~A Winter's Respite~ Read-a-thon Day 1 and 2 Post

A Winter's Respite Read-a-Thon hosted by Michelle @ Season's of Reading

My first book will be Jane Austen's Emma. I'm trying to get finished with it before the end of the month! It's a great book, just super wordy and hard to sit and read for more than 30 minutes (for me at least!)

Day 1 and 2 and 3:
Book: Emma by Jane Austen
Starting Page: 65
Ending Page:

Notes: I'm combining two days into this post. I had a busy day with work yesterday and did not get much reading done :( So crossing my fingers today is better! 

Tuesday notes: BAH! This week! I love to work, so I'm not complaining about my job, but I've been soooo busy by the time I have time my eyes are wanting to shut! Combining 3 days into one post = lazy Melissa.  

Read-a-thon: Bout of Books Last day!

Last Day:
I have been doing especially SUCKTASTIC lately! This is the last day, so I doubt I'll do much better, but I'll give it a good try!

                                                no reason for this gif. i just love you guys!

Last Day Update
Book:  The Woman From Paris
Finished: YES!
Review Written: I have finished my book, written my review,  AND scheduled my post! I am on the BALL YO!

 Notes: This has been fun! I've slacked a little, but otherwise a very very very productive read-a-thon! Yay!

Day's Totals:
Books Finished: 3
Pages Read: 948

Bout of Books: Goals

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 7th and runs through Sunday, January 13th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 6.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. -From the Bout of Books 6.0 team

Goals:

• I am going to plan to finish up 2-3 books independent of my read-a-long selections.
• Catch up on my read-a-longs
• Write posts for the books I finish.

My reading selections (not mandatory and will most likely change)

• Fonduing Fathers
• The Woman in White
• The President's Secret
• Sydney West
• The Woman From Paris
• Warm Bodies (Ebook)
• Favorite and Edgwood by Karen McQuestion

 I will start a post each day charting my progress. Chances are I'll start reading right after my son gets on the bus. I've been doing super well at keeping my blog fresh and having something new at least every other day, so this is going to help me keep that trend up! :)

Read-a-thon: The Classics Club

Woot! I am making 2013 the year to expand my literary horizons, and reading classics is on the VERY TIP TOP of my list! I just found this read-a-thon happening this weekend! It's a 24 hour RAT, and chances are I'm not gonna make the whole things, but I will do my very bestest!

So stay tuned. My selections will be my read-a-longs. I'm assuming since this is being held by the Classics Club (click the button up at the top) then classics should be my picks.

• Les Mis
• Persuasion
• The Woman In White
• Mrs. Dalloway

I am not even tryin' to say I'll read ALL of these. I'm thinking 50-100 pages of each will suit me just fine! 

Week Long Read-a-thon

Click the button up there ^ and sign up with me! This read-a-thon (I'm such a readathon slut!) is a non-formal week long event! It starts tomorrow and I'm going to do my darnedest! Here is my list of books that I would like to attempt to read!

• Finish The Kingmakers
• Rosedale the Vampire (ebook)
• Dead or Undead (Ebook) 
• The Big Bang
• There Goes the Galaxy
• Bringing Avalon Back
• Automaton
• Sydney West
• Edgewood
• The President's Secret
• Favorite 

Most of these look like quick reads! I would love to get them all read. I won't hold my breath but it would be awesome if I did!

Spring into Horror Read-a-Thon

 

I know, I know..another one? YES! It is friggen KNOWN

that you cannot participate in TOO MANY read-a-thons, PLUS this one is hosted by my buddy Michelle!  So it starts 4/23 at 12am, which I will still be drooling on my pillow at that hour, but immediatly after I wake up and coffee up I'm going to start reading! The jist of this is that you will have to read at least 1 horror themed book during the weeklong event. I think I can manage. :)

Here is my list:



Yup, I am set! I am going to also try to finish up Soulless by Gail Carriger, but I don't know if that counts? Anyhoodle, this is my plans for the week. I'm gonna keep rolling with my roll ;)

Read-a-thon: A Winter's Respite *sticky*

Everyone that's ever been to my blog knows I'm a read-a-thon slut! I join up every single one of them! So when my friend Michelle announced this one..well you can tell how that turned out for me! ;)

Book Stack: 

• The Haunting of Hill House
• Halfway to the Grave
• Bastion
• All these Things I've Done
• All's Fair in Vanities War
• The Fallen Queen
• The Great Gatsby (ebook)
• The Scarlet Letter (ebook)
• Pride and Prejudice

