24-hours-of-bookishness for this read-a-thon. (Note: I’ll be updating this post regularly throughout the day, to reduce the feed traffic, so please scroll down for the most recent updates.)

With a special emphasis on the shared bookishness in this case, because it’s an event in memory of a woman who was all about sharing it. (And I’ll be cheerleading later today too.)

Normally I spend a read-a-thon with whatever books want to finish reading, but this time I’m choosing books and stories that are also a part of the R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril event, all about the creepy and spooky. (My original plans are here.)

So it’s reading on a theme around here, but I haven’t yet come up with a plan for what happens later. Later, when it starts getting dark. Later, I’m too spooked to keep reading from this stack.

I like scary stories, but I like them best when I’m feeling safe. Here are the titles I’m fairly certain will get a chunk of reading time today, over there to the right.

Charles de Lint’s The Dreaming Place
Muriel Spark’s The Bachelors
Ann-Marie MacDonald’s The Way the Crow Flies
Wilkie Collins’ The Woman in White
Kate Atkinson’s What Will There Be Good News?
Suzanne Collins’ Mockingjay
Ted Naifeh’s Courtney Crumrin
Ian Hamilton’s The Red Pole of Macau
Corey Redekop’s Husk
Jo Nesbo’s The Bat.

There is another stack, about the same size, of library borrowings that make shake it up a bit, a couple of manga volumes, some short stories, another graphic novel: that’s for when I feel the urge to leave the familiar stack, you know, when you should really just go out for a walk, but you get all restless with your books instead.

Mister BIP is spending the day with me, enjoying a GW2 marathon instead. Furry BIP is curled as close to him as she can get. (The BIP-girls are with other family today.) It’s a lovely, cozy Saturday here.

And, of course, you’re here too. If we’re already acquainted, I’m happy you’re here. And if we’re just meeting now, I’m pleased to meet you. Happy read-a-thon-ing!

Hour 1 Meme:
1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
Toronto, Canada (where the leaves have turned colours beautifully and the trees are still more than half coloured with their varied hues, and the sky looks as though it will be clear, when it finally awakens)

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
Corey Redekop’s Husk “the story of the everyzombie”

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
Chocolate Caramel Bar from Sweets from the Earth (I am so, so, so addicted to their goodies.)

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!
When I was a girl, I was scolded regularly for bringing a book to the table. It honed my skills for finding ways to incorporate reading into other parts of my day. I’ve not (yet?) tripped when walking while reading with a book in my hand. Currently I am perfecting the art of maxing out my library card and keeping my hold queue maxed too. I’ve learned to love coffee to increase the number of reading hours in a day, and I judge the quality of cafes based on their reading potential: don’t you?!

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’m choosing books that all have compelling narratives. Last time, for instance, I read my first Colette novel. I do love using events to coincide with other events, like a “first” or to catch up with reading for a challenge that I’ve fallen behind with, but often that has meant choosing books which are hard to read, and I don’t end up reading all that much; this time I am all about finding stories that insist upon being read and I’m curious whether that will translate into more pages later on.

Hour 1 Update:
Time spent reading: 0
Time spent listening: 0
Time spent posting: 40 minutes
Time spent napping/sleeping: 0

Top of Hour Three:
Heading into the third hour, I’m going to continue reading Pasha Malla’s People Park, which is wondrously strange.

Hour Three Update: 
Time spent reading:  75 minutes, total
Pages read: 48 Books read: 0
Time spent listening: 0
Time spent posting: 55 minutes
Time spent napping/sleeping: 0
Sustenance: Steel cut oats with maple syrup and cashew nuts

Top of Hour Four:
Gaining momentum: maybe the coffee has kicked in, or maybe the reality of RATing!

