Readathon: October 2016 Edition

Hey there, reader.

Friends, Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon is today! Right now! This very moment!

(Unless you're reading this long after October 22nd, 2016. Welcome, hypothetical future person.)

I've blocked off the whole day and plan to spend it reading my arse off, with or without wee Murchie on my lap. As per usual, I'll update this master post every so often, with the most recent update at the top. This time around, I'll also use the stopwatch app on my iPod to track exactly how much time I spend reading; a nifty tip I picked up during the 24 In 48 Readathon this past summer.

I'll be manning the Readathon Instagram account from Hour Fifteen on, too, so make sure you stop by there and say hi! There'll be pictures of Murchie and some no pressure prompts for them what wants 'em, plus reposts of many of your awesome pictures.

I don't have a formal stack this time around, but I'd love to finish the last two novellas in THE ASSASSIN'S BLADE by Sarah J. Maas, get through a couple of library comics, and read early-2000s X-Men until I absolutely cannot stand the drama any longer.

Hour Twenty-One

This'll be my last blog update, y'all. I'm about ready to tuck up in bed and read X-Men comics until I pass out.

The coffee I mentioned last update? Didn't work very well.

Neither did KISS OF THE ROSE PRINCESS. I borrowed three volumes to test the series out, and I'll be returning two of them unread. Sigh.

At least I've still got the X-Men, right?

Time Spent Reading: 10 hours, 50 minutes

Currently Reading:

• more X-Men comics

Things I've Read:

• "The Assassin and the Underworld" by Sarah J. Maas
• Smoke and Shadow, Part I by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru
• Smoke and Shadow, Part II by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru
• Smoke and Shadow, Part III by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru
• about 1/5 of STAKED by Kevin Hearne
• UNCANNY X-MEN #404-426
• "The Assassin and the Empire" by Sarah J. Maas
• KISS OF THE ROSE PRINCESS, VOL 1 by Aya Shouoto

Things I've Eaten:

• one bowl of Minions cereal
• three cups coffee
• I don't even know how many glasses of water. More than sixteen. Fewer than thirty-five.
• two bowls of corn puffs (ie, generic popcorn twists)
• three crumbled tofu tacos on freshly made tortillas, complete with corn, black beans, edamame, lime crema, and Brussels sprout slaw
• one caramel latte
• two bananas
• a third of a Bubblegum Brawler from Crim City Soda (big mistake, everything is terrible, oh gods why)
• a bowl of spicy Kraft Dinner (which is the only Kraft Dinner worth buying)

Other Activities:

• breakfast
• familial eyeglass maintenance
• basic canine upkeep
• lunch
• staring into the void
• general internetting
• Instagram monitoring
• additional void staring

Music I've Listened To:

• SOME ENCHANTED EVENING - Blue Oyster Cult
• WEIRD SCENES INSIDE THE GOLD MINE - The Doors
• a little bit of rock radio
• FUNHOUSE - P!nk (x2)

Mini Challenges Completed:

• Intro Meme (see below)
• Book and Snack Challenge
• Bookish Memories
• Mid-Event Survey (see below)
• #FitReaders 5 Minute Get Up And Go
• #FrightfulReads
• Books and Beverages

Hour Nineteen

I finally finished THE ASSASSIN'S BLADE! Whee! I wanted to read some more X-Men next, but my Kobo was starting to look a tad drained so I plugged it in and started volume one of KISS OF THE ROSE PRINCESS by Aya Shouoto. It's off to kind of a weird start, so I'm gonna look at a few reviews before I decide if I want to really plug into it.

I've been having fun over on the Readathon Instagram account, too; a bit of a distraction, but a fun one.

And... my brain is mush, so I'm all out of stuff to say during this update. Maybe the coffee I'm downing as we speak will transform me into a coherent person by the time I update again.

