I am really sorry, guys, but I am going to have to step out of the event. I’m feeling tired and queasy, so I’m going to focus on getting better. It’s not unlikely that I will do some reading in the process, but it’s no read-a-thon for me this time around. Hopefully I’ll feel better and be better prepared for the next one!

To all those of you who are participating: good luck and have fun!

For the June Read-a-thon, I signed up weeks in advance and spent a lot of time planning what to read, what to eat, how to get home in time for the start of it &c.

This time around, I signed up just a few days before the event, and I didn’t actually discover the date of it until extremely late. This is, of course, because I have been completely out of the book blog loop since the summer. The only reason I discovered it in time is because I found my friend Sam’s book blog and he’s signed up to take part as well. (It’s definitely worth checking out his blog—he reads a lot and he writes great reviews of what he reads.)

I have done some prep work, though. I’ve set up my internet so that I can surf from my bedroom (which is convenient as that’s where I tend to do most of my reading), I’ve bought snacks (and coffee!) to get me through the night and right now I’m about to go make a big batch of fruit salad, so I have something healthy as well, not just the usual crap. I also need to clear some stuff out of my bedroom and go dig up my camera so that I can show you my books and anything else I might feel like.

I have assembled a huge pile of books to choose from. Most of it consists of the old murder mysteries from my grandfather’s house, but there is also some Douglas Coupland, a book by Alan Cumming (yes, the actor) and my Collected Poems of AE Housman, to get me through those patches when I don’t feel like reading much. I also have a couple of volumes of manga, in case I get really tired. They tend to be easier to get through.

I am missing my copy of A Strong and Sudden Thaw a little, though. I lent it to my friend Banquo when she was here this summer and I don’t at all regret that, it’s just that right now I have an incredibly powerful urge to re-read it. I miss David and Callan!

Kick-off in just over an hour. I better go get those last things sorted!

I just signed up for the Read-a-thon which is being held again this weekend. You can read all about it over on Dewey’s blog, and the sign-up page is here (and if you click on the image, you will get to the Read-a-thon FAQ, just in case you don’t know what it’s all about).

I really enjoyed this last time, so I’m looking forward to it a lot, especially since I haven’t really been reading a lot lately. Maybe this will get me back in the saddle, so to speak. Because I haven’t read much lately, I am going to set my goals a lot lower this time around.

Last weekend I visited my grandfather’s house with the rest of my family and ended up coming back home with a bunch of old murder mysteries, mainly British ones. You see, my greatgrandmother was a great reader in general, and of murder mysteries in particular, so there were a bunch of those old books in my grandfather’s bookshelf. He’s moving from a big house to a small apartment, so he really wanted to get rid of stuff. Me? I was only too happy to oblige. ;D

Those murder mysteries are going to be my chief Read-a-thon fare, I feel relatively sure about.

I finished a book last night. True, all there was left in it was the last chapter, but I finished a book for the first time in over a month. And even though it wasn’t a very good one, it felt like an accomplishment.

That being said, I thought I would introduce this new idea I have. You see, I have started doing video blogs about my day-to-day life and things that are on my mind. I’ve been doing them for a little over a month now and I’m really enjoying it, which is why I decided I might as well try it out for my book blog as well. You never know — it might prove to be a hit!

Now, there are a couple of things you should know before you watch the video at the very end of this post.

1. I recorded this nearly a month ago, so it’s not quite up-to-date, but the basics still apply.
2. I sound weird sometimes. I have this half-stutter now and then, plus sometimes I take embarrassingly long pauses between words. I blame it on being Swedish and not having English as my mother tongue. ;D

I’m going to be annoying (again) and ask for your input on this: do you think it’s a good idea or do you prefer traditional posts to this? (I’ll probably end up making most review posts a mix of both, and I fairly positive I will still do completely traditional post most of the time.)

And Mikey, if you’re reading this, you should be happy with this development. ;D

So, long time no see.

I’m still alive and I have my internet back (have had it for over a month now), but things have been pretty bad in my life, and still aren’t super good (I’m dealing with a stressinduced depression and am on sick leave from work part-time), so I really haven’t felt like reading lately, and if I don’t read anything, there’s not much to update about here (I think I read about half a book in the whole month of September).

I doubt I am going to manage to finish all my challenges, but that’s okay, because I need to concentrate on getting better. I also doubt I’m going to reach my personal goal, but who knows? I might surprise myself still.

I kind of feel like I’m getting some of my lust for reading back now, though. Mostly I feel like re-reading old favourites, but that’s always a start! I also have an idea for a sort of project for this book blog. I’m going to try to post an entry explaining it within the next week or so.

I have to admit to not having read all your blogs in ages either. Partly because I have been very ‘meh’ about most things, but also because all my feeds are stuck on my old computer (yes, I got a new one. It’s a laptop and dark, glimmering blue. Very pretty!) and I haven’t had the energy to transfer them over to Google Reader and then on here. (Or that’s what I thought. I found them in a bookmarks folder the other day, so now I just need to re-install Sage to be able to read them as usual.)

I hope you guys are all doing all right! Have you read anything really good lately that you think might bring back my lust for reading? Do tell me about it! Or anything at all that’s happened and you feel like sharing, basically.