Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon!

 

I'm a little late posting my starting memo for Dewey’s 24-hour Read-a-thon.  When I woke up I felt like reading so I read for a while before checking in on-line.  One of my favorite things to do is read in bed at night before I go to sleep and again in the morning as I wake up with some coffee.

 

So here are my answers to the opening meme: 

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?  I’m reading from one of the boroughs of NYC: Brooklyn! 

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? I’m looking forward to several books today, Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor; Talk Talk by TC Boyle; What Alice Forgot…by Liane Moriarty and Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill 

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?  I love cheese and crackers! I’ll also be snacking on some graham crackers and peanut butter.  It’s a great combo.  Plenty of coffee and tea, too!   

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!   I’ve participated in several read-a-thons and was a cheerleader for one.  This readathon is a  lot of fun and the organizers come up with great mini-contests and fun events to keep readers spirits up.  I admit that I’ve never been able to stay up a full 24 hours!  

5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today?  I’m hoping to get a lot of reading done today.  I really like the books I have and the contests and challenges tend to flummox me a bit…but I’ll see what today brings!

Dewey's 24-Hour Read-a-Thon: October 22, 2011!!

October 22nd is fast approaching! What's the big deal you ask?! October 22, 2011 is the date for Dewey's 24-Hour Read-a-Thon! Wooooo Hooooo! It's a whole lot of fun as well as a fantastic reason to read, read, read for hours on end.


Just hit this link to sign up: (Read-a-Thon Link!) You can sign up to Read for the full 24 hours; you can be a Cheerleader for other readers; or you can do a little bit of both. I chose to Cheer and Read this year!


I can't emphasize enough how valued Cheerleaders are during the Readathon. I love getting comments from Bloggers Cheering me on during the Readathon, especially as it stretches into the second 12 hour span and my eyes start to glaze over and droop! A few words from an enthusiastic Cheerleader and I'm good to go on reading for a few more hours!


Don't Forget to SIGN-UP for the READ-A-THON!

Sunday Salon ~ Readathon Aftermath!

It's the day after Dewey's Read-a-Thon. I had a great time participating. I finished two books, Faith by Jennifer Haigh and Fury by Salman Rushdie and made sizeable dents in Galore by Michael Crummey and Far To Go by Alison Pick. I also read 75 pages of Night Road by Kristin Hannah.

I fell asleep about 11:30/12:00 midnight despite also napping accidentally in the late afternoon! So disappointing! I didn't wake until late this morning so there are no Readathon updates after 7 p.m. on my blog. My allergies started kicking in a few days ago so I've been extra tired, but I realized yesterday that I don't have the energy and stamina to read for 24-hours even with breaks. I accomplished the most reading in the morning when I was able to read for several hours after a good night's sleep and my favorite morning friend, coffee!!

I really enjoyed visiting other Readathon participants blogs, reading their updates and cheering them on. Next year I'm going to be a cheerleader and offer to host part of the Readathon. The cats will be the most disappointed since several of them sat on my while I was reading. I had to shoo Lola off my lap because after I replaced a bookmark that has a dangling charm she kept swatting at and playing with she started chewing the corner of the book I was reading! Lola's a little thing and she has the most energy and playfulness I've ever seen in cat!

Thank you to everyone who stopped by to cheer my reading and wish me well! I really appreciated your comments.

Enjoy your Sunday!

I've been having a lot of problems with spacing in my posts especially when I add an image to my post. Does anybody know how I can fix this?

Readathon Mini-Challenge: Title Word Scramble

My answers to the Readathon Mini-Challenge: Scrambled Fiction Titles hosted by Sheery's Place:

1. Firefly Lane
2. East of Eden
3. Water for Elephants
4. To Kill A Mockingbird
5. The Great Gatsby
6. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows
7. The Art of Racing in the Rain
8. The Time Traveler's Wife
9. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
10. Diary of a Wimpy Kid
11. A Wrinkle in Time
12. The Polar Express
13. Love Walked In
14. Where the Wild Things Are
15. The Shining
16. Goodnight Moon
17. Interview With A Vampire
18. The Secret Life of Bees
19. The Search
20. The Help

Readathon Mid-Event Meme Mini-Challenge!

I've made it to the Halfway point of the Readathon. Yay!! Here is a mid-event meme mini-challenge!

