It's Time to Read!

It's the fall Dewey's 24-hour readathon, and this year I don't have a hockey game to break up the day or a soccer game to distract me. I do have a hockey game at noon tomorrow, however, so I likely won't make the full 24-hours (not that I ever do). 

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

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
All the Light We Cannot See - that's been in my stack for the last couple of readathons, but I've timed it badly. This time, I'm putting it number two after I warm up with a cosy mystery.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
Popcorn. I bought chips and dip, but I had some last night and now I'm not feeling very inspired by them.

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

I love cats, field hockey, reading, writing, and of course my family and friends!

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?
The last few readathons I've started and ended with an audiobook, but I think this time I'll take an audiobook break in the middle of the 24 hours to give my eyes a rest.  

Mid Event Survey 

1. What are you reading right now? 

All the Light We Cannot See

2. How many books have you read so far? 

Finished two and listened to about 2.5 hours of an audiobook

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

I think About a Boy - I like to do a Nick Hornby re-read in readathons, as it's a good, cheeky, familiar break

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

A work call and some work texts. I dealt with them initially and will follow-up on Monday.

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

How calm I've felt. And how well I've been mostly able to focus so far.

Closing Survey

1. How would you assess your reading overall?
   This was one of my more focused readathons. I actually made it past 3am when I put on an audiobook - which actually finished at 5:10.
   
   
2. Did you have a strategy, and if so, did you stick to it?
   My strategy was to start and end with an audiobook, with an audio break in the middle to rest my eyes and that worked. It helped that I didn't have any major distractions or breaks in my day this time.
   
   
3. What was your favorite snack?
   I didn't really snack - had some chips and dip late at night, but I didn't really enjoy them all that much.
   
   
4. Did you add any new books to your TBR/wishlist after seeing what everyone else is reading?
   Didn't do a lot of surfing on social media this time around, so I didn't actually see what other people were reading.
   
   
5. What was your favorite book or experience from this readathon?
   I really liked All the Light We Cannot See, but I'm a sucker for some Jimmy Perez, so I think Cold Earth just nipped it.

In all I finished four books:

Cold Earth
All the Light We Cannot See
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again

About a Boy

Got about 1/3 of the way through Looking for Alaska
Listened to about 5 hours of Framed

April Readathon Pt 2

Just past the 15 hour mark. Just finished No Great Mischief and am taking a break while my eyes dry.

I'm a little late on the mid-event survey, but here it is:

Mid-Event Survey:

1. What are you reading right now? The Little Book of Cats - Poems & Prose
2. How many books have you read so far? I've finished four books and listened to about 1/3 of an audiobook
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? I'm hoping to get to All the Light We Cannot See (it's coming up on my list in two books). Also really looking forward to ending with the audiobook (may have to rewind a bit...)
4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? No interrupts, other than being unable not to look at my emails.
5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? How focused I've been able to be. I think it comes from starting with an audiobook and not trying to get up earlier than I normally do.

Bingo Card:

I didn't read a children's book and while a couple of books had scenes set in the spring or summer, I didn't think they counted. And while there were some cool covers on the books I read, I wouldn't call any of them unique. So no clean sweep, but a few bingos!

Closing Survey: 

1. How would you assess your reading overall? I did really well until about 1:30 - struggled through until 2:30 am then intended to put the audio book back on for the home stretch and fell asleep reading one chapter... I did finish 7 books and dipped into two others, though I didn't get through my original stack of books. So I'll give myself a B. 

2. Did you have a strategy, and if so, did you stick to it? See above :)

3. What was your favourite snack? Peanuts

4. Wanna volunteer for our next event? I don't think I have the bandwidth - I barely get organized enough to do the reading.

Readathon April 2021 pt 1

It's readathon time again! I was going to do this all on Instagram this time 'round, but I couldn't resist keeping a "printed" record.

It's been a crazy couple of weeks, so I'm particularly glad of a day where my only commitment is reading! I'm four hours in, have finished a book, started a second that's been on my TBR list for ages and which I'm enjoying so much already that I'm kicking myself for having denied myself the pleasure so long.

