Spring into Horror Wrap Up

Well I didn't get as much read as I hoped but this week (like this month) was insane.  I finally finished the one book (The Chick and The Dead by Casey Daniels) I was reading last night, (sadly after the deadline) around one in the morning.  I will say I focused more one book because of this read-a-thon and it was fun.  I would definitely do it again, just need life to be a little calmer next time!

Spring Into Horror Read-A-Thon Update

Still moving along on The Chick and The Dead.  Of course this week is crazy and I have had no where near the time to read I would like.  But I'm reading and getting through the book (which is so much better than the first!) and considering the week I am having that is an accomplishment.

Spring Into Horror Read-A-Thon Update & Mini Challenge

So I am chugging right along on the read-a-thon.  HOOK of a BOOK is hosting a mini challenge and asked us to discuss a book we were reading and why.  I'm reading The Chick and The Dead by Casey Daniels.  This is the second in the series.  I read the first two years ago and honestly it started out as just OK.  Then right near the end the author surprised me and threw a curve ball I didn't see coming.  So I thought maybe I would read some more...but not too soon.  Then last year a good reader friend of mine mentioned this series and how she thought I would like it.  So since I hate to quit on a series I have started and since I really wanted something I little lighter than the current Faye Kellerman mystery I was reading I picked the second book in the series up. So far it's world better than the first.  I have a lot more hope for the rest of the series.  Happy Reading!

Spring Into Horror Read-A-Thon Starting Post

Well after just finishing the Dewey's 24 Hour Read-A-Thon I am starting another!  This time a much more layed back one.  I have a week to read as much as I can including at least one scary book.  As luck would have it I am already reading a paranormal book, The Chick and The Dead by Casey Daniels.  So I'll be keeping up the reading on this book and hopefully moving onto even more books.  Let the reading continue!

Spring Into Horror Read-A-Thon

Read one book that's horror, mystery, thriller, paranormal and the rest of the time read whatever you like!

All our books

All the books Richard, Nancy and myself read (some finished, some not).  I hate seeing a read-a-thon end.  Can't wait for the next one!

End of Event Meme

Which hour was most daunting for you?
Hour Seventeen

Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
The Dashwood Sisters Tell All by Beth Pattillo (especially if you are a Jane Austen fan)
The Chick and The Dead by Casey Daniels

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

What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
This was not a normal read-a-thon for me as this last week and other things that are going on in my life really threw everything off.  A change of scenery really helped.  Going out to eat and read at the same time works well for me.  This read-a-thon we met my mom for lunch so didn't read then but did at dinner and it worked well.  Also Starbucks trips are a must.

How many books did you read?
Finished one, Read from a total of three

What were the names of the books you read?
The Most Important Thing I Know by Mult Authors
The Dashwood Sisters Tell All by Beth Pattillo
The Chick and The Dead by Casey Daniels

Which book did you enjoy most?
The Dashwood Sisters Tell All

Which did you enjoy least?
All were good

If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
Maybe split the alphabet up a bit more.  I cheered for quite awhile and never made it through my list.  I know my husband and best friend didn't get much cheering on their blogs so maybe if each cheerleader had a smaller list to handle more people would get support.

How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
Definitely!  I'll be here reading and cheering.

End of Hour Nineteen

This hour I read:

The Dashwood Sisters Tell All by Beth Pattillo - 10 pages

I read for 24 minutes

Total pages read: 248

Total minutes read: 438

Books Finished - 1

And that is gonna do it for me.  I finished one more chapter and that's going to have to be it.

Clara says goodnight....

And Grafton does too

End of Hour Eighteen

This hour I read:

The Dashwood Sisters Tell All by Beth Pattillo - 8 pages

I read for 23 minutes

Total pages read: 238

Total minutes read: 414

Rollo says it's getting late...not sure if I will be reading anymore or not....this past week has really caught up with me.

End of Hour Seventeen

The Dashwood Sisters Tell All by Beth Pattillo - 2 pages

I read for 10 minutes

Total pages read: 230

Total minutes read: 391

Books Finished - 1

Slowing down and not much reading getting done...

For some reason Nancy and I took a pic of our feet on our first read-a-thon together and have taken one every since.  So here is this RAT's foot pic!

End of Hour Sixteen

Another hour cheering.  I got to visit 15 more readers.  I love seeing all the readers out there!

Gotta get some caffeine in me (Sweet Tea) as I am gonna try to read some this hour...

