Read-a-Thon: Book 4. Do I hear 5?

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Book 4: Completed! I went tearing through the latest Berger and Mitry mystery, The Blood Red Indian Summer by David Handler. I like that series, and this book was a quick thing to read.

Now I’m halfway through Steal the Show by Thomas Kaufman, the second in the Willis Gidney series. Given that it’s just about 3 a.m. here, I’m not sure I’m going to finish this one before I lose steam. These eyes are getting tired, and I haven’t drunk any coffee in 12 hours. But the book makes me want to stay awake to finish it, so I just might finish Book 5…
Usually it’s around this time of night (morning!) that I get to feeling like I’m the only awake human on earth. But this book’s characters are keeping me company, so that lonely feeling is greatly diminished this time around. 
What else I’ve been doing: checking The Face; visiting some blogs; eating a banana, some chocolate, and some crackers; drinking more water
Where I’ve been reading: reading room, kitchen
How long I’ve been reading: 13 hours
How many books I’ve finished reading: 4
Chairs I’ve sat in: comfy little chair, kitchen chair (I’m sticking with the kitchen chair for the rest of the night — those cushy chairs make me sleepy)

Read-a-Thon: Book 3

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Wow. Just read a wonderful mystery novel in just over 2 hours. (Yeah, OK, so it was only 250 pages long.)

Book 3 was The Last Striptease by Michael Wiley. A rip-roaring good PI novel set in Chicago. I literally read it straight through from start to finish (without even any snack breaks!)

And the good news for me is that it’s the first book in a series. I think there are three books in the series thus far, so that’s happy times ahead. Wishing I had book 2 here because I would read that thing right now, but no.such.luck.

So — reading’s all I’ve been doing, except for sipping water and moving between the sofa and the cozy little reading chair. (That’s it there in the picture, with the ottoman that’s not really an ottoman because it’s really a storage bin with a floor pillow flumped on the top of it.)

So far today, there have been murders and more murders in every book I’ve read. And probably the next book up: more murders in there! The reason I think this is working so well for me today is that mysteries and thrillers make you want to go tearing through them at breakneck speed, and that’s Read-a-Thon style. Those introspective quiet novels about family relationships… on Read-a-Thon day, No.

Since it’s still hella early (only 10:20 p.m.!) I’m wondering if I might make it through 2 more books…? We Shall See.

Read-a-Thon: Mid-point

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Hooray! I’ve finally finished Book 2!
Although I liked The Black Echo by Michael Connelly very much, by page 375, I was getting a little squirrelly. I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t have happened if I’d read it normally (rather than all in one big stretch). 
I just now read the descriptions of two of the books I checked out (a children’s book and a young adult book, each by an author that wrote another book I read and loved) and neither one of them sounds like my cuppa tea, plot-wise. 
So I’m staying in the mystery genre. I think. I’m only on page 3 of my next (possible) pick, so it’s still too early to declare a winner in the Book 3 sweepstakes. [This is the part of past Read-a-Thons when I’ve gotten hyper-finicky about books.]
What else I’ve been doing: went to a local cafe; visited the Read-a-Thon page; visited some blogs; ate dinner while watching a couple of TV shows on Hulu; drank some coffee in the afternoon; ate an apple, a chocolate toffee thing, and some pizza. Oh — and I had pasta for lunch. I’m a hungry thing. 
Where I’ve been reading: kitchen, reading room, living room, cafe
How long I’ve been reading: 7 hours
How many books I’ve finished reading: 2
  
Chairs I’ve sat in: all 4 kitchen chairs (one of which has a surprisingly pleasant view [I never sit in that chair]), the library table chair, the wingback chair, the west end of the sofa, and both living room chairs  (only 1 chair and 1 end of the sofa remain — and both have strategically placed reading lamps nearby, so they’re perfect for night reading)
Other stuff: Got terribly sleepy during the sofa phase. Also gave myself a weird shoulder cramp from how I was holding the book. This reading is dangerous work. 

Read-a-Thon: Mid-day check-in

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All the president’s men jump the shark from time to time.

It’s Hour 9, and things are good.

First off, Midnight Book Girl is hosting a challenge: Use books you have on hand to form a sentence out of their titles. My contribution appears in that photo there.

After starting the book What It Is Like to Go to War by Karl Marlantes, I stopped reading on page 6. I determined that this was not a book to gulp down during a Read-a-Thon, so I’m saving it for another day soon.

Then I picked up The Black Echo by Michael Connelly, an author I’ve only been meaning to read for 15 years now. Darn good mystery — I’m liking it. I’m only halfway through — it’s a 475-page paperback. Big books are a silly choice for a Read-a-Thon, but it’s the first Harry Bosch novel, so I’m starting from the very beginning… a very good place to start…

I’ll be back with some stats either when I finish The Black Echo or when I decide to take a reading break.

(Chair-sitting update: I’ve sat in 2 additional chairs since last time. More ahead…
I know: The suspense is killing you.)

