It's time for Dewey's Read-a-thon again, on Saturday, April 26! Kate and I will attempt to read for as many hours as we can in the 24-hour period starting 8am EDT, and we'll donate a toonie to Free the Children for every hour that either of us reads. I'm especially excited because I've managed to convince my sister-in-law Jill to join the fun.

Our last attempt in October went well, with each of us reading 7 hours. I hope to do more this year (including an hour or two of cheerleading again), and I've kept my Saturday mostly free. Unfortunately, Kate has a number of commitments that day but will try to participate for at least an hour or two.

So what to read? From experience, I've learned to stay away from any long or heavy books for read-a-thons. Here are some candidates from my shelves that I'm considering, and I'll choose two or three of them for Saturday.

• Feed by Mira Grant -- a post-apocalyptic zombie novel.
• No Time for Goodbye by Linwood Barclay -- Barclay is good for read-a-thons because I can't seem to put his books down once I pick them up.
• The Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed -- fantasy novel nominated for this year's Hugo best-novel award.
• Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonders by Lawrence Weschler -- a book about The Museum of Jurassic Technology and museums in general.
• Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry -- next book in the highly acclaimed The Giver series.
• The Winter Palace by Eva Stachniak -- historical fiction about Catherine the Great, and on this year's OLA Evergreen list.
• The Circle by Sara B. Elfgren and Mats Strandberg -- Swedish YA horror/supernatural novel.
• Forty Words for Sorrow by Giles Blunt -- mystery set in Northern Ontario, first in the Detective Cardinal series.
• Twilight is not Good for Maidens by Lou Allin -- another Canadian mystery, an ARC I just received today.

Please consider joining Kate and me for this year's read-a-thon! You can sign up as a reader and/or as a cheerleader. Cheerleading involves visiting other readers' blogs and leaving encouraging comments. It's a great way to discover new book blogs and get book recommendations.