Hour 24 of Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon

In the past 12 hours I've read 2 books and took a 4 hour nap.

The 2 books I read were Marvel's Iron Man 3 The Movie Prelude by Will Pilgrim and Christos Gage and Myth Conceptions by Robert Asprin.  Both were very enjoyable books especially for the end of a readathon when you're tired.  Of course Marvel's Iron Man 3 The Movie Prelude is a graphic novel and it does add a bit to the story making it quite interesting.

Myth Conceptions is an older fantasy novel (1980) written very tongue-in-cheek and is quite short.  This is a time when a lot of paperback books really were made to fit in a pocket and were less likely to have 500+ pages.  The story isn't serious and borders on the ridiculous but given the author and the title one wouldn't expect anything else.

Now I'm off to finish out the rest of the read-a-thon with another graphic novel.

Hour Eleven of Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon

It's hour eleven and I've finished both Marvel's The Avengers Prelude: Fury's Big Week by Christopher Yost and Eric Pearson and A Call to Duty by David Weber and Timothy Zahn.  Both were excellent books perfect for a readathon.  I especially enjoyed the character of Travis Long in A Call to Duty and how crazy he made everyone.  A strictly by-the-rules guy whose constantly thinking outside the box.  The contradiction would be crazy making for anyone around him.  It was also excellent military scifi with the normal give and take between the military and political that you get in a novel by David Weber.  Timothy Zahn did a beyond excellent job with this and made it a truly wonderful read.  So when's the next book coming out?

Meanwhile it's off to find more to read for the 2nd half of this readathon.  The only problem with finishing a book is finding a new one!

Hour eight of Dewey's 24 hour read-a-thon

Took me a while to settle on a book this morning.  I started by listening to Three Days to Dead by Kelly Meding.  This is a really good book that I've read before but this morning the subject matter seemed dark to me so I gave up on that and looked for something else finally settling on A Call to Duty by David Weber and Timothy Zahn.  I'm a huge, long time fan of the Honor Harrington novel's and this takes place in the same universe though a much earlier era.  

This choice worked out well as I was able to get the Kindle book for $9.99 which is high for what I normally pay for an e-book (to be fair I usually borrow them from the Library which is more in line with my current budget) but was then able to get the audiobook for $1.99 so I can switch back and forth and be able to continue "reading" while doing something else when necessary.  Don't remember when I was able to get an audiobook this cheap for a recent book from a major publisher.  Half way through this is quite good though I think a chocolate break and a graphic novel might be in order now.  Maybe a nap too. 

Fall 2014 Dewey's 24 hour read-a-thon opening questionaire

Graphic novel I'm most looking forward to!

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

Williamsport, PA USA

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


I have graphic novels from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (those that go along with the movies) to read but still haven't chosen the actual books I want to read today.  It will be fun choosing as I go along.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

The one that I finally get made.  


4) Tell us a little something about yourself!


This is, I believe, my fourth read-a-thon.   I made sure a month in advance to have work off yesterday so I could be both prepared and relaxed.  I planned to make snacks since I'm eating low carb and maybe find some books.  Then the well pump broke and we spent the day without running water and waiting for the plumber and I'm not relaxed and nothing got made.  Life really is what happens when you're busy making other plans!!!  Now I plan to make snacks today while listening to audio books.


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

Nothing much except listen to more audiobooks. (See above question) 

 

End of Read-a-thon questionaire and final totals

End of Event Questionaire:

1.  Which hour was most daunting for you?

 The last 2.  Didn't want to take another nap but was so tired.  Now I'm really wide awake.  Go figure.

 2.  Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?  

If you don't mind children's books, Nurk by Ursula Vernon was truly wonderful!!

 3.   Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?

Nope.  Liked it just as it was.

 4.  What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?

Everything!

5.  How many books did you read? 

4 but I kind of cheated and finished the 4th about 45 minutes late. 

6. What were the names of the books you read?

Killer by Jonathan Kellerman, Nurk by Ursula Vernon, Forgotten Bookmarks by Michael Popek and The Sound of Broken Glass by Deborah Crombie.

 7.  Which book did you enjoy most?

Nurk

 8.  Which did you enjoy least?

Forgotten Bookmarks but only because the print was too small for tired eyes.  The book itself was great!!

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

I'll be at the next one if at all possible probably as a reader.

 

2nd Half Read-a-thon April 2014

Hour 20

Somewhere in here I finished Forgotten Bookmarks which was wonderful but a bit hard to read with my tired eyes because of small print.  I think I prefer the blog if only because I can increase the font size. 

 I also took a couple hour nap, started Killer by Jonathan Kellerman and paused to read a bit of relaxing fan fiction which has been my reading of choice since I've been depressed lately  (Fan fiction works when my brain isn't up to following books because it is based on something I'm already familar with so doesn't require quite as much brain power for imagination)

So far I've read 3 books and 760 pages.


Hour 12

 Ended up reading Nurk: The Strange, Surprising Adventures of a (Somewhat) Brave Shrew by Ursula Vernon which I found at Elisa's Leopards and Dragons blog ( I couldn't resist visiting a fellow Elisa participating in the read-a-thon)  It is a children's book and surprisingly humorous.  Kind of reminded me of the Little Critter books by Mercer Mayer in that it would be a wonderful book for children and is surprisingly amusing for adults.  I read it as an e-book but according to Amazon.com it has 144 pages so that brings my totals to 2 books and 574 pages.


Mid-Event Survey

1. What are you reading right now?

Forgotten Bookmarks by Michael Popek



2. How many books have you read so far?

Two


3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?

Haven't decided yet.



4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day?

Made sure everyone knew what was going on.


5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?

Not really.

6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?

Found a children's book to read by looking at someone's blog.  Didn't expect to find a different book than the ones I had already picked out but thanks to e-books I was able to read it today.  


7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?

Nope



8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year?

Nothing that I can think of right now.

9. Are you getting tired yet?

Was since I got up way too early but I took a nap.

10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered?

Nothing I can think of.

Read-a-thon April 2014

Hour 8

Somewhere toward the end of hour 8 and I've just finished The Sound of Broken Glass.  It was an enjoyable mystery and I didn't guess who-dun-it until close to the end.  First book to be finished in a couple of months so I'm truly happy for that.  I'm also very thankful for this read-a-thon for inspiring me to read and the fact that if I tell my family I want to be left alone for a while they completely ingnore it but if I tell them that it's read-a-thon weekend they will guard my time even more than I will and let me read.  Thank you Dewey's Read-a-thon and all who make it a success!!! 

For now I've read 1 book and 430 pages.  

Hour 4

 
So far I've started 2 books  Forgotten Bookmarks by Michael Popek and The Sound of Broken Glass by Deborah Crombie.

Both  are quite good.  I currently plan to inter-space chapters of Forgotten Bookmarks in between other reading since it isn't very reading intensive and serves as a good break for the mind.



So let's see, that's 109 Pages of The Sound of Broken Glass and 29 pages of Forgotten Bookmarks for a total of  138 pages.  Not the fastest reading in the world  but it is progress.



Hour 1

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

Williamsport, PA USA

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

Forgotten Bookmarks by Michael Popek.  Lots of pictures and not as much reading but I adore the blog and so am looking forward to the book


3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

Splurged a bit on macadamia nuts for a salty snack and pecan pie for a sweet one so am looking forward to both of those.


4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

Been a bit depressed lately so this is the first time I plan to read a whole book in about 2 months.  Hopefully it will get me in the mood to read more.

5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?

I plan on relaxing and going with the flow with no real goals for myself this time.