1. What are you reading right now?
I'm reading Infinte Jest by David Foster Wallace!
2. How many books have you read so far?
I have read from 3 different books so far but haven't finished any - Infinite Jest, Sunset Park by Paul Auster and I will not be Silent by April Maley
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?
I'm looking forward to reading & finishing I Will Not Be Silent.
4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day?
No, I just had to feed the kitties & mush them up & play with a little bit!
5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?
Fortunately I haven't had any major interruptions except the cats for food & some TLC, such as Sadie found me reading on the back deck & wanted me to pet her a bit, something I'm always happy to do!
6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?
I'm very surprised by how quickly the time goes by!
7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
I'm really impressed by how well organized & run the Readathon is and how much fun it is. I want to thank all of the bloggers who worked so hard to make this a great event. Thank you!
8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year? I think I'd like to try my hand at Cheerleading next year since I don't feel I get that much reading done & I'd really like to cheer on other bloggers!
9. Are you getting tired yet?
I am getting tired but I'm going to have something to eat soon & a little iced coffee so that should help me for several hours (I hope!)
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?
I got a lot of reading done when I walked away from the computer completely for several hours this afternoon. I found it easier to read straight for a few hours rather than take a break to blog every hour or so.

Readathon Hour 10 Pets Mini-Challenge!

Today I'm featuring my cat Huxley in Part 1 of the Pets 2 Part Mini-Challenge hosted by Lynne's Book Reviews:

Awake and ready to hang out, maybe read a good book?!

And now he's zonked for the rest of the day!

My favorite animal book is one I read recently Cowboy & Wills by Monica Holloway
Cowboy is a Golden Retriever puppy and she's amazing.

My sentence: Cowboy chases, cunningly catches, carefully clutches cheesey crooks!

Readathon Update: Hour 10

Time: 1 - 5:00 p.m.
Hours/minutes read: 3 hours, 25 minutes
Pages read: 250
Time blogging: 20 minutes

Books read: Infinte Jest, Sunset Park, I Will Not Be Silent

Snacks consumed: 1 1-liter bottle of water; 1cup of coffee, diet pepsi and cheese & crackers!

Now I'm going to enter the Pet mini-challenge about so I'm off to find some good cat photos! Fun! fun!

Read-a-Thon First Update!

I've had a bit of a slow start this morning but I have read a little, fed the kitties and given them some TLC, fueled up with breakfast and some caffeine, visited a few blogs to cheer them on with their reading and here I am!

I started with Sunset Park by Paul Auster and I've read 40 pages so far.


Several bloggers have posted answers to Dewey's Read-a-Thon meme. Here are mine:

1) Where are you reading from today?
Sunset Park for sure! lol After this I am going to sit down with Infinite Jest and I'll definitely read some of I'd Know You Anywhere.

OK, I totally misunderstood this question & I'm really in trouble since I'm already acting sleep deprived! LOL So WHERE I will be reading from, well, the plan was to sit comfy, cozy in bed most of the day but now I'm thinking that might be a bad idea because I'll probably fall asleep quickly! lol Hmmm....must re-think this! I might go outside for a while because it's a beautiful day out.... Need more coffee NOW!

2) 3 facts about me.....
~ I am a total coffee-a-holic! Love the stuff!

~ I adore cats and rescue them off the streets, give a home to many, find homes for others & feed those who are independent and don't want to live in a home.

~ I have a rare bone & endocrine disease called McCune-Albrights Syndrome &, as a result I've had 36 surgeries & use a wheelchair 98% of the time.

3) How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours?
I have 3 main books and 5 others waiting in the wings!

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)?
My only goal is to get some quality reading done and have fun!

5) If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, any advice for people doing this for the first time?
This is only my second Read-a-Thon so I don't have much advice but I will say that it's easy to get caught up on-line visiting blogs & cheering on bloggers participating in the Read-a-Thon so be careful & watch the clock!

Read-a-Thon Tomorrow, October 9, 2010!

It's been one of those weeks! You know, the kind where absolutely nothing goes as you planned or even hoped?! I had 3-4 reviews waiting for me to sit down and write them, I wanted to visit a lot of blogs and comment on some great posts, work on my own posts, organize my on-line life (boy does it need it!) and, of course, read! But that all came to a screeching halt when my asthma decided to kick it in to high gear! I had a bit of a tooth ache early in the week, too but it went away. Silly me, I thought (hoped) my breathing would improve when my tooth felt fine. No such luck. So a few doctor visits, several x-rays and other tests, a bunch of different meds and my pulmonologist, cardiologist and I are still trying to figure out why my lungs are so grouchy this week! lol I hate when my plans for the week go awry. I was especially excited to finally have some time to visit blogs I haven't spent nearly enough time reading the past few months and spend some time reading more of the blogs I discovered during BBAW. Oh well, it is what it is. At least I will be able to get caught up on reading since I am participating in Dewey's Read-a-Thon tomorrow!

