Read-a-thon recovery

Well, I made it until shortly after midnight. Just as I was getting into my book and thinking that maybe I'd make it a few more hours The Bug woke up crying. I brought him out here but the book distracted him from going back to sleep. I spent half an hour or so trying to get him to drop off and when he finally did I put him back to bed. Where he instantly started to cry and woke up the Pirate. The two of us traded kids for a bit before Mike sent me to bed. It was not a good couple of hours and we have no idea what got into them. In any case, the read-a-thon was over. This morning the Bug came into bed with me and slept for a couple of hours (HIGHLY unusual!)

Here's my "stats"
Time read: no idea. A solid hour and a half in the morning, then off and on until about 4. Home from the party at 9 and read from about 10 to 12.
Pages read: 417
Books read: 1 and a half (The Missing Ink: A Tattoo Shop Mystery by Karen E. Olson and Hunting Ground (Alpha & Omega, Book 2) by Patricia Briggs
Blogs visited: not many!
Twitter: yes

Lesson learned: It is possible to do the read-a-thon with small children, just lower your expectations. I advise against leaving in the middle as it's very hard to regain your motivation to stay up late. I'd love to be able to make it all night, perhaps the next one will be the one! Thanks to all the cheerleaders who left such great comments, and all the bloggers who did mini-challenges and organized us all.

Read-a-thon, a mini-challenge

Infant Bibliophile wants to know my 5 favorite children's books. I'm pretty sure I've told her all five at some point but here we go:

1. Doggies One Dog, Woof.
2. Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale - Where's Knuffle Bunny??
3. Llama Llama Red Pajama- Stop with all this llama drama
4. The Gruffalo-The Pirate: "Mommy, are Gruffalos real?"
5. How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?-Then one kiss more...

And that's all the review you get at midnight!

Read-a-thon, Hour 16? I think?

Back at it!

It's time to choose what I want to read next and I can't decide. Someone go look at my stack and tell me what to read.

Jill has a mini-challenge asking us about music associated with the read-a-thon or reading. I don't usually listen to music while I read, because usually Mike has the tv on. There is however one romance novel that really calls out to me for music. In the Midnight Rain by Ruth Wind is all about the blues and I can't help but want to listen to them whenever I reread the book. Or for that matter whenever I think about the book. The book itself has a very strong storyline (though the little mystery is easy to figure out) and strong main characters. The blues, however, are as much of the story as the people. The two cds I most want to listen to with it are Keb' Mo''s Keb Mo and BB King and Eric Clapton's Riding with the King (which is easily my favorite CD of all time, and which I have LOST!!) So, not a specific song, but a specific mood and a book that calls out for music.

The other specific song that reminds me of the Read-a-thon is the Harry Potter song that TRISH always links to! Trish! Where's our link??

Read-a-thon, update number four

Where were we? The boys are all three sleeping (what are the chances??) and I finally got to read some more.

Here's my stats:
Books read: 1- The Missing Ink by Karen E. Olson
Pages read: 299
Time spent reading: who the hell knows?
Mini-challenges done: 1, kinda
Blogs visited: 2
Realizations had: 1- I forgot to buy snacks. I am scrounging. Cheese stick anyone?

Yeah, I suck.

Unfortunately, we still have a family party to attend tonight so even though the house is finally quiet, I have to go get ready. I am hoping that by the time we get home the boys will be ready to crash and I can read into the wee hours with the rest of you.

How's everyone else holding up?

Read-a-thon, what Read-a-thon?

It's shortly before 1pm, we're just over 6 hours into the Read-a-thon. I've managed to read almost 200 pages. Bah.

They are currently playing in the doghouse perhaps I can get a few minutes in now!

I hope everyone else's reading is going well.

Read-a-thon: Trending on Twitter, Lookit us go!

Look at all the readers this morning! I got to read for just over an hour before the boys woke up. I suspect it will be a while before I can jump back in with my full attention.

Meanwhile over at Wordlily there is a mini-challenge to capture a screen shot of the #readathon trending on Twitter. I have tried for the last 30 minutes to upload my screenshot but no dice. You'll just have to trust me on it!

Read-a-Thon: It begins again.

Good Morning Read-a-Thon'ers!
It's 6 am and I just settled in with a cup of coffee (pre-loaded the coffee pot, yes I did!) and two big stacks of books. I'll be lucky to get one or two read all day, but I need CHOICES.