Update: 1/23
Book: The Great Gatsby (Ebook) start: 36/135 (end: 70/135)
Pages: 34
Challenges: Post a picture of your stack

Update: 1/24
Book: The Great Gatsby (Ebook) start: (70/135) FINISHED
Pages:65
Challenges: None

Update: 1/25
Book: The Haunting of Hill House-Shirley Jackson (12 pages)
Pages:77
Challenges: none today

Update: 1/26 & 1/27 & 1/28 and 1/29
Book: The Haunting of Hill House-Shirley Jackson (start pg 12/ end pg --)

Pages:77
Challenges:
I am failing miserably. Is there a challenge for just reading? LOL

Dewey's Read-a-Thon: Book Puzzle Challenge

My entry is:

There you go! It is probably pretty easy! :)

Read Your Own Books-a-Thon

This is a read-a-thon hosted by The Bibliophilic Book Blog and runs from 9pm (8pm my time) on Thursday night until Sunday at 9pm (again..8pm.) I have a ton of review books to read! Awesome right? But what about my wee little books that I've picked up just for fun? They get put on the sidelines...well not this weekend! Nuh huh! I am going to give them the attention they deserve!  Do you have some you need to spend some quality time with? Well here be the rules for the 'thon:

- Read Your OWN books
- Runs from 9pm on Thursday the 15th (EST)...some of my posts might be a bit off since I am 11 hours ahead of EST in KST. Sorry for that...anyway it will run until Sunday the 18th at 9pm (EST). This should give everyone some time to participate.- GIVEAWAYS (DUH!?!) I personally am giving away a Nook original in a cover. I am also giving away multiple audiobooks and whatever else strikes my fancy. In order to enter the giveaway for the Nook you must participate....it will be finished when the read-a-thon is over. So...start planning. (International Welcome)

My Stack Looks as Such:

• Married with Zombies (finish)
• The Last Book in the Universe
• Shut Out
• Ada 

and if I'm feeling really ambitious I'll attempt these (but only if books above are finished)

• Lord of the Vampires (ebook)
• Hellbent (ebook)
• Halo (ebook)

So what do you think? I know you wanna join up ;) 

Daily Check-In: Friday Sept. 2

 

So I'm participating in the Month Long Read-a-Thon (click button for more into) and decided that I will update once daily. Since this is a month long event I won't track time read, just books and pages. My aim for September is 20 books total! Let's see if I reach it!

The "thon" started yesterday but I didn't get much reading in, so I will start today.

My daily statuses will usually be short, just to keep track per day of what I've accomplished!

Status Update #1
Books Read: Mile 81-Stephen King (ebook)-51 pages, Love Lies Bleeding-Jess McConkey(ARC)-60 pages
Pages Read: 111 pages
Total for the Month: 1 Book, 111 pages
Daily Thoughts:  I spent a good chunk of today getting my reviews scheduled and caught up. I'll have much more time to read tomorrow.

Read-a-Thon Starting Line Post

So it's 7:20 am, and I am starting my 'thon! I know I'm like 20 minutes late but believe me I'm gonna need those 20 minutes! Anyways, YAY!

Introductory Questions:
1)Where are you reading from today? Anniston, AL, or more specifically from my desk but I will most likely switch to my comfy chair in just a bit.
2)Three random facts about me…I work at home full time, I'm definitely a hoarder of books, and I love anything and everything about Mr. Nathan Fillion. :) Maybe I'll bless you all with a picture sometime!
3)How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours? Too many to count, so I won't! My plan is to just read, read, read, and oh yeah....read.
4)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)? I would like to finish three books from the begining. I have a few I need to finish, plus I am plegding money to the Kid's Need To Read foundation so that's motivation right there!
5)If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, any advice for people doing this for the first time? Get up and move, at least once an hour! It will really help your energy levels stay up! Drink plenty of water, and just relax and have fun!

Stats:
Starting Hour 1-7:30am
1st book: Kat, Incorrigible
Starting pg: 113
Food: Coffee, Water, BREAKFAST!
Ending Time: 8:00 am (30 minutes read)
Pages read: ( ended 143)-30 pages
Notes: I had to get the morning stuff done for my kidlet. He needed hugs and kisses, and food of course! So definitely not the most reading productive hour, but gotta love the huggles! :)

Hour 2 -8:00am
1st book (still): Kat, Incorrigible
Starting pg: 143
Food: coffee, water
Ending Time: 9:00am
Pages read: (ended 217) 74
Notes: Kat is such a fun book!

