Dewey’s Read-A-Thon, Autumn 2014

It’s here. It’s here. It’s finally here! And we’ll be updating this post throughout the day (for the three of us). Thanks so much for stopping by.

Hour Nineteen: Update, BIP
Snack: There might be something sweet. Mixed with whiskey. This might mean things are winding up. More of a tendency towards napping as the sipping continues.

Mr. BIP looks like he’s thinking about video games, as he flips through the ebooks, looking for the perfect fit for a read at the end of a long reading day (translation: he won’t be reading anything else tonight).

Ella has finished Naomi Novik’s Will Supervillains Be on the Final? (192 pages). This is definitely her most productive read-a-thon yet (and her second time participating).

I’ve finished a novella by Veronia Roth called The Transfer, which explains the origins of Four and his choosing ceremony and initiation, coming before Divergent in the series (38 pages). It was a quick read and not on my list, which felt quite decadent. And I’ve read Locomotion, which Ella read earlier today (100 pages). I’m halfway through the Anne Frank book, but I’m not sure how realistic it is to think that I’ll finish it tonight, even if it’s mostly images. Still, trying!

This will be the last update until the wrap-up post. Thanks to all those who have come by to cheer and have created an air of community-feeling.

Hour Seventeen: Update, BIP (Why am I bothering to say this? Nobody else is volunteering to make updates at this point in the evening!)
Snack: We are just picking from various bits and pieces from the earlier snacks now, mainly looking for just enough sugar to get through the next few chapters!

Around 10 o’clock showers were had, to wash the work of reading (and cosplay: see below) off of us. And then we settled into true snacks, rather than the steady mini-grazes we’ve indulged in all day.

It’s a tricky time of night to read in comfortable places. We are tending towards the harder reading locations in the home to avoid the tendency to yawn.

Mr. BIP is finished a book begun before the read-a-thon, Kelley Armstrong’s Spellbound (92 pages count towards today’s totals); he’s going to choose a short story to read next.

Ella finished A Ribbon of Shining Steel by Julie Lawson, one of the Dear Canada series (104 pages count toward’s today’s totals). She’s reading Naomi Novik’s manga now.

I’ve finished Joel Thomas Hynes’ Say Nothing Saw Wood (63 pages), illustrated by Gerald L. Squires,  an impressive gothic novella, which perhaps wasn’t the best late-night reading choice, but is certainly a memorable story (and beautifully packaged by Running the Goat). That’s the second of the two literary skinnies I’d hoped to read today. I think I”ll finish one more book, but I’m not sure whether it will be from the poetry stack, the YA books, or the art/photography choices.

Pages Read since last update, 259
(Including Fresh reads 63; Books already begun 92; Kidlit/YA 104; Re-reads 0; Graphic novels 0.)
Pages Read, TOTAL: 1447 (remember, this is for three of us!)
(Including Fresh reads xxx; Books already begun xxx; Kidlit/YA xxx; Re-reads xxx; Graphic novels xxx.)
Books Read since last update: 3
(Fresh reads 1; Books already begun 1; Kidlit/YA 1; Re-reads 0; Graphic novels 0.)
Books Read, TOTAL: 12
(Fresh reads 4; Books already begun 3; Kidlit/YA 4; Re-reads 0; Graphic novels 2.)
Participation Activities/Challenges, TOTAL: 4
Blogs visited: We’ve lost count now!

Hour Thirteen: Update, BIP
Snack: Autumn vegetable soup with garden herbs (the ones which haven’t been nipped yet), made from scratch by Ella last night to maximize today’s reading time.

Mr. BIP has finished Chris Riddell’s Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse (224 pages), which was  a real treat apparently, and he is ready to choose another book, post-soup.

Ella finished volume 6 of Chew (156 pages), which was so good she had to read parts of it aloud, and she finished another book she had been reading before hand, Where Should I Sit at Lunch: The Ultimate Guide to Surviving the High School Years (by Harriet S. Mosatche and Karen Unger) in which she read 167 pages; she’s working on finishing another book in the Dear Canada series now.

