Bout of Books 25 – May 2019

This week I participated in the Bout of Books 25 Readathon. Unfortunately, I had a busy week with work, house renovations, and family visiting, but I still made some time to read, though not as much as I would have liked.

READS:
Here are the books I read this week:

 

Total pages read: 1,069

Posts on Twitter: 10

Posts on Instagram: 7 (participated in the daily Instagram challenge #BoB25IGPhoto)

I am really looking forward to the next one. See below for the dates and hope that you all get to participate as well!

Dates of Next Readathon:

Bout of Books 26
8/19/19 – 8/25/19

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24 Hour Readathon – Goals

It’s that time!!!! Time for the semi-annual Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon!!!! Check back on Saturday, April 6th to see my progress. This is officially my 6th time participating. Here are some questions to help me prep and set goals for this round.

Are you participating for the whole 24 hours? I really wish I could participate for the whole 24 hours. Unfortunately, I will be hosting a garage sale that morning as part of our community yard sale. It is my opportunity to Marie Kondo my house, so I can’t pass this up. I am hoping to still read during slow moments or have the Harry Potter Book 4 audiobook blaring on our outdoor speakers. I also don’t believe that I’ll be able to stay up all night as I will have a late night on Friday. We are taking my mother-in-law to: A Night with Margaret Atwood. Super excited for this! So I believe my ultimate goal will be to read for: 15 hours.

What is on your TBR pile for the Readathon? I always make sure I have a lot of options, because I never know what I’ll be in the mood for. Here are the books I believe I will finish:

Here are some other books I may start or continue reading:

What snacks am I looking forward to? Since I’m going to have an early morning with last minute prepping for the garage sale, I plan on making a 6am run to Billy’s Donuts. It is a donut shop that just opened up in my neighborhood, so I am happy to finally support a new business, which in turn will support my readathon goals (or at least my hunger). I am always up for donuts and kolaches!

My Readathon TBR Pile

Anyone else participating in the Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon? If so, what will you be reading and snacking on? Also, I’ll be happy to cheer you on if you are participating.

HAPPY READING!!!

24in48 Readathon – January 26-27

We are less than two hours away from the beginning of the 24in48 Readathon! After a long and exhausting work week, I could use some good quality time with my books.

TBR:
Here is what I am hoping to read this weekend:

I will be reading in a wide variety of formats, including audiobooks, an ebook and a physical book. This variety should make the 24 hours go by really quickly.

Social Media:
I will be posting updates on multiple social media outlets:

• Litsy – @Morr_Books
• Twitter – @Morr_Books
• Goodreads – @Morr_Books
• My Blog – The Great Morrison Migration

Y’all should join me (or at least cheer me on lol). Go to the 24in48 homepage and sign-up. You may even win a nifty prize!

MY WEEKEND IS ALL BOOKED!!!

Bout of Books 24 – Day 4 Update

As I just returned from my holiday vacation, I thought participating in the Bout of Books read-a-thon would help me start 2019 on a good reading note. Plus, I always enjoy the Bout of Books read-a-thons. However, I have not made a lot of progress due to a lovely cold that I picked up on my travels home. I have one of those colds that causes horrible migraines, so reading has been a bit difficult. I have not completed any books yet, but I am hoping that the second half of this read-a-thon will be more productive.

Currently Reading:

She Lies in Wait (DCI Jonah Sheens, #1)

by Gytha Lodge

75/368 (20%)

Just Started: 

I started this audiobook, as I couldn’t read with my eyes at all yesterday.

The Library Book

by Susan Orlean

32/318 (10%)

Starting Soon:

The Coroner’s Lunch (Dr. Siri Paiboun, …
by Colin Cotterill

These are the three books I really want to complete by the end of Bout of Books 24. Wish me luck! Are you participating in the Bout of Books read-a-thon? If so, how are you doing? What are your goals?