Hour 3: 9:00 am
1st book (still): Kat, Incorrigible*Finished*
Starting pg: 217
Food: diet dr. pepper
Ending Time: 10am
Pages read: 78
Notes: Finished Kat, now onto The Dead-tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan!

Hour 4: 10:00 am
2nd book: The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan
Starting pg: 1
Food: none
Ending Time: 11am
Pages read: 43
Notes: Next hour I'm taking a break to hang out with the kiddo! I'll be back at noon to continue reading!

Hour 5: 11am-12noon
BREAKING FOR THE HOUR


Hour 6: 12-1pm
2nd book: The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan
Starting pg: 43
Food: Humus dip with pita bread/diet dr. pepper
Ending Time: 1pm
Pages read: (ended pg. 78) 35
Notes: TDTW is so awesome but my little man has been pretty antsy wanting to play and talk. I can't say no to his cute-ness so yeah...distractions ahoy!

Hour 7: 1-2pm
2nd book: The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan
Starting pg: 78
Food: water
Ending Time: 2pm
Pages read: (ending page 139) 61
Notes: Soooo good! I'm loving this book so much! I can't wait to review it!


Hour 8: 2-3pm
2nd book: The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan
Starting pg: 140
Food: water
Ending Time: 3pm
Pages read: (ending at 205) 65
Notes: feeling very tired...might need to ingest some sugar and caffeine soon! lol

Hour 9: 3-4pm
2nd book: The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan
Starting pg: 205
Food: humus and chips and diet. dr. pepper
Ending Time: 4pm
Pages read: 26
Notes: I spent a good deal of time working on my posts for my stint as a co-host. I didn't read much this hour.

Hour 10: 4-5pm
Notes: Didn't read much. I was organizing my posts for co-hosting.

Hour 11: 5-6pm
2nd book: The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan
Starting pg: 231
Food: water
Ending Time: 6pm
Pages read: (ending 243) 12
Note: Spent a good chunk of this hour again working on my posts for my co-hosting duties!


Hour 12: 6-7pm
2nd book: The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan
Starting pg: 243
Food: chicken nuggets and fries....super healthy *eye rolls*
Ending Time: 6:55pm
Pages read: (ending 252) 9 whole wussy pages...
Note: Starting my co-hosting duties now...will try to read if I can, but I doubt it! I'll be back around 11pm (ish)


Hour 17: 11-12am
2nd book: The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan
Starting pg: 243
Food: coffee
Ending Time: 12am
Pages read: (ending) 258) 15 pages
Note: I don't expect to read a bunch this hour..my cohosting duties were fun but a bit tiring so I'll be up and down trying to get the blood back into my legs! I'll do my best this hour though! :)



Hour 18:
Guys I'm zonked. I can't stay up anymore. Everything looks fuzzy and I've read the same sentence about three times. I'm not a young whipper snapper anymore!

Have fun! I will do my totals tomorrow! I had such a great time co-hosting and would definitely do it again!

Bye and keep on reading! :)

A Winter's Respite Read-a-Thon Day 4

Well you guys! Yesterday was fun, but I didn't read as much as I'd like. :( So here's crossing my fingers to a productive reading day!

I'm going to start the reading day at 7:00am today!

Here are the books that I am going to read:

The Black Dahlia (starting on page 132) Stopped on 206-Total 74
Fallen (starting on page 25) Stopped on 43-Total 18
The Greyfriar (starting on page 1)

Now I know that seems like I'm crazy picking out three books, but I seem to have reading ADD at the moment, so I figured I'd be more productive if I give myself a wider selection today! Hope it works!

End Time: 10:00pm
Pages Read:
Books Finished:

Another Read-a-Thon

December 2,3,4,5 Holiday #Readathon!

Trick or Treat Read-a-Thon

Here I go! I'm scrambling to finish up Rise Again. We had some wicked nasty storms the last two days so I wasn't quite able to get enough time to finish it, so this will be my first book! So I will use this as my starting off point! Here goes! (Oh! If you do want to join along with me then use Mr. Linky at the bottom! You don't have to read the whole weekend! This is a casual thing so please do join if you have some spare time! )

Oct. 28th:
FINISHED: Rise Again by Ben Tripp (started thon on pg. 164)-total pages 207
Started: Frankenstein's Monster by Susan Heyboer O'Keefe -total pages 12

Oct. 29th:
FINISHED-Frankenstein's Monster by Susan Heyboer O'Keefe-(Started on pg. 12) total pages 326

Oct. 30th:
Started: Dracula the Undead by Dacre Stoker and Ian Holt (started on pg. 151) Read only 2 pages :( Too much Halloween Stuff! Will read more today though!

