24-hour Read-a-Thon summary

I kept a very simple timeline in a plain text file which I updated each time I changed activities. This allowed me to see that I spent 16 hours and 39 minutes reading books and the other 7 hours and 21 minutes reading blogs, posting blogs, reading fora about reading, etc.

This is my timeline

7:01 -- Post to reading blog
7:15 -- start reading Mark of the Lion at page 138
8:50 -- to Old West for breakfast
10:15 -- pause to update BookObsessed & blog
10:24 -- blog update
10:47 -- resume reading Mark of the Lion at page 238
11:48 -- pause to update BookCrossing & quick look BO; create reveal
12:09 -- return to Mark of the Lion at page 288
12:59 -- finished Mark of the Lion; prepare lunch; blog posting
13:03 -- blog update
13:43 -- resumed reading with Visions of Sugar Plums
14:48 -- serious break to move around
14:51 -- blog update
15:11 -- return to Visions of Sugar Plums, page 109
15:41 -- finished with VoSP (164 pages)
16:13 -- post to blog (though it's time-stamped 15:53 since that's when I *started* writing it)
16:15 -- resume reading with Wedding Belles
17:15 -- break to update @ BookObsessed & create next blog post
17:35 -- resume reading on Kindle -- heading to dinner
19:25 -- @ home; update blog, check @ BO, upload photos
19:56 -- posted comment on the "Books that Bite" challenge at http://25hourbooks.wordpress.com/2009/10/24/books-that-bite-a-read-a-thon-mini-challenge/
20:00 -- back to reading Bitten & Smitten, location 1698
20:56 -- short break; blog post, BookObsessed
21:28 -- return to reading Bitten & Smitten, location 3012
22:32 -- another break; tried a mini-challenge at http://www.mybitofearth.net/2009/10/the-makesomething-mini-challenge.html
22:48 -- resume reading Bitten & Smitten @ chapter 24, location 4819
23:17 -- finished Bitten & Smitten; blog updated including index & 2009 pages, checked PUF Swap, looked @ 24-hour Read-a-Thon home page
23:45 -- quick visit to http://tickettoanywhere.blogspot.com/ "Irish" since I had a wonderful trip to Ireland in September
23:52 -- start next book, Shakespeare's Christmas, snack (pear & almonds)
01:00 -- a break @ page 70; quick challenge at http://sjkessel.blogspot.com/2009/10/24-hour-read-thon-challenge.html; visited Veronika at http://trueharbourbooks.blogspot.com/ because she signed up just before me
01:23 -- return to reading Shakespeare's Christmas at page 70
03:01 -- @ page 112; but have been dozing & re-reading, particularly p 105
03:10 -- taking a break again; chocolate & Diet Coke; quick trip to BO, mini-challenge, and visit to http://www.bookconfessions.com/ (Jaime because my daughter has the same name)
03:55 -- return to Shakespeare's Christmas at page 115
05:06 -- next break; page 199; blog post, quick check at BO & RaT home page. visit to Icedream who claims to be Reading in Appalachia at http://readinginappalachia.blogspot.com/
05:24 -- return to Shakespeare's Christmas at page 199
05:55 -- finished Shakespeare's Christmas; updated lists
06:13 -- reading again, A Village Affair
06:39 -- sleepy, @ page 15
07:19 -- posted end-of-event meme

During the 16+ hours I was reading, I completed four books: Mark of the Lion by Suzanne Arruda, Visions of Sugar Plums by Janet Evanovich, Bitten and Smitten by Michelle Rowen, and Shakespeare's Champion by Charlaine Harris. These were books 111-114 read in 2009. I also read 47 pages in Wedding Belles by Haywood Smith and 15 pages in A Village Affair by Joanna Trollope. The total number of pages that I read was 1070.

Jaime at Confessions of a Bibliophile had a nice template that she used each time she posted to her blog. I think I'll put together something similar to use for the next Read-a-Thon.

This was fun, but now it's time for a nap.

Winding it up

It's 6:40 in the morning, only 20 minutes more and I'm not engaged enough with my book to keep my eyes open. I finished reading Shakespeare's Christmas just a few minutes before 6 and took a very short break to update my master lists and check the 24-hour Read-a-Thon home page for any challenges for the last hour. By 6:15, I had picked out the next book I'd start—A Village Affair by Joanna Trollope—and settled back on the couch to resume reading. But, as some books do, this one is starting slowly and I'm struggling to stay awake. So, I decided to spend some time catching up my blog rather than run the risk of falling asleep in the last few minutes of the Read-a-Thon.

End of Event Meme

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
5. How many books did you read?
6. What were the names of the books you read?
7. Which book did you enjoy most?
8. Which did you enjoy least?
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?

1. Until a few minutes ago, I was convinced that the hour from 2 to 3 am (hour 20, I think) was the most difficult. But now I'm not sure if it was then or now.

2. I'm not sure “high interest” for me would be the same for someone else. I found I read pretty fast in books that were part of a series where I already knew the main characters. Two of the books I completed during this Read-a-Thon were part of familiar series: Visions of Sugar Plums is a special holiday novella in Janet Evanovich's zany mystery series starring Stephane Plum and Shakespeare's Christmas is the third of five books in Charlaine Harris's cozy mystery series starring Lilly Bard.