 

WWW Wednesdays – October 24, 2018

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Time for another WWW Wednesdays, which is brought to you by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words. If you too want to participate, answer the above questions and post that link on Sam’s page.

Last weekend, I participated in Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon. It was so much fun! I got some good quality reading in. You can find my readathon wrap up here. Did you participate? Let me know and share any fun things you did during the readathon or helpful tips.

This weekend, I will be going to the Texas Book Festival in Austin, Texas. This will be my first book festival. Any recommendations from those who have attended book festivals before? Will any of you be there?

We are officially one month into Fall reading, and I have read 11 books on my Fall TBR. I am feeling pretty good about that progress.

Currently Reading

 

Recently Finished

The Personality Brokers by Merve Emre – audiobook

If you enjoy Gretchen Rubin’s The Four Tendencies and Anne Bogel’s Reading People, this will be the perfect book for you. The Personality Brokers gives the history behind the creation of the Myers-Briggs Personality Test (MBTI – Myers-Briggs Type Indicator). I remember taking this test in high school and then again in college. I recently retook the MBTI and am an ISFJ. Have you taken the quiz? How accurate has it been for you? I found it interesting that the MBTI was created through the experiments and research by a mother and daughter. I was fascinated by famous people (especially authors like Truman Capote) who used personality testing. However, this book can be a bit dry, so I liked it but didn’t love it.

The Royal Runaway by Lindsay Emory – NetGalley ARC ebook

Theodora is a princess in a land called Drieden. She is known for her antics of slipping away from the palace and doing her own thing. However, on her wedding day, she is not the one that runs away from the palace. It is her fiance that does not show up. Months after that horrible day, Theodora returns to her duties at the palace and again finds herself escaping the palace in the middle of the night. While out at a local pub, she meets a handsome and mysterious stranger, Nick. Turns out, Nick is not who he said he was but in reality is Theordora’s ex-fiance’s brother. Nick believes that his brother didn’t just runaway, but that there is a much bigger and also dangerous situation going on. As Nick and Theodora search for the truth, Theodora struggles with her loyalties to her royal position, her country and Nick.

If you like The Princess Diaries or the classic film Roman Holiday with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, then you should definitely read The Royal Runaway. It is a fun romance with a thrilling mystery plot.

Kiss Me, Kill Me and Other True Cases by Ann Rule – audiobook

This is a collection of true crime stories of “love” gone wrong like the Lonely Hearts Killer. These are crimes that occurred long before cases like the Laci Peterson murder by her husband, Scott Peterson. I love true crime and especially Ann Rule’s books, but I find this one more haunting than others, because these are crimes that could happen to any woman, who just wants to date. I myself went on a few blind dates back in the day. I would never have done that now after reading this book. Lots of trigger warnings for the descriptions of assaults. I still love Ann Rule. No true crime writer composes a story with such informative and useful information as she does. I always feel like I learn a bit more about detective work and forensic science when reading her books, but this one was a bit harder to stomach. SSDGM!

The Raven and Other Favorite Poems by Edgar Allen Poe – book

I have had this book on my book shelves for, since I was very young. I loved poetry when I was in middle school and was introduced to Edgar Allen Poe in an advanced English class in high school. I will say his poetry really holds up for me. I still love The Raven as much now as I did then and I really remembered and loved A Dream within a Dream. I’m really glad I used the readathon to revisit Poe.

Reading Next

 

I hope you all had a fantastic week of reading! Any thoughts on the books I’ve listed? What are y’all reading? If I haven’t already commented on your WWW post, please include it in the comments below.

HAPPY READING!!!

