End of Event Meme... a few days late

I completely fell asleep after my last update. No Starbursts in bed, no extra page or two read, nothing, just sleeping. And then I got distracted with Mom stuff, working, and doctor appointments and... you know, suddenly it's Wednesday afternoon. But Mom is home now and I'm catching up with things around the house, getting ready for work tonight, blah blah. SOOOO, without further ado, here's the End of Event Meme!

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?

I guess midnight since that's when I went to bed, but 4 PM was also bad, and 9 AM too. Eh, it wasn't my greatest RAT ever.

2. Could you list a few high-interest books that could keep a Reader engaged for the next RAT?

I don't think anything I read this time would qualify as high-interest to a general reader. But I always like saving a book from a good series to read during the 'thon. Gives me something to look forward to.

3. Do you have any suggestions to improve the RAT?

No, actually, it seemed to be smoother and better than ever! I didn't think that was possible!

4. What do you think worked really well for this RAT?

The cheering was outstanding this time! I'm not sure what kind of magic was done behind the scenes, but it was amazing!

5. How many books did you read?

I finished 6 and read parts of 2 more ("Ask Graham" by Graham Norton and my audiobook was "The 5th Wave" by Rick Yancey). 

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

"Nurse Matilda" by Christianna Brand

"The House in the Night" by Susan Marie Swanson

"The Scraps Book" by Lois Ehlert

"The 13 Clocks" by James Thurber

"Agent Gates and the Secret Adventures of Devonton Abbey" by Camaron Subhiyah

"The Crowded Grave" by Martin Walker

7. Which book did you enjoy most?

The Crowded Grave. It's in one of my favorite series, and it's been a couple of years since I've revisited Bruno and the residents of St Denis, so it was nice to check back in and see what was going on. 

8. Which did you enjoy least?

I think The 13 Clocks. It wasn't bad, or unenjoyable. It just fell flat for me, despite sounding like it's right up my alley. 

9. If you were a Cheerleader...

N/A

10. How likely are you to participate next time - and in what role?

I will certainly participate again, it's my 2 favorite weekends of the year. And next time I'd also like to be a Cheerleader and maybe a Prize Angel too!

I'd also like to give a special shout-out to my favorite read-a-thon buddy, Sherry @ Sherry Ann's Book Blog!!!!! I couldn't do this without you - it just wouldn't be the same! 

Hour 18? 19? No idea...

Taking a break to talk with my Mom for awhile and eat a snacky dinner turned into watching the majority of The Heat on TV, and general screwing around on my cell phone for a couple of hours. I've spent the last 2 hours reading, or trying to, and I'm getting more tired than I expected. We're talking 4 AM tired here, not barely-midnight tired. At any rate, I will continue to read, but will do so in bed. I don't expect there to be a lot of pages turned by the time my eyes shut, but I'll keep at it for as long as I can. And, I recently got my very first e-reader, so I'm hoping that that will extend some reading time as long as possible.  

At any rate, I doubt that I will be back to update here until this whole show is over, but it's possible. I will for sure be around tomorrow morning to check in on everyone and visit some other blogs, do the end of event meme, etc. Usually I wake up at 7:15 (the RAT ends at 7:00 AM for me) in a small panic because I've missed the official ending. Who knows what will happen this time? 

Books finished: 6! "The Crowded Grave" by Martin Walker, "The 13 Clocks" by James Thurber", "The Scraps Book" by Lois Ehlert, "Nurse Matilda" by Christianna Brand, "The House in the Night" by Susan Marie Swanson, and "Agent Gates and the Secret Adventures of Devonton Abbey: A Parody of Downton Abbey" by Camaron Subhiyah

Pages Read: 88 (I'm currently reading a book by Graham Norton, and I don't think I'll finish it in time)

Running total of pages read: 815

Time reading: 9 hours 6 min (33 minutes audiobook)

Snacks: handful of cheese and caramel popcorn, bowl of raisin bran with almond milk, water. I'm planning on taking a bag of Starburst to bed with me, so the sugar buzz may keep me going for awhile. 

Mini-challenges Completed: 2; Intro, Hour 3

Halfway there

Mid-Event Meme

1. What are you reading right now?

I'm currently between books, taking a little break. Not sure what I'll pick up next.

2. How many books have you read so far?

6, but it's not as impressive as it sounds.

3. What book are you most looking forward to in the second half of the read-a-thon?

Either finishing "The Secret History of the Pink Carnation" or "Heirs and Graces".

4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day?

Not really. Just didn't schedule an clients for today and asked off at my other job about a month ago. 

