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.
Read-a-Thon: Facebook cheering section
Oh, people are lovely. A dear friend (thank you!) just sent me this YouTube video via Facebook.
Words of encouragement for sleepy book bloggers everywhere…

Read-a-Thon: Book 3
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

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

Read-a-Thon: I’m awake
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):
reading from today?
2)Three random facts about me…
3)How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours?
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.)
first time?

Read-a-Thon: The countdown
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
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.
