Sunday, October 19, 2014

Hour 17 Update

Summary
Book: Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh
Progress: Gonna start now

Goals
Books Completed: 5/10
(0 books, 4 manga, 0 Japanese language manga, 1 visual novel routes)
Challenges Completed: 6/10
Comments Left By Me: 6/10

Everyone around me is going to bed. Somehow I'm still awake... Amazing. Gonna read a bit more and then take a bit of a nap so I can hopefully finish out. Last year I was out for many hours, though...

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Hour 16 Update

Summary
Book: Rihito Hatsune Sequel
Progress: Chapter 4

Goals
Books Completed: 4/10
(0 books, 4 manga, 0 Japanese language manga, 0 visual novel routes)
Challenges Completed: 6/10
Comments Left By Me: 4/10

Everyone is winding down around here. I only slept for 5 1/2 hours last night, so I'm pretty tired, even though it's only 10. We'll see how long I can hang on. It's easier to stay awake when I have a deadline staring at me! Books are too comforting. xD

You know how they say to not have your phone or computer on while you sleep, because the blue light keeps you awake? I'm doing the opposite of staying away and working on a visual novel on my phone. Hopefully it'll help.

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Color Cover Mini-Challenge Completed!


Here is my Color Cover photo! I pulled these green/blue books off my shelf, and yes, two of them are in Japanese. I love that each cover has a bit of red in it, too...

Hours 13, 14, and 15 Update

Summary
Book: Accel World by Reki Kawahara
Progress: Just starting!

Goals
Books Completed: 4/10
(0 books, 4 manga, 0 Japanese language manga, 0 visual novel routes)
Challenges Completed: 4/10 (Plus one hosted!)
Comments Left By Me: 2/10

These last couple hours have flown by! I got some good reading done once I left my mini-challenge alone to gather entries. Soon I'll be posting the winners for that!

I went to Barnes and Noble and got a quiche, a cupcake, and some hot chocolate and really read hard. In that time, I completed both volumes of All You Need is Kill. And then cried a lot. Seriously, that one gets to me.

Nine hours left. Onward!

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Mid-Event Survey

1. What are you reading right now? Nothing, sadly. I'll be back to it soon!
2. How many books have you read so far? Two and a half. Sad total.
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? Ooh, all of them, probably. Maybe Nisekoi, vol. 4.
4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? Only, oh, five hours of work and another hour of picking up my sister and getting her food. Plus an hour and a half finishing the mini-challenge post. Haha. I guess you've just gotta roll with it!
5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? How many people are participating! I've been doing this for a while, and our totals this year are crazy!

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Hours 11 and 12 Update

Still nothing new. Editing that post for the mini-challenge took longer than I thought. Phew! I'll be back to reading for real now...

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Hour 13 Mini-Challenge: Casual Closet Cosplay Challenge

We're officially half-way through the read-a-thon! How are you feeling? I'm sure you've all been reading very intently, so we're going to do something a little different for this challenge... Cosplay!

For those of you who don't know what cosplay is (you're a majority, I'm sure), the term "cosplay" is a Japanese combination of the words "costume" and "play". At its essence, cosplay involves dressing up as a fictional character and adopting their mannerisms, body language, and ways of speaking (though cosplayers go out-of-character from time to time). People who cosplay are called "cosplayers", and they can be frequently found at comic, anime, sci-fi, and other conventions.

Many cosplays are incredibly elaborate and include careful costume and prop construction, fanciful wigs, and full make-up (feel free to browse cosplay.com for some stunning examples). However, I tend to prefer a simpler type of cosplay known as "casual cosplay". A casual cosplay is made up of everyday items and things you might wear anyway; there's something fun about dressing up in a non-dressed up way.

Now that you have a little bit of background, it's time for me to introduce the challenge (entry form located here):

Dress up as a book character! This can be a character from something you are reading today or just an old favorite, and graphic novels totally count, too! You can see some examples of mine at the end of this post. All you have to do is keep in mind the three C's (I sure like alliteration):

  1. Casual. Wear something your character would wear on a normal day. Don't wear fancy uniforms or armor, even if you already own them. Printed t-shirts or other items with logos, however, will be permitted. 
  2. Closet. A closet cosplay is where a cosplayer creates a costume using items found in their closets (or thereabout). So for this challenge, all items used must already be in your possession. No sneaking out to buy supplies! Borrowing from a friend or family member is allowed, though. 
  3. Cosplay. The point of cosplay is that it is something you can wear. If you personally don't want to dress up, see if you can coax a family member or roommate into doing it for you. If you absolutely can't find anyone, laying out the outfit will work, as well, but it must be a full outfit (no skipping the pants or shoes or anything). In addition, do your best to adopt the mannerisms and expressions of your character! If she's a tough military girl, wear your best tough face. If he's a snobby student, wear a sneer. It's all part of the costume, after all. Crossdressing and genderbending are totally allowed! 

