

2nd Annual Classics Club Readathon

I have enjoyed our last year 1st readathon, and was very excited when The Classics Club announced this event for the second time. But unfortunately for me, it didn't go as I have expected. It was a 24-hours readathon, and I planned to continue the book I have been reading since 1st January: Roman Lives by Plutarch.

The time difference made the readathon slightly more interesting. I chose to begin at 8 am my time (GMT+7), as I would have go to bed earlier for the Sunday early morning mass. I began at page 54, and planned to read until around 8:30 pm. However, an unexpected thing took place, my mom got another asthma attack, and despite of her usual medications, she still could not breath easily. My dad and I was rather panic as it has been many years since my mom's last attack. I contacted our family doctor who knows my mom's asthma history, and luckily her practice was opened that day (Saturday afternoon). And so we immediately rushed to the doctor, and in the restless hours in the waiting room, I could not think of reading any book. I continued my reading only after settling up everything for my mom when we were home again, and I could only manage to finish that night at page 138.

Preparing for the readathon, with a glass of water, a pot of Elle & Vire
Fraise Strawberry yoghurt, and the Roman Lives on my side table
in my bedroom:)

The second day, after Sunday mass, I was quite busy with household works my mom usually takes, so I had only limited time to resume my reading, and must take a stop at page 174. So, with all the obstructions, I have managed to read 120 pages (at least I have read four of the eight Lives, and am now excited to get into the four remainings: Sulla, Pompey, Cesar and Antony!). I have expected more than 200 pages, but I am glad anyway because I can read classics with all of the clubbers around the world, which is a rare and exciting chance! 

Here are my answers to the questionnaire:

What book(s) did you read during the event?

Roman Lives by Plutarch

What book(s) did you finish?

None... :( I only managed to read 121 of 608 pages.

What did you like about our event?

The feeling of togetherness, that although I read alone in my bedroom, I know that many of the clubbers around the world are reading with me at the same moment.

Do you have suggestions for future Readathons through The Classics Club?

As we are spreading in different time zones, how about stretching it to 36 hours rather than 24 hours?

Would you participate in future Readathons?

Yes, definitely!!

Anything else you’d like to share? (Favorite quote from your reading? Funny anecdote from the event?)

"While doing wrong was demeaning, and doing good when there was no risk involved was unexceptional, it was an indication of true virtue to do good when there was a risk involved." ~ Metellus

Thanks again for The Classics Club for hosting it.

What about you? Have you enjoyed your readathon? How many pages/books you have managed to read?