Hour 12

Mid-Event Survey

1. What are you reading right now?

I'm listening to "Wishful Drinking" and reading "Royal Blood".

2. How many books have you read so far?

I've finished 2.

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

"Finn Family Moomintroll" by Tove Jansson

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

Just take today and tomorrow off of work - not a big deal, since I make my own schedule.

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

Just a few phone calls, but I answered them. For me, it beats having to call a list of people back. I already have to do that with my work phone (it's my cell phone) and I'm dreading Monday morning when I turn it on again.

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

At how well I'm doing, reading-wise. I was still hoping to be a little further along, but I'm not doing too badly.

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

More often! Kidding! Everything runs so smoothly - major props to all of the cheerleaders, organizers, and challenge hosts!

8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year?

I'd cook all of my food the day before, so I wouldn't be faced with the prospect of having to do so the day of. I thought it would be a nice break, something to do with my hands, etc, but it's really not my thing. So I got carry-out for dinner instead.

9. Are you getting tired yet?

Yeah, a little. But that's probably because I made the not-so-wise decision to have breadsticks with dinner, and I also have lasagna to eat later. I'm going to carb-crash for sure. But so far, so good!

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?

Honestly, having 1 place to go during the challenge really helps me out. That way, if I'm getting super drowsy or am sick of sitting all day long, I can hop in the car and walk around Target or the grocery store for a little bit. (Plus, I always listen to an audiobook while I'm driving, and listen to my iPod while I'm in the store, so I'm not missing out on any reading time.) Having something to do to shake it up a little bit gives me something to look forward to, and if I don't feel like leaving the house? I don't have to!

Back at it, Hour 13 just started!

Hour 10

Making good progress in "Royal Blood" so far. I really love this series and once this book is done I will be sad to have to wait another year for the next installment.

Pages read: 86

Total: 479

Time reading: 60 min

Total: 5 hrs 56 min

Books completed: 2

Blogs visited: 1

Total: 5

Mini-challenges completed: 3

I'll be listening to an audiobook soon, while I get ready and head to the grocery store, and then I'll be back on my behind with a book in hand.

Hour 8

So far, so good. I'm still awake, which I'm surprised at, and am looking forward to lots more reading time. Finally finished "The Expedition of Humphry Clinker". It was cute, sometimes funny, and loooooong. That is, unless you enjoy reading picaresque novels of the late 1700's!

Pages read: 149

Total: 393

Time reading: 130 min

Total: 4 hrs 56 min

Books completed: 2

Blogs visited: 0

Total: 4

Mini-challenges completed: 3

Looking forward to reading something slightly less crazed than "Humphry", and trying to plan when I'll run to the grocery store and work in the yard. I don't want to wait until I'm too tired and then I won't go at all. Big decision! Alright, back to reading!

How are you guys doing?

Hour 6

Well, we're one quarter done with the day - let's check up on the progress, shall we?

Pages read: 128

Total: 244

Time reading: 90 min

Total: 2 hrs 46 min

Books completed: 1

Blogs visited: 1

Total: 4

Mini-challenges completed: 3 (including Hour 5 below)

Making some decent progress on my book, "The Expedition of Humphry Clinker", and can't wait to have it all wrapped up! I had a few phone calls, changed the music, ran to the bathroom, got something to drink - but not too bad considering! I think I was planning on reading a book an hour (I know), so I feel a little disappointed at my progress so far, but really it's going pretty well. Speaking of, I had better get back to it!

Hour 5 Mini-Challenge

Crystal, at My Reading Room, challenged us to show a picture of our books! Here's a shot of my main TBR shelves, as of just a few minutes ago.

It should probably be noted that this is by no means all of my TBR heap. I also have other shelves in other rooms, and even a dresser drawer or two, all loaded with fresh books for me to read. Problem much?

