THE READATHON'S HERE!!!

Hour 24
That's right, it's the last hour, and guess who's awake to see it?! Yeah, that's right! After possibly the most wonderful 4 hour nap in the world I have come out the other side, I'm back on The Hunger Games, and I'm ready to DO THIS THING!! Pumped baby, pumped! Ooh, and there's an end of readathon survey too! Funtimes.

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? Erm, probably hours 19-23 since I opted to go to sleep during them! Although hour 16 was pretty rough too!
2. Could you list a few high interest books you think could keep a reader engaged for next year? The Hunger Games! And Pet Semetary was pretty cool too, although it's pretty long so I didn't feel that achievementy because it took like 6 hours or something to finish
3. Do you have any suggestions to improve the readathon next year? Make it like 19 hours long since that's apparently my limit? No really, I don't know, it's sort of awesome already.
4. What did you think worked really well in this year's readathon? My eyes, my brain, my mouth (with the food and all)
5. How may books did you read? 4 and more than a half. But if I hadn't slept, I reckon I could have done 6.
6. What were the names of the books you read? Pet Semetary by Stephen King, Election by Tom Perrotta, Stir-Fry by Emma Donoghue, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender and over half of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.
7. Which book did you enjoy most? Probably Pet Semetary, but actually all but one were kind of good.
8. Which did you enjoy least? The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake- it was weird and not what I was expecting and just not that good in the end (although I did have to keep reading it just to figure out what the fuck was going on!)
9. N/A
10. How likely are you to participate in the readathon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? I'm pretty certain I'll participate in the readathon again, although possibly slightly less... insanely. I'd probably be up for hosting/hosting a mini-challenge though, because they seem pretty fun!

Yay! So, it's sort of nearly over. I might post something very slight at the end, but this is pretty much me saying peace out you guys! And get some extremely well deserved rest!


Hour 19
Is that right? The start of the 19th hour? I'm kind of impressed with myself, I have to say- I thought I'd be asleep waaaay before now. Apparently I'm just forming really bad sentences instead! What to say- The Hunger Games is really really good, and I've got to say I'd rather be doing this kind of endurance test than the one in the book, because I'm less likely to die of reading! (Note: I said less likely. It's not impossible though.) Also- it's all peril-y which would be stressful, but I know there are two more books and that Katniss and Peeta are both in them, so I'm kind of feeling ok about the outcome of this one. Unless one of them comes back as a ghost or something, in which case I've got this series all wrong!

So anyway, I'm pretty hungry, so I might have some kind of a breakfast thing, and then I may have to go to bed... I'm pretty tired, much as I don't think I am. It's a very confusing sensation. So, yeah. I may be back in two hours, I may be back in about 24 hours, or I may NEVER be back. We'll see.


Hour 17
So, I finished The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake at like 4am, and what just like what the FUCK was up with that book? I'm really not sure I liked it, and I know it scared me! So anyway,  I then read 2 chapters of The Hunger Games, and thought, you know what, I could do with a nap; turned the light off and COULDN'T SLEEP! I feel like this might have something to do with the late night caffeine, so hopefully when that wears off I'll be able to have a teeny bit of rest. Although that might make me tireder. Hmmmm...

Anyway, page count is now 1221, which is an insane number of pages and I should probably stop before I explode or something. But obviously I'm not going to because of that thing where now I can't actually sleep. Damn. Instead, I'm going to do the mini-challenge from the last hour, which is all about re-reading- I'm possibly not going to be doing any re-reads during the readathon now (although, you know, never say never) but here's my list of my favourite re-reads of all time:

1. The Bell Jar- Sylvia Plath
2. 1984- George Orwell
3. Anything written by Austen ever
4. Wuthering Heights- Emily Bronte
5. To Kill a Mockingbird-Harper Lee


There's probably a lot more I could think of, but I just can't think, ya know what I mean? Also, I've reviewed most of these here already, so if you really want to read a review of them, you can just go to my 'Devouring Books' tab. I would link you to them, but it's like 5am guys, so you're on your own. Love ya though!


Hour 15
The lemon cake book is totally freaking me out, maybe just because it's all late and dark, but mostly because there's this brother and he disappears, but literally, and now I'm sort of scared of chairs... is this the diet coke twitches, I wonder? I don't know, I still think it's objectively scary though! Or at least freaky.

Ramble over. Resume normal reading behaviour.


Hour 13
So, I missed the halfway point, but I marked it in my own special way with a glass of diet coke, and, within the hour, finishing another book! This brings my page total number thingy up to 896, but who's counting petty things like that?! (I totally am-I need the visible achievements people!)

My sort of blurry but ultimately magnificent elixir of life/wakefulness

And, as promised, here's a picture of my lovely nest that's sustaining my reading continuation (I'm using big words because, if I'm awake and typing at 1am, that usually means there's an essay due in tomorrow)

It's really super-duper comfy, and I'm just trying to ignore the fact that it's one-something am and that I should be tucked up all cosy in my bed. My nest is pretty much comfy enough anyway. Onto The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake now- it's kind of sad so hopefully my next update won't just be a sob and a whimper....

