Spring Read-a-thon ’10: The Big, Fancy, Frequently-Updated Post!

I’ll be sticking with my one-post format that has worked so well for previous read-a-thons. (Now 95% less feed-reader-filling!) I’ll update it hourly (give or take), and keep my running totals at the bottom. Let’s get this nerdfest on the road!
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Hour Zero – 8 am

G’morning, all! I’m awake and have cup of tea #1 already brewing… but I’m not going to be reading just yet. In my attempt to be a conscientious little dissertator, I’m going to be spending the first two hours writing, so that I can spend the rest of the day reading (relatively) guilt-free. See you in a few!
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Hour Two – 10 am

Time spent reading the past two hours: None!
Pages read the past two hours: None! But I did get almost 1,100 words written, and I made a pretty new graph.
What book(s): My dissertation.
Thoughts: Woo! This chapter is coming along nicely, and while the good grad student part of me me hates to interrupt the writing when it’s going so well, the biblioholic part of me wants to get reading already, and the rational (or rationalizing) part of me says that I more than met my goal for the day, and I shouldn’t push it and risk burning out.
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Hour Three – 11 am

Time spent reading this hour: 0:44
Pages read this hour: 66
What book(s): The Tin Princess by Phillip Pullman
Thoughts: I started this book last weekend but haven’t touched it since, so it took me a while to get back into the swing of things, but at least the plot is moving along quickly.
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Hour Four – 12 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:50
Pages read this hour: 84
What book(s): The Tin Princess
Thoughts: I stopped right in the middle of an exciting part, and I’m sure to finish it this coming hour, but I’m also really, really hungry, so it might be a race between lunch and the end end of the book.
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Hour Five – 1 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:47
Pages read this hour: 83
What book(s): Finished The Tin Princess and started Mairelon the Magician by Patricia C. Wrede.
Thoughts: Leftover chicken tikka masala for lunch hit the spot. I finally put my contacts in, too, and between that and the food I’m feeling more awake than I did at the beginning of the hour. I’m only 20 pages into the new book, but so far it’s ticking along nicely – Wrede’s never let me down yet.
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Hour Six – 2 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:50
Pages read this hour: 94
What book(s): Mairelon the Magician
Thoughts: It’s a good book, but a week’s worth of sleep deprivation is catching up to me, and I’m starting to want a nap already. I think I’ll switch to my audiobook so that I can do something a little more active and hopeully get some blood flowing.
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Hour Seven – 3 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:52
Pages read this hour: n/a
What book(s): In the Company of the Courtesan by Sarah Dunant
Thoughts: An hour of MarioKart and audiobook did the trick. Back to a book book.
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Hour Eight – 4 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:45
Pages read this hour: 88
What book(s): Mairelon the Magician
Thoughts: Holy cow, being a reader of the hour was crazy! Thanks so much to everybody who stopped by and left comments, both in the past hour and the rest of the day! I’ve moved out to my back porch in my crazy-awesome reclining lounge chair, and it’s nice enough out that my toes aren’t getting cold but I’m not roasting hot, either. The book is good fun, lots of thieves stealing from other thieves and people double-crossing each other; I’m not sure that I’ve got all of the details down, but that’s what re-reading is for. :) I’ve only got about a hundred pages left, so I might be cutting it close to the next hour update… if I’m near the end, I’ll probably just stick it out, so next hour’s update may be a little late.
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Hour Nine – 5 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:46
Pages read this hour: 88
What book(s): Mairelon the Magician
Thoughts: It’s actually 5:15 now, and I’ve finished the book, and Wrede’s got a way with a farce like nobody’s business. I’ll have to go see if I can track down the second book…
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Hour Ten – 6 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:30
Pages read this hour: 49
What book(s): Finishing Mairelon the Magician and starting The Unnameables by Ellen Booraem
Thoughts: Didn’t get as much read this hour because right in the middle of it I managed to fumble a cup of very hot vanilla almond decaf tea and dump it all down my front, all over the book I was holding, and all over the chair I was sitting in. No real worries – the chair’s been through worse, the book was mine and not the library’s (thank god), and I came away with the equivalent of a sunburn on my chest, but thankfully nothing worse. Clean-up and first-aid did take away some reading time, though. :(
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Hour Eleven – 7 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:43
Pages read this hour: 87
What book(s): The Unnameables
Thoughts: This book is bizarre and fascinating, and it’s moving along at a good clip, but I *really* hope it comes together at the end in a way that makes sense. I’ve been snacking for the past hour, so I’m not nearly as hungry for dinner as I should be, so I might just slice up some sausage and cheese and crackers and apples and go enjoy the sunset on the porch… with my book, of course.
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Hour Twelve – 8 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:50 plus 0:05 listening
Pages read this hour: 108
What book(s): The Unnameables
Thoughts: Halfway done! (or well, sort of, since I started two hours late and am not planning on staying up terribly late either, but whatever.) Dinner on the porch was nice, and I stayed out until my toes got cold, which was coincidentally just in enough time to come in and update! Book is going well, and FAST, and I should probably have it done around the time of the next update.
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Hour Thirteen – 9 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:41
Pages read this hour: 96
What book(s): Finished The Unnameables
Thoughts: I’m sticking with my initial assessment of “fascinating and bizarre” for The Unnameables. I think it’s one of those books that’s going to take a bit to really sink in. I’m updating for this hour a little early, since I’m having problems choosing what to read next… I’ve got a bunch of books for review that I need to read, but I’d rather read those when I’m a bit fresher, and none of them are calling out to me at the moment anyways. I’ve probably got another YA book in me before I go to bed… but which one? I’ll go stare at my bookshelfs and see what inspires me.
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Hour Fourteen – 10 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:13 plus 0:43 listening
Pages read this hour: 26
What book(s): Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko, and In the Company of the Courtesan
Thoughts: My brain needed a break from reading, so I put on the audiobook and cleaned up a bit and had a snack (and played a bit more MarioKart :) Back to it now.
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Hour Fifteen – 11 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:43
Pages read this hour: 105
What book(s): Al Capone Does My Shirts
Thoughts: It’s good, but it’s a lot more serious than I was expecting. I’m still pretty awake, which is surprising, given most days recently I’m crashed out by 10:30.
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Hour Sixteen – 12 am

Time spent reading this hour: 0:47
Pages read this hour: 99, plus a few pages of a graphic novel without numbered pages.
What book(s): Finished Al Capone Does My Shirts and started Queen and Country, Vol. 1: Operation: Broken Ground by Greg Rucka
Thoughts: I think I’ll finish this one then head off to bed… I can’t disrupt my sleep schedule too badly if I want to get anything done on my dissertation this week.
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Hour Seventeen – 1 am

Time spent reading this hour: 0:24
Pages read this hour: Somewhat less than 120, but that’s graphic novel pages.
What book(s): Finished Queen and Country.
Thoughts: I don’t think I would have understood word one of that book if I hadn’t watched the first season of MI:5 from Netflix. I’m not to the point where I’m falling asleep over my book yet, but I think it’s bedtime anyways. Thanks to everyone who stopped by, and good luck to all of you who are pressing on into the wee hours!
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Total time spent reading: 9:33
Total time spent listening: 1:40
Total # of pages read: 1193
Total # of books finished: 5
Total # of books read but not finished: 1

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