Merry Wanderer of the Night:
dewey's readathon

I am participating in the Dewey Readathon today! My readathon mornings are always messed up. I always oversleep, and it seems like I'm always going to my parents' house for the weekend. This readathon was new different. I got started about two hours late, nine o'clock my time. I haven't wasted much time though, one and a half books finished. Jason and I made a little pit stop in Pella, Iowa on the way home to meet some of family for lunch. Now I'm at my parents' house to read for an hour before we go get our engagement pictures taken.

Time spent reading: 15/21
Pages read: 704
Hours listened: 3
Books completed: The Walking Dead Volume 2 by Robert Kirkman, Welcome to My Country by Lauren Slater, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, The Pharmacist's Mate by Amy Fusselman
Activities completed: None
Trees planted: 8

I'll be returning to update this post throughout the day. You might be wondering about trees planted. For each book I finish during the readathon I am planting two trees through Eco-Libris.

Update: My engagement pictures are complete! We had a lot of fun getting out pictures taken and I read a little Shakespeare during the photo shoot. I'm sure I'll share some of those later. For now I will just say The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a fantastic book. A really quick read too! Also, I didn't fill this out during hour one, so I'm doing it now.

1) My parents' house in Altoona, Iowa. Started at my house in Iowa City, Iowa and read on the road in between.
2) I love essays, almond macaroons are my favorite cookie, and I'm probably going camping next weekend.
3) 10
4) I don't really have any specific goals this time around, I'm just hoping to get a lot of reading done!
5) Relax and have fun. Try to get some actual reading in instead of checking up on everyone else's blogs!

Update: It's now 11:18 here. I went and got some dinner, took a nap, and started two books. I was originally planning on reading Molly Fox's Birthday, but decided it wasn't really working for today. Right now I'm reading Welcome to my Country by Lauren Slater instead. I've been working on some art projects for school while listening to Genghis Kahn and the Making of the Modern World, which has been a nice break from reading and a good opportunity to get some work done. Now I think I'm going to get back to some real text reading for a few hours. Who is still out there? Are you hanging in there?

Update: A few hours have gone by since my last update. I'm officially starting to get tired. I've accomplished a lot more in this readathon than I thought I would. I've finished four books and made a pretty good dent in the beginning of an audiobook. I even managed to get a little homework done. In the last few hours I read a graphic novel to give my eyes a rest from all the text. In the next couple hours I think I might listen to some audio while trying to get some more homework done and then see how I feel.

Update: This will probably be my final update for the readathon. My eyes are heavy and I'm at the beginning of a book which is making it difficult for me to keep up with it. I might try to get up after a little nap to read just a little bit more-but I am basically done for this readathon. I also keep thinking about the paper I have to write tomorrow and how I should probably be a little coherent for that!

How is your readathon going? If you're not participating then how are you spending your Saturday?

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I ended up falling asleep during the readathon last night, which I was fully expecting. I was looking forward to getting a chance to just read as much as I wanted, but because of my stress level I knew staying up 24 hours was probably not a really good idea for me right now. I still got almost halfway into The Book Thief

and finished all of Splendor

, so I am pretty pleased with the results. I read 691 pages yesterday for a total of $20.73 raised for The Trevor Project. The Trevor Project is an organization that provides resources for LGBTQ teens, one of which is a suicide/help hotline teens can call 24/7. Because of all the recent suicides I thought that would be a good organization to donate to. Suicide, in general, is a horrible thing and I come from a place where a lot of suicides have occurred. I've seen the effects of suicide several times, though never experienced them personally. I can't imagine what it would be like for a parent or friend to lose a loved one due to suicide.

Onto a happier note, I posted my 100th book review on Wednesday! The 100th book I reviewed was The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. The review came at a pretty nifty time as well, because my one year anniversary is here in about a week! The first book I ever reviewed on here was And Only To Deceive by Tasha Alexander. It's a very sad review, only two paragraphs long. I must say I think I've come quite a long way since that first review.

And I'll I've got left is a plea for you to check out my new podcast!

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

I don't know about all of you but I'm starting to drag a little bit. I'm enjoying The Book Thief but it's intimidating me by its length alone. I have 400 pages left in the book. I'm considering switching over to something else for awhile, but I haven't decided yet.

Pages Read: 545
Books Read: 1
Money raised for Trevor Project: $16.35
Food consumed: Omelette, hashbrowns, orange, and toast (my mom made me breakfast). Pudding and gummy worms. Turkey club sandwich. Popcorn.
Time spent reading: 11 hours

How are all of you? Still awake?

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

Are we really halfway done already? That seems so hard to believe. In the last four hours I finally got some solid reading done, and it looks like I will finish my book in the next hour. Finally!

Pages Read:216
Books Read: 0
Money raised for Trevor Project: $9.57
Food consumed: Omelette, hashbrowns, orange, and toast (my mom made me breakfast). Pudding and gummy worms. Turkey club sandwich.
Time spent reading: 5 hours

This time around I did the audiobook mini-challenge and I'm posting the mid-event survey.

