The End!

End of Event Meme:

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? The last two hours were the hardest. I would read for 10 minutes, fall asleep for 5, read for 15 fall asleep for 10.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? The Originals by Cat Patrick kept me in great suspense which really helps keep you awake! 
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Have challenges that are quicker to participate in.
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? I think the whole system works really well. I love being a part of it
5. How many books did you read? 3
6. What were the names of the books you read? 
   Size 12 and Ready to Rock – Meg Cabot
   The Originals – Cat Patrick
   And We Stay – Jenny Hubbard
7. Which book did you enjoy most? The Originals
8. Which did you enjoy least? And We Stay but only because I had to pick a "least", I really enjoyed all the books I read
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? I was not a cheerleader, but I also did not really see that many cheerleaders. Every RAT the cheers become fewer and far between.
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? I will absolutely participate as a reader next RAT!

Currently reading: Thirteen Reasons Why – Jay Asher 

Pages read: 49Time spent reading: 1 hrBooks finished: 3Size 12 and Ready to Rock – Meg CabotThe Originals – Cat PatrickAnd We Stay – Jenny Hubbard Total of pages read: 1021Total of time spent reading: 16.75 hrsTotal of time spend blogging: 5 hrs

And now? Off to sleep!

Hour 22 and suffering

Oh my gosh I am SO TIRED!!!

Just finished my 3rd book... looking for another one for the next two hours. Here is my sleepy update

Currently reading: Thirteen Reasons Why – Jay Asher

Pages read: 85

Time spent reading: 75 minutesBooks finished: 3Size 12 and Ready to Rock – Meg CabotThe Originals – Cat PatrickAnd We Stay – Jenny HubbardTotal of pages read: 939Total of time spent reading: 14.75 hrsTotal of time spend blogging: 4.25Snacks: strawberriesChallenges Entered: Staying awake is challenge enough for me right now

Hour 19!

Okay, I'm starting to get sleepy now. And Husband went to bed so we are on our own to ward off sleepiness. 

Currently reading: And We Stay – Jenny Hubbard

Pages read: 80

Time spent reading: 90 minutes

Books finished:
Size 12 and Ready to Rock – Meg Cabot
The Originals – Cat Patrick

Total of pages read: 798

Total of time spent reading: 12.5

Total of time spend blogging: 3.5

Snacks: Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans

Challenges Entered: Book Balancing

Wow, hour 17 already!

I finished book #2 and let me tell you, it was AWESOME!

Currently reading: And We Stay - Jenny Hubbard

Pages read: 96

Time spent reading: 90 minutes

Books finished: Size 12 and Ready to Rock – Meg CabotThe Originals – Cat Patrick

Total of pages read: 718

Total of time spent reading: 11 hrs

Total of time spend blogging: 3.25 hrs

Snacks: Drum roll for the hubby please...... he made guacamole, hummus and salsa all from scratch. Yup, I've got me a keeper ladies!

Challenges Entered: Uncomfy Challenge

Hour 15 has come and almost gone

Hubby decided to join us in reading briefly before going back to his 24 marathon.

Currently reading: The Originals – Cat Patrick

Pages read: 82

Time spent reading: 75 minutes

Books finished: Size 12 and Ready to Rock – Meg Cabot

Total of pages read: 622

Total of time spent reading: 9.5 hrs

Total of time spend blogging: 3

Snacks: none

Challenges Entered: Book Blending 

Begining hour 14

Totally does not feel like we have been reading for 14 hours (well only 11 hrs for me) Amazing how the day can just fly right by! Congrats to my mom for winning a door prize!!!!!

She is very excited!

Also a big thanks goes out to Rat-Boy for once again taking the Husband of the Year award by giving me a massage to boost my reading energy!

Currently reading: The Originals – Cat Patrick (I am LOVING this book!)

