Sunday, October 25, 2020

Read-a-Thon hours 23 and 24: 5:00 - 7:00

Currently reading: The Fire Game (Fear Street #11) by R.L. Stine

Pages read these hours: 80

Total pages so far: 1312

Books finished:
Help! I'm Trapped in a Vampire's Body by Todd Strasser
The Other (Animorphs #40) by K.A. Applegate
Among the Ghosts by Amber Benson
Angel Omnibus, vol. 1
New Kid by Jerry Craft

Snacks: none

Current state of things: Well I didn't quite finish my 6th book. But I still feel like I finished pretty strong! Now, off to sleep!



Read-a-Thon hours 21 and 22: 3:00 - 5:00

Currently reading: The Fire Game (Fear Street #11) by R.L. Stine

Pages read these hours: 199

Total pages so far: 1232

Books finished:
Help! I'm Trapped in a Vampire's Body by Todd Strasser
The Other (Animorphs #40) by K.A. Applegate
Among the Ghosts by Amber Benson
Angel Omnibus, vol. 1
New Kid by Jerry Craft

Snacks: bread and butter, and still sipping my energy drink

Current state of things: Doing surprisingly well! The idea of going to bed is extremely appealing, but I'm not having trouble keeping my eyes open or anything. And I'm motivated, because I started a 6th book a little while ago and I want to see if I can finish it by the end! It might just be possible if I can stay super focused.

And now, since I've officially stayed up all night, it's tradition that I post Good Morning!



Read-a-Thon hours 19 and 20: 1:00 - 3:00

Currently reading: New Kid by Jerry Craft

Pages read these hours: 208

Total pages so far: 1033

Books finished:
Help! I'm Trapped in a Vampire's Body by Todd Strasser
The Other (Animorphs #40) by K.A. Applegate
Among the Ghosts by Amber Benson
Angel Omnibus, vol. 1

Snacks: no food, but drinking my energy drink now

Current state of things: Not too bad! The last few pages of Angel Omnibus took me a while because my eyes were going out of focus and I had to keep rereading the same panels again and again lol, but I'm doing a bit better since getting up and switching books. Also, New Kid is so good!!

Well it's definitely time for the energizing music breaks!



Read-a-Thon hours 17 and 18: 23:00 - 1:00

Currently reading: Angel Omnibus, vol. 1

Pages read these hours: 168

Total pages so far: 825

Books finished:
Help! I'm Trapped in a Vampire's Body by Todd Strasser
The Other (Animorphs #40) by K.A. Applegate
Among the Ghosts by Amber Benson

Snacks: a hot chocolate float (hot chocolate with a scoop of ice cream added)

Current state of things: Still going strong, but at the moment I'm getting pretty tired. Time to grab the energy drink I'm thinking! Getting close to the end of my current book; I just have one short comic (the Connor spotlight) and one longer one (Auld Lang Syne) left.

I found this video in which hilariously people find it hard to stay up for 24 hours. Amateurs! 😂



Saturday, October 24, 2020

Read-a-Thon hours 15 and 16: 21:00 - 23:00

Currently reading: Angel Omnibus, vol. 1

Pages read these hours: 155

Total pages so far: 657

Books finished:
Help! I'm Trapped in a Vampire's Body by Todd Strasser
The Other (Animorphs #40) by K.A. Applegate
Among the Ghosts by Amber Benson

Snacks: none in the last bit

Current state of things: Going strong. Took a shower break and have otherwise been reading steadily. I'm surprised by the comics in this omnibus, though! All the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Omnibus volumes had stories that took place during the show, and I seem to recall the same was true for the Dark Horse Angel Omnibus and the Spike Omnibus, too (plus some stories in the distant past), so I assumed this volume would be Angel stories from before and during the show. But so far this is all after the show! Hopefully no spoilers from Angel: After the Fall, because I have not read those yet. Even my memories of the late seasons are hazy, because I last watched them quite a number of years ago. I'm currently rewatching Buffy and Angel in French, but I'm only on season 2 of Angel.

Now, breaking from my Bert and Ernie theme for a moment here, because I'm a Morning Person just always feels so appropriate for these late hours when I get my night owl energy!



Read-a-Thon hours 13 and 14: 19:00 - 21:00

Currently reading: Angel Omnibus, vol. 1 (just starting)

Pages read these hours: 118

Total pages so far: 502

Books finished:
Help! I'm Trapped in a Vampire's Body by Todd Strasser
The Other (Animorphs #40) by K.A. Applegate
Among the Ghosts by Amber Benson

Snacks: some sour straps candy (hoping the sugar will help keep me awake)

Current state of things: Great! I read almost double the pages in those two hours than I'd done in previous hours. Now I've finished the longest non-graphic novel in my pile. So now, I'm gonna tackle the huge graphic novel! Angel Omnibus, vol. 1 has 458 pages.



Read-a-Thon hours 11 and 12: 17:00 - 19:00

Currently reading: Among the Ghosts by Amber Benson

Pages read these hours: 60

Total pages so far: 384

Books finished:
Help! I'm Trapped in a Vampire's Body by Todd Strasser
The Other (Animorphs #40) by K.A. Applegate

Snacks: I had supper. I went to the local Punjabi takeout place and got a noodle burger.

Current state of things: Pretty good! Disappointed with my total pages at the halfway point, but I think I usually do better in the second half anyway. The last two hours I was more alert reading, but did lose a little time getting my food (though I did bring a book with me) and then eating my food (it was very messy so I had to take a break for that).



