Dewey's 24-Hour readathon

We went to a Halloween party this evening and had a great time! Now my kids and I are going to read this until they go to sleep. 

Stack of books

This is the reading stack for my girls and I for tomorrow's Dewey's 24-Hour readathon! We are so excited! We have a couple of other things to do tomorrow ( a tap dance show for a senior center and a Halloween event) but other than that we will be reading! Some of these books are for us to read together and some are for separate reading. There will be snacks and dineer and lots of togetherness. We are looking forward to it a lot!

Reverse readathon: Opening survey

Opening Survey

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? Southern California, U.S.A.

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? I'm doing a re-read of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society I am most looking forward to that book.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? Mozarella Sticks

4) Tell us a little something about yourself! I'm a lifetime bookworm, a mom, a wife, a music lover and a crocheter - among other things.

5) This is our VERY first Reverse Readathon! How does it feel in your time zone? I LOVE this reverse readathon. It's five in the evening here and while HOT outside - it's nice and cool in my recliner where I will be spending the evening reading with my kids. :)

Summer Readathon

Dewey's 24-hour readathon is putting on a Summer Edition. I am so excited about this especially since it is a reverse readathon! That means that rather than beginning at five in the morning I get to start at five in the evening! The readathon runs from Friday, July 27th through Saturday July 28th. I am definitely going to participate and hopefully for the majority (if not all) of the time! So, if this sounds like fun to you there is still time to sign up at the link above. 

Dewy's 24 Hour readathon

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon was this past Saturday. Here is the stack of books (plus books on my Nook) that I had hoped to read. It wasn't the most productive reading event as it turned out. I did get to read for all of about two hours out of the twenty-four. I didn't participate in one challenge or even get to interact all that much with other readers. I guess it just wasn't meant to be this April. The good news is that there will be another chance on October 20, 2018. I have marked it on my calendar already and plan to have books and food in place by the Friday before the event. I also plan on saying no to anything else people want to plan for that day. My daughters wholeheartedly agree. They want to spend the day in pajamas, reading books together and sharing yummy snacks. Since it will be in October (and hopefully cold - it can be hot as heck here in October!) they want hot cocoa, too. Not wishing our time away but still looking forward to the next readathon. 

Dewey's 24-Hour readathon

Sign-ups are open for the April 28th edition of Dewey's 24-Hour readathon! This is a fun event where the emphasis is on reading. However, there are plenty of other fun book related activities you can take part in, as well. If you fancy taking part you can go to their website to sign up. Oh, and there's absolutely no pressure to read the entire twenty-four hours. I've never been able to participate the entire time but I've always had fun with it. 

Readathon - Closing Survey

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? Well, I fell asleep during hour 22 so I guess that one. :)

2. Tell us ALLLLL the books you read! I finished A Lady by Midnight by Tessa Dare. Then I read a nice chunk of Worlds Collide by Chris Colfer to my kids. I also read some of Secrets in Death by J.D. Robb. It was a nice amount of reading during a very busy day (other wonderful commitments) but only one book finished.

3. Which books would you recommend to other Read-a-thoners? Anything in the In Death series by J.D. Robb. 

4. What’s a really rad thing we could do during the next Read-a-thon that would make you smile? I love all of it as it is!

5. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? Highly likely! Would you be interested in volunteering to help organize and prep? Possibly - it will depend on other obligations at the time. 

The next Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon will take place on April 28, 2018.

Readathon Mid-Event survey

1. What are you reading right now? Secrets in Death by J.D. Robb

2. How many books have you read so far? One

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?Secrets in Death - the book I'm reading now.

4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? I had prior commitments this afternoon that have kept me busy. They were wonderful commitments but I'm happy to be getting back to the readathon.

5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? I'm surprised but happy that the readathon continues to be so wonderful and filled participants year after year. I'm SO GLAD that reading and the camaraderie that this readathon inspires continues to grow. 

10 Years in 10 Books

This is such a FUN challenge. The idea is to post 10 books - one for each year of the readathon - that I have read and recommend. Here are my choices:

1. 2007 The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett This is a lovely book about Queen Elizabeth and her love of books and reading.

