Dewey’s Read-a-thon!

Today we are participating in Dewey’s read-a-thon – 24 hours devoted to books, readers and reading. Neither of us plans to read for the full 24 hours (those people are hardcore!) but we will both be posting updates throughout the day. Read more about the read-a-thon here and check back in on our progress throughout the day. You can also get updates by checking our twitter: @AlisonsWhoRead. Let the reading begin!

One last note from Alison D: I found out this morning that I won the hour 18 mini challenge sponsored by Stacy’s Books. I know I was randomly chosen but I can’t help but be a little be proud right now. Go check out Stacy’s blog, after all she had the good judgement to randomly choose me as a winner! Thanks Stacy!

The morning after, Alison D: Wow, I have no memory of writing that update last night. I was pretty out of it. Overall, I think the read-a-thon was a huge success! I surpassed my goal of reading for 12 hours. I finished Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal and Beautiful Chaos, I am about halfway through Absolutely Normal Chaos, and I read over 1,000 pages. I learned about so many book blogs that I’m excited to check out again. I think I might take a reading break today, but thanks so much to the read-a-thon organizers and Alison L for turning me on to this event. I’m already thinking about things to do differently in when it comes up again in the fall.

1:20 am, Alison D: I have a officially been dozing off and realize that soon the whole thing is going to be over and I will have just stopped mid-sentence. The read-a-thon is officially over for me. I will fill in with stats first thing tomorrow. I know I’ve had a lot of fun today!

10:38 pm, Alison D: I’ve surpassed my goal of participating in the read-a-thon for at least 12 hours, and I think I have a little steam left in me. Although I am getting a little sleepy. We’ll see I’ve read more that 900 pages and have about 100 pages left until I finish Beautiful Creatures. So that is progress. The hour 18 mini challenge asked us to choose our favorite covers from different categories. See the covers and decide for yourself at Stacy’s Books. Here were my answers:

• Best Title: Lets Explore Diabetes with Owls
• Best Dressed: The Elite
• Cutest Couple: Jane Austen, Game Theorist
• Most Delicious Cover: Superfood smoothies
• Cutest Animal: a little book of sloth
• Cutest Kid: I’ll Take What She Has
• Best to avoid in a dark alley: In Search of Goliathus Hercules
• Best Tattoo: Walking Disaster
• Best Cover: The Carriage House 

9:35 pm, Alison D: Hello friends. I decided that in order to actually finish a book I needed to spend a little less time updating and a little more time reading. And it paid off! I finished Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal. It was like nothing I’ve ever read before. I laughed out loud several times throughout the book. If you are easily offended by religious satire, this is not the book for you. But I would recommend it to almost everyone else. From the look of Alison L’s goodreads she is still chugging along and finishing lots  of books too!

Probably because everyone is getting sleepy/tired/crazy because they’ve been reading so long the challenges have gotten a bit tamer. What was delightful was this Jane Austen Rap Video posted a diversion on the read-a-thon home page:

6:30 pm, Alison D: I am officially more than halfway through Lamb and Beautiful Chaos. I am over the hump and it is all downhill from here. You may not have noticed this but I seriously am loving the challenges. The hour 13 challenge, sponsored by Azuki’s Book Cafe, was to take a popular book title and twist both it and the plot to be a cook book. I am choosing The Year of Magical Thinking, by Joan Didion, and reworking it as The Year of Magical Drinking: A bar tending guide to get you through your grief. I hope this isn’t too irreverent. I really do LOVE the original.

Neabarabea is asking in the hour 14 challenge to share a quote from something read today. Here is mine:

“It’s hard for me, a Jew, to stay in the moment. Without the past, where is the guilt? And without the future, where is the dread? And without guilt and dread, who am I?”

