How do you grieve the loss of the author who penned the book that set you on the path to self-discovery? How do you process the fact that the first person who ever said, “I see you,” through their story, has left this world? How do you come to terms with the knowledge that one of the strongest, loudest, most determined voices in advocacy for your community has been silenced?

You become that voice. You don’t allow it to be quieted. You ensure that “I see you” and “I have come for you” are words that others who are where you have been, continue to hear.

Leslie Feinberg wished to be remembered as “a revolutionary communist,” and so I ask you all to take a moment and honor that request. Remember – or learn about – this incredible individual who fought for so many, for so long. Send up a prayer or send out a positive vibe or send around a hug in your circle of friends, in remembrance of this warrior spirit who is, now and always, speaking through us.

We passed the halfway point a bit ago, and here’s the mid-readathon survey for hour 12!

1. What are you reading right now? Coraline by Neil Gaiman, and The Vacationers by Emma Straub on audio
2. How many books have you read so far? 2 – The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan, and Maddy Kettle, book 1: The Adventures of the Thimblewitch by Eric Orchard
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? Either finishing The Paying Guests, or the two Gail Carriger novels
4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? Nope!
5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? I always forget how quickly the day goes by, and then how slowly the wee hours seem to go… Trying to keep a pace and not burn out

Hope you’re all enjoying reading, cheering, or both; back to it for me :)

Good morning! Managed the 8am wakeup; let’s see how long before I crash. Here’s the Opening Meme we’ve all come to know and love (sneakily written last night). Happy reading!

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? Portland, Maine
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? Probably Rick Riordan’s The Blood of Olympus, because those books are just such brain candy that it’ll be both a fun read, and an easy one to chalk up as completed during the event. I’m also both longing for, and dreading, the rest of The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters. I love her prose and her plots, and coming to the end of her newest book means no more new Sarah Waters for several years. This is TRAGIC.
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? I wasn’t sure I was going to Readathon this time around, so I didn’t plan very well re: food. I’m excited that I prepped the coffee pot, though.
4) Tell us a little something about yourself! I work for LibraryThing for Libraries, so books aren’t just a hobby, they’re my life, and I could not be more thrilled about that. I live with my 16 year old brother and two (spoiled as shit) cats, all of whom are aware of their roles during readathon: supply, snuggle, and save anything non-urgent for Sunday.
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to? I’m reading to raise funds for charity for the second time – April’s fundraising Readathon was a real success, so I’m excited to add to my net Jimmy Fund contribution. I know my Mamau would be proud, and support my choice of recipient of the donation. I don’t plan to do anything differently, though given the time, I will probably buy more sleep hours than I did last time :)

Today is the start of Banned Books Week, a celebration of those titles that have been challenged and banned from schools/libraries due to content considered “inappropriate” for any number of reasons, ranging from race relations to sexuality to magic. This year, the ALA is highlighting graphic novels, citing Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, which was recently made into a Broadway musical, and Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis. I started a personal Banned Books challenge in 2010, choosing books I own but had not yet read from the top 100 most-often banned classics. This year, I’m choosing banned books by female authors. First up is Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God.
How many of the top 100 classics have you read? Want to join me in challenging yourself to read one or more from the classics, or any of the annual top 10 lists, this week?

So, around 6am I decided that it was worth the $10 to buy the sleep I so desperately needed at the end of Readathon. Here are my end stats:

Books read:

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke (last 35 pages – I’d listened to nearly the entire audiobook before it expired, and thankfully had a paper copy)

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (who is my new hero for not just this book but all of the YouTube videos my friends have been sharing since I proclaimed my allegiance to the School of Green)

Anton and Cecil: Cats at Sea by Lisa and Valerie Martin (very cute ARC I received last year and hadn’t gotten to yet)

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli (I look forward to finishing this one maybe today; I do love his characters)

Total pages read: 630, x $0.05 per page = $31.50

Hours listening to The Maze Runner by James Dashner, read by Mark Deakins: 4, x $5 per hour = $20

Hours not reading: 6 (3 for concert, 3 total sleeping), x $5 per hour = $30

Comments: 25 on FolioFiles, 17 on Facebook = $42 @ $1 each

I didn’t intend to include FB comments, and only counted the ones that could justifiably have been posted on the blog; I realize that some people are intimidated by clicking through and going through the comment posting process, and others are, frankly, too lazy. And as this is a charity event, I decided to be charitable in my count. So, drum roll, please…

