Read-a-Thon: The Progress Post!

Happy Read-a-Thon! I woke up a little later than I wanted to this morning, so no leisurely time to make breakfast, check my e-mail, and drink some tea before getting started. C’est la vie — today is about reading, not all of those other things (well, except eating!).

Since I posted about my books and plans and goals yesterday, there’s been a slight change of plans. A colleague invited me to go see a ballet at the college tonight and I couldn’t skip that. So… I’ll be taking an extended break tonight around hours 12 to 15, but hopefully I can still get a lot of reading done.

Anyway, enough of that. This is a sticky post that I’ll be updating throughout the day (most recent update at the top). I’ll also add links to any mini-challenges or other events I participate in. Allez viens!

• Beginning of the Event Meme

Update #11: Bedtime, 12:45 a.m. CST

Pages Read: 1,113
Books Read: Ghost Hunters by Deborah Blum, Down the Mysterly River by Bill Willingham, and The Impostor’s Daughter  by Laurie Sandell, When She Woke by Hillary Jordan
Total Time Reading: 9 hours, 20 minutes

Snacks Consumed: Cookies, Twizzlers

I am… off to bed.

Other Stuff: Well, the caffeine is just not not working the way I want it too — I’ve read the same few paragraphs of Talking to Girls About Duran Duran over and over again, but can’t remember a thing. That’s a sign it’s time for bed. Happy Read-a-Thon, everyone! I’ll post the final meme sometime tomorrow.

Update #10: Book 4! 11:10 p.m. CST

Pages Read: 1,085
Books Read: Ghost Hunters by Deborah Blum, Down the Mysterly River by Bill Willingham, and The Impostor’s Daughter  by Laurie Sandell, When She Woke by Hillary Jordan
Total Time Reading: 8 hours, 44 minutes

Snacks Consumed: Pizza! Grapes! Cookies! Mountain Dew!

I am… sleepy! I did grab a Mountain Dew, which will keep me awake for awhile — I have a low caffeine tolerance.

Other Stuff: When She Woke was awesome! Like, so good that I hardly ever looked up to see what pages I was on to mentally add to my pages read total. It was an excellent book for Read-a-Thonning.

Now, I’m not sure what to read. I have two more graphic novels, but I sort of want to try and finish another “real” book first. I’m going to go assess the “Font Size to Total Pages Ratio” and see what strikes my fancy… Ok, either Talking to Girls about Duran Duran by Rob Sheffield or The Taliban Shuffle by Kim Barker. Umm… I don’t know. Thonning this long makes me indecisive.

Update #9: I Return With Snacks, 9:45 p.m., CST

Update: The ballet was a fun and needed break. It also gave me an excuse to stop at the grocery store. I am now fortified with more snacks — grapes, chocolate chip cookies, Twizzlers, marshmallows, and juice. Also, pizza. Yum! Oh right, this is not a Snack-a-Thon, it’s a Read-a-Thon … Ok, reading 🙂

Update #8: Dinner and the Ballet, 6:10 p.m. CST

Pages Read: 887
Books Read: Ghost Hunters by Deborah Blum, Down the Mysterly River by Bill Willingham, and The Impostor’s Daughter  by Laurie Sandell
Total Time Reading: 7 hours, 4 minutes

Snacks Consumed: Cinnamon Cheerios (sooo good), chocolate frosting, cheddar rice cakes, tea

I am… hungry! I’m going to have some soup before I leave for the ballet tonight and save my “delicious” Totinos Party Pizza for tonight when I get home.

Other Stuff: When She Woke is, at this moment, tied with The Impostor’s Daughter as my favorite book of the day. Oh man, is this one good. I love the way Hillary Jordan is mixing together The Scarlet Letter and A Handmaid’s Tale while making it modern and creepy and horrifying. I hate to be putting the book down for the moment, but oh well. It will be waiting when I get home. I expect to be back and Read-a-Thonning by 10 p.m. (So, hour 15? Math, it is not my friend…).

Update #7: “Reading this book is making me think in hyphened adjectives”
4:15 p.m. CST

Update: That quote is from the boyfriend, who is currently reading At Swim Two Birds by Flan O’Brien. It made me laugh. I managed to get through and leave comments on all of my #cheerlucky bloggers (skipping those on platforms I’m not signed up for and those who didn’t have anything up about the Readathon). Yay! I think I’m going to tackle When She Woke by Hillary Jordan next, in the hopes that it’s so suck-me-in-awesome that I will forget how much I want Oreos and/or Twizzlers and/or donuts.

