Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon :: Summary and Wrap-Up

Summary

I had a great time doing Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon! I was able to stay up the entire 24 hours but I was surprised to find that when I looked at my stats that I only spent a little over half of the time actually reading, 14 hours and 43 minutes to be more precise. I read from four different books. I finished Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. I also read three short stories from Sanctuary edited by Robert Lynn Asprin. I read a little bit about James Ensor and Edvard Munch in Peter Gay's Modernism: The Lure of Heresy from Baudelaire to Beckett and Beyond. And finally I started reading Alex Hughe's Sharp, the second book in the Mindspace Investigations series. From those four books I read a total of 530 pages.

Which hour was most daunting for you?

I was actually surprised to find that I didn't actually feel that tired during any of the hours of the readathon. Perhaps the last hour was the hardest, but even that wasn't particularly difficult.

Which book did you enjoy most?

I enjoyed all the books I read but Alex Hughe's Sharp was probably my favorite.

Which did you enjoy least?

Crime and Punishment seemed to take a while to really engage me. It wasn't until the last third of the book that I was really gripped by the story. In the end I'll say I enjoyed the book overall, but for a while I wasn't sure I'd be able to say that.

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

I would love to participate in the next readathon. Unfortunately I work most Saturdays so it all depends on whether I am working or not.

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon :: Hours 22 - 24

I spent the remainder of the readathon reading Sharp. I'm a little over a third of the way through the book and I'm already hooked. I'm a little sorry that I won't be able to continue reading because I desperately need to get some sleep!

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon :: Hours 19 - 21

I managed to finish Crime and Punishment during hour 19. I started the day less than half-way through the book so I'm pretty happy to have finished it.

After finishing such a heavy book, I decided to read something a little more fun — Sharp by Alex Hughes — a police procedural with a psychic sci-fi twist. This is Hughes second book starring recovering addict and psychic consultant to the Dekalb police department of the near future, Alex Ward. I loved Clean, the first book in the series so I'm looking forward to this one.

With three hours to go I am feeling remarkably alert. My eyes are a little tired, but I don't feel like my eyes are so heavy that I'm about to fall asleep. I think this bodes well as it is 5:15 a.m. here in the Charlotte, NC area; a time that I am normally up. I think I am through the "wall" of the wee hours of the morning. So, here's to the finish!

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon :: Hours 16 - 18

For the last three hours I have been reading Crime and Punishment. I have only 36 pages left. I'm looking forward to finishing it in the next couple of hours. I'm really psyched because I hadn't really planned on finishing any books during the readathon. I wasn't sure I'd be able to continue reading a book like Crime and Punishment this late. I am getting a little tired, but I think I can push on to finish it.

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon :: Hours 13 - 15

During hour 13 I finished "The Gate of Flying Knives" in Sanctuary. I then switched to reading Crime and Punishment again and finished Part V1. I now have a little over 100 pages to go. At my present (slow) rate of speed it'll take me four hours of reading to reach the end of Crime and Punishment. I want to go for it, but I'm getting tired and find that Crime and Punishment might not be the thing to read as the night wears on.

And now, for the My Name In Books Mini-Challenge:

J - Journey Through Genius by William Dunham.

O - Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene.

S - Speaks the Nightbird by Robert McCammon.

E - Edward II by Christopher Marlowe.

P - Paradise Lost by John Milton.

H - How Shall We Live by Robert Krznaric.

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon :: Hours 10 - 12

I decided for a little bit of a change of pace and read some of Peter Gay's Modernism: The Lure of Heresy from Baudelaire to Beckett and Beyond before going back to Sanctuary. I didn't quite finish "The Gate of Flying Knives" but will get back to it presently.

I also took a break to have dinner with my family and finish watching the latest episode of Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge. I have to say that my family disagreed with the sending home of Lex. Even though it was her failure to get the movement on the creature right, we felt that she wasn't supported by her partner, Jake. He spent too much time sculpting the creature's head and feet, which was completely unnecessary since the challenge was about movement and not about detail.

Here is my Shelfie:

And my Mid-Event Survey:

What are you reading right now?

I'm mostly switching back and forth between Crime and Punishment and Sanctuary.

How many books have you read so far?

I have read from three books so far, but haven't finished any. I don't anticipate that I will finish any though.

What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?

I plan on continuing with the books I am reading, but I may have to throw in something a little easier to read as the night wears on.

Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day?

I didn't have a special arrangement per se, but my family has been very understanding of my laying around the house all day with my nose in a book.

Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?

