Readathon Updates October 2012

I officially need to pay more attention to when these Readathons happen. Cause I love them, I had a great time participating last April, and last October. Now, a year later, it's time for my third readathon. The lucky bit is that having moved across the country, I was actually awake in time to find out there was a readathon exactly 2 minutes after it started (9:02 AM) so I turned on an audiobook and got started! I'm hopefully going to the movies tonight (Taken 2) with my boyfriend, and I definitely won't be staying up the full 24 hours, but with the start of my PhD I've already been reading these days, so Readathon's timing feels like fate– and how can I say no to that?

Update #1 (9:06 AM-9:38 AM): 

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

The beautiful Atlantic coast in Nova Scotia, Canada. 

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

Honestly, I have not planned what I'm reading at all! So it's hard to say... I have a lot of bulky reads at the moment, which can be sorta defeating during a readathon, so I plan to transfer between books a bunch and also listen to audio. 

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

Again, I haven't planned this out. And I'm getting my treat tonight at the movies (probably a Snickers bar, I've wanted one for awhile). I will probably make kale chips though. Yum. 

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

I'm a nearly 24-year-old and I participated in my first Readathon exactly a year ago. You can read about it here (and also see a photo of my hamster who sadly passed away). I'm starting my PhD studying molecular evolution in plants. I'm kinda, definitely, a nerd.  

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 would have said that I'd plan this one better, and actually know about it in advance, but it's clearly too late for that!

• I’ve read 33 pages and finished 0 books
• I’ve read for 32 minutes

Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton (Audio book: 0-32 minutes, 33 pages)

Also, maybe my method of switching books a bunch won't be the best, it'll be sad to see that 'finished' number still at zero at the end of the day. Makes me really wish I'd visited the library or something first! I guess I'll have to see what I have lying around. Having the majority of my books in storage sucks :(

Update #2 (9:55 AM-11:12 AM): 

• I’ve read 76 pages and finished 0 books
• I’ve read for 1 hour 49 minutes

Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton (Audio book: 32 minutes - 1 hour 44 minutes, 43 pages)

Realized I was getting dizzy because I had gotten so distracted by Readathon I hadn't eaten breakfast yet. So I'm going to do that now. I might pick up a print book afterwards, but I'm really enjoying this audio. The only thing is my page count is going to be absurdly low if I keep reading this way– Afterwards is about 12 hours and 40 minutes long! I also stopped by a few blogs to do a little "cheering" on intro posts, which was fun. I'll definitely stop by more later.

Update #3 (11:21 AM-12:38 AM):

• I’ve read 121 pages and finished 0 books
• I’ve read for 3 hours 6 minutes

The Art of the Epigraph: How Great Books Begin by Rosemary Ahern (P. 66-111)

So I had breakfast and puttered around a little. I also transferred over to a print (well, e-galley) book so I could get my page count up a bit, though puttering sorta counter-balanced that. Ahern's book is also great because the pages aren't 100% full of text. But again, I need to stop getting distracted, even if it's just by a bit of visiting other people's updates and commenting, and actually focus on my own if I want to get a decent amount of reading done. On the bright side, I should be able to finish Ahern's book today, so even that would be something.

Also, I totally won a prize on the Hour 4 post! Which makes me extra-motivated to continue, since I've been awarded for my pathetic progress so far.

Update #4 (1:00 PM- 1:40 PM):

• I’ve read 168 pages and finished 0 books
• I’ve read for 3 hours 46 minutes

The Art of the Epigraph: How Great Books Begin by Rosemary Ahern (P. 111-158)

Read for a bit, but also checked out some blogs and now I'm off to get a shower. I'll probably not update until I manage to Ahern's book finished at least, which is a hundred more pages.

Update #5 (2:12 PM-3:19 PM):

• I’ve read 211 pages and finished 0 books
• I’ve read for 4 hours 53 minutes

The Art of the Epigraph: How Great Books Begin by Rosemary Ahern (P. 158-201)

Guess I lied about the update! After reading this for a bit I got distracted when my boyfriend wanted to watch a movie, though we only ended up watching the first 30 minutes of Snow White and the Huntsman. And I made kale chips, which weren't the great this time... should have made them yesterday when the kale was fresher.

Update #6 (3:56 PM- 4:57 PM):

• I’ve read 282 pages and finished 1 book
• I’ve read for 5 hours 54 minutes

The Art of the Epigraph: How Great Books Begin by Rosemary Ahern (P. 201-256)
Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton (Audio book: 1 hour 44 minutes - 2 hours 11 minutes, 16 pages)

I FINALLY FINISHED A BOOK! Now delving back into the audio for a bit I think, though I have some more household chores to do also. It does feel nice to have at least one done, I'd be really surprised if I finished anything else, but at least this readathon was not a total flop.

Update #7 (9:52 PM- 12:15 AM):

• I’ve read 445 pages and finished 1 book
• I’ve read for 8 hours 17 minutes

The Anti-Prom by Abby McDonald (P.1-124)
The Cutting Season by Attica Locke (P.78-92)
Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton (Audio book: 2 hours 11 minutes - 2 hours 52 minutes, 25 pages)

So my boyfriend and I went to see Taken 2, which was great, if you loved Taken (we did), though not as good as the original in my opinion. If you didn't love Taken, then it's definitely not worth your time. And now it's pretty late but I tried to get some more reading in after we got home...

Also, I finally had my Snickers bar at the movie, and it was king-sized! And delicious. The Anti-Prom is awesome and I wish I'd started it earlier in the day cause I'm going to have to go to sleep now I think. If I get up early enough tomorrow I can have another hour of readathon though, so hopefully I'll manage that. If not, well, this has been a disappointing performance but I still had a lot of fun. Good luck to everyone that's continuing on the rest of the way!