Opening Meme!

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

Mount Airy, North Carolina - EST time zone

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

Dengeki Daisy, vol. 1 which I've been saving for the Read-A-Thon since it arrived at my house in late September.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

The colcannon!  I don't know what it is about this Irish mix of potatoes and cabbage - because, really, there should be nothing exciting about those two ingredients - but it is so delicious and creamy! Probably all that butter...

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

I love to read!  The read-a-thon is a wonderfully official excuse to lock the rest of the world out for a whole day and night so I can disappear into my books.  My husband is super-supportive of the read-a-thon and always does a great job entertaining our son. They often join me in reading for an hour or so throughout the day.  I love it when they do this!!

5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? 

I have a wider variety of comfort foods available this time. Also I have a book on mp3 to listen to if I start to feel like a prisoner in my reading area!

It's Read-A-Thon time again!!

Dewey's 24-Hour Read-A-Thon starts tomorrow - for me at 8 AM sharp.  I am SO pumped!!  I have 4 manga books I've been saving for this, plus a couple non-fiction books to challenge myself with, and of course several romances of which I'll probably devour two!

Food this time is split pea soup, colcannon, celery and carrot sticks, and Slow Cooker Root Beer BBQ Chicken for the boys, which I've never tried before, but it looks super easy:

http://thefrugalgirls.com/2013/07/crockpot-root-beer-barbecue-chicken.html

End of Event Meme

End of Event Meme:

Which hour was most daunting for you?

Hour 20 - I made it two more hours because I had a great book

Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?

Any new release by your favorite author that you've been waiting for

Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?

Just for my own sake, I'd like to know how the door prizes are done.

What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?

I'm not sure I know enough about the background stuff to answer this.  I certainly didn't notice anything going wrong! For myself, I'm glad I focused more on reading than on completing every mini-challenge this year!

How many books did you read?

Five!

What were the names of the books you read?

Dagger-Star

Texas Splendor

The Miracle of  Mindfulness

Inside Narnia

Three Weeks with Lady X

Which book did you enjoy most?

They were all pretty good, but probably Dagger-Star, although Three Weeks with Lady X was great too.

Which did you enjoy least?

Inside Narnia - oh my word, this was dry.

How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?

Oh, I'm definitely doing this again in October!  And I think I might like to try out cheer-leading!

This Could Be The End

I'm sooooo tired!!!  This is an hour longer than I thought I'd make it!

Hours read: 21

Books finished: 5

Pages read: 1422

WooHoo!!

Hour 20 Challenge: Book Jenga

This challenge from Curiosity Killed the Bookworm:

Here's my book jenga tower! Not bad for 3:45 am!

Hour 15 Mini Challenge: That Reminds Me of a Book

This challenge hosted by Doing Dewey:

I just finished Texas Splendor by Lorraine Heath (4 stars, very good), so here's a photo of Texas ranching land with big sky and a windmill since the book is based on a ranch in West Texas with multiple windmills (a favorite of Dallas - the ranch owner, not the city) and what I kept imagining in the background of every outdoor scene:

Hour 14 Mini Challenge: Name in Titles

Thanks to The Geek Blogger's Book Blog for this challenge:

I did my name in books from my To-Read list:

R - Rules of Engagement by Suzanne Enoch
E - Enchanting Pleasures by Eloisa James
B - Because You're Mine by Lisa Kleypas
E - Extreme Exposure by Pamela Clare
C - Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
C - Ciao Bella by Helena Frith Powell
A - A Different Kind of Dream by Geraldine O'Neill

Hour 12 Mid-Event Survey

1. What are you reading right now?

Texas Splendor

2. How many books have you read so far?

Three

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?

Three Weeks with Lady X by Eloisa James

4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day?

I just had to get my husband on board with looking after our son for the day - which he was very happy to do.

5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?

A few from my son, but those tend to be quite entertaining.

6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?

How fast time is flying!

7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?

Can you let me know where you pull the "Roll-Call" prize winners from?  I don't understand that process.

8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year?

Stock up on more fresh fruits and veggies.

9. Are you getting tired yet?

A little.

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?

Slow cooker food on the warm setting is always ready when you need it and delicious!

Hour 11 Mini Challenge: First Editions

Thanks to the Bluestocking Society for this educational challenge!  I love that blog name!

Looks like my copy of Lorraine Heath's Texas Splendor is a first edition:

Reading Update

I've finished:

Dagger-Star by Elizabeth Vaughan - 5 stars!!  I forgot how much I love Ms. Vaughan's writing style - the adventure! the strategy! the romance! - highly entertaining, she wrapped up the story enough to satisfy, but left me wishing the next book in the series was waiting for me on my shelf.

Inside Narnia by Devin Brown - 3.5 stars  This is an exegesis on The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe - but Brown doesn't offer many original insights.  Peter Ford's Companion to Narnia is much better and quoted very often in this book.