Dewey 24 Hour Readathon!

********  UPDATED HOUR 23 ********
I made it to hour 16 and then fell asleep. 
I'm up reading a little more before the readathon ends. 

This will be my very last readathon while pregnant. Yay! Unfortunately I'm on bedrest this weekend. I'm 35 weeks pregnant and have had a few preterm labor scares so far. I will be putting my feet up and reading today, but might not be updating as frequently as I normally do. I'll also be helping my husband with my 3-year-old, so we'll see how this goes.

This is my 15th readathon (see links below). Here's a link for more info about the Dewey Readathon. Today you can find me posting on Litsy and Instagram as @avidreader25 as well as here.

Reading Stats

Pages Read: 885

Currently Reading: #IMomSoHard  

Books Finished: 6: Lift, The Night of the Iguana, If This Isn't Nice, What Is?, The Handmaid's Tale (graphic novel), Leaf by Niggle, and A Delicate Balance

Snacks Eaten: Cinnamon raisin English muffin, ice cream bar, chicken tacos

Introduction:

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

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? The brand new graphic novel of The Handmaid's Tale and Lift by Kelly Corrigan. 

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? I'm pregnant... so all of them! Definitely dark chocolate pretzels and maybe a Starbucks flat white. 

4) Tell us a little something about yourself! My second kiddo is due in exactly one month! I also love to travel, have been to 16 countries, and I review live theatre in the Midwest.

5) If you participated in the last readathon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? I will be resting a lot more. Being pregnant means my energy level is a lot lower than normal.

Mini Challenges: 
1) Book and a Snack at The Book Monsters.

2) Literary Clue 

3) Book Cover Puzzle

Mid-Event Survey:
1) What are you reading right now? #IMomSoHard, I love the authors' web series and so I knew this one would be hilarious! 
2) How many books have you read so far? Finished 4

3) What book are you most looking forward to? I'm rereading the Harry Potter series right now and I'm on book 6. I'll dive back in that if I finish my current read.

4) Have you had many interruptions? I have a toddler... so yes. 

5) What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? How beautiful the weather had been! Lots of outdoor reading.  

PAST READATHON POSTS:

April and October 2011 / April and October 2012 / April and October 2013 / April 2014 / April and October 2015 /April and October 2016  /  April and October 2017 / April and October 2018. 

Photos by me.

Dewey 24 Hour Readathon!

*********  UPDATED HOUR 24 ********

I can't believe this is my 13th readathon (see links below). Over the years I've started planning around the event each April and October. Today my husband is on toddler duty for part of the day, but we have a kid's birthday party this afternoon, so we'll see how this goes. 

Here's a link for more info about the DeweyRead-a-thon. Today you can find me posting on Litsy and Instagram as @avidreader25 as well as here. 

**UPDATE** My day has not been as full of reading as I had hoped, but that's ok. My kiddo and I attended her best friend's birthday party (see below) and had a BLAST! The party theme was reading, so that was pretty perfect. We've also run some errands and played outside quite a bit. I'm hoping to read a little more after she goes to bed.

Reading Stats:

Pages Read: 458

Currently Reading: --- Gave up and called it a night at hour 18. 

Books Finished: 3, Bones: The Dragonslayer, Shadow of a Bull, and The Rose Tattoo 

Snacks Eaten: Lots of coffee, blueberry muffin, soy flat white, dill pickles, string cheese, birthday cake, and popcorn

Mini-Challenges Completed: 9
Introduction Quiz
Vague Recollections 
Book and a Snack 

Anthology of Interests 
Mid-Event Survey
Tell Me a Story 

Artful Covers 
Readathon Stop, Drop, and Post 
Page Pen Pal

Introduction Quiz:

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

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? The Rose Tattoo by Tennessee Williams because it's set in New Orleans and I'm visiting that city for the first time in a week! If you have NOLA recommendations, let me know in the comments!

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? Dark chocolate covered pretzels and pickles (but not together). 

 

4) Tell us a little something about yourself! I'm a magazine editor by day. I have a giant pup, a 2-year-old, and an awesome husband. I also review live theatre about once a week at Stage Write and am a total Shakespeare nerd. I also LOVE to travel and have been Reading the States for a few years. 

