deweys-readathonbuttonLet the games begin!

For participation in my first ever 24 hour Read-A-Thon I don’t have much of a game plan outside of not having a solid game plan.  Hee!  I didn’t pick a stack of books from which to choose and I don’t have a predetermined schedule of when I’ll post or Tweet.  What I do have is a an idea of how a few things will work:

  • Blog Updates - I’ll be posting to my blog somewhat regularly.  I’m not going to go the hourly route because I don’t want to spam my subscribers so I’ll do a few posts over the day and edit them to update progress in between.
  • Books - As mentioned I don’t have a predetermined stack, I’m going to go where the mood takes me.  Because I’m a slow reader and want to feel a sense of accomplishment, I’ll most likely be reading short, quick books.
  • Break Time - Lupus = fatigue, which then = illness – I’ll be taking naps for sure. My body will tell me when it needs a break and I’ll be listening. So if I go silent for awhile I’m probably off in ZZZZ-land.  Also, I’m thinking that you all don’t want me stinky the entire time so there will be a shower somewhere in all this.
  • Socializing – I feel like a big part of this event is the social aspect so I’ll do my best to be out and about cheering people on *but* since the main event is about reading it may not be at my usual levels.  You might see me around some mini-challenges ;)
  • Post Format – I’ll be stealing a format that Gail of Ticket to Anywhere has been using.  She says it works really well so I’m going to go with it since she’s a veteran of this whole shebang.  Thanks Gail!
  • Being Charitable – From the jump I adored the idea of being able to give back as part of the fun. I was thinking I would donate to a literacy organization of some sort but have since changed my mind.  Instead I’m going to be somewhat selfish and donate to The Lupus Foundation of America.
    • For each book I read I’ll donate $10
    • For each comment I get on a Read-A-Thon blog post I’ll donate $.25
    • For each Read-A-Thon related Tweet that references @galleysmith I’ll donate $.10

There you have it all!  This is my first official post of the Read-A-Thon and I’ll be updating it with my progress until about mid-day when I’ll create a new one.  Please do check back now and again to see how I’m doing, I’ll be prompting everyone with my progress on Twitter.  Cheer me on y’all it’s not only motivational but it’s for a fabulously healthy cause!

Good luck!

Progress Report:

Title of book(s) read since last update:

  • Hour 1:
    • Shaun Tan, The Arrival (Graphic Novel/Picture Book) – [complete]
    • Susan Beth Pfeffer, The Dead & The Gone (YA) – [chapter 2]
  • Hour 2:
    • Susan Beth Pfeffer, The Dead & The Gone (YA) – [chapter 3]
  • Hour 3:
    • Susan Beth Pfeffer, The Dead & The Gone (YA) – [chapter 4 & 5]
  • Hour 4:
    • Cheerleading break
  • Hour 5:
    • Susan Beth Pfeffer, The Dead & The Gone (YA) – [chapter 6]
  • Hour 6:
    • Susan Beth Pfeffer, The Dead & The Gone (YA) – [chapter 7-9]
  • Hour 7:
    • Susan Beth Pfeffer, The Dead & The Gone (YA) – [chapter 10-11]
  • Hour 8:
    • Susan Beth Pfeffer, The Dead & The Gone (YA) – [chapter 12-15]
  • Hour 9:
    • Susan Beth Pfeffer, The Dead & The Gone (YA) – [chapter 16-19]
  • Hour 10:
    • Break time!
  • Hour 11:
    • Laura Ruby, Bad Apple (YA) – pg 1-48
  • Hour 12:
    • Laura Ruby, Bad Apple (YA) – pg 49-96
  • Hour 13:
    • Laura Ruby, Bad Apple (YA) – pg 97- 153
  • Hour 14:
    • Laura Ruby, Bad Apple (YA) – pg 154- 247
  • Hour 15:
    • Alex McAulay, Shelter Me (YA) – pg 2-12
  • Hour 16-24:
    • Alex McAulay, Shelter Me (YA) – pg 13-32
Thoughts on current read:

Hour 1:

  • Shaun Tan’s book was gorgeously illustrated.  It’s my first graphic novel/picture book and was disconcerting to have to use my imagination more to draw out the story.
  • Susan Beth Pfeffer’s book is a sequel to Life As We Knew It, which I read over the summer.  The city perspective isn’t much different than the rural perspective of the first thus far.

Hour 2:

  • Susan Beth Pfeffer’s book is slow going much as was the case with the first. Still in the information gathering phases post-tragedy. Things will likely speed up in the forthcoming chapters.

