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!

End of Hour Six

This hour I read:

Deep in the Valley by Robyn Carr - 10 pages

I read for 35 minutes

Total pages read: 68

Total minutes read: 204

I was a bit sleepy this hour and also wound up having a conversation about plastic surgery and the good it can do in a person's life.  Aw, the topics that come up from a good book!

Nancy in read-a-thon mode.

End of Hour Five

This hour I read:

Deep in the Valley by Robyn Carr - 10 pages

I read for 30 minutes

Total pages read: 58

Total minutes read: 169

Had some snacks this hour.  I am so loving this book.  Not that much more to go in it.  It'll be hard not to go directly to the next in the series!

Yummy Snacks on Fall Plates

End of Hour Four

This hour I read:

Deep in the Valley by Robyn Carr - 12 pages

I read for 41 minutes

Total pages read: 48

Total minutes read: 139

Hmmm, thinking I might need a snack soon.

Watching my parents read makes me so sleepy.

End of Hour Three

This hour I read:

Deep in the Valley by Robyn Carr - 7 pages

I read for 31 minutes

Total pages read: 36

Total minutes read: 98

We moved to the library this hour.  All camped out on my comfy chair with Rollo snuggled with me!

In the library now

End of Hour Two

This hour I read:

Deep in the Valley by Robyn Carr - 15 pages

I read for 35 minutes

Total pages read: 29

Total minutes read: 67

Had a wee bit of breakfast this hour and took care of some cheerleader housekeeping.  Loving this book!

Rollo and Clara, early morning cuddling

End of Hour One

This hour I read:

Deep in the Valley by Robyn Carr - 14 pages

I read for 33 minutes

Total pages read: 14

Total minutes read: 33

Early morning reading

Introductory Questionnaire

Rollo, ready to nap while I read.

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?

Deep in the Valley by Robyn Carr.  I'm already well into it and I love her books.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?


Well last night we made Pineapple Cream Cheesy Dip, Cherry Cheesecake Dip, Cheddar Snack Mix and The Best Bad-For-You Fudge Ever.  We also have all the ingredients for Rolo Brownies and Smore's Cookies.  Right now the fudge sounds yummy!


4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

I'm reading with my husband, our cats and dog and my best friend.  I'm currently drinking a mug of hot tea, expertly made by my husband and am hoping the caffeine kicks in quickly.  I am not a morning person!

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 twelfth read-a-thon.  I can't really think of anything I'll be doing differently than last time.  I'm starting out in my living room but will probably move to our library next hour.  I'll be cheering throughout the RAT (I'm head cheerleader for Team Owl).  I have lots of yummy snacks to munch on throughout the day and I'm sure I'll be taking a nap sometime today.   Aside from being head cheerleader (since that didn't exist until this RAT) none of those are new things for me this RAT.   So on with the reading!

Sleepy Jubilee is staying in bed.

Getting Ready for the Read-A-Thon & My Read-A-Thon Book Pile

It's almost time for Dewey's 24 Hour Read-A-Thon!

It's the night before and Nancy and I are up making snacks.  Yum!

I've also got a pile of books to choose from.

The top three I'm already reading -

Deep in the Valley by Robyn Carr - I'm hoping to finish this one.  I just love her books.

Let Me Whisper in Your Ear by Mary Jane Clark - I think I'm about a 100 pages in.

Flip This Zombie by Jesse Petersen - I liked the first book better but this one is OK so far.

The next three Nancy and I both chose.  We'll both read one of them during the read-a-thon-

Lifelines by CJ Lyons - I have had this for a few years (I got it as an Easter present the year it came out) and keep wanting to read it and not getting around to it.

Two for the Dough by Janet Evanovich - We read the first in the series two years ago and liked it a lot.

Not Becoming My Mother by Ruth Reichl - Woops, this isn't one to read with Nancy!  I love Ruth Reichl and Richard found this for me last weekend at a booksale.  It's short and might be nice to read during the RAT.