I devised a new method of attack for the readathon this year. The morning hours are the hardest for me - 5-7am at the start and 3-5am at the end, so I set my alarm for 5am and turned on an audiobook. Framed by Frank Cottrell Boyce, read by Jason Hughes. In his real Welsh accent (not just the lilt that creeps in even when he's playing English). Swoon! I admit I may have dozed through some of it, but that just means I get to go back and listen again! 

Some things are the same - I ordered my readathon Dominos order (and it's a little disturbing that I have one - almost as disturbing as the realization that the manager at the Subway closest to my office remembers my order, even though I've been working from home for the most part for over a year).

Here's my opening survey:

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? Vancouver
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? All the Light We Cannot See
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? Cold pizza (and late-night popcorn)
4) Tell us a little something about yourself! I'm a field hockey & trumpet playing reader and amateur writer, who is currently juggling contracts in very diverse fields. Keeping me on my toes!
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've started the readathon with an audiobook so I can ease into the reading without struggling to keep my eyes open. I'll end with the audiobook (and likely start from the beginning, because I think I dozed off for a bit.

Approaching the end of the first 12 hours, so I'm taking a bit of a break to have a shower and to play a mini-challenge: Bookish Would You Rather

Essentially, you list ten books 1-10 without looking at the questions and then answer using characters from the numbered books.

If the main character of book 2 was trapped in the zombie apocalypse, would they have a better chance of surviving alone or with the love interest of book 7?

Armande Gamache would have a much better chance of surviving on his own, as his choice of love interest would either be Nathan or Sophie from Sophie's Choice. Actually pretty depressing to think about...

Would you rather be trapped on an island with the love interest of book 1 or the main character of book 9?

Easy! I would totally much rather hang out with King Arthur than Daisy Buchanan.

Would you rather have an epic duel with the villain of book 4 or the main character of book 10?

If you're a Hamilton fan, the villain of Burr would be Aaron Burr, and I wouldn't like my odds in a duel with him. But a duel against Ursula Todd would be far more epic than one against Alexander Hamilton, because she would just keep coming back to life.

Would you rather trade lives with the love interest of book 3 forever or the villain of book 5 for a month?

I would likely have a better chance of surviving living as the villain of High Fidelity (and would that be Rob or Laura? - my bet is Rob) than as Eleanor of England, even if she's a pricess.

If the love interest of book 6 were planning something dastardly, would the main character of book 1 or the villain of book 9 have a better chance at stopping them?

Okay, Mr. Knightley would never do anything dastardly, but Frank Churchill would, and Mordred would totally sort him out (though Jay Gatsby could always call in one of his coneggsions).

Would it be better to have the love interest of book 5 in charge of the world for a week, or to have the main character of book 4 join forces with the villain of book 2?

Laura would totally run the world well. I love Vidal's characterization of Aaron Burr, but I wouldn't trust him to run the world with or without Sylvain Francoeur.

If the main characters from books 2, 6, and 9 got together, could they defeat the villain of book 10 armed only with their wits and a bucket of rubber ducks?

Armand Gamache, Emma Woodhouse, and King Arthur vs. Adolf Hitler. I think they could make it work with a time machine!

Would you rather see a concert where the villain of book 8 was headlining, or a movie with the love interest of book 8 as the star?

I'd argue that society is the villain of Cider House Rules, so I'll have to go with a movie starring Candy, because she would be awesome.

Would you rather have every meal made for you by the villain of book 5, or have to rhyme every other word with the main character’s name from book 7?

Still struggling with who the villain of High Fidelity is - I'll go with Ray, who though pretentious, can cook.Though adding "ee" to every second word with "ee" could work for rhyming with Sophie.

The love interest of book 2 has been framed for murder! Will you have a better chance of solving it with the villain of book 6 or the main character of book 3?

Okay, if Reine-Marie were framed for murder, Armand would totally sort it out. But if he weren't around, I'd think Simon de Montfort would be far more useful than Frank Churchill - though Emma is arguably her own worst enemy and I think she would love trying to solve a mystery.