This first stack is my library stack, minus a few sewing books. There's a nice mix here of YA, nonfiction, mystery and crafting books. Chocolat and the Nora Roberts are both large print so that hopefully I can read while I ride the bike for the 100 Mile Challenge.

The ones in this stack are my personal books. I thought I'd throw in a couple romance novels in case the mood struck, plus there's In the Woods.

I know everyone else posted their stacks earlier in the week, I just got around to taking my pictures last night. I'm hoping to get an hour or so in before the boys wake up and join me.

Game ON!

The Read-a-Thon OR I May Be Crazy(TSS)

Next Saturday is the 24 Hour Read-a-Thon. I've wavered a lot on it. I was in, then I wasn't. I really would like to participate, even just a little. So I went ahead and signed up! It is entirely possible that I'll get a couple hours in and that's it. I'll be solo parenting next weekend, both on Saturday and Sunday, and I don't wanna kill myself trying to read. But I'm gonna do it anyway.

So what will I read? I just went to Goodreads and made myself a library shelf and I'm working on adding all my library books to it (I'm also gonna add it to my sidebar and try to keep it updated.) I haven't taken a picture of them yet but will before it starts. I'm also adding In the Woods because I hear it's spooky and the middle of the night the weekend before Halloween seems like a good time for spooky. I'll also add anything else I've already started.

I REALLY hope the cheerleaders are good this time! (Last time they kind petered out in the middle of the night when I really could have used the help!)

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a TON of stuff to get done before Saturday!

So much to do, so little time!

I'm behind. I'm running out of time and motivation in my days well before I get everything I want done. I need to be staying up later or getting up earlier or something. The new sewing room is so lovely and enticing at 5 pm, but by the time I can get down there at 8pm I'm already settling in at the computer instead. I've got tons of things I want to work on as well as a few things with deadlines, but that chair is just so darn comfy.



I've got stacks of books that I really want to read, and every day at least one book I already own is blogged somewhere and suddenly I urgently need to read it. Fortunately the Read-a-thon is coming and perhaps I can catch up a little there. Still haven't formally signed up since I already know I'll be going it alone with the boys all day that day, but I will.



And Google Reader! WOW. I've managed to overwhelm myself with all your lovely blogs. I turned off total unread counts several weeks ago so that I am not stressed out by it, but I can tell you it's closer to 1000+ than to 0. Which leads me to mention something else- with so many blogs, many of which have the word "books" in the title, it's sometimes hard for me to keep you all straight. Here's what I've started to do: if you don't post a lot I still read you one or two posts at a time. If you're a frequent poster I tend to let you build up for a week (or two if I'm really behind) and then read it all in one fell swoop. I'll click through on the ones that I want to comment on, so you sometimes see me posting comments to several old posts all at once. This actually works well for me because then I can focus on YOUR blog instead of it being scattered in with a lot of others. Obviously, there are exceptions to this, but right now it's working for me. The other benefit is that I can skim all those weekly memes at all once instead of spending all day Tuesday paging through Tuesday Teasers. The downfall is that I miss most contests and catch a lot of great conversations at the tail end.

Edited to add: Just as I hit publish on this post I got notification that I won a slot in a ecourse on marketing your craft business. I am SO excited to take the class, I really think it'll be incredibly useful, but there's more time to set aside.

Any tips? What do you do when you feel overwhelmed by everything? To do lists? Naps? Blog breaks (no!)? Hole up with a good book and a glass of wine? How do you keep your blog reader managable? (Yes, I know I'm subscribed to too much stuff. I'm working on that one.) What is the first thing to go when you're feeling behind? What do you find impossible to give up?

Random Friday

-Is that love? The Bug isn't so sure.

- The read-a-thon kicked my butt well into Tuesday. I'm still glad I did it but zzzzzzzz. I haven't wanted to blog much either, and still have three reviews to write up.

- I have UNsubscribed to at least a dozen blogs in the last week. The common denominator? All of them had partial feeds. I've been ruthless. I think there are only 3 or 4 left that I intend to save. There may be more that just haven't been noticed yet.

- It was beautiful and sunny in the upper 70s here for two days in a row. Tomorrow it is supposed to snow again, but hopefully only an inch or so.

-Last night I made popcorn for the Pirate on the stove, in part due to this post at Salt and Chocolate and this one at Soulemama. (If you aren't reading those blogs, you should be.) When I poured it out of the pan I burnt the hell out of my arm exactly where you arm rests on your desk if you're typing with lazy posture.

-Did you know you could subscribe to people's flickr streams in Google Reader?

