24-Hour Readathon, Spring 2020

24hr readathon girl readingOnce again it’s time for Dewey’s 24-Hour Readathon! I haven’t been able to participate in the past few readathons because of various other commitments, but one of the few upsides of this unique global situation is that I’m forced to stay home, thus ensuring a whole day of uninterrupted reading time! I likely won’t read for the full 24 hours — I’m pretty desperate for a good night’s sleep! — but I’ll be reading for most of my waking hours. 🙂 I’ll mainly be updating via Twitter, but I’ll check in here periodically as well. Happy reading, everyone!

Update: Well, clearly my comment about updating my readathon progress here was a big fat lie! But I had a really fun time and finished four books:

Death of the NecromancerWhen Dimple Met RishiScrapbook of Frankie PrattIsabella

I read 1,170 pages altogether and read up to Hour 16. I’m looking forward to participating again in the fall!

Bout of Books 18 Wrap-up

Bout of Books 18

Bout of Books 18 concluded yesterday, and I’m counting my readathon a success! I was hoping to read two books from start to finish, and I did: The Hating Game by Sally Thorne and Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew’d by Alan Bradley. (I also finished Crosstalk by Connie Willis.) I really enjoyed all three books I read this past week! Additionally, I wanted to participate in at least one Twitter chat, and I ended up doing both. So I’m very happy with my progress and will almost definitely be back for Bout of Books 19 in May. If you participated this time around, what did you read?

Bout of Books 18 Progress

Bout of Books 18Bout of Books 18 starts today, and I’ll be tracking my progress in this post. As I mentioned in my sign-up post, my goals are to read at least two books and participate in at least one Twitter chat. If I pick shorter books, I should be able to do it! Happy reading, everyone!

Monday, January 2

Books completed: Crosstalk by Connie Willis and The Hating Game by Sally Thorne. I read most of Crosstalk on January 1, so I won’t count it toward my goal of two books during Bout of Books. But I really enjoyed the book, so it was the perfect way to kick off this readathon! I also LOVED The Hating Game and will definitely be reading Thorne’s next novel, which comes out this summer!

Currently reading: I’ll be starting Alan Bradley’s latest Flavia de Luce novel, Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew’d.

Mini-challenge: We’re asked to introduce ourselves in six words. Here’s my answer, which I posted on Twitter also: “Books and music are my life.” I think this is accurate. 🙂

Tuesday, January 3

Books completed: Crosstalk by Connie Willis; The Hating Game by Sally Thorne.

Currently reading: About to start Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew’d by Alan Bradley.

Wednesday, January 4

Books completed: Crosstalk by Connie Willis; The Hating Game by Sally Thorne.

Currently reading: Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew’d by Alan Bradley — hoping to finish tomorrow!

Thursday, January 5

Books completed: Crosstalk by Connie Willis; The Hating Game by Sally Thorne.

Currently reading: Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew’d by Alan Bradley

Friday, January 6

Books completed: Crosstalk by Connie Willis; The Hating Game by Sally Thorne.

Currently reading: Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew’d by Alan Bradley — about 125 pages left. I haven’t read much (maybe at all) in the last couple days! *blush*

Saturday, January 7

Books completed: Crosstalk by Connie Willis; The Hating Game by Sally Thorne; Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew’d by Alan Bradley.

Currently reading: I’m starting Belgravia by Julian Fellowes.

Sunday, January 8

Books completed: Crosstalk by Connie Willis; The Hating Game by Sally Thorne; Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew’d by Alan Bradley.

Currently reading: Belgravia by Julian Fellowes.

October 2016 Readathon

24hr readathon girl readingThe October 2016 24-hour readathon has officially begun! Here’s where I’ll update my progress throughout the day. Even though I can’t read for all 24 hours this time, I’m looking forward to a fun, book-filled day!

Intro Meme

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? East Coast USA.
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? Probably Which Witch? by Eva Ibbotson. I love her adult novels, but I’ve never read any of her children’s books before, and this one looks adorable!
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? The Smartfood white cheddar popcorn, obviously!
4) Tell us a little something about yourself! I am addicted to cute stationery and love writing letters.
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? I feel like I say this every time, but I really want to take some time to visit other people’s blogs and interact more with my fellow readathon-ers. I was pretty active on Twitter last time, and I enjoyed that a lot!

Hour 3

Although I haven’t been reading nonstop since the start time, I am pretty happy with my readathon progress so far! My first book of the day is appropriately called Beginning with a Bash by Alice Tilton. It’s a fun Golden Age mystery that I could definitely picture as a movie! I was already halfway through the book  before the readathon began, and now I’m almost done, so I hope to finish it soon! But I’m about to head out the door for a couple hours, so I’ll unfortunately have to take a reading break.

Also, I did the Six Word Story challenge: She wanted to but never did.

Hour 7

Finally home after a choir rehearsal and a spontaneous lunch with a friend. Now it’s time to catch up on some mini-challenges! I tweeted my answers for A Book and a Snack,  A Puzzling Challenge, and Happy Birthday Poem, so check out my Twitter feed if you’re curious. And now, back to reading!