Mid-Event Survey:
1. What are you reading right now? I'm finishing up Splendor by Anna Godbersen.
2. How many books have you read so far? Almost finished one.
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? After listening to the audiobook sample of The Book Thief I am really excited to read it!
4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day? No.
5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? I've had interruptions for eating mostly, but I've taken them in stride. After several readathons you realize that there is no way you'll get through it without interruptions.

6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? I'm surprised by how hungry I've been, I think I've ate more during this readathon than any other.
7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? More "active" mini-challenges that get you up moving for awhile.
8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year? I would probably start with a shorter book first, although I knew that going into this.
9. Are you getting tired yet? No chance!
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? Don't be afraid to take a mini nap in the middle of that day, it helps keep you going into the wee hours.

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

I'm a little early with this post but I just arrived in Iowa City from Des Moines before I go out to lunch so I thought I'd give you all an update and do some mini-challenges. So far I still haven't gotten quite as much reading done as I would like but after I eat some lunch I should be set to read for quite awhile.

The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader is hosting a mini-challenge about armchair traveling. As someone who reads a lot of travel books I get quite a bit of armchair travel in through that, but there is really nothing like a good historical fiction novel to take you to someplace you've never been before. I began reading The Luxe series at the beginning of this year and after I read the first book my family went to New York City for a vacation. Through The Luxe series I learned that today's Manhattan used to be called New Amsterdam because it was settled by the Dutch. The Luxe series talks about the wealthy Dutch people who lived there. This is really interesting for me because my family is Dutch and some of the names in the book are similar to names in my family or people I know. Going to Manhattan was really interesting for me because I saw it in a way I never would have if I didn't know that information from the books. Through the Luxe series I've also gotten to travel to California, Florida, and Cuba all in the early 1900's. Very exciting!

*I'll come back later to update my stats!

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

Well I woke up later than I meant to this morning, but I am 1/4 of the way into Splendor and I must say it's the perfect book to start my day with because I'm picking up in the middle of one of my favorite book series. I've been at my parent's house in Des Moines all morning because I unexpectedly had to come back yesterday, but shortly after I put this up I will ride back to Iowa City-- a one and half hour drive. Since I'm not driving though hopefully I will get a little bit of reading in.

Pages Read: 94
Books Read: 0
Money raised for Trevor Project: $2.82
Food consumed: Omelette, hashbrowns, orange, and toast (my mom made me breakfast)
Time spent reading: 2 hours

I plan to post more about the Trevor Project later, but I just wanted to give a shout-out to Thomas at My Porch who has decided to join me in donating to the Trevor Project. For every page he reads he will donate 5 cents and for every page I read he will donate another 5 cents-- so I better get reading!

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

Tomorrow, Saturday, October 9, is the Dewey Readathon! I think this is the fourth readathon I have participated in-- which is kind of amazing because A year ago I'd never done any readathon before ever. I probably won't really shoot to read 24 hours tomorrow, in the past I've reached close to 20 and that's good enough for me. I think I will just read as much as I can and take some homework breaks in between. I'm going to be with my parents tomorrow so hopefully that means my mom will cook me lots of food to eat while I'm reading.

Usually I try to read several short books for readathons because it makes me feel extremely accomplished, but this time around I'm going to read three YA books that have been in my TBR pile for quite awhile. My first priority is to read Splendor and finish the Luxe series for good. I started the series at the beginning of 2010 and it's been a constant for me all year, but I'm ready to find out how it ends. Next is The Book Thief

, which is quite long (550 pages) but I've heard from several people that they could not put this book down, so hopefully I feel the same. And my third book is Shiver

, the first book in the Wolves of Mercy Falls series. When Linger came out a few months ago the cover really struck me and everyone was talking about it. I had never heard of Shiver before, but I love the idea of the book so hopefully I'll enjoy that. The pretty blue ink can't hurt things- right?

One thing I'm doing that I haven't done before is donate to a charity. I have been very upset by the recent young, gay suicides so for every page I read I am going to donate .03 cents to The Trevor Project. If I finish all of my books that amounts to 40.00.

Usually I update every four hours during the readathon and will probably do that tomorrow as well. Good luck to all you readathoners!

Everyone is buzzing about tomorrow's readathon, myself included. In case you're a Readathon virgin you can check out the Dewey's Readathon Website for more info. This will be my second and a half readathon. I say second and a half because the Dewey's Readathon last October was a surprise for me and I had only been blogging for a few days when it happened. I was at home and when I got on Twitter I saw that everyone was talking about some readathon, so I decided to join in! I didn't do that much reading really, but I enjoyed the taste I got so much that I decided to join in on Dreadlock Girl's readathon in December. I made it 20 hours and read for a total of 14 of those 20 hours, check out my wrap-up post to see how coherent I was.