Hour 3:

  • Susan Beth Pfeffer’s book is building pace though I feel far less emotion from the main character Alex than I did from the main character in the previous novel in the series.

Hour 4:

  • none

Hour 5:

  • We’re starting to progress to more dire circumstances I have a feeling something horrible should be happening soon.

Hour 6:

  • The weather is spiraling down ward, food is in even shorter supply, and humanity as we know it starting to fail.  Exactly what you think is to happen in end of the world/dystopic fiction.

Hour 7:

  • A moment of happiness for survivors. I suspect we’ll be seeing some giant tragedy soon as a result.

Hour 8:

  • The family endures more catastrophic weather and is now contemplating varied methods of survival.

Hour 9:

  • Chaos ensues but there is light at the end of the tunnel.  Cliffhangerish ending so that third book in series has a place to jump from.

Hour 10:

  • Break time consisted of checking the news, chatting with mom on the phone and talking Thanksgiving plans with the fam.

Hour 11:

  • Bad Apple is the story of a girl who is accused of having an affair with her HS art teacher. Some slightly humorous moments thus far but overall a pretty mediocre story about family dynamics and social outcast status.

Hour 12:

  • Story has gotten romantic element when boy of own age appears to take a liking to the social outcast/apparent seducer of older men. I’m questioning whether that is true or if it will end up being some sort of ruse.

Hour 13:

  • Interesting nuance in the story arose — element is about blogging/truth/behavior and “group think” (pg 130). Persecution and witch hunting by people who feel “in the know” but aren’t leading to destructiveness.

Hour 14:

  • Main character lashes out, reels back in, and overcomes adversity (or does she?)

Hour 15:

  • At only 10ish pages in we are just meeting main character.

Hour 16-24:

  • The main character must endure an act of war and tragic circumstances as a result of that.
Number of books read since you started: 3 books

  • Hour 1:
    • Shaun Tan, The Arrival (Graphic Novel/Picture Book) – [complete]
  • Hour 2 – Hour 9:
    • Susan Beth Pfeffer, The Dead & The Gone (YA) – [complete]
  • Hour 10:
    • No book reading this hour
  • Hour 11-14:
    • Laura Ruby, Bad Apple (YA) – [complete]
  • Hour 14-15:
    • Alex McAulay, Shelter Me (YA) – [chapter 1]
  • Hour 16-24:
    • Alex McAulay, Shelter Me (YA) – [chapter 2]
Pages read:

  • Hour 1: 148 pages
  • Hour 2: 30 pages
  • Hour 3: 52 pages
  • Hour 4: 0 pages
  • Hour 5: 23 pages
  • Hour 6: 37 pages
  • Hour 7: 30 pages
  • Hour 8: 55 pages
  • Hour 9: 60 pages
  • Hour 10: 0 pages
  • Hour 11: 48 pages
  • Hour 12: 48 pages
  • Hour 13: 56 pages
  • Hour 14:  93 pages
  • Hour 15: 12 pages
  • Hour 16-24: 19 pages
Running total of pages read since you started: 711 pages

Amount of time spent reading:

  • Hour 1: 50 min
  • Hour 2: 35 min
  • Hour 3: 55 min
  • Hour 4: 0 min
  • Hour 5: 30 min
  • Hour 6: 45 min
  • Hour 7: 45 min
  • Hour 8: 40 minutes
  • Hour 9: 35 minutes
  • Hour 10: 0 minutes
  • Hour 11: 40 minutes
  • Hour 12: 40 minutes
  • Hour 13: 45 minutes
  • Hour 14: 60 minutes
  • Hour 15: 20 minutes
  • Hour 16-24: 30 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 570 min

Mini-challenges completed:

Other participants you’ve visited (running list from start to finish):

Location:

  • Hour 1-14: The Couch (though I did shift pillows, blanket placement and position)
  • Hour 15-24: Bed
Soundtrack:

  • Hour 1-2: Fuse TV’s Totally 80′s
  • Hour 3-6: Classical music station on digital cable tv
  • Hour 7-12: 80′s music station on digital cable tv
  • Hour 13-14: Blues music station on digital cable tv
  • Hour 15-24:  Classical music station on digital cable tv
Snack Intake:

  • Hour 1: Bfast included egg sandwich, cinnamon twist & water
  • Hour 5: Lunch included roast beef sandwich, salt & vinegar chips and chocolatey chip teddy grahams
  • Hour 10: Dinner consisted of a bowl of Cocoa Krispies
  • Hour 11: Cheddar Chex Mix
  • Hour 14: Cheddar Chex Mix