End of Event!

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? 10 and 22 (4 P and AM, respectively).

2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? The Graveyard Book is a quick read, and perfect for the fall season.

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? For those of us who could not check in every hour, a master list of the mini-challenges would have been nice to have so we could plan better for them (like, getting a picture of reading to one's kid before they go to bed).

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

5. How many books did you read? Read 4, finished 1.

6. What were the names of the books you read? The Graveyard Book, Mark of Athena, Mirror Mirror, Fifty Acres and a Poodle.

7. Which book did you enjoy most? Graveyard Book

8. Which did you enjoy least? Fifty Acres and a Poodle

9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? n/a

10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? Very likely. Will probably just be a reader again, as this was only my first.

Mirror, Mirror by Gregory Maguire

Finally finished a book!

278 pages

Notable passages:

"The eye is always caught by light, but shadows have more to say."

"Faith is a floor. If you don't work on making it for yourself, you have nothing to walk on."

"A mirror's image is always forward of the truth by an instant or so. While a question is formulating, the mirror always knows the answer before the question is asked."

More Mini-Challenges

I got a bit of a late start getting back to the 'thon because I insisted on starting the Potter Nightly Read with my son tonight. I read 20 minutes (about 10 pages) of the first book (Sorcerer's Stone). He seemed to absorb some of what I was reading, but I'm more about making this an enjoyable no-pressure-on-his-abilities reading time for him. If I'd known there was a mini-challenge about this, I would have had my husband take a picture to post here. Oh well...

I did manage to see this photo-based one in time: Picturrific Here's my entry for Mirror, Mirror:

A picture of an apple in a mirror should cover it, right?

Mid-Event Survey

Kids are finally in bed, and now it's time to do a little posting and online catch-up before the next reading block. I didn't get as far as I wanted the last time I had a book open, but I hope to remedy that with a later bedtime.

1) How are you doing? Sleepy? Are your eyes tired? I'm mellow from dinner and a glass of wine, but hope to perk up at the next stretch break. I hope it isn't raining too hard when that happens.

2) What have you finished reading? I haven't finished anything yet. Hoping to get through Mirror, Mirror by midnight, but I won't be upset if I need to continue with my audiobook instead.

3) What is your favorite read so far? I'm really enjoying The Graveyard Book. It's a read-along, so I have to wait until next week to continue.

4) What about your favorite snacks? I haven't really been snacking; my schedule has allowed/enforced regular meals. I did bring home some strawberry twizzlers, so I might have a few of those later. If I do an audiobook break, I have some kettle corn ready to go.

5) Have you found any new blogs through the readathon? If so, give them some love! I haven't done much real visiting yet, just enough for some of the mini-challenges. Visiting and commenting might be the last thing I do before I give in and crash on the couch.

Hour 9 check-in

Have spent the last hour or so catching up with mini-challenges:

Turn to Page

Book Blogger Bingo

Read-a-thon-a-crostic

Where I submitted this:

(The)

Goblins

Run away from the Hound of God

And the

Vampire Silas,

Ever watchful

Yields ground,

Allows schooling for the hungry

Reader.

Death surrounds

Bod,

Others seek his

Obliteration. He'll soon

Know enough.

Readathon Intro Meme

Blrrrrg...so early...props to the kiddos who woke me up with their argument over which dvd to start the day (Star Wars vs. Angelina Ballerina).

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? Rurality of Dripping Springs, TX. It's cloudy and should rain at some point today.

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? Mirror, Mirror, by Gregory Maguire. I think it's the only one of his fairytale "series" I haven't read yet.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? There are some chocolate shortbread sandwich cookies from IKEA, acquired from a friend, that may not survive the morning.

4) Tell us a little something about yourself! I'm a SAHM to Boy, 7, and Grrl, 4. Boy is working on expanding his functionality on the Autism Spectrum. Grrl is working on her overlord (lady?) destiny. Helping them with their respective goals is my first priority, but I have been making more and bigger efforts to write.

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? This is my first Readathon...so glad that it's still here! I'm looking forward to the time alone to concentrate on the writing aspect, and to venturing "out" to visit new friends.

And now, it is time to get everyone dressed and head over to the YMCA so I can listen to my first book of the day (Mark of Athena), do my qigong practice, and start this week's reading assignment for The Graveyard Book.

Readathon Plan, Wrenched but Salvageable

For me, the biggest impediment to participating in events like this, is childcare coordination. One of the tough things about living in the country is the dearth of teenagers who offer sitting services, and also the scarcity of other moms who are willing to have my kids over for a playdate. My best hope for the next Bloggiesta is that my daughter will finally be out of diapers, which will mean sleepovers at the grandparents place (in theory, anyway).

So, my 24-hour time slot runs from 7 AM on Saturday to 7 AM on Sunday. My husband will be attending a memorial service for a cousin who passed this summer. I'll stay home with the kids and grab what I can in terms of time. I'll have a little reading time after my qigong class while the kids use up the rest of their 2-hour limit. Depending on husband's return time, I might fit in 2-3 uninterrupted hours before dinner. The kids will get storytime before bed, so I guess I get to count that also.Depending on when I crash, I should have between 4 and 6 hours of uninterrupted visiting/blogging/reading.

Morning and afternoon selections:

The Graveyard Book,for post-qigong

Mark of Athena, for the car

Angel of Music, at the playground

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, at bedtime, for the boy

Evening books:

Mirror, Mirror

Sweet Potato Queens' Big Ass Cookbook

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff

Fifty Acres and a Poodle

Confessions of a Slacker Wife

Hags, Sirens, and Other Bad Girls of Fantasy

These are just books that caught my eye. All have been languishing in the garage for at least a few years (I've been using my public library and getting many free Kindle and iBooks titles). I will just have to see what I'm in the mood for, and whether I feel a need to finish the Kindle read before I start something from the big pile.

Wherein I am officially sucked back into the book blogging community

Surprise! Another event looms, and I can't resist:

This doesn't come at the most ideal time in terms of our family schedule (we have a memorial service that day and a visit to the Matriarch on the next), but I will do what I can in terms of reading, blogging, and visiting. Part of me wishes that this didn't fall so close to the Bloggiesta event, but I'm sure that debate has raged often enough that my opinion isn't going to sway anyone.

I have a rough schedule in draft at the moment. I'll incorporate it into my first post at 7 AM (start time for my zone) on Saturday. If all goes well, and my husband is up for a little support re: childcare, I should have at least 6 good blocks of time to read that day, even if I opt to catch 4 hours of sleep near the end.

A little blog-hopping, a little cleanup...

More visiting, until I can get the kids into bed.

D.Ann

And, even though it wasn't an official goal, I purged a few things from the sidebar. Will do more next time.

It's a Plan!

Per Trish's tweet about Wine Wednesday, with the Hump Day erotica addendum, I'll be settling into 50 Shades of Alice in Wonderland and a glass of Merlot after I get the kids into bed.

 

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