Tomorrow I'm starting at 7 AM and I will be reading until 5:30 because then I have to go to the Englert theatre in downtown Iowa City to volunteer for the Indian Student Alliance. I'm planning on taking a graphic novel with me for any spare time I have while I'm there. Then I'll be back around eleven to keep the reading going, I'm excited to see how long I can make it this time! I might not make it as long as I originally planned though, because I seem to have a cold right now.

I have a stack of fairly short books to read for tomorrow, and most of them are for the Shelf Discovery Challenge which is over this month and I need to finish. Those are really my priority. I have a few other books on the pile though.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Fifteen by Beverly Cleary
Go Ask Alice by "Anonymous"
Blubber by Judy Blume
Chicken with Plums by Marjane Satrapi
Wild Ducks Flying Backward by Tom Robbins

Later today I go shopping for some snacks! I'm thinking crackers, veggies, fruit, peanut butter, and chocolate. All the essentials of course. I hope you'll join in on the Readathon if you can- I know you'll have fun!

I did end up falling asleep about halfway through And Then There Were None. I'm not sure of the exact time, but I'm going to guess I made it about sixteen hours, so that was pretty good. Next time I will go all out.

Books Read: And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Pages Read: 124
Total Books Read: Half of And Then There Were None, And Only to Deceive Emma: A Victorian Romance Volume One, and Sense and Sensibility (And I saw Where the Wild Things Are)
Total Pages Read: 590

Overall it was a great experience to read with so many other people. There are some awesome book blogs out there I wouldn't have found without this.

Well I'm over halfway through. I'm actually pretty proud of myself because without the readathon I would not have gotten this much reading done this weekend. I've decided to leave Lady Audley's Secret for later because a) It is late b) I'm reading it for class c) I'm already way ahead. So I will read that tomorrow.

I think my next project is going to be And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie because I am reading it for the Barnes and Noble Literature by Women book club. I've had the book for years just sitting in a drawer so I'll give it a shot tonight. Eventually though I'm going to have to go to bd, but I don't think I'm quite ready yet.

Books Read: And Only to Deceive by Tasha Alexander
Pages Read: 180
Total Books Read: And Only to Deceive Emma: A Victorian Romance Volume One, and Sense and Sensibility (And I saw Where the Wild Things Are)
Total Pages Read: 466

Books Read: Reading And Only to Deceive by Tasha Alexander
Pages Read: 40
Total Books Read: Emma: A Victorian Romance Volume One and Sense and Sensibility
Total Pages Read: 286

Haven't made much progress because of dinner and I'm afraid I probably won't make much more progress for the rest of evening because I'm going to Where the Wild Things Are which is book related. I do plan on finishing And Only to Deceive tonight if possible. I'm looking forward to a more planned readathon in December thanks to Dreadlock Girl Reads. If nothing else I've enjoyed finding all of these great book blogs to look at in the future!

For those of you that like to write as well as read and love challenges, join National Novel Writing Month to try your hand at writing a novel! It starts November 1 and I will be participating in it. For more information go here.

Books Read: Emma: A Victorian Romance Volume One and a bit of Lady Audley's Secret
Pages Read: 183
Total Books Read: Emma: A Victorian Romance Volume One and Sense and Sensibility
Total Pages Read: 246

I had to stop to go to Target so I'm a little behind, I'll be getting in a little bit more now before dinner.

A pen! I must always have a pen sitting beside me while I'm reading, but beyond that I need to be alone. Sometimes my boyfriend reads on the couch while I read on my bed, but that is about as much company as I can handle. I even hate reading in the Main Library on campus unless it is completely deserted.

I use a pen when I am reading to take notes and write the names of characters next to important passages, this is the curse of the English major. It actually takes me about one hour to read thirty pages because of this, even though my actual reading pace is more like fifty pages an hour. I usually don't have a pen with me when I'm reading more contemporary stuff though, like graphic novels or historical fiction. This is probably partially because I know I'm not going to write a paper about it.

So I have finished my first hour of the readathon, although it is actually hour seven. Finished Sense and Sensibility which I really consider a major accomplishment. I've also had some lunch.

Hour One

Books Read: Sense and Sensibility, kind of
Pages Read: 43 (I read the Afterword too)
Time Spent Reading: About one hour

On to the next!

I woke up this morning to find that there is a 24 hour readathon going on today. I'm about five hours behind but I figure now is as good a time to start as any. I'm mostly going to be using this as an excuse to finish Sense and Sensibility for good. I've been promising myself to read the last thirty pages for about three weeks now and it just never happens. Then I plan to move on to the first volume of Emma: A Victorian Romance which I scored in Iowa City's Daydream comics yesterday. Once I finish both of those I think I will feel fairly accomplished. I'm at my parents house right now so I don't have a lot of my books with me, I'll probably just work on finishing the ones I've already started, Lady Audley's Secret and And Only to Deceive.

If you're interested in the readathon you can learn more and sign up here.