In total, my Readathon of April 2014 raised $123.50 for The Jimmy Fund, which I will round to $125. I have NO idea how this stacks up against other readers’ totals, and I’m not going to go digging to find out, because this isn’t about competing, it’s about giving. And while I give to charities, non-profits, and individual ventures on a regular basis, it feels really great to have gone into this day with a purpose beyond my enjoyment of reading and connecting with other readers. It also gives me an idea of how my reading time earning compares to listening compares to time not doing either, as well as what I can use for a base goal. Think we can make it to $150 in October? I bet we can!

Thank you to each person who commented, cheered, engaged in conversation, shared videos and recommendations and hugs and overall Readathon love. This is one of my favorite days of the year, and every time I participate, I’m reminded why.

I didn’t really think about it when I read the challenge, but it makes sense that my Advance Reader’s Copy of Anton and Cecil would be a first edition :) My entry for the challenge over at The Bluestockings (a name I’d also found years ago and tried to use for a book club in SF!). Thanks for hosting!

(ETA the picture. That helps.)

Anton & Cecil, Cats at Sea by Lisa and Valerie Martin

So I’m home, having gotten back to The Maze Runner in the car on the way back from the Ryan Montbleau concert at One Longfellow. The show was fantastic; I swear I fall more in love with that man and his music every time I see him perform live. His opening duet, Tall Heights, was also wonderful. All in all, a very satisfying three hours of musical enchantment. A sneak peek:

Tall Heights

Ryan Montbleau

Ryan Montbleau and Tall Heights performing Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car”

And now, back to the readathon! Here’s the mid-event survey I missed at 8p:

1. What are you reading right now? I’m listening to The Maze Runner and reading Anton and Cecil: Cats at Sea
2. How many books have you read so far? I finished the last 35 pages of Inkheart and read The Fault in Our Stars in its entirety
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? So hard to say! Maybe Stargirl, but I’ve been hearing so much praise for Patchett that I may suck it up and let Bel Canto carry me through the wee hours
4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day? Nope!
5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? I went to a concert, obviously, but I listened to my audiobook on the way to and from, and used the “missed hours” fee for the fundraising side of the day
6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? How much reading I can actually get done if I’m really super into the book and not looking at Hootsuite
7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Nope, just keep doin’ what you’re doin’!
8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year? Check the dates before buying concert tickets :-P No, really, I’d have gone tonight anyhow. I think I’ve found a good comfy place for Readathon and don’t feel like I need to make any big changes
9. Are you getting tired yet? I did crash at 4p (start of hour 9) and took about a 40 minute nap. Woke up feeling good, though, and am wide awake now!
10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered? Just being easy on yourself about “goals” with regard to pages read or books finished. That part is fun, sure, but the books will be there tomorrow, and next week, and next month – next week, all of the awesome people participating in #readathon on Twitter and across blogs and social networks won’t all be in this one place on the internet, so take advantage! Meet awesome readers! Seeing familiar faces in October will be worth it :)

Okay, time to order our ritual weekend Chinese food, and get back to bookin’!

So, the readathon is halfway over, and I am failing at the reading part, lol… But that’s okay because really? Many a Saturday is much like this one, except I don’t have the excuse!

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

I’ve had a few moments of sleepiness, but really this is about when I hit my actual reading stride.

2) What have you finished reading?

…a lot of tweets? LoL

3) What is your favorite read so far?

Still working on The Red Pyramid, though I did listen to some of the LA theatre Works audio production of Twelve Angry Men while I cooked and am looking forward to returning to it.

4) What about your favorite snacks?

my kiwi and cantaloupe and bacon breakfast still wins so far, I think.

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

Back to the book; hope you’re all having a lovely Saturday, whether you’re readathon-ing, or just putting up with those of us who are!

For this mini-challenge, Sheila from Continuing Adventures of a True Bookaholic invited us to create a menu based on one of our Readathon books. There’s a baboon named Khufu in The Red Pyramid who only eats foods that end in “O,” so that’s what I decided my menu would look like. I crowdsourced and got a great list of items, and whipped a lil cocktail recipe up for the bonus. Here’s the end result – enjoy!