The 24 Hour Readathon starts in an hour, and the opening meme is already up, so it seems like a good time to do my first post. I’m still working for now, up until the readathon actually starts, but once it begins I’ll be diving straight in.

So! 12.07: Worky worky worky, plus opening meme.

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
Cardiff, Wales. It’s raining here, and a little chilly — pretty much as always, then.

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
Oh, I don’t know, I’ve been looking forward to so many for ages. I’m excited about The Buried Life (Carrie Patel), because I was involved in the acquisition process; also The Islands of Chaldea (Diana Wynne Jones), because heck, Diana Wynne Jones. Other than that, I don’t really know…

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
I have a little packet of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (thank you Daddy) which I have been hoarding for this moment. Also looking forward to when I let myself have a can of Fanta. So sugary, so good. The peach and apricot flavour, if you were wondering.

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!
I’m never sure what sort of thing to share here! I’m 24, self-employed, my ereader is a Kobo Mini called Extremis, and I like both print and e-books.

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 hoping to make it the whole time, this time, but I’ve learnt to be flexible about that. I have GAD, so sometimes in the middle of the night I just get too anxious to read, and then the best thing is to crawl into bed for a while and nap. I’m going to be ready to compromise, basically.

13.02: Okay, time to get reading! I’m starting with one of my more challenging reads, the non-fiction The Humans Who Went Extinct (Clive Finlayson), because goodness knows if I’ll have the brain for it later.

13.38: I’m having some arguments with this book, oh dear. I mean, I’m sure Finlayson knows full well that evolution is neither intentional or directional, but that’s really not clear in the way he’s writing about it. Gah.

15.28: Getting along better with this book now, not far from finishing it. Time seems to be flying by!

16.17: Finished The Humans Who Went Extinct. Must try and write a review of it now, while it’s fresh in my mind. My next read is gonna be Cassandra Rose Clarke’s The Wizard’s Promise, methinks.

17.33: I’m enjoying The Wizard’s Promise, and I must be about halfway through it already, which is nice.

18.12: Woo, finished The Wizard’s Promise! Not sure what I’ll read next, I want to review this first. I might go for a comic TPB, give my brain a change.

20.07: Family really don’t know the meaning of “guys, I’m gonna read all day!” They think I mean, “for a couple of hours”. Ha. Anyway, finished my third book of the ‘thon now; volume 20 of Ultimate Spider-man. Reviewing that and catching up on some of the challenges now!

20.28: Okay, next book will be Gillian Bradshaw’s Magic’s Poison — so far I’m sticking to the original stack I came up with!

And before I get started, here’s my picks for the ‘best of your reading year’ mini-challenge. Best non-fiction, unquestionably Jo Walton’s What Makes This Book So Great. Best character, well, is it cheating to choose Captain America/Steve Rogers? I’ve loved discovering him through comics, so I say he counts. Best cover of my reading year, I think that honour has to go to Chris Holm’s The Big Reap and the other books in that series. Pastiche of Raymond Chandler, etc, par excellence.

And for the six word celebration, hmmm… a description of the readathon in six words: “sleep-deprived readers in fantastic (new) worlds”.

21.51: I have a headache and I’m feeling anxious, which sucks out loud, I can’t even tell you. I don’t know why this happens every readathon. Anyway, I’m nearly halfway through Magic’s Poison and enjoying it — not as much as I enjoy Gillian Bradshaw’s historical fiction, but still, I am enjoying it. I think I’m gonna let myself have some Fanta now!

23.32: Just finished Magic’s Poison. Things worked out a bit better than I feared! The romance plot doesn’t do much for me, but otherwise, I enjoyed it. As for the mini-challenge shelfie, well, I don’t have to go to any effort for that — the banner of my blog is a photo of one of my shelves! At the moment, I have a number of things in the way, so I hope that will do.

00.06: There, now reviewed Magic’s Poison. Girlfriend has gone to bed, which makes my life a teeny bit harder: I tend to get more anxious once I don’t have her to natter with as I read. One day we have to do a visit during a readathon, so I can be kept awake and reassured by her snoring both at once. (And occasionally thwap her to start breathing again, which I worry about given that of necessity due to geographical issues [who put Belgium over there?] she sleeps alone most of the time!)

Anyway, next book will, I think, be Farthing, by Jo Walton. I should possibly finish something I’ve already started or whatever, but I thought something familiar would be nice.

Aaand the mid-event meme:

1. What are you reading right now?
I am currently between books! Just finished Magic’s Poison (Gillian Bradshaw), and about to start rereading Farthing (Jo Walton).

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

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?
To be honest, very possibly Farthing. Also The Buried Life (Carrie Patel).

4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day?
I’m a freelancer, so only kind of. I did take on a big transcription project this weekend, but I got it more than half done in the morning before the ‘thon started.

5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?
I have family, which in this place means interruptions. I just dealt with them patiently and made my excuses at a polite moment!

6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?
I’m pretty used to it by now, so I don’t think anything’s surprised me, except perhaps the size we’ve achieved this year!

7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
Nope. I honestly think most of the things I’ve ever wanted tweaking have been tweaked.

8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year?
Cajole someone into staying up with me. The years I’ve had best results have always been years when I had someone to chat to on IM as well.

9. Are you getting tired yet?
A little!

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?
Just the talking to someone on IM thing!

01.31: Happily embroiled in Farthing. Have put my electric blanket on and curled up in bed for warmth; this is my usual reading environment, so I’m not too worried about falling asleep. In fact, I kinda want a snack.

02.36: Debating pros and cons of going to bed once my mini-challenge is up in a couple of hours. On the one hand, I’m enjoying getting plenty of reading done: on the other, I do have a headache, I do have work to finish tomorrow, I’ve already read quite a bit, and I have this pain down the diodes of my left side… For now, still partway through Farthing, but slowing down a little as I remember everything that happens in this trilogy and wondering if I want to put my heart through the mincer again!

03.44: Mini-challenge safely posted! Whew. I’m off to bed. See you in the morning, all!

10.06: Up now, and showered too, but not feeling so great in general, so I don’t know how much more I’ll get read. Amazed by my blog stats this morning — wow, you guys rock.

12.03: Headache of doom is ongoing, so I think this’ll be my last progress update. Here’s my end of event meme!

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?
The last one before I went to bed — I was determinedly staying up to make sure my mini-challenge posted okay.

2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
Hmmm. I can’t think of specifics, because I think it’s pretty individual. I like Cassandra Rose Clarke’s books.

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
No, actually, I think everything went pretty smoothly this time!

4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
Everything!

5. How many books did you read?
Four and a half.

6. What were the names of the books you read?
Let’s think… The Humans Who Went Extinct (Clive Finlayson), The Wizard’s Promise (Cassandra Rose Clarke), Spider-man vol. 20 (Brian Michael Bendis), Magic’s Poison (Gillian Bradshaw), and half of Farthing (Jo Walton).

7. Which book did you enjoy most?
Probably Farthing, which is cheating a bit as that’s a reread anyway.

8. Which did you enjoy least?
Clive Finlayson’s. Normally non-fiction is more interesting to me than that, especially when it deals with evolution.

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

10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
I’ll run a mini-challenge and donate prizes again, and be a reader, I think.