Once you have your costume assembled (and hopefully pulled on), take a picture and post it on your blog, Instagram, Twitter, or whatnot! Include the character's name, the book they are from, and a short description of the character and/or why you chose what you did. Then come fill out this form to be eligible for prizes! (The form will close in three hours, at the beginning of Hour 16.)

I will be choosing and contacting three winners. One will be randomly chosen from all the entries and will get to select a prize from the Read-A-Thon prize page. The other two will be chosen by me based on their costumes: the Most Accurate Award and the Most Creative Award. Since "cosplay" is a Japanese term and many cosplays are inspired by manga/graphic novels, I will be sending these two winners a manga volume, chosen based on what I perceive their preferences to be according to their read-a-thon or other posts. I will contact the winners through the e-mail addresses they give me and will also make a post about the winners and with MY casual cosplay at the conclusion of this challenge.

Phew! That was a lot of info. Thanks for sticking with me! If you have any questions, leave a comment and a way to contact you, and I'll get back to you ASAP! To inspire you, here are a couple of my favorite casual cosplays (L from Death Note by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, Piper McLean from Heroes of Olympus by Rick Riordan, and Kiyoko Shimizu from Haikyuu!! by Haruichi Furudate):




Hours 9 and 10 Update

Nothing new to report. :(

Picked up sister; she wanted to talk about her roomates. So I did that for a while instead. *sigh*

Now on to finishing my post for the Mini-Challenge!!

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Hours 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 Update

Summary
Book: All You Need Is Kill (manga)
Progress: 1/3 or so.

Goals
Books Completed: 2/10
(0 books, 2 manga, 0 Japanese language manga, 0 visual novel routes)
Challenges Completed: 2/10
Comments Left By Me: 0/10

FINALLY done with work! I read as much as possible for a girl who has to get up every few minutes to help people do bank transactions... But I'm really, really glad to be back home! Fewer distractions, but I'll still have to leave to pick up my sister soon. I just wanna read!

In any case, I finished Nisekoi, vol. 3, and it was adorable. I'm reading All You Need is Kill now (#obataismyhero), but once I'm done with that, or maybe even before, I'll be starting in on a legitimate, all-text book. Or at least mostly text (looking at you, Hyperbole and a Half).

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Hour 3 Update

Summary
Book: Nisekoi, vol. 3 by Naoshi Komi
Progress: 1/3 through

Goals
Books Completed: 1/10
(0 books, 1 manga, 0 Japanese language manga, 0 visual novel routes)
Challenges Completed: 1/10
Comments Left By Me: 0/10

Got chunky cinnamon French toast from Kneaders for breakfast and worked on a cute manga. Now I must head to work for real. It'll probably be pretty quiet for the next few hours.

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Saturday, October 18, 2014

Hour 2 Update

Summary
Book: Bakuman by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata
Progress: finished vol. 2!

Goals
Books Completed: 1/10
(0 books, 1 manga, 0 Japanese language manga, 0 visual novel routes)
Challenges Completed: 1/10
Comments Left By Me: 0/10

Off to go get some breakfast before work starts! Ugh, work. Can I just stay home and read?

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Hour 1 Update

Summary
Book: Bakuman, vol. 2 by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata (#obataismyhero)
Progress: some?

Goals
Books Completed: 0/10
(0 books, 0 manga, 0 Japanese language manga, 0 visual novel routes)
Challenges Completed: 1/10
Comments Left By Me: 0/10

I got distracted by my darling Goosehouse playing a livestream set this morning (or tonight, if you're in Japan). Had to go hear them for a few minutes. I'll probably watch the whole stream later.

In any case, back to reading! I'll be getting dressed and heading out for breakfast during this hour.

 ----- For more liveblogging fun, feel free to follow me on Twitter. #readathon

Read-A-Thon Goals

This year's a bit wacky, so I'm revamping my goals somewhat. We'll see how they go.

Total things read: 10
Books read: 4 (As in, actual wordy literature-type books--though light novels count! I won't be doing as many of these as I've attempted in past years, so this will be a good place to start.)
Manga read: 3
Manga read in Japanese: 1
Visual novel routes read: 2 (They take longer than I think they will every time! So wordy...)

Since I'm moving to Japan soon, I'm working hard on my language skills. That's why I'm going to try to finish a book in Japanese. A graphic novel type of book, but a book nonetheless.

Also, because I know some people will ask, a visual novel is a type of wordy game. I tend to describe the ones I play as chick-lit with pretty pictures that you get to make choices in. Basically, it's in first person and you read all the dialogue and choose options to change the outcome of the story, like a choose-your-own-adventure book from way back in the day. But cuter.

