Dewey’s Readathon

It’s that time of year again, which is awesome because I don’t think I finished a book in March and this year is shaping up to be another not stellar year for me and reading.

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?

I’m reading from my home, my bedroom – probably hiding from the contractors who are destroying/putting my house back together again downstairs.

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

Honestly, I have no idea. I just randomly picked up books from the library shelf because none of my holds had come in and I don’t really have a solid TBR list at the moment because see intro above.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

I think I’m most looking forward to my leftovers from dinner last night. Amazing lasagna siciliana – soooo good. I hope it’s as good leftover.

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

I used to read several hundred books a year and now I’ll be lucky if I hit 100. Ugh. We have three dogs who very much like #readathon because we don’t leave them locked in their crates while we run errands and they often find crumbs of unusual foods that they can nibble on.

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 have participated in many readathons, including the last one. Different this year is… I’ve gotten a later start because I was TIRED and that’s related to what I’m going to do… I’m going to just relax and enjoy reading without feeling the urge to read faster and finish all of the books on the stack.

Happy Readathon, to all.

It’s that time again! (How many of these have I done over the years? I should count them…)

1. What are you reading right now?
– I’m still working on the cookbook and Limelight.

2. How many books have you read so far?
– I’ve only finished The Bear and the Nightingale (but I’ve also read some short stories/essays and listened to some audio.)

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?
– I need to find a book I can read quickly that has a male protagonist… Help meeeee. I want Blackout BINGO.

4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?
– No real interruptions, a few dog barking sessions but no big deal.

5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?
– Nothing ever surprises me about #Readathon… that’s one of the things I like about #Readathon!

I just hit the 500 page mark, or approximately the 500 page mark (I’m having to do a little guesstimating based on the audiobook I’m reading.)

I’ve read two short stories, which weren’t on my list until I saw the #Readathon Bingo card:
– Mischief by my friend Somer Canon. I needed something scary, creepy, gory, insane and that’s exactly what Somer writes. Heh.
– The Shelter of the Alphabet by Carole Maso, the first story/essay in her book, Break Every Rule. I’ve been meaning to read this book for awhile. I’m thankful for the Bingo card that triggered me to start.

I’ve finished a couple more mini-challenges and I had dinner, (Asian noodles from the deli at Whole Foods.)

I’m pretty sure I’m going to be one box short of Blackout in Bingo. I just do not have a book with a male protagonist on my shelf that I want to read or can get through today. Hmmm I wonder if there’s a children’s book on the shelf that might work. I’m going to have to go and check because it would be sad to get down to just ONE block, wouldn’t it?

I’m well into Limelight and almost through with the Dinner Illustrated Cookbook. I should be able to finish both and a couple of children’s books before the night is through, leaving me ready to start tomorrow with Every Heart a Doorway tomorrow.

I spent a good bit of the last couple of hours NOT reading during the #Readathon. It’s fine though, since I was doing things that are related and connected to the #Readathon.

First, I visited several bloggers who are participating in the #Readathon.
Next, I took a nap.
Also, I have done two mini-challenges and am pondering my contributions to a few more.
Last, but never least nor complete, I ate several snacks (only some of which are documented on Instagram.)

I should note that while eating many of those snacks, I was also reading — I was just reading fewer words since I was also focused on my food (and on preventing dogs from snatching my food.)

I’m about 250 pages into the day and 7 hours (for me) into the #readathon. I should also note here that TW and I decided before nap time that we’re extending #readathon into Sunday. Why not? We don’t have anything else pressing on our agenda and we have plenty of (snacky, junk) food and books to keep us going!

Woot! I needed a #readathon and I’m super glad that we’re able to do this one rather than doing a #fakereadathon. (Though I babysit the grandchildren in Georgia last night and didn’t really fall asleep til 3 a.m. so I’m VERY tired…ugh. Not ideal for a #readathon but I’ll work through it.)

I’m going to try the #readathonBingo and see how it goes. Surely one of the books on my shelf has a male protagonist? (LOLOL hahaha.)

And, for once I didn’t pre-write my Intro post (for as much as I was looking forward to this #readathon, I’m totes not prepared!) so here it is:

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?

I’m in Keystone Heights, FL and will read primarily from my bed. But, I’ll also read on my deck outside, at the bar in my kitchen, in my office, in the bathtub, and will listen to an audiobook in my car while we do a Pokemon Go run.

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

I’m looking forward to finishing the Bear and the Nightingale. I’ve been reading it slowly and enjoying it. It’s really quite good but it’s time to finish it up.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

Always such a hard question… if you saw my counter full of snacks, you’d understand. Probably the boozy gummi bears, heh.

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

Lalala this question is why I tend to pre-write this post.

I am 55, I live in Florida with my partner, 3 hounds, and a prairie dog. I have four grandchildren. I love to read (all genres). I love coffee, love gin, hate soup, and hate seafood. I’m impatient with these kinds of questions. 😉

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 zillionth #readathon! the one thing I’ll do differently today is change up my reading list at the last minute because I just discovered #ReadathonBingo. The thing I’m most looking forward to? Reading ALL day WITHOUT having TO run ERRANDS or WORK!

I’ve decided I like this reverse readathon thing. It’s officially over but it’s 8pm and what else are we going to do but read for another few hours? So, we get an extra four hours added to our readathon this way. I LIKE IT.

Here’s the final survey:

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?

I took a 20 minute nap at 4:30 p.m.

2. Tell us ALLLLL the books you read!

I finished Master Magician (I was 100 pages into it when the readathon started.)
I read Stray City in its entirety.
I finished a short story in Dear Sweet Filthy World (after trying to finish one for weeks.)
I’m 132 pages into Lady Jayne Disappears.

3. Which books would you recommend to other Read-a-thoners?

I’d recommend the all (though you should start with the first book in the Paper Magician trilogy.)

4. How did you feel about this first-ever Reverse Readathon? Should we do it again?

See above – loved it! Let’s definitely do it again.

5. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? Would you be interested in volunteering to help organize and prep in October?

I definitely want to do more readathons, they’re my favorite.