April Readathon, second half

We've crossed the halfway point of Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon.  My notes from the first half are found here:  Readathon ~ April 2012.

7:00 a.m. ~ Hour 24 
End of Event Meme @ 24-Hour Readathon

1.  Which hour was most daunting for you?

Somewhere around the middle, I fell asleep for about an hour and a half, but my mind really seemed to quit working after about 22 hours and I went to bed.

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

I enjoyed getting through this long book, but others prefer to choose lots of short books. The time I assembled a bunch of short books, I read less than any other readathon.  I stayed with this long thriller, which kept my attention.

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

Try to get mini-challenges posted at the very beginning of their hour.

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

Mostly very well.  Thanks to all who did the time-consuming work.

5.  How many books did you read?

One 405-page book, but lots of mini-challenges.

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

The Breath of God by Jeffrey Small.

7.  Which book did you enjoy most?

Guess.

8.  Which did you enjoy least?

Didn't have one.

9.  If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?

NA

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

I'll be a reader again.

We all made it, everyone who put in even an hour or two!

6:00 a.m. ~ Hour 23

Mad Lib @ The Hurgry Readers

I was asleep for almost two hours, and the readathon is almost over.  Here's this hour's mini-challenge, even though it's too late to submit it:

Choose words from the text(s) you're reading [The Breath of God] and sub them into a short script:

1.  A noun from page one of the text you are reading. = beginning
2.  An adjective to describe the cover of your book. = red
3.  Your name or the name of a character. = Bonnie
4.  A verb found on page 23 of your book (or the nearest page with text on it). = vanished
5.  A noun from the title or the "About the Author" section of the book. = breath
6.  A verb ending in -ing from approximately page 76 (or the nearest page with text on it). = taking
7. and 8.  Two adjectives from the opening paragraph of a chapter or article from anywhere in the text. = supreme and well-planned
9.  Another verb found at the bottom of page 100 (or the nearest page with text on it). = travel
10.  The longest time period it has ever taken you to read a book. = a month

Now, copy and paste the text below and sub your selected words into their appropriately numbered blanks.  Leave the completed text in the comments section of this post or leave the url to a post at your own blog.  Be sure to let us know which books or texts you pulled your words from.

And remember, humor is always appreciated.

This ____(1)____ is ____(2)____!  ____(3)____  has never ____(4)____ so much.
The ____(5)____ I'm currently ____(6)____ is ____(7)____ and ____(8)____.
When this is over, I will ____(9)____ for ____(10)____.

This beginning is red!  Bonnie has never vanished so much.
The breath I'm currently taking is supreme and well-planned.
When this is over, I will travel for a month.  

5:00 a.m. ~ Hour 22

Mini Dance Party @ Good Books and Good Wine

Not posted, so she must be asleep.  I went to bed about 5:45 a.m. because I couldn't read any more.  Here's what I found this morning:

Post a song either from a you tube video or a spotify link that gets your blood pumping, that makes you want to get down and dance.

What would I choose?  Lisbon Antigua (1956) or Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White or maybe this list from October 2011:

I found YouTube versions of (1) Rock Around the Clock by Bill Haley (appropriate at this hour of the readathon), (2) Johnny B. Goode by Chuck Berry, and (3) Be-Bop-A-Lula by John Lennon.  By the way, the cat thinks I've gone crazy!

4:00 a.m. ~ Hour 21

Read-A-Thon-A-Crostic @ Book Drunkard

It’s simple – take the title of your current book or a book you’ve already finished today and create an Acrostic.  It can be words that describe the book, you can make it into a poem, whatever you want!

Can't think well enough to do this.

3:00 a.m. ~ Hour 20

Culinary Catastrophe @ At Random

Imagine that this Read-a-thon is one large, worldwide food fight!  Yes, you heard right ... food fight!!  You have to defend yourself, your blog, and your books!  To enter this challenge, post a comment letting me know what food you’ll be reaching for when the battle begins!  If you want to go a step further, you can pick a method to deliver your attack.  AND if you want to go even further, you can pick a fellow read-a-thon’er to target!

My first thought:  No way!  My second thought:  I could throw fried okra at Jan @ Yearning for God, simply because I ought to visit her blog during this Readathon.

I wonder if she's asleep, though, at 3:30 in the morning.  Instead of throwing the fried okra, I should give it to a little bird who will hold onto it until Jan emerges from her house to go to church in the morning.  Then the bird would dive-bomb her with fried okra, which would bounce harmlessly off and do no damage.  It wouldn't even hurt.  Yup, that's what I'll do.  Okay, Jan, you're on!  (Okra doesn't go SPLAT!   Maybe Bonk?  Plink?)  So the little birdy drops these one at a time, and we hear, "Bonk, plinkity, bink, plink, plonk."   Or something like that.   *Waving*  Hi, Jan!