End of Hour Fifteen

No reading this hour.  I was busy cheering on other readers.  I cheered for 10 different readers.

I even managed to cheer with Muzzy on my chest!  (But I'm blaming any typos on her.)

End of Hour Fourteen

This hour I read:

1The Dashwood Sisters Tell All by Beth Pattillo - 15 pages

I read for 44 minutes

Total pages read: 228

Total minutes read: 381

Books Finished - 1

Had some yummy pizza and still got some reading done.  Yae!

End of Hour Thirteen

This hour I read:

The Dashwood Sisters Tell All by Beth Pattillo - 4 pages

I read for 9 minutes

Total pages read: 213

Total minutes read: 337

Books Finished - 1

Most of this hour was spent making a stop and getting settled in at the restaurant.

MidEvent Survey

1) How are you doing? Sleepy? Are your eyes tired?
Not tired, though I am looking forward to a change of scenery.

2) What have you finished reading?
The Most Important Thing I Know

3) What is your favorite read so far?
The Dashwood Sisters Tell All

4) What about your favorite snacks?
Animal Crackers

5) Have you found any new blogs through the readathon? If so, give them some love!
Book Drunkard http://virginiebarbeau.wordpress.com/

End of Hour Twelve

This hour I read:

The Dashwood Sisters Tell All by Beth Pattillo - 15 pages

I read for 43 minutes

Total pages read: 209

Total minutes read: 328

Books Finished - 1

Major distractions this hour from the cats.  Heading out to grab some dinner in just a few once I do the MidEvent Survey.

End of Hour Eleven

This hour I read:

The Most Important Thing I Know - 29 pages - Finished it!

The Dashwood Sisters Tell All by Beth Pattillo - 10 pages

I read for 38 minutes

Total pages read: 194

Total minutes read: 285

Books Finished - 1

I finished The Most Important Thing I Know and it was quite interesting.  Some quotes were really meaningful, some not so much.  I started The Dashwood Sisters Tell All which I have really been looking forward to.  I finished the first chapter and I love it already.

One of the quotes I liked...

End of Hour Ten

This hour I read:

The Most Important Thing I Know - 62 pages

I read for 42 minutes

Total pages read: 156

Total minutes read: 247

I switched things up this hour and read a different book.  This one is full of world leaders, company owners, athletes and others words on excellence.

End of Hour Nine

No reading this hour.  I was busy cheering for other read-a-thon participants.  I cheered at 17 different blogs.  I just love seeing what others are reading.

My fellow cheerleaders.  They offer more cuddle factor than pep.

End of Hour Eight

This hour I read:

The Chick and The Dead by Casey Daniels - 15 pages

I read for 30 minutes

Total pages read: 94

Total minutes read: 205

I am not doing the best with concentrating and I thought that may be the case.  But hey, that's ok.  I am going to do a little cheering this hour and come back to a new book and hopefully feeling a little refreshed.

End of Hour Seven

This hour I read:

The Chick and The Dead by Casey Daniels - 16 pages

I read for 26 minutes

Total pages read: 79

Total minutes read: 175

Had to make a quick stop at Lowes for some light bulbs (we were down to one in our kitchen!) and then headed to Starbucks for some drinks and reading.

End of Hour Five and Six

No reading this hour as we were having lunch with my mom.

Turn to Page... Mini Challenge

"I would rather read than look like a full-blown nutcase any day!"

Page 32 of The Chick and the Dead by Casey Daniels

Hosted by http://www.reflectionsofabookaholic.com/

End of Hour Four

This hour I read:

The Chick and The Dead by Casey Daniels - 14 pages

I read for 32 minutes

Total pages read: 63

Total minutes read: 149

Heading out to meet my mom this next hour so I won't be doing any reading.  I'll be back though.

Grafton wondered why on earth I had to move when she was comfy?

End of Hour Three

This hour I read:

The Chick and The Dead by Casey Daniels - 14 pages

I read for 40 minutes

Total pages read: 49

Total minutes read: 117

Hmmm, not getting an awful lot of reading done.  The kiddos have gotten a lot of lap time though.

End of Hour Two

This hour I read:

The Chick and The Dead by Casey Daniels - 14 pages

I read for 25 minutes

Total pages read: 35

Total minutes read: 77

Ate some breakfast and did my morning check into Cafe World this hour.

