Readathon: April 2015

Murchie wishes you a Happy Readathon.

Hello, friends! The Readathon is upon us, so I plan to spend most, if not all, of the next twenty-four hours immersed in bookish goodness. I'll be updating this master post every two or three hours to let y'all know where I'm at with my reading. The most recent post will always appear at the top, with mini challenges below my usual stats reporting.

Hour Nineteen

Well, friends, this is my final update of the night. I'm gonna keep reading, and I'll still be around on Twitter and quite probably Instagram, but I'm sleepy and I've got a headache so I'm gonna tuck up in bed until I pass out.

Prior to that, I'd love to finish the comic I'm currently reading, then get through maybe another essay from BAD FEMINIST and another couple chapters of WINTER'S HEART. I might look at the next volume of SKIP BEAT, too. I know I haven't mentioned it in quite a few hours, but I'm loving SKIP BEAT.

I elected not to make tacos tonight because I'm too tired to mess around with cooking anything, but please don't feel bad on my account. The marinated tofu will only get better if I leave it overnight, so I'll be primed and ready for tacos tomorrow afternoon. You can bet I'll Instagram them, possibly alongside Tiny Deadpool.

That's tomorrow, though.

Or later today, I guess, since it's around 1:00 here.

Also for tomorrow/later today: Murchie Plus Books. It'll either go up later in the afternoon or early on Monday morning. I'm too addled to compose the written part of the post. I'm pretty sure the written part of the post has a specific name, like captions or blurbs or something, but that doesn't sound quite right and I can't remember the right word right now on account of being addled.

So. Yeah. Goodnight!

Currently Reading

• ASTONISHING X-MEN VOLUME FOUR: UNSTOPPABLE by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday

Comics Read

• SKIP BEAT VOLUME 8 by Yoshiki Nakamura
• SKIP BEAT VOLUME 9 by Yoshiki Nakamura
• ALEX + ADA VOLUME ONE by Jonathan Luna and Sarah Vaughn
• ALEX + ADA VOLUME TWO by Jonathan Luna and Sarah Vaughn
• ILLYRIA: HAUNTED by Scott Tipton, Mariah Huehner, and Elena Casagrande
• ASTONISHING X-MEN VOLUME THREE: TORN by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday

Short Stories and Essays Read

• six essays from BAD FEMINIST by Roxanne Gay
• one story from PROPHECIES, LIBELS, & DREAMS by Ysabeau S. Wilce

Longer Novels Dipped Into

• WINTER'S HEART by Robert Jordan
• COLD MAGIC by Kate Elliott (audio)

Food and Drink Consumed

• one glass chocolate Instant Breakfast
• eleventy billion glasses water (I've lost count)
• three cups coffee flavoured with hazelnut creamer
• two hot fudge sundae Pop Tarts
• three cups chocolate peppermint black tea
• some salami
• one serving beef bourguignon with potatoes
• one thousand dark chocolate sweet & salty granola bars (or maybe just four)
• one bowl kettle corn

Albums Listened To

• SPEED OF DARKNESS by Flogging Molly
• SOMEWHERE IN THE BETWEEN by Streetlight Manifesto

Other Activities

• shower
• laundry
• routine dog maintenance
• Kijiji inquiries
• abulutions
• mini challenge administration
• shortish walk
• grocery run
• supper
• walk around the neighborhood
• general internetting
• post-laundry bed reassembly
• peculiar tweeting spurred on by exhaustion

Mini Challenges Completed

• Intro Meme
• Seasons In Four Covers
• Treasure Hunt
• Book Spine Poetry
• Mid Event Survey
• Get Fit and Read
• Shelfie

---

Hour Seventeen

It's late. I'm tired. How do I words again?

I'm starting to flag, y'all. It's been a loooooooong day. Everything's kind of, like, distorted and floaty and sort of weird, BUT I SHALL PERSEVERE.

I finished my fifty pages of WINTER'S HEART as planned and am now reading the third arc of ASTONISHING X-MEN. Hurray for Marvel Unlimited! I love Marvel Unlimited so very, very much, and I've neglected it so very, very shamelessly over the past few weeks as I try to focus on female comics creators. Marvel, for all its virtues, is still very dude-oriented once you go past the women who're featured at the top of the wee Browse By Creator section. Sigh.

But yeah, anyways, I'm really tired and I'm gonna read some comics and maybe I'll do something about the tofu I've got marinating in my fridge.

By "do something about," I mean "make tacos out of." Tacos are the best.

I guess I ought to organize tomorrow's Murchie Plus Books, too, but I really can't words right now so maybe I'll have to post it in the afternoon instead of the morning.

