Asian Readathon... Let's Do This

 

Hey everyone, long time no blog. Alas, my struggle to keep up with things on this end of my passion continues.

ANYWAY,

so I'm going to participate in the Asian Readathon. This is hosted by WithCindy over on YouTube. I'll link to her video announcing it right here. She's been doing it for several years I think, but I'm just now discovering the event. 

SO, 

of course I'm in! So many lovely Asian connected books I want to read! Here's the stack I've made to choose from (along with The Red Palace by June Hur, which is on the Kindle.) I'm so excited to jump in!

If you want to see the video I made about joining this readathon, you can click here. If you think this would be fun too, let me know and we can discuss all the books!

Readathon Report!

 

We had a great time reading and hanging out yesterday! I think I maybe managed about 6 or 7 hours total. I finished one book and got halfway through a second. I found that to be quite acceptable! 

Here's a few pictures from the day:

The friends came over to read together. Don't we look comfy?

The kitty wondered why I'd taken over her chair, but the window was a great distraction.

This was in response to the weather prompt. It was a fabulous day!

And my "pile." I managed to finish The Iron Flower and get half of Lemon Drop Falls read. 

Signing up for the READATHON!

 

It's been awhile but it appears I'm going to give Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon a try this coming weekend! It's tomorrow actually, like this is a VERY late sign up, but it's not too late! Click on the link and join us! Let's do this thing!

I'll post a couple things here, but will do most of my updates on Twitter, so be sure to follow me there @SueySays. I may do a couple of Instagram posts too, but I went private there because of all those creepy guys that going around following everyone. You know what I'm talking about?  But I will add my fellow booking loving peeps if you want to find me....@SueySays.

Man this feels just like old times. I can't wait! 

READATHON October 2017

Our readathon day yesterday was a bit crazy, but we managed to get much more reading done than expected. In fact, I finished one book that I'd had started already and read most of another book. (And  I just now sat for an hour and finished that book, so that's how close I came yesterday.)

Reviews to come soon!

The Readathon is TEN YEARS OLD!

How can it be ten years since this event first happened? I remember it. I was here. BUT, I thought reading for 24 hours straight was a CRAZY idea and it took me a few times before I joined this most awesome party. I can't remember when I first participated... maybe I can find it. Nope, I can't seem to but I think the first year I participated was maybe 2009? I don't know, but it quickly became an event that we looked forward to around here like Christmas. I can't believe I pooh poohed it those first few years!

And now, it's been awhile (about a year I think) since I've been able to participate. (They are always scheduled at the same time as fall and spring breaks! AH!) But it appears there is no conflict this year! So I've signed up!

Have you signed up yet? Here's the link: Readathon Sign Ups.

Ten years. I'm so proud and happy for those of you who have kept this thing going all this time. I know it's not easy. I've been a part of trying to keep things going and so I know. It's hard! Thank you so much for that!!!

As part of the celebration, some of us are participating in an Instagram challenge leading up to this year's event. #30daysofreadathon Here's some of my pictures so far.

Alternative.

Graphic.

Best.

Blue.

Space.

Snack.

Short.

Red.

I'm struggling with today's prompt though. Listen. I don't listen to books, I listen to music. Should I share music on a book challenge? Ah. The struggle!

Anyway, here's to Dewey's Readathon! Here's to Dewey for thinking it up ten years ago! Here's to everyone who makes it happen every year! Here's to reading!

Readathon April 2016 Updates

Let's Read!

THE END:

Around five Jenni Elyse joined our readathon party. We tried to read. We really did. But we also did a lot of talking, music listening, and eating some much needed dinner. It was a readathon PARTY... and it was fun.

I did manage to finish Winter, which was my main goal. So in the end, altogether, I read about 450 pages of much drama. What a great series! Love it!

We had several readers join us (my daughter and I) during the day. Her friend came in the morning and then again in the evening. Then Jenni as mentioned above, and then my son and his girlfriend for a couple of hours in the middle of the day. They used the readathon to study for finals. Perfect.

It was a great day. Massively relaxing which is just what I needed. Let's do it again sometime!

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Mid-Event Survey:

1. What are you reading right now?

Still reading Winter. About 100 pages left.

2. How many books have you read so far?

Yeah, just 100s of pages in Winter.

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

It would be nice to give Summerlost a try.

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

Lots of readers coming and going.  It's like a reading revolving door around here. It's awesome. Other than that, not many inturruptions going on. It's been a very quiet, very chill day. 

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

Um, it seems really quiet. Like around the bloggin and tweeting places. Unless I'm just missing stuff. 

