Readathon: April 2017 Edition

This is my first Readathon without Murchie. I'll think of him often today.

Hello, friends and fellow Readathonners! The best day of the spring is upon us, and I for one am ready to dive straight in and read my heart out.

My BIG PLANS for today include a couple (or a few) dozen issues of various X-Men series, interspersed with print comics, my current audiobook, and some prose whenever I need to recharge my device. I'll also be helping out on the official Instagram feed during the later half of the 'thon, alongside the lovely Kelly of The Written World, and I'm going to try to maintain a presence on Litsy. You can find me there as xicanti.

I'll also edit this post with periodic updates about what I'm reading, what I'm eating, and what else I'm doing with my time. (Because as much as I love reading, I always do a couple other things with my time.) The most recent update will always appear at the top.

Hour Twenty-Two-ish

My last session involved lots of Instagramming, some TV in Korean so I had to read it, and far less non-TV reading than I would've liked. In the piddly forty-five minutes I actually read, though, I did start FOOL'S QUEST by Robin Hobb for the second time and creep a little bit further through X-FACTOR.

I'd like to get a bit more read before the Readathon ends, so this'll be my last blog update. I'll still be awake and active on social media, though! With any luck, I can make this my second (?) full Readathon.

To aid in that, I'm currently drinking my beloved Jumpy Monkey tea, and I'm considering having second supper. There're enough leftovers to make up a good-sized taco bowl, if I cut my remaining tortilla up and fry it into chips. Alas, I'll have to pass on more of my buffalo & bleu cheese chips as I hurt my tongue eating caramel corn and I don't think I can take anything with that particular texture.

I may watch another shorter TV episode, too. Depends how sleepy I am.

Total Time Read:

• Seven hours, fifty-nine minutes

Books/Series Explored:

• X-MEN (2010)
• FAITH: HOLLYWOOD AND VINE
• GENEXT UNITED
• MY BRILLIANT FRIEND
• X-MEN/ALPHA FLIGHT
• EXCALIBUR: MOJO MAYHEM
• X-FACTOR (1986)
• FOOL'S QUEST

Food & Drink Consumed:

• two cups coffee
• many glasses of water (I always lose track)
• one bowl Krave cereal, sans milk
• three bowls chocolate caramel corn, plus a bunch of individual pieces I nabbed out of the big bowl as the mood took me. I'm gonna cut myself off for the rest of the night.
• one packet seaweed snacks
• some Buffalo wing & bleu cheese chips
• two crumbled tofu tacos with zucchini, corn, black beans, edamame, cabbage, radishes, and cilantro lime crema
• one cup iced Southern Butter Pecan coffee
• one bowl coconut yogurt
• one piece fancy Easter bread whose name I can't remember
• two cups Jumpy Monkey tea

Music Listened To:

• SPEED OF DARKNESS - Flogging Molly

Other Activities:

• ablutions
• social media
• dishes
• generalized universe contemplation
• long-ass walk
• supper preparation and consumption
• Instagrammery
• Korean drama consumption

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

24 in 48 Readathon

I've decided to join my first 24 in 48 Readathon! The 'thon challenges people to read for twenty-four out of this weekend's forty-eight hours, but it's totally low pressure. You read as much as you can in the hopes of maybe, possibly logging something close to twenty-four hours of reading time.

This is sort of like what I do with my Sundays anyways, so I figured I might as well join formally!

I'll be sampling and dipping into a variety of things over the next couple of days, including:

• BOOKBURNERS and WHITEHALL, the two serials to which I've give my heart. I hope to read at least one episode of each.
• YOU DON'T SAY: GREAT NEW ZEALAND NONFICTION 2016. I've been poking at this anthology for about a week and want to wallow in it for a little while.
• HALF-BLOOD BLUES by Esi Edugyan, for the Booker Short List square on my bookish bingo card.
• WINTER ORANGES by Marie Sexton, for the Seasonal square on the abovementioned card.
• THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE by Neil Gaiman, for the Shortest TBR Book square.
• RISE by Mira Grant. I won't read the whole thing, but I'd love to get through a story or two.
• MONSTRESS VOLUME ONE by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takada. I've been lusting after this comic for aaaaaages.
• THE BATMANGA by Jiro Kuwata. I've got the first three volumes ready and waiting for my eyeballs.
• YES, CHEF by Marcus Samuelsson, for those times when my eyeballs need a break.
• UNCANNY X-MEN. Ten issues or bust, y'all.

