I'm taking part in Bout of Books!

This will be the second time I've taken part on Bout of Books and I'm really looking forward to it. Any excuse to read!  I don't have a specific goal for myself in mind (as the date gets closer maybe I will) just to spend more time reading.

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 11th and runs through Sunday, May 17th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 13 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team.

Reading My Library Update #2

I finished two more books in the Reading My Library Challenge and I'm happy to say I really liked them both.  Oddly enough they were both the second in a series.

End of Event Meme

All our books we read during the RAT

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?  Probably hour three.  I am so not a morning person and the early wake up hit me hard.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?  I love graphic novels and Angel & Faith Vol. 2 is really good so far.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?  Not from a management point of view but for myself, having a soccer game to attend the same day as a the RAT was hard.  My two great obsessions, books and soccer do not do well in competition with each other.  I wound up missing roughly 5 hours of the RAT.
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?  The cheerleaders were amazing!  I got so much support and it really made the RAT that much more enjoyable.
5. How many books did you read?  I finished one that I had started before and read over half in another.
6. What were the names of the books you read?  The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson and Faith & Angel Vol. 2 : Daddy Issues by Christos Gage
7. Which book did you enjoy most?  Both were good in different ways
8. Which did you enjoy least?  Both were good in different ways
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?  I didn't cheer this year but was so impressed with the cheerleaders this year.  You guys rocked!
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 be there with bells on, with my husband and best friend in tow!  I'll probably read and may cheer again.

My RAT journal gets a break till October

End of Hour Twenty-Two

This hour I read:

Angel & Faith Vol. 2: Daddy Issues - 34 pages

I read for 37 minutes

Total pages read: 243

Total minutes read: 586

Books Finished - 1

This is gonna be the last hour for Nancy and I.  Richard went to bed at 3 and we're both starting to flag.

Nancy and Coal

My Favorite

Our famous foot shot to close out the RAT

End of Hour Twenty-One

This hour I read:

Angel & Faith Vol. 2: Daddy Issues - 13 pages

I read for 18 minutes

Total pages read: 209

Total minutes read: 549

Books Finished - 1

Our fancy schmancy popcorn boxes for our gourmet popcorn

Mini Challenge

That Moment When You Fall in Love With a Book-

Share the last 5 star book you read.

"Sky on Fire Monument 14 #2.  This was the second in a trilogy that I have just fallen in love with.  So often the second books in trilogies are let downs but this one was excellent.  It was just as exciting, totally nerve wracking and I loved the characters just as much.  A great, great book."

End of Hour Twenty

This hour I read:

The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson - 5 pages - Finished It!

Angel & Faith Vol. 2: Daddy Issues - 34 pages

Total pages for the Hour - 39

I read for 49 minutes

Total pages read: 196

Total minutes read: 518

Books Finished - 1

Grafton, playing model with my finished book

Richard and Grafton, reading during his last hour before he called it a night

End of Hour Nineteen

This hour I read:

The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson - 17 pages

I read for 49 minutes

Total pages read: 157

Total minutes read: 467

So close to finishing my first book...

Sleepy Kitties

End of Hour Eighteen

This hour I read:

The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson - 5 pages

I read for 21 minutes

Total pages read: 140

Total minutes read: 418

I spent a lot of the last hour updating my blog and twitter.  I will finish this book!

I spent more time on this the past hour than on my book.

Grafton loves Read-A-Thons!

End of Hour Seventeen

This hour I read:

The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson - 19 pages

I read for 55 minutes

Total pages read: 135

Total minutes read: 397

Games over and I'm home and back to reading.  Now to finish this book...

Payday Dip & Pineapple Cake - Yum!

End of Hours 13-16

No reading these hours as I was at my soccer games.  We wound up tying 4-4 and it was a crazy game.  Even though I really wanted the win I'm proud of how we played, with a lot of fight and passion.  I love my team!

My Happy Place

Games against Kansas are always crazy

Kick Off

Celebrating a great goal!

Mid-Event Survey

1. What are you reading right now? The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson

2. How many books have you read so far? Still working on one

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? Finishing Madness and trying out some of the graphic novels

4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? My soccer game...but hey gotta roll with it and enjoy.

5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? That I haven't finished my first book yet.  Grr.

End of Hour 12

This hour I read:

The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson - 7 pages

I read for 16 minutes

Total pages read: 116

Total minutes read: 342

Dessert time for the first half of the hour then we headed off to the game.

Lemon Cake

End of Hour 11

This hour I read:

The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson - 4 pages

I read for 33 minutes

Total pages read: 109

Total minutes read: 326

I read a wee bit during dinner.

Chicken Friand - My favorite

End of Hour 10

Off to Houston this hour to grab dinner and head to the game so no reading.

Forever Orange - I Bleed Orange

End of Hour Nine

This hour I read:

The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson - 13 pages

I read for 35 minutes

Total pages read: 105

Total minutes read: 293

I have 57 pages left in my book but have to get ready this hour to head into Houston for the game. Once we get there we'll stop somewhere to eat so we can get some more reading in.

Nilla, playing guard dog while we all read

End of Hour Eight

This hour I read:

The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson - 16 pages

I read for 48 minutes

Total pages read: 92

Total minutes read: 258

Nancy reading & Andie sleeping

End of Hour Seven

This hour I read:

The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson - 12 pages

I read for 42 minutes

Total pages read: 76

Total minutes read: 210

Lunch time this house and a few random conversations.  I'm down to less than 100 pages to go in my book and it's so good!