Hour 3

Pages read: 116

Total: 116

Time reading: 1 hr 16 min

Total: 1 hr 16 min

Books completed: 1

Blogs visited: 2

Total: 3

Mini-challenges completed: 2 (Hour 1, which is below, and Hour 2, completed on misswisabus.com)

So far so good! I finished my first book (which I was 3/4 through when I picked it up today), made and ate a yummy breakfast, visited a few blogs, had some coffee, and tried to ignore my neighbors screaming child for the last 20 minutes. Seriously, what the hell - who lets their kid scream for that long, outside, on a Saturday morning?

Think I'll close my kitchen windows, grab some water and pick up book #2!

Hour 1

Good Morning Everyone!

I've got my coffee, my windows open (it's 63 degrees at 7 a.m. in Wisconsin - CRAZY!), and my first book ready to go. It looks like we've got lots of great mini-challenges this year, and I've already had one cheerleader stop by. Fantastic! I'll be doing separate posts for each hour/time I blog, so I apologize if your Reader is full of bookish updates from me today. And now, for the Hour 1 Meme!

Where are you reading from today? My couch, my big red chofa and my new recliner. I may even venture outside later on to read on the deck.

3 facts about me I'm an anglophile, I love pottery, and the amount of vitamins I take every day is verging on the ridiculous.

How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours? This time it's only 24 books. I know, it's still a huge amount, but I may pull things in "off-pile" too. We'll see how the day goes!

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)? Well, if I remember correctly, I've only read 6 books the last 2 times I participated and I had a goal of reading 10, so I'm going to shoot for the middle here and say 8 books. No page goal necessarily. I would like to get 12 hours of reading time in, and visit at least 5 blogs for each time I'm online.

If you're a veteran read-a-thoner, any advice for people doing this for the first time? Don't over-caffeinate, save a few kids books or graphic novels for when your brain turns to mush (trust me, this will happen), and just relax and enjoy yourself. There will always be people who are Serious Read-a-thoners and their stats will blow you away. Don't worry about them. Just enjoy an entire day set aside to read books!

Speaking of, I best get moving here and get some reading done myself. I think I'll try to finish up "Hood" first so I can fell like I've accomplished something early on. See you later!

Read a Thon October 2010

It's that time of year again, my dearies! The 24 Hour Read-a-thon is tomorrow! I'll be up bright and early, ready to hit the books at 7 a.m.!

This is my third time joining in the reading fun, and I'm even more excited than I was the last time. I've got some healthy food all set, coffee is ready to go, and my Saturday is free and clear to read to my hearts content. I do plan on running an errand tomorrow just for a little break, and to rake my side-yard for a while (the acorns this year are Out Of Control), but other than that, I'll be reading and eating. I do plan on taking at least one nap, and if I sleep more than that, that's okay too. Now, for my ridiculously large proposed book pile:

From left to top to bottom to right:

"First to Die", James Patterson

"Enthusiasm", Polly Shulman

"Carrie", Stephen King

"The Vampire Diaries, The Awakening", L.J. Smith

"Suddenly You", Lisa Kleypas

"The Shape of Water", Andrea Camilleri

"The Frozen Deep", Wilkie Collins

"My Trip Down the Pink Carpet", Leslie Jordan

"Finn Family Moomintroll", Tove Jansson

"The Girl Who Could Fly", Victoria Forester

"Hex Hall", Rachel Hawkins

"Still Life", Louise Penney

"Royal Blood", Rhys Bowen

"Whose Body?", Dorothy Sayers

"The Happiness Project", Gretchen Rubin

"The Memoirs of Cleopatra", Margaret George

"Maus" and "Maus II", Art Spiegelman

"Gothic Classics", Ann Radcliffe

"Hood", Stephen Lawhead

"The Expedition of Humphry Clinker", Tobias Smollett

Once again, I have an absolutely enormous stack to pick from, but I have no illusions of getting through all of them. I'd like to at least finish the 2 I've already started (the last 2 on the list), read a small chunk of the Cleopatra book, and maybe read 2 more from front to back. Other than that, I'm just happy to be reading for most of the day. Well, it's early to bed for me so I can face tomorrow with a full nights sleep!

See you all tomorrow morning!