Spring Read-a-thon ’14: The Big, Fancy, Frequently-Updated Post!

Read-a-thon, hooray! I missed the readathon in the fall (guests in town), and I have been busy most of the semester, especially this week. I am only barely prepared for the readathon… I did manage to get to the grocery store last night for snacks, and I’ve got a huge stack of graphic novels from the library, but my plans to work through my review backlog completely fell apart in the face of the amount of work I had this week. But the good news is that I did get enough of my work done to take the whole day off without feeling guilty about it… or not too guilty, at least!

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

My inner monologue this morning: “Brain! It is the weekend! You can sleep for another half hour at least. C’mon. Go back to sleep. Go back to slee… No? You sure? Okay, fine. (Jerk.)”

We’ll see how late I can stay up tonight, or if I can make it to tonight without a nap, but it at least gave me the chance to answer a handful of e-mails that I ignored from yesterday, to log in the audiobook I finished last night, and to make some tea.

I’m in the middle of The Remedy by Thomas Goetz, but I’m not really in the mood for it at the moment. I think I’m going to start with more short stories from Firebirds Soaring by Sharyn November. Or maybe a novel?

And my answers to the Hour Zero meme:

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? Eastern US
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? Locke & Key, Vol. 6: Alpha and Omega!!
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? Hmm. I bought a lot of fresh berries yesterday, so those should be good.
4) Tell us a little something about yourself! My superpower is that I’m not that allergic to mosquitos.
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? This is my ninth time around, and I don’t think I’ve ever put my contacts in before noon, so that’s a change.
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Hour One: 8-9 am

Time spent reading this hour: 0:52
Pages read this hour: 66
What book(s): Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
Thoughts: I’m enjoying this one a lot so far… every time I think I’ve read all the WWII books I can handle I find another one that’s got a different angle. Off to go make some breakfast (yogurt and granola and berries) and another mug of tea, then back to it. Maybe I should include a running total of number of mugs of tea?
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Hour Two: 9-10 am

Time spent reading this hour: 0:37
Pages read this hour: 42
What book(s): Code Name Verity
Thoughts: Still really enjoying the book (and starting to have my suspicions about what’s going on… although I’m still unspoiled, so don’t tell me if I’m right!)
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Hour Three: 10-11 am

Time spent reading this hour: 0:55
Pages read this hour: 67
What book(s): Code Name Verity
Thoughts: I think I’m going to have to take a break at some point, shower and make lunch and maybe answer a few more e-mails from yesterday that I’ve been ignoring but really shouldn’t be put off until tomorrow. But not yet! And probably not next hour either, the further I get into Code Name Verity the more I suspect the ending’s going to be an avalanche that I can’t step away from for something so trifling as putting on real pants.
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Hour Four: 11 am – 12 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:38
Pages read this hour: 53
What book(s): Code Name Verity
Thoughts: As predicted, I am into Part 2 and it is difficult to stop. But I am also getting hungry and was considering just going and grabbing some bread, and then I realized that that was dumb and I may as well make a sandwich and have a proper lunch like a grownup. I’ll listen to an audiobook as I go, though (or probably a short story podcast; I finished my audiobook last night and am being indecisive about what to start next).
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Hour Five: 12-1 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:49
Time spent listening this hour: 0:06
Pages read this hour: 64
What book(s): Code Name Verity and The Mermaid’s Tea Party podcast
Thoughts: Aaaaagh can’t stop must keep reading.
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Hour Six: 1-2 pm