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Hour About Nine:

120 more pages read in Winter
A quote shared from my last chapter read: "You can't leave me again. I can't do this without you." Sure you can. It won't be as much fun, but you'll figure it out." 
A book selfie taken:

Snacks dug into:

A nap taken.

And so it goes. Read on!

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HOUR FOUR-ISH:

I've read 100 pages from Winter.
I had breakfast and took a shower.
I wrote a five word #readathon story: Reading books all day long!
I wrote a postcard to Kai: 
       Dear Kai, Cinder and I are so sad you couldn't come with us, but we are having a blast! We even found the perfect song to rock out to, one that reminds Cinder of you so she won't miss you too much. This country is awesome. Thanks for saving it from Levana for us! See you soon!


I had reading buddies for a bit but they left. Maybe they'll come back here in a bit.
I had a hard time keeping my eyes open from the get go, but I think the shower will help!

That's my update. Read on!

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Opening Meme:

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

The very fine part of Utah USA.

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

Finishing Winter!

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

As always, homemade caramel popcorn!

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

My daughter graduated from college yesterday, the same daughter that made me become a grandma two months ago, and... I've been in a reading slump for three months. Maybe that will change today?

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?

Nothing at all different! I have this gig DOWN!

Readathon Plans

It appears, and I'm still a bit wary, but I truly think we have Saturday free from other obligations and so that means:

So excited! I mean, I've not been that into reading lately, but I'm excited to see if I can get BACK into it by readathon-ing! It's bound to help, right?

Here's my small little stack. Mostly I just want to finish Winter and if that happens, I'll try out one of these others:

We plan to make our traditional carmel popcorn too, hopefully. I have no idea what else we'll be eating, but something. We might have a few friends join us and if so, I'll be sure to document and share!

You too should join the fun! Check out the Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon website here for all the details!

Readathon Wrap: October 2015

What a nearly perfect readathon we had! It was a quiet, rainy day. There really was nothing going on that took us away from reading. Nothing that we had to feel guilty about missing. And hardly any distractions... including being too tired! I only got sleepy for a brief moment about half way in. The only thing we could have asked for is to have others join us (in real life) like we've had in the past. But still, my daughter and I had each other and then my son even joined us in the evening for the last four hours or so. Awesome.

Also, I hit my person best record for amount of books read! I think this is because I picked a couple of graphic novels and a tiny little children's classic. It was perfect.

Another thing I find interesting is that I'm all gungho in the beginning about the social media stuff, the updating, the challenges and etc, but then I get totally into the reading and just want to read without bothering with those extra things. I feel a little guilty about that, but in the end, it's fun to truly just concentrate on reading. I think at the end there, I read for nearly four or five hours straight without breaking at all. It was great!

Anyway, here's the questions from the site with my answers:

Which hour was most daunting for you? Got pretty sleepy around 1 to 3 pm. This is a sleepy time of day no matter what's been going on! But it wasn't bad and we pushed through.

Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? For me, contemporary YA romances are fast and fun to read during readathons. I'm going to have to keep this in mind for future events.

Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? I love the event and can't think of any way to improve it. Andi and Heather do an amazing job! I dread they day they get sick of it and want to quit!

What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? Everything! Thanks to whoever sent the rain our way. That was especially perfect.

How many books did you read? I ended up reading FIVE books! Wow! For a total of about 1300 pages, thanks to huge hefty graphic novels with lots of pages but only take an hour to read!

What were the names of the books you read? Stitching Snow, Boxers, Saints, The Canterville Ghost and This Is What Happy Looks Like

Which book did you enjoy most? Probably the two YA books, Stitching Snow and This Is What Happy Looks Like

Which did you enjoy least? Boxers was a little hard to grasp. And so terribly sad. As was Saints.

How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? Um, VERY likely! (Depending on spring and/or fall break plans as it usually happens on this weekend!) And I'll just be a reader like always. 

Bottom Line: I loved our experience this time around. We read from 6 am to 12 midnight with only a few breaks. It was a true reading marathon. 

Did you read? How was your experience?

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon October 2015: Updates and Challenges

Hour NINETEEN Update

What I’m reading now: nothing! Just finished another book. Trying to decide if I'm going to start another or call it a day. I think I'll probably go to bed...but wow. Awesome day. I loved it!

How many pages read since last update: 728

How many pages read total: 1298

Books finished since last update: Two! Boxers and This Is What Happy Looks Like

How many minutes/hours read since last update: 400 minutes

What we are listening to: Gregorian radio station on Spotify for awhile... then silence.

