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….

Advertisement

WWW Wednesdays – August 15, 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.

I had a great time reading for the 25inFive Readathon which ran from August 9 – August 13. It was difficult to read 5 hours on the weekdays when I was working, but I made up for it on the weekend. I felt that this was a good excuse to take time for myself and indulge a bit in my reading life. The readathon helped me catch up on some library loans and NetGalley ARCs. Otherwise, I only read about an hour to three hours a day.

Currently Reading

Finished Reading

The President is Missing – This political thriller is a little too realistic. The president realizes that someone in his White House inner circle may be assisting terrorists who have planted a cyber-virus so decides to go off-grid to help save the country. While I don’t believe that any president would be as hands-on as this one was or even be allowed to be, it definitely was a thrilling page-turner. It reminded me a lot of the movie War Games. I think it is terrifying to realize that technology really does run every aspect of our lives – our electricity, water systems, Wall Street, etc. However, there is a section in the book where the discussion of cyber attacks drags on and on, so I skipped ahead a bit at that part. I also thought the end was way too wordy, though I did laugh a bit at the part where the president tells Russia to stay out of our elections. Overall, I thought this was a good book – much better than some of the reviews I’ve read.

Saved by the Cowboy – I received this ARC from NetGalley. It is a cute romantic novella that includes an exciting main character, Olivia, her crazy family, a sexy sheriff, friendly townsfolk and love letters hidden under the floor boards of an older house. While I didn’t like the Sheriff as the main love interest – found him a bit dry – and didn’t quite feel the passion between the Sheriff and Olivia, I enjoyed Olivia’s search for the meaning of lasting love, and how she thought that finding old love letters between her grandparents would shed some light on that.

Whitey Bulger: America’s Most Wanted Gangster and the Manhunt That Brought Him to Justice – I was looking for an audiobook to listen to when I came across this one. I’ve been on a true crime kick all year, and when I saw this one on RB Digital (a library app), I had to get it. I lived in Boston when they caught Whitey Bulger, and this story dominated the news for over a year. This book was published shortly after Whitey Bulger’s capture and gives specific details of the dealings (including murder) he and his crew had in parts of Boston including Southie where I used to live. I thought this was a very comprehensive telling of the Whitey Bulger story by two award-winning Boston Globe journalists.

Reading Next

What are y’all reading this week? Any recommendations?

HAPPY READING!!!

 

WWW Wednesdays – July 18, 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.

I haven’t done this post in a while, so I’m trying to catch-up a bit.

Currently Reading

A Tale of Two Murders by Heather Redmond

This is a NetGalley ARC mystery, published by Kensington Books. Two mysterious deaths occur that grab the attention of a young, ambitious journalist named Charles Dickens. Yes…it is thee Charles Dickens. I find that it is like taking a look into the life of Charles Dickens through a fictional tale. I am a bit into this book and am really enjoying it so far.

Roomies by Christina Lauren

I have never read anything by Christina Lauren and am looking forward to diving into this book. I only just started.

Educated by Tara Westover

I am listening to this book through my Libby app. This is a memoir about a girl who had a very secluded childhood in a religious, anti-government, survivalist family. She does not any formal education until she decides to go to college. As memoirs go, this has been a fascinating one so far.

Finished Reading

Beloved by Toni Morrison

This book has been on my Goodreads TBR list, since I first got a Goodreads account in 2010. With it making the list of the PBS 100 Great American Reads, I decided to finally pick it up. This book took me a long time to get through. I have to be honest, this book was not as powerful to me as it was to many other people I know, because I was a bit confused what was happening for most of it. The language, while beautiful, was confusing. I didn’t truly grasp what was happening until close to the end of the book. This is one of the few times I had to look-up more detailed reviews and synopses about a book after I finished it. I feel like it was the fact that there was some magical realism that made it a tough read for me. Did anyone else have this issue?

Down with Love by Kate Meader

I got this ARC from NetGalley and wanted to like it. It was a cute story with some entertaining characters – Charlie’s parents reminded me of my own parents and I loved Gina. However, the writing was just not great in places. This following quote drove me a bit nuts: “His hand in mine is the hot fudge sauce on my sundae, the relish on my dog, the topper on my Christmas tree.” I also dislike when a story-line is progressing between the characters and then one of the main characters decides to address the reader. I prefer not to be addressed by the characters but to live through their story. My basic synopsis is: Jaded bachelor, who does not believe in the institution of marriage, falls for spirited wedding planner, who very much believes in marriage and love.

Reading Next

Mindhunter by John Douglas

I have an audiobook version of this waiting for me on my Libby app. I really enjoyed the Netflix series based on this book, so am looking forward to diving into more detail about the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit.

The Lucky Dress by Aimee Brown

This is next up on my NetGalley ARC TBR list, published by Aria, and I believe it will be a nice balance while I am reading Mindhunter. 

Let me know what you are currently reading!

HAPPY READING!!!