I'll update this post every now and again with my progress and/or any mini challenges I attempt.

Readathon Mini-Challenge: Taco Road Trip Time!

No road trip is complete without tacos.

The mini challenge is now finished. Thank you to all the participants and congratulations to the winner, Luisa!

Readathon: April 2016 Edition

Welcome, fellow Readathonners and random visitors alike! Murchie and I are all set to devote our day to Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon. This is my sixteenth 'thon and Murchie's fourteenth.

I'll update this master post every two or three hours, with the most recent update at the top.

Hour Eighteen

This'll be my last blog update because I'm sleepy as all hell and seriously incoherent with it. I'll still be checking in on social media until I fall asleep, but I wanna do so from the comfort of my oh-so cozy bed.

It's early, I know, both in terms of the overall Readathon and when you consider my track record, but I woke up a full two hours before the start time and never managed to do more than doze after that. Sigh. Sometimes insomnia keeps you up too late; sometimes it gets you up too early. Either one's about as fun as the other.

I'm still reading THE LIE TREE, but I took a brief break during my last session to chug down a few issues of UNCANNY X-MEN. I expect I'll continue to alternate between the two for as long as I'm awake; so, for anywhere from one to three hours. I probably won't finish THE LIE TREE and I definitely won't reach the final issue of UNCANNY X-MEN, but I'll get some good reading in.

I also paused at the start of Hour Fifteen to get tomorrow's Murchie Plus Books in order. Check back at 7am Central time for my excessively longwinded thoughts on spoilers, Batgirl cereal, and other related topics.

Currently Reading

• THE LIE TREE by Frances Hardinge

Previously Read

• BATGIRL VOLUME TWO: FAMILY BUSINESS by Cameron Stewart, Brenden Fletcher, and Babs Tarr
• SO SWEET by Rebekah Weatherspoon
• MIDNIGHTER VOLUME ONE: OUT by Steve Orlando, Aco, Stephen Mooney, Alex Morgan, and Hugo Petrus
• 1970s issues of UNCANNY X-MEN

Food and Drink Consumed

• a great many glasses water (I always lose track)
• two cups coffee
• one bowl Batgirl cereal
• one plate sour cream scrambled eggs
• dried mango
• mixed gummies
• four pieces garlic peppercorn toast
• two cups tea
• one small bowl triple berry sorbet
• two bowls dill pickle rice chips
• one bowl peanut butter chocolate crunch frozen yogurt

Albums Listened To

• Within A Mile of Home - Flogging Molly (x2)
• Funhouse - P!nk
• Lock, Stock, & Two Smoking Barrels OST
• A Mediterranean Odyssey - Loreena McKennitt

Other Activities

• mini challenge administration
• ablutions
• routine dog maintenance
• second breakfast
• extraordinary dog maintenance involving eye goop (ewwwwwwwwww)
• valiant attempt not to puke (successful)
• Murchie Plus Books prep

Mini Challenges Completed

• Intro Meme (see below)
• Mid-Event Survey (see below)
• Kickass Characters

Readathon: Road Trip Mini Challenge!

The mini challenge is now closed. Thank you to all the participants! Cass and I were the real winners here because we got to read all your amazing entries.

Hello Dewey's Readathoners! Welcome to Hour Five--aka, ROAD TRIP TIME!

We're Memory and Cass, your challenge hosts, and we really love road trips. We love road trips so much, in fact, we want all of you to quit reading long enough to enjoy one of your very own.

Imagine you're on a road trip with a character from your current read. You're having an awesome time seeing amazing sights, stopping for delicious treats, and listening to fabulous music. You're about ready to share some of the fun with the folks back home.

We want you to do one of two (or two of two!) things:

Write a short postcard to a friend (or to another of the book's characters who wasn't invited on your cross country odyssey) telling them what's up with you and your new fictional BFF.

or

Find the perfect road trip song for you and your traveling companion to rock out to as you burn through the miles, and tell us why it's such a great fit for this character.

