Saturday, April 29, 2017

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon

I'm attempting to participate in today's Dewey 24 Hour Readathon.  It's been a while since I joined in on the read-a-thon fun.  Unfortunately, I was busy for most of the day, but now I'm ready to jump in! I've missed the book scene and all the amazing readers!

Hour 11:  Spent most of the last hour participating in challenges.   :)

One-Night Reads (Hour 11):

  • For a sweet YA romance: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith  (Side note: I am obsessed with her books!  I still need to get my hands on a copy of The Geography of You and Me.)
  • For gripping, in-your-face YA fiction: Robert Cormier's books such as Heroes or Tunes for Bears to Dance to.  


Hour 10:  Got a book in hand...I'm ready!

Picture Challenge (Hour 9):  Book and snack. #RATbooksnack

Books + wine = favorite relaxation splurge!  If only I had chocolate, too.  Clearly, I'm not following their message, but I hear it's fun to read. Bottoms up!








Books to Empower Challenge (Hour 8):  Green Angel by Alice Hoffman.


Thursday, September 10, 2015

Upcoming Book Club Meetup

I used to attend a local BookCrossing meeting regularly and I loved it. To non-BookCrossers, I sometimes called it my "book club meeting" if I didn't have time to explain the whole awesome concept of BookCrossing. But I never regularly attended a traditional book club. You know, a formal group meeting where everyone actually reads the same book and discusses it. Since I love YA, I've been weary of groups that read more traditional book club fiction. So when my pal passionatebklvr asked me to go an upcoming book club meeting that she's leading, I hesitated for a moment and then immediately said YES (because you got to support your girlfriends, am I right?!?).

On Saturday, I'm going to my first Media Women's Book Club Meetup. I tracked down a copy of The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio by Terry Ryan through a BookCrossing trade (shout out to ekgv414 for coming through quickly). I have about a quarter of the book left to go and I'm actually enjoying it more than I thought I would. Maybe I'll even post a mini-review when I'm done...or a book club meeting wrap-up post. Yeah, that means appropriate. There's also a movie version that my friend recommends. After some time away, it's nice to be back in the book blogging world. 

If you have any book club tips or anecdotes, leave them in the comments below. 

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Dewey's 24 Hr Readathon! Update Post

 
Time to kick off the readathon! Like last time, I'm going to update the same post so everything's organized in one spot (hopefully), with the latest updates at the top. Enjoy!

Thank you to all the amazing Dewey folks who make the Readathon possible!  It's always a fun event and the challenges this time around were great. Very engaging. I'm glad to participate as a reader and unofficial cheerleader. xoxo

Hour 24: End of Event


Hour 24 Update
Books completed: almost 5 (3 children's picture books, 2 middle grades), titles listed below in the "End of Event" Meme
Pages read: 558
Time spent reading: 5.5 hours
Time spent blogging/completing challenges/cheering: 4.5 hours
Where I'm reading: at home on the couch
Snacks: hot chocolate, popsicle, cereal 

End of Event Meme:
  1. Which hour was most daunting for you? Hour 21 was tough. I almost stayed up to hour 22, but couldn't make it.
  2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? Hatchet by Gary Paulsen and The Bad Beginnings (A Series of Unfortunate Events, 1) by Lemony Snicket kept me both interested.
  3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? There were a few minor linking issues (i.e. 404 errors), but other than that, nope.
  4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? I like the format of the hourly posts. It was organized so you could easily find the current mini-challenges and door prize winners.
  5. How many books did you read? I fell asleep on my 5th book (mind you 3 were children's picture books).
  6. What were the names of the books you read? Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, Oscar Wilde's The Selfish Giant Retold by Mary Hollingsworth, The Berenstain Bears Storybook Treasury by Stan & Jan Berenstain, Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, and The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events) by Lemony Snicket.
  7. Which book did you enjoy most? The Berestain Bears Storybook Treasury because I loved that series so much as a kid.
  8. Which did you enjoy least? Oscar Wilde's The Selfish Giant Retold by Mary Hollingsworth. I get it was originally written a while back, but that giant was a little too creepy for me (i.e. man who watches/kisses kids creepy).
  9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? I wasn't officially a cheerleader, but I recommend cheering on folks who participated in the later hour challenges. You know they're up and need that extra little nudge.
  10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? I will definitely participate in the readathon again. I hope to be able to devote more time reading and some time cheering.  

Hour 20: Update

Well, I honestly didn't stay up all this time.  I napped for about 4 hours. Then had my snack (below) and cheered on a bunch of the recent mini-challenge participants---You folks are doing awesome! Not sure if I'll read much more, but I intend to unofficially cheer a little be longer. Keep it going all! Gotta love the Dewey experience. :)

Currently Reading: The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events) by Lemony Snicket (many other folks are reading it so I figured I'd give it a re-read).
Books completed: 4 (3 children's picture books, 1 middle grades)

  •  Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
  • Oscar Wilde's The Selfish Giant Retold by Mary Hollingsworth
  • The Berenstain Bears Storybook Treasury by Stan & Jan Berenstain
  • Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
Pages read: 502
Time spent reading: 5 hours
Time spent blogging/completing challenges/cheering: 3.5 hours
Where I'm reading: at home on the couch
Snacks: cereal, my usual middle of the night snack.