Time Spent Reading: 10 hours, 13 minutes

Currently Reading:

• KISS OF THE ROSE PRINCESS, VOL 1 by Aya Shouoto

Things I've Read:

• "The Assassin and the Underworld" by Sarah J. Maas
• Smoke and Shadow, Part I by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru
• Smoke and Shadow, Part II by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru
• Smoke and Shadow, Part III by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru
• about 1/5 of STAKED by Kevin Hearne
• UNCANNY X-MEN #404-426
• "The Assassin and the Empire" by Sarah J. Maas

Things I've Eaten:

• one bowl of Minions cereal
• three cups coffee
• I don't even know how many glasses of water. More than fourteen.
• two bowls of corn puffs (ie, off brand popcorn twists)
• three crumbled tofu tacos on freshly made tortillas, complete with corn, black beans, edamame, lime crema, and Brussels sprout slaw
• one caramel latte
• two bananas
• a third of a Bubblegum Brawler from Crim City Soda (big mistake, everything is terrible, oh gods why)
• a bowl of spicy Kraft Dinner (which is the only Kraft Dinner worth buying)

Other Activities:

• breakfast
• familial eyeglass maintenance
• basic canine upkeep
• lunch
• staring into the void
• general internetting
• Instagram monitoring

Music I've Listened To:

• SOME ENCHANTED EVENING - Blue Oyster Cult
• WEIRD SCENES INSIDE THE GOLD MINE - The Doors
• a little bit of rock radio
• FUNHOUSE - P!nk (x2)

Mini Challenges Completed:

• Intro Meme (see below)
• Book and Snack Challenge
• Bookish Memories
• Mid-Event Survey (see below)
• #FitReaders 5 Minute Get Up And Go
• #FrightfulReads

Hour Sixteen

Friends, I'm maybe possibly flagging a little bit. It's like I have time lag, or whatever they called it in TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG. The world's fuzzy and I'm having Difficulty In Distinguishing Sounds.

(Actually, I think I'm doing okay with sounds. I just like that phrase.)

I started monitoring the Readathon Instagram last hour, as planned! Come say hi!

I also made a start on "The Assassin and the Empire," and it's proven to be exactly what I felt like. It reminds me of the fantasy I read when I was a kid; something I'll talk about in a smidgen more detail during tomorrow's Murchie Plus Books.

I may have to go back to the X-Men once I've finished it, because I miss themmmmmmmmm. We spent so much time together today, and now they're gone from my reading life, and it isn't fair, it just isn't.

I'll backtrack to NEW X-MEN, though, or perhaps to some of the other cognate titles I skipped over in my haste to hit UNCANNY #425. Gotta get to these things while I've got some breathing room, even if does mean hanging out with different characters. I sure hope Storm's in these other comics. I miss Storm something fierce.

Time Spent Reading: 8 hours, 9 minutes

Currently Reading:

• "The Assassin and the Empire" by Sarah J. Maas

Things I've Read:

• "The Assassin and the Underworld" by Sarah J. Maas
• Smoke and Shadow, Part I by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru
• Smoke and Shadow, Part II by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru
• Smoke and Shadow, Part III by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru
• about 1/5 of STAKED by Kevin Hearne
• UNCANNY X-MEN #404-426

Things I've Eaten:

• one bowl of Minions cereal
• two cups coffee
• I don't even know how many glasses of water. More than fourteen.
• two bowls of corn puffs (ie, off brand popcorn twists)
• three crumbled tofu tacos on freshly made tortillas, complete with corn, black beans, edamame, lime crema, and Brussels sprout slaw
• one caramel latte
• two bananas
• one Bubblegum Brawler from Crim City Soda (big mistake, everything is terrible, oh gods why)

Other Activities:

• breakfast
• familial eyeglass maintenance
• basic canine upkeep
• lunch
• staring into the void
• general internetting
• Instagram monitoring

Music I've Listened To:

• SOME ENCHANTED EVENING - Blue Oyster Cult
• WEIRD SCENES INSIDE THE GOLD MINE - The Doors
• a little bit of rock radio
• FUNHOUSE - P!nk (x2)

Mini Challenges Completed:

• Intro Meme (see below)
• Book and Snack Challenge
• Bookish Memories
• Mid-Event Survey (see below)

Hour Fourteen

I FINALLY HIT UNCANNY X-MEN #426 (it was a two-parter with #425) AND THERE WAS SO MUCH WILD AND DODGY SHIT IN THESE ISSUES Y'ALL SO MUCH WHAT EVEN IS THIS COMIC.

