I have Persepolis on my stack too! (But just the first part.) Happy reading!

You too! I'm trying to save the graphic novels for when my eyes start to hurt in the wee hours, but it's a real struggle. :)

Homemade fudge Popsicles! Sounds amazing.

I just unmolded my first one! They're DELICIOUS and were relatively simple to make!

Short books/stories/comics are key. And oh man, Maus... it's SO GOOD, but that is some heavy stuff so I hope you have happier things in your stack as well.

You perfect angel. Can we have another readathon next weekend? And the weekend after that? ok cool.

I definitely agree with the short book thing. I need to watch those page numbers better next time. Yes Please was good, but too long for this event. You did much better than I did on the staying awake front. I really need to work on 20 min naps during the day instead of just collapsing in the late hours.

Thought I'd stop by because I had more thoughts on Persepolis. How was "Ashes in My Mouth..." aside from family dysfunction? Like a Norwegian Augusten Burroughs? If he can beat Burroughs-level dysfunction, then we'll all need group therapy afterwards.


As for Persepolis, how'd you like it? It's such an awesome perspective--Satrapi and her family aren't incredibly wealthy or white, yet they're not quite poor either. They're in such a weird spot, and I could definitely look at it with post-colonial lit theory in mind. Maybe that'll be a long-winded post I'll do in the future.


While I was reading Persepolis, I kept thinking about a Professor I worked with that was from Iran. He's actually from Illinois, but his father was Iranian, so I can only imagine what kinds of stories his father has. He actually visits Iran regularly, but he published a collection of poems in 2007 titled "Dear Regime," and he figured, "Bah...they don't know me, I'm not famous--I'll just use my real name." Turns out they did catch wind of the collection, and they weren't too happy with him when he visited. Nothing crazy, but it made him realize that he should be a bit more careful.


Anyway, yeah--that kept jumping into my brain.


Looks like you did pretty great! Thanks for the encouragement early on despite my disappointment with my own progress.

I did! I actually didn't end up starting Maus until the day after, but you're right about its heaviness.

I know. Is this even a real question? ;-)


I LOVED Persepolis! I hope you do too.

This has been addressed!

It really is tough! I find myself reaching for my phone/laptop when I should be reading. Still, i think it really amps up the social aspect of the event, and I think I can get the hang of it, with a little better time management. :)


How did you end up doing on the reading??

Haha, I definitely ended up passing out around 2 AM! I knew I had to get to work early on Monday and didn't want to wreck my sleep schedule TOO badly.


It's amazing how readathon makes any book over 250 pages seem to drag! I'm sorry that Yes, Please didn't work out for you.

That's quite the story about your professor. It's amazing how little these types of things enter into the American mindset—in general, we can do and say what we want with relatively little backlash—and yet they really are capable of destroying lives.


I really enjoyed Persepolis! I'm hoping to get a post up about it soon, when I have time to let my thoughts gel a bit more. I was telling someone else that, even beyond the unique historical/social perspective, Marjane herself is just such an engaging character. I loved watching her grow.


And of course! Readathon is all about encouragement. Sorry to hear you didn't end up getting as much reading done as you'd like, but there's always October to give it another shot.

About 200 pages, across an assortment of books. Didn't actually finish any book, though!

Ah, that's still so much reading! :D Awesome job.