My Reading Goals for the Year 2013 Recap and Reading Goals for 2014

My reading goals were:

1. Read 46 books - Nope, I read 30
2. Finish all books carried over (There were three but I finished one last night, so down to two.) - Done
3. Try some new authors I already have books by.  The authors I have chosen are :

Cassandra Clare
Rhys Bowen
Sarah Dessen
Meg Cabot
Harlan Coben
Sarah Vowell
Carolyn Haines
Robin Jones Gunn
Heather Webber
Victoria Thompson

I manged to read two of the authors on my list, though I am still reading one of them (Rhys Bowen) now.  I loved the book I read by Victoria Thompson.

It was a strange year of reading for me as I had a lot of things going on and struggled to be in the reading mood a lot.  I changed my goal mid-year to 30 and am glad I made that.

Going into 2014 my reading goals are:

1. Read 36 books

2. Finished all books carried over (The exception being the one in our car, which is there for reading emergencies.)

3. Get all my books on Goodreads (Makes it so much easier if I'm out and don't have my book list with me.)
4. Finish at least one book every month.  In September of 2013 I didn't finish a single book. That's the first time in 6 years that's happened.

5. Try some new authors.  The authors I have chosen are:

Christie Ridgway

Kristan Higgins

Nora Roberts

July Hyzy

Nancy Bush

Joyce and Jim Lavene

Jenn McKinlay

Jodi Thomas

Hope Ramsay

Emily March

Julia Spencer-Fleming

Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Jill Shalvis

Kate Collins

Veronica Roth

All these are authors I have quite a few books by already.  Hopefully I'll discover I love some of these authors.  

It's not really a goal but I do want to try to read a diverse group of books this year.  I'm looking forward to it.  Happy Reading Everyone!

2013 Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge Results

I managed to read 4 Christmas books, three of which I had picked ahead of time to read.  I read:

Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor by Lisa Kleypas - A sweet Christmas read. There were lots of little moments to laugh at in this book and lots of sweet, romantic moments as well. This was my first book to read by Lisa Kleypas and it was good enough to make me want to read the others in the series. A good holiday read.

The Mitford Snowmen by Jan Karon - Cute and sweet...a perfect holiday read.

The Quiet Little Woman by Louisa May Alcott - Louisa May Alcott is one of my favorite authors. The fact that these stories remained unknown for so long is amazing. I loved the first story, adored the second and liked the third.

A Virgin River Christmas by Robyn Carr - It took me ages to find this book (in the end I had to special order it) but it was worth it. This book was incredibly sad but so full of hope too. It was very emotional for me. Robyn Carr has introduced two new characters for her readers to care about.

I also watched a ton of Christmas movies -

The Family Stone
The Bells of St. Mary's
Surviving Christmas
It Happened on Fifth Avenue
The Waltons: The Homecoming: A Christmas Story
The Waltons - Ep. 5.12 "The Best Christmas Ever"
The Mistle-Tones 
Christmas with Holly (Movie of Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor by Lisa Kleypas)
Susan Slept Here
A Charlie Brown Christmas
Christmas Miracle
Window Wonderland
Bachelor Mother
A Princess for Christmas
Love Actually
Meet Me In St. Louis
Twelve Trees of Christmas

2013 Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge

I always try and read Christmas books during December and this is a great motivation!

 I'm shooting for the Mistletoe level of 2-4 books.  I'll definitely be watching some Christmas movies so I'll be going for the in the Fa La La La level too.

I'm not sure what exactly I'll read.   I want to read A Virgin River Christmas by Robyn Carr but have yet to find it.  Some possibilities are:

The Quiet Little Woman by Louisa May Alcott

Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor by Lisa Kleypas

The Christmas Pearl by Dorothea Benton Frank

White Christmas Pie by Wanda E. Brunstetter

End of Event Meme

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?

Hour Twenty - I was so tired!

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

Anything by Robyn Carr

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

Nope, it's excellent as is!

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

For me it was just having books that really held my attention.  Also, going out for dinner but staying home for lunch helped too.

5. How many books did you read?

I finished two (one of which I had started before the RAT) and read a bit from three others.

6. What were the names of the books you read?

Deep in the Valley by Robyn Carr (Finished)
Not Becoming My Mother by Ruth Reichl (Started and Finished)
Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen
Girl at Sea by Maureen Johnson
Two For the Dough by Janet Evanovich

7. Which book did you enjoy most?

Both Deep in the Valley and Not Becoming My Mother were excellent.

8. Which did you enjoy least?

Girl at Sea - Just not in the mood for it, really.

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

Just work through the list of blogs and enjoy your time cheering.  Don't necessarily start from the end of the list or the beginning as sometimes the middle listed blogs get left out.

10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?

I'll most definitely be there!  Reading and Cheering!  I had been in a big reading slump before this years RAT.  I had an excellent time this RAT and it really got me back into a reading mood.

End of Hour Twenty

I did a little bit of cheering this hour and also did a mini challenge.  And I think I'm going to call it a night.  I may try to fit in a few more pages once I'm in bed but don't know that I'll make it.

