Fall Read-a-thon ’09: The Big, Fancy, Frequently-Updated Post!

This format worked really well for me last year, so I’m sticking with it. I’ll be here all day (…and probably at least a few hours of the night!) Updates roughly hourly, running totals at the bottom, commentors always appreciated. Let’s get this nerdfest on the road!
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Hour Zero – 8 am

G’morning, all! I’ve got a stack of books, my audiobook cued up on my iPod, an assortment of quickly-microwaveable food, and a blind spot roughly the size and shape of that stack of term papers that need to be graded this weekend. I think I’m set for the day!

I don’t know why I get so antsy the night before a read-a-thon, but I woke up at least three times last night/early this morning, convinced I’d missed my alarm and it was time to get up and start reading. This is exceptionally dumb for two reasons, namely 1) I never sleep through my alarm on work days, even though it’s set for earlier than I woke up today and 2) if I had overslept, so what? But my alarm went off and I was up like a shot. Ah well.

For once I’m not starting read-a-thon in the middle of a book – I finished two books on Thursday, then spent yesterday writing reviews so that I’m not starting out the read-a-thon with a backlog (note to self: this year, take notes as you go so that you can remember what the hell you wanted to say about a book when you actually get around to writing the review next week.) But it does mean that I’ve got my choice of what to start out with this morning. I think I’m going to pick up Eoin Colfer’s And Another Thing…. And, it’s about that time… to the books!
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Hour One – 9 am

Time spent reading this hour: 0:58
Pages read this hour: 65
What book(s): And Another Thing… by Eoin Colfer
Thoughts: It’s alternating between being in proper, giggle-worthy Hitchhiker’s Guide form, and feeling like it’s trying too hard. Also, reading about Arthur Dent is kind of making me want tea.

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Hour Two – 10 am

Time spent reading this hour: 0:53
Pages read this hour: 63
What book(s): And Another Thing…
Thoughts: Definitely time for tea. I’m thinking heavily-sweetened Early Grey. And maybe breakfast, while I’m at it. Time to crawl out of bed, at any rate.
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Hour Three – 11 am

Time spent reading this hour: 0:48
Pages read this hour: 56
What book(s): And Another Thing…
Thoughts: Still going strong! Can’t believe how fast the time is going, either.
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Hour Four – 12 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:55
Pages read this hour: 74
What book(s): And Another Thing…
Thoughts: I’m only a few pages from the end of my current book, so I have to pick what I’m reading next. I had been planning on Alcatraz Versus the Knights of Crystallia, but I feel like reading two books full of enforced wackiness in a row will probably make my head explode.
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Hour Five – 1 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:47
Pages read this hour: 68
What book(s): Finished And Another Thing…, and started Ship Fever by Andrea Barrett.
Thoughts: It’s fiction about biologists! How can I not love it? Plus, the story that I’m currently reading is set somewhere I’ve been, which is always a neat little thrill. But before I go back to it, I think it is time to finally put my contacts in and maybe eat something for lunch.
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Hour Six – 2 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:37
Time spent listening this hour: 0:15
Pages read this hour: 40
What book(s): Dragon Champion by E. E. Knight (audiobook), and The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster by Bobby Henderson
Thoughts: I took a break for some Pastafarianism over lunch, but I’m going back to my short stories, I think.
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Hour Seven – 3 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:49
Pages read this hour: 62
What book(s): Ship Fever
Thoughts: I caught myself staring at one paragraph for a few minutes without really reading it… the precursor to my favorite weekend afternoon pasttime of napping in the comfy chair with a book in hand. Luckily my watch beeped marking the hour before I could really fall asleep. Still, I think it’s time to take a break, maybe take a shower, and possibly have a second dose of caffeine.
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Hour Eight – 4 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:26
Time spent listening this hour: 0:09
Time spent showering this hour: I didn’t actually time myself, but it did wake me up a bit.
Pages read this hour: 41
What book(s): I finished the story I was reading in Ship Fever, and then also some Gospel of the FSM
Thoughts: Hee, hee, my book is making me crave pasta. I’ve got leftovers I was going to microwave for dinner, but making pasta wouldn’t take that much more effort. Clearly I’ve been inspired by His Noodliness.
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Hour Nine – 5 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:48
Pages read this hour: 71
What book(s): Gospel of the FSM
Thoughts: Trucking onwards. Nursing a Diet Coke with Lime. It’s windy and cold as balls outside, or else I’d go for a walk.
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Hour Ten – 6 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:45
Pages read this hour: 71
What book(s): Finished The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and got through another story in Ship Fever.
Thoughts: Only one novella left (~100) and I will have finished Ship Fever, and thus three books for the day. Sometime in the next two hours, I expect; maybe I’ll finish the book and then make dinner.
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Hour Eleven – 7 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:47
Pages read this hour: 65
What book(s): Ship Fever
Thoughts: The titular novella is really engrossing, and I’m liking doing short stories during the read-a-thon… keeps my attention from wandering. Last hour’s plan is a good one… I’ve got maybe a half hour of reading left to finish the book, then dinner.
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Hour Twelve – 8 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:37
Time spent listening this hour: 0:03
Pages read this hour: 60
What book(s): Finished Ship Fever, listened to a few minutes of Dragon Champion while I microwaved dinner, and browsed through Where the Hell is Matt? by Matt Harding as I ate.
Thoughts: Halfway done, woohoo! This hour I think I’m going to start the next Sookie Stackhouse book, and save WtHiM? for when my brain is a little more out of it. Plus at some point soon I’m going to have to call a temporary halt to get into costume.
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Hour Thirteen – 9 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:41
Pages read this hour: 66
What book(s): Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris
Thoughts: That’s it from me for a while, folks! I’m off to a joint birthday/costume party, although I reckon I’ll be back around midnight, when – not coincidentally – my mini-challenge starts. See you then!
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Hour Seventeen – 1 am

Time spent reading this hour: 0:19
Time spent listening in the past four hours: 0:21
Pages read this hour: 33
What book(s): Dragon Champion and Definitely Dead
Thoughts: I’m back! The party was a bunch of fun, lots of very good costumes, lots of pizza rolls and cake and inappropriate stories. My Leela costume went over well, and was easy, but required two showers when I got home to get rid of the face-paint and purple hairspray.

Still, I managed to get some reading done this hour, and I had enough Diet Coke at the party to keep me going for a while yet.

Also, my mini-challenge is going well, and I just realized that the subtitle to Where the Hell is Matt?: Dancing Badly Around the World, which I started reading over dinner, is terribly appropriate.
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Hour Eighteen – 2 am

Time spent reading this hour: 0:48
Pages read this hour: 75
What book(s): Definitely Dead
Thoughts: Bleargh, my contacts are getting itchy, and I’ve reached the point of tiredness where I’m not thermoregulating very well, even though the house is plenty warm and I’ve got about a million blankets. Although I do still feel more mentally sharp than I was expecting.
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Hour Nineteen – 3 am

Time spent reading this hour: 0:32
Pages read this hour: 42
What book(s): Definitely Dead
Thoughts: I’ve hit the wall, falling pretty soundly asleep over my book, so this’ll be it for me for the night, folks. I could force myself to stay up, but I do have a stack of papers to grade tomorrow, and I think my students would probably appreciate it if I were actually awake when I read their papers (although, depending on the quality, maybe not?). It’s been a blast!
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Total time spent reading: 11:33
Total time spent listening: 0:48
Total # of pages read: 950
Total # of books finished: 3
Total # of books read but not finished: 3

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