I'm going to spend a lot of Saturday reading Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. I am really looking forward to having many hours to spend reading this book because it's a fantastic read and easier to understand and grasp when I have a solid chunk of time to spend reading it! There are a lot of characters, ideas and events happening in this book so I'm always very reluctant to put it down. But when I need a break from Infinite Jest, and I will need a break from the craziness!, I have Laura Lippman's I'd Know You Anywhere and Sunset Park by Paul Auster as well as Proust's Overcoat by Lorenza Foschini and The Likeness by Tana French. I have to make sure that I exercise a lot of self-discipline tomorrow and get off-line after I check in and see how some of my fellow readers are doing. Last year I visited many, many blogs but didn't read very many pages!

Good luck to all Read-a-Thon participants! Enjoy & have fun tomorrow. I'm off to double check my start time!

Happy Reading!

Update Meme!

My mid-event survey is a bit late as this is hour 20 but here it is!!

1. I'm reading This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper

2. I've read three different books and finished one.

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? Since I'm a little late with this update I'll chase say that I didn't plan what I was going to read when I chose the books that I felt like reading when I needed a break from whatever I was reading at the time!

4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day?
I was fortunate in that I didn't have to make any special arrangements for any part of the read-a-thon.

5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? I have had many cat interruptions today. The weather has been very rainy today so the cats cannot go out and play. They are inside and in need of entertainment and they make it mine and my husbands job to provide it! So I have had to take time out from reading periodically. But I all my cats so that's how it works!

6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? The time management or managing how long to stay on-line at breaks, how long to take for the challenges etc. It all eats into my reading time. It's fun to visit other reader's blogs and participate in the challenges but I didn't realize how much time it takes away from reading!

7. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year? I think I might just visit other blogs on my breaks and not take time for challenges. I also have to find out how to pre-schedule posts, updates because I didn't update as much as I wanted to.

8. Are you getting tired yet? I'm definitely tired! I'm not sure how much longer I'll make it!

Good luck to all the Read-a-Thon readers! Have fun & Happy Reading!

Reading Update!

This is update for hour 10 as I've had to take time to feed and play with cats!

I've been reading Still Life by Louise Penny and started reading This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper
Since my last update I have read 325 pages
I've been reading for a total of 10 hours
I finished Confections of a Closet Master Baker by Gesine Bullock-Prado and have 20 pages left in Still Life by Louise Penny.
I have had 2.5 cups of coffee and a bowl of Raisin Bran, an apple with cheddar cheese and a tossed salad. And lots of water!

Good luck to all the Read-a-Thon readers! Have fun & Happy Reading!
Be back later!

Read-a-Thon Update!

This is more official than my earlier update!

I've been reading Still Life by Louise Penny
Since my last update I have read 35 pages
I've been reading for a total of 5 hours
I haven't finished a book yet but I have read 201 pages
I have had 2.5 cups of coffee and a bowl of Raisin Bran.

Good luck to all the Read-a-Thon readers! Have fun & Happy Reading!

Update: 4th Hour in my Read-a-Thon Reading!

I am entering the 4th hour of reading. I have been interrupted several times by hungry kitties and kitties who want to play. It's raining out today, has been all night. It's a great day for reading but some of the cats are already experiencing cabin fever. So while I am reading I have also been throwing soft cat balls around the room for them to chase and flashing the red laser light on the wall. Everybody and cat is happy! Yay!

I am on pg. 164 of Still Life: "Oh great," said Ruth, looking out of Peter and Clara's mudroom door. "The village people."

LOL This is a wonderful book!

Happy Reading to all Read-a-Thon participants!

~ A

Read-a-Thon List

"Real luxury is time and opportunity to read for pleasure" ~ Jane Brody

Tomorrow is the "24-Hour Read-a-Thon" also called "Dewey's Read-a-Thon" in honor of, Dewey, the person who started it all. I didn't have the honor of knowing Dewey but from all that I've read, she was an amazing and wonderful person. Thank you to Hannah (WordLily), Nymeth (Things Mean A Lot), Trish (Hey Lady) and Eva (Striped Armchair) for continuing the fun that Dewey started! And thank you to everyone else who helped to plan the read-a-thon.

It's taken me a long time to decide what books I want to read during the read-a-thon. I have a pile now but I can't promise it won't change. I might feel like reading a book I didn't originally include in my stack. But I think these are some good choices for tomorrow! I won't get through all of these , not even close, ( lol ) but it's a good mix of books (I think, I hope!)

Still Life by Louise Penny
This is Where I Leave You By Jonathan Tropper
Idyll Banter by Chris Bohjalian (essays)
The Impostor's Daughter by Laurie Sandell (graphic novel)
Hungry Woman in Paris by Josefina Lopez
The Gift of an Ordinary Day by Katrina Kenison (memoir)
Mercury in Retrograde by Paula Froelich
A Worthy Legacy by Tomi Akinyanmi