Share the text of your postcard or the YouTube video for your song either in the comments here or on the Readathon Goodreads Group for a chance to win a set of vintage postcards any road tripper would be pleased to mail to their loved ones (or their enemies, if your epistolary efforts swing that way). We'll randomly select a winner at the end of Hour 7.

May the wind blow through your hair and your car never run out of gas.

Readathon: October 2015

Hello, fellow Readathonners and random bystanders alike! Murchie and I welcome you to the October 2015 edition of Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon--ie, what he and I are doing with our day.

I plan to update this master post every two or three hours, with the most recent update at the top.

Hour Nineteen

Friends, this will be my last update. I'm still gonna read, and I'm sure I'll pop onto Twitter every now and again, but my left leg informs me it does not wish to sit in any more chairs today, thank you very much. I'll finish the Readathon from the comfort of my bed, where my knee won't have to bend.

I've almost finished my latest hundred pages of THE SHINING COURT. My two favourite storylines just converged, so I'm excited to see where things go from here--after I've gulped down a comic or two and finished another, shorter, book.

The comics will happen tonight. The other, shorter book, probably not.

I'm sure I'll tell you all about it on next week's edition of Murchie Plus Books.

Currently Reading

• THE SHINING COURT by Michelle West

Previously Read

• THE TEMPERING OF MEN by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear
• REPORT FROM PLANET MIDNIGHT by Nalo Hopkinson
• THE INVASION OF THE TEARLING by Erika Johansen (audiobook; still ongoing)
• PRICELESS by Kieron Gillen and Phil Jimenez

Food and Drink Consumed

• three cups of coffee, two with vanilla gunk and one with straight cream
• two sesame & flax flatbreads
• grapes
• two cups of ginger mint tea
• eleven million glasses of water (I lost count, but it's a lot)
• three miniature Snickers bars
• dried mangos
• one pepperoni pizza pop
• black pepper & lime chips
• one cup of chai latte with cream
• roasted potatoes and cauliflower
• one O Henry bar
• four Double Stuf Oreos
• fried rice

Albums Listened To

• Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels OST
• Funhouse - P!nk
• Pioneer - The Band Perry
• The Music Of Nashville, Season One, Volume One

Other Activities

• breakfast
• 50 minutes of biking, with book
• mini challenge monitoring/intense grinning over everyone's entries
• lunch
• walk, with visits to the library and the grocery store
• blank staring
• zen-like feelings

Mini Challenges Completed

• Intro Meme
• Cover Escape
• Top 10
• Classics and Comics
• Mid-Event Survey
• Accio Cinnamon Buns

Readathon Mini Challenge: Picture It

The mini challenge is now closed. Thank you to everyone who participated! Y'all shared some great images.

Congrats, too, to Avery, who won the prize!

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

Readathon: My April 2015 Pile

Image by Darren of Bart's Bookshelf

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon is a twice-yearly event that invites participants to read as much as they possibly can during one twenty-four hour period. The next one is scheduled for April 25th, so there's still plenty of time to sign up if you're so inclined. Don't feel like you have to bow out because you can only commit to a small portion of the day; every reader is welcome to participate to whatever extent works best for their schedule.

I usually use the Readathon to clear novellas and other shorter titles from la TBR, but I'm in a bit of a pickle this time around. My recent TBR-reduction efforts have left my list populated solely by chunksters and longer non-chunksters. There ain't a single title among 'em that'll take me less than 4-6 hours. Eep!

This being the case, I've decided to back away from la TBR in favour of comics and anthologies/collections. Here's a peek at my pool of potential reads for next weekend:

Readathon Hour 20: Picture It! Mini Challenge

Hello, Readathon participants, and congratulations on making it to Hour 20! You're almost there!

Unless you've chosen to focus on scriptless comics, you've spent the day immersed in words, words, words. This hour, I'd like you to step away from words long enough to find a picture that somehow relates to your current read.

Choose an image that makes you think of the main character, an important plot twist, the book's theme, the setting, or any other story-related element that triggers your imagination. I ask that you don't use cover or interior art or a still from a film adaptation--that's just too easy, yeah?--but anything else is fair game.

Please make sure your selection is free and legal to use, and be sure to credit the artist or photographer. Flickr's creative commons archive is a great place to search for images in the public domain, as is the WANA Commons.