Hour 11

Just finished my second book of the readathon, P.S. I Like You by Kasie West. It was, in a word, adorable! And now to catch up with some challenges:

I could pick so many answers for the Literary World Tour challenge, from Jane Austen’s England to Middle-Earth. But the first literary world that really drew me in, that made me believe it was real, was the Damar of Robin McKinley’s The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown. Those are some of the first fantasy novels I remember loving, and the setting absolutely captured my imagination. If I could go there, I’d want to spend at least a few weeks, ideally during the laprun trials (to observe, not to compete). But a hot, desert climate is not my ideal situation, so I don’t think I’d want to stay there permanently!

I also entered the Red, White, and Blue challenge on Twitter. Now it’s on to my next book, which I think will be We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. I want to read something a little spooky since Halloween is almost here…but I want to do it while there’s still a bit of daylight outside! 🙂

Hour 14

Just finished We Have Always Lived in the Castle, which I simultaneously liked and found deeply disturbing! Next up is Eva Ibbotson’s Which Witch?, which should provide a nice contrast.  And I’m thinking about the Video Game a Book challenge…if it doesn’t already exist, a Pride and Prejudice video game might be fun! It would be a quest-type game where the object is, of course, to marry Mr. Darcy. The player would have to complete tasks such as mastering a tune on the pianoforte, dancing a quadrille, playing a hand of whist, and finding Georgiana’s portrait at Pemberley. The Big Boss would be Lady Catherine de Bourgh, whom the player would have to fight in an epic ninja battle. Man, I really want this to exist now!

Hour 16

Just checking in. Halfway through Which Witch? now, which is just as delightful as I expected it to be. Not sure how much longer I’ll be able to stay awake, to be honest. I was hoping to make it to Hour 18 or 19, but I may not last that long! *blush*

Hour 20

It’s after 3:00 a.m. here, so I think it’s officially time for me to head to bed. I did finish Which Witch? and even managed to read one more book, Goodnight Tweetheart by Teresa Medeiros. I also squeezed in a few more challenges, but now I need to call it quits. Good luck to those who are still reading, and I hope everybody has/had as much fun as I did!

Bout of Books 17: Progress

Bout of BooksMonday 8/22

What I read: David D. Levine, Arabella of Mars — pp. 229-260.

Challenge: Book to Movie at Writing My Own Fairy Tale

“Clueless” is one of my all-time favorite movies, and it just happens to be a magnificent adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma! Although some aspects of the film are gloriously ’90s-tastic (the clothes, the slang, the soundtrack), the movie actually stays quite faithful to the novel’s original plot. And of course I can’t pick just ONE favorite adaptation, so I have to mention Kenneth Branagh’s “Much Ado About Nothing” as well! It’s gorgeous and exuberant and playful and just a joy to watch. On the other hand, I HATED Ron Howard’s live-action version of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” The 30-minute cartoon is a lovely holiday classic, but this remake absolutely did not need to happen!

Clueless movie posterMuch Ado About Nothing movie posterHow the Grinch Stole Christmas movie poster

Tuesday 8/23

What I read: David D. Levine, Arabella of Mars — pp. 261-348. Book 1 completed!
Julianne Donaldson, Edenbrooke — pp. 1-116.

Wednesday 8/24

What I read: Julianne Donaldson, Edenbrooke–pp. 117-255. Book 2 completed!

Challenge: Show Off Your Shelves at Bout of Books

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Thursday 8/25

What I read: Chris Cleave, Everyone Brave Is Forgiven — pp. 3-51

Challenge: Titles in the Tabloids at The Book Junkie

I chose the book Arabella of Mars by David D. Levine, and my tabloid headline is: “Murder! Mutiny! Martians! Runaway Teen Tells All.” The book is a good fit for this challenge because so many dramatic adventures take place! ☺️

Friday 8/26

This was a lost day for me…I read maybe one page of Everyone Brave Is Forgiven. Hopefully I’ll do better over the weekend!

Saturday 8/27

What I read: Chris Cleave, Everyone Brave Is Forgiven — pp. 52-67

Sunday 8/28

What I read: Chris Cleave, Everyone Brave Is Forgiven — pp. 69-116

Bout of Books 16: Progress

Bout of BooksIt’s a little late, but I thought I’d set up my progress post for Bout of Books!

Monday 5/9

I read most of One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding by Rebecca Mead, a fascinating look at the contemporary wedding industry, and then blew through Anne Tyler’s Vinegar Girl, a modern retelling of The Taming of the Shrew. I also completed the #insixwords challenge on Twitter.

Tuesday 5/10

I devoured The Raven King in its entirety! Such a wonderful and fitting end to the series. I’d really love to reread all four books, one right after the other, so that I can pick up on everything I’m sure I missed the first time through! I also tweeted a pic of my bookshelves for the #shelfie4boutofbooks challenge.

Wednesday 5/11

Thursday 5/12

Friday 5/13

Saturday 5/14

Sunday 5/15