Just testing...

...to see if I can figure out how to post a gif.




YES!  I guess I can learn a new trick!

Man, "Green Wing" is awesome.

So long, farewell...

Oof, was I tired.  Here are my final stats, including the mini-update that I last did at 3 in the morning.

Total pages read: 1,176 & 2 audiobook CDs

Total time reading: 12 hours and 56 minutes (what did I do with all that extra time?!?)

Book finished: 4 (see below)

Other books read from: 4 (also see below)

End of Event Meme

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?

Hour 21, which is when I caved and went to bed. It's always an early-morning hour that does me in, and while I could've pushed myself to stay awake the whole time I didn't want to get myself to screwey with sleeping hours for this week, so I just went to bed.

2. Could you list a few high interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?

Not particular books, necessarily, but I always try to have some graphic novels of some sort, or books that have a lot of illustrations, an audio book, and this time I around I read a book of essays/short stories. That was a nice change, and they were all different enough that if I needed a break from what I was reading, I could switch over and read a story or two and then go back to whatever I was reading before. 

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-Thon next year?

I was going to say no, but if you could post the next date as soon as possible, that'd be fantastic. I know this is a personal thing, but my work schedule starts filling up a month in advance, and this takes out 2 working days for me. I'm more than happy to reschedule people to do this, don't get me wrong, but I don't like rescheduling clients in general. This is really a small thing, though, all of you guys who work "backstage" do an excellent job!

4. What do you think worked really well in this year's Read-a-Thon?

I don't know why I think this, but I feel like the prize winning was better than normal, and there were A LOT of mini-posts that were fun this year! I just couldn't participate since my phone and computer were not getting along, for whatever reason.

5. How many books did you read?

4, and I read from 4 more.

6. What were the names of the books you read?

The ones I finished: "Sizeable Reflections", edited by Shelley Bovey

     "Soulless: The Manga, Vol. 1" by Gail Carriger

     "Max Hamm, Fairy Tale Detective" by Frank Cammuso

     "The Beekeeper's Apprentice" by Laurie R. King

The ones I didn't finish: "Grace: A Memoir" by Grace Coddington
     "Servants' Hall" by Margaret Powell
     "The Well of Lost Plots" by Jasper Fforde (audio)
     "Changeless" by Gail Carriger

7. Which book did you enjoy most?
"The Beekeeper's Apprentice", it was the longest, most engrossing, and only (!) regular book that I finished.

8. Which book did you enjoy least?
This is kind of unfair to call it my least favorite, because I still really liked it, but "Max Hamm...". No reason, it was the definition of clever, and I like stories that turn fairy tales on their heads, but it was my least favorite. 

9. If you were a cheerleader... N/A

10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-Thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?

Of course I will, and, like I always say, I'll for sure be a Reader, and will think about being a Cheerleader. Again. 

Thanks so much to all who hosted and worked behind the scenes, to all of my cheerleaders, newly-discovered bloggers, and trusty friend Sherry Ann, for making this another great 'Thon! I'm off to read and nap for the rest of the day, yahoo!

Update #6

I've read 92 pages in "Grace" in 1 hour and 11 minutes. I'm wiped. I'm going to grab a book, and read in bed until I fall asleep. Hopefully, I'll be back before the end at 7 a.m., but if not, I'll just do my final post whenever I wake up!

Hope you guys are still at it, reading those pages with the greatest of ease!

Update #5, or, Hour 19

Baby, I feel ya...

Pages read: 296
Total time reading: 1 hr 40 min

Total pages: 1,068 & 2 audio CDs
Total time reading: 11 hrs 30 min

Books finished: 4 - "Max Hamm, Fairy Tale Detective" by Frank Cammuso, "The Beekeeper's Apprentice" by Laurie R. King, "Sizeable Reflections" ed. by Shelley Bovey, & "Soulless: The Manga, Vol. 1" by Gail Carriger

Books read from: "The Well of Lost Plots" by Jasper Fforde (audio) and "Grace: A Memoir" by Grace Coddington

Menu: a bowl of broccoli slaw with italian dressing, and I just caved and ate a donut. A delicious, lemony donut. And of course, water.

If I didn't know better, I suspect myself of taking some kind of caffeine pill or something - there seems to be no other logical reason for my being this awake and this (well, relatively) coherent this early in the morning. I'm baffled. But, I'll take it, as I can feel my body getting more tired and my eyes are just starting to get dry and a little droopy. Now if I could only find a comfortable way to sit and hold up the big hardcover book that is "Grace" I'd be thrilled...

