24 in 48: July 2019

Friday, July 19

We have once again arrived at that weekend of weekends, the landslide of literacy, the paragon of page-turners, the 24 in 48 readathon! This is my sixth ‘thon, having skipped January 2019 as skiing and reading are not an advisable combination.

This post’s oh so applicable header image is courtesy of my graphic designer Husband Unit, with whom I am celebrating five wonderful years today (Friday) before imploring him to ignore me for the next two days. (AND THEN we have additional special plans Monday and Tuesday so don’t get any sad tiny violin ideas about him being neglected).

7:54 p.m.

I SET SAIL! I mean, start my first audiobook, which is unrelated to sailing in any fashion. It’s One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus, a breakfast club murder mystery in which five strangers walk into detention and only four walk out. I’ve heard tons of good things about it, plus it’s under 11 hours, which is just about my brain’s attention span for a single audiobook. I’ve listened to some of it earlier in the week, but still have more than 75% of it left. I like to set my 48-hour block forward a few hours from the official start time so I’m not up until midnight trying to finish on Sunday night. I still stick to a 48-hour limit, just…give it a little nudge.

9:24 p.m.

Pause the audiobook to re-watch the Top Gun Maverick trailer with the Husband Unit, because #truelove. I will be severely disappointed if Danger Zone is not part of the soundtrack. But we are (if it all survives the editing room) getting shirtless sports with well-tanned bros, parties, inverted flying and a near-recreation of this shot, so that’s cool.

11:17 p.m.

The audiobook is chugging along at 48% and I’m starting to work on a massive family photo project for the Mother Unit. Please enjoy this picture of Baby Me with Clifford.

12:30 p.m.

Probably going to call it a night for now. Just over 4 hours down on the audiobook, about another 4.5 left to go tomorrow. Until then, I go to dream of series that I don’t have to wait for the next book to be published and movie adaptations that don’t make me cringe. (It’s the little things.)

Friday, July 19 total: 4 hours, 12 minutes
Running total: 4 hours, 12 minutes

Saturday, July 20

7:15 a.m.

My alarm goes off, and my entire being (particularly my eyes that have somewhat unwillingly accepted their contacts) is saying…

7:30 a.m.

I’m off to garage sales with the Mother Unit, graphic novel in tow. By the time we’ve hit the last sale, I’ve finished Part-Time Princesses, which is just ok (a little too Mean Girls with a meh redemption arc), but served its purpose as a quick read that was easy to pick up and put down as we’re hopping in and out of the car to snag SWEET DEALS LIKE A RAIN BARREL FOR $20. That’s…probably not as exciting for anyone reading this as it was for the Husband Unit and me.

10:45 a.m.

I have once again taken up residence on the world’s comfiest recliner. It’s back to the audiobook of One of Us is Lying, with occasional swap-outs for my print advance copy of The Merciful Crow, a YA fantasy coming out on July 30. I’m really enjoying it, it has a different enough vibe to stand out from the crowd for me. It has strong world-building featuring 12 castes (named for birds) that each have a unique power. The powers are a mix of unique and standard fare (fire, wind, luck, artistry, truth, refuge, etc.), including one caste whose witches can use teeth to acquire the powers of any caste.

12:13 p.m.

Having been sustained for the near future on Arby’s takeout, I face a conundrum. On one hand, this recliner is soooooo comfy and my motivation to move is <0%. One the other, the Husband Unit is doing home renovations approximately ten feet from me that features very. Loud. Hammering.

12:30

It didn’t take long for me to retreat to the basement, which, if not totally silent, is at least marginally quieter. A few weeks ago, I found a CD of the 1997 Frogger computer game (a staple of my childhood) at a garage sale, and to my utter delight, a few days ago the Husband Unit was able to get it to run on our…not 1997 computer. Reclaimed high scores are on the horizon!* Plus, this game has no necessary audio so the book-listening can continue unobstructed.

4:21 p.m.

It comes to my attention that the Husband Unit is attempting to singlehandedly move our clothes washer back into place. He’s a very capable individual, but the advantage of another pair of hands in this scenario is undeniable. I valiantly stop my book to help, rolling up to the scene offering all the physical prowess of Bill Murray in Space Jam.

