Saturday, October 24, 2009

Read-a-thon: Update (2) - On Your Mark, Get Set, ... Go!

It's now past 9 PM on Saturday evening here in Japan and the 24 Hour Read-a-thon has officially begun.  Since my last update at 7 PM, I read for another 65 minutes and only have about 80 pages left to go in The Hunger Games.  So I should have my first book completed by the next update.

Actual Time Spent Reading (since last update): 65 min.
Pages Read (since last update): 86

Total Time Spent Reading:  5 hours 10 minutes
Total Pages Read:  366
Books Completed: 0

Food/Drink Consumed:  Had some dinner, not terribly exciting just leftovers from yesterday, but including Japanese style flavoured-rice...yum.
Other Activities:  Fed the boys (aka the cats) their dinner too. 
Random Fact:  It's raining out, which really is great curling up on the sofa and reading weather!
Mood:  Eager to get back to The Hunger Games as it's in the last stretch now.   And I'm looking forward to the read-a-thon proper now that it has officially begun!  Yay! 


Introduction meme:

Where are you reading from today?  Tokyo, Japan
3 facts about me …  I'm addicted to chocolate.  One of my favourite things is having a warm cat curled up beside me while I read.  I'm blonde, which means I really stand out in Japan.     
How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours?  10, although I don't expect to get all of them read.
Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)?  Not specifically although I would like to read more than 1000 pages.  This is my third read-a-thon, and for the first one I only read 605 pages. For the second I read 948 pages, which was very close, so this time I'd like to better that.  I'm also planning to spend more time cheering other readers on this time.  I hope to visit everyone who visits here and then see how many others I can get to.
If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, Any advice for people doing this for the first time?  I posted some tips on my Read-a-thon post earlier in the week, but mainly I'd say 'variety' is key. To keep from burning out on reading, read several short or fast-paced books, change the position where you read (bed, sofa, etc), have a selection of snacks on hand, check out the various mini-challenges. In other words, mix things up a bit.  There are so many ways to enjoy the read-a-thon, the most important thing though is simply to have fun!

Happy reading everyone!

25 WITTY REMARKS:

Lenore Sat Oct 24, 09:37:00 PM  

So glad it sounds like you are enjoying THE HUNGER GAMES!

I know about standing out in Japan. When I lived there, people would take pictures of me all the time!

Vasilly Sat Oct 24, 10:35:00 PM  

Great advice! I love chocolate also and wish I remembered to buy some for today. Hunger Games is an addicting book. I bet you'll be reading Catching Fire next. Happy reading!

Eva Sat Oct 24, 10:40:00 PM  

Welcome to the read-a-thon! Enjoy these first few hours-they'll fly by! I'm sure you'll do great. :D

Your advice is so good, lol. I couldn't come up w/ anything helpful like that.

Trish Sat Oct 24, 10:56:00 PM  

Having a cat to read with is the best, huh?

I hope you can get to all 10 books!

And I bet you look lovely in Blonde in Japan.

Kate at Read This Book! Sun Oct 25, 12:06:00 AM  

I LOVED Hunger Games. Happy reading! :)

By the way, it's really cool that you're in Japan.

Mark David Sun Oct 25, 12:19:00 AM  

Oh I love to read when it rains! You're doing good tanabata, keep it up! :)

Literary Feline Sun Oct 25, 12:24:00 AM  

You are doing very well, Nat. You're making me hungry. :-) Good luck with your goal to read 1000 pages. You can do it!

softdrink Sun Oct 25, 12:52:00 AM  

Traditional read-a-thon blessing:

May the bookshelf be there to greet you.
May all the books appeal.
May the fridge be full of tasty snacks;
the words fall soft upon your eyes and until the read-a-thon ends,
may you always hold a book in the palm of your hand.

Good luck today!

Bybee Sun Oct 25, 01:01:00 AM  

Well, here we are again! We always run into each other at these readathons...happy reading.
I'm kicking myself for not picking up the hunger games when I was in the US last summer.

Eva Sun Oct 25, 01:05:00 AM  

I'm back for more cheering! Keep up the reading Nat! :)

alitareads Sun Oct 25, 01:50:00 AM  

Happy Read-a-Thon day! I hope the first few hours have been treating you well. Have fun today and enjoy the wonderful books you have lined up :)

Laza Sun Oct 25, 01:56:00 AM  

I absolutely loved the Hunger Games. I hope you have Catching Fire too, because you're going to want to jump right in to it!! Have fun reading!

Les Sun Oct 25, 02:04:00 AM  

I've "known" you for a long time, but never knew you were blonde. Guess I've never seen a picture of you!

campbele Sun Oct 25, 06:31:00 AM  

Konichiwa from Indiana! And good luck with your reading!

Britt Sun Oct 25, 03:35:00 PM  

I LOVE that the participants span the globe!! Glad you were able to play even with the time difference...

tanabata Thu Oct 29, 01:02:00 AM  

Thank you everyone for stopping by to cheer me on during the read-a-thon. Your comments were much appreciated!

Lenore - I can imagine! Whereabouts in Japan did you live? Living in Tokyo isn't as bad as other places since seeing foreigners isn't a novelty here, but the blonde hair is still very obvious.

Vasilly - I made sure to buy some chocolate to have on hand. :)

Trish - Jiro is our cuddly cat, and it really is the best when he curls up with me on the bed or sofa. :)

Kate - Thanks. I have a love/hate relationship with Japan but most of the time I'm happy to be here. :)

Mark David - Rain or snow are great to read by.

softdrink - Love all your cheers!!! Thank you!

Bybee - I got mine from The Book Depository. Love their free shipping.

Les - Really? I do hate being IN photos, I'm much happier behind the camera. :)

campbele - Konnichiwa back at ya!

Britt - Me too! It's fun seeing people participating from all over.

Kathrin Fri Nov 06, 08:34:00 AM  

I think I'll be horribly behind on all the blog posts I intend to read, but I wanted to comment: I'm glad to see The Hunger Games was a great starting book for you. All the more reason for me to start it as soon as possible (3 review copies first, then The Hunger Games).

And a big fat thanks again for the Japan challenges!

tanabata Sat Nov 14, 07:51:00 PM  

Kathrin - No problem, as you can see I'm very behind on replying. :)
And you're very welcome for the Japan Challenges. I'm glad people are interested and enjoying them.

Kathrin Sun Nov 15, 12:27:00 AM  

I definitely love the Japan Challenges. It's a great idea you had there :-)

tanabata Sun Nov 15, 02:13:00 AM  

Kathrin - I'm hardly an expert on Japan but it's fun to help encourage others to have a little taste of it. :)

Kathrin Sun Nov 15, 10:11:00 PM  

As for the expert part, I'd say you're one of the very, very few people I know who live in Japan, so in my book you're an expert :-)

tanabata Mon Nov 16, 08:49:00 PM  

Kathrin - Well thanks. There are some great Japan blogs out there, and others who are much better informed than I am, but I'm glad if I can help introduce a little bit of Japan to our book blogging community. :)

Kathrin Tue Nov 17, 07:31:00 AM  

There are? I must have overlooked them - but then, I can't really subscribe to any more blogs without endangering my own blogging even further ;-)
Anyway, you're doing a great job introducing Japan, so why look for more?

tanabata Mon Nov 23, 09:36:00 PM  

Kathrin - Aww, thank you!
There are some blogs that focus on life in Japan, most of them by expats living here, so they talk about Japan way more than I do. I'm happy to focus on books though with a touch of Japan here and there. :)


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