5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? Understand that my toddler is definitely going to make my reading numbers dip, but that's ok.

Mid-Event Survey:
1. What are you reading right now? The Rose Tattoo
2. How many books have you read so far? 2
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half ofthe Read-a-thon? Bone 5
4. Have you had many interruptions? YES! A kid's birthday party, a huge gardening project, and other errands. 
5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? How little reading I've been able to do. LOL

End of Event Meme1. Which hour was most daunting for you? Hour 16, I was trying so hard to read the last 10 pages of my book and I just kept falling asleep. 
2. Tell us ALLLLL the books you read! Shadow of a Bull, Bone: The Dragonslayer, and The Rose Tattoo. 
3. Which books would you recommend to other Read-a-thoners? I love the Bone series for readathons. 
4. What’s a really rad thing we could do during the next Read-a-thonthat would make you smile? I have to say that changing the mini challenges to be open the whole time and easy to find on one page was an AWESOME change! 
5. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? Absolutely!

PAST READATHON POSTS:

April and October 2011 / April and October 2012 / April and October 2013 / April 2014 / April and October 2015 /April and October 2016  /  April and October 2017. 

Photos by me.

Dewey 24 Hour Readathon!

*********  UPDATED HOUR 13 ********

I had great plans for the read-a-thon today. Snacks set out, my reading stack was chosen, then I got the plague. So I will be fighting a nasty flu and chasing after a toddler today. If I get a little reading done it will be a miracle, but I'm going to try! 

READING STATS:
Pages Read: 662 pages 
Currently Reading: A Gentleman in Moscow
Books Finished: 3 (Amadeus, A Man Without a Country, Bone: Out from Boneville)
Breaks Taken: Lots for Sydney. I also gave myself a break after she was asleep and watched an episode of The Handmaid's Tale. 
Mini-Challenges Completed: 7 (Opening Survey, Give the Gift of Reading, Books to Empower, Picture Challenge, One Night Reads, Mid-Event Survey, Fur, Scales, and Stuffing)

Sydney (below) is doing her best to distract me from reading.

Introduction Quiz:
1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?Indianapolis, IN
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? I think I'll ignore the stack I picked and maybe do some comfort rereads instead. I'm thinking my favorite Sherlock Holmes and Kurt Vonnegut. 
 3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?  Taking sips of gatorade and hoping I don't throw up.  
4) Tell us a little something about yourself! I've got an 80lb dog and a 15 month old keeping me company (distracting me from reading). I also love to travel and I just booked tickets for our next international trip! 
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? I've participated in 11 other read-a-thons, but this is the first time I've attempted one with the flu. I wouldn't recommend it. 

Mid-Event Survey! 
1. What are you reading right now? A Gentleman in Moscow
2. How many books have you read so far? I'm shocked, but I've finished 3! 
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? I don't know how far I'll make it. 
4. Have you had many interruptions? Yes! Taking care of a toddler, having some trees delivered, generally not feeling so hot because of the flu. How did you deal with those? Just powered through and reading when I could. 
5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? That I've been able to get some reading done!

PAST READATHON POSTS:

April and October 2011  /  April and October 2012 / April and October 2013 / April 2014 / April and October 2015 /April and October 2016. 

Photos by me.

Almost time for the readathon!

Saturday is the Dewey Readathon! For one day in April and October each year, if other obligations don’t get in the way, I spend one whole day reading. It’s always so much fun and I get a ton of reading done. Heather and Andi are the incredible ladies who help organize the whole thing and you can get more details at the official site. 

This will be my 10^th time participating in the event. TEN TIMES!!! You can see little Ollie pup above during my very first Dewey readathon in 2011 and then Ollie during my last readathon in October. He's been my cuddle buddy during each one. So for fun I tallied up the number of books and pages I read in previous Dewey Readathons. In the nine I've participated in, I read a total of 10,113 pages and 43 books! 
 

Saturday I will be reading from 8 am until whenever I fall asleep. I have my stack of books ready to go. It will be interesting to see how my first readathon with an infant goes. Sydney is three months old now and I have a feeling she's going to make reading a little trickier. 

If you're thinking about joining the fun I'd highly recommend it!