Rollo says it's bed time.  Good Night Everyone!

Mini-Challenge - Six Word Celebration!

Your challenge is to create a six-word celebration of Dewey's Read-a-Thon -

Books and friends - best combo ever!

End of Hour Nineteen

This hour I read:

Two For the Dough by Janet Evanovich - 10 pages

I read for 23 minutes

Total pages read: 252

Total minutes read: 487

Books Finished - 2

We tried Two For the Dough this hour and I got into that a bit more easily.  I think I need a break though so will be cheering next hour.

The Required Sock Picture

End of Hour Eighteen

This hour I read:

Girl at Sea by Maureen Johnson - 13

Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen - 6

I read for 42 minutes

Total pages read: 242

Total minutes read: 464

Books Finished - 2

I am struggling to get into a book.  Nancy and I picked out three books to choose from to read together.  We tried Girl at Sea this hour and it was OK but not grabbing me.  I went back to Her Royal Spyness and it's ok but not really keeping me interested either.  Ugh!

Our reading options

End of Hour Seventeen

No reading for me this hour as it was time to feed the kiddos...

Rollo, Andie and Coal eating.

And then it was snack time for us.

Cherry Cheesecake Dip

End of Hour Sixteen

This hour I read:

Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen - 18 pages

I read for 40 minutes

Total pages read: 223

Total minutes read: 422

Books Finished - 2

I'm enjoying this book so far but am not 100% convinced I'll love it.  I think it's the time it's set in (1930's) and I had a bad experience with an Agatha Christie novel this year (set roughly around that time) so that concerns me.  Gonna give it a a chance though.

My newest bookmark with my new book.

End of Hour Fifteen

This hour I read:

Not Becoming My Mother by Ruth Reichl - 4 pages - Finished It!

I read for 8 minutes

Total pages read: 205

Total minutes read: 382

Books Finished - 2

Not Becoming My Mother by Ruth Reichl was an amazingly power book.  It was funny, sad, insightful and touching.  I'm so glad Richard found it for me.

An amazing book.
(And my model helped with this picture too!)

End of Hour Fourteen

This hour I read:

Not Becoming My Mother by Ruth Reichl - 16 pages

I read for 33 minutes

Total pages read: 201

Total minutes read: 374

Books Finished - 1

We went to a local Starbucks and read for most of this hour.

Peppermint Mocha Frappucino

End of Hour Thirteen

This hour I read:

Not Becoming My Mother by Ruth Reichl - 30 pages

I read for 54 minutes

Total pages read: 185

Total minutes read: 341

Books Finished - 1

Ate dinner during this hour at Cici's Pizza.

Alfredo Pizza - My favorite!

End of Hour Twelve

No reading this hour.  Got ready and headed out to grab some dinner.

Driving to dinner.

Mid-Event Survey

1) How are you doing? Sleepy? Are your eyes tired?

I'm amazingly awake.  I thought for sure I would have needed a nap by now.  I think the  great books I have are really helping.

2) What have you finished reading?

Deep in the Valley by Robyn Carr

3) What is your favorite read so far?

Honestly both books I have read have been excellent.  Deep in the Valley and Not Becoming My Mother

4) What about your favorite snacks?

Hmmm, probably my Symphony candy bar.  Haven't snacked as much as I thought I would.

5) Have you found any new blogs through the readathon? If so, give them some love!

Adventures in Never Never Land

End of Hour Eleven

This hour I read:

Not Becoming My Mother by Ruth Reichl - 32 pages

I read for 45 minutes

Total pages read: 155

Total minutes read: 287

Books Finished - 1

Loving this book....heading out to get some dinner this hour.

Reading Snuggles

End of Hour Ten

No reading for me this hour as I was cheering.  I've cheered at 21 different blogs so far.  :)

Cheering!

End of Hour Nine

This hour I read:

Not Becoming My Mother by Ruth Reichl - 30 pages

I read for 42 minutes

Total pages read: 123

Total minutes read: 272

Books Finished - 1

I started a new book this hour and am really liking it.  I adore Ruth Reichl (Her book Garlic and Sapphires is one of my all time favorite books and got me to try sushi!) and so far this is just really grabbing me.  Yae!

My new book and adorable Rollo ears.

End of Hour Eight

This hour I read:

Deep in the Valley by Robyn Carr - 15 pages - Finished It!

I read for 30 minutes

Total pages read: 93

Total minutes read: 260

Books Finished - 1

Deep in the Valley was so, so good.  I love that Robyn Carr writes strong female, believable characters.  Now I have to decide what to read next...

I loved this book!
(And I had an awesome model to help hold up my book for this picture.)

End of Hour Seven

This hour I read:

Deep in the Valley by Robyn Carr - 10 pages

I read for 26 minutes

Total pages read: 78

Total minutes read: 230

We had some lunch this hour.  My book is full of lots of heart tugging emotional moments right now.

Rotisserie chicken sandwich with Ruffles.  Yum!