Read-a-Thon hours 9 and 10: 15:00 - 17:00

Currently reading: Among the Ghosts by Amber Benson

Pages read these hours: 66

Total pages so far: 324

Books finished:
Help! I'm Trapped in a Vampire's Body by Todd Strasser
The Other (Animorphs #40) by K.A. Applegate

Snacks: finished my cherry Bubly and had a Fudgsicle

Current state of things: Definitely did a fair bit of dozing off and reading the same page over and over again. I wish I'd planned a little more caffeine into my day.



Read-a-Thon hours 7 and 8: 13:00 - 15:00

Currently reading: Among the Ghosts by Amber Benson (just starting)

Pages read these hours: 66

Total pages so far: 258

Books finished:
Help! I'm Trapped in a Vampire's Body by Todd Strasser
The Other (Animorphs #40) by K.A. Applegate

Snacks: naan bread dipped in baba ghanoush. So good, but as a result I ate too much and now I'm stuffed lol. Also I'm drinking a cherry Bubly.

Current state of things: Feeling good and alert! I'm about to start my longest non-graphic novel book. Among the Ghosts is 244 pages and is a middle grade novel. (And if you didn't recognize the name, the author, Amber Benson, is Tara from Buffy the Vampire Slayer!)

I don't know how I found myself in this pattern of sharing Bert and Ernie videos, but I'm loving it, and apparently there is no shortage of ones relevant to a read-a-thon!!



Read-a-Thon hours 5 and 6: 11:00 - 13:00

Currently reading: The Other (Animorphs #40) by K.A. Applegate

Pages read these hours: 64

Total pages so far: 192

Books finished
Help! I'm Trapped in a Vampire's Body by Todd Strasser

Snacks: ginger turmeric tea and some more Tootsie Rolls

Current state of things: I did get a bit drowsy at times, so my reading pace isn't where I'd like it to be to hit my reading goals! But I'm halfway through book number two.



Read-a-Thon hours 3 and 4: 9:00 - 11:00

Currently reading: The Other (Animorphs #40) by K.A. Applegate (just starting)

Pages read these hours: 91

Total pages so far: 128

Books finished:
Help! I'm Trapped in a Vampire's Body by Todd Strasser

Snacks: blueberry bagel with cream cheese, water, some Tootsie Rolls

Current state of things: I had breakfast, brushed my teeth, and have stayed fully awake for the last two hours! And I just finished my first book! Starting another short book now. If I make good time with this one I might read a long book next.

The video in my first update got me in a Sesame Street mood, so here's another one to enjoy! I'm totally Ernie. 😂



Read-a-Thon hours 1 and 2: 7:00 - 9:00

Currently reading: Help! I'm Trapped in a Vampire's Body by Todd Strasser

Pages read these hours: 37

Total pages so far: 37

Books finished: none yet

Snacks: none yet

Current state of things: I spent the first two hours in bed. Always a dangerous approach but easier to get going at least. I was fine for the first bit, but after a while definitely started reading the same page for long periods of time! I have gotten up to write this update, though, so let's get going for realsies!



The Read-a-Thon Begins!!

 

The time has come! After a bit of a boredom-induced reading slump (yes, when I have more time for reading and wish I were reading more, I actually end up reading less), I have gotten back in the swing of things since back-to-school. The pre-read-a-thon challenge certainly helped with that! I did not complete it, but I did get more than half of it done, and it did give my reading life a pick-me-up! So I am feeling primed and ready to go for this 24 Hour Read-a-Thon.


I am happy to report that I have nowhere I have to be tomorrow, and nothing anyone is expecting of me, so I will be able to devote the full 24 hours to reading, which is just how I like it. This is my first read-a-thon in my new apartment, and I think I have all my reading spots set up to be quite cozy, plus a fridge and cupboards well-stocked with read-a-thon snacks. So I'm ready to go!


My book pile is rather large in terms of pages, but the two longest books are graphic novels, so we'll see how it goes! Here's what I've got picked out:

  • Angel Omnibus vol. 1 by various authors (458 pages)
  • New Kid by Jerry Craft (249 pages)
  • Among the Ghosts by Amber Benson (244 pages)
  • The Other (Animorphs #40) by K.A. Applegate (130 pages)
  • Back to Before (Megamorphs #4) by K.A. Applegate (179 pages)
  • The Fire Game (Fear Street #11) by R.L. Stine (145 pages)
  • Party Summer (Fear Street Superchiller #1) by R.L. Stine (215 pages)
  • Help! I'm Trapped in a Vampire's Body by Todd Strasser (128 pages)
  • Check It Out -- And Die! by M.T. Coffin (141 pages)
  • The Witches of Worm by Zilpha Keatley Snyder (183 pages)
That's a whopping 2072 pages, more than is possible for me to read in 24 hours. But at least I won't run out! And with 707 pages of that being the two graphic novels, who knows what my numbers will look like? If I do find myself disinterested in my pile near the end, I might also dip into This Is How You Die, a book of short stories I've had on the go for many months.

Finally, here are my responses to the opening survey (prepared in advance so sorry if the new organizers change the questions on me!):


1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? Winnipeg, Manitoba
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? Check it Out -- And Die! I'm a school library tech and this is a book about an evil school librarian who gives kids horror stories that come true. I was so excited when I found this book lol!
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? I plan to pop out to the nearby Punjabi takeout place for a noodles burger, which was a whole new concept to me when I first ordered it and I instantly fell in love.
4) Tell us a little something about yourself! I never know what to say to this question after 9 years of read-a-thons! My current special interest is Sherlock Holmes, brought about by the fact that I'm currently watching Sherlock for the first time. I've only read two of the books before (A Study in Scarlet a couple years ago and Hound of the Baskervilles in high school), and am thinking of reading them all soon.
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? This is my 19th read-a-thon. I don't like to change a lot. My goal is always to read as much of the day as possible with few interruptions and to read as many books/pages as possible.