#readathon breakfast – abelskivers
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Pinning My Way Through the #Readathon
We’ve entered the second hour and I’m not sure how many pages I’ve read because I’m reading on my iPhone right now. Two chapters – whatever that might be in real pages.
I stopped by the Readathon blog and the 2nd hour post inspired me to create a new Pinterest board where I’ll pin all of the books I read during the #Readathon. Go make one of your own and share the link!
Now on to my abelskivers and more reading.
Cheers!
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I Am Who I Am (#Readathon)
Good morning and happy #Readathon. My start time has officially arrived and the only words I’ve read have been on blogs, twitter, and a package of TJ’s abelskivers (which is our first special snack of the day. – we don’t have meals during #readathon, just snacks.) I’m waiting for the coffee to finish brewing, doing a wee bit of work (I know, I know. But, I had no choice this time) and then I’m going to kick it off for real by picking up where I left off last night with R.K. Ryals’ Redemption – Chapter 6. (More about Redemption and Ryals later…)
It’s also intro meme time, in the world of #Readathoners – so here’s mine:
1) I will be reading, mostly, from my bedroom in Glenview, Il. I will also do some reading in the car since I’ll need to take/pick up my daughter from work. And I’ll do a little reading from the back porch, too.
2) Three random facts? This again? (Where is that thing I wrote about how nothing in a random fact meme is really random?) OK Fine.
a. I really hate it when my coffee pot explodes all over the place (which it did just as I was typing this. Sigh. Not an auspicious start for this season’s #readathon.)
b. I have 9 jars of peanut butter on the shelf in the stockpile room and I am considering buying 3 more tomorrow.
c. I read Fluke, by Christopher Moore, once a year.
3) I have thousands of books in my TBR pile but for the purpose of #readathon, I’m calling it 16.
4) My #Readathon goals are:
a. Finish as many books from my Challenge lists as possible (in this case, it looks like Cybils and Nancy Drew though I can always grab something From the Stacks if necessary) and to just relax today. (It’s been a rough month/year.)
5) I am a veteran and my advice is… have fun. If a book isn’t doing it for you, for goodness sakes – put it down. Don’t overlook visiting other participants and cheerleaders, either. That’s part of the fun of it all. And, if can are able, choosing a worthy cause to donate to during the #readathon will make it all that much better. (I’ll be donating to the NYPL through Elizabeth Willse this year.)
Now, on with the reading.
Good luck everyone! See you in the stacks!
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The Twelfth Enchantment
It took me days and days and days to read The Twelfth Enchantment, which is weird since it’s written by the author of The Coffee Trader and Conspiracy of Paper (both books I really enjoyed.) I was just too busy and too exhausted to read more than a couple of chapters each night – until last night when I was 100 pages from finishing and just couldn’t put it down until I found out how Lucy managed in the end. (That’s how I would normally have read this book, had it been a more normal week. This is a great book to read straight through…)
(Oh – one other weird thing might have kept me from being able to read this book quickly… I’m reading another paranormal type of book on my iPhone while waiting in the car for kid pick up or waiting for a phone meeting to start… and we’re listening to a paranormal type of book on audio while we’re driving. The three sometimes blended together and I found myself mixing up monsters or supporting characters and having to stop and think about which book I was actually reading, lol. I don’t recommend reading three paranormal books at the same darn time.)
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Counting Down to Readathon Day
I chuckled when I saw Elizabeth Willse’s post saying she might be more excited about the Readathon than she is about Halloween. Well I know I am. I always say that I like Readathon more than Christmas – and it’s true. I do. I really love Readathon.
I also chuckled about Elizabeth’s post because she has her snacks planned – we don’t but I’m already looking forward to them.
We always buy special snacks for Readathon – which means a trip to Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods – or both. We’ll stop working early tomorrow (early = 5pm) and wander the aisles, choosing “healthier” junk food. TJ’s has a new candy bar that TW mentioned a few days ago – I think we’ll have to try that for sure. What else will we end up with… no idea but it will be yummy.
And, I chuckled again because she has her books planned. I sort of know what I’m going to read… here’s a tentative list:
Some Nancy Drews for the rough moments – they’re easy to read when you’re really tired or after you’ve read some non-fiction for awhile.
