Dewey Update

Sunday, October 23, 2011


***New update at the beginning of hour 20***

Pages Read: 1,096 (I broke the 1,000 mark!)

Books Finished: 3 (75% through the 4th)
Breaks Taken: I made a cup of tea to keep me going
(last time: I slept. I wanted to take a "quick nap" and I've been asleep for almost 2 hours. Fail.)

Coffee Consumed: 3 cups + 2 Starbucks Doubleshots
Music Listened To: The Head and the Heart, Cat Power
, Death Cab for Cutie, Max Bruch
Current Location: My chair in my library and the front porch swing.
Biggest Distraction: 
My snoring husband and the desire to go to sleep
(Past times: Sleep, oops. My dog, who thinks it's hilarious to grab a corner of my blanket and run with it. Also visiting other people's blogs and tweeting.)
Mini-Challenges Completed: 11

(The books I read and finished, plus my kindle, which has A Discovery of Witches, which I am 78% done with)

Pet Hour 19 Mini-Challenge, hosted by A Buckeye Girl

My dog Oliver is only 10 months old, so he still has that puppy energy, despite his giant size. He has been, by far, my biggest distraction during the read-a-thon. He wanted to play tug-of-war with my blanket and he wanted me to take him outside to play fetch. But he also curled up with me and took a nap and kept me warm. The distraction is definitely worth it!

Re-reading Hour 16 Mini-Challenge, hosted by The Blue Stocking Society...

My top 5 favorite re-reads are as follows:
1) The Harry Potter series - These books never fail to get under my skin
2) Pride & Prejudice - Each time I read it the experience is deeper and I take away something new.
3) The Book Thief - A WWII story told from death's point of view, sounds creepy, it's not.
4) The Time Traveler's Wife -
This story is just beautiful and never fails to make me cry.
5) Tuck Everlasting - I don't know what it is about this book, but it is bittersweet and wonderful.

(Ollie finally fell asleep - Yay, but then I did too - boo)

I got my groove back guys! I put down both of the books I'm in the middle of, because they were just not doing it. Then I picked up And the Pursuit of Happiness and it was so freakin' good! It got me through my slump and now I'm back in the game. Woo hoo!

Mid-Event Survey:
1. What are you reading right now? A Discovery of Witches
2. How many books have you read so far? Only finished 1, boo
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? Um, "And the Pursuit of Happiness"
4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day? No
5. Have you had many interruptions? Too many, usually my dog
How did you deal with those? Asked my husband to please, please take him outside.
6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? I haven't read as much as the last one.
7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? No, I love how it works!
8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year? Have more caffeinated beverages in the house.
9. Are you getting tired yet? I just accidentally took a 2 hour nap, so yes.
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? Read short books.

Publish Post

Here's my book title sentence for the Hour Nine mini-challenge hosted by Midnight Book Girl.

"In the time of butterflies a good man is hard to find in the woods."


Hanging in there so far, but this morning has been way too full of distractions (aka a dog dropping a tennis ball in my lap ever 5 seconds). Here' my first mini-challenge though.

Mini Challenge #1 Character Photo: From Alyce at At Home With Books

I'm currently reading "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" and so I took a picture of an old Fisher Price Castle.

Photos by moi*

20 comments:

Amanda said...

Awesome!!! I love it. I love that you own it. :D

Kim (Sophisticated Dorkiness) said...

I always wanted one of those castles when I was a kid, but my parents wouldn't buy me one. I'm scarred :)

Have a great readathon!

Darlene said...

Good luck. I know what it's like to read with a dog who doesn't think you should be. Lol.

Vasilly said...

You've only had two cups of coffee?! You're doing much better than I am. I want another cup so bad but barely had breakfast! :-) Keep going.

Alyce said...

Nice choice of photo for the mini challenge! Thanks for participating!

B said...

I can't wait to hear what you think of We Have Always Lived in the Castle. I looked for that one last week at HPB, but no luck in finding it.

Great job! Keep those pages turning :)

Nise' said...

Hope you are having a great reading day!

*ೃ༄ Jillian said...

Wow, you're doing so well, Melissa!!

Kinna said...

Love the picture. You are doing great. Keep it up. Happy reading.

Allie said...

You're doing well! Don't worry about the nap-it happens. :)

ladybug said...

Awesome Picture of a castle. :D Have fun in the next hours. :D

Nise' said...

Cheering my way around again to encourage you during the second half of the RAT! Hope you are hanging in there refreshed after a nap!

Darlene said...

You are doing fantastic! Love the pic of Ollie sleeping on you.

Kate @Midnight Book Girl said...

Awesome music list! And I can hear my Hubs snoring three rooms away.


Pile those books up ceiling high
pick one, read one, all night long
No matter what you choose to read,
In Readathon rules there is no wrong!

A Buckeye Girl Reads said...

Oliver is adorable!!!

gautami tripathy said...

You have done well. Keep it up!

Anonymous said...

Wow, that's a ton of pages read, congrats! Happy reading for the rest of the read-a-thon!

Bybee said...

Oh, I feel so terrible that I didn't come by to see you and Oliver and hang out in the castle for a bit!

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

Thank you guys for all the encouraging comments during the read-a-thon! It was so much fun.

mari said...

I just started In The Woods but had to put it aside when Laura Lippman's latest, The Most Dangerous Thing was waiting for me at the library. I figured I waited over a month for it to be available, so someone else is waiting for me to finish it. It's quite good. Freaky dark and sad, too.