Oh, and we're at the point in the Readathon where I think in ALL CAPS. Sorry.

But seriously, both Magneto and Polaris magnetize water so often that I'm starting to wonder if that's a real thing. Surely the various X-Men writers wouldn't lie to me so consistently about how magnets work.

Now I've accomplished my comics reading goal for the month (and put a star next to the item in my planner's helpful monthly goals list), I'm gonna try to read some prose. Final novella in THE ASSASSIN'S BLADE, here I come!

Time Spent Reading: 7 hours, 43 minutes

Currently Reading:

• "The Assassin and the Empire" by Sarah J. Maas

Things I've Read:

• "The Assassin and the Underworld" by Sarah J. Maas
• Smoke and Shadow, Part I by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru
• Smoke and Shadow, Part II by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru
• Smoke and Shadow, Part III by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru
• about 1/5 of STAKED by Kevin Hearne
• UNCANNY X-MEN #404-426

Things I've Eaten:

• one bowl of Minions cereal
• two cups coffee
• fourteen glasses of water (or more; I drink a lot and tend to lose track)
• two bowls of corn puffs (ie, off brand popcorn twists)
• three crumbled tofu tacos on freshly made tortillas, complete with corn, black beans, edamame, lime crema, and Brussels sprout slaw
• one caramel latte
• two bananas
• one Bubblegum Brawler from Crim City Soda (big mistake, everything is terrible, oh gods why)

Other Activities:

• breakfast
• familial eyeglass maintenance
• basic canine upkeep
• lunch
• staring into the void
• general internetting

Music I've Listened To:

• SOME ENCHANTED EVENING - Blue Oyster Cult
• WEIRD SCENES INSIDE THE GOLD MINE - The Doors
• a little bit of rock radio
• FUNHOUSE - P!nk (x2)

Mini Challenges Completed:

• Intro Meme (see below)
• Book and Snack Challenge
• Bookish Memories
• Mid-Event Survey (see below)

Mid-Event Survey

1. What are you reading right now? UNCANNY X-MEN.

2. How many books have you read so far? I... don't know? I'm reading in issues, not trades, but since I've read sixteen issues let's count it as three books, plus three volumes of ATLA for a grand total of six.

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? More UNCANNY X-MEN. It owns my soul, even though I'm in a period with very few women on the team. Grrr. Stop sidelining the women, early-2000s X-writers! Y'all need Storm and Rogue in the mix, in particular.

4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? Nah, I've mostly been good. I woke up later than I intended, which threw me off my game for a few hours, but I just pushed on through it.

5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? I was gonna say I'm an old Readathoner and nothing surprises me anymore, but I shifted my ereader just now and my iPod was sitting on top of it and it SLID OFF and FELL ON THE FLOOR WITH A HUGE CRASH and that surprised and horrified me very much. Luckily it didn't smash to smithereens. iPods used to be really tough, but Apple uses shitty glass now and I worry about it all the frickin' time. So that was my Readathon surprise. Slippery iPod that thankfully didn't break.

Hour Twelve

Last night I was like, "I'm not gonna bother photographing a reading stack because let's face it, I'm probably just gonna read X-Men comics all day."

I read some other things early on, yeah, but now I'm firmly entrenched in the X-Men, just like I predicted. I hit #420 during my last reading session! And it was completely devoid of stoner jokes, despite its PG rating!

I'll probably stick with it until I reach #425, then switch to that novella I was on about earlier. Read something I can actually enter into the Readathon Books Read list, y'know?

In Exciting Food News, I drank a bubblegum soda during my last session because Giant Tiger had it on sale for $0.50 and every so often I think, "Hey, maybe I can learn to like soft drinks." Yeah; no. I was pretty damned uncomfortable for a while there.

People who down soft drinks like water have much stronger stomachs than I do.

