Author: Rachelle

#24in48 Update

Published on by Rachelle

We’re now a whole day into the 24 in 48 readathon.  I’m off to bed, but below is my update.

Update #3

Instead of having the spinach feta pizza pocket, the Boyfriend brought me Chinese food 🙂

Current Reads:

  • Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe – I’m almost done with this, with less than 100 pages left to go, but it’s slow going.
  • The Paris Winter by Imogen Robertson – I listened to this a little bit after my eyes started getting heavy.

Moll Flanders Paris Winter

Books Finished: The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

Storied

Pages Read: 133

Total Pages Read: 319

Time Read: 5 hours

Total Time Read: 11 hours 15 minutes

My next update will be at noon tomorrow.  Goodnight!

#24in48 Update

Published on by Rachelle1 Comment

We’re now 18 hours into the 24 in 48 readathon.  Below is my update.

Update #2

So far, I’ve been mostly snacking.  Instead of lunch, I’ve grazed on cheese and crackers, jalepeño poppers, and bean and cheese “nacho” bites.  I’m going to eat a “normal” dinner, though, but I don’t know what exactly.  Probably the spinach feta pizza pocket I got for the sole reason that it’s healthier than a Hot Pocket.

Current Read: Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe

Moll Flanders

Books Finished: The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry – I’m saving my words for the review, but I will say that this was the perfect choice for my first book of the readathon.  The hours flew past.

Storied

Pages Read: 276

Total Pages Read: 319

Time Read: 5 hours 30 minutes

Total Time Read: 6 hours 15 minutes

My next update will be at midnight.  Happy reading! 🙂

#24in48 Survey, Reading Nook, and Update

Published on by Rachelle
2016-01-16 11.06.02
Where I will be spending most of the weekend.

It’s hour 12 of the 24 in 48 readathon!  Below are my responses to Rachel’s survey, and then a short update about what I’ve been up to since I got up this morning.

  1. Where in the world are you reading from this weekend?  Austin, Texas
  2. Have you done the 24in48 readathon before? I participated in one 24in48 readathon in April 2014, when I started this blog 🙂
  3. Where did you hear about the readathon? I heard about the readathon through Rachel’s posts at 24 in 48.
  4. What book are you most excited about reading this weekend? The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin.
  5. Tell us something about yourself. Hmmm….I own seven adult coloring books.  Yeah, I’ve become a bit obsessed with collecting the coloring books of my fave fandoms.  I can’t wait until the Doctor Who one is finally released in February!  I will probably be doing some coloring this weekend while I listen to The Paris Winter by Imogen Robertson.
  6. Remind us where to find you online this weekend. I’ll be here and on Twitter this weekend, but I can also be found on Facebook.

Update #1

I always know just how tired I was by how many hours I sleep when I don’t have to get up by a certain time.  I slept for 10 hours, and it.was.awesome.  For breakfast, I had a Boca Breakfast Scrambler “burger” on an English muffin, a yogurt, and a large cup of tea.  I haven’t decided on lunch yet, but I probably will just snack on something and have lunch a bit late since I plan to stay up late tonight.  My goal for today is at least 12 hours of reading.

Current Read: The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

Storied

Pages Read: 43

Time Read: 45 minutes

My next update will be at 6 pm central time (7 pm EST).  See you then!

#24in48 – Let the Reading Begin…In the Morning!

Published on by Rachelle3 Comments

You Can't Read All Day

Though I won’t start reading until I get up in the morning, the readathon officially started at midnight EST.  So, I figured I’d post this now before I go to bed.  I’ll be posting updates throughout the weekend, but I haven’t decided how often yet.  I’m considering every 12 hours, but we’ll see.

For every readathon I’ve ever participated in, I always buy lots of snacks and easy to cook and eat one-handed meals.  This 24 in 48 readathon is no different.  While some of the noms I got are healthy, or healthy-ish, readathons are when I splurge on the not so healthy snacks I love but don’t allow myself to eat at any other time; not just because they’re unhealthy, but they’re also not cheap.

Gilmore Girls

In addition to the stuff below, I’ve got some Chex Mix, cheese, crackers, grapes, and my secret stash of chocolate (Shhh! Don’t tell the Boyfriend.  I believe every woman should have a secret stash of chocolate.)  I’ve also got some mac and cheese, Boca burgers and fries, and my regular breakfast foods.  Oh, and lots and lots of tea, but there’s always plenty of that.  It’s probably way more food than I need, but I don’t want to have to make another trip to the store this weekend or waste money ordering take-out.

2016-01-15 17.38.27

My TBR pile has changed slightly since I finished My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem on Tuesday:

  • The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
  • Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe
  • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
  • An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon
  • The Paris Winter by Imogen Robertson

Storied Moll Flanders Deathly Hallows

Echo Paris Winter

I’ve had a long week of submitting resumes, filling out applications, and going to job interviews in addition to getting trained for my new part-time job.  So, I’ll be sitting or laying on the couch in my pajamas for most of the readathon.  It’s also cold and Dresden the cat doesn’t like to be budged once he’s gotten comfortable on my lap, especially if I’ve got a blanket.  However, I also intend on going for a short walk each day as well as taking breaks to move around and do other things while I listen to the audiobook of The Paris Winter.

