Spring Read-a-thon ’11: The Big, Fancy, Frequently-Updated Post!

Yay! Read-a-thon! Considering I spent last fall’s read-a-thon on a plane and last spring’s read-a-thon feeling guilty about not working on my dissertation, I’m totally pumped about this one!

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 – 7:55 am

G’morning, all! I woke up a good 15 minutes before my alarm, which wound up being a good thing… because when I went to turn it off, I realized it wasn’t actually on in the first place. Whoops! I used the extra time to make mug #1 of tea for the day, and do some of the other stuff that I plan on ignoring for the next 24 hours. Now it’s just about time to settle in with my book that I’ll be using to kick off the read-a-thon: S. J. Parris’s Prophecy.
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Hour One: 8-9 am

Time spent reading this hour: 0:54
Pages read this hour: 70
What book(s): Prophecy by S. J. Parris
Thoughts: It’s a good historical mystery so far, although I hope it will eventually start focusing more on the murder and the prophecy and the arcane symbols and stuff, and less on the Protestant/Catholic tensions and politics of the Elizabethan court. I could do with more mystery and less history, in other words.
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Hour Two: 9-10 am

Time spent reading this hour: 0:50
Pages read this hour: 68
What book(s): Prophecy
Thoughts: Pajama pants, a mug of tea, and a thunderstorm are my favorite conditions for reading; I’d like to thank the weather for cooperating this morning. The caffeine has started to kick in, I’m enjoying my book, and the storm hasn’t killed the power/internet yet. What more can I ask?
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Hour Three: 10-11 am

Time spent reading this hour: 0:45
Pages read this hour: 61
What book(s): Prophecy
Thoughts: Three hours down, three cups of tea down, going strong. Eventually I’ll bother to put my contacts in.
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Hour Four: 11 am-12 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:46
Pages read this hour: 66
What book(s): Prophecy, still.
Thoughts: I’m getting close to the end – the bad guy (or at least one of the bad guys) is busy monologuing. I’ll probably finish it up and then have lunch.
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Hour Five: 12-1 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:53
Pages read this hour: 85
What book(s): Prophecy
Thoughts: Didn’t quite get this book finished, although it shouldn’t take very much longer – I’m right at the epilogue. Going to finish it, have lunch, then maybe read a graphic novel to break things up before diving into another novel.
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Hour Six: 1-2 pm

Time spent reading this hour:
Pages read this hour: 203 (176 of which were little tiny graphic novel pages with very few words!)
What book(s): Finished Prophecy, a bit from a re-read of The Mummy by Anne Rice, and read straight through Wicked Lovely Desert Tales, Vol. 3: Resolve by Melissa Marr
Thoughts: Contacts are in, lunch has been had (white bean and quinoa tabouleh that I made last night), and I’m ready to read, although I don’t know what I’m going to pick up next. A library book that I have to read in the next week, or something to help clear the TBR pile?
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Hour Seven: 2-3 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:28 (I got distracted by the internet.)
Pages read this hour: 50
What book(s): I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
Thoughts: I decided to go with something off the TBR pile, although it’s a very skinny, fast-reading book off the TBR pile. It’s bizarre, this weird dystopia where you’re not told what exactly is going on, and I’m not entirely sure what to make of it yet.
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Hour Eight: 3-4 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:51
Pages read this hour: 93
What book(s): I Who Have Never Known Men
Thoughts: I’m mostly done with this book, and I’m still not sure what to make of it. I think it’s going to be philosophical and potentially moving and leave most things completely unanswered, plot-wise. I’m going to finish it and then take a walk with my audiobook, since it’s turned into a gorgeous afternoon.
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Hour Nine: 4-5 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:40
Pages read this hour: 65
What book(s): Finished I Who Have Never Known Men.
Thoughts: It ended just as ambiguously as I thought, but I’m less annoyed by it than I expected. I do think that I’m unlikely to read my library book now, though, because it’s also a post-apocalyptic novel, and I don’t think I can handle two of them in a row – I need something lighter! But that can be figured out once I get back from my walk.
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Hour Ten: 5-6 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:55
Pages read this hour: 0 (all audiobook)
What book(s): City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
Thoughts: It was indeed a lovely afternoon for a walk with an audiobook – a little lovelier than I was expecting, actually, and I was overdressed wearing jeans. Ah well. Now to pick what book to start next… I need something light and funny.
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Hour Eleven: 6-7 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:35
Pages read this hour: 54
What book(s): The Ghost Belonged to Me by Richard Peck
Thoughts: Loving it! It’s the prequel to Ghosts I Have Been, which I read over and over as a kid, but I’ve never read this one. Familiar characters and tone, but a new perspective and a new story.
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Hour Twelve: 7-8 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:54
Pages read this hour: 110
What book(s): Finished The Ghost Belonged to Me
Thoughts: Halfway done, woohoo! (Well, really, 2/3s done; I highly doubt I’m going to make it past 2 am, if that.) I’ve been really good about finishing books right on the hour mark, but very bad about picking new ones. What next?
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Hour Thirteen: 8-9 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:41
Pages read this hour: 76
What book(s): The Boyfriend List by E. Lockhart
Thoughts: Y’all! This book has footnotes! I love fiction with footnotes!
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Hour Fourteen: 9-10 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:47
Pages read this hour: 98
What book(s): The Boyfriend List
Thoughts: It’s very good, although (like a lot of contemporary YA) it is making me exceptionally glad I’m no longer in high school.
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Hour Fifteen: 10-11 pm

Time spent reading this hour: I forgot to set the timer, but it was probably on the order of half an hour.
Pages read this hour: 60
What book(s): Finished up The Boyfriend List.
Thoughts: I’m kind of headachy, so I think I’m going to swap to the audiobook for a while.
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Hour Sixteen: 11 pm – 12 am

Time spent reading this hour: 0:57 (audiobook)
Pages read this hour: 0
What book(s): City of Ashes, again.
Thoughts: Headache’s better, but I think a little more audiobook, maybe a graphic novel, and then bed. I’m old, y’all.
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Hour Seventeen: 12-1 am

Time spent reading this hour: 0:42 (audiobook); 0:12 regular
Pages read this hour: 65
What book(s): City of Ashes and the New Spring graphic novel by Robert Jordan.
Thoughts: I could force myself to stay up late, but I’ve got stuff to do tomorrow and the rest of this week, and I feel like I’ve put in a solid effort on the readathon already. I’m going to finish the graphic novel I’m reading and go to bed. Good luck to everyone who’s still going strong!
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Total time spent reading: 10:27
Total time spent listening: 2:35
Total # of pages read: 1224
Total # of books finished: 6
Total # of books read but not finished: 2

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