Dewey's Read-a-thon: unexpected changes

I had big plans to spend most of the day curled up on the couch next to a pile of books, taking the occasional break for exercise (i.e. walking around the neighbourhood listening to an audiobook on my iPod). Well, things have changed. Yesterday, my Mom, who has been ill for some time, was readmitted to hospital. I don't want to go into the medical details here (though friends and family members are welcome to e-mail me for updates). Suffice it to say that she is very weak now but we are optimistic that an upcoming surgery will restore her health.

The consequence of this news is that I decided last night to leave for Montreal this morning to spend some time with her and my Dad and hopefully to speak to her doctors in person. My initial thought was to withdraw from the read-a-thon, but then it occurred to me that I'll be spending many hours (at least 7 if I take the train, and ironically, almost as many if I fly) reading anyhow. Internet access may be spotty, so I won't be able to update the blog often, but rest assure I will be reading.

I'll be bringing along A Thread of Sky by Deanna Fei, Oonagh by Mary Tilberg and maybe Half World by Hiromi Goto if I have room in my bag. I'll also have my handy e-Reader with me. For your entertainment, here is a rant. I'd just started Margaret Atwood's Year of the Flood, but the enormous tome is just too big to stuff in my backpack. I would dearly love to have this on my e-Reader but I balk at spending $19 for the e-book after I'd already spent $25 for the hardcover. Many publishers are talking about bundling print and electronic versions of books. I wish they'd stop talking about it and get on with doing it! I considered buying other Atwood books, but Kobo has only two others, one of which I've already read. The Sony e-book store has more Atwood selections, but they are only available to US customers. Margaret Atwood is possibly Canada's most well-known author ever, and you can't get her e-books in Canada?? Ridiculous!

Off to pack now and do the last-minute chores before heading out. Given the circumstances, I will probably set my official start time to 9am EDT instead of 8am.