Introduction Meme

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
The Woodlands, TX

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
The Dashwood Sisters Tell All by Beth Pattillo

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
Cheese and crackers

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!
Books are one of my very favorite things.  They are a comfort, a challenge and a necessary ingredient to my happiness.

I'm reading with my husband and best friend.

I love cats.

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 participated in every read-a-thon except the very first one.  I have had one of the worst weeks of my life.  I am hoping this read-a-thon will be a good distraction,  but also know my concentration level may be a bit off.  As there is so much going on I am really not putting any expectations on myself, just looking forward to a distraction.  I'm also going out to lunch with my mom today, something I don't normally do during read-a-thons.

End of Hour One

This hour I read:

The Chick and The Dead by Casey Daniels - 21 pages

I read for 52 minutes

Total pages read: 21

Total minutes read: 52

I am going to try and take a pic every hour.  This one features Grafton enjoying some lap top and Muzzy's bowl in the background.  Time to grab some breakfast.

My Read-A-Thon Book Pile

As always I have way more books than I will ever get through but I like to have choice.

False Prophet by Faye Kellerman - Already Reading, not sure I will read any of this in the read-a-thon as it's pretty dark.  I am in the mood for much lighter books right now.

The Chick and The Dead by Casey Daniels - Already Reading this one.  Light and funny.

Furthur Under the Duvet by Marian Keyes - Already Reading this one.  It's lots of little essays and short stories.

What I Know Now Letters to My Younger Self - Looks interesting and not too long.

The Most Important Thing I Know - Shared wisdom from others.  Short.

The Dead & The Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer - Just read the first in the series and loved it.

This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer - 3rd in the series.  Don't think I'll get to it but you never know.

The Dashwood Sisters Tell All by Beth Pattillo - I love this series so much and desperately wanted the third.  My sweetheart took me out and got it for me.

Secrets Volume 6 - Short stories, including one my Mary-Janice Davidson that's in her Betsy series

Austenland by Shannon Hale - Short, looks funny

Queen of Babble by Meg Cabot - Meg Cabot is on my list to try this year.

What Happens Here by Tara Altebrando - Short and interesting

The Third Day, The Frost by John Marsden - I love this series but haven't read a book in it for a few years. I have been wanting to start up again.

Death of a Gossip by M.C. Beaton - Short and a new author for me

Not Pictured is Two for the Dough by Janet Evanovich  Last read-a-thon Nancy and I both read One for the Money.  Not sure we will read it but it's there if we want to.

Getting ready for the read-a-thon

April 21 is the next read-a-thon! I am still working on what I want to read.

Pics of my book pile to come soon.

Why not sign up and give it a try? It's so much fun!

March Reads

March was a crazy month! The Houston Livestock and Rodeo was going on and we wound up going to it on five different nights. We saw Alabama, Blake Shelton, Reba, The Band Perry and Brad Paisley in concert and enjoyed them all. Add in the fact that we have been at the vets for one of the kids every week for 4 weeks straight and you kind of see the insanity of March. It was a fun, tiring, stressful month. So having said all that I read three books in February.

I read.....

Undead and Undermined by MaryJanice Davidson - 3 stars - I really got into this series last year and was reading the books back to back. I think I kind of burnt myself out on them. I took a break and enjoyed this book after having had some time away. The one complaint I have is for me these books are light and fluffy and as the books have gone on they have gotten less and less so. I still enjoy them but they are a lot less fluffy now.

Must Love Lycans by Michele Bardsley - 2 stars - Ugh. I loved this series until this book. It annoyed me to no end. I get that these are Paranormal Romance but there was way more romance in this one than paranormal and it annoyed me to no end. I felt like it went from love scene to love scene with a little supernatural happenings in between. So not my style.

Every Little Thing in the World by Nina de Gramont - 4 stars - I read a recomendation for this a few years ago and got this book because of it. I am so glad I did as it was such a good read. I loved the descriptions of nature in the book and how being in a different environment changed how the main character, Sydney felt about so many things. I, who do not camp, was sorely tempted to spend a night outdoors (I resisted the urge.) One warning I should add is that this book does deal with some controversial issues, namely abortion.

One interesting note on my reading is usually I read the most when I am deeply engrossed in a series. I can happily live in that world and just go from one book in the series to the next until I run out of books. With the exception of Nancy Atherton and Susan Rogers Cooper (who both write series I have been reading for years) so far this year the opposite is true. Most of the books I have really, truly enjoyed this year have been stand alone books or books by authors I haven't read before.