What we are eating: ice cream

Distractions: I pretty much read right through this whole last bit. Yeah. That was awesome.

Two kids reading with me there at the end.

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Hour TWELVE Update:

Gah. Slow down time! We aren't really half way are we?

What I’m reading now: Starting book four as soon as I update here! I think I'll do This Is What Happy Looks Like. Feeling in the mood for a contemporary.

How many pages read since last update: 232

How many pages read total: 570

Books finished since last update: two more books bite the dust! Saints and Stitching Snow. Woot!

How many minutes/hours read since last update: 130

What we are listening to: lots of Mozart

What we are eating: stopped just now for a good long break which included nachos. Lots of caramel popcorn is still going down too.

Distractions: Just took an hour break to recharge. Watched the rain a bit! Perfect reading weather today! Time to hit the books again!

Haven't done many challenges the past few hours, though they are all fun! But here is the mid event survey:

1. What are you reading right now? This is What Happy Looks Like
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? See above.
4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? Not many. It's been very quiet here today and a perfect day for reading.
5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? Every year it surprises me how fast time flies. Sheesh. It's terrible.

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Hour EIGHT Update:

What I’m reading now: Almost done with Stitching Snow, but took a break in between and read The Canterville Ghost

How many pages read since last update: 190

How many pages read total: 338

Books finished since last update: one book finished... The Canterville Ghost!

How many minutes/hours read since last update: 135

What we are listening to: a random mix of easy listening CDs

What we are eating: we stopped to have scrambled eggs and toast and have also broken out the peppermint pretzel crisps!

Distractions: breakfast and a shower. Other than that, things have been pretty strong going. Getting a little sleepy though...can't keep my eyes open... tired...

Finished!

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Hour FIVE Update:

What I’m reading now: Stitching Snow.... loving it!

How many pages read since last update: 148

How many pages read total: 148

Books finished since last update: Haven't finished anything yet. Ended up starting with a bigger book instead of one of my little ones!

How many minutes/hours read since last update: 185 minutes

What we are listening to: nothing... have yet to turn on some background music. The rest of the house occupants are STILL sleeping!!

What we are eating: a few slices of cinnamon apple bread, a ton of caramel popcorn, and a glass of apple juice.

Distractions: just stopping to do a couple of challenges and fighting the hunger pains. Need to stop now and eat some real food.

Here are the pictures I've posted on Instagram for challenges:

Cover Escape

Diversity Shelfie

Here are a couple of pictures I've posted just for the heck of it:

Good Readathon morning!

My photography helper!

What my readathon TBR pile REALLY looks like.

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It's time for yet another readathon! We are so excited around here! I'll be posting updates and challenges and other such readathon stuff on this post all day, with the newest bit up top. My daughter has participated in the readathons with me for years, but this is the first time she is blogging about it on her very own blog! Be sure to visit her there!

Hour ONE: Opening Survey


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

UTAH!

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

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

I'm going to be a grandma in February! I plan to participate in Nano for the third time in just a few weeks. I've been blogging for 8 1/2 years. I love lots of things and blogged about them just the other day. I run Bloggiesta four times a year. And... I really really love to read! :)

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 have more smaller books on my stack today than I normally do. This means I should get through AT LEAST three of them! That would be awesome for me! 

Bout of Books Bookish Survey

Hey everyone! I hope to read a ton of books this week with the Bout of Books Readathon! They are getting things kicked off with this little survey found at Writing My Own Fairy Tale.



1. How do you organize your shelves?

I have a little classics section, and a little fiction section, and a little MG section, and a little non fiction section and a bit YA signed books section, and a book hardcover random books section, and a little Markus Zusak shrine, and a little children's classics section, and a couple of little prize winning shelves, and a Dr. Suess section, and Hardy Boy/Nancy Drew section, and . . . 

A glimpse of part of my shelves when I was
in the processes of organizing them
once upon a time.

2. What is one of your favorite book that’s not in one of your favorite genres?

Mystery is not one of my favorite genres, but The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins is one of my favorite books, and in fact, I heard it called once the first mystery. (Or something like that.) Anyway, it's a mystery and I loved it!

3. What is the last 5 star book you read?

The last book I gave 5 stars too was The Golem and the Jinni which I loved!

4. What book are you most excited to read during the read-a-thon?

I'm excited to finish Dune for the Dune Read Along, and then I'd like to read Paranoia by J.R. Johansson, and Dead Zone by Robison Wells.

5. What book do you recommend the most?

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak of course. :)

Happy Reading everyone!