Hour 18 TBR Challenge: I almost missed this challenge but got my comment in under the time deadline.  I love this ridiculously huge Mt. TBR pic! My guess was 910.

Hour 15: Update & 2 Mini Challenges!

Books read: almost 4 (3 children's books, 1 middle grades)
  •  Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
  • Oscar Wilde's The Selfish Giant Retold by Mary Hollingsworth
  • The Berenstain Bears Storybook Treasury by Stan & Jan Berenstain
  • Almost finished with Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
Pages read: 462
Time spent reading: 4 hours
Where I'm reading: at home on the couch
Snacks:  Cherry popsicle  :)

Hour 15: That Reminds Me Of A Book Challenge - My response:
I’m almost finished reading Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. A heart attack kills the pilot flying the single engine plane which Brian is the only passenger. Miraculously, he survives a crash landing in a dense Canadian wilderness and is left only with a hatchet (This happens in the first few chapters, so really no spoiler here). Anyway, there’s a lake (not huge, but big enough) and dense trees. I think this picture displays Brian’s remote environment the best. It doesn’t have majestic mountains like other Canadian lake pics.  http://www.pinterest.com/pin/164944405072650339/

Name in Titles Challenge:  Objective = Spell out your name in book titles. I went through my shelves and found these titles, each first letter spells out Michelle!


M - Mira, Mirror by Mette Ivie Harrison
I - Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel
C - Chosen (The Lost Books, 1) by Ted Dekker
H - Hourglass by Myra McEntire
E - Eve & Adam by Michael Grant & Katherine Applegate
L - Linger by Maggie Stiefvater
L - Lullaby by Amanda Hocking
E - Elixir by Hilary Duff

Hour 12: Mid-Event Update

While most folks are probably hitting the exhaustion/break stage, I'm back to focusing on the readathon. I attended an awesome bridal shower and now I'm ready to commit at least 3-4 hours to reading/posting. 

Mid-Event Survey
1. What are you reading right now? Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
2. How many books have you read so far? I finished 3 short children's books and I'm on a middle grades classic now.
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? I'm hoping to finish Hatchet. Anything else would be icing on the cake.
4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day? Sadly, I couldn't free up all day. Hopefully next time.
5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? Yep, traveled an hour (each way) to attend a bridal shower. Couldn't miss it.
6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?  Not much...I've participated in it a bunch of times so far. Maybe a surprise is still in store.
7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Not yet, as I'm getting back into the swing of the event.
8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year? Hopefully next time I'll have a open schedule so I can complete multiple (middle grades or YA books).
9. Are you getting tired yet? Nope, but as a mom-to-be, I'll probably be exhausted by 10 pm (in 3 hours).
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?  Enjoy the musical interludes. If you have a favorite music video that inspires you, play it on a loop until you're energized again. That's helped in the past.

Hour 2: Update & Pick A Paragraph

Books read: 3 (all children's books)
  •  Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
  • Oscar Wilde's The Selfish Giant Retold by Mary Hollingsworth
  • The Berenstain Bears Storybook Treasury by Stan & Jan Berenstain
Pages read: 280
Time spent reading: 1 hour
Where I'm reading: at home on the couch
Snacks:  Hot chocolate...yum!

Hour 2 Challenge: Pick A Paragraph. I posted a paragraph from my current read, Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. “It was a clear, blue-sky day with fluffy bits of clouds here and there and he looked out the window for a moment, hoping to see something, a town or village, but there was nothing. Just the green of the trees, endless green, and lakes scattered more and more thickly as the plane flew—where?” p. 15-16

Hour 0: Intro Meme

Yes, there's a pre-readathon meme...love it!  Here are the questions:
1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?  
Philadelphia, PA, USA! I have a bridal shower to go to today out in the burbs so when I'm not out and about, I'll be reading from my comfy couch at home.
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
Obligatory book pic:
 
Since I'm a soon-to-be mom, I'm looking forward to reading (or re-reading) some of the baby books I received, including Where the Wild Things Are, Oscar Wilde's The Selfish Giant, and The Berenstain Bears Storybook Treasury. From the middle grades pile, I'll probably only have time to read one, most likely Hatchet by Gary Paulsen.
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?   
My pantry and fridge are pretty bare, but I'm obsessed with popsicles right now so I'll enjoy a few of them.
4) Tell us a little something about yourself!  
My little dude is due to join us in just over 3 weeks! I'm super excited and nervous to become a mom. I can't wait to read to him. I hope he inherits my love for reading. :) 
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 participated 2 years ago (wow, I can't believe it's been that long). I didn't cheer many other readers on last time so I hope to do more of that this year. Have fun everyone!