Oct 31st:
FINISHED: Dracula the Undead (started on page 153) read 291 pages!


Wow! I read two full books and finshed one! I can't believe that! I'll post the reviews for those books soon!

Total Pages: 836

Read-a-Thon Starting Line/Ending Line

Well it's here! The day we've been waiting for! I have my snacks ready and my books stacked high! My notebook is nearby and so is my coffee! My house is quiet (aahh peace) and I'm all snuggled up in my cozy chair! I'm ready to begin! My plan is to check in every other hour or so with my totals and all that!

Ready!-Set!-Go!

7:00AM-9:00AM-Starting Line!
Book: MockingJay-Suzanne Collins
Pages: 73
Food: coffee, coffee, coffee and grits! I'm a southern gal after all ;)
Comments: slow start this morning, but getting up to speed! having a great time so far!

9:00Am-11:00AM
Book: Mockingjay
Pages: 100
Food: yogurt covered raisins and fruit/veggie juice
Comments: Loving MJ and really having a great time!

11:00AM-1:00PM
Book: Almost done with MJ
Pages: 124
Food: water and a little bit of an AMP energy drink!
Comments: started to get a headache, so I moved from the desk to the couch. took a few minutes off from reading to do some stretches and see the husband off to work. now going to finish MJ and pick another book!

1:00PM-3:00PM
Book: Finished Mockingjay and started with the rest of Death Notice by Todd Ritter (started on page 155)
Pages: MJ-93, DN-38
Food: a mini sausage biscuit and the rest of the AMP energy drink..with water
Comments: Took a break to eat and call my son. So far I'm still going at a steady clip..I'm going to try and finish DN this next block!

3:00PM-5:00PM
Book: Finished Death Notice and started on Touch the Dark by Karen Chance
Pages: DN-133 pages, so far on TtD-164 (pretty quick read so far!)
Food: watermelon and water lol...
Comments: I had a good reading spurt this last two hours! I'll probably be finished with TtD really soon! So far it's really good, if not a tad bit of a cliched..but not horrible! I think my next read will be John Dies at the End by David Wong..just because it looks kooky!
Energy wise..I'm doing okay. I am brewing some more coffee and going to take about 10 minutes to stretch and hope that helps!

5:00PM-7:00PM
Book: Finished Touch The Dark by Karen Chance and started on John Dies at the End
Pages: finished up TtD-143 pages, and John Dies at the End-82 pages.
Food: just water and coffee for now
Comments: I'm really enjoying JDATE but I think I'm going to take a break. It's kinda a mind f@#k of a book so I'm going to save my sanity for a bit and read something else. I've decided to try one of the classics on my list..The House of the Seven Gables.

7:00PM-9:00PM
Book: House of Seven Gables-(Tried but gave up. it's just too serious for me right now) so back to John Dies
Pages: HSG-20 pages, John Dies-42 pages
Food: pizza with husband
Comments: took a break to eat with the husband. I couldn't get into House after about 20 pages, so moved back to John Dies

9:00PM-11:00PM
Book: John Dies at the End
Pages: 38
Food: none
Comments: Starting to fade out and think about going to sleep. I tried taking a bubble bath and reading in the tub and that perked me up just a little.

11:00PM-1:00AM
Book: John Dies
Pages: 39
Food: none
Comments: I called Bedtime at 11:30pm.

1:00AM-3:00AM
Book:
Pages:SLEEP
Food:
Comments:
3:00AM-5:00AM
Book:
Pages: SLEEP
Food:
Comments

5:00AM-7:00AM-FINISH LINE
Book: John Dies At The End
Pages: 58 pages
Food: coffee
Comments: I hope it's okay to jump back in for the last two hours...I didn't manage to finish John Dies at the End but I did get in three books! :)

Read-a-Thon Totals
Books: 3 books read completely! 1/2 of John Dies at the End!
Pages: 1147
Notes: I did good I think! I didn't read all of the 24 hours but I did read about 13 of them almost completely straight through! I had such a wonderful time! :)



ENDING MEME
1. Which hour was most daunting for you?
That last one before I went to bed was a doozy! I kept almost falling asleep on my book!

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

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
Not really! I think this year's was really well organized and was definitely fun!

4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
see my above answer!

