Welcome to my Read-a-thon update post! Rather than spread out updates as I have done previously, I’d like to start with just this one post and update each time I’m ready for a break. It’s a rainy day outside and I’m ready for reading. I hope you are too!
Hour 0: The Starting Line
Books Finished: 0
Currently Reading: The Bees by Laline Paull. This is my current read outside of Read-a-thon day, although I’m only on page 52. It’s actually about bees, which somehow wasn’t what I expected despite the fact that it’s called The Bees, but it’s intriguing so far. I’m intending to finish it before I move on to the official stack.
Total Pages Read: None yet!
Time Spent Reading: None yet!
Mini Challenges: The kick-off meme:
1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
Home in the lovely city of York, England.
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
I honestly couldn’t say. I tried to pick books that were all exciting. Maybe Half-off Ragnorok by Seanan McGuire or The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater. But I hope they’ll all be great.
Here’s my stack again in case you didn’t see yesterday’s post!
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
Pizza for dinner. We’ve been healthy for the whole month, I think the Read-a-thon is a fantastic chance to have some junk food for a change. Also, not cooking, totally a plus.
4) Tell us a little something about yourself!
28 year old American living in the UK; I’ve loved books as long as I can remember; I’ve got two bookcases full of unread books (my husband loves this bit the least I think); I love cats, history, and museums; my day job is in online marketing. I’ve been blogging for around 7 years.
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 have participated in many Read-a-thons now. The different thing I’m doing today is updating this post each time I update rather than creating a new post. I’ll be hanging around on twitter for brief breaks. You can find me at @mbookworm.
Just ten minutes until the official starting line – see you in a couple of hours! And enjoy your reading, if you’re participating too!
Hour 3
Books Finished: 1
Currently Reading: Just finished The Bees. It was a really good choice – a very fast read with a lot happening. And surprisingly imaginative. I can’t say I’d ever really thought about what life is like as a bee, but this author has done a really good job.
I think next I will read Half-off Ragnarok by Seanan McGuire. It’s the third book in the Incryptid series and I actually read the last one during a prior Read-a-thon, so it seems particularly appropriate.
Total Pages Read: 290
Time Spent Reading: 2 hours and 14 minutes
Mini Challenges: The kick-off meme only so far.
I think it’s probably time for a snack and a walk around the house, then I’ll be right back into it.
Hour 7 … I think?
Books Finished: 2
Currently Reading: And now I’ve finished Half-Off Ragnarok. As with Midnight Blue-Light Special, this was a great choice for the Read-a-thon. Fast-paced, engaging, and fun. I can’t resist the appeal of the Aeslin mice, although there totally could have been more of them in this book.
Next? I might read a short story before I tackle another book. Or maybe I’ll read another book. I haven’t decided! I might just go over to the pile and leaf through until one decides I should read it.
Total Pages Read: 636 pages
Time Spent Reading: 5 hours
Mini Challenges: The kick-off meme only still. I never really get terribly interested in the mini challenges. Once I start reading I think I’d rather continue.
Hope everyone else is getting along okay!
Hour 10
Books Finished: The Bees, Laline Paull and Half-Off Ragnarok by Seanan McGuire.
Currently Reading: I’ve started Redshirts by John Scalzi. I’m about 80 pages in so far. I’m finding it highly amusing, but I’m wondering where he’s going to actually take this story. Not sure I’m going to make it through the book tonight, but one of the good bits about being in the UK is that I’ll undoubtedly get up tomorrow morning and have a few more hours of reading left. I hope to finish it then and potentially make a start on a final book.
Total Pages Read: 716 pages
Time Spent Reading: 6 hours (I think – I got distracted in the last couple of hours)
Food consumed: I’ve now had salmon and rice for lunch, Reese’s sticks for a snack, and pizza, cheesy chips, and onion rings for dinner. Yum. And leftover pizza for tomorrow. Can’t complain at all.
I am probably not going to update until the last few hours of the Read-a-thon when I get up again. Hope everyone else is enjoying their reads. And if you stop by, thank you!
Hour 23
Hello! I have actually been up and about for a few hours, but mostly I was too involved in The Raven Boys to turn on the computer. I have since had breakfast and continued reading, although I lost track of timing. I amazingly made it to hour 12, which is tricky for me, and finished Redshirts last night. I was really pleased with myself, as normally I am in thrall to my work schedule even on weekends and fall asleep at 10:30 no matter what I’m doing.
Books Finished: The Bees, Laline Paull, Half-Off Ragnarok by Seanan McGuire, and Redshirts by John Scalzi.
Currently Reading: I’m now into The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, mostly because as soon as I put it in my pile people whose opinions I trust very much told me to read it (and who were the reasons I’d bought it anyway). Currently on page 184 and I’m suspecting you are very, very right about how I would feel about this book. No one is surprised.
Total Pages Read: 1120 pages
Time Spent Reading: 9 1/2 hours (I think – I have stopped keeping track as I left my laptop off for so long. Kind of an estimate.)
I’ve got another hour left and then I’m going to get on with my day (which I think includes visiting our shiny new re-homed Waterstones and probably finishing this book, as well as hopefully some blog posts and the end of event meme). I hope you’ve all had a great time and, if you’ve not slept yet, I am seriously impressed! Thank you to all the people who stopped by once again, I was delighted to see comments when I’d got up this morning, and I’ve really enjoyed this Read-a-thon.
End of Event Meme
1. Which hour was most daunting for you?
Probably Hour 12-13, which is where I went to sleep. It always is around then.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
I thought all the ones I read were really good choices. Redshirts, Half-Off Ragnarok (and most lighter urban fantasy) and The Bees all worked well and were fast and engaging reads. I also finished The Raven Boys later on in the day and I think it works less well, only because it’s more thoughtful and a bit longer (but I still loved it, a topic for another post).
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
No, I think it went really well this year. Andi and Heather did a great job.
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
I like the way the cheerleaders were split into teams. Maybe it’s just because I had one post which could be regularly commented on, but I felt more cheering happening and more of the community atmosphere than the last couple. I still liked those, but I definitely felt more connected this time, and I liked that!
5. How many books did you read?
I officially finished 3 and most of a fourth, but I only had about 100 pages left in the last and I finished it around an hour after the official end of the event.
6. What were the names of the books you read?
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, Redshirts by John Scalzi, Half-Off Ragnarok by Seanan McGuire, and The Bees by Laline Paull.
7. Which book did you enjoy most?
The Raven Boys. But they were all good, to be honest. I have no complaints about this selection.
8. Which did you enjoy least?
See above – I think all of them were good!
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
I wasn’t a cheerleader this time. I did like taking a short amount of time to hang out on twitter and read some other participants’ blogs, though, and I think I will do that again next time. I spent a bit more time there than this year than previously.
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
Unless I absolutely have something I can’t miss, I’ll participate again as a reader. I just like the whole experience; choosing what I might read, picking from that stack, and reading uninterrupted for hours, knowing that there are literally hundreds of book lovers around the world reading at the exact same time. I love reading a book all the way through with no interruptions (you can see above that this is what I did with the first two). I think many books are best experienced that way for me. I would like to still read others’ blogs and hang around on twitter a little, though, and I will aim to do the same next time.
Last year I really enjoyed taking advantage of 
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