Last book and end of event questions

During the final hour I read Superman: Earth One by J. Michael Straczynski and Shane Davis.  I've been saving this for the read-a-thon since graphic novels are an easy read when you're tired.  It was well plotted and easy to follow even for someone who doesn't normally read graphic novels.  The plot line though was very like the Man of Steel movie.  Were they supposed to be similar or was this just another example of great minds think alike?

End of even questionnaire:

 1.   Which hour was most daunting for you?
Around hour 19 when I took a couple hour nap.

 2.   Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
Murder Past Due is a good novel for those who like cozy mysteries.

3.    Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
No.  Liked it as it was.

4.    What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
Everything.  I had a great time.

5.    How many books did you read?
4 complete ones and parts of 2 others. 

6.    What were the names of the books you read?
Murder Past Due and Classified as Murder by Miranda James.  Cat Confessions by Zobel Nolan.  Superman: Earth One by J. Michael Straczynski and Shane Davis.  Read part of The Hooked X by Scott F. Wolter which I gave up on a third of the way through and finished Tempest in the Tea Leaves by Kari Lee Townsend which I'd started before the read-a-thon.

7.    Which book did you enjoy most?
Classified as Murder by Miranda James but only by a slim margin as all those I finished in the last 24 hours were very good.

8.    Which did you enjoy least?
 The Hooked X which I gave up on for being just too kookie.

9.    How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
I hope to be reading again in April 2014.

Final Hour

Heading into the final hour and I just finished Classified as Murder by Miranda James.  This was just as good as the first book in the A Cat in the Stacks series, Murder Past Due.  The mystery is intriguing and you find yourself truly caring about many of the characters.  This has turned out to be the perfect series for me to read during this read-a-thon. 

Now I'm off to try and finish my one and only graphic novel, Superman: Earth One by J. Michael Straczynski and Shane Davis, before the end of the hour.

Hour 16 Confessions

Hour 16 and I've finished my 2nd book for the day.  It's Cat Confessions by Zobel Nolan.  Ok, It's not the biggest book in the world being only 64 pages and half of that was pictures and admittedly the book is only 4.5" by 4.5" with a font that even the most sight impaired person could read but it's a book and I read it and I'm counting it.  So there!!


(BTW it was beyond cute and made me laugh)

Middle Hour 14

Well it's the middle of hour 14 and I've finally finished my first complete book for the day: Murder Past Due by Miranda James.  This is a well written and easily read cozy mystery and the first book in the A Cat in the Stacks series.  If  all the rest in the series are like this one it won't take me long to catch up.  The story, about archivist, librarian, and widower Charlie Harris, his Maine coon cat Diesel and the murder they become involved in trying to solve, is well paced, decently thought out and left me guessing until the end though when I got there I remembered wondering about some of the clues and questions along the way.  A nicely entertaining book to read in this read-a-thon.

Half Way Through

Mid-Event Survey

1) How are you doing? Sleepy? Are your eyes tired?
Kind of sleepy but more I feel like I should be sleepy.  It seems more like 9:00 p.m. then 7:00 p.m.

2) What have you finished reading?
So far I've only finished Tempest in the Tea Leaves by Kari Lee Townsend and it was about a third of the way done before the start of the read-a-thon.  Kind of regret both the money and time I spent on The Hooked X.

3) What is your favorite read so far?
I'm really enjoying the book I'm reading now: Murder Past Due by Miranda James

4) What about your favorite snacks?
Ate some BBQ Wings earlier that were quite good though really messy and they had to be eaten one handed since I don't really want to remember this read-a-thon by the souvenir of sauce fingerprints on the pages of Murder Past Due.  Otherwise coffee!!! (and now you know why I should feel sleepy and don't)

5) Have you found any new blogs through the readathon? If so, give them some love!
Glanced at a couple but don't know what they were.

Hour 9

 

It's hour 9 and I just finished Tempest in the Tea Leaves by Kari Lee Townsend.  This was a fun book and perfect antidote to my previous book.  To be fair it was just as kookie as the previous book (the main character was reading tea leaves) but you wouldn't expect anything else with "A Fortune Teller Mystery" on the cover.  

The characters in this book had just the right amount of oddities and small town charm and the main character was truly likeable.  The character interactions were delightful and frequently brought a smile to my face.

Having said that the ending seemed a bit sketchy and kind of rushed and the way the partnership in the book occurs is wholly an escape from anything that might happen in reality but if you can suspend your disbelief and like a cozy mystery this book is worth a look.  I'll be reading the next book in the series soon.

My Android device ran out of power and is currently charging so I think I'll try the paper copy of Murder Past Due by Miranda James next.

Hour 6

I'm giving up on Hooked X as much as I hate abandoning a book.   It started out as a fun read but is rapidly descending from weird interpretation to complete kookiness.  At the point I'm at he's abandoned normal reference books and is using "books on the occult, symbols, secret societies, codes, medieval and Egyptian history, the Holy Grail and Freemasonry" to try and understand how the minds of the people who he thinks inscribed the Kensington Rune Stone worked.  I read a bit further and as near as I can tell from here on out any kookie idea that supports his theory however unproven or undocumented will be accepted.

So I'm moving on to something labeled fiction instead of something that is fiction masquerading as fact.  I'd started Tempest in the Tea Leaves by Kari Lee Townsend before the read-a-thon so I'll be finishing that first.

Book Spine Poetry

This was my favorite challenge from April so trying it again.
Here is my entry for the Book Spine Poetry mini-challenge from CapriciousReader

Casting Shadows
Stalking Darkness
Cold Days
An Artificial Night

Almost 3 hours into read-a-thon

I'm 3 hours into this fall's read-a-thon and 28% (I miss page numbers when reading e-books) of the way through the book The Hooked X: Key to the Secret History of North America by Scott F. Wolter.

I'm enjoying the book though I found references to the books by Henry Lincoln (e.g. Holy Blood, Holy Grail) as factual to be somewhat jarring.  All I can think is that the author is going with the notion that if his fantastic theory is unaccepted by scholars and, in his mind, correct then all theories which are unaccepted by scholars must be correct even if they are based on forgeries to start with and contradict the forgeries they are based on.  That he seems to be basing some of his own theories on these books puts much of what he is positing into question.

I found the following quote from the book to be somewhat ironic: "We just don't know and must be very careful drawing conclusions based on assumptions that might not be correct"

October 2013 Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon intro questions

This is my 2nd read-a-thon and I'm so excited.  I haven't been reading many books since my hours at worked changed and I'm hoping this will help jump start reading again.

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?

Williamsport, Pennsylvania, USA

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

The Hooked X: Key to the Secret History of North America by Scott F. Wolter.   I don't expect it will change my mind about the archeology but it looks like fun.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

Lima Beans.  Really strange I know but I made them for myself last time as a vegetable to have that day and they turned out to be an all day treat.

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

I used to work 3rd shift and read a lot of books.  Now I work 1st shift and don't.  Forced change of schedules are depressing!!

5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today?

I've bought less sweet snacks and I'll be reading from an e-reader for most of the day as most of the books I'm reading are e-books.  This is kind of odd because I usually read paper books at home and e-books on the go.