#Readathon: Master Post

It's here! It's here! It's finally finally Readathon time! I'm in for the full day this time around, folks, and will be updating throughout the day here, with memes and (if I can make it work) a Storify of other social media activity, as well as on Instagram and on Twitter. I'll also be cheering as part of #teamfrodo on Twitter all day!

Hour 24: The End

Huzzah! This is the first time I've ever been awake for the end of the readathon (in the past, I've stayed up late and slept as late as possible), and I'm loving the energy of it. I woke up around 6:30 (hour 23.5) and got in an extra 70 minutes of reading, making my final totals...

Total pages read: 739 total (111 of which are audio "pages")
Total hours read: 11 hr, 40 min
Books read: The Secret Place, Cloud Atlas, The Underground Girls of Kabul, Find the Good, Last Night at the Lobster, Bell Weather
Books completed: Find the Good, Last Night at the Lobster
Total raised for DonorsChoose.org project: $58.25


And for the end-of-event survey: 


Which hour was most daunting for you?
17! That's about when I fell asleep. 


Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
Last Night at the Lobster was great, and perfectly readathon-sized. 


Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
Not really! For myself, though, choose shorter books, dammit.

What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
The cheering! So much energy.

How many books did you read?
Only finished one cover-to-cover, but read some of six in total. 


What were the names of the books you read?
The Secret Place, Cloud Atlas, The Underground Girls of Kabul, Find the Good, Last Night at the Lobster, Bell Weather 


Which book did you enjoy most?
Maybe Last Night at the Lobster, though I'm really liking The Underground Girls of Kabul as well 


Which did you enjoy least?
Section 6 of Cloud Atlas, because it's written in dialect and was a bit of a trudge to get through; worth it, though! 


If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? 
Space out your cheering! And if you can, consider making a Twitter list of your team's blogs/channels; lots of people link their other updates to Twitter, so you can stay on top of them there, too. 


How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? 
DUH. I'm up for whatever needs helping with! 


-------

Hour 17: You Are Getting Sleepy

Ok, I'm starting to reach brain saturation point. Rather than pushing it, I'm going to head up to bed with my current read (I just started Bell Weather by Dennis Mahoney, which is proving fast-paced and interesting enough for late-night reading) and try to wake up around hour 22 or 23. (We'll see how that goes, of course...)

Total pages read: 664 total (111 of which are audio "pages")
Total hours read: 10.5
Books read: The Secret Place, Cloud Atlas, The Underground Girls of Kabul, Find the Good, Last Night at the Lobster, Bell Weather
Books completed: Find the Good, Last Night at the Lobster
Total raised for DonorsChoose.org project: $54.50
Snacks consumed: None, but those promised cookies & milk are happening before I turn in for the night.

Sleep tight, Readathon-ers!

-------

Hour 16: Book Nook Surprise

I didn't get much reading done because I was too busy running around in circles and jumping up and down with excitement over the readathon surprise my husband built for me today: the base of a book nook in an unused corner of my office:

Total pages read: 629 total (111 of which are audio "pages")
Total hours read: 9.92
Books read: The Secret Place, Cloud Atlas, The Underground Girls of Kabul, Find the Good, Last Night at the Lobster
Books completed: Find the Good, Last Night at the Lobster
Total raised for DonorsChoose.org project: $52.75
Snacks consumed: I was too busy gushing over the reading nook for snacks, but I see milk and cookies in my not-so-distant future.

The challenge this hour is the #DeweySixWordStory: craft a Hemingway-inspired six-word short story. I'm a bit tired for creativity, but here's my entry:

The TBR stack grows ever taller. #DeweySixWordStory #readathon
— Kerry McHugh (@kerryamchugh) April 26, 2015

-------

Hour 15: A Whole Book!

I switched over to something shorter and/or found my reading groove: I finished my first whole book of the day just a few minutes ago. I got distracted again after my last update watching more coverage of the Baltimore protests, but then decided that watching from afar wasn't actually going to change anything (nor was it healthy for my overall sanity...), so put my phone on the other side of the room and tucked into Last Night at the Lobster. Which was excellent.

Total pages read: 608 total (111 of which are audio "pages")
Total hours read: 9.5
Books read: The Secret Place, Cloud Atlas, The Underground Girls of Kabul, Find the Good, Last Night at the Lobster
Books completed: Find the Good, Last Night at the Lobster
Total raised for DonorsChoose.org project: $51.60
Snacks consumed: The Beard had to run back to Home Depot for more supplies for his current project, and stopped for Chinese while he was out. Crab rangoons, beef & broccoli and steamed dumplings = no complaints for me. Oh, and an Old Bay beer for dessert, because MARYLAND.

Which brings me to this round's current challenge: Bookish Brews. Here's what I've been reading and drinking this last hour or so...

Flying Dog Dead Rise Old Bay Ale, Last Night at the Lobster

-------

Hour 12: Almost Halfway There

We're almost at the end of hour 12, which means we're almost halfway there! After a shower and a dog walk, I settled down with a cheese plate for a bit and got engrossed in some of the horrible news coming out of Baltimore at the moment. One eye on the protests, I did finish the last 60 pages of Find the Good, which I'd started earlier this week, so now I've officially (sort of) finished one book today!

Total pages read: 463 total (111 of which are audio "pages")
Total hours read: 7.75
Books read: The Secret Place, Cloud Atlas, The Underground Girls of Kabul, Find the Good
Books completed: Find the Good
Total raised for DonorsChoose.org project: $34.15
Snacks consumed: CHEESE PLATE. And some iced tea that I wished was hot tea because it is not warm outside or in my house.