I’ve finished Fred D’Aguiar’s novel, which was elegant and powerful, like Toni Morrison and Rashomon in a slow dance (138 pages). I also finished Martha Solomon’s (Ed.) One Kind Word: Women Share Their Abortion Stories (84 pages), which is beautifully presented with honest and forthright commentary from a remarkably diverse set of contributors.

Pages Read since last update, 769
(Including Fresh reads 222; Books already begun 167; Kidlit/YA 224; Re-reads 0; Graphic novels 156.)
Pages Read, TOTAL: 1188 (remember, this is for three of us!)
(Including Fresh reads 330; Books already begun 167; Kidlit/YA ; Re-reads 408; Graphic novels 283.)
Books Read since last update: 5
(Fresh reads 2; Books already begun 1; Kidlit/YA 1; Re-reads 0; Graphic novels 1.)
Books Read, TOTAL: 9
(Fresh reads 3; Books already begun 1; Kidlit/YA 3; Re-reads 0; Graphic novels 2.)
Participation Activities/Challenges, TOTAL: 4
Blogs visited: 39

Hour Nine: Update, BIP
Snack: Herb foccaccia with spiced, sauteed mushrooms.

Mr. BIP is still reading Chris Riddell’s Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse (not counting pages until finished); it’s possible that there was a nap involved.

Ella finished Jacqueline Woodson’s Locomotion (100 pages), which Vasilly recommended; she’s reading John Layman’s Chew volume #6 (Illustrated by Rob Guillory): Space Cakes now.

I’m reading Fred D’Aguiar’s The Longest Memory (not counting pages until finished). It’s beautiful and painful; I will finish it before I choose something else, because the swaps in perspective make it a book-best-read-in-a-burst.

Pages Read since last update, 100
(Including Fresh reads 0; Books already begun 0; Kidlit/YA 100; Re-reads 0; Graphic novels 0.)
Pages Read, TOTAL: 419
(Including Fresh reads 108; Books already begun 0; Kidlit/YA 184; Re-reads 0; Graphic novels 127.)
Books Read since last update: 1
(Fresh reads 0; Books already begun 0; Kidlit/YA 1; Re-reads 0; Graphic novels 0.)
Books Read, TOTAL: 4
(Fresh reads 1; Books already begun 0; Kidlit/YA 2; Re-reads 0; Graphic novels 1.)
Participation Activities/Challenges, TOTAL: 3
Blogs visited: 32

Hour Six: Update, BIP
Snack: Veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, cabbage, onions), two variations on hummus, with Ying Ying’s smokey deli slices (a family fave).

Mr. BIP is reading Chris Riddell’s Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse (not counting pages until finished).

Ella is reading Jacqueline Woodson’s Locomotion (not counting pages until finished).

I’m not sure what I’m going to read next from the stack (love the inbetween bit). Here’s a glimpse at the two books I finished since the last update:

Soraya Peerbaye’s Poems for the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (108 pages) is reflective and evocative. Comparisons are sensorily rich, sometimes to tamarind and cardamon pods (an armonica, whales) and  other times to penguins from the sea and veins (watermelon seeds spat, filigree). Scenes are as diverse as Mauritius and Antartica, with many interior landscapes of memory too. My favourite is the final long poem “Reading the Yamana-English Dictionary”, but it is hard to choose: this is a beautiful volume, which is likely to make my list of favourite reads for this year.

Mordecai Richler’s Jacob Two-Two and the Hooded Fang (84 pages) puts this patriarch of Canlit’s family on the page and affords things-that-go-bump-in-the-night a gale of laughter as accompaniment; he was doing the Lemony Snickett thing years and years before. Although I did read this as a girl, I think I enjoyed it even more as an adult (“big person” who has lost her “child power”). We are passing this book around the family this read-a-thon, as we did last year with Mélanie Watt’s Scaredy Squirrel books for Dewey’s Autumn 2013. It’s hard to quell the giggles, and I’m looking forward to at least one more volume in the series today.