I also kind of want to take a break to watch THE VAMPIRE DIARIES, or maybe THE 100. They're both based on books so they totally count for the Readathon--except they require a specific time commitment, since it's not like I can watch them faster, and I dunno if I'm up for that right now. Maybe when I've got the tacos in hand?

Currently Reading

• ASTONISHING X-MEN VOLUME THREE: TORN by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday

Comics Read

• SKIP BEAT VOLUME 8 by Yoshiki Nakamura
• SKIP BEAT VOLUME 9 by Yoshiki Nakamura
• ALEX + ADA VOLUME ONE by Jonathan Luna and Sarah Vaughn
• ALEX + ADA VOLUME TWO by Jonathan Luna and Sarah Vaughn
• ILLYRIA: HAUNTED by Scott Tipton, Mariah Huehner, and Elena Casagrande

Short Stories and Essays Read

• six essays from BAD FEMINIST by Roxanne Gay
• one story from PROPHECIES, LIBELS, & DREAMS by Ysabeau S. Wilce

Longer Novels Dipped Into

• WINTER'S HEART by Robert Jordan
• COLD MAGIC by Kate Elliott (audio)

Food and Drink Consumed

• one glass chocolate Instant Breakfast
• eleventy billion glasses water (I've lost count)
• three cups coffee flavoured with hazelnut creamer
• two hot fudge sundae Pop Tarts
• three cups chocolate peppermint black tea
• some salami
• one serving beef bourguignon with potatoes
• three dark chocolate sweet & salty granola bars
• one bowl kettle corn

Albums Listened To

• SPEED OF DARKNESS by Flogging Molly
• SOMEWHERE IN THE BETWEEN by Streetlight Manifesto

Other Activities

• shower
• laundry
• routine dog maintenance
• Kijiji inquiries
• abulutions
• mini challenge administration
• shortish walk
• grocery run
• supper
• walk around the neighborhood
• general internetting

Mini Challenges Completed

• Intro Meme
• Seasons In Four Covers
• Treasure Hunt
• Book Spine Poetry
• Mid Event Survey
• Get Fit and Read

---

Hour Fifteen

Yeah, so, I just caught myself aggressively humming "Everything Is Awesome" from THE LEGO MOVIE. That happens to you sometimes, right?

I took a walk during Hour Thirteen as part of the Get Fit & Read mini challenge. I also read the first story from PROPHECIES, LIBELS, & DREAMS ("Biography of a Bouncing Boy Terror"), and cuddled wee Murchie as extensively as he would permit.

And I finally got back to WINTER'S HEART. I plan to read another fifty pages before I wander off and do something else again. Appearances to the contrary, I'm loving this one; a nice surprise, given how uneven the Wheel of Time can be and how fragmented my memories of the book are. I last read it twelve years ago so in some ways it's like I'm reading it for the first time.

I was initially rather sad to discover I'd moved away from Mat and the Seanchan and headed back to Rand with this latest chapter, but then I remembered I actually care what Rand's up to in this book! (This is not always the case.) Hurray!

I'm still sad to move on from Mat and the Seanchan, though. Mat is my favourite and I'm super interested in the Seanchan all of a sudden.

Currently Reading

• WINTER'S HEART by Robert Jordan (for real this time)

Comics Read

• SKIP BEAT VOLUME 8 by Yoshiki Nakamura
• SKIP BEAT VOLUME 9 by Yoshiki Nakamura
• ALEX + ADA VOLUME ONE by Jonathan Luna and Sarah Vaughn
• ALEX + ADA VOLUME TWO by Jonathan Luna and Sarah Vaughn
• ILLYRIA: HAUNTED by Scott Tipton, Mariah Huehner, and Elena Casagrande

Short Stories and Essays Read

• six essays from BAD FEMINIST by Roxanne Gay
• one story from PROPHECIES, LIBELS, & DREAMS by Ysabeau S. Wilce

Longer Novels Dipped Into

• WINTER'S HEART by Robert Jordan
• COLD MAGIC by Kate Elliott (audio)

Food and Drink Consumed

• one glass chocolate Instant Breakfast
• eleventy billion glasses water (I've lost count)
• three cups coffee flavoured with hazelnut creamer
• two hot fudge sundae Pop Tarts
• two cups chocolate peppermint black tea
• some salami
• one serving beef bourguignon with potatoes
• three dark chocolate sweet & salty granola bars
• one bowl kettle corn

