Dewey's 24 hour read-a-thon - October, 2017

T-1, 13:00 I've got almost everything ready and am just waiting for my partners in crime :-) A soup's simmering on the stove, I've got our snacks and most importantly - I've got our books. Haven't had quite as much time to prepare for this readathon as usual, as I started this morning helping Mum, Dad, Rebekka and her family close up the summerhouse we've been spending the past few days in. I arrived home at 10am and have been busy ever since, getting ready for everybody to show up... which they just did, so I better get the last things ready so we prepared for 2pm to roll around :-)


Hour 1: Mum, Rebekka and Michala have all arrived, and we're getting ready to start :-D

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? Copenhagen, Denmark. Back in my library after having held the spring readathon at Rebekka's place.

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
Mixi: I never know ahead of time.
Rebekka: The last book of the trilogy I've been putting off reading for 1.5 months in order to have it available for today.
Maria: The Distance From Me to You which I got for my birthday and have been saving for today.
Mum: No clue!

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
Mum: Macaroons!
Rebekka: Macaroons.
Mixi: I've already eaten my macaroons.
Maria: A little bit of everything. Chips, chocolate, grapes and of course macaroons.

4) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today?
Mixi: Wanna make a guess? I'm NOT going to give birth this time around.
The rest of us: Read a bit more than last time, perhaps? Having Mixi's water break 10 minutes after it started, made for a rather confusing start.

5) Which book are you going to start off with.
Mum: A Danish classic: Amiks Spanske eventyr - always good to start off with a short book.
Mixi: Wish Upon a Star - a feel good book :-D
Rebekka: Marrying Christopher - the book mentioned above.
Maria: Probably "The Crucifix Killer" which I've wanted to read for almost a year, but never got around to. I bought it at last years' book fair and as it's the first in a series and this year's book fair is in a few weeks' time, I wanted to see if I should buy the next one ;-)


Hour 2: The last few days at the summer house has set its marks on all of us - we're a LOT more tired than usual, but no way I'm going to admit defeat and take a nap already! We're all enjoying our books (well, Mixi's and Mum's are both rereads, so they knew they would). "The Crucifix Killer" is very similar in style to the other crime novels I've been reading recently, so it's moving at a good pace. It's fairly long though, so may still be the only book I read before dinner.

10 Years in 10 Books
As this is the 10-year anniversary of the Readathon, the challenge of this hour is to come up with recommendations of books from the last ten years. So with no further ado, here goes (a collaborative effort between all of us)...
2007: Garden Spells - Sarah Addison Allen
2008: The Host - Stephenie Meyer
2009: Library of the Dead - Glenn Cooper
2010: Room - Emma Donoghue
2011: A Modern Witch - Debora Geary
2012: Wonder - R.J. Palacio
2013: Fangirl - Rainbow Rowell
2014: A Soft Breath of Wind - Roseanna M. White
2015: Every Last Word - Tamara Ireland Stone
2016: The Chemist - Stephenie Meyer
2017: Waking Gods - Sylvain Neuvel


Hour 3: My book definitely took a turn for the more thrilling, so it hasn't been at all difficult to stay awake this past hour! I'm not even half-way through yet, so am eager to see what happens next.

The others are also all still working on their first books, although Mixi has changed to audio.


Hour 4: Still working on the same book. It's turning out REALLY good, so assuming it also has a satisfying ending, I'll probably end up buying the next one after all. I have another 120 pages to go, so might just finish in time for dinner.

Mum finished her first book, and moved on to "Every Last Word" by Tamara Ireland Stone on Mixi's and my recommendation.

Readathon Memories
Every reader knows how difficult it is to pick a favourite book, but fortunately this challenge is to pick a favourite book you've read in a readathon! According to my tags this is my 14th readathon, so I've listed a favourite from each:
April 2017: Where are the Lions - Claus Tondering
October 2016: Britt-Marie Was Here - Fredrik Backman
April 2016: Attachments - Rainbow Rowell
October 2015: Cancer Vixen - Marisa Acocella Marchetto
April 2015: A Dip in the Ocean - Sarah Outen
October 2014: Reden - Estrid Ott
October 2013: Guilt By Association - Gilbert Morris
April 2013: Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
April 2012: Before I Go To Sleep - S.J. Watson
October 2011: Dragonsinger - Anne McCaffrey
April 2011: Anna and the French Kiss - Stephanie Perkins
October 2010: Page - Tamora Pierce
October 2009: Who Do I Talk To - Neta Jackson


Hour 7
I finished "The Crucifix Killer" with 15 minutes to spare before dinner :-) I really liked it and while a tad longer than I usually choose for my readathon books, it still fit the bill perfectly as it was both a page-turner and an easy read. I've now turned to "The Distance From Me To You" which I've wanted to read for ages, and finally got my hands on specifically with this readathon in mind. I'm only two chapters into it so far, but am enjoying it.

