Why do I read?

So the question has been posed as to Why do I read?

To be honest I haven't seriously thought about it too hard. It is just a key and core part of who I am. I am a reader and it makes me happy and it is something that I just need.

I also think that it is something that is just a genetic part of my makeup. I was talking with my wonderful Grandmother one time and she seemed to be the only one who understood that it really was hard to walk away from a book to do dishes, talk to people, sleep or eat. It just wasn't something that she could easily do. After hearing that I remember thinking "Finally!!! Someone who understands" She told me how her mother didn't really get it and how it seems to be something that skips generations. It made so much sense, and it made me so happy to know that there were other people who understood how important a fictional world could be.

It is a place where I can learn, where I can reach the heights and depths of humanity without having to tread there myself. Like what I found in the wonderful story Between Shades of Grey (Not to be confused with the horrible thing with a similar title) It helps me to grow and expand as a person. It opens up new ways of thought and introduces me to culture and language that isn't my own.  Like in The Stolen Girl. It to me seems to be a duty to read, to come to know the world around you and to try and understand how other people think.

It is also how I can escape from the world that surrounds me. Whether it's due to stress, to anxiety to just wanting to travel, I have a bunch of little black marks on a paper that can take me to any place, any time and can even help me to enter any mind. Who wouldn't want this kind of super power. I can stop being a stressed out college senior for a second and can travel into a wonderful romantic post WWII England with Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society or I can go to Russia and try to make sense of a madman and the internal struggles that many will face with Crime and Punishment.

So I just want to tell everyone to:
                                

Hour 16 and Finally!!!

I FINALLY FINISHED A BOOK!!!

Goodness that took longer than expected....But what with the fact that I picked a nearly 500 pager to start out with, had to work, talk to people and took a couple of naps what is to be expected...



I love Julie Klassen novels, and was really sad that I missed 2 when I was gone on my mission to Argentina, but! I am so glad that I got the chance to read the advanced readers copy. I will leave my full review up a little closer to when it gets published...BUT IT WAS WONDERFUL!

So glad that I got to read it and so glad that I chose this to be my first true readathon book!

Just keep reading, just keep reading, just keep reading, reading, reading...What do we do? We read, read, read!


So happy, and now...on to homework. War and Peace is calling...at least 100 pages of it...But it is a phenomenal book and so maybe I will just finish it off. I only have 300 pages left after all.

See you in a little bit!

HALF WAY THROUGH!!!

So we have hit the halfway mark. Hour 12...where on earth does the time fly? I have to admit that I was a little dozy for a while there but now I am up and ready to go...I just hope that it can last, I really don't feel as young as I once was :P

Mid-Event Survey:
1. What are you reading right now?
Secret of Pembrooke Parke
2. How many books have you read so far?
Just 1 - Finished up Return of the King Work and volunteering have really gotten in the way this time around
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?Mere Christianity It is one that I have been wanting to read for ages!
4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?
Oh so many....I just let them slide, depending on who they are from. There aren't that many people here now that understand that when I am reading...you don't talk to me. But it is all good, can't get too mad at your friends right :)
5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?
How tired I have been. I have been an absolute sleepy-head. Hopefully when I get home, get some caffeine in me and get in the groove I can make it the whole night. 

Hour 9

Ok, I am ensconced in the Main Hall of my school (an old hotel from the 1800s) no one knows where I am and the cell phone is turned off. There is nothing to get in between me and my books. Though while working it was great to get the chance to listen to Return of the King and finish the novel that way. Goodness I love that book.

So, for the count:
Books Read: Return of the King...

Goodness:

Hour 5 already???

So as we are moving right along I find myself in a rather lame position because I have had to work, clean my church building (it's gotta be looking good for Sundays you know) and now finally I have a chance to sit and read...oh wait...I have to work for the next 4 hours....Oh well, I have been listening to Return of the Kingn the next...10 minutes...

This really is the story of my life right now...oh well..

READ-A-THON

Whoo-hoo!! So that time of year has come around again and it is the 24 hour readathon!!! I am so happy that this year I can participate seeing as the last couple circumstances haven't let me. But wonderful! Today I will be trying to read my little heart out because I have a lot of catching up to do.

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
Buena Vista, Virginia
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
The Secret of Pembrooke Park3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
Muddie Buddies!!! and Pomegranate seeds...they are my favorites and have been hard to find for the past year and a half as I have been in Argentina.4) Tell us a little something about yourself!
I am just about ready to graduate from college and also love to knit and have a giant collection of Christmas sweaters. Also my friends say that if I was a disney character I would be Vanellope from Wreck It Ralph5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?
Well it isn't my first but it has been a while. One thing that will be a little harder is figuring out a place to read, there are lots of loud people in my house who are wanting to get my attention...so probably going to head over to a neighboring college whose library never closes.

So my reading goals:
The Secret of Pembrooke Park by Julie Klassen
Catching up in War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Little Pink House by Jeff Benedict
Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
(The Purple ones are for school
 And If I make it through those then we will keep going on my kindle reads because I have a lot that need to be read!

I hope I can get a lot done today, it is a bit of a problem that I am working again and have a lot of other obligations, but well I have some books on tape on my phone and so that should help me through right!

Well love you all and hope that you have a wonderful day and readathon!