24 Hour Readathon Wrap-Up – October 2018

Another Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon has come to an end. I am bummed that we have to wait until April for the next one. It is always so much fun, and this time was no exception. This is how I did on the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the readathon – 24 Hour Readathon Begins! October 2018:

Readathon Goals:

• I want to read for at least 13 hours today. – I succeeded in reading more than 13 hours. I participated to Hour 19, but I read about 15 hours of that time.
• I want to complete 3 books. – I did read 3 books: a physical book, an ebook and an audiobook.
• I want to read at least 500 pages. – I read more than 500 pages.
• I want to complete at least 5 mini-challenges. – This is the one goal I didn’t complete.
• Get Bingo. – Got bingo: see pic below.

Social Media Activity:

I am not good with balancing my reading time and social media time. I tend to just want to focus on the reading part. I only did one Mini-Challenge this year. Any helpful tips you fellow readathoners can give me to help me participate in more social media challenges, while still getting quality reading time in?

• Goodreads: Commented on 12-15 threds, including more than 10 of the hourly threds.
• Litsy: Posted 6 times.
• Instagram: Posted 4 times.
• Twitter: Posted 7 times.
• Blog: Posted 2 times.

Helpful Tips:

• Do an audiowalk – even if the weather isn’t nice, maybe you can walk inside somewhere. Take an audiobook and stretch your legs for a while.
  
• Have healthy snacks as well as fun and slightly unhealthy snacks. I balanced out my taco dip (pictured below) with a fruit platter.
  
• Try to minimize distractions. I love having my husband around. He actually keeps me awake during the readathon, so I can participate longer. However, sometimes he can also be distracting. Plus, this year, I actually took a few hours out of the readathon to watch a baseball playoff game (been a Milwaukee Brewers fan since birth).

Closing Survey:

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? I bailed at Hour 19, which was about 2am my time.
2. Tell us ALLLL the books you read! I read The Royal Runaway (NetGalley ARC ebook), Kiss Me, Kill Me (audiobook), and The Raven and Other Favorite Poems (book). I did also start Different Seasons and Rooms.
3. Which books would you recommend to other Read-a-thoners? I love everything by Ann Rule, so even though Kiss Me, Kill Me was a bit hauntingly disturbing and graphic, I would highly recommend it – especially for true crime lovers like me.
4. What’s a really rad thing we could do during the next Read-a-thon that would make you happy? Have a record of what everyone has read during the readathon.
5. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? Would you be interested in volunteering to help organize and prep? I’m already counting down the days until the next readathon! I might be willing to help organize and prep. I could maybe do an hourly question or two for Goodreads.

Things to improve on for next readathon:

• I want to put in a bit more prep time. I had my TBR pile ready, but I waited until the last minute to get my snacks ready and was not prepared for updating on social media throughout the readathon. I appreciate any helpful tips y’all can provide me to improve my preparedness for the readathon.
• I would like to actually participate in more mini-challenges.
• I would like to have less distractions.

Next Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon = April 6, 2019

Here was the last book I picked up for the readathon:

It felt fitting for this Halloween season. How did you all do? Please share your readathon wrap-ups and any helpful recommendations and tips! Until next time….

24 Hour Readathon Begins! October 2018

It’s that time!!!! Time for the semi-annual Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon!!!!  As always I’m super excited and ready to go! I’ve got my TBR pile, snacks, and clothing (see photo off to the right) all prepared. This is officially my 5th time participating in this readathon. I do not anticipate making it the full 24 hours, but I am geared up to get some quality reading time in that will help me achieve my yearly reading goals.

Readathon Goals:

• I want to read for at least 13 hours today.
• I want to complete 3 books.
• I want to read at least 500 pages.
• I want to complete at least 5 mini-challenges.
• Get Bingo.

Bingo:

TBR (soooo many to chose from):

Obviously I don’t intend to read all of the following, but I like to have a lot of options to chose from in all different types of reading tools, like physical books, ebooks, and audiobooks. I’ve learned that a variety helps utilize every moment of the readathon to accomplish all your reading goals.

Physical Books

Ebooks

Audiobook

If you have never participated in this readathon before, I would recommend that you try it! It’s so much fun!

Here is my first read of the day: