Monthly Archives: April 2010

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? For my second read-a-thon, I managed to stay up an extra two hours without getting over tired. I went to bed around 4:30 am, so for the purpose of this question, hour 12 was the most difficult hour.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? My idea to read children’s classics I hadn’t read before really worked out for me and gave me a sense of accomplishment with my reading I wouldn’t have gotten had I stuck to the Nancy Drew manga I borrowed from the library.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-Thon next year? Galleysmith’s wrap up post has some really great suggestions regarding cheerleading. I defer to her advice.
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? I would just like to thank everyone who stopped by and commented. The support was wonderful.
5. How many books did you read? I finished seven (a total of 1,303 pages!) and listened to about an hour and a half of an audio book.
6. What were the names of the books you read?
   
   
   •  Two or Three Things I Know for Sure by Dorothy Allison — non-fiction/memoir
   • Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine — Middle Grade, Newbury Honoree
   • Are We There Yet? by David Levithan — young adult
   • A Wrinkle In Time by Madeline L’Engle — middle grade, Newbury Award Winner
   • If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson — young adult
   • Fables: Animal Farm by Bill Willingham — graphic novel
   • Geography Club by Brent Hartinger — young adult
7. Which book did you enjoy most? I was pleasantly surprised by Levithan’s Are We There Yet?
8. Which did you enjoy least? I just didn’t get A Wrinkle In Time–like, at all.
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? As long as it doesn’t fall on the annual company meeting day again, I’ll definitely be participating again in October. I’d like to try to be a cheerleader for a portion of the time.
11. Total time spent reading: 13 Hours.

Comparison to the 10/09 Read-a-Thon

• I stayed away for an extra two and a half hours.
• I read four more books.
• I managed to avoid any books that would/could make me cry.
• I read an additional 585 pages.

Notes For Next Time

• Prepare snacks in advance! Very important.
• Don’t lay down with the cats. This leads only to sleepiness.

A super big THANK YOU to everyone who took the time to comment and leave some inspiration. I couldn’t have done it without you. A cookie to everyone!

What I’m Reading Now: Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde (audio)
Geography Club by Brent Hartinger

Title of book(s) read since last update: Fables: Animal Farm by Bill Willingham
Number of books read since you started:

Pages read since last update: 216
Running total of pages read since you started: 1212

Amount of time spent reading since last update: 1 hour, 40 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 11 hours, 10 minutes

Etc.:

“Never in a million years would I have guessed that Min was bisexual. And yet, now that she’d told me, it already made perfect sense. In a way, it explained everything from her general braininess to her ridiculous perfectionism.” 

p 31 of Geography Club — what the hell? I do not understand how this explains anything.

I’m still (shockingly) quite awake, but my back is hurting in the most horrendous way. I think I’m going to lie down for a while, finish this book, and, if I’m up to it, listen to the audio. Advil, here I come!

What I’m Reading: Fables: Animal Farm by Bill Willingham
Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde (audio)

Number of books read since you started: 5
Pages read since last update: 47 (+1 hour, 25 minutes of audio)
Running total of pages read since you started: 996 (so very close to the 1000 mark!)

Amount of time spent reading since last update: 1 hour, 40 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 9 hours, 30 minutes

Mini-challenges completed: none

I might be calling it quits a little early this time around Very sleeeepy.

Title of book(s) read since last update: If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson
Number of books read since you started: 

Pages read since last update: 181
Running total of pages read since you started: 949

Amount of time spent reading since last update: 1 hour, 20 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 8 hours, 50 minutes

Mini-challenges completed:

Title of book(s) read since last update: A Wrinkle In Time by Madeline L’Engle
Number of books read since you started:

1. Two or Three Things I Know For Sure by Dorothy Allison
2. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
3. Are We There Yet? by David Levithan
4. A Wrinkle In Time by Madeline L’Engle

Pages read since last update: 123
Running total of pages read since you started: 768
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 45 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 7 hours, 30 minutes
Mini-challenges completed:

1. What are you reading right now? I haven’t decided what to read next. I think maybe If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson.

2. How many books have you read so far? Four, which means I will definitely meet my goal of six since I have three graphic novels on stand by for when I get super tired.

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? Will Grayson, Will Grayson, which I bought two weeks before it officially came out and, due to a major guilt complex, I’ve been waiting to read it until the official release date passed.

4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day? My aunt was kind enough to move her birthday lunch extravaganza to next Saturday instead of today. Thanks, Aunt Julie!

5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? Not an interruption per se, but my cat convinced me to lay down and let him snuggle in my lap for a while.

6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? I feel like I was way more organized about it last time! Even though I had no idea what I was doing then.

7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? I wouldn’t change a thing

8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year? 1) Prepare snacks far in advance. 2) Avoid the cats. Just kidding. 3) I tend to be a bit obsessive about my reading lists (# of pages, when I read them, who recommended them, where I got them, etc.) but I’m having a bit of trouble being as organized with the read-a-thon. I need to think up a better way for next time!

9. Are you getting tired yet? I did yawn after I read that question! But I think I’m doing okay. I just need to eat something more substantial.

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? I would highly suggest having someone around who is willing to go to the store for you. So very nice.

Edit: After I type that, he came over for an impromptu dance party to Janet Jackson’s Nasty. Yeah, y’all need one of these.

What I’ve Been Reading: A Wrinkle In Time by Madeline L’Engle

Number of books read since you started:

1. Two or Three Things I Know For Sure by Dorothy Allison
2. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
3. Are We There Yet? by David Levithan

Pages read since last update: 80
Running total of pages read since you started: 645
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 40 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 6 hours, 45 minutes
Mini-challenges completed:

1. Hour 1
2. Book, Title, Sentence
3. Drabble 
4. Where In the World Have You Been Reading Today? 

Title of book(s) read since last update: Are We There Yet? by David Levithan
Number of books read since you started:

1. Two or Three Things I Know For Sure by Dorothy Allison
2. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
3. Are We There Yet? by David Levithan

Pages read since last update: 127
Running total of pages read since you started: 565
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 6 hours, 5 minutes
Mini-challenges completed:

1. Hour 1
2. Book, Title, Sentence
3. Drabble

Prizes won: I won two books from the hour three muti-time read-a-thon participant drawing! Very exciting, if I do say so myself.

I’m seeing dinner on the horizon. Something very, very delicious.

Once upon a time–for that is how all stories should begin–there was a boy who lost his mother. What is it about this first line that makes it stick in my head, a line that I can remember even when the date or the location of my keys escapes me? What is it about this simple line that makes me smile a little inside and take comfort that the story following will be so good? The simple twenty words call to me from my bookshelf, begging to be read just one more time. I hear the pages rustling my name.

Hour 8 mini challenge hosted @ Midnight Book Girl