Albums Listened To

• SPEED OF DARKNESS by Flogging Molly

Other Activities

• shower
• laundry
• routine dog maintenance
• Kijiji inquiries
• abulutions
• mini challenge administration
• shortish walk
• grocery run
• supper
• walk around the neighborhood

Mini Challenges Completed

• Intro Meme
• Seasons In Four Covers
• Treasure Hunt
• Book Spine Poetry
• Mid Event Survey
• Get Fit and Read

---

Hour Thirteen

I intended to read a bit more of WINTER'S HEART after supper, but I wanted to sit outside and I can't see my Kobo's screen in the sunlight so I decided to read a paper book instead. Then "I'll just read an essay or two from BAD FEMINIST" turned into "I'll read six essays from BAD FEMINIST and only come up because it's time for another update post."

These things happen, you know.

I'm not sure if I'll finish BAD FEMINIST by Monday, which is when it's due back, but I'm not too worried about it because the audiobook is on Scribd. If the need arises, I'll just carry on on audio.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to read at least the first story from Ysabeau S. Wilce's PROPHECIES, LIBELS, & DREAMS during my next session. This may turn into an epic Ysabeau S. Wilce binge, since she's one of my favourite authors and it's been far too long since I read her. I still haven't read FLORA'S FURY, even. I need to correct that as soon as my TBR rules will allow.

Currently Reading

• PROPHECIES, LIBELS, & DREAMS by Ysabeau S. Wilce

Comics Read

• SKIP BEAT VOLUME 8 by Yoshiki Nakamura
• SKIP BEAT VOLUME 9 by Yoshiki Nakamura
• ALEX + ADA VOLUME ONE by Jonathan Luna and Sarah Vaughn
• ALEX + ADA VOLUME TWO by Jonathan Luna and Sarah Vaughn
• ILLYRIA: HAUNTED by Scott Tipton, Mariah Huehner, and Elena Casagrande

Short Stories and Essays Read

• six essays from BAD FEMINIST by Roxanne Gay

Longer Novels Dipped Into

• WINTER'S HEART by Robert Jordan
• COLD MAGIC by Kate Elliott (audio)

Food and Drink Consumed

• one glass chocolate Instant Breakfast
• eleventy billion glasses water (I've lost count)
• two cups coffee flavoured with hazelnut creamer
• two hot fudge sundae Pop Tarts
• two cups chocolate peppermint black tea
• some salami
• one serving beef bourguignon with potatoes
• two dark chocolate sweet & salty granola bars
• one bowl kettle corn

Albums Listened To

• SPEED OF DARKNESS by Flogging Molly

Other Activities

• shower
• laundry
• routine dog maintenance
• Kijiji inquiries
• abulutions
• mini challenge administration
• shortish walk
• grocery run
• supper

Mini Challenges Completed

• Intro Meme
• Seasons In Four Covers
• Treasure Hunt
• Book Spine Poetry
• Mid Event Survey

Mid Event Survey

1. What are you reading right now? PROPHECIES, LIBELS, & DREAMS by Ysabeau S. Wilce

2. How many books have you read so far? I've finished five and have two longer novels on the go.

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? I'm excited to read a bit more of WINTER'S HEART, and to dip into PROPHECIES, LIBELS, & DREAMS. I'm also wicked eager to dip into my Marvel Unlimited library, too, and to read another volume or two of SKIP BEAT.

4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? My mini challenge was a bigger interruption than I expected it to be, but it involved looking at lots of awesome pictures so I just shrugged and read in between logging each entry.

5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? I'm an old timer. Nothing surprises me anymore.

---

Hour Eleven

I took a break from eyes-on-the-page reading during my last session. I needed to go to the grocery store, so whipped out my audiobook (COLD MAGIC by Kate Elliott) and had myself a good ol' walk with food at the end of it.

You'll be pleased to learn I purchased tofu, coleslaw, and cilantro, so I'm primed to make tacos later this evening. The tofu is currently marinating in sweet chili sauce. Mmmmm.

I also got granola bars. Granola bars are my favourite.

Now I'm about to have a wee dinner break, followed by some more reading. I think I'm going to read a little more of WINTER'S HEART once I've eaten, but I might decide to go back to SKIP BEAT or tackle some ASTONISHING X-MEN. We'll see how I feel.