Update #6: Third Book Finished!, 3:45 p.m. CST

Pages Read: 741
Books Read: Ghost Hunters by Deborah Blum, Down the Mysterly River by Bill Willingham, and The Impostor’s Daughter  by Laurie Sandell
Total Time Reading: 5 hours, 44 minutes

Snacks Consumed: Cheddar rice cakes, Fuze juice, tomatoes

I am… feeling a little disconnected from all the Read-a-Thon happenings… I’m not sure why?

Other Stuff: The Impostor’s Daughter is my favorite book of the Read-a-Thon so far. I didn’t even notice the time passing while reading it. I was totally engrossed. It’ll be tricky picking my next book, that’s for sure.

Also, when did it get to be almost 4 p.m.? Seriously! This day is flying by. I’m going to go do some more cheerleading, then hit the books again. Boyfriend is reading right now too, but he’s sitting outside and I’m still hanging out in my favorite chair — I’m a freeze baby.

Update #5: Reinvigorated, 2:20 p.m., CST

Update: I had some lunch, left some comments (I finished will all the Ms that I could! Later, N, O, and P!), took a shower, did some fantasy football consulting with my co-owner and now I’m back in the game. I think I’m going to definitely go with a graphic novel for the next couple hours — The Impostor’s Daughter by Laurie Sandell. I also broke out the cheddar rice cakes (so good!) and a Fuze cranberry-raspberry drink. Nom, nom, nom.

Update #4: Second Book Finished!, 1:10 p.m. CST

Pages Read: 494
Books Read: Ghost Hunters by Deborah Blum, Down the Mysterly River by Bill Willingham

Total Time Reading: 4 hours, 36 minutes

Snacks Consumed: Craisins, cherry tomatoes, carrots, tea

I am… excited about finishing book number two and really, really hungry!

Other Stuff: Down the Mysterly River was such a good book! But it definitely took me longer to read than I expected. Although, it was 333 pages long, so even in a book with big type that’s going to take awhile. I’ll probably switch to a graphic novel next, since those tend to move along at a quicker pace and I could use the break.

I think the plan is to grab some lunch, take a shower to wake me up a bit, do some more cheerleading, and then get back to reading by around 2:30 this afternoon. How is everyone else doing?

Update #3: Cheerleading, 10:30 a.m. CST

Updates: I got part way through my list of bloggers to cheer for, had some breakfast (eggs, toast, milk), and now am headed back to my reading chair with some tea, Craisins, and Down the Mysterly River by Bill Willingham. I’ll be back when I finish that book or when I need a break 🙂

Update #2: First Book Finished!, 9:45 a.m. CST

Pages Read: 161
Books Read: Ghost Hunters by Deborah Blum

Total Time Reading: 2 hours, 19 minutes

Snacks Consumed: Grapes and tea. I’m going to go make some breakfast after this update.

I am… so excited that I finally finished my book!

Other Stuff: Ghost Hunters was really good, but small type make it slow going. I’m going to have to pick something a little more fast-paced for my next read… not sure what it will be. I also need some breakfast, I’m starving!

Oh hey! I just saw I won a cheerleading prize. That’s funny, since I haven’t done any of that yet. Apparently I need to start yelling and leaving lots of exclamation points for awhile.

Update #1: The Beginning, 7:08 a.m. CST

Pages Read: 0
Books Read: 0

Total Time Reading: 0

Snacks Consumed: None yet, but I have hot water boiling for tea and a pastry waiting in the kitchen.

I am… a little discombobulated because I woke up late than I wanted to, but catching up.

Other Stuff: I’m going to try to get a solid hour of reading in before I get distracted on Twitter and doing some cheering, but I’ll be back soon. My first project is to finish Ghost Hunters by Deborah Blum — I have about 200 pages left in that one.

Also, here’s my beginning of the event meme:

1) Where are you reading from today?

Morris, Minnesota

2) Three random facts about me…

I have a cat named Hannah, I work at a newspaper, I love to crochet… those are boring.

3) How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours?

12!

4) Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)?

Yes — seven books, more than 9 hours, about 1,500 pages. We’ll see about that 🙂

5) If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, any advice for people doing this for the first time?

TURN OFF WORD VERIFICATION! Also, have fun, get on Twitter to interact with people there, and don’t let comments or no comments dictated how you enjoy the day.