Read-a-thon, continued
Apr. 10th, 2011 01:18 am01:20: Earlier I posted a picture of one of my companions. Here's another: Archimedes the Owl.

Still working on Gentlemen and Players. Suspecting what the plot twist about to happen is going to be. Feeling like this is going quite slowly. I'd like to read about eight books, altogether...
02:37: Finished up Gentlemen and Players, review here. Found it very predictable -- disappointing, since I normally find Joanne Harris' work solid and satisfying. Not sure what next -- it's a bit early for me to dip into the children's books, especially since I seem to have woken up a bit.
03:42: It's late. I'm trying to restrain the desire to send my girlfriend really sappy texts about how much I miss her. I'm reading The Ghost Wore Yellow Socks (Josh Lanyon) and wondering how (not if) the main characters are going to get together.
I'm also feeling a bit lonely, since my IM buddies are all either so absorbed in books they're not interested anymore, or asleep. Bed isn't really looking that tempting, though.
04:53: Finished another book, The Ghost Wore Yellow Socks, review here. Parts of it made me giggle, but it was quite sweet in places, too. Not sure what I'm gonna read now.
05:40: Reading The Little White Horse (Elizabeth Goudge), which is nice. Just got a couple of snacks and splashed cold water over myself to wake myself up a bit. It worked! For a while, at least.
06:59: Still reading The Little White Horse. So very very sleepy.
07:56: Finished reading The Little White Horse. Review here.
09:35: Now reading A Kiss Before the Apocalypse (Thomas E. Sniegoski). Keeping me awake much better than The Little White Horse: I might even dare to lie down.
10:30: Done, and review posted. I need to get reading again fast. I just took a break to eat breakfast, and now I'm nodding off again. The Neverending Story (Michael Ende), now, I think.
11:50: We're almost there. I'm reading The Neverending Story, as I thought, but it's quite slow going, because I'm so tired.
12:30:: I'm not going to finish The Neverending Story before the end of the thon, but I'll probably keep reading this afternoon -- I'm at my parents' house, there's not much else I can do! Anyway, here is the last mini-challenge...
1. Which hour was most daunting for you? What was 7am-9am to me, I think.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? That really depends on what an individual reader likes, though, doesn't it? If you like mystery stories, like I do, you might enjoy Josh Lanyon's LGBT romance/mystery books, or the story of an ex-angel turned private eye, A Kiss Before the Apocalypse and its sequels, by Thomas E. Sniegoski.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Not really, I didn't feel so overwhelmed by links and such as I did last time. But that could just be experience... To be honest, I didn't participate much in stuff like the mini-challenges, this time. I didn't interact with people as much. Ways to get people connected to each other are good.
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? I don't have anything specific to say.
5. How many books did you read? Eight.
6. What were the names of the books you read?
-Octavia Butler, Fledgling.
-Octavia Butler, Bloodchild and Other Stories.
-Muriel Spark, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.
-William Shakespeare, King Lear.
-Joanne Harris, Gentlemen & Players.
-Josh Lanyon, The Ghost Wore Yellow Socks.
-Elizabeth Goudge, The Little White Horse.
-Thomas E. Snigoski, A Kiss Before the Apocalypse.
-Michael Ende, The Neverending Story. (Not finished.)
7. Which book did you enjoy most? Let's see. Fledgling was probably technically the best, but A Kiss Before the Apocalypse was the easiest to read and suited my mood best.
8. Which did you enjoy least? The Shakespeare, I'm afraid. Me and the Bard don't get on so well.
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? I wasn't. But I have to say I felt most encouraged by comments that made some sort of personal reference, e.g. to what I'm reading, rather than just doing a generic cheer.
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? Definitely, as a reader.

Still working on Gentlemen and Players. Suspecting what the plot twist about to happen is going to be. Feeling like this is going quite slowly. I'd like to read about eight books, altogether...
02:37: Finished up Gentlemen and Players, review here. Found it very predictable -- disappointing, since I normally find Joanne Harris' work solid and satisfying. Not sure what next -- it's a bit early for me to dip into the children's books, especially since I seem to have woken up a bit.
03:42: It's late. I'm trying to restrain the desire to send my girlfriend really sappy texts about how much I miss her. I'm reading The Ghost Wore Yellow Socks (Josh Lanyon) and wondering how (not if) the main characters are going to get together.
I'm also feeling a bit lonely, since my IM buddies are all either so absorbed in books they're not interested anymore, or asleep. Bed isn't really looking that tempting, though.
04:53: Finished another book, The Ghost Wore Yellow Socks, review here. Parts of it made me giggle, but it was quite sweet in places, too. Not sure what I'm gonna read now.
05:40: Reading The Little White Horse (Elizabeth Goudge), which is nice. Just got a couple of snacks and splashed cold water over myself to wake myself up a bit. It worked! For a while, at least.
06:59: Still reading The Little White Horse. So very very sleepy.
07:56: Finished reading The Little White Horse. Review here.
09:35: Now reading A Kiss Before the Apocalypse (Thomas E. Sniegoski). Keeping me awake much better than The Little White Horse: I might even dare to lie down.
10:30: Done, and review posted. I need to get reading again fast. I just took a break to eat breakfast, and now I'm nodding off again. The Neverending Story (Michael Ende), now, I think.
11:50: We're almost there. I'm reading The Neverending Story, as I thought, but it's quite slow going, because I'm so tired.
12:30:: I'm not going to finish The Neverending Story before the end of the thon, but I'll probably keep reading this afternoon -- I'm at my parents' house, there's not much else I can do! Anyway, here is the last mini-challenge...
1. Which hour was most daunting for you? What was 7am-9am to me, I think.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? That really depends on what an individual reader likes, though, doesn't it? If you like mystery stories, like I do, you might enjoy Josh Lanyon's LGBT romance/mystery books, or the story of an ex-angel turned private eye, A Kiss Before the Apocalypse and its sequels, by Thomas E. Sniegoski.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Not really, I didn't feel so overwhelmed by links and such as I did last time. But that could just be experience... To be honest, I didn't participate much in stuff like the mini-challenges, this time. I didn't interact with people as much. Ways to get people connected to each other are good.
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? I don't have anything specific to say.
5. How many books did you read? Eight.
6. What were the names of the books you read?
-Octavia Butler, Fledgling.
-Octavia Butler, Bloodchild and Other Stories.
-Muriel Spark, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.
-William Shakespeare, King Lear.
-Joanne Harris, Gentlemen & Players.
-Josh Lanyon, The Ghost Wore Yellow Socks.
-Elizabeth Goudge, The Little White Horse.
-Thomas E. Snigoski, A Kiss Before the Apocalypse.
-Michael Ende, The Neverending Story. (Not finished.)
7. Which book did you enjoy most? Let's see. Fledgling was probably technically the best, but A Kiss Before the Apocalypse was the easiest to read and suited my mood best.
8. Which did you enjoy least? The Shakespeare, I'm afraid. Me and the Bard don't get on so well.
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? I wasn't. But I have to say I felt most encouraged by comments that made some sort of personal reference, e.g. to what I'm reading, rather than just doing a generic cheer.
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? Definitely, as a reader.