Friday, April 25, 2014

Dewey's Readathon is back!


Another long lapse in time for my blog. Real life just took over: graduating, moving across the country, settling into a new job, etc. Now I'm a soon-to-be mom who moved back home to be closer to family and waiting for the next insane chapter of life to begin (very soon).

But whenever Dewey's 24 hour Read-a-thon comes back around, I want to dust off the my keyboard, pull out a pile of books and share my bookish thoughts to you all! The readathon starts tomorrow morning (at 8 am for me), however, I can't devote all day to it.  I hope to start (maybe a little early) and will definitely spend a few hours participating in the evening. I'm going to a friend's bridal shower so most of my day will be away from my books and computer.  But I can't wait to read some, post a few times, and cheer on other readers.  Time to browse through my books.  Until tomorrow! :) 

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Dewey Read-a-thon Progress

Ok, it's just after 8am est and Dewey has officially started!  I'm going to edit this post with reading updates and mini-challenges. Come on back to check it out.

Hour 1: Introduction Questions
1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
Philly suburbs, Pennsylvania
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
Suzanne Collins' Gregor The Overlander. I don't have any reading plans set. I just pulled some of the shorter looking books from my shelf.
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
I'm visiting one of my BookCrossing friends later tonight.  Hopefully we can participate in a mini-challenge together! Anyway, she made some cinnamon noodle kugel that I'm dying to try.
4) Tell us a little something about yourself!
I'm almost finished my Master of Library Science degree, so I'm looking for librarian positions. Yay! Can't wait to land the perfect job! Hopefully...
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'm not going to stress about finding time to read.  I'm just gonna have fun and enjoy the ride. Whatever happens, happens.   

Hour 23: Mad Lib
I used words from that book I'm reading called Stuff We All Get by K. L. Denman.

This nostril is old school! Zach has never pawed so much.
The stuff I'm currently walking is foggy and restless.
When this is over, I will shrug for 3 months. 

Hour 24: End of Event
  1. Which hour was most daunting for you?  I started to fall asleep in Hour 19.
  2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?  I recommend Alice Hoffman books. I read Indigo this time around. I've read Green Angel and Green Witch. They are short, memorizing reads.
  3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Do not make plans during the read-a-thon.  It will take up more time than you intend to spend away from reading.
  4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
  5. How many books did you read?  1 complete book and parts of 2 other books.
  6. What were the names of the books you read?  I completed Indigo by Alice Hoffman. I read parts of Stuff We All Get by K. L. Denman and Gregor The Overlander by Suzanne Collins. I have free time today, so I'm going to finish them. It will be read-a-thon part 2 for me.  :)
  7. Which book did you enjoy most?  I have to say Indigo since I'm not finished the others.
  8. Which did you enjoy least?  None...can I say that?  It might be Stuff We All Get because it's more realistic fiction and I'm a sucker for fantasy.
  9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? Not a cheerleader this year.  I'll try to cheer more next time around.
  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!  Dewey 24 Hour Read-a-thon is a tradition for me. Til we meet again in October...happy reading!  :)
Great moments of the Read-a-thon:
 - Favorite videos: Hour 17's Gimme Gimme Gimme Jane Austen Men video (so great! I love these guys), Hour 15's Rock n' Rock Readers (I'm making an appearance at the library)
- Hour 9's Do the Dumbledore...it works so well when you're listening to music in the video clips.  Thanks for the laugh.
- I need to remember the first lines of the books I read....I can't believe I didn't recognize Tuck Everlasting.
-  My friend's noodle kugel (my read-a-thon snack) was AMAZING! 
-  I really enjoyed Alice Hoffman's Indigo.  Ok, I've only read like three other Alice Hoffman books, but she is officially on my list of favorite authors.

Some Wrap-Up Read-a-thon Stats:  7 hours participation, that includes about 5 hours reading and 2 hours blogging, catching up on the hourly updates and participating in challenges.  Read about 154 pages....really that seems very low. Oh, well...things to work on next time.  As I mentioned before, I don't have anything on the schedule today so I'm going to continue reading and look at any read-a-thon content I missed.  Thanks to all the Dewey volunteers for hosting awesome challenges and keeping us inspired (and awake).  

Dewey (and I) are back!

I dropped the ball once again with my posting.  I could list all my excuses why I've been a bad blogger but I don't want to waste your time. Instead I want to tell you why I'm back....today is the semi-annual Dewey 24 Hour Read-a-thon!  I love this event.  It's always so much fun and really great people come out to cheer you on.  If you have any time to spare today, join up and read....or at least show some love as a cheerleader.

My goals are small since I have other plans for part of the day.  I'll shoot for 8 hours of reading and say 300 pages.  I'll check in periodically and participate in some of the awesome mini-challenges. 

Happy readings!