Dad came over to join us for dinner, but he's left again now, and we're getting back to reading :-)


Hour 9
All my reading companions have left me now. Michala and Rebekka half an hour ago (one of these years, Rebekka's gonna stay the night, so she can stay up late reading) and Mum just now (20 pages before finishing her second book! Fortunately she seems to be enjoying "Every Last Word" just as much as Mixi and I did), so now I'm back to reading by myself for the rest of the readathon. I'm just over half-way through "The Distance..." and am really enjoying it. Yes, it's very obviously YA, but with just enough travelogue (even if a fictional one) to make it just my cup of tea! I should have no problems finishing this one before heading off to bed.


Hour 10
This is a much faster read than my last book! I'm on page 250 already and should easily be able to finish within the next hour... assuming I don't get too sidetracked! Then I have to decide if that's it for today, or if I want to get just a few chapters in of a new book before heading off to bed. Rebekka texted me earlier that she wants to finish her book too, so she's reading with me from afar for awhile yet too :)


Hour 11:
Finished "The Distance From Me To You" 5 minutes ago. Unfortunately around 100 pages from the end it had a twist that I thought rather pointless... or rather, I guess it just proved that it was a novel rather than a travelogue. Still a shame though, as it had potential to be a new favourite, but ended up being just alright.

Ah well. C'est la vie. Right now I need to decide what my next book should be... whether I want to go for another new read, or if I should turn to something tested and true. At this hour (midnight) I need something light and engaging, so this is when I usually turn to graphic novels, but didn't have time to get any out of the library this time. I'll have to see what else I have on my shelves that might tempt me.


Hour 20:
Aaaand I'm back at reading again :-) Before going to bed last night I started on an old favourite ("Karen Kurér" by Estrid Ott), but only got 38 pages into it before I had to give up and call it a night. This morning I needed something I could read in bed without turning on the lights, so I picked up "Every Heart a Doorway" by Seanan McGuire which I'd loaded onto my iPad for just this reason. I'm on page 62 of that and LOVING it! It's just the right mix of whimsy and crazy for me, so I'll definitely finish this before returning to Karen-Kurér again.


Hour 21:
Well! That certainly took a turn for the twisted. I only have another 18 pages left of "Every Heart a Doorway" and am insanely curious to see how everything will get wrapped up in those 18 pages. Goodreads' telling me that it's the first in a series, which makes me worried that it won't - I just might have to check out the others after the readathon.


Hour 22:
I finished "Every Heart..." not long after my last update, and fortunately it did have a proper ending. I still really want to read the next one though. I'm now back at "Karen Kurér" - one of my favourite novels about WW2 in Denmark. I only have another 22 pages to go though, so I'll have to decide on another book soon. With 3 hours to go I should be able to finish another 200-250 pages.


Hour 23:
As expected, I finished "Karen Kurér" just 15 minutes after my last update, and as my next (and probably final) book, I decided to pick up "A Mango-Shaped Space" by Wendy Mass. I "read" it as an audiobook several years ago, and have wanted to reread it pretty much ever since. It's one of the most fascinating books about synesthesia I've ever read, and as I have it myself (although a very mild 'case'), I find it very interesting. At 270 short pages I should just be able to finish it in time.


Hour 24:
The last hour has just started! I managed 100 pages in the last hour and need to read another 102 to finish the book, so I should manage fine, as long as I don't allow myself to get sidetracked ;-)


Hour 25:
And that's it - my 13th readathon is all over. I finished the last book with just 15 minutes to spare, so decided that was it. I ended up with a very respectable 5 books finished and a total of 1274 pages read.

Books Read: "The Crucifix Killer" - Chris Carter (365), "The Distance From Me To You" - Marina Gessner (339), "Every Heart a Doorway" - Seanan McGuire (172), "Karen Kurér" - Estrid Ott (128), "A Mango-Shaped Space" - Wendy Mass (270)
Pages Read: 1274
Currently Reading: Nothing