readathoning -- final update!

Well, it's now 8:56, almost an hour since the readathon ended. I started The Forever Formula, by Frank Bonham, and read 54 more pages in the last hour (25 minute of reading). Only 1160 pages read, far short of my goal...I only managed to read 5 hours and 35 minutes altogether.

Here are my answers to the final meme:

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? not really applicable, because of having to spend so much of the 24 hours being a mother...

2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? Gosh, we are all so different-- but I think short and snappy definitely works best in general.

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? It was pretty good as it was!

4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? The encouragement from all the organizers and cheerleaders was great!

5. How many books did you read? Only three and a bit... sigh...

6. What were the names of the books you read? The Dragons of Ordinary Farm, The Lightning Thief, The Museum of Mary Child, and part of The Forever Formula.

7. Which book did you enjoy most? Mary Child.
8. Which did you enjoy least? The Dragons of Ordinary Farm.

9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? na

10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? I'd be happy to be a reader again, preferably with my husband at home!

Thank you all so much, Readathon Team! It was great fun!

Part 6: Slept until six, which was not the plan :( Finished The Museum of Mary Child, which turned out to be a book that drew me in utterly, the sort that makes you forget you are reading. 329pp/45 more minutes.

Part 5: Read for about another hour, half way through The Museum of Mary Child. It is not quite like any book I can think of. But although I am enjoying it very much, I am calling it quits for the night...I'll be back around 5 tomorrow morning!

Part 4: Half way through-8:11 pm. Read about an hour and half more-hard to tell how much, exactly, because it was so fractured. Finished The Lightning Thief (375 pp)--it was a very good challenge book, gripping without being dense.

Mid-Event Survey:

1. What are you reading right now? About to start either Toby Alone, or The Museum of Mary Child

2. How many books have you read so far? 2. Sigh.

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? Probably The Museum of Mary Child.

4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day? It wasn't possible, what with my husband being away for the weekend.

5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? Every time one of my boys asked for my attention, I gave it to them in a self-sacrificing, utterly patient and loving way. "Of course I will get more milk for you, my little angel," I said, "I know you will be happy to get it for yourself once you grow that last crucial bit of biceps muscle required for safe pouring from a gallon jug, but in the meantime, I don't mind in the least little bit putting down my book so that you feel Loved." Or something like that.

6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? I am really enjoying all the mini challenges and efforts to encourage participants. More so, in fact, than the reading, because, after all, I do as much reading as I can almost every day....

7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? no

8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year? try to not have a Halloween party to take the children to, but, if I do, to make the horned helmet the day before.

9. Are you getting tired yet? Sadly, I haven't had a chance to read enough yet today to become tired of it...

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? Nope, sorry!

Part 3: 1:20pm. Only managed to read half an hour more (100 pages of The Lightning Thief). Am unable to concentrate. The sword-fighting down below is getting louder. The horns are not affixing themselves well to the helmet. In fifteen minutes we go to a Halloween party, with or without horns. Possibly without swords too. But I am taking my book.

Part 2: Three hours into the challenge, I have read for 2 hours and five minutes, and finished my first book, 412pp worth. And I just took part in the second mini-challenge, putting myself on the map! What fun!


Part 1:

My first reading hour of Dewey's 24 hour readathon is done--174 pages of The Dragons of Ordinary Farm. I started at 8 am, as per instructions, but lost twenty minutes to feeding and watering the children....

Here's my first mini challenge, in which I answer Questions:

3 facts about me: I am a poor planner, and am going to have to go to the grocery store today; I have a paper mache berserker helmet drying on my wood stove, and I have two chickens who also need to be feed and watered some time this morning....

How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours? I have about thirty books in my pile, but I'm not committing to any of them--instead, I'm treating it like an all you can read buffet.

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 say about 4000 pages would do me....and I'll try to comment on a fair number of blogs....hour wise, I can't commit to anything.