Dewey’s Readathon

Why are my eyes already tired? This makes no sense! Eye drops, I need eye drops.

Just getting to the crux of the matter in The Harlot’s Tale and considering whether it might be time to hand the dogs their new toys… maybe.

Now I’m heading off to do a couple of mini-challenges. I like the ones that want us to take photos. Those are fun. (You can follow along on my instagram stream.

– Small kid crisis was a distraction.
– Cinnamon rolls were really really good.
– I’m five chapters into a book on my Kindle app.
– I finished two books about Washi Tape craft ideas for a total of 268 pages. It was a very good idea to start out this way. It made the morning feel like a success though I was less than completely focused on the #readathon.

Onward with The Harlot’s Tale.

Updated with the photo from the Mini-Challenge, Coffee or Tea

1) Yep, still stuck in Chicagoland and reading from the brand new king size bed this time around. Still with three dogs who will hopefully be better behaved than they were in April. Hah. I’m kidding myself, I know.

2) I’m most looking forward to, hmm. Oddly enough, I have no idea. I usually save something really really good for #readathon but this time around — they’re all going to be good and I’m not dying to read any one in particular. That might not bode well for my day…

3) We hit Fresh Market again and another $170 down — we cannot resist the Fresh Market. Mmm cheese straws. Mmm pimento cheese. Mmmm yummy cheese bread. (You’re seeing a trend here, right?) I’m gonna kick things off with cinnamon rolls. Or pumpkin bread. Or both. Probably both.

4) Let’s see, what can I say about me this year that I haven’t said before? No idea. I’m feeling kind of boring right now. It’s been a long, rough year.

5) I really should count up and keep track of how many times I’ve participated — I’m putting that on my to do list for April’s #readathon… so many times and it’s awesome every time. What am I doing differently this year? I’m starting off with an easy book instead of diving right into something serious and long. I don’t know why I’ve never done this before — it makes perfect sense for me.

Happy Reading, one and all!

Soooo tired. I’m not going to finish this next book. Way, way too tired.

Final totals:

7 books finished.
3 in progress.

Total pages read: 1842

It was a fun day and I can’t wait til the October #readathon rolls around!

I’ve finished 6 more books — 3 children’s poetry and 3 graphic novels (I think they’re all Cybils? Maybe? I don’t know, I’ll write them up tomorrow.

Pages read so far: 1690!

I also finished cheering for all of the blogs on the #teamwordsworth list. Go team!

Now I’m going to go eat some watermelon and start on my friend Angelina’s book. Wish me luck… I’m not sure how long my second wind will last. lol

I finished Patient Zero… awesome. Took me longer because I kept stopping to think about which of these characters are in the YA Rot & Ruin series I’ve already read. I need to go back and read the last book again, I think. Lol

So — 962 pages, so far (I’ve been reading Bleak House off and on a bit, too.) Moving on to graphic novels and children’s non-fiction/poetry from the Cybils shortlist.

I’ve eaten all of the foods… more pimento cheese, some brie & fig wonton things. Some sort of mushroom phyllo things. ALL the foods.

Now I’m off to cheerlead a bit (and do a little work since I am working today.)

Read on!

Updated: I forgot about the mid-event survey so here are my answers:

1. What are you reading right now? — Still reading Bleak House, moving on to graphic novels, children’s poetry and non-fiction.
2. How many books have you read so far? — I’ve finished two.
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? — If I have some energy, I’m going to read a book written by a friend. It’s called Winter: Cricket & Grey.
4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day? I couldn’t free up the whole day, I’ve had to pull spam for work off and on all day.
5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? Nothing big — a grouchy teen and the spam pulling. 15 minutes or so every couple of hours.
6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? I’m more tired than in past years — I blame the puppies and the kids.
7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? No, it’s awesome.
8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year? Eat less, haha.
9. Are you getting tired yet? I’m very tired.
10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered? It’s working great for me to have my home page set up to open Dewey, the cheerleading page, etc. I’m glad I thought to do that yesterday.

Oh boy, eight hours and I’m getting tired. My stomach is also queasy — too much junk food, lol.

I haven’t finished anything else, still reading — 523 pages total, so far.

I’ve been cheering — a few readers every hour.

I’m considering a change in books for awhile. Maybe some non-fiction? Or some graphic novels? We’ll see… maybe I’ll just eat more junk food? hah

Just shy of four hours and I finished Penny Dreadful — super, super awesome middle grade fiction. I loved it. I’ve also read 26 pages of Bleak House — so a total of 330 pages, so far.

I’ve cheered for a few other readers and am on my way to cheer for some more. Totally fun.

The mini cinnamon rolls were excellent. The zucchini bread was ok, not great but not bad. TW made some sort of cinnamon biscuits from some Charleston caterer. She liked them more than I did. I’m about to move on to some sort of lunch type food… and start on Patient Zero, I think.

So far, so good.

I’m up, I’m up. I swear, I’m up.

Coffee in hand, here’s my stack of books and here’s my intro survey, same questions as usual:

1) Once again, stuck in Chicagoland — reading primarily from my bedroom but also from the back porch with the dogs and from my desk since I’m working today and doing some cheerleading, as well. My first time as a cheerleader (for #readathon.)

2) I’m most looking forward to Patient Zero. And, the new Christopher Moore book.

3) Snacks? All the snacks! We went to Fresh Market for snacks this time and I think it is the best place for us to find the yummy things.

4) Something about me… last year at this time, I had one puppy and two prairie dogs. This year… three puppies and three prairie dogs. Yes. Yes I am crazy.

5) I can’t even count how many times I’ve participated… my newest tip is … make your homepage the Dewey’s Readathon, that makes it faster and easier to get to the hourly mini-challenges. (If you’re really into it, make your home page all of the pages you’re going to use today. For instance: Facebook, Twitter, your blog’s dashboard, the master cheering spreadsheet, and the Dewey’s Readathon page. Throw in GoodReads if that’s how you track your books.) This year I followed my own advice from previous years and took yesterday off of work and am also taking Monday off. Not sure it is going to help since I’m also working today but hey, that’s better than nothing. I will be able to catch up on my sleep Monday. All the napping, I’m looking forward to that.

To quote Mr. Wordsworth (#TeamWordsworth!), “To begin, begin.” Shall we?

I’m kicking it off, exactly at 7am, with some light reading, Penny Dreadful and I’m going to dig into the mini cinnamon rolls. Oh what the hell, maybe I’ll have a piece of zucchini bread, too.