Dewey Read-A-Thon | Midway Survey

I have finished two books this Read-A-Thon. This is my most productive one in a while! Woohoo!

This Read-A-Thon I did make sure to schedule in some naps. I had the first one just now and it was a quick little catnap. Definitely helpful. How are y'all doing?

Okay, okay. Time for the mid-event survey!

1. What are you reading right now?

I just finished one book and next I'll be picking up The Feckin' Book of Everything Irish. 

2. How many books have you read so far?

I've read 2 books, totaling over 700 pages!

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?

I'm co-hosting tonight! From 11 PM to 2 AM Eastern!

4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?

I did have a bit of a distraction when my Mom needed to chat with me, but it's all good.

5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?

It's seems so quiet. Then noisy. Then quiet. Then noisy. We read in waves!

Dewey's Read-A-Thon Mini-Challenge - You're Wearing That?

I'll be the first to admit, I'm not that crazy about clothes. Does it fit? Yes. Is it comfortable? Yes. Then I'll buy it (give or take). Though I do often have a weakness for funny or bookish t-shirts and dark denim jeans. Other than that, I really don't care about clothes, especially fancy dresses.

With one exception.

In the book Elvenborn, Lady Lydiell shows up to a dinner wearing a dress that, at first glance looks like a simple sparkly, silver dress. Upon closer inspection, however, the dress is show to be made of chain mail with tiny plates hosting tiny diamonds. It was so well crafted another character wonders if it could turn a blade. The only fancy/pretty dress I will ever truly want.

In terms of more practical clothing, I love the armor from Jay Posey's Outriders. That stuff is so responsive and lightweight the main character feels it's like a second skin. At the same time, it's stronger than most futuristic bullets, can survive in low atmosphere, has food(ish) & water available, and has the ability to sense the coloration of its environment and adjust its camouflage accordingly! Tell me that wouldn't be cool to wear!

This gets me thinking: have you ever read about an outfit that you would want for yourself? Not just an accessory (i.e. an invisibility cloak) but a full outfit. 

In the comments section, let me know the clothing, the book it's from and why you want it. This is a free-for-all, no restrictions on genre, magical or not, etc. The description and reason for wanting it that I like the most wins a $15 gift card to either Amazon or Barnes & Nobles (winner's choice). Please also make sure you leave a way to get a hold of you. A twitter handle or an email address (i.e. username   @   domain   .   com). I'll even give you 3 hours to enter!

Readathon Mini-Challenge

 

I'll always be a bookworm first, but I've also really enjoyed getting into games and gaming over the past few years. Not just video games, but also small phone games, board games and just a touch of D&D. It got me thinking about my books from a gaming perspective.

I came up with a basic outline for a Pride, Prejudice & Zombies RPG (not the Freeverse game) where you have to balance your social standing with your ability to kill zombies. For example, if you choose to train in China instead of Japan, you'd start out with greater killing skill, but a lower social standing. At the same time, if you choose to spend time gossiping or dancing, instead of reading or practicing, your social standing increases, but your killing skills decrease. Sounds rough,I know, but it's just a basic outline.

This makes me wonder, which book or series do you think would make a good game? It doesn't even have to be a video game or RPG. It can be a board game inspired by or straight out of a book. Even a card game. Just tell me the book/series, the name of the game, the type of game, and some of its rules. You don't have to flesh out the whole thing.

I do have one restriction in all of this: you cannot pick a book or series that already has a game. This means no Harry Potter, no Lord of the Rings, no Dragonriders of Pern, etc. Yes, this disqualifies my own idea, but so be it, I'm hosting. For what it's worth, I'm not going to research if the book/series you selected actually is a game.

My favorite idea will win a $15 gift card to either Amazon or Barnes & Nobles (your choice). To enter, all you need to do is tell me your idea in the comments below. You will need to leave some way (twitter handle, email address) to get a hold of you, should you win. I will leave this challenge open for the rest of the Read-A-Thon. Good luck and GAME ON!

Dewey 24 Hour Read-A-Thon: Mid-Event Survey

I gotta admit, I'm not socializing as much during this event as I would like. In my defense, The Deaths of Tao by Wesley Chu was pretty friggin' engaging. Especially with right music playing in my headphones. I mean, I even knew who was going to live and who wouldn't and I STILL let myself get totally emotionally engaged! So, forgive me for posting this an hour late. And for not socializing as much..I'll do better after I chug this energy drink.

