Well, I didn’t make it the whole 24 hours, but I came close! I threw in the towel (the bookmark?) at 2:30am during hour 22. I just couldn’t keep my eyes open and sleep sounded *so* good.
Books Finished (and Not)
I decided to read only “fresh” works this time—books that I didn’t already have in-progress. I also decided to go with shorter works since I’m a slow reader. That kept me moving forward all day long.
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The Haunting of Natalie Glasgow by Hailey Piper
Something is possessing Natalie Glasgow and her mother needs to find a solution, even if it means trusting a new-age-healer-witch. I started the readathon with this novella, and it was the standout of my day. Great tension, good twist. This would definitely be my rec for future readathoners. (Novellas are a good way to go anyway, imo.) |
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Strange Detective Mysteries, vol. 1-4 by Terry Pavlet (Created & Cover Art by), Dam Gafford (Created & Written by), Rosaria Battiloro (Interior Art by)
In 1902, a group of luminaries (Arthur Conan Doyle, Harry Houdini, H. G. Wells, Nikola Tesla, and Bat Masterson) is recruited to decipher a notebook that belonged to Edgar Allan Poe. Stories with this many famous characters can go horribly wrong, but I think comics is the perfect place to do it. Strange Detective Mysteries is a fun bit of alt-history science fiction. Unfortunately, some of the faces were really similar. Would a less face-blind person have an easier time? |
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Edgar Allan Poe’s Spirits of the Dead by Richard Corben
I didn’t (yet, and might not) finish this graphic story collection. Corben has an interesting style of adapting and illustrating Poe’s works. He gives the stories a sort of Tales from the Crypt feel. Which I like. But I’m not sure I really care for some of his anatomy choices. Men have no shoulders and women have silly-round boobs. Not designed for the female gaze, I guess. |
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The Grip of It by Jac Jemc
James and Julie, a perfect couple, move into a perfect new (old) house. Except that it’s obvious from the beginning that James and Julie turn a blind eye to their relationship problems as well as problems with the house. And then there are all the creepy things: the noises, the staring neighbor, the secret rooms, the kids in the woods playing “Murder.” I kind of felt like this story lost focus around the 2/3rds mark. Creepy became muddled. Since it’s written from the first person present POV of both the main characters (switching back and forth roughly every other chapter), I guess that’s to be expected as the characters become sicker/more unbalanced/more haunted. |
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The Diary of a Magician’s Wife by Geraldine Conrad Larsen
This book wasn’t on my TBR. At 1-ish AM, I decided I didn’t want to start anything too heavy. I have a mystery by Geraldine Larsen, but I read in the introduction to that book that she’d published a “memoir” as well and that it was available through Hathi Trust. I wish this book had been crunchier. Written in the 40s, it has a very “oh, I’m such a silly woman” vibe which for me takes away from any truth in the anecdotes she relates. |
Closing Survey
- Which hour was most daunting for you? Aside from hour 22 when I pooped-out, hour 20 was pretty bad. My shoulder and neck were really aching (not a readathon related injury😜).
- Tell us ALLLLL the books you read! See above!
- Which books would you recommend to other Read-a-thoners? The Haunting of Natalie Glasgow by Hailey Piper was really good. It was a nice way to start the readathon. Piper is an independent author; I look forward to seeing more from her.
- What’s a really rad thing we could do during the next Read-a-thon that would make you happy? I kind of miss having challenges begin throughout the challenge (and giveaways each hour), but that’s because I like “mystery boxes.” “What new thing will start this hour?” But I totally get that this makes the challenges more equitable and super-duper cuts down on work! So, no worries!
- How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? Would you be interested in volunteering to help organize and prep? Definitely will participate again!