Girl at Sea by Maureen Johnson - I love Maureen Johnson and Nancy found this last week on a book buying outing so we threw it into the mix.

Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen - This author was on my list to try this year.  After reading a review I decided to add this book to my pile.

I'm also cheering.  I'm head cheerleader for Team Owl.

I can't wait for the RAT to begin!  Now off to finish our snacks!

My Stick Family

My Stick Family from WiddlyTinks.com

End of Event Meme

Which hour was most daunting for you?

Hour Twenty - I was cheering but I was so sleepy.

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

Little Blog on the Prairie was really funny & The Golden Mean definitely kept me interested.  All the M.C. Beaton books are great too.

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

Nope, it worked really well.

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

This was the first time I actually made snacks ahead of time.  That worked really well, having those snacks to look forward to.  Also, we read in our library this year and that was really comfy.  I also like taking the pics every hour.  It's nice to be able to look back on those later.  And for us this year we started on Friday with a book signing and finished on Sunday with a book sale so it was a whole literary weekend.  That was cool.  I also think doing the read-a-thon with my husband and best friend makes it that much more fun.

How many books did you read?

I finished two (one I had been reading ahead of time) and read from one other.

What were the names of the books you read?

Little Blog on the Prairie by Cathleen Davitt Bell
The Golden Mean by Nick Bantock
Death of an Outsider by M.C. Beaton

Which book did you enjoy most?

Little Blog on the Prairie

Which did you enjoy least?

None, I had really good books this time.  I did look at one book (The Green Angel by Alice Hoffman) and decided not to start it.  Not sure if I will be reading it or not.

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

I think spreading out when you cheer works well.  I did one in the afternoon, one in the evening and two late at night.

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

Oh I'll be participating for sure!  I love the reading and the cheering so I'll be doing both.

Our final tally of Books Read

End of Hour Twenty One

No reading but I made it all the rest of the blogs on my list to cheer.  Woohoo!  This is gonna do it for me...if I have the energy I may read a page or two in bed but I doubt it.  I'm tired!  Tomorrow I have a soccer game to go to and a used book sale to go to.  So I need some sleep so I can at least half way function.  Good Night all!

My Boy has the right idea.  It's bed time.

End of Hour Twenty

No reading this hour as I was cheering.  I only made it to 9 blogs but assuming I don't cheer anymore I'll have made it to all but the L's on my list.  I think I'll try and get to those this next hour.

Our famous foot shot

End of Hour Nineteen

This hour I read:

Death of an Outsider by M.C. Beaton - 9 pages

I read for 38 minutes

Total pages read: 206

Total minutes read: 486

I always get less reading done once Richard goes to bed as Nancy and I wind up talking!

Finally eating the sandwich I got for dinner.

End of Hour Eighteen

This hour I read:

Death of an Outsider by M.C. Beaton - 16 pages

I read for 52 minutes

Total pages read: 197

Total minutes read: 448

That was the last hour of reading for my husband.  He's off to bed.

End of Hour Seventeen

No reading I was busy cheering (Made it to 10 blogs this time) and deciding what to read next.  I decided to stick with a book I had already started (Death of an Outside) by an author I love (M.C. Beaton).

My drinks so far....

Quote Time Mini Challenge

This mini challenge is to provide a quote from the book we are currently reading or have read.  
I love this one - "Never say anything important in a barn." Little Blog on the Prairie by Cathleen Davitt Bell.

End of Hour Sixteen

This hour I read:

The Golden Mean by Nick Bantock - 48 pages - Finished It!

I read for 48 minutes

Total pages read: 181

Total minutes read: 396

This is honestly one of the oddest books.  It's the third in a trilogy (though there are more listed...so not a trilogy??).  It's beautiful and intriguing and just really, really odd.  Now what to read next...

Inside the cover of The Golden Mean.

End of Hour Fifteen

I spent this hour cheering and made it to fifteen different blogs.

This whole read-a-thon is so tiring for Nilla!