I'll also be trying to accomplish these things:
Challenges completed: 10 (unchanged from last year)
Comments left: 10 (though I'll be tweeting up a storm; maybe at you!)

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Read-A-Thon Opening Meme

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
Salt Lake City, UT!

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
Ugh, I don't even know. They're all so different and so good in different ways. Here's a quick sample for those who are curious:

  • Leviathan, by Scott Westerfeld
  • The House of Hades, by Rick Riordan
  • Accel World, by Reki Kawahara
  • Hyperbole and a Half, by Allie Brosh
  • Princess of Tennis, by Jamie Lynn Lano
  • Nisekoi, by Naoshi Komi
  • ハイキュー!!, by Haruichi Furudate
  • A couple Voltage Inc. visual novels

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
No clue. I'm gonna try to not eat too much, since the lack of sleep/sitting around can easily lend itself to weight gain. I have a triathlon coming up, after all... That said, I always like the part of the day where I go sit at a cafe for a while to get a change of scenery. Hot chocolate makes me happy.

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!
Hi! I'm Elisabeth! I'm an artist and musician who believes that the best inspiration comes from being well-read. I'll be moving to Japan next year, so this is my last read-a-thon in my home country. Hope it goes well!

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?
Today is going to be rather strange. Most years I've been able to avoid most of my duties for the day, but this year I have work, triathlon training, some editing to do, and a lot of art to catch up on. I'll be utilizing lots of graphic novels and short fun reads to try to fill in the gaps when possible and audiobooks for when I need my hands and eyes free for other things. My reading activity may be down a bit, but it should still be fun! I haven't gotten to do much for-fun reading over the last few years, so it's nice to dedicate ANY time to it, even if I can't quite do the full 24-hours.

Oh, and I'll be hosting a mini-challenge! Look forward to it!

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Sunday, April 27, 2014

Hour 15 Update

I wasted a bunch of this hour looking up trivia facts and ages of my favorite characters... And then looking at fandom merchandise. Whoops. At least it's all still been book related! On the downside, I really want to finish the anime and live-action movie now...

Summary
Book: Death Note by Tsugumi Ohba
Pages: 636 total

Goals
Books Completed: 3/10
Challenges Completed: 7/10
Comments Left By Me: 7/30
Miles Biked: 0/20

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Hours 12, 13, 14 Update

I'm not updating as much as I did last year, but I'm definitely reading more, so I guess it's a good thing. I went out and got dinner, reading the whole time.

Also, I'm feeling a bit distraught right now because my favorite character just died, and it was so unceremonious. I knew it was coming, but not like that! I miss him already. T^T

Summary
Book: Death Note, vol. 7 by Tsugumi Ohba
Pages: 153 (575 total)

Goals
Books Completed: 2/10
Challenges Completed: 7/10
Comments Left By Me: 7/30
Miles Biked: 0/20

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Mid-Event Survey

1. What are you reading right now?
Still working through the Death Note series! It's lots of fun.

2. How many books have you read so far?
Just one and bits of two others. But until now, I didn't really get the chance to sit down and read, so I'm feeling okay about it.

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?
I'm gonna finish my free copy of Sword Art Online, vol. 1! Can't wait.

4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day?
Couldn't free up the day. Had to still clean the whole apartment from top to bottom for inspections. But at least that's over now!

5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?
See above. And audiobooks are good friends for busy people.

6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?
Not much. It's about the same.

7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
Nope! I feel like it's running pretty smoothly.

8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year?
Go to bed earlier!

9. Are you getting tired yet?
Yup. It's only 5pm here, but I'm starting to feel sleepy.

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?
Keep your books short, light, and fast-paced. If you're getting tired, take an audiobook for a walk, read a webcomic, or try a graphic novel! A change of pace can really do wonders.

Hours 9, 10, 11 Update

I showered and then got kind of distracted by reading. Heh. But I'm updating now! Probably going to run to Panda Express in a couple to grab something to eat. It's dinner time already. 

Summary
Book: Death Note, vol. 6 by Tsugumi Ohba
Pages: 95 (296 total, plus some audiobook)

Goals
Books Completed: 1/10
Challenges Completed: 7/10
Comments Left By Me: 4/30
Miles Biked: 0/20

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Hours 7 and 8 Update

Finally, I am basically done with the cleaning! And we passed our check! Woohoo! So now I can devote all my time to the read-a-thon. 

Summary
Book: Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
Pages: audiobook, 1/7

Goals
Books Completed: 0/10
Challenges Completed: 5/10
Comments Left By Me: 4/30
Miles Biked: 0/20

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Best of My Reading Year

I sadly haven't done a ton of reading this year, but here are some of the ones I have:

Best Romance Book of Your Reading Year

Golden Time, by Yuyuko Takemiya

This slice of life story with a supernatural twist tells the story of Tada Banri, a young man who lost his memories in an accident and is now trying to move on with life by attending Tokyo University. There, he meets a rather eccentric girl named Kaga Koko. When pieces of his past come back to haunt him, Banri and Koko have to figure out how they really feel about each other.

