Tis the season for a Readathon! I am very excited about this year’s readathon: it is exactly what I need to get back into the swing of reading after my summer illness.

Once again, I am going to be hosting the Show It Off! challenge at Hour 19 – stay tuned for that, it will be great fun (again)! I actually haven’t picked what I am going to show off yet, so it will be a challenge for me too!

So, what’s on my TBR pile?

Diversity is key for readathons – you always need that back-up novel for when things start to turn south. This year, I’ve got a few sequels-I’ve-been-dying-to-read, a few for-review books that look great, and a couple of light hearted novels/graphic novels that should be perfect around midnight!!

• Fathomless by Jackson Pearce
• Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
• Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs
• Just Your Average Princess by Kristin Springer
• Angelfall by Susan Ee
• The Adventures of Superhero Girl by Faith Erin Hicks

Readathon Must-Haves

With every readathon, I learn something new about myself that helps me prepare for the next readathon. Here are my must-haves for any readathon!

• Healthy snacks: Chocolate is tempting, but it won’t be after Hour 23. Stick to what makes your tummy happy!
• TEA. At the moment, I am rocking some Organic Lavender Grey by Tea Palace. Yum.
• Slippers! Warm feet are happy feet. These are my vampire bunny slippers signed by Rachel Caine.

Introductions!

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?

I am currently in… France! Tis rather cold at the moment, to be honest.

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

1000% Patricia Briggs. I love that woman.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

The Taralli Casereco Pugliesi – google them and then buy some. They are Italy’s greatest creation.

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

I am a EU/UK blogger who reads YA/Urban Fantasy/Sci-Fi. I lurve meeting fellow booklovers, so don’t be shy!

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 last participated in the 2012 October readathon… this year, I’m much more prepared in terms of snacks and distractions. The computers are facing AWAY from the reading area!

Updates

Hour 1: After 40+ min of general excitement, I am finally reading Angelfall!

Hour 2-3: I’ve been picking up/putting down Angelfall every two minutes. The book is just SO TENSE. I mean, it’s amazing, but Gah! I’m getting nervous!

Hour 4: Angelfall is still being frustratingly awesome.

Hour 5-6: OK, problem. This book is ending soon and it is way too good!! When is the sequel coming out? Tomorrow??

Hour 7: JUST FINISHED ANGELFALL AND OMG SO MANY SHIPPER FEELINGS.

Hour 8: Can’t completely decide between Hunting Ground and Forever, so I am taking a break and having some food! (May also watch some Project Runway, but let’s not talk about that.)

Hour 11: So, I’m fed, rested and caught up on twitter. I guess that means it’s time to go back to reading, huh? Hunting Ground it is!

Hour 12: So I lied: I am going to sleep!! Just for a few hours…. You’ll barely even notice I’m gone…

Hour 17: I’m up! I might not be able to accomplish any coherent reading though.

Hour 18: Yup, no coherent reading done. That said, I’ve sorted out some mini-challenges, so I am calling it a win. 🙂

Hour 20: I spent WAY too long on mini challenges (I animated a gif!!) and no time reading! Going to start Adventures of Superhero Girl in order to feel productive.

Hour 21: The Adventures of Superhero Girl was A-MA-ZING. Seriously loved every second.

Hour 22-23: I’ve made some solid progress into Hunting Ground, thought it is 1000% NOT going to be finished today!

Mini-Challenges

Hour 2 – Book Tunes

Choose a song that best suits the book you’re reading so far and explain why.

I’m reading Angelfall by Susan Ee and the PERFECT song for it is Fallen Empires by Snow Patrol. Take a listen!

Hour 4 – Spine Poetry!

I looooove the Spin Poetry challenge. This year, I came up with:

The Candidates, Eve and Adam, crossed the floating islands.

Hour 5 – Blackout Poetry!

I have ALWAYS wanted to try my hand at some blackout poetry. Turns out, it is pretty difficult… Here’s my best attempt!

Hour 8 – Books on Books

For this challenge, we had to pull some books from the shelves that have books on the cover. Here’s what I found:

Hour 17 – Armchair Travel

Over at Reader’s Respite, we were asked to share a novel that had taken us on a great voyage. For me, the answer was easy: Moloka’i by Alan Brennert. This book took me on a glorious voyage all the way to the Hawaiian island of Moloka’i. It was set at the turn of the last century, when the island was a leper colony. My mother visited the island before I was born and was able to give me some wonderful descriptions to add to the reading experience. It’s a beautiful location and a beautiful book.

Hour 17 – MEME

As you can see, I had WAY too much fun with this challenge. I mean, I animated it for goodness sakes!

Hour 18 – BOOK JENGA!

This was actually easier than it looked. I was tempted to add a third level!

Hour 22 – Turn the Page!

I used Patricia Briggs’ Hunting Ground, page 32, to make this sentence:

“I would rather read than screw up in public any day!”

Hour 23 – Reading Soundtrack

Since I am now on a different book, I can now choose a different soundtrack! I’d say “The Wolf” by Fever Ray is a great, atmospheric match for Hunting Ground:

Goodbyes! – Final Hour Questions

1) Which hour was most daunting for you?

The post-Angelfall hours were the toughest. I couldn’t bring myself to read anything else after such a great book. Took a nap to compensate and woke to tackle two more books!

2) Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?

I did a whole post on this: My #Readathon Recs 🙂

3) Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?

Nope! I love how it was organised this year (and last, really) – wouldn’t change a thing!

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

I absolutely loved how active the hashtag was – I know it has trended during previous editions, but it felt unusually active. There was a great sense of community.

5) How many books did you read?

I finished 2 books, and am currently reading #3.

6) What were the names of the books you read?

I finished Angelfall by Susan Ee and The Adventures of Superhero Girl by Faith Erin Hicks. I am currently reading Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs.

7) Which book did you enjoy most?

Hard to choose! I loved them both and they are so radically different.

8) Which did you enjoy least?

Can’t say – again, I loved them both. 😉

9) How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?

I will take part in as many readathons as I can (schedule permitting!) I absolutely loved hosting a challenge again, and will certainly do so next time.
 

Until next year kids!

• Author
• Recent Posts

Kay

Your ghost host at Dead Book Darling

Kay's been blogging about urban fantasy, young adult and werewolves since 2009. She's a firm believer in the many uses of the towel, the science of deduction and other fandom in-jokes. To support her book-buying habit, Kay keeps up a day-job as a science journalist (so feel free to ask her about Physics).

Latest posts by Kay (see all)

• Top 10 Books of 2015 - January 6, 2016
• Image comic-book-buying madness - December 3, 2015
• Review: Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews - November 22, 2015