For now, though, I’m going to sleep.  See you in the morning! 🙂

#FitReaders Check-In

Published on by Rachelle3 Comments
FitReaders2016
  • This check-in is for January 8th – 14th.
  • I’ve still got knee pain, and I wasn’t able to do any yoga this week.  I still met my other goals, however, so I’ll be working towards an average of 3K steps per day.
  • If you’d like to add me as a friend on FitBit, you can find me HERE.
  • Yoga Workouts: 0/5
  • Steps: 31,482/14,000
  • Miles: 13/5.25
  • Flights of stairs: 34/14
  • Active Minutes: 147/100
  • Monthly 5K Races Completed: 1/10
  • Monthly 1 Mile Fun “Runs” Completed: 1/10
  • Total Money Donated: $2.53/$100.00 – I’ll keep this the same for now, but I may adjust it down to $75 if my progress is slower than I anticipate.

Thursday’s Things: Addendum

Published on by Rachelle2 Comments

HP wands

First David Bowie, who, while he was more involved in music and film than literature, played one of my favorite characters in Labyrinth, a movie that celebrates Fantasy and stories.  Now Alan Rickman, a man who played a role in several of my favorite movies, many of which were adaptations of well-loved books.

As many of you already know, I happen to be re-reading one of those books right now as part of my Harry Potter Re-Read.  After the range of emotions I’ve gone through since I read the horrible news this morning of Rickman’s passing, I don’t even know how I’m going to handle Snape’s death in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  I’m also not sure if I’ll be able to re-watch the movies for a while.  While Severus was never one of my favorite characters, more someone I loved to hate throughout most of the series, I do remember feeling that he redeemed himself through his actions in the final book and movies, and as much as I wanted to continue to despise him, I couldn’t.  J.K. Rowling and Alan Rickman showed me that nothing is black and white, especially human beings.  Grief is also complex.

On that note, here is a tiny round-up of links out of oh so many I’ve come across today in celebration of Alan Rickman and the mourning of his loss:

Thursday’s Things

Published on by Rachelle1 Comment
1001 Things
Original Image: Viktor Hertz

Classics Club: The Call of the Wild

Published on by Rachelle2 Comments

Wild

  • Author: Jack London

I listened to the audiobook version I received for free through audiobooks.com.

The Call of the Wild is one of the most depressing books I’ve ever read.  Also, I didn’t read the synopsis, and so wasn’t aware that the story was from a dog’s point of view.  While that’s not a bad thing, it was unexpected.  Buck, a St. Bernard and Shepherd mix, is stolen from his home and endures cruelty and abuse throughout the story.  While there is a, mostly, happy ending, listening was painful.

I also think I wasn’t in the best frame of mind to listen to a story like this.  I had already been feeling depressed, and the weather was crappy that day.  Luckily, it’s a relatively short book (2 hours and 52 minutes), which is why I chose it at the time, and I listened to it while I was cleaning and reorganizing my office.

I’ll probably re-read The Call of the Wild at some point to give it another chance; preferably during a time when I’m not feeling like garbage and the sun is shining.  While I usually love to read stories set during a particular season when it’s also that time of year in reality, I think this book is best read during the Summer.  However, if you can’t handle frequent scenes of animal abuse, you should skip this one and maybe try another book about dogs or wolves, as long as it’s not by Jack London (I recommend Jean Craighead George).

#24in48 Readathon

Published on by Rachelle

Rachel is doing another #24in48 Readathon this weekend!  This is the Readathon that started it all for me.  I created this blog, back when I was The Reading Wench, so I could better connect with such a great bookish community.  I somehow lost track of Rachel and 24 in 48, but finally, after nearly two years, I’m back at it again.  While I’ll always participate in Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon, I love 24 in 48 because it means I can still read for 24 hours without nearly as much sleep deprivation 🙂

Goals:

  • I *know* it won’t work out as easy as I plan, but I’m hoping to get at least 14 hours of reading in on Saturday and then finish up the remaining hours on Sunday.  Regardless, the ultimate goal is to read for 24 hours over the weekend.
  • Finish at least two books from my current reads.

TBR:

As always, this list will likely change by the time the readathon starts, but they are what I’m reading right now.  All of the book covers are linked to Goodreads.

  • My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem (I’m hoping to have this one finished before the weekend.)
  • The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
  • Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe
  • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
  • An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon
  • The Paris Winter by Imogen Robertson

Life Storied Moll Flanders

Deathly Hallows Echo Paris Winter

Are you participating in the 24 in 48 Readathon?

Bout of Books 15: Day 7 Progress and Wrap Up

Published on by Rachelle1 Comment
Bout of Books

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal.  For all Bout of Books information and updates, visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

 While yesterday was a lazy day, I didn’t finish My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem.  However, I did meet my goals for this Bout of Books, so I’m happy.
Books Read:
  • The Sibyl by Cynthia D. Witherspoon
  • The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald

Time Read: 2 Hours

Total Time Read: 22 Hours 35 Minutes

Pages Read: 58

Total Pages Read: 860

Challenges: Bookish Would You Rather?

I’m looking forward to Bout of Books 16, happening May 9th – 15th!