-I made two more custom banners. They are seriously cute, if I say so myself. Now I need time in the sewing room to make some other things. Speaking of the sewing room, I sew in the basement. There are no windows and it's a pretty dark room. I almost have the layout just right- if only my cutting table were square or rectangular instead of round- but I need a way to make it more fun. I'm thinking paint. Anyone know a good color of paint for a windowless basement?

-I'm having some spacing issues with blogger (again), please excuse me if this post is super long and full of white space!

.

Read-a-Thon: All Done

The Read-a-thon was a lot of fun, but man I could use a nap! I ended up reading for a total of 9 hours and 43 minutes. I read 738 pages. I read 3 entire books and finished off a 4th. I totally could not have done it if Mike hadn't been so awesome and taken over kid duty for much of the day. I went to bed at 2:30, but I really think I could have made it all night if I hadn't started to worry about this morning. As you can maybe tell from my posting, the Bug was up before 6! Mike left home before 6 as well. I managed to get them both to doze until about 6:30 but it wasn't real sleep. I'm glad I took the chance to get those three hours sleep in! Today ought to be interesting, to say the least. I'm hoping the experience kicked off a nice binge of reading for me, but hopefully without the time-keeping!


Here are my answers to the wrap up questions:

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?
Around mid-afternoon I got restless, which was probably the worst. I wasn't that tired when I went to bed, but I was worried about being dead today so I went.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? More middle of the night cheerleaders. After about 11 I had very few visits to my blog and I think it really would have helped.
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? I really liked the twittering.
5. How many books did you read? 3 whole books, and finished off a previous started one
6. What were the names of the books you read? Gimme Shelter by Mary Beth Williams, A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg, Paper Towns by John Green and Wake by Lisa McMann
7. Which book did you enjoy most? Gimme Shelter
8. Which did you enjoy least? hard to say, none were bad
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? n/a
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? if the stars align so that I have as much wonderful help as I did this time, I'd read again.

.

read-a-thon: 5:45 am :the bug says good morning...

Good Morning Read-a-thoners!

The Bug wanted to wake up in time to tell ya'll goodnight!

Read-a-Thon: 2:30 am. I'm calling it.

I don't have the desire to start something new, and morning will be here soon. If I had tomorrow to myself I'd try to go the whole 24, but my boys both get up so early. I'll be alone with them for much of the day so I'm calling it. I had a blast. I'll write a proper wrap up tomorrow, I mean later today.

TRISH. Thank you for making me do it. *mwah*


.

Read-a-thon: 2 am. Holy shit I'm awake at 2 am.

Blerg.

Hours 18-20:

Minutes read: 105 (I think. I'll have to check all this math tomorrow. I mean today. Later.)
Pages read: 210
Total minutes reading:583
Total pages read: 738
Books completed: 4 (Gimme Shelter by Mary Elizabeth Williams and A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg and Paper Towns by John Green and Wake by Lisa McMann)
Minutes online:75?
Drinks consumed: Part of an energy drink.
Food eaten: some BBQ chips and some vanilla cookies
Coherent thoughts: not many

I could probably continue another hour or so, I think, but I'm starting to worry about tomorrow. I will be solo parenting for much of tomorrow, so it could suck. Is the coolness of making 24 hours worth a sucky day?

.

Read-a-Thon: 11pm, the read-a-thon gets quiet

People must be dropping, after steady comments all day I've only had one in the last two hours!

Here's my updated stats:

Hours 16 & 17

Minutes read: 116
Pages read: 155
Total minutes reading:593
Total pages read: 683
Books completed: 3 (Gimme Shelter by Mary Elizabeth Williams and A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg and Paper Towns by John Green)
Minutes online:0
Minutes lost:4
Drinks consumed: 1 water with flavor
Food eaten: 2 dove chocolates

Finished up Paper Towns by John Green. I think I like Looking for Alaska more. Will review it some time next week! Trying to decide what to pick up next- do I go for Sarah Dessen or something more exciting like In the Woods or The Hunger Games? If it's TOO tense I'll stop reading (hello! Freezer book!) but if it's too relaxed I might get sleepy.

I think I'm going to spend a little time online leaving comments- I'm not following twitter because it's too much and too distracting and the feeling of community is slipping a little. I hope all the rest of you are still going strong!

.

Read-a-thon: 9 pm. The boys go to bed.

