24-Hour Read-a-thon. Finale!

And so it begins, another readathon! Just like last Spring I plan on doing a lot of reading and very little blogging (chatting). I also hope to actually read for 24 hours, during the whole weekend, not just on Saturday.

My plan:
Read or blog for 24-hours Friday, Oct. 21 thru Sunday, Oct. 23
Blog updates every 4 to 6 hours.

Books I hope to read (or at least make progress on):

• Out of Africa...I have simply been plodding along on this book all summer. I still have over 100 pages. Here's a perfect weekend to close the book on this one!
• Winter by Meyer...I went to the book launch for this book in the Lunar Chronicles series last November. I am listening on audiobooks and it is over 21 hours of listening. So far I have only knocked off six hours so I could spend my whole readathon listening to this book, but I won't. I hope to make some progress. Perhaps I will listen to it while I rake the leaves and walk the dog.
• Railhead by Reeve...one of three books we are still considering for Mock Printz and I haven't had the volition to do much reading lately. 
•  Still Life With Tornado by A.S. King...another of the three books I hope to read very quickly. A.S. King is a favorite author so I know I can do it.
• Vassa in the Night by Porter...the last of the three. Another friend who is reading for Mock Printz inclusion says the book is pretty weird. I hope it is well-written though.
• Little Women by Alcott...this is my Classics Club spin book. I haven't started it yet. I'm not worried but I do want to get started.
• Leading from Within: Poetry That Sustains the Courage to Lead by Intrator and Scribner...can't let a reading week-end go by without a bit of poetry.

Challenges and distractions:

(I already know that the weekend will not be all about books and reading.)

• Dinner party tonight. Don and I have a commitment for a dinner at a wonderful restaurant with fun people this evening. It is in a nearby town so I will at least be able to listen to the audiobook en route.
• Football Game. When we get home from the dinner we will watch our favorite team play football as we will record the game while we are gone. I may be able to read a few chapters during the game, but I doubt it. Altogether I hope to knock off four hours of reading/listening on Friday.
• A second dinner out. We have plans to go out to dinner with my cousin and his wife on Saturday evening. I hope to squeeze in about twelve hours of reading on Saturday.
• Church. It has been several weeks since I've been to church so I am not skipping it. No problem though because I think I should easily be able to fit in eight hours of reading in to the rest of the day.

I'm off  to start the Dewey 24-hour Readathon.

1:49 PM Saturday, Update#1
I can't believe how slowly my reading seems to be going today. So far I have only read a few pages, and listened to a few hours of an audiobook. I had such high hopes for getting lots of books finished. Sigh. Here is where I am since I began the readathon yesterday afternoon:

• I've read approximately 80 pages of Railhead by Philip Reeve, a YA science fiction novel where travel between planets is done by rail. Progress: 33%
• I've read 40 pages of the poetry book Leading from Within. I am really savoring the poems and the thoughts. I am already concocting a blog post with them. Progress: 17%
• Out of Africa by Isak  Dinesen is a book I'm determined to finish even though I am proceeding at a snail's pace. Today I've read 10 more pages which brings me to 75%
• Winter by Marissa Meyer is my current audiobook. It involves over 21 hours of listening pleasure. So far today and yesterday I've listened to around seven hours of the book bringing me to just over the 50% mark. I listened while I sorted photos from Don's parents. We just got boxes and boxes of them.

11:00 PM Saturday, Update#2
Honestly. I should just admit that I am not really spending all day reading. With two dinner engagements, and taking advantage of good weather to work in the yard, I've really read much less than I hoped to scrunch into my day. Here is what I've read since my last update:

• I've read another 100 pages of Railhead bringing me to 63%. I hope to read a few more pages before I turn off the lights tonight.
• I listened to 3 more hours of the audiobook of Winter while I sorted more photos. I'm currently on tract 15 of 21 which I think is about 67%.
• I enjoyed a few more pages of poems from Leading from Within. 31%

2:10 PM Sunday, Update#3
We are back from church and have had a delicious lunch of grilled tuna sandwiches. Now back to reading. Will I make my goal of 24 hours of actual reading time for the week-end? Doubtful but I am still plodding along.  Before church I did read a bit more pages in two of my books:

• Leading From Within: Poetry that Sustains the Courage to Lead. I am up to 70% done.
• Out of Africa I read 25 more pages which brings me to 81%. If I finish nothing else, I am going to finish this book today.  Can you hear my determination?

Finale!

I'm done. I did spend the weekend reading (and listening to books) but I also did a lot of other things which drew my attention away from reading. Altogether I probably spent 16 hours in the pursuit of reading over the course of the whole weekend, far short of my goal of 24 hours. I finished two books, listened to 8 to 10 hours of a very long audiobook, and got deep into another book. Not bad.

• Finished: Leading from Within: Poetry That Sustains the Courage to Lead. I've had this book checked out from my library for months. It spoke to me on many levels.
• Finished: Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen. I started this classic book on July 10th and lost all my incentive to read it fast and finish it until this weekend.
• Listened to 9 tracks of Winter by Marissa Meyer. Each track is approximately 65 minutes. I listened on 1.25 speed so I guess I listened for around 8 hours. I will still have to push to finish the book in the next two days, however, because it is due back on Overdrive and I'd hate to get this far and not be able to finish it.
• 200+ pages read of Railhead by Philip Reeve. No doubt I will finish this book this week as well.