2. 2008 - The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows This book takes place on Guernsey Island in the English Channel during World War 2. The people on the island band together and deal with a Nazi invasion.

3. 2009 Bed of Roses by Nora Roberts I have to include something by my favorite author. :) This is the second book in her series about a group of friends who run a business creating lavish, romantic and memorable weddings for their clients.

4. 2010 Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson This is such a lovely book about a widower who learns to enjoy life again and has a second chance at love. I loved the English setting as well.

5. 2011 11/22/63 by Stephen King This tome of a book gave me many sleepless nights because I could not put it down! Mr. King delivers a fascinating alternate reality of the events that led up to - and the day of JFK's assassination.

6. 2012 The Witness by Nora Roberts This is a great romantic suspense tale about an extremely intelligent woman who witnessaed a murfer as a teenager and was put into witness protection only to have her protection brutally taken away. She goes on teh run and creates a completely new identity for herself. Of course, she isn't able to hide forever. Just when she's falling in love and learning to trust the past comes back to haunt her and threaten the life she's beginning to build.

7. 2013 The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith A story about the mysterious death of a super model who lived her life in the public eye and hounded by the paparazzi. This story is gritty, set in London and has a jaded Private Investigator with a slightly naive secretary as a helper. It is entertaining and the start to a series that improves with each book.

8. 2014 The Stories Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin An irresistible affirmation of why we read, and why we love. We are not quite novels. We are not quite short stories. In the end, we are collected works. Sigh. That is borrowed straight from the GoodReads description of the book which I adore! Even though it made me cry.

9. 2015 Devoted In Death by J.D. Robb The 41st book in the popular In Death series finds Eve Dallas, her husband Roarke and her team of homicide detectives on the trail of a Bonnie and Clyde type pair of lovers turned serial killers. 

10. 2016 Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by John Tiffany and J.K. Rowling It was a pure delight to visit Hogwarts and the future children (and their adventure) of Harry, Hermione and Ron.

11. 2017 The Alice Network by Kate Quinn A story that goes back and forth in time between World War 1 and after World War 2. Oh, and did I mention the network of female spies? This is an awesome book!

This was a seriously fun challenge! I had a great time revisiting books that I've loved over the past ten years. Thank goodness for GoodReads. Thank you for putting this challenge together!

Dewey's 24-hour readathon - Opening Survey

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? Southern California, U.S.A.

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? Secrets in Death by J.D. Robb. It came out in September and I've been saving it to read today - during the readathon.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? At the moment I'm thinking breakfast which will definitely include coffee and fruit and possibly a cinnamon roll.

4) Tell us a little something about yourself! I'm a mom who is happy to say that my children love participating in the readathon with me. I'm also an author and a voracious reader - obviously. :)

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've been participating in the readathon for several years. For the first time ever I actually started on time. That's saying something because the start time here is 5:00 in the morning. If I need a nap,later I'm going to take and not feel bad about it. :)

Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon

One week from now we will be immersed in books along with all the others participating in the Dewey's 24-Hour Read-a-Thon. I can't wait as it is always a really good day in my home. My kids participate with me so that makes it extra fun. We won't be able to participate for the entire event because we have a couple of other things we're committed to on the same day. However, we will read and do mini challenges as time allows. For us that will probably be through the evening and for me late into the night/ early morning. Still, as I said, we are very excited. My kids and I will go to the library on Friday October 20th and stock up on books to add to the ones we have a t home. We will also go to the grocery store and get snacks and something for dinner. If you're interested in a fun time where reading what you love is the point then it isn't too late to sign up.

30 Days of Readathon - Green

Today's prompt for 30 days of readathon is green! It is my favorite color so I have been looking forward to this day. LOL Even the cover for my Nook is green. The readathon is on October 21st - so two weeks from this Saturday. Naturally, it is turning into a very busy day for my family. There are three other things happening that day. Which means I won't be able to read for the entire day but that's all right. I'll make the most of the time I do have to read that day.