Anyways:

Time Spent Reading: 6 hours, 43 minutes

Currently Reading:

• UNCANNY X-MEN, for at least a little bit longer

Things I've Read:

• "The Assassin and the Underworld" by Sarah J. Maas
• Smoke and Shadow, Part I by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru
• Smoke and Shadow, Part II by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru
• Smoke and Shadow, Part III by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru
• about 1/5 of STAKED by Kevin Hearne
• UNCANNY X-MEN #404-420

Things I've Eaten:

• one bowl of Minions cereal
• two cups coffee
• twelve glasses of water (or more; I drink a lot and tend to lose track)
• two bowls of corn puffs (ie, off brand popcorn twists)
• three crumbled tofu tacos on freshly made tortillas, complete with corn, black beans, edamame, lime crema, and Brussels sprout slaw
• one caramel latte
• one banana
• one Bubblegum Brawler from Crim City Soda (big mistake, everything is terrible, oh gods why)

Other Activities:

• breakfast
• familial eyeglass maintenance
• basic canine upkeep
• lunch
• staring into the void
• general internetting

Music I've Listened To:

• SOME ENCHANTED EVENING - Blue Oyster Cult
• WEIRD SCENES INSIDE THE GOLD MINE - The Doors
• a little bit of rock radio

Mini Challenges Completed:

• Intro Meme (see below)
• Book and Snack Challenge
• Bookish Memories
• Mid-Event Survey (see above

Hour Ten

I wallowed in the X-Men during my last reading session, and it was great. I'd originally planned to alternate between UNCANNY X-MEN and NEW X-MEN over the next little bit, but I've now decided I'll only switch between the two when there's a crossover, or when I finish another twenty-five issues of UNCANNY.

I dunno if I'll keep reading it during my next session or go back to prose instead. I really would like to finish THE ASSASSIN'S BLADE today, but I also want to meet my goal of reaching UNCANNY #425 by the end of the month.

But hey, there's hours and hours left in the Readathon! I can probably do both today!

Unless I max out on the X-Men or something.

This session's Cool Thing I Ate was a caramel latte, partly because I wanted the caffeine and partly because I didn't buy any chocolate snacks and I needed something less healthy than a banana.

Past Me bought bananas instead of granola bars because sometimes I make poor life choices. And I knew it was a poor life choice as I made it, but y'know, bananas were much better value for money as well as the healthier option so I talked myself into it.

Don't repeat my mistake. Buy yourself some granola bars.

(Unless you hate them or you're violently allergic to them or something. I don't want you to be unhappy with your grocery choices, is what I'm saying.)

Time Spent Reading: 5 hours, 54 minutes

Currently Reading:

• UNCANNY X-MEN

Things I've Read:

• "The Assassin and the Underworld" by Sarah J. Maas
• Smoke and Shadow, Part I by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru
• Smoke and Shadow, Part II by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru
• Smoke and Shadow, Part III by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru
• about 1/5 of STAKED by Kevin Hearne
• UNCANNY X-MEN #404-414

Things I've Eaten:

• one bowl of Minions cereal
• two cups coffee
• ten glasses of water (or more; I drink a lot and tend to lose track)
• one bowl of corn puffs (ie, off brand popcorn twists)
• three crumbled tofu tacos on freshly made tortillas, complete with corn, black beans, edamame, lime crema, and Brussels sprout slaw
• one caramel latte
• one banana

Other Activities:

• breakfast
• familial eyeglass maintenance
• basic canine upkeep
• lunch

Music I've Listened To:

• SOME ENCHANTED EVENING - Blue Oyster Cult
• WEIRD SCENES INSIDE THE GOLD MINE - The Doors

Mini Challenges Completed:

• Intro Meme (see below)
• Book and Snack Challenge
• Bookish Memories

Hour Eight

I ended up reading for two and a half hours during my last session instead of two, seeing as how I was in desperate need of lunch. Soon as I'd finished ATLA: SMOKE AND SHADOW, I put on my audiobook (STAKED by Kevin Hearne) and cooked myself a big plate of tacos.

Mmmm. Tacos.

Then I had to clean up my mess (because homemade tacos are very messy), and the next thing I knew it was 1:30 my time and I was a fifth of the way through my book. Whee! I know I won't finish STAKED today, but I hope to have it in the bag by Monday or Tuesday so I can read the recent Oberon novella. Oberon is my favourite.