Ooop, oop, hang on, there's also a mini-survey going on right now because actually, forget what I said earlier, this is the halfway point! So I didn't miss it! But also there's an extra hour than I was planning on... Anyway, the survey goes:

1. What are you reading right now? The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender
2. How many books have you read so far? 3
3. What book are you most looking forward to in the second half? I literally don't even know what I'm going to read next! So something that's a surprise and awesome.
4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day? Not really. But I had to explain to my mum about 50 times what a 24 hour readathon would entail, and why that makes it ok for me to drink diet coke at midnight...
5. Have you had many interruptions? Not really! Other than having to change location and, you know, pee. But those didn't take very long.
6. What surprises you most about the readathon so far? How much I really just want to read and not really blog that much. Yay reading!
7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the readathon next year? Not really, I think it's pretty fab!
8. What would you do differently if you were to do this again next year? Have moved out of home so that nobody questions ALL MY ACTIONS (argh!)
9. Are you getting tired yet? Oh yes. But I was up 4 hours before the action even started, so I feel like I have a slight excuse!
10. Do you have any other tips? Read your little hearts out! But also, pick short books and you'll feel like you're achieving more. Also, Doritos and diet coke are always the answer.

Hour 11
Have relocated now (can't be bothered to take a picture because I'm not properly settled yet, but maybe next time) and it seems to have sleepened me out, ie I'm tiiiiiiiired guys! It's probably time for a diet coke break (or is that 11.30? Everyone saw that advert in the 90s, right?) to perk me up a bit, otherwise I might need a nap- only a nap at this time could be PERILOUS, and I don't want to miss things! Because yes, I am a child. I'm currently halfway through Stir-Fry by Emma Donoghue, which is good, but I completely forgot it was on my pile of books/that I'd even bought it. But, it struck me when I examined my pile, so read it had to be!
In other news, I definitely bashed my head while I was sorting out books to take downstairs with me (I managed to cull 6, which is probably a good thing) so now my head hurts AND I'm sleepy. Fortunately, I'm staying up all night so if I have a concussion of some sort I'll probably be ok (I definitely don't have a concussion.) So yeah! Back to the reading-ness in actually my favourite spot in the house for late night reading! Yay!


Hour 9
Aaaaaand I just finished a book in 2 hours! I win (or something). Election was good! Also I ate food in the form of a meal, which was also good. I'm also doing badly at the whole entering competitions thing, but that's ok because I just want to READ! And then read some more! You get the idea.
I'm on 665 pages now- not to be all competitive, but merely intrigued, how's everyone else doing on that part? Are you even counting pages? Do tell me things!


Hour 7 (ish)
Pet Semetary finished and omg what a book!! I can't even... good job I'm staying up all night because I think it would be sort of difficult to sleep after that...
By my estimations (which are obviously extremely accurate because, you know, I have eyes) I've read 465 pages. I'm pretty happy with that, I've gotta say! Might have a very brief bathroom break now and then decide which book to read next (I'm thinking Election right now). I was definitely going to do some mini challenges this hour, but they're haaaaard (I'm thinking of the giving authors their real names one right now, because omg I don't have a clue and can't be bothered to google!)
So anyway, hope it's all going well wherever you are, and please please stay away from ancient Indian (or I should say Native American) burial grounds, promise?


Hour 5
I'm nearly 300 pages into Pet Semetary, and oh my God this shit's good! Right now I'm kind of thinking I'd be reading it all in one go even if there wasn't a readathon, but that's probably not true... Anyway, will probably power through the Semetary of pets (don't be too hard on that title because the sign was made by kids) before I update here again. I'm having a bit of a diet coke buzz right now, so I've had to put my big bottle away to save it for the rougher hours....

Oh, and just for Alice:

THESE are Moomins! Tell me you don't want one!




Hour 3
Well, I've been reading for two hours. That's about it. Had me some lunch in that time as well, and I'd say I'm about a third of the way through Pet Semetary. Which, I luckily decided to read sooner rather than later because that's some spooky shiit! Just going to finish the chapter and then coming back to mosey on over to other blogs and see how everyone's doing!


Hour 1
It's starting right now! So instead of reading, I'm doing the introduction meme... I'll read soon, honest! Anyway, here goes!

1. Where are you reading from today?
Surrey (sort of near London) in the UK

2. Three Random Facts about me...
Oh god, I hate these questions... ok, 1) I love Moomins, 2) I'm wearing super sparkly nail varnish, 3) Doritos will get me through this.

3. How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours?
18. Ahem. But I don't expect to read them all, honest!

4. Do you have any goals for the readathon?
Not to die. And to stay awake for the whole 24 hours (unlikely)

5. If you're a veteran readathoner, any advice for people doing this for the first time?
I'm a first timer guys! Be gentle with me!

So yeah, that's me! Off I go to read now :). Also, can I just ask that if you comment (which I would LOVE!) can you please say which hour you're commenting on so I don't get all confused in the later hours... but if not, I'll try and know what you're going on about, promise!


15 Minutes To Go
That's right, I'm just a tiny bit excited. 15 minutes to go, and I'm just getting myself all prepared for blissful hours of reading! I think what I'm going to do is just keep updating this post all day and night (and the next day, oh my!) and then you'll just get a giant post that's a descent into madness to cherish forever! Just for starters, I thought I'd show you where I'm going to be reading for the first, ooh, 9 hours or so, which is here:

My trusty bed (in that messy bedroom...). I've rolled up the duvet and then put pillows on top of it so that I'm kind of sitting up but not quite, so I don't fall asleep, but also so I'm fully comfortable. You'll notice my trusty laptop right next to where my arm is going to be, so I can keep up with what everyone's doing and can read about everyone else's descents into madness! Since I share a bedroom with my sister, which is the lamest thing ever, I'll be relocating whenever she decides to come to bed, and I'll maybe take a picture of my new location to show you whenever that happens (won't that be fun!)

Anyway, I'm just kind of rambling now, so GOOD LUCK if you're participating, if not maybe come and see me and encourage me greatly, and, you know, we can do this! etc. Woo, go team books!!!