24 Hour Read-a-thon: Wrap Up

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?
Hour 21 - I had just woken up from an impromptu nap and was having a hard time wanting to stick my nose back in a book.

2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley was hilarious, and each essay was fairly short, which kept things moving along. Also, if you like ancient mythology, all of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson & the Olympians series is a blast, and as children's books, just fly by.

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
No, it was very well run.

4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
Seperate posts each hour (on Dewey's site, as well as my own and of other readers) made it easy to know what was currently going on.

5. How many books did you read?
5+

6. What were the names of the books you read?
Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk, I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley, The Titan’s Curse (Book 3 of the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series) by Rick Riordan, Red Eye, Black Eye by K. Thor Jensen, Queen of Babble in the Big City by Meg Cabot, Best Food Writing 2007 (haven't finished it yet)

7. Which book did you enjoy most?
I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley - I will now be recommending/buying copies of it for everyone I know.

8. Which did you enjoy least?
Red Eye, Black Eye by K. Thor Jensen - random musings of the author as he roamed around the country. It felt like there was a lot left out (because, obviously, 60 days on the road would leave you with a lot of material).

Also, Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk, which is now my least favorite work of his... although, I still enjoyed it for the Chuck-isms - the pacing, the rhythm, the language...

9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
I was a Reader, and was quite focused on my books.

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 like to, but if it's in October, school might be taking up too much time - maybe as a Cheerleader.

24 Hour Read-a-thon: Hour 24

Whew! I made it (and it looks like a good chunk of other people did too!) This was a very light hour, as I'm just exhausted now. Time for a nap, then a shower, then vegging out for the rest of the day.

This hour
Book read: Best Food Writing 2007
Pages read: 15
Time spent reading: 20
Food and drink consumed:

Total
Books read: Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk, I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley, The Titan’s Curse (Book 3 of the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series) by Rick Riordan, Red Eye, Black Eye by K. Thor Jensen, Queen of Babble in the Big City by Meg Cabot, Best Food Writing 2007
Pages read: 1385
Time spent reading: 16 hours 23 minutes

24 Hour Read-a-thon: Hour 23

Almost there!

This hour
Book read: Queen of Babble in the Big City by Meg Cabot, Best Food Writing 2007
Pages read: 46
Time spent reading: 41
Food and drink consumed: popcorn, water

Total
Books read: Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk, I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley, The Titan’s Curse (Book 3 of the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series) by Rick Riordan, Red Eye, Black Eye by K. Thor Jensen, Queen of Babble in the Big City by Meg Cabot, Best Food Writing 2007
Pages read: 1370
Time spent reading: 16 hours 3 minutes

24 Hour Read-a-thon: Hour 22

This hour
Book read: Queen of Babble in the Big City by Meg Cabot
Pages read: 69
Time spent reading: 53
Food and drink consumed:

Total
Books read: Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk, I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley, The Titan’s Curse (Book 3 of the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series) by Rick Riordan, Red Eye, Black Eye by K. Thor Jensen, Queen of Babble in the Big City by Meg Cabot
Pages read: 1324
Time spent reading: 15 hours 22 minutes

24 Hour Read-a-thon: Hour 21

This hour
Book read: Queen of Babble in the Big City by Meg Cabot
Pages read: 18
Time spent reading: 17
Food and drink consumed:

Total
Books read: Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk, I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley, The Titan’s Curse (Book 3 of the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series) by Rick Riordan, Red Eye, Black Eye by K. Thor Jensen, Queen of Babble in the Big City by Meg Cabot
Pages read: 1255
Time spent reading: 14 hours 29 minutes

24 Hour Read-a-thon: Hour 20

This hour
Book read: Queen of Babble in the Big City by Meg Cabot
Pages read: 32
Time spent reading:30
Food and drink consumed:

Total
Books read: Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk, I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley, The Titan’s Curse (Book 3 of the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series) by Rick Riordan, Red Eye, Black Eye by K. Thor Jensen, Queen of Babble in the Big City by Meg Cabot
Pages read: 1237
Time spent reading: 14 hours 12 minutes

You fall asleep for half an hour, and then exciting things like winning a box full of books happens... ;)

24 Hour Read-a-thon: Hour 19

This hour
Book read: Queen of Babble in the Big City by Meg Cabot
Pages read: 71
Time spent reading: 55
Food and drink consumed: iced coffee and macadamia nut cookie

Total
Books read: Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk, I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley, The Titan’s Curse (Book 3 of the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series) by Rick Riordan, Red Eye, Black Eye by K. Thor Jensen, Queen of Babble in the Big City by Meg Cabot
Pages read: 1205
Time spent reading: 13 hours 42 minutes