Currently Reading

• WINTER'S HEART by Robert Jordan (I think; I haven't entirely decided yet)

Comics Read

• SKIP BEAT VOLUME 8 by Yoshiki Nakamura
• SKIP BEAT VOLUME 9 by Yoshiki Nakamura
• ALEX + ADA VOLUME ONE by Jonathan Luna and Sarah Vaughn
• ALEX + ADA VOLUME TWO by Jonathan Luna and Sarah Vaughn
• ILLYRIA: HAUNTED by Scott Tipton, Mariah Huehner, and Elena Casagrande

Short Stories and Essays Read

• none so far

Longer Books Dipped Into

• WINTER'S HEART by Robert Jordan
• COLD MAGIC by Kate Elliott (audio)

Food and Drink Consumed

• one glass chocolate Instant Breakfast
• eight glasses water
• two cups coffee flavoured with hazelnut creamer
• two hot fudge sundae Pop Tarts
• two cups chocolate peppermint black tea
• some salami

Albums Listened To

• none so far. I've gotta get on that soon as I have a little time in my own space.

Other Activities

• shower
• laundry
• routine dog maintenance
• Kijiji inquiries
• abulutions
• mini challenge administration
• shortish walk
• grocery run

Mini Challenges Completed

• Intro Meme
• Seasons In Four Covers
• Treasure Hunt
• Book Spine Poetry

---

Hour Nine

And the hours, they keep on ticking by.

I spent a fair chunk of my last reading session attending to mini challenge business, but I managed to do some more reading once things quieted down. I finished volume two of ALEX + ADA, which was great, and polished off what I believe is the last IDW ANGEL-related comic I hadn't yet read.

I have tentative plans to walk to the grocery store during the next two hours, so I'll trot out my audiobook and get some listening done along the way.

Currently Reading

• COLD MAGIC by Kate Elliott (audio)

Comics Read

• SKIP BEAT VOLUME 8 by Yoshiki Nakamura
• SKIP BEAT VOLUME 9 by Yoshiki Nakamura
• ALEX + ADA VOLUME ONE by Jonathan Luna and Sarah Vaughn
• ALEX + ADA VOLUME TWO by Jonathan Luna and Sarah Vaughn
• ILLYRIA: HAUNTED by Scott Tipton, Mariah Huehner, and Elena Casagrande

Short Stories and Essays Read

• none so far

Longer Books Dipped Into

• WINTER'S HEART by Robert Jordan
• COLD MAGIC by Kate Elliott (audio)

Food and Drink Consumed

• one glass chocolate Instant Breakfast
• eight glasses water
• two cups coffee flavoured with hazelnut creamer
• two hot fudge sundae Pop Tarts
• two cups chocolate peppermint black tea
• some salami

Albums Listened To

• none so far. I've gotta get on that.

Other Activities

• shower
• laundry
• routine dog maintenance
• Kijiji inquiries
• abulutions
• mini challenge administration

Mini Challenges Completed

• Intro Meme
• Seasons In Four Covers
• Treasure Hunt
• Book Spine Poetry

---

Hour Seven

I finished volume one of ALEX + ADA during Hour 5, then took a little time to administer my mini challenge during Hour 6. I'm not much for selfies, so just imagine I'm making my super-determined manga character face right now.

I'm also working on volume two of ALEX + ADA in and around admin stuff. Turns out, running a mini challenge during the day is a lot more hectic than running one during, say, Hour 20, especially when you allow people to enter on multiple social media platforms. I've been scrambling to make sure I list everyone's entries in the order they came in so's the randomiser will be fair.

Regarding ALEX + ADA, I've read enough to discover Ada hates oranges. This makes me ridiculously happy because I, too, hate oranges, and we orange-haters are a rare breed. It's not like I can't empathize with an orange-lover, but it's still nice to see my uncommon tastes reflected in fiction. You know?

Currently Reading

• ALEX + ADA VOLUME TWO by Jonathan Luna and Sarah Vaughn

Comics Read

• SKIP BEAT VOLUME 8 by Yoshiki Nakamura
• SKIP BEAT VOLUME 9 by Yoshiki Nakamura
• ALEX + ADA VOLUME ONE by Jonathan Luna and Sarah Vaughn

Short Stories and Essays Read

• none so far

Longer Books Dipped Into

• WINTER'S HEART by Robert Jordan
• COLD MAGIC by Kate Elliott (audio)

Food and Drink Consumed

• one glass chocolate Instant Breakfast
• seven glasses water
• two cups coffee flavoured with hazelnut creamer
• two hot fudge sundae Pop Tarts
• one cup chocolate peppermint black tea

Albums Listened To

• none so far. I've gotta get on that.

Other Activities

• shower
• laundry
• routine dog maintenance
• Kijiji inquiries
• abulutions
• mini challenge administration

Mini Challenges Completed

• Intro Meme
• Seasons In Four Covers

---

Hour Five

Whoosh! Time sure does fly when you're reading up a storm.

