Deborah Harkness’s annual A Discovery of Witches Real-Time Read-Along kicks off Sunday, Sept. 18!
The events in A Discovery of Witches take place between September 18 and October 31. The idea is to read each chapter or section of the book on the day on which it occurs. Some days, that will mean reading several chapters; other days, nothing at all. The read-along culminates with the final chapters on Halloween and All Saints. It sounds like a wonderful way to get into the fall/Halloween spirit!I tried doing the read-along a year or two ago, and couldn’t slow my pace to the calendar, but I plan to try again this year. This time, I’m going to mark the pages on my Outlook calendar and in my planner/bullet journal, so I remember to read them on the right date. And I’ll try really hard not to read ahead.
Want to join in?
Here are links to the free, downloadable All Souls Real-time Reading Companion. You can follow along each day on Deborah Harkness’s Facebook page. And you can join in on social media, using the hashtags #DeborahHarkness and #RealTimeReadingADOW.
There’s a printable calendar (pictured below) to remind you what to read when. There’s also a Spotify playlist.
If you’ve never read the book, and you’re on the fence about participating in the read-along, check out my review of A Discovery of Witches from back in 2011. It should give you some idea of why I love this book so much!
Kaja
This is a great idea. I read this before I started blogging and liked it A LOT but then I sort of got stuck with the second book. Do you know, will there be a read-along for the rest of the trilogy? I checked out the author’s website and there’s nothing there about it.
Lark_Bookwyrm
I don’t know if there will be an official read-along, but there is a real-time reading calendar for Shadow of Night in the All Souls Real-Time Reading Companion, which you can get free (as an ebook) from Amazon and other retailers. It takes longer, because Shadow covers the period from Nov. 1 through April 21 or so, and there are days and even a whole month in which there are no chapters to read.
Sadly, there isn’t a real-time calendar for The Book of Life. Deborah Harkness said this about it in a Facebook post: “Many of you have asked about a real-time reading for THE BOOK OF LIFE. Here’s the thing: the action of the book takes place over a very long time and overlaps with both ADOW and SHADOW so I’ve never attempted it.”
Kaja
Ah, well, that explains it. I think I’ll continue with the series on my own, then – I already have Shadow on my shelf, waiting to be read. And I want to finish more series.
I’m anxiously waiting for “permission” to read on now, I forgot how great Harkness’s writing is! 🙂 Thanks for letting me (us) know about this read-along!
Kaja recently posted…Where the Wild Things Bite by Molly Harper
Lark_Bookwyrm
Sure thing! Yes, the “anxiously waiting” thing is why I couldn’t stick with the real-time pacing last time I tried this. But I think I’ve gotten better at taking my time—and keeping several books going at once—so hopefully this time I can follow along without racing ahead.
Berls
So cool! I’ve read this before and really enjoyed it. And always wanted to keep reading… But didn’t. Is there a read along for book 2? I’m being realistic and saying probably won’t manage a reread but book 2 would be fun to read that way.
Berls recently posted…Sunday Post | So Tired!
Lark_Bookwyrm
There is and there isn’t—a reread for Shadow of Night, I mean. It starts on November 1 and goes through late April, I think. The dates and chapter assignments are listed in the All Souls Trilogy Real-time Reading Companion, which is free (as an e-book) at Amazon and Barnes & Noble and places like that. There’s no reread for the third book, though, because it takes place over an even longer period, and its dates overlap the other two books. I might try doing Shadow of Night that way, but I don’t think I have the patience to draw a book out that long! I’m having enough trouble sticking to the schedule for A Discovery of Witches!
Lianne @ eclectictales.com
Oooh, this is pretty nifty! I was actually thinking about re-reading the book (or maybe the whole trilogy, I haven’t quite decided yet) the other day so I might follow the real-time calendar or something 🙂 Thanks for sharing this!
Lianne @ eclectictales.com recently posted…Books: A Batch of Mini-Reviews
Lark_Bookwyrm
That would be great! If you “like” Deborah Harkness’s Facebook page or follow her website, and keep an eye on the hashtags on Twitter, you can read “in company” as it were. But even if you only do it by yourself, I love the idea of following the calendar, at least for the first book. The second takes longer (Nov. through Apr.) and the third overlaps both because it covers an even longer stretch of time — there isn’t even a calendar for that one. I may not tie myself down to the calendar for book 2, but I’m going to try for book 1. I started Chapter 1 earlier today, and should have time to finish it tonight. 🙂
Angie@Angela's Anxious Life
My husband loves this series so I sent him a link to this blog post. I never really could get into it. Though I should try it again I think. Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood.
Angie@Angela’s Anxious Life recently posted…Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by JK Rowling
Lark_Bookwyrm
That happens—the mood thing, I mean. I hope you’ll try again. It took me a few chapters to really get hooked. But no worries if you don’t get into it. We can’t all like the same things—that would get boring!