24 Hour Read-a-thon: Hour 18

This hour
Book read: Queen of Babble in the Big City by Meg Cabot
Pages read: 52
Time spent reading: 42
Food and drink consumed:

Total
Books read: Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk, I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley, The Titan’s Curse (Book 3 of the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series) by Rick Riordan, Red Eye, Black Eye by K. Thor Jensen, Queen of Babble in the Big City by Meg Cabot
Pages read: 1134
Time spent reading: 12 hours 47 minutes

24 Hour Read-a-thon: Hour 17

This hour
Book read: Queen of Babble in the Big City by Meg Cabot
Pages read: 42
Time spent reading: 42
Food and drink consumed: Peppermint stick ice cream

Total
Books read: Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk, I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley, The Titan’s Curse (Book 3 of the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series) by Rick Riordan, Red Eye, Black Eye by K. Thor Jensen, Queen of Babble in the Big City by Meg Cabot
Pages read: 1082
Time spent reading: 12 hours 5 minutes

24 Hour Read-a-thon: Hour 16

This hour
Book read: Red Eye, Black Eye by K. Thor Jensen
Pages read: 242
Time spent reading: 42
Food and drink consumed: iced pomegranate green tea

Total
Books read: Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk, I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley, The Titan’s Curse (Book 3 of the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series) by Rick Riordan, Red Eye, Black Eye by K. Thor Jensen
Pages read: 1040
Time spent reading: 11 hours 23 minutes

24 Hour Read-a-thon: Hour 15

This hour
Book read: Red Eye, Black Eye by K. Thor Jensen
Pages read: 62
Time spent reading: 12 (graphic novel pages fly by)
Food and drink consumed:

Total
Books read: Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk, I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley, The Titan’s Curse (Book 3 of the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series) by Rick Riordan, Red Eye, Black Eye by K. Thor Jensen
Pages read: 798
Time spent reading: 10 hours 41 minutes

Mostly, though, I've been trying to visit as many blogs as possible.

24 Hour Read-a-thon: Hour 14

This hour
Book read: The Titan’s Curse (Book 3 of the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series) by Rick Riordan
Pages read: 71
Time spent reading: 56
Food and drink consumed: more potato chips, water

Total
Books read: Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk, I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley, The Titan’s Curse (Book 3 of the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series) by Rick Riordan
Pages read: 736
Time spent reading: 10 hours 29 minutes

This hour's mini-challenge is to learn 5 interesting facts about the place where your current book takes place. Since I just finished The Titan's Curse, I'll take a look at Mount Olympus (although in these books, Mount Olympus can be found at the 600th floor of the Empire State building in New York...)

-Mount Olympus is the highest mountain in Greece, and it is amongst the highest mountains in all of Europe.
-Mount Olympus is noted for its very rich flora.
-Any climb to Mount Olympus starts from the town of Litochoro, which took the name City of Gods because of its location on the roots of the mountain.
-In the Iliad, Zeus says that if he willed, he could hang Earth and Sea from a pinnacle of Olympus.
-It was an abode of perfect blessedness:
"No wind ever shakes the untroubled peace of Olympus; no rain ever falls there, or snow; but the cloudless firmament stretches around it on all sides and the white glory of sunshine is diffused upon its walls" - Homer

24 Hour Read-a-thon: Hour 13

This hour
Book read: The Titan’s Curse (Book 3 of the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series) by Rick Riordan
Pages read: 65
Time spent reading: 45
Food and drink consumed: water

Total
Books read: Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk, I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley, The Titan’s Curse (Book 3 of the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series) by Rick Riordan
Pages read: 665
Time spent reading: 9 hours 33 minutes

And while reading The Titan's Curse, I almost spit out the water I was drinking when the heroes end up at the Hoover Dam. When I was in middle school, my whole family (everyone on my dad's side) took a trip to Las Vegas, including a trip to the Hoover Dam. And the funniest part was that my cousin didn't want to go on the tour, so he went right to the cafeteria (called the Snacketeria there) and bought a hot dog. And what came with that purchase? A bumper sticker that read "I got a dam dog at the Hoover dam."

From The Titan's Curse:

“Let us find the dam snack bar,” Zoe said. “We should eat while we can.”

Grover cracked a smile. “The dam snack bar?”

Zoe blinked. “Yes. What is funny?”

“Nothing,” Grover said, trying to keep a straight face. “I could use some dam French fries.”

Even Thalia smiled at that. “And I need to use the dam restroom.”

