My first reading spot of the day, where I usually begin each day with a bit of reading. I had images of myself whipping through books like nobody’s business today, but so far I’ve read 146 pages in, um, eight hours. Like my dog, today I’m easily distracted by birds, squirrels, breakfast, Twitter, etc. (Well, my dog’s not on Twitter, by you know what I mean.)  I made it through my first book slower than molasses on a cold day, but I loved every minute of it.

My first Book of the Day was Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Live in the Castle. I wasn’t planning on reading this one, but after Allison (who blogs at The Book Wheel) suggested it on Twitter last night I couldn’t get it out of my head. I was saving it for a rainy day or this fall or something. I don’t know. Wow–what an awesome book to start the readathon with! Like everything I’ve read by Jackson, I felt compelled to immediately begin re-reading this one as soon as I finished it. While it didn’t dethrone The Haunting of Hill House as my favorite Jackson story, it is an excellent read and one I will no doubt re-read.

First snack of the day. I was going to try to leave the “unhealthier” snacks for after dinner reading, but once I know there are chips in the house, they don’t last very long! I just started working for a natural food market this week, so I’m hoping that being around healthier food will help me kick my chip habit (Doritos are my favorite, but pictured above are potato chips). However, as it is #readathon day, I’ve decided to pretend there are no divisions such as healthy vs. unhealthy snackage. Carrots and hummus are also in the menu.

And how cool is it that I won a door prize at hour 5?! My first prize pick was The Sun and Other Stars by Bridgid Pasulka because my blogging buddy BiblioSue recently recommended it. I also recently picked up Pasulka’s first book, A Long, Long Time Ago & Essentially True based on BiblioSue’s recommendation. Well, actually, we were in a bookstore and she handed it to me and told me to buy it, so it was more of an order than a recommendation, but that’s how book bloggers roll….

Over 800 people are participating in today’s readathon! Check it out over at Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon or if you’re on Twitter check out #readathon. We’re trending internationally, which means book nerds are the cool kids!