Read-a-Thon: 1st book

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I’ve finished reading my first book of the day, and it was a great choice. I’ll probably 4-star The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt when I add it to my Shelfari list. And I’ll write all about it later. I got stuff to say.
But for now, I’m getting ready to launch into Book 2. I’m not going to announce what it is, because I don’t want to hex it. Let’s just say, it’s one of these. 
Also — My book line-up today is filled with lots of murder and mayhem. In part, that’s by design, because I’ve included a couple of mystery authors I’ve been wanting to read for a long time. And I intentionally added some faster-paced stuff to the mix. But man, there’s a lot of violent death in my TBR today. That’s jolly!
What else I’ve been doing: Visited the Read-a-Thon page; visited a few blogs; ate oatmeal, drank coffee, and then ate some almond cake (true to form, the Read-a-Thon makes me ravenous); put on daytime clothes
Where I’ve been reading: my chair at the kitchen table; rocking chair in the living room (the best room in the house during the morning hours — and there’s bright sunshine today!)  
I think I might try to read from every seat in the house today. Why not?
How long I’ve been reading: 2.75 hours
How many books I’ve finished reading: 1
Book 2, I hope I like you.

Read-a-Thon: I’m awake

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Good morning, good people of the Read-a-Thon!

We’re a little more than 1 hour in, and I’ve been reading since 7:30 a.m. (even though the Midwest’s start time was 7:00. I am a lazy son-of-a-gun in the morning).

I just popped over to the Read-a-Thon mother ship, and here’s the first thing on the to-do list for the day (other than: Read):

1)Where are you
reading from today?
my cozy little home in the Midwest


2)Three random facts about me…
1. I like things to be organized. 
2. I’m vaguely pigeon-toed.
3. I like driving fast.


3)How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours?
There are 9 books in my Read-a-Thon pile, and I expect to read 4 of them. I’ve also got about 15 other TBRs scattered around the place, so if that first group of 9 doesn’t trip my trigger, I got back-up. 


4)Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of
pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)?
I’d like to finish 4 books and read until the 3 a.m. hour. (Usually that’s when I start conking out.)
5)If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, any advice for people doing this for the
first time?
If you’re not liking any given book, bail out. Eat as needed. Visit other Read-a-Thon-ers’ sites and cheer them on. 
My first book of the day is The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt. Ann of Books on the Nightstand raved about it in a recent podcast, and I believe she said she’d been reading the book when Hurricane Irene swept through her area. Her home lost power, so she bought a second copy of the book as an eBook, so she could keep reading it on her iPad. That’s a sign of a good book. (Also — score one point for the back-lit eReaders that allow reading-in-the-dark.)
I’m on page 83 of The Sisters Brothers, and I’m liking it lots. It’s got a first-person narrator, and the guys are gruff and brotherly (in the sense that there’s always rivalry, and they insult one another at every opportunity. Since they insult with very few words, it’s entertaining as all heck).
OK. Back to the book. (I love Read-a-Thon day.)

Read-a-Thon: The countdown

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It’s less than a week till the Read-a-Thon, so the stockpiling has begun!

It hit me that I really should take a picture of the stash thus far. It hit me while I was cleaning the house, which is no surprise. I mean, why dust when you can be piling up books and photographing them?

Though the dusting was actually bookish, too. I’m hosting the book club this week, and while the ladies (being in the inner circle and all) have seen this house in a state of disaster, it seems polite to at least whip a dust rag around the rooms before book club night.

So yeah, it’s gonna be a good week ahead: book club night, then Read-a-Thon day. Things are good around here.

Read-a-Thon on the horizon

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Every time I walk past a little cafe in my town, I think of the Read-a-Thon–because usually I go there on Read-a-Thon day, twice a year. I sit outside at a charming little table and drink coffee and eat something lovely, and I bring my book and sort of read a little bit. But basically, let’s just say it: I’m playing hooky.

Now I’m starting to add books to my Read-a-Thon reading list, because that sucker is coming up fast!
Yes, it’s true. Dewey’s 24-Hour Read-a-Thon is coming to an interweb near you just one month from now.
Saturday, October 22.
Guys, mark your calendar and cancel everything else that day. We gots reading to do.

Read-a-Thon: Sleep

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Once upon a time, this here person would stay up till 4 a.m. reading like it was no big deal.
Of course, this here person was only in high school and college when that type of behavior was happening.
Now, as a crunky older thing, it just don’t happen like that no more.
So it is.
So I’m taking my slippered and pre-pajama’d self off to sleep.
Here’s what happened this fine Read-a-Thon day/night:
Number of books read: 4
Here they are:
1. Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach (nonfiction)
2. Shoeless Joe by W. P. Kinsella (fiction)
3. Rawhide Down: The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan by Del Quentin Wilber (nonfiction)
4. Goody Hall by Natalie Babbitt (children’s fiction)
Total pages read: 927 (shameful — only 3 digits)
Number of hours of reading: 11
Things I should do again next time:
– Choose short books — none over 350 pages.
– Alternate between fiction and nonfiction.
– Save a children’s book for last.
Other notes:
– I did the usual Read-a-Thon thing and ate my way through the day with abandon. All this sitting around really stirs up the appetite, you know?
Threw in the towel at: Hour 20 (the 2 a.m. hour)
Good night/good morning, all. Hope you all had a great Read-a-Thon!