Read-a-Thon October 2013

I am super excited about getting to do another read-a-thon! I have big plans today that unfortunately involve a lot of homework as well as a lot of reading. Though one of the homework assignments is going to involve logging into an MMO and herding chickens (yes, really!). So that will make the day both fun and bizarre!
My reading list involves making good progress with the manga my brothers want me to read, One Piece, and getting started on the sequel to The Maze Runner the lovely Scorch Trials (I’m sure the story isn’t lovely, but the cover art is!). Hopefully will make some progress with reading related homework as well with The Fellowship of the Ring and a bit of The Faerie Queene.
For my fellow read-a-thoners, some previous read-a-thon goodies!
- Instrumental Reading Music Stations
- Free Short Stories Available Online
- October Read-a-Thon Buttons
- April Read-a-Thon Buttons
Now to start reading!
Hour 1
Awake, check! Cup of tea, check! Stack of mangas, check! Let’s get a few books under our belt, shall we?

Introductory Meme
I’m in St Louis, Missouri the gateway to the west.
Really looking forward to finishing The Scorch Trials but think I will save that for later when I’m getting tired and need something really fast paced to keep me up.
Apple dumplings! Went to an orchard for our apple picking and have made apple butter and hard apple cider, just need to use up the last few for some delicious dumplings and fall will truly be here!
While I love fall colors, and love sweaters and hot drinks and everything else that goes along with fall, I really don’t like it because I hate being cold. I go over the top with decorating the house for fall, getting out all my fall sweaters and boots and scarves to bundle up in, and even hitting every fall activity (like picking apples!) as if it’s going out of style because it’s a bit like ripping off a band aid. Summer is over. Stop wearing comfy flip flops and shorts. No more warm weather for a long, long time.
Well it’s the first time I’m going to take a break in the middle of the day to escort several of my classmates/gamer friends from the Shire to Rivendell as highly edible and tasty chickens. It’s also the first time I’ve ever had homework to do on a read-a-thon day period! Should be interesting to juggle that.
Hour 2
Finished my first book of the read-a-thon One Piece Volume 3 and am now ready to dive into the next!
Book Tunes Mini Challenge
I am reading the manga One Piece and my music recommendation would be the pandora reading music station I have been listening to, Fantasy/Adventure Reading Music. I love it!
Hour 4
Finished my second book of the read-a-thon One Piece Volume 4. I am really enjoying this series, it’s a fun story!
Book Spine Poetry Mini Challenge
Pied Piper / The Faerie Path / The Lovely Bones / Runaway
Uploaded my pic here.
Hour 7
Just finished the chicken run for my homework assignment and am now back to reading. Going to start off my afternoon read-a-thon with The Faerie Queen poem. Looking forward to it!
Hour 9
The time is just flying by! I finished the first Canto of Book Three of The Faerie Queene (all 600 lines!) and even finished up a lecture for the class. I think I’m going to dedicate the next hour or two to finishing out the lectures and taking the test for this week before rewarding myself with more reading. We will see how it goes!
Hour 10
I just finished my third read-a-thon book One Piece Volume 5. I think I will read a few more before switching to The Scorch Trials.
Hour 13
Finished my fourth book, One Piece Volume 6!
Mid-Event Survey
Had a bit of a lull when finishing up my third book but am now going strong and have just finished my fourth!
One Piece volumes 3, 4, 5 and 6.
Been enjoying all of them, but things got really interesting in volume 6!
Delicious tea has been doing more for me than snacks during this read-a-thon!
My cheerleader Kristilyn at Reading in Winter has an absolutely gorgeous blog (I am in love with that header!) so I am bookmarking and planning to make my way back after the read-a-thon.
Best Of Your Reading Year
The Twelve by Justin Cronin
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
Let’s Explore Diabetes With Owls by David Sedaris
Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse edited by James Joseph Adams
Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore
Hour 15
Only a little ways into read-a-thon book five, but I did read a chapter or two of a non-fiction book and watched a few more lectures so I got that going for me. Hoping for that second wind to come back!
Cheap Thrills

Foreverland Is Dead
By Tony Bertauski
Five girls wake up in a cabin with their heads shaved and memories erased. If they want to make it out of the woods alive, they must figure out who they are — and how they got there… A thrilling science fiction novel that will keep you reading long into the night.
Available for $0.99 from: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords
Hour 24
I managed to finish my fifth book and read a few chapters into the next but then I conked out. Still have two lectures to go as well! Ah well, it was a really fun read-a-thon and I feel like I got a lot accomplished!
Read-a-Thon Wrap Up
The last one, Hour 17 when I knew I was going down for the count!
Highly recommend The Maze Runner trilogy!
It was an amazing read-a-thon this year! So awesome!
I loved all of the new challenges, involving the book tube community, and the amazing read-a-thon presence on twitter.
Five!
One Piece, Volumes 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. Also read a full Canto of Spenser’s The Faerie Queene!
The One Piece manga gets more interesting the more you read it.
I would say The Faerie Queene but to be honest I really got into it after a few stanzas. Hearing an excellent audio of it on LibriVox while I was reading along helped with some of the more archaic spelling.
😀
Very likely to participate! It was a lot of fun and I always feel bummed when I miss out. I think the days of me staying up the full 24 hours though are long over.
8:19 am on October 12th, 2013
Mmm … apple dumplings sound delicious!! And I’m like you … LOVE the fall stuff. The colours, the weather, the sweaters … I’m just not a summer girl!
Enjoy all your reading!
1:45 pm on October 12th, 2013
Thanks!
6:17 pm on October 12th, 2013
You are kicking some butt! 😀 I’m nearly drooling at the thought of apple dumplings, mmm! 🙂
Happy Readathon!
Jennifer~ Team Otter Cheerleader!
The Relentless Reader
7:56 am on October 13th, 2013
The whole house has been smelling of apple all day! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
10:43 pm on October 12th, 2013
I’m in the St. Louis area, too (Kirkwood). I recently finished Bitterblue and really loved it. Having manga in the mix seems to have worked really well for you!
Team Otter Cheerleader, Joy
7:58 am on October 13th, 2013
Awesome! We just moved here a few years ago and really love it. I have found that read-a-thon’s are a great excuse to get caught up on manga back log. They are quick to read and there are plenty of them to be had!
1:30 am on October 13th, 2013
Seems like you’re pretty great at this readathon business! I absolutely loved The Twelve, too – I just saw Justin Cronin speak at the National Book Festival a few weeks ago and he was fantastic.
Shannon – Team Otter
8:04 am on October 13th, 2013
He is an amazing author and I think one of the few that can write mental illness well (showing both their perspective as well as others in sympathetic lights).
2:53 am on October 13th, 2013
Well, you win the prize – of my admiration 😉 – for most unusual subject matter in a readathon blog post. Chicken run?!? Awesome! Sounds like you got some great reading time in too. Congrats!
8:30 am on October 13th, 2013
Taking a course in narrative as presented in novels versus films versus video games (and particularly massive multiplayer online ones). It has been very interesting!
8:34 am on October 13th, 2013
You had an amazing readathon. Five books is terrific. Congratulations!
9:51 pm on October 13th, 2013
Thank you!