Time Spent Reading: 4 hours, 15 minutes

Currently Reading:

• a bunch of X-Men comics

Things I've Read:

• "The Assassin and the Underworld" by Sarah J. Maas
• Smoke and Shadow, Part I by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru
• Smoke and Shadow, Part II by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru
• Smoke and Shadow, Part III by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru
• about 1/5 of STAKED by Kevin Hearne

Things I've Eaten:

• one bowl of Minions cereal
• two cups coffee
• eight glasses of water
• one bowl of corn puffs (ie, off brand popcorn twists)
• three crumbled tofu tacos on freshly made tortillas, complete with corn, black beans, edamame, lime crema, and Brussels sprout slaw

Other Activities:

• breakfast
• familial eyeglass maintenance
• basic canine upkeep
• lunch

Music I've Listened To:

• SOME ENCHANTED EVENING - Blue Oyster Cult

Mini Challenges Completed:

• Intro Meme (see below)
• Book and Snack Challenge
• Bookish Memories

Hour Five

I had a productive couple of hours there! I showered, finished "The Assassin and the Underworld," and started SMOKE AND SHADOW, Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru's most recently completed AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER comic. As I write this, I've finished the first two parts and I'm ready to devour the finale once I've taken a peek at what the rest of the internet is up to.

Time Spent Reading: 2 hours, 21 minutes

Currently Reading:

• Smoke and Shadow, Part III by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru

Things I've Finished:

• "The Assassin and the Underworld" by Sarah J. Maas
• Smoke and Shadow, Part I by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru
• Smoke and Shadow, Part II by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru

Things I've Eaten:

• one bowl of Minions cereal
• two cups coffee
• four glasses of water

Other Activities:

• breakfast
• familial eyeglass maintenance

Things I've Listened To:

• SOME ENCHANTED EVENING - Blue Oyster Cult

Mini Challenges Completed:

• Intro Meme (see below)
• Book and Snack Challenge

Hour Three

I'm mostly awake now, though I'm still moving more slowly than I'd like.

I decided to start with the penultimate novella in THE ASSASSIN'S BLADE by Sarah J. Maas. I'll probably finish it during my next reading session, then move along to some X-Men comics while I decide if I want to read more prose or tackle some comics from my library stack. I'm gonna pause to take a shower, too, after which I'll likely lacquer my nails while I read some more.

Time Spent Reading: 1 Hour, 11 minutes

Currently Reading:

• "The Assassin and the Underworld" by Sarah J. Maas

Things I've Finished:

• nothing so far

Things I've Eaten:

• one bowl of Minions cereal
• two cups coffee
• two glasses of water

Other Activities:

• breakfast
• familial eyeglass maintenance

Things I've Listened To:

• nothing yet

Mini Challenges Completed:

• Intro Meme (see below)

Hour One

I woke up a bare fifteen minutes before the start time, so I'm a little bit fuzzy right now. Once I've fully woken up, eaten my breakfast, and settled in to read, I'll start using this handy-dandy questionnaire to track my personal progress:

Time Spent Reading: 0 Hours, 0 minutes (because it's Hour One, y'all. And, as previously stated, I'm still fuzzy.)

Currently Reading:

• "The Assassin and the Underworld" by Sarah J. Maas (unless I'm not; it's so early that I haven't fully decided)

Things I've Finished:

• nothing so far

Things I've Eaten:

• nothing so far

Other Activities:

• sleep!

Things I've Listened To:

• nothing yet

Mini Challenges Completed:

• Intro Meme (see below)

Intro Meme

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

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? I'm gonna binge on the X-Men, baby.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? Corn puffs! I hadn't had 'em in years, but they were on sale at Giant Tiger and it was all I could do not to eat them last night.

4) Tell us a little something about yourself! I can't help but find four-leaf clovers, even when I tell myself I've abandoned the hunt.

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 seventeenth readathon (and I'm inclined to be cocky about it). I'm looking forward to bragging when it's over, and also to reading lots and lots and lots of comics.