Gabby Likes Books

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Wonderfully Wicked Readathon

Apparently I am a sucker for Readathons. I think this is partly because I am still feeling like crap so I am honestly not doing much but reading (and surprisingly enough blogging) because as is obvious from this blog I do not do much of that. The Wonderfully Wicked Readathon is hosted by My Shelf Confessions and is a week-long readathon.

I figure I might as well make good use of the fact that I am reading and keep up the momentum by giving myself motivation to blog about it. Who knows maybe this will become a Real Book Blog and by that I mean one with actual updates! Oh and reviews.

So my goals for this are to finish the following books that I am in the process of reading:

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking - Susan Cain
The Child Catchers: Rescue, Trafficking, and the New Gospel of Adoption - Kathryn Joyce
Journal 1942-1944 - Hélène Berr
My Notorious Life - Kate Manning
If You Lived Here You'd Be Perfect By Now: The Unofficial Guide to Sweet Valley High - Robin Hardwick
Visit Sunny Chernobyl - Andrew Blackwell

So yes I read a lot of books at once. I like to read and eat and sometimes the books I am reading are not suitable for eating and reading.

I also need to read The Diviners by Libba Bray for my book club.

Plus anything from that pile of books that I did not get to in the 24 Hour Readathon.

End of Event Survey

I actually woke up at 7:45am and my first thought was "oh the Readathon is still going on." However since I woke up to walk the dog I didn't actually read anything.

Anyway the questions

1) Which hour was most daunting to you?
I think the first ones yesterday because I felt like I was slow getting started. This was not a year I felt I could stay up for 24 hours so I didn't get the middle of the night "sleep or die" thing I have gotten in the past.

2) Could you list a few high interest books that you think could keep a reader engaged?
It depends on your interests but a lot of middle grade fiction is short and with big enough print that it doesn't take very long to read.

3) Do you have any suggestions on how to improve the Readathon next year?
Well I would like to not be sick but I suspect that is not the kind of thing that the organizers can change! Seriously it was great though.

4) What do you think worked well in this year's Readathon?
I like that you can be as social or as unsocial as you want. So Twitter and the mini-challenges.

5) How many books did you read?
Seven - mostly the sad part of this is that I still have piles of unread books. I also started two I haven't finished.

6) What were the names of the books you read?
Whistle in the Dark - Susan Long Hill
The Hidden Summer- Gin Phillips
The Last First Day - Carrie Brown
Genie Wishes - Elisabeth Dahl
Headhunters at my Doorstep: A Treasure Island Ghost Story - J Maarten Troost
Doll Bones - Holly Black
To All My Fans, With Love Sylvie - Ellen Conford

7) Which book did you enjoy most?
Doll Bones - Holly Black

8) Which did you enjoy least?
Honestly? The Ellen Conford one. Maybe I should have read it as a child but I kept wanting to shake Sylvie and all the men in her life. Which is of course the one I was looking forward to most.

9) I was not a cheerleader but SO MUCH LOVE FOR YOU GUYS.

10) How likely would you be to participate in the Readathon again? What role would you take next time?
I would definitely be a reader again. I might consider cheerleading because I get warm fuzzies when people comment on the blog so I imagine others do to.

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Update Hour 17 - 24ish

I can't stay up much longer partly because I am not going to be able to sleep much beyond 8am tomorrow because I fear I may have to walk the dog. (She belongs to my roommate who is not here and I am fine with that)

The last book I am reading is "To All My Fans With Love From Sylvie" by Ellen Conford. I am about 2/3s of the way through.

Oh well it was fun. I will read more if I can't get to sleep.

Update - Hours 9 - 16

Update: 10:30pm: Just finished "The Doll Bones" by Holly Black. Now I'm wishing I wasn't home alone.

Finished my third book "The Hidden Summer" Gin Phillips which was cute. I think middle grade is the way forward.

Update at 7pm just because I finished "Headhunters on my Doorstep: A True Treasure Island Ghost Story" by J. Maarten Troost. I had previously started this and was about 33% into it.

Update at almost 9pm. I finished Genie Wishes and it was really cute.

Now it is time for the

Mid-Event Survey

1) How are you doing?
I'm okay. I am a night owl at heart so I really don't start fading yet. I am a little tired because I didn't get a nap and I am now dog-sitting so I can't stay up all night.

2) What have you finished reading?
Whistle in the Dark - Susan Long Hill
The Hidden Summer- Gin Phillips
The Last First Day - Carrie Brown
Genie Wishes - Elisabeth Dahl
Headhunters at my Doorstep: A Treasure Island Ghost Story - J Maarten Troost

3) What is your favorite read so far?
Um I think Headhunters at my Doorstep

4) What about your favorite snacks?
I'm not really hungry so I haven't been snacking but I think the Thai Iced Tea I ordered from the Chinese restaurant was delicious.

5) Have you discovered any new blogs?
Yes and I need to get back to them and give them love.

Update - Hours 1-8

Or I get lazy with blogging.

Due to factors beyond my control I have not done an awful lot of reading.

I finished "Whistle in the Dark" by Susan Long Hill and am about halfway through "The Last First Day" by Carrie Brown.

Which is not bad progress.

ETA: Finished "The Last First Day"

Readathon - Introductory Post

Yay! Readathon time is the best time!

Random sidenote: Blogger does make this blogging thing really easy for people who don't want to be bothered with HTML and CSS. Much easier than the Wordpress template I use elsewhere.

Anyway. I'm drinking coffee and in the middle of my first book. So here is the introductory questions.

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

Alexandria, Virginia

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

That goes to the last-minute addition that I bought last night To All My Fans With Love, From Sylvie by Ellen Conford. I had thought it wasn't being released until October 15th but it turns out that the Nook version (but not the Kindle version) is already available.

3) What snack are you most looking forward to?

I think probably my giant Toblerone.

4) Tell us a little something about yourself.

I love big dogs. The bigger the better. My ideal dog is a Mastiff.

5) If you participated in the last Readathon what is something you will do differently today?

Well I'm not doing any exercise or going anywhere today because I am sick. So most of my reading will be done from my bed.

Friday, October 11, 2013

Readathon Preparation

It is time for Dewey's Readathon again which is the only time I use this dusty, dusty blog. I keep thinking that I should blog properly but I haven't yet so I am probably not going too.

I am very glad that it is almost Readathon time because I am miserably sick right now and I welcome the distraction of being able to stay home and read all day. I will also nap because I am very tired but at least now I get to get rid of the guilt that I should be doing something else tomorrow.

All of this brings me to My Stack. Well earlier this year I went to ALA (I am a librarian or at least I have an MLIS) and I got a lot of books and ARCs. I have read a few of them but not all of them. Plus I tend to accumulate books that I think I should read. Except those tend to be fat, dense, non-fiction hardbacks and those are depressing to try and read during a readathon. I know from past experience that it is important for me to have a wide variety of books to choose from.

Stack One

The ALA ARCs and one non-ARC that I keep meaning to read. Yes some of these have been published as books since then.