End of Hour Fourteen

No reading this hour as we were heading back from dinner and made a pit stop at Sonic.  Gotta have my Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper.

My favorite drink

End of Hour Thirteen

This hour I read:

Little Blog on the Prairie by Cathleen Davitt Bell - 22 pages - Finished It!

I read for 65 minutes (I was so close to finishing I kept going.)

Total pages read - 133

Total minutes read - 348

Books finished - 1

End of Hour Twelve

Nothing read...spent this hour getting ready to go out and getting to the restaurant.

Mid-Event Survey

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

Nope, my nap helped loads.  Getting ready to head out to dinner.

2) What have you finished reading?

Nothing but I am almost done with Little Blog on the Prairie.

3) What is your favorite read so far?

Little Blog on the Prairie - Only thing I have read so far.

4) What about your favorite snacks?

My Tricked Out Crackers and the Almond M&M's were yummy too.

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

I spent an hour cheering so far and found some cool blogs.  These were some of the stand outs.

A Girl that Likes Books
Sherry Ann's Book Blog
Scuffed slippers and wormy books
Reviewing Wonderland
Capricious Reader

End of Hour Eleven

This hour I read:

Little Blog on the Prairie by Cathleen Davitt Bell - 18 pages

I read for 44 minutes

Total pages read: 111

Total minutes read: 283

For a funny, light book this book keeps surprising me.

Reading in a slightly different position...

End of Hour Ten

This hour I read:


Little Blog on the Prairie by Cathleen Davitt Bell - 18 pages

I read for 45 minutes

Total pages read: 93

Total minutes read: 239

This book is fun...I am just so easily distracted.

I love these!

End of Hour Nine

No reading for me this hour as I was busy cheering.  I made it to 21 blogs this hour.  Woohoo!

It's raining...

End of Hour Eight

This hour I read:

Little Blog on the Prairie by Cathleen Davitt Bell - 11 pages

I read for 27 minutes

Total pages read: 75

Total minutes read: 194

Got up from my nap and ate some lunch during this hour.

Lunch

End of Hour Six & Hour Seven

I wound up taking a nap...I haven't been sleeping well lately and it's catching up with me now.

My Pillow

My Jammies

End of Hour Five

This hour I read:

Little Blog on the Prairie by Cathleen Davitt Bell - 7 pages

I read for 20 minutes

Total pages read: 64

Total minutes read: 167

I got super tired during this hour and had to take a little nap. Hopefully I'll be energized enough to read a little more this hour.  Then again I may just need a little bit more of a nap...

Nancy looking comfy as she reads

End of Hour Four

End of Hour One

This hour I read:

Little Blog on the Prairie by Cathleen Davitt Bell - 13 pages

I read for 35 minutes

Total pages read: 57

Total minutes read: 147

Snack time!  After taking care of Rollo I dug into the crackers and snack mix we made.  Yum!!

Yummy!

End of Hour Three

This hour I read:

Little Blog on the Prairie by Cathleen Davitt Bell - 18 pages

I read for 43 minutes

Total pages read: 44

Total minutes read: 112

My book is so funny.  The kids have been a bit distracting but I'm reading and enjoying myself.  Going to have to take a few minutes this next hour to take care of Rollo who has some medical needs that need taking care of.

Richard and Andie, reading

End of Hour Two

This hour I read:

Little Blog on the Prairie by Cathleen Davitt Bell - 17 pages

I read for 49 minutes

Total pages read: 26

Total minutes read: 69

Had a little breakfast this hour...I'm still sleepy.
"Never say anything important in a barn."  Words of wisdom from my current book.

Rollo napping next to my bookmark

End of Hour One

This hour I read:

Little Blog on the Prairie by Cathleen Davitt Bell - 9 Pages

I read for 20 minutes

Total pages read: 9

Total minutes read: 20

Lots of time spent getting things started this hour.  My books is funny and easy to get into and I am enjoying it a lot.

My book, My Blanket and My Rollo