30 Days of Readathon - Blue

30 Days of Readathon - Short book

This book is the first I ever read by John Steinbeck. Despite the tragedy in the book it remains one of my favorites. It also fits into the 'short book' category for the #30daysofreadathon celebration for Dewey's 24-Hour readathon. What is one of your favorite short books?

30 Days of Readathon - Favorite Books

The next edition of Dewey's 24-Hour readathon is Saturday, October 21, 2017. The readathon will be celebrating ten amazing years that day! How cool is that? My kids and I will be reading for our eighth year. I didn't realize we'd found the readathon so early on. We've had the pleasure of watching it grow over the years and this is something we look forward to twice each year.

In celebration of Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon turning TEN the organizers are hosting 30 Days of Readathon. Borrowed directly from their page - here is how you can participate if you wish:

The October 21 Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon marks TEN YEARS of this fantabulous event! We wanted to start the party a bit early this year, so we’re doing 30 Days of Readathon! Feel free to write topical blog posts, post videos, share Instagram photos, tweet your reminiscences and ideas….however you want to celebrate Readathon!

Hashtag? Why, yes! #30DaysofReadathon OR #readathon if you’d prefer because easy.

So, Favorite Book: Like most book loving readers it is difficult for me to pick one favorite book. So, I will list a favorite book from a few genres. Here we go. 

Romance: Born In Ice by Nora Roberts; Classics: The Pearl by John Steinbeck; Fantasy/MG: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling and Crime Procedural/Mystery: Visions in Death by J.D. Robb

Crock pot lasagna

Yesterday during Dewey's 24-hour readathon I made crock pot lasagna for dinner. It turned out deliciously but we knew it would because we've had it before! It's so easy. You make and layer your lasagna as you would if cooking it in the oven EXCEPT you use raw noodles rather than cooked noodles. That way the noodles cook while they're in the crock pot. All together, prep and cook time it takes about three-and-a-half hours.

I managed to finish one book yesterday. I got through about a third of Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith and read by Robert Glenister. I'm really surprised at how much I am enjoying listening to an audio book. although I guess I shouldn't be because my kids and I have enjoyed listening to the Harry Potter books. 

Dewey's 24 hour readathon and an audio book

 Today is the day - Dewey's 24-hour readathon is on! As usual, I got started late but that's okay! I decided to try listening to an audio book as I did some chores and got dinner in the crock pot for my family. We'll be having lasagna this evening and my kids are delighted! So am I, as it happens. Crock pot lasagna is amazingly delicious!

Anyhow, listening to Career of Evil has been quite enjoyable! I believe I may have struck on a way to read (hear) more books while still getting things done - like writing, blogging and crocheting. Of course, I am also able to do chores, as I did this morning, not nearly as fun as writing or crocheting, but still a necessity. I have liked listening to this book. The story is written by Robert Galbraith and it's being read by Robert Glenister. I love his English accent and the timing and his cadence in telling the story are fantastic!

Okay, I'm off now to continue listening to te book and get some writing done.

Choices for tomorrow's readathon

So looking forward to tomorrow! I'll read what and when I can - along with my kids - and call it a win! :)

Dewey's 24-Hour readathon

 The next installment of Dewey's 24-Hor readathon is this Saturday, April 29th! It's a fun-filled event of reading, cheering, eating, drinking, doing challenges and basically sharing the love of books with others who feel the same about them! Of course, you don't have to do all of those things I just listed. You don't even have to do them for the twenty-four hours - I never have. My start time is %;00 a.m. and I just can't make that work on a Saturday morning! That being said, this event is something  really look forward to participating in the two times per year that it happens. I love the reading I'm able to get done. I love spending time with my kids reading - alone and together. We love the snacks I buy for it and the overall camaraderie of book lovers! If this sounds like fun to you, too, sign up here!

Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon

It's almost time for another installment of the amazing and fun Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon. It is on April 29th - so exactly four weeks from now. The great organizers have opened sign-ups for the event. Don't worry though - it's always free.

The readathon is designed to have fun and read as much as you can or want to read in a 24-hour period. There are a lot of fun things to do as well like mini challenges and sharing the fun with fellow book and reading enthusiasts! This can also be a fun family event. My kids love to participate in this with me each time.