Readathon Wrap-Up

The Readathon is over, which means it's now time to reflect on what we have read after we have read it.

So after my mid-event Readathon update, I read about fifty pages in Mission to Paris before I decided to watch Doctor Who, and things kind of went downhill from there because I feel the need to watch every episode of Doctor Who multiple times in case I miss something. And then we had dinner, and then my mom was like "Look at these funny YouTube videos I found," and then I was like, "Let's watch Django Unchained"—completely unaware that it's nearly three freaking hours long—and then I decided to watch Da Vinci's Demons (really good show, by the way), and basically it was around three in the morning before I started listening to The Three Musketeers, passed out at some point, and now I have to find my place in that audiobook again.

But, overall it was a pretty successful Readathon. I did finish The Great Gatsby, at least. Usually I spend the Readathon doing minichallenges and commenting more than reading, but this time I actually got some reading in, so that was nice.

Food consumed: breakfast casserole, a banana, crackers with hummus and capers (that was my lunch, sad), miso soup and sushi, champagne, martinis (too many martinis, I'm blaming everything on Django), and lots of water.

End of event questions:

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?
Right now. I'm feeling pretty daunted right about now.

2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
All the books I read this time would be great choices. If you're into reading chunksters for the Readathon, The Three Musketeers feels like a really fast read even though it's long. Loooong long looong.

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
Hm, I really liked the minichallenges with pictures. More instagram/photo challenges would be cool.

4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
It seemed like everything went perfectly.

5. How many books did you read?
One ish.

6. What were the names of the books you read?
The Great Gatsby, Mission to Paris, The Three Musketeers

7. Which book did you enjoy most?
I honestly enjoyed all of them.

8. Which did you enjoy least?
Doctor Who. Haha. Kidding but kind of not.

9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
I was not a cheerleader.

10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
I'll definitely participate again!


How did your Readathon/Saturday go?


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Readathon Mid-Event Update

The Readathon continues! I finished my work stuff about an hour ago and then started back on The Great Gatsby and finished it. Yay! Oy, the ending is the worst part of that book. I did not need to go to Gatsby's funeral, thanks though F. Scott.

A slice of breakfast casserole.

Anyway... food! For the Readathon I prepared a breakfast casserole made out of eggs, ham, bread, cheese, and chopped chives. It turned out really yummy and was super-easy to make. If you're thinking about something to make for fall's Readathon I would definitely recommend it. You can view the recipe at Full Fork Ahead.

And now it's time for the mid-event survey:

1) How are you doing? Sleepy? Are your eyes tired?
No, not really. I feel fine but my neck's stiff. :p

2) What have you finished reading?
Just The Great Gatsby so far.

3) What is your favorite read so far?
Uh The Great Gatsby I guess? That's kind of my only choice.

4) What about your favorite snacks?
The breakfast casserole! Actually that's all I've had except for a banana.

5) Have you found any new blogs through the readathon? If so, give them some love!
Nope, I haven't had a chance to visit any blogs yet. Maybe later tonight.


How's your Readathon/Saturday going?


Discus this post with me on Twitter, FaceBook, Google+ or in the comments below.

Readathon Starting Post

Good morning! I know things have been radio silent around here for a bit, but I'm back to participate in Dewey's Readathon. What is Dewey's Readathon? I'm glad you asked! It's kind of like the Superbowl for bibliophiles.

I have some work-y things to do today, but for the most part I'm planning on taking it easy and finishing all the books I'm in the middle of right now, which are:

• The Great Gatsby--Is Gatsby Jesus?
• Mission to Paris--Hollywood star becomes Allied spy.
• The Three Musketeers--Buckles and swashing.
• A non-fiction book about Jane Austen whose title is escaping me right now.

Anyway, the peeps at Dewey also have an introduction questionnaire. So here it is!

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
Colorado, USA

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
Idk, Gatsby I guess. I'm already reading all of them, so.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
I made a special breakfast casserole for the Readathon, so I'm looking forward to that.

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!
My favorite coffee mug has a kitty cat and the word "mystery" on it.

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'll probably read outside more this Readathon and spend less time online than I have in previous years.


