Sunday, April 22, 2012

Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon...What I'm Reading, Updates, and Wrap-Up



Wrap Up and End of Event Survey
Well, as I was reading at 3:00am, I promptly fell asleep and just woke up a half hour ago.  So, another 24 hour read-a-thon fail.  Oh, well.  I had fun and that's all that counts.

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?  I didn't start reading until 5:30pm so I didn't really have a daunting hour, although obviously hour 21 must have been since I fell asleep.  =O)
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?  Since I only worked on what book, and failed miserably, I would have to say no, although I find George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series to be very entertaining.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?  Nope.  I think it's perfect the way it is.
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?  The cheerleaders and mini-challenges
5. How many books did you read?  less than one
6. What were the names of the books you read?  58 pages of A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin Bleh!
7. Which book did you enjoy most?  Um, yeah...
8. Which did you enjoy least?  N/A
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? nope
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?  Very likely.  You know what they say...If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.  I will most likely be a reader again.  Until I master the art of the 24 hour read-a-thon, I don't think I'm qualified to take on any other role.

Thanks to everyone who was involved with organizing and running the read-a-thon.  Great job, as always!

If you're game for another read-a-thon, come join me for my week long Spring read-a-thon, the Spring into Horror Read-a-Thon.  It starts tomorrow at 12am CST and runs until next Sunday at 11:59pm CST.  I'm hosting at my other blog, Castle Macabre.  For full details and sign-up, go HERE.

Hour 19 mini-challenge--Theme Song hosted by Letters Inside Out

I picked "The River Sings" by Enya.  The type of music totally fits the theme of A Clash of Kings.  Majestic, mystical, mythological...plus, the scenes in the video really capture what I picture Westeros looks like (and, ironically, what it looks like in the "Game of Thrones" TV series)

Pause the music player in the right sidebar before listening


10:45 pm--I've been trying to read...honest.  But distractions abound.  Kids, husband, Scream 4, and now Saturday Night Live hosted by Daniel Radcliffe (seriously, how did I miss this the first time it was on?)  Anyhoo, here's my update and a lovely mini-challenge straight after.

Book:  A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin (Book 2, A Song of Ice and Fire)
Start Page:  15
Finish:  (since starting) 53
Thoughts:  I LOVE this book! It's not boring AT all.  If you haven't picked up this series, you really must!
Blogs Visited:  five, including mini-challenges
Challenges:  eBook survey, first line quiz, library experience, rereading
Pages Read this Update:  38  bleh!
Actual Amount of Time Spent Reading:  so hard to gauge...about 4 hours, 15 min, with distractions, hence the sad page count  =O(
Actual Amount of Time Spent on other Read-a-Thon tasks:  1 hour


This rereading mini-challenge is hosted by The Bluestocking Society.  Since I'm not rereading anything during the read-a-thon, I will share some of my favorite rereads.

I've read this one four times.  Anne Rice is my favorite author and this was the first book of hers that I read.  Yes, I started the Vampire Chronicles with the third book.  This book never loses its allure for me.  Although I love all of her vampire books (even though I've only read up to Memnoch the Devil and Pandora of the new chronicles), and have reread them through The Tale of the Body Thief, this is the book that tells the history of her vampires.  Anyone who knows me, knows I love the history of everything! I know I will read this one again. 
I first read this when I was in elementary school and probably read it a few times back then.  I reread it again about ten or so years ago and it was as wonderful as I remembered.  I don't think I really need to explain the appeal of Little Women.  All I can say is that if you haven't read it (shocking!) you must.  This is another one I will reread again.

This one is a no-brainer for me.  Since I am such a Christmas fanatic, this is one that I have read more than once and will read over and over again.  Anyone who loves Christmas and Dickens will completely understand.  Heck, you don't even have to love Christmas.  It's just a wonderful tale of redemption that anyone can appreciate.
5:30 pm--Well, I'm back...an hour and a half longer than I planned.  What a library sale! I hit the mother lode.  I was able to snag several series books that I was missing copies of.  What a thrill! Everything will be revealed in my Mailbox Monday post.  I'm off to see what's going on over at the Read-a-Thon site, pulling up Twitter, and getting my read on!

