Snuff by Terry Pratchett

I was saddened to read that Terry Pratchett died in March.  For a long time his work, especially the City Watch portion of the Discworld novels, has given much pleasure and even the occasional bit to ponder.  Having learned of his death during Dewey's 24 hour readathon, I decided to go ahead and finish the readathon with a Discworld novel and chose Snuff.  (I only finished part of it before the end of the readathon but have since read the rest.)

This is my second or third reading of the story but it remains one of my favorites.  Sam Vimes is so very Sam and all the other important characters are there.  I love Sam as a father and husband.  I appreciate his thoughts on what is going on in the story.  Sam is a sarcastic contradiction that always brings a smile to my face and I am truly saddened that all of his story has been written but will continue to enjoy what has been written for a very long time.

End of the Spring 2015 Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon

 End of event meme:

 Which hour was most daunting for you?

     Hour 23.  I'd slept some earlier and planned to stay up the rest of the time but just couldn't make it and in the last 15 minutes of hour 23 went back to bed.


Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?

     If you like children's books, Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon is fun, witty and easy to read.


Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?

     Nope.


What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?

     Everything.

How many books did you read?

     4.25

What were the names of the books you read?

     Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon, Jim Butcher's Dresden Files: War Cry by Jim Butcher (Author), Mark Powers (Author), Carlos Gomez (Artist), Stjepan Sejic (Artist), Winnie-the-Pooh: A.A. Milne's Pooh Classics, Volume 1 by A. A. Milne, Mercy Thompson: Hopcross Jilly by Patricia Briggs, Rik Hoskin and Tom Garcia and started Snuff by Terry Pratchett.

Which book did you enjoy most?

    Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon.


Which did you enjoy least?

     Mercy Thompson: Hopcross Jilly by Patricia Briggs, Rik Hoskin and Tom Garcia though by enjoy the lease I mean I really enjoyed it but it was my least favorite of the 5.


 How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?

     I plan to participate as a reader.


Closing thoughts:  The cheerleaders this time were amazing and the readathon was fun and relaxing.  Thank you to all who put this together. I know it must be such hard work but it is something many of us look forward to and would truly miss.  As someone who is having a very hard year, this is the only vacation I'm likely to get for the foreseeable future and it was a good one!

Hour 16 book 4

Spent the last couple of hours reading Mercy Thompson: Hopcross Jilly by Patricia Briggs, Rik Hoskin and Tom Garcia.  To be fair I read them as electronic comics because the graphic novel doesn't come out until June 23 but I'm going to blog it as if I read the graphic novel so I don't have to list 6 separate titles.

This is a fairly enjoyable story with a lot of the focus on Jesse, Mercy's step-daughter.  Not as good as the Dresden Files one I read earlier but still a decent title that held my attention throughout.

Hour 14 and book 3

Just finished listening to Winnie-the-Pooh: A.A. Milne's Pooh Classics, Volume 1 by A. A. Milne.

Yes, at 43 I'm a bit late to reading Winnie-the-Pooh but I'm not sure I'd ever heard of him as a child.  In my early 20s, I discovered a cartoon about him on Sunday mornings that I enjoyed after finishing a long night of work Saturday night  (Don't judge there really isn't a whole lot to watch on tv Sunday mornings) but this is the 1st time for the book.  It was cute and funny and the reader, Peter Dennis, was excellent!

Spring 2015 Mid-event survey.

Mid-Event Survey:

1. What are you reading right now?

Listening to Winnie-the Pooh by A. A. Milne



2. How many books have you read so far?

two



3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?

I'm thinking of switching to comic books for a little while and reading Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson: Hopcross Jilly issues 1-6.   It's not technically a book yet because they won't be available as a graphic novel until June 23 but it's a readathon and I want to read these now.



4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?

2 both related to a motorcycle accident on our property yesterday. The first was easy because I just had to give a woman the phone number of the kid who had the accident so she could check on him and stop worrying.  The 2nd was his father picking up the motorcycle which we had allowed to be stored in our yard.  It would have been quick but he got stuck.  Still, with boards, a shovel and a friendly neighbor with a truck, about an hour later he was on his way.

  
5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?

I guess how much I've enjoyed it interruptions and all.  I was uptight and tired coming into this today and so I didn't think it would be that great but I'm actually finding it very relaxing.

Hour 10 and 2 books read

It's hour 10 and I've finished my 2nd book for the day.  It's a graphic novel.  Most of the books I read today will probably be easy reading as I'm not quite up to anything too difficult to follow but I have to admit that, despite graphic novels not really being my thing, I've truly enjoyed the Dresden Files ones and would probably have read this one anyway.

Jim Butcher's Dresden Files: War Cry by Jim Butcher (Author), Mark Powers (Author), Carlos Gomez (Artist), Stjepan Sejic (Artist) is an excellent story that takes place shortly after Harry is named a Warden of the White Council.  The adventure is both typical and exciting and I won't spoil it here but I was most impressed by how much of an emotional punch shows up in this story.  The art and the dialog go well together making this a wonderful example of the graphic novel genre.

Hour six and one book down.

Well it's hour six and despite numerous interruptions (you can tell friends and family about the readathon and they will let you be but it is impossible to keep total strangers from knocking on your door it seems) and I've finished my first book.  It was Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon.

This was a truly charming children's book about the wicked (not evil) witch that comes to be the mistress of Castle Hangnail.  Castle Hangnail needs a new mistress or it will be decommissioned as a magic castle.  Molly, the wicked witch in question, is mostly looking to get away form her overly good twin sister Sarah.

My favorite quote from the book is from the end but contains no real spoilers

“Hecate’s ghost!” said Majordomo. “She is the good twin, isn’t she?”

“That’s Sarah,” said Molly.

Sarah was exactly the same height as Molly and had exactly the same slightly frizzy hair, but she wore it in a ponytail with a pink scrunchie. Her shirt had a comical kitten on it and her shoes were covered in sequins. Her expression was one of saintly good temper, and Majordomo wondered how anyone lived with her for more than five minutes without going barking mad.

This book is well written and witty a perfect book for a later elementary school child or the child in all of us.

Now for a nap and then the hunt for another book.

Spring 2015 Dewey's 24 hour readathon opening questionaire

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?

Williamsport, Pennsylvania USA


2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon
(Yep, it's a children's book but ever since a fellow readathon reader blogged about Nurk by the same author I've been a fan and this book came out last Tuesday just in time for the readathon)


3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

Utz Sweet Potato chips.
 

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

I believe this is my fifth readathon and the one I'm least prepared for.  I originally took the week off before this as my annual spring vacation but then we had a family emergency at the end of March and that used up my vacation days. I still managed to keep Friday off to prepare.  That was good because there were family problems to be taken care of that day too.  So I'm winging it this year.  Thankfully I'm using a Kindle because I'll be buying  books as I go and the only one I'm sure of is Castle Hangnail.


5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today?

Sleeping.  Probably not the usual thing but it been a bad month due to a family emergency and I've had broken sleep at best so my plan is to read when I can and sleep when I have to and enjoy the day all around.