Want to join in the Readathon? There's still time! Go to http://24hourreadathon.com to find out more.


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Read-a-thon Start Post!

Hello, everyone! I am officially starting the 24-Hour Readathon. Yays!

I haven't had my coffee yet, so I'm just skipping straight to the meme. Will be more chatty later.

1)Where are you reading from today? Colorado.
2)Three random facts about me… I need a haircut, the TV show Chuck is my anti-drug, and my favorite flowers are gladiolas.
3)How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours? One. I just have to decide which one.
4)Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)? Staying awake. Haha.
5)If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, any advice for people doing this for the first time? Yes, have fun with it! Don't feel like you're falling behind because you're not finishing books or doing a bunch of mini-challenges.

Preparing for the October 2011 24-Hour Readathon!

Today is the first day of fall, and that means the fall edition of Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon is almost upon us (October 22nd). Excitement!

I have horrible luck when it comes to readathons; I've never finished a whole book during one, just books that were already half-way read. It doesn't even have anything to do with working; I just get too distracted by things like visiting blogs and doing challenges. My TBR pile for the Dewey's Readathon hasn't changed once since I first participated, that's how bad it is.

SO ANYWAY. I was going to just do cheerleading this time, because looking at my constantly not-changing stack of readathon books is quite frankly not good for morale, but then I woke up with the conviction that I really had to read during the readathon. I just had to. This time, though, I'm not even going to TRY to finish a book. I'm picking a long-ass novel and just sticking with that for the entire day. It's gonna be Pillars of the Earth all up in here. Okay, maybe not Pillars of the Earth, but definitely a chunkster will be read, or at the very least started.

I'm also going to try to wake up and start reading w/everyone else this year. It probably won't happen, but I'm going to make the effort-ish.

Have you signed up for the Readathon yet? You should!

Readathon Wrap-Up

Oy. I did not get enough sleep last night, I can tell y'all that right now. I went to bed around 5 AM, two hours short of going through to the end of the Readathon. I think I read for just 12 or 13 hours.

Let's move on to the meme.

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? Probably hour 14 when I was getting bored-ish.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? Den of Thieves was a good Readathon book. Very fast-pasted.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Maybe have alternate hosts who can step in if something unexpected happens? Also, I was thinking there should be more of Tumblr presence.
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? The twitter feed was really great this year. Also, I loved the mini-challenges, and I like the idea of keeping track of all the books read during the 'thon.
5. How many books did you read? Um, one.
6. What were the names of the books you read? Den of Thieves, plus I read parts of Alfred Hitchcock by Francois Truffaut, and Snowball in Hell by Josh Lanyon
7. Which book did you enjoy most? Den of Thieves. It's not like I have a huge selection to chose from or anything.
8. Which did you enjoy least? Alfred Hitchcock. It's a good book, for non-fiction, but not the best choice for the Readathon.
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? I would say I'm likely. :) I always want to try cheerleading during the next readathon, but then I forget and just do reading.

So. Since I spent all of yesterday reading, I have a lot to do today, and I better get started on it. I had a great time during the Readathon even if I didn't get a lot done. Now it's time to recover. :)

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Readathon Hour 21 Update

"Grand Pier... Hitchcock Style" by MrsMinifig

So, the Readathon is almost over. I totally got lost after I finished Den of Thieves. I tried to finish Francois Truffaut's interview with Alfred Hitchcock, but I didn't get very far, and I have no desire to get much farther tonight. Instead of actually reading the book, here's what I did:

• Ate pizza while watching a forgotten episode of The Mentalist on my DVR. The book was open on my lap, so this counts as "reading" (yeah right).
• Washed the dishes.
  
• Watched North by Northwest.
• Drank the better half of a bottle of champagne all by myself. DO NOT RECOMMEND.
• Spent the next hour tweeting about Cary Grant.
• Got bored with that and visited blogs.
• Decided to do Memory's mini-challenge (see Hitchcock picture, above)

Anywho... I think I'm going to make a cup of tea and see if I can sober up enough to read for a while. If When I do this again, I resolve to not drink *as much* alcohol, and not to read non-fiction books. Because even when the subject is interesting, they're just not something I can sit down and become absorbed in, you know what I mean?