Never mind. I think I just jinxed myself as I'm thinking desperately about crawling into my warm bed. But soldiering on is what I'll do for now! 

Update #4, Hour 17

Pages read: 206

Time reading: 2 hrs 35 min

Total pages: 772 & 2 audio discs

Total time reading: 9 hrs 50 min

Books finished: 3 - "The Beekeeper's Apprentice" by Laurie R. King, "Sizeable Reflections" ed. by Shelley Bovey, & "Soulless: The Magna, Vol. 1" by Gail Carriger

Books read from: "The Well of Lost Plots" by Jasper Fforde (audio)

Menu: water

I finished Beekeeper! It was great, and though I'm a bit disappointed that I figured out whodunit at least halfway through, it was really interesting and held my attention the whole time I was reading it. The temptation is there to dive straight into the second book, but while I'm still awake (a shocker!) I'd better pick up another regular book and save the ones with pictures until a bit later on. For now, a bit of a stretch, find something to snack on, visit a few blogs, and pick something out to read! 


Hour 16 Mini-Challenge

"I would rather read than drink a lot of sherry to feel like getting into bed with an old man of sixty any day!"

From "Servants' Hall" by Margaret Powell

Update #3 - the halfway point

Pages read: 174 plus one audio disc  

Total time read: 3 hrs 15 min (70 min audio)

Total pages read: 566 & 2 discs
Total time reading: 7 hours 15 minutes

Book finished: 2 - "Sizeable Reflections" ed. by Shelley Bovey and "Soulless: The Magna, Vol. 1" by Gail Carriger

Books read from: "The Well of Lost Plots" by Jasper Fforde (audio), and "The Beekeeper's Apprentice" by Laurie R. King

Menu: Still nursing that strawberry soda, lots of water, chili with cheese and tortilla chips.


My back was starting to get a bit achey, so I had to get up and move a bit before I go back to "BeeKeeper's". It's really good, and I don't want to get up again until it's done, so I'm taking a quick break. I'm so proud of how much everyone is reading today, though the time seems to be flying by. I can hardly believe this is half over!

The sun is starting to sink lower in the sky, the temp is dropping a bit, and I'm keeping my windows open for as long as possible to inhale the fresh air. I'm planning on taking a shower after I finish TBK, and that should help wake me up for the rest of the night.

How are the rest of you doing?

(photo credit: noisydecentgraphics.typepad.com)

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Mid-Event Survey

1) How are you doing? Sleepy? Are your eyes tired?

I'm doing alright, a little sleepy, eyes are a little tired, but not too bad. That reminds me, I need to locate some eye drops for later on...

2) What have you finished reading?

"Sizeable Reflections" edited by Shelley Bovey and "Soulless: The Magna, Vol. 1" by Gail Carriger

3) What is your favorite read so far?
I think Sizeable is my favorite of the two - there's more there to think about and consider, whereas the Soulless, while fun, was more of an escape.

4) What about your favorite snacks?
I don't think chili qualifies as a snack, per se, but it was the most delicious thing I've eaten today!

5) Have you found any new blogs through the readathon? If so, give them some love!

Yes I have!  Two Canadian Readers, Lisa's World of Books, and The Fake Steph are all new discoveries!

Update #2

Pages read: 266
Time reading: 1 hour

Total pages read: 392 & 1 disc
Total time reading: 4 hours
Books finished: 2 - "Sizeable Reflections" ed. by Shelley Bovey and "Soulless: The Magna, Vol. 1" by Gail Carriger

Books read from: "The Well of Lost Plots" by Jasper Fforde (audio), "The Beekeeper's Apprentice" by Laurie R. King

It seems like I'm reading more (at least time-wise) than I apparently have been, much to my dismay. This time around, my only break was to eat lunch so I could use both of my hands, and make a couple of quick trips to the kitchen and bathroom. So why have I read for so few hours? Beats me. 

The day here is GLORIOUS, about 70 degrees, sunny and breezy. If it weren't for my neighbors and their cute-but-loud boys, I'd be reading outside. I've been listening to Beethoven's Symphonies in order, and now since I'm reading something British ("Beekeeper's") I'm going to listen to something British - helloooo, Elgar!  

Menu: Chicken Lo Mein, a salted caramel, lots of water, and a Sprecher Strawberry soda that I found in my fridge from who-knows-when that someone must have given me. Either way, I'll take the hit of caffeine and sugar since it's nearly 3 p.m. here and I'm juuuuust starting to get sleepy. 

