Read-athon: Hour 1

I was very late in signing up for this bi-annual event.... literally the 11th hour, but last minute plans had me return to town a day early and I figured "why not?!"

I will not read for 24 hours, I know that going in, but I if I can read for about 4-6 hours today that is about five more hours than I have read in a single day in months.  I am hoping that this is what will finally jumpstart me into a reading routine again.

The opening meme asks us to answer a few questions:

1.  What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
I hail from the "Heartland of America" -- a suburb of Kansas City.

2.  Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
I do not have a photograph of my stack, but it contains several books in a variety of genres.  There are two fictional stories that I would like to read in preparation for NaNoWriMo, The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan, and Dancing for Degas by Kathryn Wagner.  I would also love to make some headway in the 2nd Harry Potter book, The Chamber of Secrets.

I just returned from a HUGE used book sale (which I will write about in the Sunday Salon tomorrow) and I bought several books on writing that I will probably peruse, and a number of books on poetry that I hope will help me overcome my fear of the genre.

3.  Which snack are you most looking forward to?
Well, since I didn't decide to join until late last night, I have no special snacks in the house.  That is fine though... I have some pita chips and hummus, which is a favorite go-to snack for me, and this evening I will relax with a glass of chardonnay.

4.  Tell us a little something about yourself:
I am a semi-retired teacher at a small private school.  I have cut my schedule WAY back this year (I only teach Brit Lit and English Comp on Tuesdays and Thursday) in the hopes that I will increase my devotion to writing.  I love to travel and I am interested in photography with the hopes of pairing pictures with words to create compelling essays of my travel experiences.

5.  If you participated in a past read-athon, what is one thing you will do differently today?
I have participated in past read-athons, but the last time was probably in 2010.  I really do not have a strategy, except that I am not going to sweat the details.  I will read today, and that is the point.  I am not going to focus on number of pages read, number of hours read, number of posts written... that will detract me from the pure pleasure of uninterrupted reading... something that I desperately need and want to do.

Ok - so one hour into the read-athon and I have yet to read.  So I am going to pour myself a cup of coffee, head to the nook, and escape into a book.

I wish all of you participating in this event, wonderful reading time... and those who are not, a fantastic fall Saturday.