10:00am - Starting line...nope, did not get up at 7am, just as I predicted.  Here's my Introductory Questionnaire (see my reading plans and book list below):

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? 
Nashville, Tennessee
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
A Clash of Kings
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
sour neon gummie worms  =O)
4) Tell us a little something about yourself!
I'm a mom of two boys, an avid reader and book blogger, a writer working on my first novel, major cat lover, history buff, and Christmas fanatic
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 will probably try to focus more on the reading and less on mini-challenges, etc., if I can resist  =O)

I'm leaving at noon to go to the book sale and to lunch with my mom.  Hopefully, I'll be back by four at the latest.  I will be attempting to read in the car.

******

Yes, I know it's 2am and yes, I know my time zone's start time is 7am.  You know me...always living on the edge.  LOL! Anyway, I'm ready for the read-a-thon.  I have a few snacks lined up (trail mix, Slim Jims, Sour neon gummy worms, Diet Coke, and hot tea, of course).  Of course, as always happens every April during the read-a-thon, I have my Brentwood library sale (the big one that I CAN'T miss) so I will be MIA for a few hours.  I'm going to bed shortly and will attempt to get up at 7am and read a bit before I have to get ready to go.  Okay, so enough rambling.  Here's what I'm going to be reading:

BookBox: embed book widget, share book list

  • My main objective will be to get caught up in A Clash of Kings as close as possible to what's going on in the Game of Thrones TV series.  I think I'm three or four episodes behind so I'm thinking I may have to read at least half of the book, or perhaps between a quarter to a half of it.
  • I will try to read a bit in Bleak House to catch up for Wallace's read-a-long
  • To break up the monotony, I have a couple of books of short stories.  Decayed Etchings by Brandon Ford and My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me: Forty New Fairy Tales
  • I will try to at least get started on Never Say Sorry by Rose Edmunds
Okay, off to bed.  See you in a few hours!

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17 comments:

Thank you for visiting and taking the time to comment. It means so much.

I apologize for word verification, but as soon as I changed the settings from only users with Google accounts, I started receiving a ton of spam comments...within one hour of changing the settings. The bots are on high alert apparently.

  1. OK -- I'm following you today. Let's have some fun reading!

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  2. let me know when you start the readathon - I hope you have fun!!

    Dee, cheering for Team Puck from e-Volving Books

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  3. Have fun today, Michelle, both with the read-a-thon AND the library book sale! Your day is going to be ALL BOOKS EVERYTHING. I can't join in this time, as I am having my own polyurethane-a-thon on my newly built bookcase, but I'm with you in spirit!

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  4. I can't resist our big library sale either. :) Good luck and have fun with the read-a-thon!

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  5. I'll look forward to hearing what you get at that book sale. Enjoy!

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  6. Haven't been to a good big booksale in awhile, I'm jealous, though my shelves are probably thankful! Have fun!

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  7. Hi Michelle! I'm stopping by to cheer you on in the readathon! Keep turning those pages!! And if you're at the book sale right now -- enjoy!! That's just as important as reading: stocking up on reading. :) Cheers!!

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  8. Good luck with your reading today! Have fun at the library sale- I love those!

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  9. I love library sales! Hope you find lots of awesome bargains! Wishing you a fun and productive read-a-thon!

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  10. Checking in on you - hope you are having fun :)

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  11. I hope you are getting lots of reading in now. Congrats on the book sale haul!

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  12. My library doesn't have the big sales any more. Instead of twice a year, they open up the rooms every Thursday afternoon. I only work a few blocks from there now but I keep forgetting to go over by the time I get off work on Thursdays. Probably just as well!

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  13. I'm reading the third book in A Song of Ice and Fire series (although not for Readathon) and I seriously love the series! I know lots of people are turned off by the size, but it's soooo good! I'll give you a little cheer:

    I'm here to cheer
    You're here to read
    But have no fear
    You're a bookish breed!

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  14. The fact that you stayed awaking until 3 am is a huge accomplishment in my book! The important thing is that you had fun/enjoyed reading.

    Also, I'm looking forward to your own read-a-thon tomorrow!

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  15. I have stopped calling my inability to read for the full 24 hours a failure and you should, too! We participated, we read, we had fun so we succeeded!

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  16. I stopped reading really early (9 p.m.), but you know that, since you visited my blog...lol

    Thanks for that!

    I wonder if I would make it longer if...well, what can I do about those eyes?

    A combination of fatigue and allergies did me in.

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  17. I slept too, from 9:30 am to 11:30 am (I know, I stayed all night reading & fell asleep later) but than I read until 2 pm, which was my starting & ending time :)

    Can't wait for tomorrow, I've had some books lined up for it for a long time!

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