Bluebird

Closing Survey:

Which hour was most daunting for you?

Hour 15: I got so sleepy it was hard to keep going.  

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

anything by Neil Gaiman.  JD Robb's In Death Series.  If your into cozy mysteries: the Mrs Pollifax series-the audiobooks are wonderful.  

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

The organizers are incredible!  This is a great forum for reading, sharing the love of books with other readers.  The hourly posts and challenges help to keep you motivated and add variety to the day.  Love it!  The only thing missing was a way for everyone to link their closing survey post to the Hour 24 master post.   I usually check out everyone's posts and somehow it was left off the Hour 24 post.  

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

Everything

How many books did you read?

½ of 2 books.  Does that mean I finished one?

What were the names of the books you read?

Slammerkin by Emma Donaghue

Dodger by Terry Pratchett-narrated by Stephen Briggs

Which book did you enjoy most?

Both are great

Which did you enjoy least?

n/a

If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?

This was my first time cheerleading so am not sure how things were organized before.  I like the idea of the team set-up, but I found the format a bit confusing.  Next time I think I'll try to color code which blogs I've cheered on (Chris did that this time around and I think that's a great idea).  It might also be good to indicate the hour that a post was cheered--but that could be an excel nightmare.

How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?  I most certainly will participate again.  As reader and cheerleader.

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Update: Hour 23

I'm back.  I tried to do the shelfi challenge but guess I'm not computer savvy enough to figure out how to get a photo onto this blog.  Perhaps I'll figure this out for the future.

Looks like many folks are still going strong.  I've done a bit more cheerleading and read more of Dodger via audio.  I'm off to finish off the readathon with Slammerkin-maybe I'll finish???  Wish me luck to not fall asleep again--lying in bed is probably not a wise choice, but I'm comfy and don't want to move.

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Update: Hour 18

These past few hours I've been doing household chores, so I have been reading Terry Pratchett's Dodger by audiobook.  I still have about 25% left to read of this and of Slammerkin, so I don't anticipate finishing either of them this readathon.  I'm going to do a bit more reading now, but am not likely to post again until the closing entry.  Thanks to all who've visited and commented.  It's been fun cheering others on and nice to receive.

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Four Seasons/Four Books Minichallenge:

Convey the four seasons in book covers by color, author, title or ...

Last year I did a color scheme.  Because I'm getting tired, this year I'm taking the easy route: by Title.  All from my "read" shelf.

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Mid Event Survey

1. What are you reading right now?

I'm still reading Slammerkin and listening to Dodger

2. How many books have you read so far?

None completed yet

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

I'm hoping to start The House at Sea's End by Elly Griffiths.  

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

Not many interruptions, but I had many planned errands and tasks that needed to be done today.

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

That I'm tiring out so early and that I've read so little.  I thought I'd have more time for reading and cheering today.  I think I'll take a nap and see if I can get re-energized.

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Update #1

Well, it's hour # 8 and I'm not as far as I was hoping to be.  

I've spent less than 3 hours reading.

I'm now half done with Slammerkin - Emma Donoghue.  I started this earlier in the week and hope to finish this weekend.  When out and about I've been listening to the audiobook Dodger - Terry Pratchett.  Both books are excellent! 

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Blogs visited and cheered: 8

Exercise completed: walked 2 ½ miles

snacks eaten:  one small slice of Pumpkin Spice Cake and a few pita crackers with hummus.

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Read-a-thon Mini Challenge: Cover Escape

The Challenge: Dig through your shelves and share with us a book cover you'd like to escape into!

It's hard to pick just one cover, but this is a favorite.

I'd love to drop in and enjoy a beautiful day on that lovely estate!

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Yay, It's read-a-thon time!   I love devoting a day to all things bookish!

Introductory Meme:

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
I'm in Southern California.

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

I started Slammerkin by Emma Donaghue earlier this week and can't wait to get back to it.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
Pumpkin Spice Cake--I just love this season of the year!

4) Tell us a little something about yourself! 
from last year's opening meme:  I fell in love with books as soon as I learned to read. My folks said I always had my nose buried in a book--even when we were on family vacations. My love of books persists today, but in a more balanced way--which is why I'm happy to spend most of today just reading!

I spend most of my "bookish" time at Shelfari but although I've done lots of reading this year I've been less active on the site over the past six months.  I'm hoping today helps get me back to participating more in my groups and back to reviewing books.

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 4th read-a-thon.  I'm planning to be more socially active this time so I signed up as an official cheerleader.