Interruptions will happen. I don't have the intention of reading for the entire 24 hours and that makes it easier to take time away from reading to deal with interruptions like ... say ... dinner.

Are you getting tired yet?

I'm am definitely getting tired. I had a wisdom tooth removed earlier this week and the medication I am required to take makes me dizzy. But, I'm just going to keep going the best that I can and hope that I can make it the full 24 hours.

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon :: Hours 7 - 9

For hours 7 through 9 I continued to read the same two books: Crime and Punishment and Sanctuary. In Crime and Punishment I've managed into Part V of the book. I must say that the book has really started to pick up: the intensity between Sonia and Raskolnikov; the drama of Porfiry Petrovich's pursuit of Raskolnikov as the murderer; as well as the breakup of the marriage between Pyotr Petrovich and Raskolnikov's sister. In Sanctuary I read the short story "The Face of Chaos" by Lynn Abbey. It was a story about the gods and fate that I didn't find as engaging as John Brunner's "Sentences of Death." Next up in Sanctuary is Poul Anderson's "The Gate of Flying Knives." That sounds exciting doesn't it?

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon :: Hours 4 - 6

I spent hours four through six reading Crime and Punishment. I also took a little break to eat lunch and chat with my 12 year old son.

Lisa, of Lisa's World of Books, is hosting the hour six mini challenge. In essence, Lisa asks what are your favorite books of the year so far? I haven't read as many books as I usually do by this time of year. Last year I moved from running marathons to running ultra-marathons. Ultra-marathons require so much more training that it has reduced the amount of time that I read. That being said, I do have two favorites for the year, so far. My favorite fiction novel of the year so far is The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu, a sci-fi comedy action book, I found it to be a real fun read. My favorite non-fiction book I read this year is Jane McGonigal's Reality Is Broken. It is a fascinating read. I'm only sorry that it took me so long to read it because most of the games she talks about have already vanished from the internet. It is still a good book though.

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon :: Hour 3

So for hour three I decided to switch to something a little easier to read. I picked up Sanctuary edited by Robert Lynn Asprin from a book sale at my local library. It is a omnibus of Thieve's World from 1979, Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn from 1980, and Shadows of Sanctuary from 1981. It collects short stories set in the town of Sanctuary, a backwater of the Rankin Empire. There are stories by Philip José Farmer, A. E. van Vogt, C. J. Cherryh, and Vonda McIntrye among others.

I bought the book, a steal at $1, for the nostalgia value. I'm glad I did. The first story, "Sentences of Death," by John Brunner, was very entertaining. I'm looking forward to reading more, although I'm probably going to return to Crime and Punishment for hour four.

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon :: Hour 2

I continued to read Crime and Punishment. I only managed 26 pages, but I did reach the end of part III. Unfortunately, I'm already feeling a little drowsy. That does not bode well for my making it the full 24 hours.

Anyway, onward we go ...

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon :: Hour 1

So, the first hour is done. I read Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. This is a book that I was already reading. I only managed 28 pages, but I find that I have been reading the book quite slowly. I find the text a little hard to follow at times. Perhaps it is the translation I'm reading, Constance Garnett's translation, but it seems somehow archaic in how it is written.

Well, back to it then. I'll probably continue reading Crime and Punishment in the next hour.

Hour Zero Kick Off Post

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

I am reading from just outside Charlotte, North Carolina, in the United States.

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

I don't really have a stack. I have a pretty big library of my own to choose from. I'm going to start with what I am currently reading: Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky. After that who knows. I'd like to get a little bit of Thomas Piketty's Capital in the Twenty-First Century read, but that is a pretty dense book.

Which snack are you most looking forward to?

I don't really snack that much. But I do drink a lot of tea, so I suppose I'm looking forward to that.

Tell us a little something about yourself.

I had a wisdom tooth removed earlier this week and the antibiotic I'm taking makes me dizzy.

If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today?

I have participated in readathons before, but not for a couple of years. The thing that is different this time is that I'm not as confident that I'll make it the full 24 hours.

Doing the Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon after a Two Year Absence

I'm so excited to do the Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon again after missing it for two years. I've been looking forward to it ever since I found out that it would fall on a weekend that I didn't have to work. But I had an impacted wisdom tooth removed earlier this week. I thought that it would give me the perfect excuse to sit around and read all weekend. I underestimated how serious the recovery would be. My face is swollen. The antibiotic I have to take makes me dizzy. It's hard for me to eat. My hopes were dashed; I thought I wouldn't be able to do the Readathon. But I've missed it the last two years and it's a lot of fun. So, I'm going to at least try to do the this thing!