Anyways, Mid-Event Survey!

1) What are you reading right now? 

      I just finished a very emotional read. Gonna go to The Non-Adventures of Wonderella for a while.

2) How many books have you read so far?
     2. Both of which I, technically, started reading before the Read-A-Thon. But they still count, right?

3) What book are you most looking forward to for the 2nd half the Read-A-Thon?
     I have no clue what books I'm going to read after I calm down from that last one so I honestly can't say!

4) Have you had many interruptions? If so, how did you deal with them?
     Actually, I've really only had to take breaks for the sake of stretching, eating or bathroom breaks. Overall I've been pretty well able to focus on the reading.

5) What surprises you most about the Read-A-Thon so far?
     How little cheering I've been doing. Usually I'm better about that. I gotta fix that for the second half.

Dewey Read-A-Thon Update: 4 Hours Down!

Okay, okay. I know I told myself I was going to post at noon, but I've had a lot of coffee so I was really focused on my book. I'm currently going back and forth between "The Deaths of Tao" by Wesley Chu and "How to Read Nature" by Tristan Gooley. I've made significant progress in both of them and am very happy about that.

I have reached a point with the coffee, however, where I'm going to need to drink water only for a few hours. Coffee helps my focus almost too much and I haven't given as much time to cheering as I'd like. Better get to it!

Dewey Read-A-Thon: Hour Zero Opening Survey

EEEEE!!! It's time! It's time! It's time for the Read-A-Thon!!!! I'm so excited!!! So many new people are joining us and I just know it's gonna be fun!!

My loving hubby, Fluxxdog, has already started making the bisausegg for breakfast and he made me coffee! Isn't that sweet?

Anyways, to get the party started, we have the opening survey!

1) Where are you reading from?

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

4) Tell us a little something about yourself.

5) What's something your doing different for this readathon than you have in the past?

Dewey Read-A-Thon Plan

It's that time again! Time for my favorite bi-annual holiday! Heck, my favorite of all the holidays! The Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon!!!!!!! There will be so much reading, so many books, so much talking about books and so many fellow readers! I'm so looking forward to another 24 hours of hyperactive reading and Twitter conversations about reading! Fluxxdog can tell you, I get more excited about this than I do Christmas!

So, I'm going to have a general plan with no specifics because, let's face it, nothing EVER goes according to plan, especially my mornings. Every Read-A-Thon I wake up at 7 AM (it starts at 8 AM for me) and plan to do a, b and c to get ready. Every Read-A-Thon at 7 AM I end up doing a, d, f and 8 instead. So, yes, general plans, nothing specific. 

I'm still planning on spending time cheering on others on Twitter. Maybe some blogs, we'll see how it goes. If you'd like me to visit your blog, Twitter or YouTube channel during the Read-A-Thon, leave me a comment with a URL and I'll be sure to cheer you on! I'm also keeping the schedule tentative because the volunteer sign ups mentioned hosting Twitter Parties!!!! I'm one of the most socially withdrawn and awkward people, but I LOVE hosting Twitter chats and parties! I don't get it either. I'm really hoping I get picked for that. I'm also hoping that my idea for a mini-challenge gets accepted. It's always fun to read people's ideas. So, yeah, tentative schedule until I know more about what all I'm going to be doing.

I'm really hoping for a repeat of last Read-A-Thon where I ended up laughing so much at what I was reading that I was able to keep up my energy. Even the Hour 20 wall didn't hit as hard. With that in mind, I'm going to try to have a bunch of fun/funny books, comics and web comics on hand to help me through any reading slumps. I'm also going to have an audiobook on backup in case of emergency grocery shopping trip or something. You can never be too prepared!