Fitzwilliam Darcy, Rock Star because I think you kind of have to read something Jane Austen-ish during the Readathon.
I’ve got four picture books (or picture type books) from the Cybils shortlist challenge that I’ve been saving for the Readathon.
I’m reading Redemption by RK Ryals (a BlogHer.com community member) on my iPhone and iPad and I think I’ll try to finish it.
The Blue Tattoo is the only adult non-fiction on my list (I think…)
Mama Ruby and Doc are due back at the library soon so I’ll see how far I can get with those.
And, I’ve got Kneebone Boy from the Cybils Shortlist to round things out.
I wonder how far I’ll get… I can hardly wait to find out. I’m also going to make a donation to the NYPL for Elizabeth. You should make a donation, too.
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Rainy Days and Dictation Never Get Me Down
I was texting with my mom which means Siri was reading mom’s texts and I was dictating replies that Siri would send. This is always a fun thing to do and Siri is usually very good at this. She doesn’t do punctuation but then again, I’m not telling her to use punctuation – and it’s a text message, so who really cares? She doesn’t text in text-speak and that’s good enough.
The conversation goes something like this..
Me: “Do you know how to right click”
Mom: “Well I thought I did. You tell me…”
And here’s where it goes slightly off…
Me (according to Siri): “I can’t teach you to right click from Chicago you will have to hear”
I thought Siri misunderstood me because I was laughing as I dictated…. So I told Siri I wanted to change the message. She nicely agreed with me and asked me what I’d like to say…
Me (according to Siri): “I can’t teach you to right click here come”
What the heck? I hadn’t even laughed while I dictated… So I told Siri I wanted to change the message. She got a little snippy with me and said “Fine, I can change it. What. Do. You. Want. To. Say.”
Me (according to Siri): “I can’t teach you to right-click from Chicago you’ll will have to come for a visit”
I decided Siri was being obstinate and just told her to send the damn thing – and she did and then was all nice and accurate and polite again.
A few minutes later, between texts, I was thinking about how horrible the weather was so I said to Siri
Me: “Do you have an umbrella?”
Siri: “Why yes, it is raining isn’t it?” (and she popped up the weather forecast)
Me: “Yes, and very windy”
Siri: “No, it’s not very windy right now.” (and she popped up the weather forecast again)
What the heck? We’re under flood AND wind advisories. Is Siri originally FROM Chicagoland and blasé’ about the wind? What the hell is she going to say when there’s three feet of snow and I’m asking her about snow boots and snow throwers?
Me: “You’re in denial.”
Siri: “I don’t like obligatory categories of that kind.”
Me: “What the fuck?”
Siri: “Denise! Your language!”
Shit.
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Siri Has Been Kidnapped
Siri has made a big impression on the folks in my house.
TW quite often picks up her “old” iPhone and pushes the button to try and ask Siri a question – the look on her face when she realizes she has no Siri to talk to is pretty funny.
On the way home from school today, TW and Prince J wanted to ask Siri a question and Siri was not there – so they were information-less. Poor things couldn’t use TW’s old iPhone to TYPE the search into Google themselves.
People keep stealing Siri from my desk (or my lap, if we’re in the car) – they KIDNAP her away from me.
Everyone loves her.
But she’s mine – all mine!
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Crunch
We’ve been listening to Crunch, in the car, for weeks – and it’s been a lot of fun. It’s also made both of us wish we had bicycles. We might just have to get a couple for Christmas. (Not that we can ride them at Christmas. Gah! But at least we’ll be prepared when the gas stops flowing…)
There was one tiny little problem with Crunch – the kids were too good. Even when they were fighting with each other (which was rare) they were just too perfect.
Belly Up
People in my house kept asking me if I was reading a book about a hippo. Or why I was reading a book about a hippo. Or why was that hippo DEAD? I don’t think I’ve gotten as many questions about a book, from a cover, in ages. Which means – Belly Up had an excellent cover.
These discussions also led me to realize I don’t read many middle grade mysteries. It’s always scifi/fantasy. Or relationship-y stuff.
Belly Up was good and deserved a place on the Cybils shortlist. A little slow to start but I really liked Teddy and I liked that he was an animal expert and adults should listen to kids more often.