3. This was my first year to participate. I picked up on some ways to improve it for myself, particularly the idea of using a template that would make it much easier to quickly post something on my blog and get back to reading.

4. I was glad to see comments posted to my blog by people who had never visited before. I don't know if these were from cheerleaders or readers, but it was encouraging to see that someone was noticing the newer postings.

5. I completed four books, one of which had been started before the Read-a-Thon began. I also read 63 pages in two other books.

6. I completed Mark of the Lion by Suzanne Arruda, Visions of Sugar Plums by Janet Evanovich, Bitten and Smitten by Michelle Rowen, and Shakespeare's Christmas by Charlaine Harris. I also read the beginnings of Wedding Belles by Haywood Smith and A Village Affair by Joanna Trollope.

7. I guess the book that was the most fun was Bitten and Smitten, though I'd also have to point out that Mark of the Lion is very high on the best books of 2009 list.

8. Surprisingly, Visions of Sugar Plums was not as much fun as I had hoped. I don't know if it was just my mood at the time or the book was too short or what, but it didn't have enough of the zaniness that I was anticipating. It was good for a smile or two, but not the full-on belly laughs in High Five where we meet Randy Briggs for the first time.

9. I wasn't a cheerleader, though I did stop by a couple of blogs and leave comments.

10. I'm definitely on for the next Read-a-Thon. I think I'll spend a little bit of time preparing so I can manage the role of reader more effectively.

In my next post, I'll summarize the whole she-bang.

Down to the wire

I'm reading slowly—much more slowly that usual. Must be fatigue setting in, or just the fact that it's the wee hours of the morning. The last break I took (Time for a mini-challenge) was almost exactly 45 minutes long. It took me almost 20 minutes to put together my blog post, including finding images of the book covers online. Google is my friend.

I'm getting close to the end of Shakespeare's Christmas; now at page 199 (of 242) and starting the final chapter.

I'm sipping a Diet Coke, but unfortunately it's caffeine free so there's no kick there to help me keep my energy up. Oh well. Onward and upward as they say!

Time for a mini-challenge

In honor of Miss Adison who is 4, Dana issued a challenge to link and/or post pictures of my favorite 4 reads either from childhood or from now. Well, this is a challenge that I can rise to; especially for Miss Adison. After all, my father and my son both carry the masculine form—Addison—as a middle name.

Now let's see. One of the first books that comes to mind is Babar the Elephant. While I somehow missed Winnie the Pooh and didn't discover him until I was in Junior High, I was apparently one of the few who had read Babar over and over again. Second would be one of the many Little Golden Books that I could read by myself. One that comes to mind is The Poky Little Puppy. Third would have to be The Bible Story, a ten-volume set of illustrated bible stories. I'm not sure when my parents purchased these, but as far back as I can remember, the entire set was in our house. And last, a somewhat random choice from my elementary days would be Heidi.

     

Six hours to go

Since I'd already read one Christmas book during the Read-a-Thon, I decided that I'd read Shakespeare's Christmas next. I'm currently on page 70 and thoroughly engaged in Lily Bard's newest adventure. In the reading period from 23:52 to 01:00, I also ate a small, but healthy, snack—a bosc pear and 10 raw almonds. Normally, I try to make an afternoon snack from fruit plus almonds, but today I saved it for the middle of the night since I knew I'd need some additional fuel if I were going to stay up all night.

In this short break, I posted a comment for Shel's mini-challenge and took a peek at what Veronika is reading at True Harbour. I'm going to keep this break as short as possible so I can get back to Arkansas and help Lily solve another murder.

Status at Hour 17

I just finished reading Bitten and Smitten, the 113th book I have read in 2009 and the 14th read in October. I've updated the lists I keep on my laptop, marked the book read in the Kindle by attaching a note to it, and updated the home page and list of books read in 2009 posted right here at this blogging site.

     

After a quick look at the Read-a-thon home page and a glance at the PUF Swap going on at BookObsessed, I'm going to start on my next book. Not sure if it's going to be Shakespeare's Christmas or The Tale of Hill Top Farm. Both are books that I owe to fellow BookCrossing and BookObsessed members, but right now I'm just not very sure which one is going to grab my attention. Of course, in my next post, I'll be sure to include my progress in whichever book I'm reading. Until then...

14 hours and going strong

The clock just ticked over to 9pm, 14 hours into the Read-a-Thon. I'm ready to start reading chapter 16 of Bitten and Smitten, making me just a bit more than 50% of the way through the book, or approximately 210 pages into the 400 page paperback. Of course, I'm not reading the paperback edition; I'm reading it on my Kindle. I purchased from Amazon.com on 1 September for only $1.99. It was a special offer by Hatchette books; the price has now gone up to $5.59. I've only recently started reading PUF novels, so I figured I'd snatch it up at the special price because I knew I'd really enjoy it when I got around to it. Well, I was right. I'm really having a good time with it tonight. The downside is that the sequel—Fanged and Fabulous—is also available for the Kindle (at $5.59) and I'm very tempted to purchase and download it so I can just keep reading when I've finished Bitten and Smitten. I think I'm going to have to exercise some self-control and read one of the many books that I've promised to send to BookCrossing members instead of spending money tonight.

It's time to fill my glass, take a quick look at BookObsessed, swing by the Read-a-Thon home page, and then get back to Sarah Dearly.