4:45 p.m.

I wrap up One of Us is Lying, and was pretty pleased with it. Doing a 180 from the murder mystery, it’s on to the audiobook of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. I *may* actually have a print copy of this my shelves that I mmmmaybe BoughtAFewYearsAgoAndHaven’tRead, but let’s be honest, it’s neither the first nor the longest owned-but-haven’t-read.

5:17 p.m.

The Husband Unit may come to regret getting Frogger to run, since I now have heightened interest in using the desktop computer, which has previously been pretty much exclusively his. TOO BAD. A few more levels and I relinquish it to help make dinner, and cede control of it to his Skyrim questing for the remainder of the evening.

9:08 p.m.

After dinner I sink back into my print copy of The Merciful Crow on the Recliner of Ten Thousand Comforts, and this is the reading experience I love the most. Coziness + good book = happy Hannah. I’m able to wrap it up and was really pleased with it, especially because it (not a spoiler) does NOT end on a cliffhanger, though it is slated to be a duology. Definitely would recommend if fantasy is a genre of interest for you.

12:51 a.m.

Audiobooks of To All the Boys I Loved Before is chugging along and approaching 75%. I’ve been working on the family photo project some more and am alarmed to be confronted with some of my earlier hairstyle choices. No, I will not be sharing those photos here. Time for a shower and a snooze after a full day of reading, and I’m prepped to cross the finish line tomorrow!

Saturday total: 14 hours, 50 minutes
Running total: 19 hours, 2 minutes

Sunday, July 21

7:20 a.m.

I managed to get one more hour of sleep last night than Friday night, but when you’re comparing 6 hours vs 5 hours, it’s still time to caffeinate. I volun-tell the Husband Unit to drive today so I can get in another graphic novel driving to and from church, grocery shopping and lunch. Today’s pick is Anya’s Ghost, which I’ve checked out for probably the last three readathons but have never gotten to. The premise of “girl falls down well, discovers ghost” turns out to have a lot of layers. Anya’s family moved from Russia to somewhere in the northeast US when she was young, and we see her conflicted, often angry feelings about fitting in as a high schooler vs maintaining strong ties to Russian culture. The ghost element becomes more complicated and disturbing as the story progresses, and I can see why a blurb from Neil Gaiman is on the front cover.

1:07 p.m.

I’m almost done with To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, and I am…not on the (very crowded) Peter Kavinsky bandwagon? Maybe it’s a sign that I’m turning into an old fuddy-duddy, but something about how he treats Lara Jean comes across as patronizing and past an appropriate level of teasing, even though it’s a fake-dating-to-make-someone-else-jealous scenario. This might also be a by-product of listening rather than reading in print, as listening heightens the emotion of book dialogue for me.

2 p.m.

Break time for…Bachelorette watching with the gal pals!!! I have time to do this and still finish 24 hours of reading, so it’s off to WITNESS. THE. DRAMA! We don’t watch as it airs, giving the advantage of flexible scheduling and skipping commercials.

4:15 p.m.

It’s back to the books after a healthy afternoon of bonding via shouting at the TV. I’ve wrap up Anya’s Ghost and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before but still need 90ish minutes, so I cue up The Cruel Prince. I’ve read it, but I need a refresher before I get into my owned-but-not-read copy of The Wicked King.

7:19 p.m.

I’ve listened to enough of The Cruel Prince to take me over the 24-hour finish line! I’m just inside my 48-hour range, but it’s still another tally in the “win” column. The final breakdown for the weekend…

• 8:38:30 One of Us is Lying
• 8:22:19 To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before
• 5:25:39 Phone stopwatch for print reading (Part-Time Princesses, The Merciful Crow, Anya’s Ghost)
• 1:24:58 The Cruel Prince

Grand total: 24 hours, 2 minutes, 26 second

*Fun fact, the computer version of Frogger has competitive multiplayer, with every player using a different part of the same keyboard. So if you happened to be playing against, say, two Brother Units, all you have to do is reach over and smash your hand down on their section of the keyboard and odds are good their frog will jump into a snake or a truck or the water. Cue revenge keyboard smash, and so on and so forth.