“And I want to use the dam water fountain,” Grover said.

“And…” Thalia tried to catch her breath. “I want to buy a dam T-shirt.”

24 Hour Read-a-thon: Hour 12

This hour
Book read: The Titan’s Curse (Book 3 of the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series) by Rick Riordan
Pages read: 46
Time spent reading:33
Food and drink consumed:

Total
Books read: Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk, I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley, The Titan’s Curse (Book 3 of the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series) by Rick Riordan
Pages read: 600
Time spent reading: 8 hours 48 minutes

And Vasily's mini-challenge this hour is to find a poem and post it. This is one of my favorites, from the appendix of Mark Z. Danielewski's amazing novel "House of Leaves."

You shall be my roots and
I will be your shade,
Though the sun burns my leaves.

You shall quench my thirst and
I will feed you fruit,
Though time takes my seed.

And when I'm lost and can tell nothing of this earth,
You will give me hope.

And my voice you will always hear.
And my hand you will always have.

For I will shelter you.
And I will comfort you.
And even when we are nothing left,
Not even in death,
I will remember you.

24 Hour Read-a-thon: Hour 11

This hour
Book read: The Titan’s Curse (Book 3 of the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series) by Rick Riordan
Pages read: 66
Time spent reading: 50 minutes
Food and drink consumed:

Total
Books read: Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk, I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley, The Titan’s Curse (Book 3 of the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series) by Rick Riordan
Pages read: 554
Time spent reading: 8 hours 15 minutes

This hour's mini-challenge is Mid-Event survey:
1. What are you reading right now?
The Titan’s Curse (Book 3 of the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series) by Rick Riordan - a great children's series

2. How many books have you read so far?
On my third!

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?
Red Eye, Black Eye, a graphic novel by K. Thor Jensen that I grabbed from my school's "Diversions" collection. It looks really interesting, and I should be able to fly through it.

4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day?
Ha, no. Although, I suppose, my school readings might suffer a little tomorrow.

5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?
The only interruptions I've had have really been more of annoyances - I have a ton of fruit flies in my apartment right now from our indoor herb garden. Know a good way to get rid of fruit flies? Other than that, my roommate is out, and for once, my pet bird is being quiet.

6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?
How fast it's going by. It's really been 11 hours?

7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
Nope (not yet, at least... maybe after I've slept...)

8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year?
Again, I'm going to need some sleep to gain perspective on this... ;)

9. Are you getting tired yet?
Can you tell?

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?
Picking different genres is a great way to keep interested, and children's books (like, the level before YA) or YA books are fast reads and can be quite captivating.

24 Hour Read-a-thon: Hour 10

This hour
Book read: The Titan’s Curse (Book 3 of the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series) by Rick Riordan
Pages read: 62
Time spent reading: 48 minutes
Food and drink consumed: macadamia nut cookie, iced coffee

Total
Books read: Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk, I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley, The Titan’s Curse (Book 3 of the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series) by Rick Riordan
Pages read: 488
Time spent reading: 7 hours 25 minutes

24 Hour Read-a-thon: Hour 9

This hour
Book read: I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley
Pages read: 18
Time spent reading: 14 minutes
Food and drink consumed: brie and crackers, water

Total
Books read: Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk, I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley
Pages read: 426
Time spent reading: 6 hours 37 minutes

24 Hour Read-a-thon: Hour 8

This hour
Book read: I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley
Pages read: 52
Time spent reading: 50 minutes
Food and drink consumed:

Total
Books read: Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk, I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley
Pages read: 408
Time spent reading: 6 hours 23 minutes

Best quote of the hour? "In my lame pescetarian defense, it's very hard to be a girl and say you won't eat something. Refuse one plate of bacon-wrapped pork rinds and you're an anorexic. Accept them and you're on Atkins. Excuse yourself to go to the bathroom and you're bulimic. Best to keep perfectly still and bring an IV of fluids with you to dinner."

24 Hour Read-a-thon: Hour 7

This hour
Book read: I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley
Pages read: 46
Time spent reading: 50 minutes
Food and drink consumed:

Total
Books read: Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk, I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley
Pages read: 356
Time spent reading: 5 hours 33 minutes

Best quote of the hour: "Life starts out with everyone clapping when you take a poo and goes downhill from there."

24 Hour Read-a-thon: Hour 6

This hour
Book read: I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley
Pages read: 29
Time spent reading: 30
Food and drink consumed: strawberry lemon bars, iced pomegranate green tea

Total
Books read: Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk, I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley
Pages read: 310
Time spent reading: 4 hours 43 minutes