5. How many books did you read?
3. 5

6. What were the names of the books you read?
Mockingjay, Touch the Dark, and Death Notice, (the half) John Dies at the End

7. Which book did you enjoy most?
Mockingjay

8. Which did you enjoy least?
Touch the Dark

9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
I wasn't a Cheerleader!

10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?

Very VERY VERY likely! I will probably be a reader again!

Sunday Somethings: Or Me Geeking Out Over Read-a-Thons!

This ^^ has gotten me in a tizzy! I have so much geeky anticipation for this event! Really! I've got each day of this week planned out to help me optimize my reading experience! How nerdy is that? My BIGGEST is that on Friday (after school) we are going to let T (son) stay over at Grandpa's house for the weekend! That's right folks! I will have a kid free house for this RaT!! I am super excited about that! The last one I tried with him here and I failed at reading. I can't just plop his butt in front of the TV or the computer and be okay with that! It's cool in small doses but not for more than an hour and a half.

Monday -Friday I'll be getting my house as spotless as I can so I can concentrate on reading. I will be grocery shopping for snackage and drinks on weds (to cut back on the grazing that we would do if I got them today!) I will start tomorrow with getting my reading stack ready.

So what are you doing to prepare? Have you signed up yet? Are you going to be reading or cheering? ARE YOU AS GEEKED OUT AS I AM!?

Fall Catch-Up Read-a-Thon Final Post

Well it's over. The week is done and I've read my last page for this 'thon! Here are my stats:

Books Read:

1. (finished) Blue Bells of Scotland
2. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
3. Half Empty

Pages: about 651 pages in total

Hours of Reading: about 10 hours :( which isn't all that great! I had some good days and some really horrid days!

**these are estimations! i didn't really keep track like i should have.

Ending Thoughts:
This was an awesome read-a-thon! I just wished I could have organized myself a bit better. I think the crazy distractions and my haphazardly organized schedule didn't really help out at all! I would have loved to have gotten more reading done but I'm not going to complain! 3 books in one week is better than I have done in a long time! I hope this 'thon happens next year!

Read-a-Thon Check In

Well I got some reading done last night and yesterday, but by 10pm (when I got off work) I was zonked. So I crashed. I am going to spend the rest of today finishing up Blue Bells and writing my review for tomorrow's blog tour! After that I will move on probably to Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet since I've read good things about it!

So for the record:

1. Sept 20-Blue Bells of Scotland-1 hour-55 pages
2. Sept. 21-finished Blue Bells and started on Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet-2 hours-137 pages
3. Sept 22-Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet-40 pages (bad night for reading)-30 mins *day 3 was pretty bad for reading. very busy at work and not enough extra time*
4. Sept. 23-Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet-read 100 pages
   
5. sept. 24-finished Hotel -Finished Half Empty-225 about 4 hours of reading time today!!!
6. Sept.25-Reading some of the Historian (for challenge)
7. Sept. 26th-Reading the Historian (challenge) and finishing Black Rain
   

Mini Challenge-Fall Catch-Up Read-a-Thon

The Mini-Challenge was to visit the ALA website and visit the list of banned or challenged books and pick one that you have read or would like to read, then explain why. Here is my answer:



I've read Brave New World by Aldous Huxley last year. I loved it and was unnerved by it all at the same time! I didn't read it because it was banned. I read it because the subject matter was intriguing to me. It scared the crap out of me that people could become like the characters. The way the world was in the book, I could see happening in reality. THAT was scary to me.

Looking at the list, I can see that I've read several other banned books. The books I've read have all been what I would consider some of my favorites, which really saddens me.

I've read these banned books:
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
1984 by George Orwell
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (one of my favorites!)
Charlotte's Web by E. B. White (WTF!? Why?)
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne (again..wtf!?)
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (love)
The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
The Awakening by Kate Chopin (love)

Get Your Read-a-Thon On!

This week is gonna be heavy on the fun! I have my stack of books ready for the Read-a-Thon and I'm hosting a giveaway for Stride Everyday Panties! Oh, and I have my blog tour post for Blue Bells of Scotland by Laura Vosika! Very nice! :)

I'll post an update on my reading progress through the week, so keep an eye out!

Here are my planned reads:

* Black Sun
* Stash
* Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
* The Disappearing Spoon

Still not too late to join in! Just click the button!

STARTING LINE!
It's now 8:00 am (cst) and it's Time to read!

First Up:

• Blue Bells of Scotland (book tour post on weds) *I want to finish this today so I can move on to the other books on my list!