Fall Read-a-thon ’12: The Big, Fancy, Frequently-Updated Post!

Read-a-thon, hooray! I had to miss last spring’s read-a-thon for work, so I am double-excited about today. Plus I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump lately, so hopefully this will be a bit of a kick in the pants. So, triple-excited! (But thoroughly underprepared, apart from getting a stack of graphic novels from the library.) 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

Woke up on time, got my comfy pajama pants on, and my first mug of tea in hand (although in retrospect I should have made a whole pot, not just a mug.) The book I’m currently in the middle of (Epic, edited by John Joseph Adams) is a short story anthology, so I might be going back and forth to that over the day, but I’m also comfortable putting it aside and reading a novel (or three) instead. I think I’m going to start with Plain Kate by Erin Bow. Let’s do this thing!
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Hour One: 8-9 am

Time spent reading this hour: 0:37
Pages read this hour: 81
What book(s): Plain Kate by Erin Bow
Thoughts: Took me some time to get my act together and get started, but I picked a good book to be going on with. It’s mid-grade, so it’s very fast reading, but it doesn’t feel like mid-grade, so I’m really enjoying it. Now to go make some breakfast and another mug of tea!
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Hour Two: 9:10 am

Time spent reading this hour: 0:48
Pages read this hour: 109
What book(s): Plain Kate by Erin Bow
Thoughts: Contacts went in early today – probably a personal readathon record by at least a few hours! I’m really enjoying my book – it’s gotten darker than I expected; a good October read even if it is currently sunny and warm.
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Hour Three: 10-11 am

Time spent reading this hour: 0:48
Pages read this hour: 124
What book(s): Plain Kate by Erin Bow
Thoughts: Finished my book right before the hour mark. It was surprisingly dark, and sad, but really good, with some lovely writing. “And then, because hope will break the heart better than any sorrow, she started to cry.” (p. 306) That’s not a sentiment that I would expect to find in a book for this age level.

Not sure what I’m going to pick up next. I’ve got some non-fiction that’s written in browsable chunks, so maybe I’ll take a break with that.
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Hour Four: 11 am-12 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:44
Pages read this hour: 55
What book(s): 100 Diagrams that Changed the World by Scott Christianson
Thoughts: It’s a really interesting idea for a book – reproductions of diagrams, figures, drawings, etc., arranged chronologically and explaining the importance of each. But there’s just not enough – I want a whole article on each, not 3-4 paragraphs.

I’ve been snacking on pita chips all hour, so I’m not super-hungry for lunch, even though I know I should probably eat something real.
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Hour Five: 12-1 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:46 (listening)
Pages read this hour: 0
What book(s): Legion by Brandon Sanderson
Thoughts: Switched to an audiobook, did a little bit of cleaning around the place, and am now heating up some pasta for lunch. Legion is fun thus far, vaguely reminiscent of Keep This House in Order, except more sci-fi and a little more tongue-in-cheek.
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Hour Six: 1-2 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:51
Pages read this hour: 56
What book(s): 100 Diagrams that Changed the World by Scott Christianson.
Thoughts: Frustrations with the book – or namely with the fact that it doesn’t provide enough detail – continue. I guess I should look at it as a source of ideas for finding other more in-depth non-fiction. Also, I think the title is overreaching… if no one can decode the Voynich Manuscript, for example, can we really say that it has changed the world?
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Hour Seven: 2-3 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:11 (listening) & 0:25 (reading)
Pages read this hour: 32
What book(s): Legion and 100 Diagrams that Changed the World
Thoughts: Fun trivia of the hour: the discoverer of oxygen was also responsible for the creation of the timeline. And with that, I’m out for a few hours – going to go be social for a bit. But I’ll listen to my audiobook on the way!
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Hour Eight-Eleven: 3-7 pm

Time spent reading this hour: About 0:30 listening
Pages read this hour: 0
What book(s): Legion
Thoughts: Got some social time in, and got fed dinner, so all’s well. Back to my book!
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Hour Twelve: 7-8 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:22 (reading) & 0:34 (listening)
Pages read this hour: 32
What book(s): Legion and 100 Diagrams that Changed the World
Thoughts: Finished Legion, which was fast and fun and has a lot of cool possibilities, both in terms of the main character and in terms of the ramifications of the plot of the book. I’ve also made it up to the invention of television in 100 Diagrams, so I should finish that one soonish, I’m thinking.
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Hour Thirteen: 8-9 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:46
Pages read this hour: 76
What book(s): Finished 100 Diagrams that Changed the World and started Gentlemen of the Road by Michael Chabon.
Thoughts: Ooof, it’s been a while since I’ve read any Chabon, and I’d forgotten what his prose is like. I’m only on page 29 and I’ve already got 13 new vocab words. I’m also getting vaguely snacky, although I can’t figure out what I’m hungry for.
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Hour Fourteen: 9-10 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:49
Pages read this hour: 78
What book(s): Gentlemen of the Road
Thoughts: I’m having fun with this book – it’s funnier than I was expecting, and plenty of good adventure and swashbuckling and such. It’s also set in a time and place that I know very little about, so that’s interesting.
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Hour Fifteen: 10-11 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:55
Pages read this hour: 101
What book(s): Gentlemen of the Road
Thoughts: Finished this one about five minutes after the hour mark. I’m already pretty damn tired – 11:00 is past my usual bedtime – so I think I’m going to switch to a graphic novel for now, and maybe call it an early-ish night. I never make it past 2:30 during readathon anyways.
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Hour Sixteen: 11 pm-12 am

Time spent reading this hour: 0:40
Pages read this hour: 144
What book(s): Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 Volume 1: Freefall
Thoughts: Okay, I am not feeling awesome so I am going to wimp out and call it a night. Not my best showing ever, but I did knock three books of the TBR pile, and I think this might have helped kick my reading slump in the pants, so that’s all to the good. Good luck to everyone who’s soldiering on into the wee smalls!
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Total time spent reading: 7:47
Total time spent listening: 2:07
Total # of pages read: 890
Total # of books finished: 5 (Plain Kate, Legion, 100 Diagrams that Changed the World, Gentlemen of the Road, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 Volume 1: Freefall)
Total # of books read but not finished: 0

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