Time spent listening this hour: 0:34
What book(s): The Mermaid’s Tea Party podcast
Thoughts: Wearin’ pants like a grownup! I’m going to finish this story then go back and finish Code Name Verity.
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Hour Seven: 2-3 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:23
Time spent listening this hour: 0:33
Pages read this hour: 33
What book(s): Code Name Verity and The Mermaid’s Tea Party podcast
Thoughts: I’m cheating a bit; it’s 3:10, and I’ve actually finished Code Name Verity, but my hourly stats are accurate. And: DAMN that was a good book. I will need the sequel/companion right now, please. And also I have to wonder if I’ve got a thing for characters named Jamie… he’s really a fairly minor character but I kind of love him. This is later than I normally finish my first book of the readathon but it was totally worth it! Now what to pick up next…
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Hour Eight: 3-4 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:40
Pages read this hour: 107
What book(s): Finished Code Name Verity and got halfway through Locke & Key, Vol. 6
Thoughts: I usually save graphic novels for the wee small hours of the readathon but I decided I really wanted to read Locke & Key while I was lucid, and also to build up some momentum in terms of finishing books. It’s great so far; the series as a whole is just so amazing and creepy and heartbreaking and imaginative.
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Hour Nine: 4-5 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:30
Pages read this hour: 100
What book(s): Locke & Key Vol. 6
Thoughts: Oooooh, that was good. So good. I didn’t entirely get how one piece of the ending happened, because it’s been a million years since I’ve read the other five volumes and I forget exactly how all of the keys work. But that’s my fault, and clearly just means that I need to re-read! So I’m taking a bit of a break to deal with real life stuff (e-mails that I can’t in good conscience ignore until tomorrow), but I will be back shortly with another book from the shelves.
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Hour Ten: 5-6 pm

Time spent reading this hour: Pretty much all hour, but it was mostly e-mails from students so that doesn’t really count. Definitely not as much fun as a good novel!
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Hour Eleven: 6-7 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:21
Time spent listening this hour: 0:20
Pages read this hour: 24
What book(s): The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley, and Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Thoughts: Got the mail, tried on new clothes that came in said mail, watered my plants (the oregano is going crazy), and picked up a new book! I read one of McKinley’s books on my very first readathon, I think (maybe my second?), and although I’ve never loved her work as much as a lot of people do, I’ve heard this is one of her better ones. So far, it’s interesting enough, although not (yet) so engrossing that I can’t put it down for the sake of dinner.
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Hour Twelve: 7-8 pm

Time spent listening this hour: 0:49
What book(s): Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Thoughts: Dinner accomplished (pizza); now back to reading!
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Hour Thirteen: 8-9 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:41
Pages read this hour: 48
What book(s): The Hero and the Crown
Thoughts: Oh, bad news, you guys, I am already tired. I am yawning and towards the end of the hour was having a hard time focusing on the reading. Maybe it’s because of the tiny print? But I think I’m going to put a pause on reading, even though I was really hoping to finish a few TBR books today, and listen to my audiobook and either knit or play a video game.
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Hour Fourteen & Fifteen: 9-11 pm

Time spent reading this hour: 0:19
Time spent listening this hour: 1:38
Pages read this hour: 23
What book(s): Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and The Hero and the Crown
Thoughts: I got caught up this hour playing Lego Harry Potter Years 5-7, and missed the 10 p.m. update. Whoops! I haven’t touched that game probably in about a year, and I was further along than I remembered, so there was a little bit of cognitive dissonance playing Year 7 while listening to Year 6. I started reading again after I’d finished a few levels. I think I’ll push on for a little while yet, maybe make it to the halfway point in my book, but I’ve slept so badly the past few nights that I don’t think I’m going to make it all that late.
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Hour Sixteen: 11 pm – 12 am

Time spent reading this hour: 0:24
Pages read this hour: 29
What book(s): The Hero and the Crown
Thoughts: Oh, this is weak sauce, my friends, but I’m calling it a night. I am tired and headachy and have bunches of things to do tomorrow, so even though I have finished only one book and one graphic novel, I am calling it a day, and it’s not even midnight. I hope that everyone that’s still reading has a blast for the overnight hours. I didn’t get as much reading done as I wanted to, but it’s still been quite a fun time!
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Hour Twenty Four: 7-8 am

Time spent reading this hour: 0:21
Time spent listening since the last update: 1:13
Pages read this hour: 26
What book(s): The Hero and the Crown and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Thoughts: My brain is a jerk and I popped wide awake at 7 am, despite being totally exhausted. But I gamely finished up my audiobook and got another few pages in. I’ve really fallen out of the habit of reading for long stretches lately and so it felt good to dedicate a whole day to it. But now it’s back to being crazy busy, at least for the next week.
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Total time spent reading: 7:27
Total time spent listening: 5:13
Total # of pages read: 682
Total # of books finished: 3 (Code Name Verity, Locke and Key, Vol. 6, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince), and one short story podcast
Total # of books read but not finished: 1 (The Hero and the Crown)

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