5:00 pm, Alison D: I’m back from my break just in time for the halfway point. Cheers to everyone who has been reading for the past 12 hours. I am more than a little in awe of you all. I will be listening to Salmon Fishing (again) while I put some groceries away then hopefully finishing one of the other books shortly. That might be wishful thinking though. Here is my mid-event survey:

1. How are you doing? Sleepy? Are your eyes tired? Not feeling sleepy, but that could be because I just had about a five hour break. I’m excited to start reading again!
2. What have you finished reading? I haven’t finished anything yet, but I’ve started three books and have been alternating between them. Next time I am definitely picking shorter books!
3. What is your favorite read so far? Lamb by Christopher Moore – it is so witty!
4. What about your favorite snacks? I went through my whole bag of Asian peanuts – they were delicious!
5. Have you found any new blogs through the readathon? If so, give them some love! I’ve found lots of new blogs that I want to check out. Here are some highlights: Sarah Reads Too Much,  The Relentless Reader, and Estella’s Revenge.

12:15 pm, Alison D: Alison L! I am so impressed by your stack of finished books. I am going to take a bit of a long break now to go get lunch in town with my father. Then back for more challenges and more reading!

11:15 am, Alison D: We are into hour seven and I haven’t had to take a real reading break yet. I’ve been reading for over six hours, which means I’m more than half way to my goal of reading 12 hours! I’ve read 400 pages (300 Beautiful Chaos and 100 Lamb – which is pretty delightful btw) and listened to 1 hour of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. Hopefully I will finish at least one of them by the end of the 24 hours.

The hour seven challenge is sponsored by A Book Geek and is called Best and Worst covers. I’m choosing to look at the Salmon Fishing in the Yemen covers, because they look the most interesting to me.

9:35 am, Alison D: I can’t believe we are on to hour five- so far this is not nearly as hard as I thought it would be. I’ve read 300 pages of Beautiful Chaos and listened to the audiobook of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen for 45 minutes (a nice breakfast break). After finishing this update, I am switching to Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal, by Christopher Moore. This book has been on my to-read list since I became friends with Alison L more than six years ago. Anyways, to catch up on my challenges. Hour four’s challenge, sponsored by Geeky Bloggers Book Blog, was to re-title your current read a new title. I couldn’t think of one for Beautiful Chaos, so I decided to give Salmon Fish in the Yemen the new title: Must Love Fish.

The Hour Five mini challenge, sponsored by The Estella Society, is to upload a selfie, so here it goes. I decided to pose with Lamb and a bag of Asian peanuts, which I’ve been eating like it’s my job.

7:18 am, Alison D: Things are going pretty good. I’ve been reading for two hours and have read 160 pages. I haven’t fallen back asleep, so I am considering that a win. I’m kind of regretting choosing such a long book. I might switch soon. For the hour three mini challenge, sponsored by Book Journey, we are supposed to come up with a menu for a theme party based on our book. Here it goes:

1. I am reading Beautiful Chaos, by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.
2. I would throw a dessert party. The moon is a big motif throughout the series, so I would definitely serve a Chinese moon cake, which l’ve never had but looks delicious. A main theme is light and dark, so I would also serve a chocolate and vanilla marble cake and black and white cookies. 
3. For the signature cocktail I would probably just mix together whatever I had in the house and call it Witches Brew. In Beautiful Chaos, they are called casters but I don’t think anyone is fooled. They are witches.

5:15 am, Alison D: I just selected my first book, Beautiful Chaos from the Beautiful Creatures Series and wanted to quickly post to prove that I’m awake. I kind of can’t believe it myself. The hour one mini challenge is to fill out this questionnaire ….. here I go and then on to reading!

1. What fine part of the world are you reading from today? Big Sur, California.
2. Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? I haven’t picked out all my books yet (I have a huge stack) so I’m looking forward to seeing what I actually end up reading.
3. Which snack are you most looking forward to? Chips and Salsa 
   
4. Tell us a little something about yourself! I grew up on both coasts.
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? This is my first read-a-thon and I’m looking forward to seeing how much time I can actually spend reading.