Getting ready for the halfway point, the Readathon hosts have a mid-event survey going right now:

1. What are you reading right now? I just finished Find the Good, and will be picking up Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O'Nan next.

2. How many books have you read so far? I've read some of four books, all of none.

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? Last Night at the Lobster and either the second half of The Underground Girls of Kabul or finally starting Wild or... whatever I find I'm in the mood for!

4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? Not too many; my husband has pretty much left me alone all day, and he's just gone out to pick up Chinese for dinner. 

5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? My lack of attention span: I keep jumping around to different books, but haven't finished a whole one yet.

-------

Hour 10: Switching It Up Again

Holy cats, how did it get to be hour 10 already!? We are on a ROLL, friends. I've been entirely sucked into The Underground Girls of Kabul, which I expected to be an interesting story about Afghanistan--which it is, but it's also a fascinating exploration of gender identity, gender norms, feminism, and so much more. That said, I'm still going to switch over to a little fiction for a bit next (and something short): either Last Night at the Lobster or the first volume of Locke & Key. But first: I need a shower, the dog needs a walk, and it's juuuuust about time to prep that CHEESE PLATE.

Total pages read: 336 total (45 of which are audio "pages")
Total hours read: 6.25
Books read: The Secret Place, Cloud Atlas, The Underground Girls of Kabul
Books completed: None
Total raised for DonorsChoose.org project: $17.70
Snacks consumed: I was too engrossed in my book to round up new snacks in the last two hours. Now that is saying something.

-------

Hour 8: Movin' Right Along

How have two more hours passed!? Somehow that two-hour window between my last update and this one only resulted in one hour of reading, but that's ok. On deck at the moment is The Underground Girls of Kabul, which I'm reading for book club on Tuesday. It's good, and for such a heavy subject, a rather quick read so far, so while I don't expect I'll finish it entirely today, I'll make some more headway before switching over to something shorter. I do want to finish at least ONE whole book today.

Total pages read: 246 total (45 of which are audio "pages")
Total hours read: 4.75
Books read: The Secret Place, Cloud Atlas, The Underground Girls of Kabul
Books completed: None
Total raised for DonorsChoose.org project: $12.30
Snacks consumed: The Beard surprised me with Jimmy John's, and I'm breaking into my stash of flavored seltzer waters.

There's a Treasure Hunt challenge underway as we speak, and I rounded up all three of the books in question:

snow, tree, guns

And Ticket to Anywhere is asking for book spine poetry!

The big house,
the scent of rain and lightning,
the summer guest:
home.

-------

Hour 6: Cloud Atlas-ing Along; Time for a New Book

Phew. Two and a half hours of near-straight reading time on Cloud Atlas (with, yes, a few breaks for peeks at Twitter and Instagram...), and I am through Section 6. I intentionally started with Cloud Atlas today because I know I appreciate it most when I read it in large chunks, but it also takes a certain level of brainpower that I wouldn't have later in the day. I was right on both counts: time for a new selection!

Total pages read: 176 total (45 of which are audio "pages")
Total hours read: 3.75
Books read: The Secret Place, Cloud Atlas
Books completed: None
Total raised for DonorsChoose.org project: $9.10
Snacks consumed: Pretzel chips and guac, and, let's be honest, entirely too much coffee

In the Forest of Stories is hosting the Picture It! challenge this hour, asking participants to find a picture that relates to their current read. Because I've just spent 2.5 hours immersed in Cloud Atlas, this photo will likely be a surprise to absolutely no one:

Photo: My own, taken at Monstserrat, Spain

And some other photographic updates from the last 3 hours:

-------

Hour 3: Reading + Distractions

I overslept a bit this morning, so spent the first hour of Readathon with The Secret Place on audio, making coffee and breakfast, letting the dog out, getting my space all set up. Now that I'm well-fed and curled up, I'm working on Section 5 of Cloud Atlas, which is excellent but a bit slow going. I'll give it a bit more of a push then switch to something lighter.

Total pages read: 32 (print), 45 (audio)
Total hours read: 1.5
Books read: The Secret Place, Cloud Atlas
Books completed: None
Total raised for DonorsChoose.org project: $4.15
Snacks consumed: Toaster cakes, fried eggs, strawberries, coffee, and a jar of water

Allie at A Literary Odyssey is hosting a *really* fun mini-challenge right now on favorite quotes from classic literature. It's hard to pick just one, but in light of the travel I've been fortunate enough to do recently--including the joy of discovering a new town and the surrounding areas--here's my entry, from Farenheit 451:

Ok, stepping away from the computer for a bit now so I can focus on Cloud Atlas. I'll be back in a few hours for more cheering and another update!

-------

Hour 1: The Starting Line!

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?

Frederick, Maryland, where it is a gloomy overcast 38 degrees (hello, Spring!).

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

Maybe catching up on Cloud Atlas for the #CloudAtlasAlong, or The Walls Around Us.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

CHEESE PLATE. 

(See also:)

@ImAmandaNelson CHEESE PLATE.
— Kerry McHugh (@kerryamchugh) April 24, 2015

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

This is my fourth or fifth readathon, and I've often been unable to avoid social plans, errands, chores, work, etc. during the 24-hour period. Today, I've got the day completely to myself, and I plan to make the most of it! I'll be catching up on some reading obligations (book club, a readalong, and two review copies for Shelf Awareness and BookSpan, where I write), and then hope to turn to fun stuff. 

My eyes are clearly bigger than my head.

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?

I'm donating to charity again this time around, but have added a per-book-finished bonus--as well as a per-cheer-received donation! Also, in the past, I've picked large, national charities where my $25-75 doesn't have a huge impact; this year, I'm donating to a small project through DonorsChoose.org, and with my company's match of my donation, could go a long way towards helping them reach their goal.