Readathon Progress Post

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8:00 Here we go again. I’m up and I have my coffee. This is all I can say for now.

9:06 I’m about 56 pages into GLIMMERGLASS by Jenna Black. It’s about a girl who is fed up with her alcoholic mother so decides to go live with her long lost father – who is a Fae that lives in Avalon, in England. The first chapter was OK, but after that, I noticed how dense the heroine, Dana is. She’s the narrator and her first reaction to adverse change  is deny it. Hey someone seems to be kidnapping me, but let’s reason why this can’t be so. Or I should scream now, but I’ll momentarily hesitate because I noticed my captor is hot.

Meanwhile I’ve been entertaining the cat who is in the NOTICE ME HUMAN phase of the day. And my husband came out and got his birthday present (which fits his proclivity for bikes and the color black).

10:13 The heroine is still annoying me. Page 116. She’s being hidden in some underground room and because there’s chamber pots and candles instead of electricity and facilities, she is overwhelmed and begins to cry. Young good looking guy is comforting her. My eyes are rolling all over the place.

10:29 Breaking for a bit. I went to write comments on other people’s posts and update twitter.

Also Mini-challenge for hour 3 – a “creative a six-word celebration of Dewey’s Read-a-Thon”. I’m going to go with:

“Booknerds of the world, read on!”

11:11 am Still on GLIMMERGLASS, but on page 134 now. I took a long break in the last hour so I’ve been reading for about 2 hours and 10 minutes out of the past 3 hours I think. Still think the heroine is TSTL. The Mister made pancakes out of this mix (mo’s bacon chocolate chip). It was most excellent. The bacon is in very small pieces in the chocolate chips and just add a bit of saltiness to it. It doesn’t overwhelm the pancakes with bacon. I think my husband is all kinds of fantastic for making breakfast on HIS birthday.

1:00pm Page 234 of GLIMMERGLASS. Glad to say that the heroine has gotten a lot better. I think in the past 100 pages she started to act less foolish so I haven’t felt annoyed. Wish the book had started out that way. I also like the secondary characters around her a lot more. There’s also a scene where she’s talking to her alcoholic mother which I felt was true to life (her mom sounds normal, maybe a little sleepy, but she’s really drunk).  I’d say in the past 5 hours I’ve been reading for.. 4 hours maybe? Sounds about right.

Wearing my Pulp t-shirt to go along with my reading.. cat is quietly sleeping next to me on the couch.

2:25pm Finished GLIMMERGLASS! Overall I think I found it OK. The second half was much better than the first, although there was a evil villain scene in there that was sort of predictable. Feels very much like a set up book overall. I’ve been thinking about how her mom’s alcoholism was portrayed. I think there are parts that I could agree with but also parts that I didn’t think got it quite right. I’ll save it for the review. In the meantime, I guess I’ve been reading for 5 hours now. Total – 294 pages.

4:00pm I took a bit of a break after finishing GLIMMERGLASS to get my mind ready for another book. And I checked my mail and a chapbook of the first three chapters of The Heir of Night that I won from the author, Helen Lowe had arrived. It’s a fantasy story that I was eying. I started reading it. I’m about 50 pages (these are mini pages) in. I’m liking it so far, and the Robin Hobb blurb on the chapbook’s cover is a plus. It’s set in a fantasy-type world with what seems to be a bunch of Houses who have a history of warfare against what they call The Swarm. This book centers on a young girl named Malian, the heir to the house of Night. It’s interesting what’s being dropped as hints – seems like these people didn’t really originate from this world (called the Haarth) – they fled there. Also there seems to be an equality in the sexes – heroes of legend are both male and female. Must go buy this book..

Totals – 50 pages of Heir of Night chapbook.  344 pages all together today. 6 hours of reading (ish).

6:00pm In the past two hours I finished the chapbook (another 12 pages), and started Killbox by Ann Aguirre (6 pages in). But all the reading and staying in one place was getting to me and my husband wanted to go for a walk so we went out. To Barnes and Noble and then Target. I looked for The Heir of Night but they didn’t have it. :\  So total is 362 pages read and probably something like 6.5 hours of reading in .. what is this, hour 10? Yeah. And now I’m probably going to have dinner! 😀

8:00pm Still haven’t been reading. We decided to go out for food (curb side takeout from Outback). I think the Mister’s birthday trumps the readathon

Mid event survey!!

