Wednesday 6 January 2016

Bout of Books 15: Wednesday

Bout of Books

Hello, hello, hello.  Well, I'd hoped to read some more last night, all de-internetted and snuggled up, then ended up just zonking out and going to sleep instead, oops.  The perils of a late-night reading plan, I guess.  Today we have just one errand to run - to Tesco's - plus I have a load of laundry to do, and then I SHOULD be able to spend more time with my nose in a book again.  Isn't it nice when your little appointments and things are done for the week when you're readathonning?!


~ WEDNESDAY ~

Books I've read from:  Knots and Crosses (Rebus 1) by Ian Rankin; 21st Century Dodos: A Collection of Endangered Objects (and Other Stuff) by Steve Stack
Pages read today:  74
Books finished today:  None
Running total:  1 books; 259 pages 
The menu: Blueberry muffin, mixed tinned fruit and coffee; cold leftover pizza with a little Thornton's toffee fudge dessert pot thingy; vanilla rooibos tea; buttery mash with baked beans; Terry's chocolate minis
Today #insixwords:  "The second star to the riiiiiiight..."

10am:  Helloooo lovely readers.  As has become my habit this week, I've been reading over breakfast today instead of turning my laptop on - and once again it's worked beautifully to get some early pages under my belt before the internetty distractions kick in.  I should definitely keep this in mind once Bout of Books is over, it's been so satisfying.  I don't think I could have managed Knots and Crosses so early, but 21st Century Dodos is PERFECT for not-quite-alert-yet reading!  Domino's been reading with me, which makes it even NICER.



12 noon: I'd hoped to do some reading in the car outside Tesco, since I usually shop so fast that I'm done 20 minutes before my mum and stepdad, but alas, I was thwarted at the final hurdle.  I got onto a till just fine, but the old couple in front of me produced about 12 vouchers at the last minute, several of which WOULD. NOT. SCAN.  So I was in the car all of three minutes on my own.  Dammit.

I did, however, buy two things in there.  I was looking for You by Caroline Kepnes and couldn't see it anywhere, BUT it turns out that So You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson has just come out in paperback, so I bought that instead for a bargainous £3.85.  I also bought Disney's Peter Pan on DVD, to celebrate having finally read the book, which proved a bit confusing when the checkout girl was deciding whether or not to ID me for my alcoholic purchases.  Responsible grocery shopping, sensible book, the general demeanour of an 80 year-old woman - yet with the complexion of a 14 year-old and the movie habits of a small child.  :)



3pm: Uh oh.  After my sister had a queasy 24 hours a few days ago, my mum's now got an upset stomach and keeps feeling faint and dizzy - a sure-fire sign that she's picked up a bug of some kind - and now I'm feeling a bit... off... too.  Kind of tender and headachy.  Nooooooo!  I hope fervently that it's just the leftover pizza I had for lunch sitting funny on my stomach or something.  See, not only am I an IBS sufferer, which means that recovery from a tummy bug lasts about four times longer than for most people, but I'm also emetophobic.  My nightmare at this time of year is neatly encapsulated by the word 'norovirus'.  I've managed to avoid it since a run-in with it when I was about 17, but once it's in the household there's only so much you can do... *crosses everything and hopes to high heaven that it's ANYTHING BUT THAT* 

This, only about 80% more urgent.  Possibly with crying.


4:20pm: I have been captivated by #DrummondPuddleWatch.  What even is my life, Jesus Christ.  Someone set up a Periscope webcam on a big puddle across a path in Newcastle, and 19,392 people are literally sitting watching people try to cross it.  Walking across it.  Jumping across it.  Tiptoeing across it.  One guy brought a lilo.  Someone added a 'slippery when wet' sign which a thief just ran past and nicked.  Oh, and it's back.  The comments on the side are ranging from 'fall in, FALL IN' to '#prayforthepuddle' to 'This is a great day out in England'.  I CAN'T LOOK AWAY.  It's even made it into the news.  Oh Britain, never change...


9:15pm: Weeeell.  I ended up reading a titchy bit more this afternoon, then made myself a bowl of buttery mashed potato and baked beans, cracked open the Terry's chocolate minis, and watched Peter Pan.  It was every bit as charming and funny as I remembered, the music is wonderful, and the flying sequences are still a joy, so much more exuberant (and obviously less CGI-y) than the live-action version. 


I also realised that despite not having seen the film since I was about 10, a couple of my vocal 'things' - random phrases I use all the time - come directly from little Michael, cadence and all.  I've done this before, watched something years later and found that I've adopted bits of it into everyday speech without ever realising.  A certain line, a certain phrase said a certain way, and when I stumble across its origin years down the line it's very strange and surprising but also wonderful!  Anyway, I had a lovely time reconnecting with an old favourite, and NOW I'm going back to my book for a little while before bed!

*wells up happily*  IT'S SO BEAUTIFUUUUUUL!


Quote of the day:  "These tourists spent so much time photographing things that they never actually saw anything, unlike the young people milling around, who were too busy enjoying life to be bothered capturing false impressions of it."
- from Knots and Crosses by Ian Rankin (ohhhh, how things have changed since 1987!)


CHALLENGE: RAINBOWS!
Hosted by Ranty Runt of a Reader (Best. Name. Ever.)

I'm going to do both of these challenges - the cover colours rainbow (picture) and the author names rainbow (via an acrostic-type situation).  ALL THE RAINBOWS!


R owell, Rainbow - I've read and loved Attachments so far.*
O rwell, George - I've read Animal Farm and Down and Out.
Y ancey, Rick - I've read The Fifth Wave - soon to be a movie!
G askell, Elizabeth - I adored North and South.
B ryson, Bill - I've read and loved a bunch of his books.
I sherwood, Christopher - I cried at A Single Man!
V izzini, Ned - I have It's Kind of a Funny Story on my TBR.

* Do I get bonus points for managing to cram a third Rainbow in?  :)