I finished another volume of SKIP BEAT during my last session, then took a wee break to eat a Pop Tart and look after Murchie. Little dude took his medicine without undue complaint, but he refuses to eat the food I put down for him. Sigh.

He did let me photograph him with my current read (ALEX + ADA), though, so that's all right. Y'all can find the picture on Instagram. It'll also be up here tomorrow as part of Murchie Plus Books.

Currently Reading

• ALEX + ADA VOLUME ONE by Jonathan Luna and Sarah Vaughn

Comics Read

• SKIP BEAT VOLUME 8 by Yoshiki Nakamura
• SKIP BEAT VOLUME 9 by Yoshiki Nakamura

Short Stories and Essays Read

• none so far

Longer Books Dipped Into

• WINTER'S HEART by Robert Jordan
• COLD MAGIC by Kate Elliott (audio)

Food and Drink Consumed

• one glass chocolate Instant Breakfast
• five glasses water
• two cups coffee flavoured with hazelnut creamer
• one hot fudge sundae Pop Tart

Albums Listened To

• none so far

Other Activities

• shower
• laundry
• routine dog maintenance
• Kijiji inquiries

Mini Challenges Completed

• Intro Meme
• Seasons In Four Covers

Seasons In Four Covers Mini Challenge

Spring: PRIMAVERA by Francesca Lia Block

Summer: THE SUMMER QUEEN by Joan D. Vinge

Autumn: THE FALL OF THE KINGS by Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman

Winter: THE SNOW QUEEN by Joan D. Vinge

---

Hour Three

And the Readathon is off to a rousing start. I reached page 500 of WINTER'S HEART (which I'd already begun; I ain't that fast), then took a wee break to shower and put some laundry on. I listened to a bit more of COLD MAGIC by Kate Elliott while I handled the laundry; a strategy I hope to employ whenever a hands-on-brain-off task comes up today.

Now I'm working through volume 9 of SKIP BEAT, a manga by Yoshiki Nakamura.

Currently Reading

• SKIP BEAT VOLUME 9 by Yoshiki Nakamura

Comics Read

• SKIP BEAT VOLUME 8 by Yoshiki Nakamura

Short Stories and Essays Read

• none so far

Longer Books Dipped Into

• WINTER'S HEART by Robert Jordan
• COLD MAGIC by Kate Elliott (audio)

Food and Drink Consumed

• one glass chocolate Instant Breakfast
• three glasses water
• two cups coffee flavoured with hazelnut creamer

Albums Listened To

• none so far

Mini Challenges Completed

• Intro Meme

---

Hour One

Okay. Let's get started. I've got a huge stack of comics and anthologies, an audiobook I'm keen to get a little further through, and a chunkster I just couldn't manage to finish in advance of the 'thon. (I blame my mini vacation last week.) This is gonna be epic.

Since I plan to focus on comics and shorter prose fiction, I'll be structuring my updates a little differently this time. Instead of tracking the number of books I finish, I'll track the number of comics (ie, trade collections) I read overall and the number of essays or short stories I read from each individual anthology or collection.

I never, ever track pages read because I'm a much slower reader than all of y'all and the number usually just depresses me.

And, as always, I'll let y'all know what I'm eating and listening to and doing when I just can't stare at a page any longer.

So. Start time. I believe I'm gonna begin with 50 pages or so of WINTER'S HEART by Robert Jordan, a long-ass book I intended to finish by Wednesday at the latest but am still reading because I went to the States for a few days and basically ignored books while I was there.

Currently Reading

• WINTER'S HEART by Robert Jordan

Comics Read

• none so far

Short Stories and Essays Read

• none so far

Longer Books Dipped Into

• WINTER'S HEART by Robert Jordan

Food and Drink Consumed

• one glass chocolate Instant Breakfast
• one glass water

Albums Listened To

• none so far

Mini Challenges Completed

• Intro Meme

Intro Meme

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? Winnipeg, right in the geographic centre of North America.

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? The two issues of SAGA I bought the other night. I look forward to them, and I dread them because feels. I'm also keen to get to my Buffyverse comics, and to read more of SKIP BEAT.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? Granola bars! I love granola bars.

4) Tell us a little something about yourself! Pretty well every TV show I love is just a soap opera with better production values.

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... fourteenth Readathon? Unless I counted wrong; it's early and I've got a headache so that's entirely possible. Anyways, I've been doing this since October of 2008 so I've pretty well settled into a routine now. I read a lot, I post updates on Twitter, and I get VERY VERY HYPER past a certain point. It's my system.