Stats and Stories

My finish line post.

Time spent reading or listening to audio book: 23 hours, 1 minute

Time spent blogging: 1 hour, 43 minutes

Time spent networking: 51 minutes

Total time: 25 hours and 35 minutes

Number of complete books read: 7
Number of books I decided not to finish: 3 (plus several I only read a very short amount of)
Books not completed during the challenge: 3, including the audio book

Number of books that made me laugh: 4
Number of books that made me cry: 2

Favorite book: oh, so hard to decide. But I think I'll go with Cosmic.

Total time reading was about the same as last year, but I spent much less time blogging than usual. Generally I write full reviews, this year I just wasn't that into it, despite how awesome the books were. I read fewer books than last year, but I think most of them were longer and/or denser.

I decided to keep things very simple this year, minimal recordkeeping and plenty of breaks. The reward was a very easy feeling challenge -- low stress, low eyestrain, and the only time I really felt tired was when I read til 2 a.m last night. On the plus side, I loved the books I was reading! Aside from my "If I read one more first person narrative my head will explode" breakdown, I don't think I've ever enjoyed the reading in a challenge more. On the minus side... well, it felt less like a real challenge somehow. What's a book challenge if it doesn't exhaust you out of your mind?

Anyway, it's been great fun, as always. I love being part of this wacky community every year.

Audiobook: I Am a Genuis of Unspeakable Evil

I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to Be Your Class President by Josh Lieb

I was attracted by the outrageous title and cover of this book, but at first it seemed like a terrible choice for audio: listening to someone who is sarcastic and angry nonstop, no matter how well the voice is done, is really tiresome and unpleasant. With more characters introduced, it's started to grow on me and is sometimes very funny. I still think I'd prefer to read the rest in print, however. Apparently there are comic illustrations, too.

It's about an evil genius who hides behind a pose of idiocy -- think baby Stewie from the show "Family Guy," which is pretty much how the audiobook narrator portrays him, sans the accent. The book is entirely from his point of view so it's impossible to know yet whether this reality is going to turn out to be true or a complete fantasy. But considering he has the power to make water fountains dispense both chocolate milk and root beer and plans to ban the song "Jingle Bell Rock," it might not be so bad if it were true.

listening: 2 hour, 12 m
blogging: 14 m

Book 8: The Panic Virus by Seth Minookin

I'll add my stats later, because I probably won't finish this book tonight and -- I hope -- will sleep too late to do any more reading for the challenge tomorrow.

It's traditional for me to read an autism book during the challenge and a nonfiction break seemed like a good idea. This is very interesting, though I'm not sure I'm taking everything in. I was very struck by how vulnerable children who can't yet be immunized are when immunization rates fall. It's not just an individual risk we're taking for our own children.

183 out of 311

Reading: 2 hours, 40 minutes
Blogging: 8 minutes
Networking: 3 minutes