Update #1

Pages read: 126 plus one audio disc
Time reading: nearly 3 hours

Total pages read:  126 & 1 disc
Total reading time: nearly 3 hours
Books finished: "Sizeable Reflections" ed. by Shelley Bovey

Books read from: "The Well of Lost Plots" by Jasper Fforde (audio), "Soulless, The Manga, Vol. 1" by Gail Carriger

I've been enjoying my morning, taking my time, staring out the window. It's hour 5 (I think) and I've only gotten 3 hours in - not great, but just fine. However, I've just prepped my chili, had a quick visit with my neighbor (don't think I've seen her in person in a couple of months!) when she brought over a jar of tomatoes for me to borrow, checked in on some blogs, and as soon as this CD is over with and lunch is made, I'll be back to hitting the books again. 

The start!

Good Morning, One and All! 

I'm barely functioning this morning, and I feel like I could sleep again right this minute, but I'm going to push on. To take a nap right now would be ridiculous for me, and isn't part of this whole read-a-thon about challenging yourself? At any rate, the coffee maker just beeped that it's done (thank God!), and I'll be heading off to a chair tout suite to get started!

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
I'm reading from my crazy house in the suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
There are two, actually. The first is the "Bride" series of manga by Kaoru Mori, and the second is "The Beekeeper's Apprentice" by Laurie R. King. It's sooo good, and a very good friend of mine rec'd it to me (Hi Erica!), so I'm looking forward to getting tucked into it for more than a 10 minute stretch.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
This just goes to show what a nerd I am, but broccoli slaw. I know!  I love the stuff and have some every day like it's a requirement. :)

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!
I'm single, living in my grandparents' house with two cats (and no, I am not a crazy cat lady), and working three part-time jobs. I'm currently re-watching the "Pie in the Sky" series at a slow pace, along with a lot of Claudette Colbert and Myrna Loy movies, and I enjoy re-arranging books far more than is probably healthy.

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?

This time around I am planning on multiple naps to try and get me through, absolutely and 100%. I'm also not planning on running an errand like I used to, just because I've been gone from my house every day for nearly the past month and I'm exhausted!  My exercise/physical wake-up will be to vacuum and probably do a couple loads of laundry, maybe sort through some papers while I listen to an audiobook. I am most looking forward to actually staying home and reading! Oh, and catching up with friends, too. :)

I think that's all for now!  I might start with a book I'm halfway through so I can feel like I actually accomplished something. Hopefully, that'll motivate me to keep going and not fall asleep in the chair!  

Random pictures

Here's a shot of my library (AKA Job #2), looking towards the main entrance. The second floor is part of our children's section, below that is the checkouts and new books, some other stuff you can't really see, the information desk, large print, paperbacks, and I'm standing on a step stool at the start of our hardcover fiction section.

Here's a view from the other direction, looking towards the back of the library from the "front" of the hardcover fiction section.

The library is on an angle in the back, and the first 2 sets of shelves you see are hardcover mystery, with the back shelf part of hardcover science fiction.

Looking towards the front again, from the back, it's the end of the large print section, on the left are study rooms, and towards the front on the left are audiobooks and holds, and straight ahead are the CDs, cassettes, and VHS tapes. Yes, there are surprisingly quite a few left, and they seem to get used a lot!

This shot is between the paperback and hardcover sections, the main middle aisle with the chairs is where the computers are in cubicles, and across the main aisle is our non-fiction section. The wall straight ahead is the front, or face, of the library from the outside along the main street. Hopefully I'll be able to sneak a few more pictures of other areas of the library in the near future, but since I feel like a weirdo for taking pictures of work while I'm at work, I'm hoping to be kind of quiet about this. Does anyone know if it's bad/illegal/not-kosher to take pictures inside the library? I felt pretty naughty doing it (that's what she said!), but it was fun. Plus, what book nerd doesn't love seeing a library?!?

And, this is the creepy bunny cake that I got for Easter. Kind of horrible and nightmare-inducing, but oh so delicious.

Dewey's Read-a-Thon, people!

Yes folks, it's time to stay awake for 24 hours and read until my brains are scrambled once again!

I have a stack of about 20 books that I've gotten from work (AKA the library) over the past couple of weeks, and of course I'm in the middle of about 5 books of my own. The only real goal I have for myself is to finish 3 books, since I'm assuming that I will be taking more than 1 nap. (This is what happens when you work 6 days a week and have 3 jobs - you sit down and are asleep within 10 minutes. *sigh*) 

Are any of your participating in Dewey's R.A.T this time too? Let me know, and I'll follow your progress!

eta: Forgot to link to the site - there's still plenty of time to sign up to be a reader and a cheerleader!