Oh, and I won a prize. Yay!!!!

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Readathon Update Hour 10

It's hour ten of the Readathon, but hour 5 for me, as I started about five hours late. So far I've finished one book that I really enjoyed, Den of Thieves by Julia Golding. I still love this series and the ending to this book was soooo great! I wish I could live in these novels.

In other news, I finished a very fun mini-challenge hosted by Wordlily to make our own book origami! I made little dinosaurs out of pages from an ARC I didn't like.



Here is Bookasaurus wandering around the bookshelves.



Uh-oh, looks like Bookasaurus is in trouble! No wonder he looked so worried....



Hooray! Stegosaurus arrives to save the day! All right, stegosaurus looks a little like a rat, but are you going to hold that against him??


So now that I've finished one book and a mini-challenge, it's time for a break (that will hopefully involve food, as I'm starving). See y'all in a few!

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Readathon Start Post

Hey! I'm finally awake and starting the Readathon. I did wake up around 5 am, but decided I was way too tired and went back to sleep. Lame, I know but that's the way it goes when you fall asleep watching Alfred Hitchcock movies.

So there is/are some questions to start off the Readathon! Let's take a quick look:

1)Where are you reading from today? My apartment in Norman, Oklahoma. I might go somewhere else to read at some point just for a change of scenery.

2)Three random facts about me… My nickname at my job last year was Hollywood, squids are my favorite animals, and I refuse to paint my toenails any color but orange.

3)How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours? A bazillion. I don't know. I didn't have time to plan this out at all.

4)Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)? Yes, I'd like to at least finish Den of Thieves and Francois Truffaut's interview with Alfred Hitchcock.

5)If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, any advice for people doing this for the first time? Take breaks and do stretches. Order pizza. Pick out short books.

On to the Readathon!

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Schauzer Saturday

Pearly is upset she's not allowed to chase the squirrel--and that she can't participate in the Readathon this weekend because she can't read!

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From Dusk Till Dawn Readathon Update

Have you heard of the From Dusk Till Dawn Readathon?  It goes over the weekend from eight at night until eight in the morning, plus there are a lot of fun mini-challenges and a twitter feed you can follow while you're reading.  Since I'm a night owl and like to read at night anyway, I thought this would be the perfect readathon for me.

Last night I read for about six hours and almost finished The Maltese Falcon.  Tonight I think I'm going to start on Firespell by Chloe Neill, unless of course I change my mind (which, if you know me, is entirely possible).

If you're a late-night person who enjoys reading like me, why not sign up for the readathon?  You don't have to stay up the whole night, but while you're up you can join in the fun and possibly get some prizes and swag.

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Readathon: Denoumet

I completed the Readathon!  Here is the end of event meme:

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?  Probably around the twenty hour mark when things started quieting down.
   
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?  Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart was a great book for the Readathon--I should have started with that one instead of The Pendragon Legend.
   
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Maybe space the prizes out more so the people who win something later in the Readathon feel like have as good as a selection as the people who win early on?
   
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?  The Twitter end of things was probably the best part.
   
5. How many books did you read? Five
   
6. What were the names of the books you read? A Conspiracy of Kings, The Pendragon Legend, Isis, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (audiobook), Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart.
   
7. Which book did you enjoy most?  Mr. Darcy
   
8. Which did you enjoy least? The Pendragon Legend.  Not a bad book, but a terrible choice for the Readathon.
   
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?  I would love to participate in the next Readathon, although I'm thinking I might be a Cheerleader next time.

Next Readathon I think I'm going to get up early to start with everyone else.  I had the same thought during the last Readathon, but I just couldn't do it this time around--to tired!  But maybe the planets will align next time.

Overall, I had fun with the Readathon, but I felt seriously out of sorts during it for some reason.  I also didn't get very much read, in all honesty--I'm not sure I read significantly more than I do on an average day!  This is kind of why I've decided to focus on Cheerleading next time.  I've also been thinking of hosting a mini-challenge, if I don't forget what my idea is.

Overall it was a great 24 hours.  Thank you to everyone for reading with me and cheering me on!

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Readathon Update

It's about hour 18 (I think?) of the Readathon, but it's half-way for me.  I'm starting to fade a bit here, people.  But I will persevere!