Best Fantasy Book of Your Reading Year

Sword Art Online, by Reki Kawahara

In the year 2022, an amazing full-dive MMORPG is released. The world of Sword Art Online is such that the players have their own lives inside, not only fighting, but crafting, cooking, and creating relationships. However, on the evening of the release day, the creator announces that he will not allow them to log out and go to the real world unless they reach the 100th floor of the floating castle they live in. And, to make things more difficult, if they die in the game, they die in real life... 

Best Storyline of Your Reading Year

Death Note, written by Tsugumi Ohba, illustrated by Takeshi Obata

I'm in love with this series. It brings up all sorts of questions about ethics and morality, like whether killing criminals makes you a hero or a villain. The pacing is wonderful, and every chapter brings a new twist I was not expecting. I highly recommend this one to anyone who likes graphic novels.


And because I've been largely into visual novels this year:

Best Art of Your Reading Year

Kiss of Revenge, by Voltage Inc

I love the style they used for this game. It's softer than many of the others, and the colors are lovely. 

Best Music of Your Reading Year

Tie between Love Letter from Thief X and Our Two Bedroom Story, by Voltage Inc

The music in LLFTX is seamless and orchestrated well. It really adds to the mood of the game, and nothing is quite like the music that plays when the thieves have a mission. OTBS has some of the prettiest music I've heard in a Voltage game. The piano themes are my favorite. 

Hour 6 Update

Nothing to report. Still just slaving away with my audiobook. Hopefully I'll be done by the end of hour 7... 

Summary
Book: Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
Pages: audiobook (1/7)

Goals
Books Completed: 0/10
Challenges Completed: 4/10
Comments Left By Me: 4/30
Miles Biked: 0/20

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Hours 4 and 5 Update

Went to a VERY crowded Kneaders for breakfast, and then got groceries. Read Death Note, vol. 5 while I was away. Now back to my audiobook and scrubbing some more! 

Summary
Book: Death Note, vol. 5 by Tsugumi Ohba
Pages: 74 

Goals
Books Completed: 0/10
Challenges Completed: 3/10
Comments Left By Me: 4/30
Miles Biked: 0/20

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Saturday, April 26, 2014

Hour 3 Update

I'm heading to Kneaders for some French toast and a physical book (take a break from cleaning and audiobooks). Then I'll run to the store with my roommate to grab some things we need to finish these cleaning checks. Ugh. I hate cleaning checks. 

Summary
Book: Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
Pages: audiobook (1/7)

Goals
Books Completed: 0/10
Challenges Completed: 2/10
Comments Left By Me: 4/30
Miles Biked: 0/20

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Hours 1 and 2 Update

Thought I'd post an update now, since not much will happen in the next couple minutes. I'll just be cleaning. Hopefully going to get breakfast pretty soon! I did manage to start on some cheering. Phew.  

Summary
Book: Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
Pages: audiobook

 Goals
Books Completed: 0/10
Challenges Completed: 1/10
Comments Left By Me: 3/30
Miles Biked: 0/20

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For more liveblogging fun, feel free to follow me on Twitter. #readathon

Hour 0 - Survey

I'm getting off to a very late start this morning, but I figure with all the late nights I've been having lately, I deserve it. But now it's time to throw myself into this! I still have a ton of cleaning to get done for cleaning checks, but luckily I have an audio book. Phew.

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
I'm in Utah, USA! As always. :)

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
Oh, this is a hard one. I have a bunch of webcomics to catch up on, some audiobooks, a barely released English translation of a book I love, a bunch of Japanese books, a manga series to finish, some chick lit, some fantasy, and a couple visual novels. I'm stoked to finish Death Note, though, so I think I'll go with that!

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
Not sure. We'll have to see what I'm in the mood for once I make it to the store.

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!
I'm a 23 year old college graduate who loves art and reading!

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've got a lot more short, light books this time. I only finished 3 books last time, so we're trying a different approach today. I also will not always be reading, since I'll be doing a fair bit of cheering, writing reviews, and probably even doing some artwork. It will all be book related, though! And I think that's what counts.

My goals for today are as follows:
Books read: 10
This should be easy, considering how short some of them are. A book counts as one volume of print writing, one main story or sequel and epilogue of a visual novel, or 100 pages of webcomic.
Miles biked: 20
We're gonna try this again. I definitely need to hit up the gym!
Challenges completed: 10
I do love the challenges. Maybe I'll end up with more?
Comments left: 30
I'm part of the cheer squad this year, so I've got to step it up! I'll be commenting over on Tumblr. It'll be great fun.

So let's get started!