Tentative Schedule:

7 AM - Wake up and prep.

8 AM - Post opening meme and begin reading.

10 AM - Stretches and cheering.

12 PM - Update post.

2 PM - Stretches and cheering.

4 PM - Update post.

6 PM - Stretches and cheering.

8 PM - Update post.

10 PM - Stretches and cheering.

12 AM - Update post.

3 AM - Break out the comics and web comics.

4 AM -Update post.

6 AM - Remind myself that age 31 is NOT too old for this sort of thing.

8 AM - Go to bed!

Tentative Reading Material:

The Dinosaur Four by Geoff Jones

The Sea is Ours by Jaymee Goh and Joyce Chng

The Deaths of Tao by Wes Chu

The Non-Adventures of Wonderella by Justin Pierce

The Adventures of Dr. McNinja by Christopher Hastings

Grrl Power by Dave Barrack

Mogworld (audio book) by Yahtzee Croshaw

Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson

Chimichanga by Eric Powell

And, no, naturally I'm not expecting to read ALL of these. I just like to make sure I keep my options open. ^_^

So, that's my tentative Dewey Read-A-Thon plan! Are you partaking? Let me know!

Dewey Read-A-Thon | 5 AM Update

Okay, I only gotta stay up reading for 3 more hours. I'm getting a lot of support from other readers on Twitter (seriously gotta love the reading community). I'm not sure what to say for an update so I'm going to give you my page counts. 

Keep in mind, I don't count one comic strip as one page so I will give you the number of strips read and then the converted page count for the three web comics I've been reading.

Romantically Apocalyptic - 268 strips (134 pages)

Yosh! - 777 strips (259 pages)

The Devil's Panties - 3,332 strips (833 pages)

I'll admit, part of me is tempted to cut back the count on The Devil's Panties because the majority of the strips are one line or less so maybe I should divide by 8 instead of 4, but I'll make that call AFTER I've gotten a fair amount of sleep. Let me know what you think.

In the meantime:

Dewey Readathon Mini-Challenge: All-You-Can-Eat!

Hello everyone! Happy Readathon!!!!! It's 3 AM and if I know my stomach, it's time to eat! I try to be careful of what I eat during the Readathon because I don't want my stomach to get sick nor do I want to risk a sugar crash. Plus, not all foods mix with books, as many of us know. Still, we need to read and we need to eat so it got me thinking: if I had a bookish restaurant, specifically an All-You-Can-Eat Buffet, what foods would I use?

For me, personally, I'd want to make sure I included a Hobbit style feast, drink selections from Pern, the pure sugar sculpture desserts from Elvenbane. I'd also want a "garden" section for the food trees from Xanth that can grow whole pies, cakes, and dragons steaks! Of course, you gotta have something for the picky eaters: Gorgers from School of Deaths (Gorgers take the flavor and texture of whatever food you think about right before you bite into it).

Of course, that's just me. What kind of food would you offer at your All-You-Can-Eat Buffet? The most diverse and creative assortment of food will win a $15 Amazon or B&N gift card! Please be sure to leave me a way to get a hold of you, though. Even a Twitter handle will work.

I'm gonna let this mini-challenge run for the next 3 hours. And remember, if you're somewhere that allows you 24-hour delivery, don't take it for granted. Some of us have to walk to the 7-11 if we want 3 AM food!

Dewey Read-A-Thopn | 2 AM Update

Only 6 hours left to go and I'm still feeling pretty strong! I'm actually kinda surprised at how awake I still feel. I'm going to be taking some pre-emptive measures and take a shower to wake up and maybe do some more reading while on the exercise bike. I gotta make sure I keep moving and I keep hydrated. 

I'm still plugging away at Yosh! and The Devil's Panties. Dang if they ain't worth spending 20 hours reading them. ^_^

Dewey Read-A-Thon | 11 PM Update

Holy Wah! 11 PM! I'm kinda coming down from the hyperactive period I had earlier. Many thanks to Memory Scarlet for a fun, all caps conversation ^_^ 

I gotta admit, I'm starting to get a touch tired, but nothing that I can't survive. I'm still working on Yosh! and The Devil's Panties. I don't think I'll be able to read any other comics I had hoped to get to today. But, such is the nature of the Read-A-Thon. You don't know what you'll actually be able to get through until it's all done.

Dewey Read-A-Thon | 8 PM Update

Had a nice little food break. Cuddled up with Fluxxdog on the couch and "watched" Deadpool while reading more of The Devil's Panties archive. I've got less than 10 years of comic strips left to go for it!!! This archive seems to go on forever but it's so much fun! I have so much love for this comic and not just because I can relate to her on so many levels! 

I'm getting back to the Yosh! Saga archive as well. I've been a TwoKinds fan for a few years now so it's kinda fun to see the "guest posts" Tom's done for Yosh! and comics Philp's done for TwoKinds.