1. What are you reading right now?  Killbox by Ann Aguirre
2. How many books have you read so far? 1 and a bit
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? Hmm, Killbox!
4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day? I just let people know what I was doing, but I didn’t really free it all up because it is the Husband’s birthday and I feel OK taking long breaks to do birthday stuff.
5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? see above
6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? That I’m not sick of reading yet! (Although.. I haven’t been reading for 4 hrs..heh)
7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Nope! It’s pretty great right now.
8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year? Nothing differently
9. Are you getting tired yet? Not yet! Ask me in a couple of hours.
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? Take breaks, read shorter books (YA, graphic novels, design books)

9:00pm OK back to reading. Read about 54 pages of Killbox now. Can’t discuss the plot since this is the 4th book of this series and I don’t want to spoil. So.. 7.5 hours of reading total. 416 pages read in all.

10:00 pm Now on page 86 of Killbox. 8 hours, 20 minutes of reading? 448 pages read.

11:00 pm Page 130 of Killbox. I may take another break, not sure. 9 hours, 10 minutes of reading altogether I think. 492 pages read.

12:12am Page 164 of Killbox. I read for half an hour, then went and commented on some book blogs, and then spent time with the cat and his game of “Throwing Ducky in the air and if it falls off the couch, stare at it until the human gets it for me.” I’m getting tired, but at least I’m not rereading pages because I’m too tired to figure out what the words mean. I’ve had half a bottle of Cherry Coca-Cola Zero.  526 pages read total. 9 hours, 40 minutes of reading all together.

2:00am Took another bit of a break there. Now on page 220 of Killbox. Still interested and not having a problem reading even though I’m getting tired. Not sure how long I’m going to last. 10 hours, 40 min of reading. 582 pages read in total.

My cat just bit through the cover of Killbox. Grrrrrrrrrrr.

3:30am Yep, still up! On page 285 now. So uh… 12 hours of reading? and 647 pages in total. I’m about 70 pages away from the end of the book. Debating if I want to stay up or just go to bed.. More because I don’t want to mess up my sleep schedule for Monday rather than feeling tired. Hmm. Ponder.

5:00am OK finished the book. 353 pages it was. SO: 13 and a half hours of reading, 715 pages read in total. 2 books finished, plus a chapbook. I think I’m going to bed now! 😀

40 thoughts on “Readathon Progress Post”

  4. (Non)traditional Buddhist readathon blessing:

    Just as the books fill the shelves,
    Pile together on the floor and stack up on the table
    So may the joy of the readathon
    Flow forth to brighten your day and lift your spirit.
    Books already read, books in progress and books yet to be read.

    By the power of every word on the page
    May your book be delightful,
    As scary as Lovecraft’s Cthulhu
    Or as sweet as a box of See’s candy.

    Let the power of the images evoked by words
    Keep you stay awake long through the night
    May no obstacle impede
    Your day filled with books.

    For all of those who are reading today
    Who follow in the path of Dewey
    May your day be filled with the four blessings
    Of fabulous books, tasty snacks, comfy chairs and joy.

    Reply ↓

    • Yeah, I read another 15 pages. I may switch books for a bit. It wouldn’t be all 24 hours since I’m already halfway through the book, so it’s short. I think I can power through but after a break with something else.

      Reply ↓

  6. A limerick for inspiration:

    I hope that your day’s going well,
    That the books you are reading are swell.
    A day for just reading
    (and mild competing)
    Will do us all good, I can tell!

    I hope you’re having fun!!

    Reply ↓

  9. Great progress Janicu! I have Killbox ready to go, but thought I’d read Blameless first – finding it slow going oddly enough.

    I’ve read two Simone Elkeles books so far and have switched to something different for my third book – so far really enjoying everything that I’ve read.

    Dinner time approacheth me also. Doing a stirfry 🙂

    Reply ↓

  12. I’ve traveled the world twice over,
    Met the famous; saints and sinners,
    Poets and artists, kings and queens,
    Old stars and hopeful beginners,
    I’ve been where no-one’s been before,
    Learned secrets from writers and cooks
    All with one library ticket
    To the wonderful world of books.
    ~ Anonymous ~

    I hope you’re enjoying your reading, wherever it’s taking you!!

    Reply ↓

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