Hour Four Update:
Time spent reading 120 minutes, total (Still People Park: can’t help it…it’s gripping!)
Pages read: 135, total Books read: 0
Time spent listening: 0
Time spent posting: 65 minutes, total
Time spent napping/sleeping: 0
Sustenance: Coffee in the Graywolf Press mug that Mister BIP won for cheerleading a couple of read-a-thons ago (Mountain Gems Espresso)

Top of Hour Five:
Time spent reading: 165 minutes, total (about to be cheering, however)
Pages read: 180, total Books read: 0
Time spent listening: 0
Time spent posting: 75 minutes, total
Time spent napping/sleeping: 0
Sustenance: nothing, just dreaming of the next snack
Other activities in the past hour: a shower, much needed


Hours Five and Six:

Time spent reading: 165 minutes, total (I was busy cheering!)
Pages read: 180, total Books Read: 0
Time spent listening: 0
Time spent posting: 195 minutes, total (>30 participants’ sites visited)
Time spent napping/sleeping: 0
Sustenance: just about to have some chowmeinwith fried tofu strips, stahhhhrving!

Top of Hour Eight:
What with cheering and lunch-ing, my online minutes are currently outranking my reading minutes, but I think that will shift this afternoon. I’ve also shifted to Muriel Spark’s The Bachelors, to keep the stories feeling fresh. (It’s just odd now, but I think it’ll get more creepy than odd.)

Time spent reading: 195 minutes, total
Pages read: 210, total (Books Read: 0)
Time spent listening: 0
Time spent posting: 205 minutes, total (>30 participants’ sites visited)
Time spent napping/sleeping: 0
Sustenance: just about to have the rest of my chocolate caramel treats (yum!)

During Hour Nine:
Getting a bit foggy-headed, but the tea will help.  The Bachelors has a sinister feel to it, and Spark’s style is clear and engaging, so I’ll keep on with that.

Time spent reading: 265 minutes, total
Pages read: 260, total (Books Read: 0)
Time spent listening: 0
Time spent posting: 215 minutes, total (>30 participants’ sites visited)
Time spent napping/sleeping: 0
Sustenance: Mint Green tea

Top of Hour Ten:
Even if you’re not cheerleading officially, don’t forget to check out some of the readers’ pages when your reading brain is tired of staring at print-and-paper pages: here’s the list!

Time spent reading: 265 minutes, total
Pages read: 260, total (Books Read: 0)
Time spent listening: 0
Time spent posting: 260 minutes, total (>40 participants’ sites visited)
Time spent napping/sleeping: 0
Sustenance: More tea and raspberry and chocolate rugelach

Heading for Hour Twelve: 
It’s getting dark now, with a murky afternoon having turned to a rainy early evening, so I may have to fight the urge to nap, but I am lucky that all three of the books that I’m reading have their hooks in me, so with some dinner at hand, the next hour should show an increase in the page count.

Time spent reading: 315 minutes, total (OMG, this book is so good!)
Pages read: 290, total (Books Read: 0)
Time spent listening: 0
Time spent posting: 300 minutes, total (>50 participants’ sites visited)
Time spent napping/sleeping: 0
Sustenance: About to have Thai Noodle soup from a local restaurant (thanks to Mr. BIP who made a food run for us), with a bagel and coconut butter.

Top of Hour Thirteen:
It’s completely dark now, but The Way the Crow Flies was so gripping that I never thought once of napping after all. I was only targeting 100 pages in it today, but I might pick it up again later!

Time spent reading: 365 minutes, total
Pages read: 360, total (Books Read: 0)
Time spent listening: 0
Time spent posting: 310 minutes, total (>50 participants’ sites visited)
Time spent napping/sleeping: 0
Sustenance: Peppermint tea with a walnut brownie

Mid-point Survey:
1) How are you doing? Sleepy? Are your eyes tired?
Not tired, but things are blurrifying. I think an audiobook is in my future…

2) What have you finished reading?
Nothing. And I’m trying not to think about it, because I’m trying to keep a variety of books in play as in the past I’ve gotten bogged down by finishing one after the next, but it’s hard to break that habit.

3) What is your favorite read so far?
Ann-Marie MacDonald’s The Way the Crow Flies. So incredibly compelling. I aimed to read just 100 pages of this chunkster during the day, but I bet I pick it up again before the night is through.