Once you have an image, tell us how it relates to your book via a blog post, tweet, or Instagram post. If you don't use social media (or if it's just too late in the 'thon to worry about crap like that), you can post your explanation and a link to your picture in the comments here.

An example: earlier today, I read THE LAST GOOD KNIGHT, a serial by Tiffany Reisz. The serial made me think of knights, for obvious reasons, so I hunted through Flickr's creative commons and found a trio of fearsome Lego knights photographed by Andrew Becraft:

Now it's your turn! Make sure you comment below with a link to your blog post, tweet, or Instagram account. One randomly selected participant will win a set of eight vintage postcards featuring gardens from around the world, plus 50 cancelled stamps with plants on them.

The challenge will run until the end of the Readathon. I'll contact the winner whenever I wake up. :)

Readathon: Mid Event Survey

Mid Event Survey time! (Not Mind Event Survey, fingers. Shame on you.)

1. What are you reading right now? I'm working my way through SUBVERSION, a collection of SFF stories about challenging the norm.

2. How many books have you read so far? Three, though I was already most of the way through one.

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? Comics, baby! I'm gonna dive into my Marvel Unlimited library.

4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? My day has been interruption-free. Wee Murchie hasn't made a peep.

5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? This is my thirteenth 'thon, so I've officially become unflappable. NOTHING SURPRISES ME. NOTHING.

Well, except maybe my total lack of a door prize. I won one last time, so my brain is like, "Okay! Gonna win a door prize!"

And I haven't. Yet.

Readathon!: October 2014 Edition

Murchie welcomes you to Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon!

I'll be updating this central post throughout the day, with the most recent update on top. Mini challenges will appear in their own posts where applicable.

Hour Twenty-One

I've barely read for the last hour and I made extremely poor choices as I tried to get tomorrow's (er, later today's) edition of Murchie Plus Books read, so I'm out.

It's been emotional, y'all.

Um. Yeah. I'm really tired, and I can't do words so good, so lemme just say it's been fun reading alongside everyone. Also! My mini challenge is still ongoing (it's the top post on my blog's main page), and I'll coo over all new entries and pick a winner once I wake up.

Like, after I've showered and cuddled Murchie all that. Not right after I wake up.

Damn, y'all. I need to sleep.

I'll now tuck myself up in bed and see if I can squeeze in one more issue of DEADPOOL. (Not DEADPOOP, fingers. Although I think he might approve of that...) Right now, it doesn't seem likely.

Just pretend I filled out my personal meme one final time, okay? It ain't much different from the one below anyways, except I ate two breakfast-sized chicken sausages and read like forty more pages.

Readathon: Intro Meme

Now in a shiny post all its own. This year, I'm going to try to do this for any and all mini challenges that require bloggish participation.

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? I'm super-duper looking forward to A CASE OF POSSESSION by KJ Charles. I adored the first book in the series and am looking forward to more.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? That puppy chow popcorn looks mighty delectable.

4) Tell us a little something about yourself! I'm currently obsessed with Kate Bishop (the young, female Hawkeye). She has supplanted Dancing Groot as my new favorite.

5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? I'm going to try to make some time to cheer as part of Team Rogue--but I always say that and it so rarely works out the way I want. Sigh. Maybe this time, I'll put less pressure on myself to cheer and simply focus on reading? I don't think I've ever completely focused on reading.

Readathon Eve: October 2014 Edition

Happy Readathon Eve, my lovelies! Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon begins bright and early tomorrow morning, and I am pumped.

Last time, I was lucky enough to find a wealth of novellas on la TBR; enough to ensure I finished a decent number of books before I checked out at Hour 21. Six months on, la TBR contains more chunksters than anything else, so I've had to search a bit further afield for my October Readathon stack.

Readathon: Mid-Event Survey

I've done precious few mini challenges this time, so here's a mid-event survey to make up for it.

1. What are you reading right now? I'm about to start LIKE A THIEF IN THE NIGHT by Bettie Sharpe.

2. How many books have you read so far? Five! I think this is the highest number of prose books I've ever read during a Readathon. Yeah, they were all novellas, but they're still items I can erase from la TBR. :)

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? I'm wicked eager for both LIKE A THIEF IN THE NIGHT by Bettie Sharpe and MISBEHAVING by Tiffany Reisz. Reisz is an established favourite author, while Sharpe is well on her way to a spot on my list.