Pages Read since last update, 192
(Including Fresh reads 108; Books already begun 0; Kidlit/YA 84; Re-reads 0; Graphic novels 0.)
Pages Read, TOTAL: 319
(Including Fresh reads 108; Books already begun 0; Kidlit/YA 84; Re-reads 0; Graphic novels 127.)
Books Read since last update: 2
(Fresh reads 1; Books already begun 0; Kidlit/YA 1; Re-reads 0; Graphic novels 0.)
Books Read, TOTAL: 3
(Fresh reads 1; Books already begun 0; Kidlit/YA 1; Re-reads 0; Graphic novels 1.)
Participation Activities/Challenges, TOTAL: 3
Blogs visited: 19

Hours One-Four: Update, BIP
Snack: Earl Grey tea with lemon loaf (from the Moosewood Dessert cookbook) baked into cupcakes

Mr. BIP has finished David Alexander Robertson 7 Generations (Illus. by Scott B. Henderson).

Ella hasn’t started to read yet, but at least she’s awake now. Soon she will be pulling from the stacks (more competition for choice volumes!).

I’ve read half of Soraya Peerbaye’s poetry collection (but I’m not counting the pages until I’ve finished).

Pages Read since last update, 127
(Including Fresh reads 0; Books already begun 0; Kidlit/YA 0; Re-reads 0; Graphic novels 127.)
Pages Read, TOTAL: 127
(Including Fresh reads 0; Books already begun 0; Kidlit/YA 0; Re-reads 0; Graphic novels 127.)
Books Read since last update: 1
(Fresh reads 0; Books already begun 0; Kidlit/YA 0; Re-reads 0; Graphic novels 1.)
Books Read, TOTAL: 1
(Fresh reads 0; Books already begun 0; Kidlit/YA 0; Re-reads 0; Graphic novels 1.)
Participation Activities/Challenges, TOTAL: 2
Blogs visited: 7

Hour One: Update, BIP
Beginning at 8am, there were three contented readers, with stacks of books.
Snack: Crumpets, with black currant jam from the farmers’ market, cups of Wychwood Barns’ Coffee.

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

We are reading from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It’s a dull, damp autumn morning. The birds have been fed, our tame squirrel has her nuts, the leaves are still more than half-on the trees, and the books are stacked high.

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

Mr. BIP’s – David Alexander Robertson 7 Generations (Illus. by Scott B. Henderson)
Ella’s – She’s still sleeping.
Mine – Chris Riddell’s Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse (Purple, shiny, scary, fun: what more could I want?!)

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

Mr. BIP’s – Crumpets (Because theyre dripping with pockety-goodnesses of jam: why not?)
Ella’s – *snores*
Mine – Crumpets (Rare treat that makes me think of childhood Enid Blyton stories about secret islands and adventures)

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

We all love cooking (and eating!) as much as we love reading. Ella has been in the kitchen from the days when her sole skill was mixing, and she recently got her first kitchen knife. Mr BIP got his chef’s papers in another lifetime but now spends his days at a desk not a stove, though he still enjoys the creative side of the kitchen. I love reading recipe books and trying new dishes, though I’m a cook-who-measures rather than a cook-who-experiments.

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?

We have all participated before, and we’re all trying something different today.

Mr. BIP – Often more about cheerleading than reading, he’s planning to turn the pages today, with a combination of graphic novels and novels, with an emphasis on powerful storytelling.
Ella – Often more about reading from the library, she’s concentrating more on books on the shelves at home and following up on some books friends and family have recommended.
Me – I’m focussing more on books that might be good read-a-thon-ing material, not necessarily what’s near the top of the TBR or what fits with reading challenges or other bookish plans.

Happy Reading to Everyone!