4) What about your favorite snacks?
Honestly, I could not choose. Every single one has been savoury and I credit them for keeping my mind on the stories and the screen. Right now I’m looking forward to the brownie.

5) Have you found any new blogs through the readathon? If so, give them some love!
I’ve visited more than 50 blogs that are new to me today, so I’d have to name all of them. Suffice it to say that this is my favourite part of the event: the sense of bookish community. Tonight I will visit a few more new-to-me sites, but I also want to visit some familiar bookish places to see how their read-a-thon-ing is going.

Top of Hour Fifteen:
Soon I will finish a book. There are only three chapters left in People Park, and although I was trying to rotate stories, I absolutely must find out what happens. Pasha Malla tells a great story: horrendously uncomfortable at times, but compelling and provocative. Great RIP reading!

Time spent reading: 485 minutes, total
Pages read: 461, total (Books Read: 0)
Time spent listening: 0
Time spent posting: 310 minutes, total (>50 participants’ sites visited)
Time spent napping/sleeping: 0
Sustenance: Just water, but the next snack is worth waiting for

Top of Hour Sixteen: 
Moving along in the other books that I’ve been reading throughout the day, but during the next hour I plan to bring a new book into the mix.

Time spent reading: 535 minutes, total
Pages read: 526, total (Books Read: 1)
Time spent listening: 0
Time spent posting: 330 minutes, total (>55 participants’ sites visited)
Time spent napping/sleeping: 0
Sustenance: Chips and sliced Tofurky

Top of Hour Seventeen: 
Got caught up in The Bachelors, with the drama of the trial, but I have my next read all picked out. I hope to get back to finish Muriel Spark’s novel, but I’m really looking forward to Husk. So many great RIP reads. But I’ve yawned more in the past hour than the entire rest of the day: uh oh.

Time spent reading: 585 minutes, total
Pages read: 586, total (Books Read: 1)
Time spent listening: 0
Time spent posting: 340 minutes, total (>55 participants’ sites visited)
Time spent napping/sleeping: 0
Sustenance: Fried savoury tofu strips, with aioli

Top of Hour Eighteen:
Wandered around listening to Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book to get moving, but then settled into Husk.

Time spent reading: 620 minutes, total
Pages read: 597, total (Books Read: 1)
Time spent listening: 25 minutes
Time spent posting: 360 minutes, total (>55 participants’ sites visited)
Time spent napping/sleeping: 0
Sustenance: Panda licorice, going for sweets now

Top of Hour Nineteen:
It’s amazing how many typos I make, trying to type a single sentence, how many times I catch myself staring at the screen or the page, realizing that that’s all I’m doing: staring. But I am really enjoying Husk, which is absolutely hilarious, and the perfect book for both read-a-thon-ing and RIP.

Time spent reading: 665 minutes, total
Pages read: 623, total (Books Read: 1)
Time spent listening: 25 minutes
Time spent posting: 390 minutes, total (>60 participants’ sites visited)
Time spent napping/sleeping: 0
Sustenance: Spinach and potato bureka, with rocoto olives

Top of Hour Twenty:
I’m taking Courtney Crumrin to bed with me along with a manga comic, so I might yet add some pages to the total, but I’m reaching my limit and, perhaps more importantly, I’m all out of enticing snacks.

Time spent reading: 695 minutes, total (Nearly all of Muriel Spark’s The Bachelors, 100 pages of Ann-Marie MacDonald’s The Way the Crow Flies,  70 pages of Corey Redekop’s Husk, and Pasha Malla’s People Park)
Pages read: 648, total (Books Read: 1)
Time spent listening: 25 minutes
Time spent posting: 400 minutes, total (>60 participants’ sites visited)
Time spent napping/sleeping: 0
Sustenance: Just water, yawn.

I will make a final update tomorrow.

Thanks to everyone who read, mini-challenged, commented, cheered, organized, WordPress-ed, and contributed in various ways to making this event such fun for the many participants.