Read-a-thon: Hour 19 and Final Wrap Up

I can't....go on....any longer (think of Stevie from Malcolm in the Middle...hubby loves that show now, and I'm becoming a bit partial to it myself).  I've made it to hour 19 which is a far cry from how long I went last year.  I didn't reach my 5 book goal, but that's all right...I'll finish the 2010 book challenge tomorrow, hopefully (see my first read-a-thon post for details on that).

Here's a recap of what I accomplished today:

Title of book(s) read since last update: Sooner or Later by Vickie McDonough
Number of books read since you started: 4
Pages read since last update: 170
Running total of pages read since you started: 950
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 3 hours, 30 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 15 hours, 45 minutes

Read-a-thon: Hour 16

Title of book(s) read since last update: Hearts Twice Met by Freda Chrisman
Number of books read since you started: 3
Pages read since last update: 170
Running total of pages read since you started: 780
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 12 hours, 15 minutes

Read-a-thon: Hour 12

Title of book(s) read since last update: Over the Waters by Deborah Raney
Number of books read since you started: 2
Pages read since last update: 325
Running total of pages read since you started: 610
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 4 hours, 45 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 9 hours, 45 minutes

Mini-Event Survey.....

1. What are you reading right now? Just finished one book, not sure what I'll pick up next yet.

2. How many books have you read so far? Only 2...sigh.

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? Some that are shorter!  :o)

4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day?  Thankfully, no.

5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? Nope, no interruptions.  Hubby has slept all day b/c he stayed up all night, so the house has been very quiet, thankfully.  :o)  Then again, he just woke up, so I can't say what the rest of the day holds as far as noise goes.

6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? The biggest surprise I had last year when I participated was how quickly I got sleepy!  I'm not used to waking up so early on the weekends, and I didn't mentally prepare myself to deal with such low energy.  But this year, I've been better prepared mentally.  I'm expecting that I'll last longer than I did last year, for sure!

7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? The setup that's being used now seems perfect.

8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year? Nothing I can think of.

9. Are you getting tired yet?  Not really, thankfully.  Hubby will be going to Wally World soon for caffeine, as well as a trip to Mickey D's...so my energy burst will be coming around soon.  :o)

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?  Just a suggestion that I came across last year:  read a short book first.  I completely forgot that this year, and spent a lot of the morning reading a longer book, and almost got discouraged before I really got started.  So, now that I've read 610 pages so far today, I'm about to start on the shorter books so I can at least try to reach my personal 5-book goal for the read-a-thon.

Read-a-thon: Hour 8

I'm still pluggin' away!  I took a break at 12:30pm to get some lunch and make some cookies.  Lunch was excellent, but the cookies were not a smashing success.  Let's just say I wish I'd had enough time to actually MAKE some cookies instead of relying on the refrigerated cookie dough method.  After all that, I started back to reading about 1:15pm.  Oh, how I wish I could speed-read.  :o)

Title of book(s) read since last update: started on Over the Waters by Deborah Raney
Number of books read since you started: 1
Pages read since last update: 50
Running total of pages read since you started: 335
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 45 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 5 hours, 45 minutes

Read-a-thon: Hour 6 1/2

Yay!!  I finally finished my first book!  :o)  I should've looked at my posts from last year before I started reading today, and realized that I should've started with a short book first.  Oh, well.  I've got one book down, who knows how many more to go!

Title of book(s) read since last update: Menu for Romance by Kaye Dacus (review to come next week)
Number of books read since you started: 1
Pages read since last update: 213
Running total of pages read since you started:  285
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 3 1/2 hours
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 5 hours

Gonna take a little break, and put some cookies in the oven.  Too bad I don't have enough time to make some from scratch, but that's why God created refrigerated cookie dough!  Chocolate chip and macadamia nut, here I come.....but not until I actually eat a good lunch first.  :o)

Read-a-thon: Hour 3

Getting started on hour 3 now.  :o)  Here's a rundown of my progress so far:

Title of book(s) read since last update: still working on Menu for Romance by Kaye Dacus
Number of books read since you started: none completed yet
Pages read since last update: 72
Running total of pages read since you started: 72
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 1-1/2 hours
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 1-1/2 hours

Working on my caffeine/sugar fix right now with a pitcher of tea percolating in my Mr. Tea Maker.  :o)  I foresee the Nestle cookie dough that's currently in my refrigerator coming to the rescue at some point today, too.

Intro to the 2010 Read-a-thon

Bummer....I got a late start today.  Not too bad since it started at 7am my time, but I really needed the extra sleep.  So, 7:30am is my start time this year.  :o)  This is my second read-a-thon, and I'm really looking forward to getting through some of my TBR stack today.  Not quite sure what I'm gonna read yet because I'm a seat-of-my-pants reader, but I'm hoping for at least 5 completed books today...that would be great!

One goal is to complete a challenge I signed up for last year called the Countdown 2010 challenge.  It was a 55 book challenge, and I'm 5 books away from having it finished.  Oh, and the last day to complete it is tomorrow!

Well, I'm off to read!  Think I may start off my day with some Kaye Dacus...she's a great writer with a touch of humor, and make-you-melt romance!  :o)

Read-a-thon Happening This Weekend

Well, this is round 2 for me on Dewey's Read-a-thon.  I participated last October, and managed to read 4 books in about 12 hours.  I had no expectations last year of making it the whole 24 hours, but maybe I can go a little longer this year.

This time around, I have a LOT of books to choose from!  Since I was recently chosen to be a judge for the Amish category for the Inspy Awards, there's 5 books that I need to read.  Then, there's a couple of books coming up for some blog tours that I'd like to get read a little early.  And if that wasn't enough, I've had a real hankering to read some more Terri Blackstock this week since I saw her latest novel, Intervention, pop up on the Kindle for free.

