2010 Wrap Up

Wow, I can't believe it's 2011!  I'm still deciding on my reading goals for 2011 (I know I'm late to the party), so let's wrap up some loose ends from 2010.  It was a busy year.

2010 Recap:

- Started this blog in April 2010. My first real attempt at blogging.

- Started graduate school in the fall for a Masters in Library Science (MLS) so I can become a librarian. The program runs through Summer 2012.

- 2010 was my first full year on BookCrossing!  I joined in August 2009.

- Became a regular attendee of the Audubon BookCrossing group.

- My first two wild releases caught by an anonymous finder:

• Shoot Him If He Runs (Stone Barrington) by Stuart Woods, caught on 11/22/10
• The Darkest Evening of the Year by Dean Koontz, caught on 11/22/10

- Participated in 5 BookCrossing bookrings/rays/boxes:

• Green Angel by Alice Hoffman
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell
• The Last Town on Earth by Thomas Mullen
• Manga/Graphic Novel Bookbox!

- Participated in 3 read-a-thons (two 24-hour Dewey read-a-thons and the HUGE TBR Read-a-thon in June)

- Received my first ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in the mail!

• The King's Mistress by Emma Campion
• Plus, five more ARCs.

- Read my first manga and graphic novel.

• My first graphic novel: The Courageous Princess by Rod Espinosa
• My first manga: Crescent Moon, Vol. 1 by Haruko Iida

Reading Challenges:

• 2010 Pages Read Challenge: My goal was 15,000 pages.  My final tally was 13,600 pages, 90.6% of my goal. However, this number doesn't really represent all I've read.  One issue I struggled with was determining what types of materials to count as pages read.  I read a lot of manga this year and did not record most of it...thousands of pages worth.  At first, I didn't think I should incorporate them in this challenge, but I ended up adding a few in the total.  So if I did include all the manga, this number would be way beyond 15,000.  I have to decide if I will include them in my 2011 goal.
• Read Ten 1001-Books Challenge: I read six 1001-books this year.
• Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
• Through the looking-glass, and what Alice found there by Lewis Carroll
• Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
• The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
•  A-Z Read & Release Challenge: Read and released 8 books (B, C, E, G, H, J, R and S). This challenge is on-going, so I'm not worried about completing it within a certain time period.  It's harder than I thought because of the releasing component.  Some of the books I read are library books or in my permanent collection, so completing this one will be a challenge.

My 2010 Favorites (and not-so-favorites):

- Favorite YA series: The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins.

- Favorite YA book: Paranormalcy by Kiersten White.

- Favorite adult series: Dark Days series by Jocelynn Drake. 

- Favorite adult book: Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton.

- Favorite manga series: Library Wars (v.1-3) by Kiiro Yumi.

- Favorite children's book: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl.

- Favorite guilty pleasure: Vampire Diaries series (bks. 1-4) by L.J. Smith.

- Best obscure book (haven't heard of but you must read): Green Angel by Alice Hoffman.

- Most moving book: Tunes For Bears To Dance To by Robert Cormier.

- Most disappointing book: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon.

- Least favorite book: Tithe by Holly Black.


I'll post again soon with my 2011 reading goals and challenges.  Meanwhile, I need to spend some time updating my blog and BC profile.

BC Bookshelf Update: End of 1st Semester!

BC Bookshelf Updates features my latest bookish and BookCrossing (BC) activities including book trades, RABCKs, book rings/rays, challenges, and all things BookCrossing. Enjoy!

I completed my first semester of grad school!  Plus, we got our grades already and I did really well! YAY!  So it's time to celebrate.  I'm going to catch up on my leisure reading over the next month of freedom before the grind starts up again.  Here's the latest BC updates:

Manga/Graphic Novel Bookbox: I signed up for my first BC bookbox. This box is full of manga and graphic novels shipped to participants across the U.S. (sorry not an international one). Participants take as many as they want, but add the same number back to the box and then send it on it's way to the next person on the list.  Here's the forum link if anyone else is interested in joining.  I received the box in the mail yesterday and I can't believe how many volumes are in it!  It's gonna take a few days to go through and decide what to keep.

Audubon BookCrossers:  The ABXC group meets monthly at the Panera Bread in Audubon, PA and last Sunday was the largest gathering that I've attended there so far.  We had the usual BCers attend, plus Flut3girl home from college and nat4lee visiting.  It was so large, we attracted attention from a number of Panera-goers who asked about what we were doing.  We informed them about BookCrossing and several people even left with books.  What a wonderful thing!  For the first time, I brought books to the meeting and left without any.  That's a good accomplishment for me right now since my bookshelves are overflowing.  I need to release more and bring home less (or at least stuff that I will read and release).

Park House Coffee OBCZ:  Sad news from Ridley Park, PA.  The Park House Coffee (a.k.a. Park House Cafe), which is home to an Official BC Zone, has closed.  The cafe changed ownership multiple times in the last few years, but the OBCZ (run by my pal Bascula) persevered. Park House Coffee was a wonderful place to grab a hot drink and relax. I hope it reopens again.  I'll keep you updated.  A group of BCers met there in November hoping to start a new meetup group, but plans will be postponed until we find another location.