5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?

Yes, lots and lots. I just go and get what was asked for, or answer the question, or the phone, and try to get my head back into whatever I was reading as soon as I can without seeming annoyed or like it's bothering me. Actually, that's kind of business as usual these days for me.

6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-Thon so far?

That I won a prize! :) That, and I've both read as little and as much as I have.

7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the RAT next time?

No! This seems to be the smoothest, least stressful one so far!

8. What would you do differently if you were to participate next time?

This may seem snarky, but I'd like to have my house to myself, unplug my phones, and just focus more on reading. Also, I'd really like to be a cheerleader and maybe an Angel too, if I can swing it.

9. Are you getting tired yet?

Is the Pope Catholic?

10. Do you have any tips for Readers or Cheerleaders?

Nope, just keep up the good work!

************************************************

Hour 12 1/2 (7:30 PM)

Mom took a nap, and I was able to read more pages at a time than before. I still had the usual interruptions of phone calls and daydreaming, but that's it. 

Books finished: 6! "The Crowded Grave" by Martin Walker, "The 13 Clocks" by James Thurber", "The Scraps Book" by Lois Ehlert, "Nurse Matilda" by Christianna Brand, "The House in the Night" by Susan Marie Swanson, and "Agent Gates and the Secret Adventures of Devonton Abbey: A Parody of Downton Abbey" by Camaron Subhiyah

Pages Read: 323 + 124 + 72 = 519

Running total of pages read: 727 (I mis-calculated my earlier total. Geez, I know math isn't my strong suit, but that's ridiculous.)

Time reading: 7 hours 37 min (33 minutes audiobook)

Snacks: slice of thin crust veggie & pepperoni pizza, cherry yogurt, lots and lots of water, a 7Up

Mini-challenges Completed: 2; Intro, Hour 3

Hours 8, 9, 10, 11

Hour 8 (2 PM)

Well, I took a 90 minute break for lunch/talking, and lots of other mini breaks to answer questions, get more water, etc.  I've made some good headway into a book, which I'm hoping to finish before the next time I come back and update this post. And, I'm very excited about this, I WON A PRIZE, YOU GUYS!!!!! That's a first for me, and I'm pumped about it!!!

Books finished: 3! "Nurse Matilda" by Christianna Brand, "The House in the Night" by Susan Marie Swanson, and "Agent Gates and the Secret Adventures of Devonton Abbey: A Parody of Downton Abbey" by Camaron Subhiyah

Pages Read: 128 + 124 = 252

Running total of pages read: 420

Time reading: 4 hours 29 min (33 minutes audiobook)

Snacks: giant salad w/vinaigrette, handful of tater tots, slice of thin crust veggie & pepperoni pizza

Mini-challenges Completed: 2; Intro, Hour 3

It's the start...

Gearing up for a fun and long day of reading here at my house. Coffee is percolating, cats are having breakfast, and Mom is still sleeping so it's quiet for awhile. I thought I'd get this thing rolling and get started a few minutes early - who knows when it'll be this peaceful again?!?

Opening Meme

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
My house in the suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
You know, I don't think I have one! Maybe "Agnes Quill", as it's a graphic novel I've had my eye on for awhile.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
No prepped snacks this time, but I am looking forward to having a salad later. Yum, veggies!

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!
35 years old, single, mom to two cats. Working 2 jobs and caring for my Mom (breast cancer, boooo) keeps me busy busy busy.

5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today?
Have company! And no prep time for food! But really, the lack of planning on my part (aside from picking out a large number of books - I've been thinking about that for a couple of months now, if I'm honest) is what's different. Can't go back and change anything now, but I'm a planner so I'm trying not to be anxious about not really having things set up and ready to go. 

Okay, off for a little caffeine and a book!

Update #1, 8:30AM

Well, Mom is awake so I have to start making myself pay attention to what I'm reading. Thank God I have an audiobook and some shorter books to get me through.

Books finished: 2! "The House in the Night" by Susan Marie Swanson, and "Agent Gates and the Secret Adventures of Devonton Abbey: A Parody of Downton Abbey" by Camaron Subhiyah
Pages Read: 40 + 128 = 168
Running total of pages read: 168
Time reading: 1 hour
Snacks: 2 cups of coffee


Update #2, 9:20 AM

Lots of talking! Ack! Finished half of an audiobook CD, so that's something.

Number are the same, except for Time Reading, which is now 1 hour 33 min total. I'm listening to "The Fifth Wave" by Rick Yancey. And, I'm going to add a new thing to keep track of, mini-challenges participated in.