I'm gonna do a little bit of cheering and possibly some moving around. I've got a "second wind" going because we've reached the point where we have to stay awake fewer hours than we've been awake!

Dewey Read-A-Thon | 5 PM Update

Okay, I've reached the point where I need to start wearing my reading glasses whenever I read from my phone. I've been using my phone for reading because I can use that while using the exercise bike in my living room. I've spent more time on that bike today than I have in the past year or so. Who knew the Read-A-Thon could help with your health?

I'm still working my way through both Yosh! Saga and The Devil's Panties. I'll probably be working on the latter throughout the rest of the night, if not longer. But I wanted to read through more than one archive tonight. 

Hubby should be ordering pizza soon. If not, I'll make him order it soon. ^_^

Dewey Read-A-Thon | 2 PM Update

Hello again, everyone! Hope you're having a fun time! I just finished up the Romantically Apocalyptic archive. I'm tempted to subscribe to it for future comics because it is so very beautiful. The use of color is magnificent. But, at the same time, it's kinda difficult to keep up with everything in the story because there's so much going on and it's so insane. 

Anyways, I'm going to walk around for a little bit, do some more cheering. I haven't participated in many of the mini-challenges this time around, but that's okay. I'm genuinely enjoying the reading. I've gotten the hang (kinda) of reading web comics while doing other things. Thankfully I know I won't run out of reading material because The Devil's Panties has so much content. 

After I get back from my break, I'll be starting on Yosh! Saga, which also has a fair amount of content. Wish me luck! 

Dewey's Read-A-Thon | 11 AM Update

Hello and Happy Read-A-Thon!!!!!

Just starting hour 3 here and taking a break. I've read the first 800 or so strips from the web comic The Devil's Panties and am still only in the early 2000's section of the archive! It's a lot of fun to read but, I may need to switch to another web comic soon if I want to read any others in the next 20 hours. 

If I do switch to another web comic it'll probably be Romantically Apocalyptic. The one I had intended to start today off with. But, like all Read-A-Thons my morning did not go as planned. I woke up a couple hours early. I ended up having to cook breakfast at the last minute. Things like that. But I am reading and that is all that matters. 

Hope you're having a fun Read-A-Thon!!!!

Dewey's Readathon Opening Meme

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

Same place as always, lovely Michigan. Seriously, Michigan in the fall is so beautiful. ^_^

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

The Devil's Panties. I'm reading web comics this time around and my husband's already shared several of these comic strips with me. 

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

Belvita snack bars mixed into yogurt. 

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

I've worn the same shirt for the past 3-4 Read-A-Thons. 

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?

Today, instead of reading books, I'm reading web comics. All day at the computer screen. I'll have to remember to take breaks. 

Dewey Read-A-Thon Plan

It's that time again!!!!! Time to start prepping for October Read-A-Thon! I've already requested time off from work the following Monday to make sure I recover my sleep because I am planning on staying up the FULL 24 hours. I still regret not being able to stay awake last time, even if I was recovering from serious health issues. Stupid fragile body. 

Anyways, I need a plan of attack. True to form, I still intend on waking up at 7 AM to give myself an hour to prepare. Technically I'll be preparing the day before, baking snacks and shopping for energy drinks to stock up on for the day. However, first thing in the morning, I'm planning on eating a good breakfast and prepping my blog for the Opening Questions. 

This Read-A-Thon, I'm not going to read books. Shocking, I know. The thing is, my husband reads a lot of web comics that I've wanted to get into, and I've had several others recommended to me. But I know I'd have to start from the very beginning of each of them in order to understand what's going on. Problem is, many of these comics have been running for years! If I were to get started on them, I'd need to dedicate huge chunks of time to reading them. So, why not during the Read-A-Thon?

Of course, there is also the problem of page counting. I keep track of the number of pages I read and I'm not counting one quick, four-panel comic strip as a page. At the same time, however, there are some comics whose content is dense enough, I'd feel comfortable counting one page as a page. So, what I'm going to do is count my pages, based on the comic. I've listed my reading list below and, in parentheses, is how I'm going to count them. If you think a comic deserves different treatment, please let me know. I'm open to discussion on this.