Reading Challenges:  Since I haven't reached my challenge goals yet, I'm going to hold my own little read-a-thon next week.  What else would a bookcrosser want to do on vacation!?!  I'll be away visiting family for the holidays, but will host my own 24 hour read-a-thon on Tuesday or Wednesday.  It'll come down to the wire, but I think I can pull off my "Pages Read Challenge" goal of 15,000 pages. I have about 1,700 pages to go.  I have four books to read for the "Read Ten 1001 Books Challenge."  Not sure if I'll reach that one, but I'd be satisfied with one more completed.  I'm still figuring out my challenge goals for 2011 so stay tuned.

I'll post again next week, until then...

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! 

Read-a-thon Wrap Up

We've reached the end of 24 hours.  Let's recap.  After some life distractions, I was able to refocus and get some more reading in.  I didn't come close to my initial goals, but I had a blast anyway.  Thanks so much for all your comments!  They make me laugh and keep me inspired.  You guys rock!  You other readers out there are one of the many reasons I love to participate in this reading event.  Even though I didn't get as much time in as I had hoped, it was fun to read your posts (especially some of your mini-challenges answers) and cheer you on.  Get some sleep now...it's well deserved.

End of event details:

How many books have you read?  Half of two books...that means one when you put them together?!?

Finished Angel Star by Jennifer Murgia

Started How To Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell

Pages read: 198 pages (131 from Angel Star and 67 from HTTYD)

 

Hours spent reading: 5 hours (wow, I read really slow)

 

Hours spent on mini-challenges, cheering, and blogging: approx. 2.5 hours

 

Total participation: 7.5 hours

 

Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Nope, it was lots of fun!

 

What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year? I would try to devote more time to it like I did in April.  So many distractions that I missed out on a bunch of fun challenges. I'll definitely participate next time.

Read-a-thon Hour 11

Reader fail!  I've been a terrible read-a-thon participant. Even though I wanted to spend the whole day reading, life got in the way.  Hubby and I had DirectTV drama this morning. They were supposed to install the dish this morning (something to busy Hubby while I read...thought that was a good idea), however, do to complications it didn't happened. Then my car wouldn't start this morning, so I had to get it towed.  Yep, no luck today. The fine guys at Firestone fixed my car, I've got it back, and now I'm getting back on track with my reading.  I'm sure you don't want to hear all the details...but alas I've spent only about two hours reading (about 80 pages worth).  I know, it's a travesty!

My new goals: maybe 10 hours total...so I've got at least 8 hours of reading ahead of me. Of course, I'll try to make it to the 24th hour. 

How everyone else hanging in there? Anyone have a distraction story to share?  Let me know.

Read-a-thon Hour 1

Ready, set, read!  It's the first hour of the Dewey 24 Hour Read-a-thon. I've got everything I need:  coffee, books, computer. I'm rocking my Monticello t-shirt with Thomas Jefferson's quote "I cannot live without books...".  Let's get reading!  Here's some of the books I have with me today.

Finish Angel Star by Jennifer Murgia
How To Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell (this is a BookCrossing bookring)
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway (a 1001-book...I'm way behind in the "read ten 1001 books" challenge)
plus some manga (Tokyo Mew Mew 1-3 and Crescent Moon 1-3)

Goals:  I'd like to match or exceed my stats from the last Dewey read-a-thon in April. I'll shoot for 4 books (I could breeze through the manga), at least 500 pages, 6-8 mini-challenges, and at least 12 hours reading/16 hours participating.  

Hour 1 meme:
Where are you reading from today? My apartment in the western 'burbs of Philadelphia. 

3 facts about me … 
1 - My favorite colors are PINK (when I'm feeling girly) and BLUE (the royal kind). 
2 - I just moved...not far, just the next county over. 
3 - I love to read!  Hooray for reading!

How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours? I've got three books on the agenda, a bunch of manga in between, and dozens (err, hundreds) of other books to choose from if my mood changes.

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)? Copy and paste from above: 4 books (plus manga), at least 500 pages, 6-8 mini-challenges, and at least 12 hours reading/16 hours participating.

If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, any advice for people doing this for the first time?  This is my second time participating.  I learned in the spring read-a-thon that you should read genres you love. It's easier to get through books you like than ones that torture you. Another tip: write down your start and stop times of your readings...it'll help you keep better track of it all. Finally, have fun!  The read-a-thon is supposed to be fun, so don't get stressed out over how fast other participants read. Focus on your reading experience. Take breaks when you need to and support other readers. At hour 19, we're all struggling to stay awake together.  :)

Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon

It's back!  Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon is this Saturday, October 9th.  I've craved out most of the day to relax and catch up on my leisure reading.  Grad school is kicking my butt, so I'm due for one day of vacation from it all.  I participated in the read-a-thon in April and absolutely loved it!

Here's some of my wrap-up stats from the Dewey's 24 hr Read-a-thon in April 2010:
Participated for over 16 hours, including:
   - over 11 hours of reading
   - 5 hours of blogging/mini-challenges/cheering for other readers
Books read: 3 1/2 including
   - The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling
   - Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
   - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
   - Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein (read about 1/2)
Pages read: 505
Mini-challenges completed:  9
Prizes won: none...maybe I'll have better luck this year.

I'll post a list of my potential reads before it officially begins. It's not too late to sign up for the read-a-thon on Saturday. Check out the website to learn more.