Pages read: 65

Time spent reading: 1 hr

Books finished: Size 12 and Ready to Rock – Meg Cabot

Total of pages read: 540

Total of time spent reading: 8.25

Total of time spend blogging: 2.5

Snacks: Orange Spice Iced Tea

Challenges Entered: Name in Titles

Abandon

Silver is for Secrets

Haunting Beauty

Learn to Meditate

Eat Better, Live Better

You're Late Again Lord

HALF WAY THERE!!!

Na na na na Na na na na RAT BOYYY

My husband, the superhero of all our readathon needs

Currently reading: The Originals – Cat Patrick

Pages read: 52

Time spent reading: 1 hr

Books finished: Size 12 and Ready to Rock – Meg Cabot

Total of pages read: 476

Total of time spent reading: 7.25

Total of time spend blogging: 2.25

Snacks: PIZZAAAAAA!!! And veggies and dip!

Challenges Entered:

 Mid-Event Survey

1. What are you reading right now? The Originals - Cat Patrick
2. How many books have you read so far? Just one but I got a late start
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? I don't really know, the one I am reading now is great and I'm only on page 52
4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day? I had to work this morning so no, I wasn't able to free up the whole day
5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? Previously mentioned work hours, but I read for an hour the night before to make up for it and then rushed home from work as soon as possible
6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? nothing really, I'm used to the fabulousness of it
7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Yes, I suggest challenges that don't take so long to do. Simple and quick is the key. Since we are all counting our pages and hours read, who wants to waste precious time?
8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year? Nothing, besides not work
9. Are you getting tired yet? No *cough* mom *cough* I am NOT tired... and just because I yawned doesn't mean I was tired, I was just breathing quickly and with a widely opened mouth!
10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered? Yes, two tips. 1) Do the readathon with a loved one so you can encourage each other 2) convince your husband to answer to your every beck and call, like I did with mine! oh one more... have lots of snacks ready... when your hand is moving to your mouth you can't fall asleep!

Hour 11

Currently reading: The Originals - Cat Patrick

Pages read: 112

Time spent reading: 90

Books finished: Size 12 and Ready to Rock – Meg Cabot

Total of pages read: 423

Total of time spent reading: 6.25

Total of time spend blogging: 1.75

Snacks: none

Challenges Entered: Shelfie

 After both mom's book and mine have mentioned pizza about a hundred times, Hubby... I mean RAT boy has offered to get us pizza :) Love having him around!!!

Susie is already tired! How is she ever going to last through the night?

Hour 9

Currently reading: Size 12 and Ready to Rock – Meg Cabot

Pages read: 96

Time spent reading: 90

Total of pages read: 311

Total of time spent reading: 4.75 hrs

Total of time spend blogging: 1.5

Snacks: Honey Roasted Sunflower Seeds

Challenges Entered: On Food & Books

A book inspired recipe: from Size 12 and Ready to Rock by Meg Cabot

Pink Greyhound

2 ounces vodka

4 ounces freshly squeezed pink grapefruit juice

Ice

Optional Garnish : rosemary sprig

Hour 7 and still reading

Currently reading: Size 12 and Ready to Rock - Meg Cabot

Pages read: 64

Time spent reading: 60 minutes

Total of pages read: 215

Total of time spent reading: 3.25 hrs

Total of time spent blogging: 1 hr

Snacks: SUSHI!!!!!

Hour 5

Currently reading: Size 12 and Ready to Rock - Meg Cabot

Pages read: 86

Time spent reading: 90 minutes

Books finished: none yet

Total of pages read: 151

Total of time spent reading: 2.25 hrs

Snacks: trail mixes and coffee

Challenges Entered: Book Puzzles  guess the title

 

So excited to be reading a Meg Cabot book! She is one of my favorite authors and I have been looking forward to reading this book all month! 

My cat, Susie has decided to join us. Although she prefers looking at birds out the window over reading. 

Here I am! Hour 4

I'm here, back from my short work day. Joining in on hour 4 with these books and snacks!