An added bonus this year might be some company at my house.  My aunt (another fellow mega-reader) may come over to join me.  She's in the midst of crazyland at her house because of some remodeling problems, and coming to my house might give her some time to relax and read a few books.  Soooo,....bring on the caffeine times 2, please!  :o)

Interested in joining?  Then, click here to sign up and get the start time for your time zone.  I'm in the Central Time Zone, so I'll be up 'n at 'em at 7am.  And if you're so inclined to stop by and cheer me on, you'd be my very best friend.  :o)

Read-a-thon Wrap Up

Well, I didn't make it as long as I'd hoped. :o( 13 hours was about all I could do once a headache started coming on. After my last update at 12 hours, I did start on another book, and read about 90 pages more, so I'll add that to my total stats. Even though I didn't last the whole 24 hours, I am still so glad that I managed to read 4 whole books, plus a little of another one. Maybe I'll attempt this the next time around...who knows! :o)

Also, I want to say a huge thank you to all the cheerleaders that stopped by....you guys rocked!

Here's the final update:

Title of book(s) read: Diamond Place by Robin Lee Hatcher, Talking to the Dead by Bonnie Grove, Hidden by Shelley Shepard Gray, The Parkerstown Delegate by Grace Livingston Hill, and Kindred Bond by Deborah Raney

Number of books completed since you started: 4

Running total of pages read since you started: 892

Read-a-thon--Hour 12 Recap

Unbelievable.... I've been at this thing for 12 straight hours! Wow! It is the halfway point, and I only hope that I can make it for 12 more hours. Hubby will be bringing some yummy Sonic food home pretty soon so I can get recharged. :o)

Here's the latest update...

Title of book(s) read since last update: The Parkerstown Delegate by Grace Livingston Hill
Number of books completed since you started: 4
Running total of pages read since you started: 803

Read-a-thon--Hour 10 Recap

Well, I'm 10 hours into this thing, and I am so impressed that I've managed to read 3 books! I just wish I had this kind of free time all the time! :o) As of 5pm (CST), I finished Talking to the Dead by Bonnie Grove, and I'm absolutely speechless about how great it was.....holy cow!!!!! Now, if only all the rest of the books I read from this point on are that great....well, I may have no trouble making it the whole 24 hours. :o)

Here are the latest stats:

Title of book(s) read since last update: Talking to the Dead by Bonnie Grove
Number of books completed since you started: 3
Running total of pages read since you started: 655

Read-a-thon--Hour 7 Recap

I cannot believe I'm 7 hours into this thing! While I haven't finished a whole book in the past 2+ hours, I have made some more progress. Currently, I'm working on Talking to the Dead by Bonnie Grove, and it's incredible! Definitely will have to write up a review of it soon.

Anyhoo, here's my latest stats:

Title of book(s) read since last update: Nothing new...still working on one book
Number of books completed since you started: 2
Running total of pages read since you started: 448

P.S. A big thank you to all the cheerleaders that have stopped by my blog!!! You guys showed up in the nick of time! :o)

Read-a-thon--Hour 5 Recap

I'm still chuggin' away over here! Thanks to everyone who's stopped by already this morning to cheer me on. :o) I have given in, too, and done one or two of the mini-challenges. I knew I would...I have no self-control.

Here's an update:

Title of book(s) read since last update: Hidden by Shelley Shepard Gray
Number of books read since you started: 2
Running total of pages read since you started: 301

Read-a-thon--Intro Post and Hour 2 Recap

I didn't do a post for the first hour because, well.... I kinda sorta got a late start. But be that as it may, I'm rip-roaring ready to go! I've taken some of the advice on the read-a-thon's main page, and started off with a short book. So, up next, I'll probably be in between one of these titles:

Hidden by Shelley Shepard Gray
Talking to the Dead by Bonnie Grove
Someday by Karen Kingsbury

Little longer than what I started off with, but I have a handful of novellas that I can turn to if I need a quick read.

Oh, and one other thing..... I probably won't post every hour so I can try to get as much reading done as possible. And I really doubt that I'll do any of the mini-challenges. I know how I am. I'll get started with something online, and spend time doing that instead of reading. But I will keep a running total of my progress throughout the day.

Here's what I've accomplished so far:

Title of book(s) read since last update: Diamond Place by Robin Lee Hatcher
Number of books read since you started: 1
Running total of pages read since you started: 67

Read-a-thon This Weekend

This weekend will be my first time participating in Dewey's 24-hour Read-a-Thon, and let me just tell ya, I hope I can make it the whole 24 hours! I've only ever been awake that long maybe twice in my whole life, and the fact that I'll have to read/blog about reading the entire time is going to be a challenge. Oh, and let me also add that my start time is 7am!!!! AGH!!! I am SOOOOO not a morning person. Why can't the start time be 7pm? I'd do so much better with that, I think. :o)

Anyhooooo, I've got a few books that I know I want to read for the read-a-thon, and get the reviews written for them, too. Here's my initial list, but it may change:

White Picket Fences by Susan Meissner
Talking to the Dead by Bonnie Grove
The Swiss Courier by Tricia Goyer
It's All About Us by Shelley Adina
Diamond Place by Robin Lee Hatcher

Hopefully, I can make it through this entire list if I go to the quietest part of the house. :o) I can best read when there is no noise, so I might want to grab a set of earplugs to ensure that. There will be some distractions in the house this weekend by way of DH hanging a new light fixture in the dining room as well as replacing our kitchen faucet. Yep, earplugs will definitely come in handy. :o)