Month: April 2014

Dewey’s Read-a-Thon: Update #2

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This update is a bit late because I just HAD to finish the chapter of the book I’m reading, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, even though I’ve read it before.  I’m almost at the end of it, and all of you who have read the series, or at least this first book, know how intense it gets!

I’m not getting quite as much reading done as I had planned, but that’s only because I decided to participate in several of the different mini-challenges posted over at Dewey’s Read-a-Thon.  I enjoy the mini-challenges since they really help with keeping me going so I don’t get burnt out.  Also, there’s the chance of winning prizes!

Books Read: 1

Total Pages Read: 177

Total Time Read: 3 hours 44 minutes

Snacks: chocolate chip cookies

Book Puzzle

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Here’s my Book Puzzle for the mini-challenge over at One Librarian’s Book Reviews:

red

Police-Badge-Vector

Courage.a

Dewey’s Read-a-Thon: Update #1

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I’m awake, I’m happy, I’ve had breakfast, done a bit of reading and finished Inkspell, and completed a mini-challenge.  It was the Jigsaw Cover Puzzle Challenge by Little Miss Reader.

Books Finished: Inkspell by Cornelia Funke

Total Pages Read: 83

Total Time Read: 1 hour 47 minutes

Snacks: No snacks yet, but I had a couple veggie sausage and cheese sandwiches for breakfast along with my Darjeeling tea.

 

Get Ready…Get Set…Go!

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I wasn’t very successful in getting up at 6am, so I didn’t make it to the coffee shop in time for the 7am kickoff.  I’m having a large cup of Darjeeling tea instead.  I despise mornings.  In fact, I detest everything before 8am.  I’m really hoping that I’ll be fully awake and happier by time I finish Inkspell, which is what I’ve been looking forward to the most.  I had to stop myself from trying to finish it yesterday.  I’m also looking forward to the coconut milk banana split ice cream sandwiches I have in the freezer.  That Texas Summer finally kicked in, and it’s HOT!  Well, here goes….see you in 3 hours with an update!

Dewey’s Read-a-Thon!

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dewey

I’m participating in Dewey’s Read-a-Thon tomorrow, starting at 7am.  This will be my first 24 hour read-a-thon!  I’m excited about it for that fact alone, but also because this will be my last big reading event before Finals week, moving in with my boyfriend, and starting my new job.  Wow, that’s a lot!

For this read-a-thon, I won’t have any distractions from my boyfriend since he’ll be on a road trip with his buddies.  To prepare, I’ve put together a small stack of books to read, two of which are books I’d like to finish:  Inkspell by Cornelia Funke, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, The Austere Academy by Lemony Snicket, and The BFG by Roald Dahl.  I have an entire book shelf of “alternates” to choose from in case I either finish all of these or get tired of one of them.  I highly doubt either of those will happen.  I’m sticking to “light”, easy reads that I know will keep my attention, keep me awake (especially late into the night/early morning), and can be zipped through quickly so that I feel like I’m accomplishing something.  My other preparations will be insuring before the end of today that I have enough good, easy to prepare meals and snacks.  I already have more than enough tea, but I might go buy an early morning coffee from the shop down the street, since I’ll be getting up around 6am.

Inkspell 3 Bradbury Snicket BFG

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ll be attempting to stay awake and reading the entire 24 hours.  My breaks will be my update posts here, about every 3 hours, and possibly some mini-challenges.  My updates will be what I’ve read and eaten, total pages, and total time.

Hogwarts is Here!!!

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In celebration of finding out about the FREE online Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, I’ll be re-reading all of the Harry Potter books.

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I might even watch the movies again too, but I haven’t decided on that yet.  I’ve got a lot of homework at my new school! 🙂

Wizard Coins

National D.E.A.R. Day!

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According to an email I received from Half Price Books, today is National D.E.A.R. Day (Drop Everything and Read Day)!  So, I’ll be doing just that for most of the day.  I’ll be trying to finish Grand Obsession: A Piano Odyssey by Perri Knize while I’m listening to a playlist I made that consists of Ludovico Einaudi, George Winston, and quite a bit of classical piano.  I’m only on pg. 86 so far, so I probably won’t finish it today, but I’m not in any rush either.

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24in48 Final Update

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Well, it’s over.  I feel accomplished and just a little bit exhausted.  At the same time, I feel a bit sad that I now have to return to my normal routines of going to classes, writing papers, and studying for exams.  I’m definitely looking forward to my next bit of reading time, and to the next #24in48 Read-a-Thon.  I might even try to do Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon, but I still haven’t decided on that yet.

The wrap up questions, along with my answers, from A Home Between the Pages:

How many hours did you read, if you were tracking?
-22 and a half
How many books did you read, if you were tracking?
-1 and a half (Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier and I got halfway through A Passion For Books, edited by Harold Rabinowitz and Rob Kaplan)
How many pages did you read, if you were tracking?
-736
Favorite book of the ‘thon?
-Do I have to choose?! Oh, alright, I’ll go with A Passion For Books, if I absolutely have to choose a fave.
Least favorite?
-But seriously, I loved Daughter of the Forest just as much…
Thing you learned from this ‘thon?
-Boyfriends are distracting. Pretzel bites are not worth the time to make. Snacks are expensive. Start early because the hours get away from you quicker than you think they will. If you must exercise, get on a stationary bike so you can read while you sweat. I am a very slow reader in comparison to many of the other read-a-thoners, making me wonder what are their magical ways/secrets? WOW I consume a lot of food when I’m reading!

24in48 Update #5

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Another challenge from Rachel over at A Home Between the Pages:

“What I’d like you to do is find the best first line from all the books you’ve read for the readathon, and post it or a photo of it in the comments, along with the name of the book and the author.”

My best first line is from A Passion For Books, edited by Harold Rabinowitz and Rob Kaplan, from the very first selection in the book “In A Second Hand Bookshop”, by Christopher Morley:

“What waits me on the shelves?  I cannot guess,/But feel the sure foreboding; there will cry/A voice of human laughter and distress,/A word that no one needs as much as I.”

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There is no way I’m going to reach the 24 hours goal, but if I keep reading up until midnight, I’ll get about 22 and a half hours, and I consider that good enough.  I will at least finish Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier, since I’m only 27 pages away from the end.  I also intend on getting as far into A Passion For Books as possible.  Since I haven’t posted since last night, I’ve done quite a bit of snacking.  I started off with breakfast tacos this morning, then wasabi flavored seaweed, and bit later, Newman O’s and a glass of chocolate flavored almond milk.  For lunch, I had veggie burger sliders with what my boyfriend calls “fork fries”.  Now I’m eating a couple Walkers shortbread cookies with a cup of tea that my boyfriend made for me because I started getting very sleepy.

Total hours: 16 and 10 mins.

Total pages: 457

24in48 Update #4

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It’s just past the halfway mark.  I went back to reading Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier, and I’m hoping to finish it before the end of the read-a-thon.  For snacks, I had guava juice and pretzel bites.

I’m going to bed now, in the hopes that I will wake up early enough to finish the 14 hours of reading I have left before the end of the read-a-thon.

Total hours: 10 and 5 mins.

Total pages: 279