 

Currently reading: Size 12 and Ready to Rock - Meg Cabot

Snacks: Trail mixes, chocolate covered espresso beans, dried fruit etc.

Challenges Entered: Intro Meme

It's Here... pick up your books and...

READ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? Central NY

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? Oh gosh, so many good ones, I can not pick! I have been very excited to finish the Size 12 series though!

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? Sushi!!!

4) Tell us a little something about yourself! I'm an only child, a mamma's girl, a wife and a mother to two adorable cats. I work as a Chiropractic Assistant to the most amazing Chiropractor/Boss a girl could have, I am a Young Living Essential Oils distributor because I believe in healing your body naturally, and I am a born again Christian. I'm hopelessly addicted to coffee, books and my smartphone, but I love being out doors, hiking, sun bathing or sipping wine on the porch.

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 umpteenth readathon and the only difference is that we are hosting this one at MY house this year instead of my mom's house! I am looking forward to the new cheerleading system, I hope it brings more cheers!

And on that note: 

Mom is here, snacks are out, books are stacked and blogs are ready! I have to work for a few hours this morning so I did a little reading last night in pre-RAT preparation.

Currently reading: Orange Is The New Black

Pages read: 65

Time spent reading: 45 mminutes

Ok, I am off to work and will join you around 11! Have a fabulous morning reading!

  

The Ratting Hour

Get some sleep tonight ladies and gents because tomorrow is the day we've all been training for! All those sleepless nights, gripping the pages with anxious fingers, eyes tracing the words of our latest addiction... all in preparation for this one event...

THE READ-A-THON!!!!!! 

That's right, it's here! And with it comes hours of snacking, blogging and propping our eyes open with toothpicks through all hours of the night! This has become a tradition for my mother and I, and while we have always done this at her house in the past, tomorrow we will be RATing at my house! AND my husband will be there to cater to our every need... err... ahem... I mean, to keep us company as we read. (See the rhyme I just made) And although he would love nothing more than dropping everything to read with us for 24 hrs, he has something called responsibilities to attend to. However, he will join us here and there as he gets a chance, and yes (be jealous) he offered to make us all kinds of snack platters and refill our cups when they are empty. Yes, we are newly weds and no, I don't expect this kind of willing servitude to last forever.

So here is the pile of books that my mother and I have accumulated and will share:

The snacks we will be consuming are:

Apples & Peanut Butter

Veggies & Dip and homemade Hummus

Chips & homemade Salsa

Strawberries

Clementines

Cheese & Crackers

Trail Mix

Chocolate covered Espresso Beans

Shrimp Cocktail

Sushi

Pizza

Iced Tea

and of course lots and lots of COFFEE

Please hop over to my mom's blog Wall-to-Wall Books and cheer her on as well!

Can't wait to see you all! Happy Reading!!!

It's Almost Here!!!!!

Guess what time it is!?!?! Time for the 24 Hour Read-A-Thon!!!!!!

This is it, the one time all of us readers get the chance to ignore the world around us, pick a dozen or so books, and read read read! Click the picture to be taken to the website where you can sign up for this spring's 24hr Read - A - Thon! I will be posting my list of books soon! So go get your snacks, and your books and your comfy clothes and I'll see you there!

Oh my Gosh, it's a book review!

I know, I know... it has been a LOOONNGGG while since I have reviewed a book on here. I belong to a few other social networks and when you work two jobs, have a long distance relationship and a mother that you enjoy spending time with, it's much easier to update a status than to write an entire post. However, as I sit here at my computer I find the urge to review the book I just read... so here goes:

The Sky is Everywhere - by Jandy Nelson

Lennie plays second clarinet in the school orchestra and has always happily been second fiddle to her charismatic older sister, Bailey. Then Bailey dies suddenly, and Lennie is left at sea without her anchor. Overcome by emotion, Lennie soon finds herself torn between two boys: Bailey's boyfriend, Toby, and Joe, the charming and musically gifted new boy in town. While Toby can't see her without seeing Bailey and Joe sees her only for herself, each offers Lennie something she desperately needs. But ultimately, it's up to Lennie to find her own way toward what she really needs-without Bailey. 