Hours In:  7:11

Books read: Finished A Conspiracy of Kings, started and gave up on The Pendragon Legend; right now I'm halfway through Isis.

Pages read:  About 170, I think.

I won a book!

Food consumed:  Breakfast, a piece of toast.  Lunch was a cream and chicken enchilada.  Dinner was sauerbraten with dumplings, rotkohl, and carrots.  I think I need a snack.

Number of times I've yelled at people that I'm doing the readathon today:  Fortunately, only once.  Glares are half a dozen and rising.

Go readathon!  I really am having fun. :)

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If the Cover Fits Mini-challenge

Trisha from eclectic/eccentric is challenging us to find covers that fit into five categories:

Disturbing

Vibrant

Beautiful

Scary

Moving

Here are my choices:



Disturbing--Ghosts! Scariez!



Vibrant--this one is full of vibrant, primary colors.



Beautiful--absolutely adore this cover.  It's definitely gorgeous.



Scary--for some reason this cover really freaks me out.



Moving--Yup, that's what he's doing.

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Readathon!

Okay!  Finally I am posting about the Readathon, which I'm participating in this weekend.  I've been at it for about two hours, and have finished one book:  A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner.  Don't be impressed; I only had fifty pages left in it.

My plans for the Readathon is to read as much as possible.  Ha!  I set out a couple of books last night, all of which are less than three hundred pages.  Here's the list:

• The Pendragon Legend by Antal Szerb
• Isis by Douglas Clegg
• Zan-Gah by A. R. Shickman
• The Vinter's Luck by Elizabeth Knox
• Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart by Beth Pattillo
• The Sinful Life of Lucy Burns by Elizabeth Leikness

But as soon as I woke up, my plans were already going awry.  I began thinking I should read Call Me Kate by Molly Roe, since that's about a mining cave-in; and three of the four books I've been waiting for impatiently have finally come in at the library, and I can't promise I won't give in to temptation and start on those instead of my Readathon books.

But whatever!  We'll see what happens.

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New Year's Readathon Wrap-Up

The New Year Readathon hosted by Kristen from Bookworming isn't over yet, and I still plan to read for it, but I decided to do the wrap-up now. 

My total reading hours will probably end up being around 10 hours.  I made an itty-bitty dent in Practice Makes Perfect by Julie James before I decided I might as well move on to The Dickens With Love by Josh Lanyon, which I actually managed to finish.  Hooray!  Of course, it was pretty short.  And I'm going to finish up Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire tonight.  So I don't think I did too shabby, all things considered.

I'm really looking forward to writing reviews for The Dickens With Love and Goblet, and I enjoyed starting 2010 by reading a fun novel.  Hopefully this will set the tone for the rest of the year! 

Happy New Year everyone!

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Ring In the New Year with Reading

What are you doing New Year's Eve?  If you said reading, then we are probably soul mates of some sort!  Kristen from Bookworming is hosting a New Year Read-a-thon.  Here are the details:

Starts: 5 pm on Thursday, December 31st
Ends: 10 pm on Sunday, January 3rd

You
can read as little or as much as you want! Also, I'm planning on having
a smaller event called Reading Into the New Year - where us bookworms
can read as it turns midnight! I will be posting the sign up for that
event next. Please partake in either or both!!!

So, to start
off. My goal is to read at least 24 hours. I'm going to see what books
I get through closer to the date and then post about the pile of books
I want to get through. As you're thinking about what books you want to
read, consider the following:

-Shorter books are easier to push through and you may want to include a few of those
-You don't have to read a crazy amount of hours - whatever you can fit in!
-This is a no stress readathon, so if you don't meet your goal - no big.
-Think about any new challenges your starting and what books are on those lists.

Since I'm starting a m/m challenge in January, I'm going to be working on those books.  Right after I finish Practice Makes Perfect by Julie James, that is, which is taking me a ridiculously long time to read (no fault of the book, I've just been very distracted playing with my new toy).  Realistically, I probably won't get much reading in because I'll be working, but I'm going to give it a go and see what happens.


Want to usher in the new year with reading?  There's still time to join!

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