Dewey's Time!

Well, I'm off to a terrible start! Stayed up much too late last night and, consequently, slept right through my 6 a.m. alarm. What? It's 8:15 a.m. already? Yeah, that's how I'm rolling today.

Grabbed my coffee, a bowl of cereal and my iPad to get this readathon started. Of course, life has already interfered so I've gotten all of about 1 hour of reading done as we head into hour five of this 24 hour funfest. But, I've cleared the calendar and the family will largely be out of the house today so I'm hoping to still get in a lot of reading today.


Hour 1 Mini-Challenge: Opening Meme

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?

Sunny, soon to be very hot, Omaha, Nebraska - right smack dab in the middle of the U.S.

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

I'm very excited to be back to Chris Cleave's Everyone Brave Is Forgiven. Hope to finish it before I break for lunch. 

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

All of them? Because, really, readathon is the only day we give ourselves permission to eat all of the snacks in one day. 

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

I'm a mom of three who, at this point, should be an empty nester. For a few months I was. Then two of my birdies flew back home. And I'm okay with that most of the time because being a mom is my very favorite thing. Sorry, books. 

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?

Stay out of the room where someone is insisting on watching t.v. I prefer to read curled up in a corner of the sofa but that's in the room where everyone else will end up. With my comfy sofa in my living room for the time being, I'll be able to stay away from the noise as much as possible.

HOUR 7:
Well, I've been waylaid by lunch (made some chicken salad - protein for the energy, don't you know!) and a long search for an elusive peace symbol flag which took more than a half hour. Miss H is about to get home from work and the peace and quiet that just befell my house is about to be disrupted. Still, I will try to read on!

HOUR 13:
Mid-Event Survey

1. What are you reading right now?

Finally finishing up Everyone Brave Is Forgiven. In an hour, I'll finally be able to start my second book.

2 . How many books have you read so far?

See question #1.

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

I'm having a change of heart about what I'm reading next. Was going to finish Why We Write About Ourselves but I'm thinking I need something I can really sink my teeth into now that I finally have the house to myself. Also, thinking I need to go with a "real" book which rules out the third book I had planned to work on. So my next book will be whatever strikes my fancy on my bookshelves.

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

Endless interruptions, including my eldest coming by for a couple of hours unexpectedly. I always try to soldier on but next readathon, I may just take to my room for the duration. I should have done this:

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

How fast the daylight hours go by. Which is actually something that surprises me every readathon for some reason!


HOUR 15:
Well, as much as I loved Everyone Brave Is Forgiven, it was oh so sad. I've had a terrible time settling on something new. Finally, I decided I need something completely different and funny. So begins Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, which is, at least, one of my #owndamnbooks.

HOUR 17:
So, I may have snuck a nap in during hour 16. I was rudely awakened when I thought I heard the garage door open when no one was supposed to be coming home. False alarm. You'd have thought that nap and startling wake up would have brought me back to reading life. Not so much. Don't know how much longer I'm going to make it, folks.

HOUR 19:
Woohoo! I'm still at it! I got a second wind and have been killing it with the reading.

HOUR 21:
Well that's it for me! Did more mini-challenges than I usually manage to work in and read enough to have finished a good length book start to finish. But this girl's got to get something done tomorrow so I've got to get some sleep. Good luck to those of you are are going the distance!

Hours Reading: 12            

Books Finished: 1 1/2 

Mini-challenges: 6

Pages Read: 427

END OF EVENT SURVEY

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?

Curiously, the seventeenth. I'd had a bit of a nap, I'm always still awake at that hour, and I'd just started a book which was light and brought back characters I was already familiar with. 

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

I always suck at this question because I usually haven't read very many books during readathon. I guess I'd suggest the Bridget Jones books because they are quick, light reads, although Edge Of Reason is not particularly short.

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

Nope. It was great as usual! I didn't cheer this year because I was hoping to really knock out a lot of reading. I wish I would have because, seriously, 76 cheerleaders for 2000 readers?

4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?

I didn't ask to be cheered because I knew it would be a few people trying to hit up a lot of people but I really liked the idea of doing it by Twitter. So, so much easier to do all the cheering at one place instead of trying to go to all of the blogs individually.

5. How many books did you read?

One and a half. Had so hoped to knock out a couple. One of these years I'm going to head into readathon without so many upcoming reading commitments!

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

Everyone Brave Is Forgiven and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason

7. Which book did you enjoy most?

Enjoyed them both.

8. Which did you enjoy least?

See above.

9. 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 readathon again; I love, love the idea of reading along with 2000 other people all over the world. I would, as I said, definitely cheer again. Something more? Maybe.