Kate from Kate’s Book Nook, our host for this hour, said, "Have you caught your breath yet?"  And I thought about the book I'm reading, because The Breath of God is all about breath, especially being mindful of breathing in and out during meditation and the Hebrew words which translate "breath, wind, spirit."  Interesting to add "catching my breath" to the list.

2:00 a.m. ~ Hour 19

Theme Songs @ Letters Inside Out

Match your current read (or most recent read if you are in between books) with a song!  Something we can sing along to.  Instrumental is ok too, if you can keep yourself awake.    Explain briefly why that song fits:  the theme, a character, a scene in the book.

I'm too groggy to think about songs.  If I come up with something, I'll come back and add it.

1:00 a.m. ~ Hour 18

Literary Companions @ 24-Hour Read-a-Thon

Our literary companions and reading buddies come in all shapes and sizes.  From our spouses/significant others and children to our little furry friends who keep our feet warm as we dive into a good book.  Do you have a special fur ball by your side at this moment as you fight to make it to Hour 19?  If so we’d love you to share.  You can comment and share the moment, a memory or even a picture in a link below.  Let’s give these special little hearts credit where credit is due!  Even if they did possibly fall asleep on you at this point of the readathon … you know they’re just resting their eyes right?

Kiki is asleep in a corner of the closet right now, so I'll share a recent photo where she was beside me, as she has been most of today.  It's 1:00 a.m. here, so she needs her beauty sleep.

12:00 midnight ~ Hour 17

 Me and My Book @ One Literature Nut

Now that we're on to hour 17, you might be getting a little tired.  Why not hide that yawn, hold up your book, and share a picture with us?

It isn't easy to take a picture of myself holding a book with one hand and a camera with the other, but here 'tis.  The book is The Breath of God by Jeffrey Small.

11:00 p.m. ~ Hour 16

ReReading @ The Bluestocking Society

List your top favorite rereads of all time.  You know, those books that you can go to time and time again for comfort and escape.

But I don't re-read for comfort and escape.  As I say on my blog profile, "I read to explore ideas."  A couple of books worth re-reading for the ideas are the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu and the stories in the book of Genesis.

2108 Eyes Open @ Stiletto Storytime

(EXTRA)

Share a book that you’ve enjoyed that may have been outside your reading comfort zone like this one was for me.  Have you ever dared to walk on the wild side of literature?

A friend suggested I read a science fiction book called A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.  I did, even though I thought science fiction was outside my interests.  Actually, the book needs to be categorized as “speculative fiction,” since it isn’t really “science” in any sense.  More a “what would happen if” kind of book.  After that, I looked more carefully at what was being labeled SciFi and discovered I like some of it, especially if it is speculative.

10:00 p.m. ~ Hour 15

Picturific Memory @ Stella Matutina

Find a picture that somehow relates to the book.  Find an image that makes you think of the story, the characters, the book's theme, a vital element ... whatever works for you.

In chapter 36, the characters in The Breath of God by Jeffrey Small are in Varanasi, India.  One is especially repelled by the "filth" he sees in the streets, so I found this street scene by Longwayaround.  (I couldn't post this as a comment unless I allowed LiveJournal to "access and manage" my account.  I didn't allow it to take over, so my comment wasn't posted.)

Bonus Giveaway Package @ Book Journey

(EXTRA)

Share with me here your favorite part of the readathon.  Is it the community?  Or is setting aside time to read?  Is it the mini-challenges?  Or do you love something completely different about this event?

I like the mini-challenges and seeing how everyone else answers -- in other words, I enjoy the community.  This time, I've tried to spend more time reading.

 9:00 p.m. ~ Hour 14

Library Experience @ Kanaye Speaks

Tell me, in 200 words or less, about your first experience with a library, or most memorable, most fun, most recent, or any other library experience you feel like sharing. 

When I was in seminary at Emory University's Candler School of Theology, it felt like I was expected to read the entire theology library, the second largest theology library in North America.  But I loved studying there, especially in one of the windows.  This is a view of Carlos Hall, across the quad from Pitts Theology Library, which has the same architecture.

Oh, and I should add that the protagonist of my novel is a graduate student at Emory University.  My school.  The book's characters are right there where I sat in classes, walked the quad, and peered out this window.  That makes the book even more fun for me to read.

8:00 p.m. ~ Hour 13

MidEvent Survey @ 24-Hour Read-a-Thon

1)  How are you doing?  Sleepy?  Are your eyes tired?

I took time out during the past hour to eat supper and relax.

2)  What have you finished reading?

I'm more than halfway finished with the one 405-page book that I hope to finish.

3)  What is your favorite read so far?

Chapters 12 and 32.  (Yes, I know that wasn't what you meant, but I am -- after all -- only reading the one book, probably.)

4)  What about your favorite snacks?

Mandarin orange danish rolls, that I made early in the day.

5)  Have you found any new blogs through the readathon?  If so, give them some love!

I haven't been looking.  I've concentrated on reading.  Maybe later.