Recap for hours 13-15:

Minutes read: 131
Pages read: 150
Total minutes reading:477
Total pages read: 528
Books completed: 2 (Gimme Shelter by Mary Elizabeth Williams and A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg)
Minutes online:
Minutes nursing: 10
Minutes doing kid stuff: 20?
Minutes lost:
Drinks consumed: 1 Diet Mountain Dew
Food eaten: none

I picked up Paper Towns by John Green for my next book. For the first chapter I really didn't know if I was gonna be able to read it- Ben annoys the SNOT out of me. Fortunately, he's calmed down some and isn't as major a character as expected. I'm 150 pages in, and if you've read it- the boys just skipped school together to take a road trip.

I haven't been visiting many other bloggers, and I feel kinda bad, but I keep expecting to need to do that in the wee hours.

Thanks to everyone who agrees that the Bug is a cutie. He really is, if I say so myself. The boys have gone to bed for the night and the house is quiet. Now it's time to see how late I'll really make it. This is when the cheerleaders would come in really handy!


.

Read-a-thon: 6pm Halfway

Totals for hours 10 -12

Minutes read: 87
Pages read: 110
Total minutes reading:346
Total pages read: 378
Books completed: 2 (Gimme Shelter by Mary Elizabeth Williams and A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg)
Minutes online: I don't know
Minutes nursing: 0
Minutes doing kid stuff: a lot
Minutes lost:
Drinks consumed: 1 Diet Mountain Dew
Food eaten: Twizzlers, Homemade Burger and fries
Trips to the store: 1

In the last 3 hours I've managed to read the last 66 pages of A Homemade Life, bringing my total completed up to 2. I didn't read the entire book today, which kinda feels like cheating, but ah well. I'm not sure what's next, probably something fiction. There's a couple more hours before the boys are in bed, then just the challenge of staying awake. I'm having a blast though, and hope everyone else is too.

.

Read-a-thon: 5:15pm Intermission

I took a little reading break to play with this cutie. Then the rest of the house woke up from naps and I ran to the store for dog food and hamburger buns. Mike is making burgers and fries and I hope to be back in the swing of things around 6. I'll recap numbers before I start back in earnest.

.

Read-a-thon: 3 pm. One finished, and a challenge

I finished my first book! I took the rest of the hour off to celebrate and did the following mini-challenge from The Curious Reader:

1. What is the name of your local library? What city is it located in? The Rapid City Public Library, in Rapid City.
   
2. How often do you go to the library? If you're a regular, do the staff know you? Every couple of weeks, more often if holds come in. No, the staff are pretty unfriendly.
   
3. Do you browse while you're there or just pick up items you have placed on reserve? I always browse the new releases, and occasionally the YA. I rarely browse the stacks unless I'm already back there for something specific.
   
4. What is your favorite thing about your local library? The COFFEE SHOP.

And my stats for hour 9:

Minutes read: 33
Pages read: 44
Total minutes reading:292
Total pages read: 312
Books completed: 1 (Gimme Shelter)
Minutes online: 27
Minutes nursing: 0
Minutes doing kid stuff: 0
Minutes lost: none!
Drinks consumed: 0
Food eaten: 0

Hey! I finished my first book! I'm a bit sad that it took me 9 hours of read-a-thon to do it! I've read for 292 minutes, which is what? almost 5 hours? I think I'm going to move on to something quicker next. I'll review the book itself later this week.

I think I'm due for a little pick me up, soda or Twizzlers maybe. The boys will be awake soon, and I'm sure my afternoon reading will slow down even more until after the Bug goes to bed. Even just reading one book in a day is a big deal lately, so if I stop now it's still a success. (No, I'm not stopping now. But I might shower.)

.

Read-a-Thon: 2 pm. Getting back on track

Hours 7&8:

Minutes read: 39
Pages read: 52!
Total minutes reading:259
Total pages read: 268
Minutes online: heck if I know
Minutes nursing: 10ish
Minutes doing kid stuff: uh...
Minutes lost: a lot
Drinks consumed: 1 glass of water with flavor added
Food eaten: Triscuits, cheese, and hardboiled eggs for lunch, a handful of vanilla cookies

I kinda lost track of time from noon until about 1:30. I made lunch and ate it, walked outside. My family came home and I played with the kids a bit before putting them down for a nap (they are both asleep as I type, in the same room, and the Bug KNEW the Pirate was in there and still went to sleep! This is a first!) The Pirate got a new lightsaber and Darth Mater costume, both of which he conned his daddy into buying. Still wearing pajamas.

Reading notes: VERY close to finishing Gimme Shelter by Mary Elizabeth Williams. Still good, but I think I'm ready for something different. Starting to debate what order would be best for the rest of my stack.

.