Reading List:

Yosh Saga (3 = 1 page)

Grrl Power (1 = 1 page provided I read the footnotes as well)

Girl Genius (1 = 1 page)

Romantically Apocalyptic (2 = 1 page)

The Devil's Panties (4 = 1 page)

Giant in the Playground (1 = 1 page)

Dr. McNinja (2 = 1 page) - I understand this one will be ending soon, so may as well read it all.

Now, I know that there's no guarantee I'll get through all of these. There's also no guarantee that it'll take me 24 hours to read all of them. I will be at least trying to do a fair amount of cheering each hour, plus I've got a couple of favorite web comics that I've been meaning to re-read for a while and my husband always has more comics to recommend if I need more to read. If I run out of time to read what's on my list, hopefully I'll at least have made some good progress. 

So, what are your plans for the Read-A-Thon? Do you agree with my page count scheme? Do you have any web comic recommendations? Please let me know in the comments! 

In the meantime, Happy Reading!

Read-A-Thon | Update #3 | Hour 18

Definitely starting to feel the pull of sleep. Doesn't help that Fluxxdog is snoring next to me. But I'm sure I'll find the strength to push through. 

My mini-challenge seems to have been a success. It's gotten over 500 views and over 50 participants. A couple of them even responded in rhyme!

Did some walking around the past few hours. At 10, Fluxxdog and I went out for some Chinese food. I ended up reviewing  a lot of the mini-challenge responses, so I'm still counting it as participating in the Read-A-Thon.

Still working on The Color of Magic, but I'm over half way through and should finish it in the next couple of hours. Provided the Internet doesn't distract too much. ^_^

Dewey Mini-Challenge: A Mad Tea Party

We're All Mad Here

Greetings dear Readathoners,

And welcome to my party.

Worry not about manners,

And be sure to eat hearty.

All of you are my great guests,

I hope you enjoy the tea.

But, pray, I must now ask you,

Who would your party guests be?

Which character you have read,

Is as mad as the March Hare?

Who is mad enough to host,

This completely mad affair.

Which character you have read,

Resembles the Mad Hatter?

Who argues that Time is wrong,

And gets trapped in the matter.

Which character you have read,

Is sleepy as the Dormouse?

Who has stories to tell you,

But is difficult to rouse.

Which character you have read,

Is out of place, like Alice?

Who does not know where she is,

But treats it not with malice.

I pray, dear Readathoner,

Tell me whom you would invite.

Match your characters to these,

And in the comments please write.

Should your Tea Party amuse,

You shall surely win the prize.
It need not be in verse form,
It just has to catch the eyes.

A gift from the Amazon,

Or from the Noblest of Barns.
The choice shall be yours to make,
O teller of the best yarns.

Welcome to my Tea Party,

All my Readathoners, dear.

I do hope this is funny,

And know that, we're all mad here.

Translation:

Hello everyone! I'm happy to be hosting another mini-challenge and I'm so glad to see so many of you here. Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to tell me in the comments below about characters that you have read that you would invite to play the roles of the characters from the Mad Tea Party scene in Alice in Wonderland. 

First, there's the March Hare who is host of the party. What mad character do you know who is mad enough to host a tea party that never ends? Or just loves tea that much and is willing to invite other mad people?

Next, of course, is the Mad Hatter. Which character have you read about that fights the clock (i.e. aging, scheduling, bombs) and can't escape?

Thirdly, the Dormouse. Pick a character that you know that is generally quiet, or sleepy, but once they get to talk, they have a great story. 

Finally, we have to have an Alice. What character have you read that finds themselves completely out of place, surrounded by a world they know nothing about, but just goes with it. A fish out of water that hit the ground running, so to speak.

Your answers do NOT have to be in verse. I just did that as a challenge to myself. I'm going to let this contest run for the next 3 hours. Winner gets a $20 gift card to either Amazon or Barnes & Noble's (your choice). I can't wait to read your responses and get to know some characters! 

Read-A-Thon | Update #2 | Hour 9

Yes, I'm still working on Interview With A Vampire but I've got less than 100 pages left in it so I'm happy with my progress. Yeah, I know. I'm a slow reader.

I've also been getting sleepy a lot quicker than expected. I may have to drink a second energy drink. I do try to be careful with those and drink plenty of water as well. It's very easy to overdo it and become sick. 

Also, I did take a walk closer to 2 o'clock. Got some snacks from the 7-11 and the walk was very good for my back. 

Here's hoping I don't fall asleep to soon!