I am naturally drawn to books that rip your heart out and provoke massive tear flow. Well, this book accomplished both of those reactions. But don't worry, by the end of the book (and your box of tissues) your heart will be back in your chest, still aching but on the road to recovery.

Bailey's death is no surprise as the book starts four weeks after her death, and though you never meet Bailey, you fall in love with who she was through the many heartfelt descriptions and flashbacks told through Lennie's mournful eyes. Lennie is "the younger sister" by every definition of the phrase. She looked up to Bailey, walked in her footsteps, planned her future around being together. When all this is suddenly gone, she has to figure out who she is without her sister: "I am no longer a little sister. I am no longer a sister. Period." 

I love the way Nelson developed the story. There are many ways to mourn and Lennie's is to retreat. She hides inside herself, inside the room the sisters shared that is now Bailey's shrine. She doesn't talk to her friends, she doesn't reach out to her family, she doesn't tell anyone how she is really feeling. You can tell she is struggling to accept the reality she has been forced into. "I don't believe time heals. I don't want it to. If I heal, doesn't that mean I've accepted the world without her."

In between the chapters there are poems or stories or thoughts that Lennie writes on whatever scraps of paper she can get her hands on. This is when she is truly honest about what she is going through and let's herself feel the pain that she struggles so hard to avoid. I kept having to put the book down to wipe the tears from my eyes. 

"For days and days, the rain beat its fists on the roof of our house - evidence of the terrible mistake God had made. Each morning, when I woke, I listened for the tireless pounding, looked at the drear through the window and was relieved that at least the sun had the decency to stay the hell away from us."

"Everyone wants me to talk about it, but I can't. I'd need a new alphabet, one made of falling, of tectonic plates shifting, of the deep devouring dark."

"I wonder why bereaved people even bother with mourning clothes when grief itself provides such an unmistakable wardrobe."

"The unbearable fact is, I have a future and she doesn't.  This is when I realize: my sister will die over and over again for the rest of my life. Grief is forever. It doesn't go away, it becomes a part of you."

Read this book and you will never be the same.

ITS OVER!

Yay, it's over... here's the end of the RAT survey and then sleep for this girl and her mom.

Books Finished 3.75
Pages Read 961
Hours Reading 18
Hours Blogging 5

Which hour was most daunting for you? between 4am - 7am

Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? Depends on your prefered Genre... I asked mom to get me sad books because they keep me turning pages and keep my mind engaged. Unfortunately, while good, this last book I've been reading didn't have enough of a plot to keep me hooked. 

Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Easier challenges for those of us who really try hard to read for almost the whole 24 hrs. I find that a lot of the challenges take too long, so I end up skipping them all together.

What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? Everything! I love love love doing this, another successful year!

How many books did you read?  3 and 3/4ths

What were the names of the books you read? Forever Changes, Revived, Songs for a Teenage Nomad, and Virtuosity

Which book did you enjoy most? Forever Changes

Which did you enjoy least? I loved them all but Virtuosity is the least "thrilling.

If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? Post more frequently and on more blogs. I only got a few visits from cheerleaders.

How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? Next time I think I will be a cheerleader and part time reader. The staying up part is getting hard for me. I'll read while I can stay awake and cheer when I feel sleepy.

Only 3 more hours to go!

This will be my last post until the end. Thanks to everyone for visiting my blog and commenting to cheer my mother and I on. We're almost done and this little green guy is the exact representation of how I feel right now, but I will not give in! I snoozed for about 15 or 20 minutes but now I am awake and I will finish the RAT with eyelids poised, book in hand. For those of you still awake... STAY STRONG!

Currently Reading: 

Books Read:

Pages Read this hour: 59

Total Pages Read: 873