Mini Challenges Completed: 2; Intro, Hour 3

Potential Dewey's Books

Let me start right off by saying that I realize that this is far too many books for any one person to read in a 24-hour period. I'm aware that I have a problem. Though, some of them are regular library check-outs and not ones that I chose specifically for this event. (All books will be listed bottom to top, left to right.)

These are my children's book picks, some are "research" for future presents for my friends' kids, some are just for me. 

"Flotsam" by David Wiesner

"Officer Buckle and Gloria" by Peggy Rathmann

"Mirette On The High Wire" by Emily Arnold McCully

"The House In The Night" by Susan Marie Swanson

"The Scraps Book" by Lois Ehlert

"Daisy Dawson Is On Her Way" by Steve Voake

"Agatha, Girl of Mystery #1: The Curse of the Pharaoh" by Sir Steve Stevenson

"Goddess Girls #1: Athena the Brain" by Joan Holub

Graphic Novels:

"The Graphic Canon, Volume 1" - there is no way I'll finish this whole thing!

"Calamity Jack" by Shannon and Dean Hale

"The Unwritten #1" by Mike Carey and Peter Gross

"Aya" by Marguerite Abouet and Clement Oubrerie

"Agent Gates and the Secret Adventures of Devonton Abbey" (a parody) by Camaren Subhiyah

"Agnes Quill: An Anthology of Mystery" by Dave Roman 

Regular library checkouts, plus a few for this event thrown in (with a *):

"The Bone Season" by Samantha Shannon

"Heirs and Graces" by Rhys Bowen

"The Crowded Grave" by Martin Walker

"Trapped" by Michael Northrop*

"The 13 Clocks" by James Thurber*

"Among Flowers: A Walk in the Himalaya" by Jamaica Kincaid

"Mr. Fooster Travelling On A Whim" by Tom Corwin*

"Nurse Matilda" by Christianna Brand (this should be in the children's photo, I realize)

"A Rogue By Any Other Name" by Sarah MacLean*

"Strawberry Shortcake Murder" by Joanne Fluke*

"The 5th Wave" by Rick Yancey*

And finally, these are bookclub books (#), ones I'm currently reading (%), and ones that I'm hoping to start soon.

"The Orphanage of Miracles" by Amy Neftzger

"The Golem and the Jinni" by Helene Wecker #

"The Healing Consciousness: A Doctor's Journey to Healing" by Dr. Beth DuPree %

"The Magic Toyshop" by Angela Carter #

"Time and Again" by Nora Roberts %

"Cordelia's Honor" by Lois McMaster Bujold %

"The House on the Strand" by Daphne DuMaurier #

"My Life in Middlemarch" by Rebecca Mead %

"The Secret History of the Pink Carnation" by Lauren Willig %

"The Queen Is Dead" by Kate Locke

You'd think that that's enough, but no, I've got a few more coming in at the library (mostly graphic novels), and there's always the fun possibility that I'll pick something off of my shelves at random. 

I work both jobs on Friday so I won't have much/any time to prepare fun food or snacks. Mom is still feeling pretty awful, so she'll be sleeping through most of Saturday. She did say that if she was feeling a little better that she'd like to participate if she can, so that would be nice. Plus, that would mean that the TV is off, which is a reason to celebrate! ;) I'd hoped this time to be able to be a Prize Angel or a Cheerleader for Dewey's but that just wasn't meant to happen now. Maybe this fall things will be in a new kind of normal, and I'll be able to help out like I want to. 

For this RAT, I'm just hoping to get 10 hours of reading under my belt, and maybe a few books read. Having someone here in the house with me is a distraction for lots of obvious reasons, so I know that even if my Mom weren't sick my numbers would be down from last year. But that doesn't matter. The whole fact that I get to set aside an entire weekend to read is glorious and a luxury and I can hardly wait for 7AM this Saturday!

Yet another Dewey's coming up!

It's that time of year again - in 2 weeks, there will be another 24 hour read-a-thon!  I really have no idea what to expect this time, or how much I can honestly plan for. My Mom will have her final chemotherapy treatment the Monday before that, and she'll be staying with me through the week, if not the week after too. Should be interesting as to what really shakes out. I'd planned on being a prize angel and a cheerleader this time around, and with everything going on there's not way that that will happen. But maybe in October things will be back to normal, and I'll be able to do a bit more. Anyways, I'm just looking forward to my first RAT with an e-reader! 

Hopefully I'll be back here soon with my list of potential reads!