Yay! Soon the 24 hour readathon will start. To begin, have a photo of our bunny with some of my stack…

Isn’t she a darling? She’ll be keeping me company throughout, even when my partner abandons me to go shopping.

Anyway, here’s the opening meme:

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? Belgium.
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? Hmm, not really sure. All of them have their attractions. Maybe the comics? I don’t knooow.
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? Whenever I let myself have my chocolate with Speculoos!
4) Tell us a little something about yourself! It was my one year anniversary of book blogging yesterday! Normally I live in Wales, and this is the first time I’m doing the readathon while visiting my partner.
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? Last time, I had to sleep. This time, well, I’m insomniac at the moment, most of the time, so I’m thinking I’ll probably stay up for most of it. On the other hand, tomorrow morning we’ll be leaving the civilisation of the internet and going off to a convention, so I probably won’t see the last few hours.

Right, I’m going to assemble the rest of my stack and get comfortable, ready for the start!

15.07: It is occurring to me at this point that I might like to get dressed, on the grounds that I’d be warmer like that. Ah well, we’ll see. I’m nearly finished with Galapagos (Kurt Vonnegut), which I’ve read about 150 pages of.

15.38: Finished reading Galapagos. Gonna go update the books read database and then curl up with something else. What? I’m not sure yet. Maybe Loki: Agent of Asgard.

16.16: Yup, read Loki: Agent of Asgard. Also had some chocolate. In terms of the shelfie challenge, my whole webpage is one since my top banner has a rotation of three or four different views of my bookshelves.

17.18: My mini-challenge is up, and I’m battling a tide of comments to approve while also reading Shards of Honour, by Lois McMaster Bujold.

18.21: Current fuel: cola and candy bracelets. Still reading Shards of Honour. Amazed by the number of comments on my mini-challenge! Can’t take part in this hour’s challenge since most of the books I have here are ebooks.

19.02: Just finished Shards of Honour. It was a reread for me, and I liked it a lot more than I did the first time. Might have to wait until after the ‘thon to find the words to review it, though I normally review as I go. For the name-your-readathon challenge, hmm: Agents of Honour and The Old Ways. Because why not?

20.30: I’m now reading The Old Ways, by Robert MacFarlane, since I don’t think I want to be reading non-fiction much later in the ‘thon! My partner’s been napping, already, tsk. Can’t do this hour’s challenge, as I have no physical books here, and I don’t want to mess up my partner’s books or the library books, or expose them to the dangers of the bunny. Even if it is the bunny’s naptime.

21.37: Paused for dinner, which was nachos and cheese and chilli and noms. Partner’s cooking always the best except maybe my dad’s. Still on The Old Ways. Bunny still napping. Here’s my signed book picture for the mini-challenge — Lifelode, by Jo Walton. Among Others is marginally more precious to me, but Lifelode is signed to me and my partner, which is why I took a picture of it to show her after spending the day with Jo out on the moorland near Swansea. We’re both big fans.

22.56: Finished reading The Old Ways, and reviewed everything so far. Not sure what I’m going to read next; partner’s going to be going to bed soon, but she’s letting me keep the main light on, whew. Otherwise I’m sure I would end up sleepy.

Even still, I can imagine getting tempted in the chill of 5am to squirm into bed next to her. Let’s hope the bunny can keep me awake!

00.07: I’m now reading Rose Daughter, by Robin McKinley. Partner’s gone to bed, so now I’ve got her chair. Not sure I won’t sleep, but I do want to at least finish Rose Daughter.

01.13: Nearly finished with Rose Daughter, and then I think I am going to curl up with my partner. If I can’t sleep, I’ll get up and read more; if I can, well, I have a con to go to and quite a bit of work to do, tomorrow, so I should get rest if I can.

1. What are you reading right now? Robin McKinley’s Rose Daughter.
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? I think I was looking forward to Rose Daughter most! But perhaps A Song for Arbonne, on the train tomorrow or if I can’t sleep.
4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? Not really. My partner’s understanding of the readathon, and the bunny can be pet while I’m still reading.
5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? Perhaps how print-orientated the challenges are. It’s not the only way to go, guys! Some book lovers don’t collect; some book lovers aren’t at home. It makes me feel a little left out, honestly.

01.46: Finished reading Rose Daughter, now. I’m not so tired I have to go to bed, but five books is a good amount and I do have a busy day tomorrow, so I’m going to have a quick shower and then scurry to bed. If I can’t sleep, it’ll be A Song for Arbonne keeping me company.

09.56: About to go to the con! Reading A Song for Arbonne on the train, I think. Or maybe The Crystal Cave.

19.04: Back from the con and settled down after doing some work. I started my rereads of both A Song for Arbonne and The Crystal Cave; I’m getting on better with the latter now than I did before, though Misogynistic Merlin is my least favourite flavour.

I’ll do a draw for the winner of my mini-challenge tomorrow morning and send them an email ASAP. For now, thanks to everyone in and running the readathon!

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? None, I just did what I could and then chose to go to bed.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? Honestly, it’s different for everyone. But maybe Alan Bradley’s Flavia de Luce books would suit a pretty wide audience: they’re fun, but not too heavy.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Fewer challenges focused on physical books.
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? Everything seemed to run pretty smoothly.
5. How many books did you read? I finished five and read a bit of two more.
6. What were the names of the books you read? Galapagos, by Kurt Vonnegut; Loki: Agent of Asgard by Al Ewing; Shards of Honour, by Lois McMaster Bujold; The Old Ways, by Robert Macfarlane; Rose Daughter, by Robin McKinley. And part of The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stewart, and A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay.
7. Which book did you enjoy most? Probably Rose Daughter; it’s a familiar favourite.
8. Which did you enjoy least? I didn’t really dislike any of them.
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? Reader, along with running a mini-challenge, methinks.