Jersey Mike's - Yum!

End of Hour Six

This hour I read:

The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson - 16 pages

I read for 38 minutes

Total pages read: 64

Total minutes read: 168

I've been munching on the cookies I made.  They are so good it's dangerous to have them near.

Yummy cookies

End of Hour Five

Oh ya, I felt like those zombies before my nap.

This hour I read:

The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson - 5 pages

I read for 13 minutes

Total pages read: 48

Total minutes read: 130

My nap went a little over into this hour, though I managed to get some reading in at the end.  I'm much more awake now, thankfully.  Nap are our friends.

End of Hour Four

Nap Time

No reading this hour...napping

End of Hour Three

Pretty Colors

This hour I read: 

The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson - 18 pages

I read for 45 minutes 

Total pages read: 43

Total minutes read: 117

I'm so tired...think the next hour will be a nap.

End of Hour Two

Breakfast, courtesy of Dunkin Donuts

This hour I read:

The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson - 18 pages

I read for 47 minutes

Total pages read: 18

Total minutes read: 72

I'm yawning but my book is really good!

End of Hour One

Using my Dynamo blanket for the first time.

This hour I read: 

The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson - 7 pages

I read for 25 minutes 

Total pages read: 7

Total minutes read: 25

I did the Intro Meme last hour, drank some tea and got myself situated.  I didn't get much reading done but in just the little I read some startling information came to light.  I can't wait to see what happens!

Opening Meme

Opening Meme:

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?  The Woodlands, Texas, where it has just started to rain.

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? I'm really liking The Madness Underneath so am looking forward to reading more of that.  Landline intrigues me & the whole Monument series has been so good that I'm excited to see how it all wraps up. Plus I have some really interesting graphic novels.  OK, so I'm looking forward to a lot!

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? Payday Dip, mostly because I already tried out the Salty Ritz Cracker Oatmeal Cookies so I know they're awesome.  Oh plus Nancy bought this yummy looking popcorn with caramel and cheese.  Yum!

4) Tell us a little something about yourself! This is my 15th RAT that I've taken part in, along with my husband.  (8 in Texas, 7 in NC) Originally it was just something I happened to find on the internet that seemed like fun.  Who knew how important it would become to us.  That first RAT we just kinda did it with little to no planning.  Now we have a plan for food, our schedule, everything.  Oh and I am not a morning person so me being up this early speaks volumes about how much I love the RAT.

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?  Well we have to go out tonight (We're Houston Dynamo season ticket holders and we don't miss games.) so I know I'll have time away from the RAT which I generally try and avoid.  But hey, soccer is one of the only things I love as much as reading so that can't be helped.  I do sometimes overdo it on food prep, making way more food than the three of us can eat, so I scaled that back a bit and think we have a good but not overwhelming selection. 

OK...let's get to reading!

Nilla isn't a morning puppy.

My TBR Pile for the Read-A-Thon

It's the night before Dewey's 24 Hour Read-A-Thon and I've been busy with prep work.  Between Richard, Nancy and I we've baked, cleaned and got almost everything ready.  I finally got my TBR pile together and here it is.

The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson - I'm a little over 100 pages into this one.  Maureen Johnson is one of my favorite authors and this one is so good.

Down By The River by Robyn Carr - I'm only about 40 pages into this one.

Hide Yourself Away by Mary Jane Clark - I realized I hadn't gotten this one out (it's the next in the series) so luckily my husband was sweet enough to dig it out for me.

Monument 14 Savage Drift by Emmy Laybourne - The last in a trilogy I've read and loved this year.

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake - Checked out from the library to see what I think.

Landline by Rainbow Rowell - Checked out from the library to see what I think.

I got quite a few graphic novels from the library:

Blue Bloods by Melissa De La Cruz 

Morning Glories 1 & 2 by Nick Spencer

The Woods by James Tynion IV

Angel & Faith Vol 2 Daddy Issues by Christos Gage (Hoping it's better than the first in the series)

Y:The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughan

Runaways Teenage Wasteland by Brian K. Vaughan

Lazarus 2 Vol 2 Lift by Greg Rucka

Reading My Library Update

I finished my first book for the Reading My Library Challenge.   It wasn't my favorite in this verse but there were some interesting parts and the Harmony story was fun.

Getting ready for the Read-a-Thon

Once again I'm taking part in Dewey's 24 Hour Read-A-Thon!  I don't have my booklist set yet (though I have a vague idea of what I'll be reading) because we have a book sale to attend the day before the RAT so I may just find something I have to read there.  I know for sure I'll have some graphic novels to read.  I put an inter library request in for a few and am so happy they arrived in time for the RAT!

Snackwise we have a plan.  I'm making Payday Dip to be served with graham crackers and Salty Ritz Oatmeal Cookies.  Nancy is making a Pineapple Cake and bringing popcorn from The Popcorn Bar. We're getting some Dunkin Donuts for breakfast and Jersey Mike sandwiches for lunch.  I'm sure we'll have some other yummy snacks to munch on through out the day.  Dinner is probably going to be La Madeline as we will be heading to Houston as the Dynamo have a game and that can't be missed.  So there will be soccer amidst the reading.

I just can't wait to get started!!

Reading My Library Challenge

I'm taking part in this challenge.  I already have some library books out and definitely plan on getting more this month.  I also happen to be a big fan of libraries.  Some of my favorite memories from my childhood were spent in libraries.  :)

I'm reading a Supernatural graphic novel and have two others checked out as well as a few requested. Let's get to reading!