4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day? Nope, though I may have to quit a little earlier than I'd like so I can be awake in time for a family breakfast thing tomorrow. Oh, family. Why do y'all love breakfast so much? Don't you know a girl needs her sleep on a Sunday morning? Especially a post-Readathon Sunday morning?

5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? Nah, it's been good. Nobody's called me, and wee Murchie has been totally undemanding. I keep asking him if he wants to go out, or eat, or play, and he just gives me this look like, "You will pry me off this sheep-shaped pillow when I die and not before."

Never underestimate Murchie's love for a day spent lounging on his sheep-shaped pillow.

6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? I won a door prize! I had this one year when I won three or four prizes over both Readathons, but that was a looooong time ago. I'm surprised and delighted I won something this time, especially since there are so many more people in the pool!

7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Nope. I love what the organizers have put in place.

8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year? Probably nothing? This is something like my tenth or twelfth Readathon, so I have a pretty good feel for what works for me. I always hope I'll get around to visit more people, but I've accepted that's not my strength when I'm firmly in Intense Reader Mode. I do a little rogue cheerleading here and there, and that does me well.

9. Are you getting tired yet? I was exhausted this morning, since I only got about four and a half hours of sleep, but I'm actually REALLY HYPER now. I blame the awesome book I just read. It's impossible to be too tired when you've just read an awesome book.

10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered? Novellas are fabulous. Stockpile them. Ditto comics.

Readathon!

Murchie welcomes you to the April Readathon.

Hello, friends and fellow Readathoners! Welcome to my master update post. I intend to keep all general updates in this one central location, with the occasional extra post for any mini challenges I decide to participate in.

The most recent update will always appear first. Scroll down to see what I did earlier in the day.

The Readathon Cometh

Happy Readathon Eve, friends!

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon has become a staple of the book blogosphere. Avid readers celebrate their love of books by reading as much as they possibly can during one 24-hour period. There are hourly posts from the hosts, plus voluntary mini challenges from various bloggers and a day-long Twitter conversation that typically grows crazier and more involved as the hours tick by.

This year, I plan to read mostly e-books. I've been stockpiling novellas of 130 pages or less in preparation, and hope to get through the lot:

• MISBEHAVING by Tiffany Reisz - romantic comedy
• SUBMIT TO DESIRE by Tiffany Reisz - erotica
• IMMERSED IN PLEASURE by Tiffany Reisz - erotica
• JAQ'S HARP by Ella Drake - SF romance
• FROM AFAR by Ava March - historical fantasy romance
• SLIP POINT by Karalynn Lee - SF romance
• EMBER by Bettie Sharpe - dark fantasy
• LIKE A THIEF IN THE NIGHT by Bettie Sharpe - futuristic fantasy romance

I also have THE SCORPIO RACES by Maggie Stiefvater on audio, plus the first five volumes of CLAMP's TOKYO BABYLON, bunches of SAGA, and the first volume of ATLA: THE SEARCH. I'll turn to them whenever when my e-reader needs to recharge.

Once I've read everything on my list (which might be doable this time, as they're all short books in fast-paced genres), I plan to start THE VINTNER'S LUCK by Elizabeth Knox. Lynn and I are rereading it together and it's past time I dove in.

Of course, any successful Readathon also requires a great many snacks. I've laid in some good 'uns this time, including a bunch of dessert-flavoured yogurt, some sweet & salty granola bars, a couple of mangos, a banana, white cheddar rice cakes, fruit & veggie juice, and a candy apple. I've also got Kraft Dinner in both extra creamy and sharp cheddar varieties, though I doubt I'll sample more than one of them tomorrow. And I didn't include 'em in the photograph, but there are a great many black bean quesadillas in my freezer and a fair few chicken sausages lurking around, waiting to help me meet my daily protein quota.

Finally, I'll have this little squirt for company. Murchie enjoys Readathons because they mean he's got somebody to sit with (or on) pretty well all day--the doggie dream. If you follow me on Instagram (I'm xicanti there, as almost everywhere), you're sure to see lots of Murchie + book pictures throughout the day.

Are you participating in the Readathon? What are you reading and eating?