Jasmin Elliott

My Readathon Bookstack

Here are my planned reads for The World’s Coolest Readathon:

No Country for Old Men – Cormac McCarthy (2005) - 310 pages
A bleak, brutal story that begins with a drug deal gone wrong on the Texas-Mexico border, which sparks a deadly chase. It examines violence, fate, and the collapse of old moral codes.

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running – Haruki Murakami (2007) - 188 pages
Part memoir, part meditation, this book reflects on running, writing, and the rhythms of daily life. It’s a thoughtful exploration of persistence, solitude, and the link between body and mind.

The Book of Disquiet – Fernando Pessoa (1982, published posthumously) - 262 pages
An experimental collection of fragments, diary entries, and philosophical musings written under Pessoa’s heteronym. Melancholic and dreamlike, it drifts through reflections on identity, loneliness, and existence itself.

Epitaph of a Small Winner – Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis (1881) - 235 pages
This is a recounting of a man’s unremarkable life, as narrated from beyond the grave. It’s full of pessimistic digressions, told with biting sardonic humour and blithe irony.

A Lesson Before Dying – Ernest J. Gaines (1993) - 256 pages
This is a moving story about a young Black man wrongfully sentenced to death. It is a powerful meditation on injustice, community, and what it means to live with purpose in the face of despair.

Endurance – Alfred Lansing (1959) - 282 pages
A gripping account of Ernest Shackleton’s ill-fated 1914 Antarctic expedition. It captures the crew’s incredible resilience as they struggle across ice, sea, and land in one of history’s greatest survival stories.

That comes to the sum of 1,533 pages across 30 days – or 51 pages/day. Tough, but doable!