Here's a few tips that have worked for me: 

1) Pull together a stack of books in advance. I like having a wide variety of young adult novels, plays, graphic novels, mysteries, etc. I don't like diving into heavy classics during a readathon.

2) Have good snacks ready to go and plan your meals in advance. I usually go to Trader Joes and pick out a few treats (chocolate covered pretzels, guacamole, etc). Then I get a slow cooker meal ready to go the night before. Or sometimes just get something out of the freezer to thaw for dinner. I snack throughout the readathon, but not just on junk food.

3) Don't make other plans. It's way more fun to read all day and not worry about how long you have left before you have to get dressed and leave the house.

4) Set a few social media rules for yourself. The readathon community is 2/3 of the fun, but if you're on the computer all day then you definitely aren't reading. I give myself at least the first 10 minutes of each hour to cheer at other blogs, tweet, update my post, and check the new challenges, etc. After that I move away from the screen and back to the books. Figure out what works for you, maybe it's only checking in every third hour or something.

5) Possibly my weirdest tip... don't just pick out your big stack of books in advance, tally the pages and type up the authors and titles too! Instead of wasting time during the readathon, I like to make a list of the books I think I might read in advance. That way I can just pull the page count, author, etc. from that list when I'm updating my post. This is particularly helpful for audiobooks. I like to start a new audiobook (something shorter and fun) the day of the readathon. I try to finish the book during the day and I look up the page count in advance so I can keep track easily. 

Happy reading!

PAST READATHON POSTS:

April and October 2011  /  April and October 2012 / April and October 2013 / April 2014 / April and October 2015.

Photos by me. 

Dewey 24 Hour Readathon!

*********  UPDATED HOUR 24 ********

Pages Read: 932 pages
Currently Reading: Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman
Books Finished: 5, William Shakespeare's Phantom of Menace by Ian Doescher, Ghost World by Daniel Clowes, The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin, Thimble Summer by Elizabeth Enright, and Dad Is Fat by Jim Gaffigan 
Breaks Taken:To cheer on other blogs, took a couple naps.
Snacks Eaten:Dark chocolate gran marnier pecans my sister brought back from Georgia, chips and guac, chili
Mini-Challenges Completed: 16
Blogs Visited and Commented On: 46
 
You can also find me here on Instagram, Twitter, and LibraryThing. 

Closing Survey: 
1. Which hour was most daunting for you? Hour 15, I fell asleep at 9 pm and didn't wake up for 4 hours. Whoops.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? Thimble Summer and The Stepford Wives, both were perfect readathon books.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? You all rock it, just keep on keeping on!
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?  The mini-challenges seemed to go really smoothly this year.
5. How many books did you read?  I managed to finished 5!
6. What were the names of the books you read? Ghost World by Daniel Clowes, William Shakespeare's Phantom of Menace by Ian Doescher, The Stepford Wives by Ira Levi, Thimble Summer by Elizabeth Enright, Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman, and Dad Is Fat by Jim Gaffigan
7. Which book did you enjoy most? The Stepford Wives, perfect length and level of suspense for the readathon.
8. Which did you enjoy least? Ghost World, it was a little "teen angsty"  for the readathon.
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?  I use the provided spreadsheet to mark who I've visited, but I also keep my own list so I make sure to visit everyone on the list.
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? I participate every time if I can. That will be the first time I'll be reading with a tiny baby, so we'll see how that goes.   

Mid-Event Survey:
1. What are you reading right now? Thimble Summer
2. How many books have you read so far? Three finished, in the middle of two
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? We Were Liars
4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? A few, my pup has been needy this readathon and I fell asleep and took a nap.
5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? I haven't touched even half of my snacks! 

Introduction Quiz:
1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? Indianapolis, IN
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? Some dark chocolate covered pretzel slims, yum!
4) Tell us a little something about yourself! I'm pregnant with my first kiddo and in my third trimester, so that means my first readathon with no caffeine. We'll see how that goes.
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? This is my 9th readathon and I think I'm going to embrace the nap this time.
 
Tomorrow is the Dewey Readathon! This will be my 9^th time participating in the event. Every April and October, if other obligations don’t get in the way, I spend one whole day reading. It’s always so much fun and I get a ton of reading done. There’s a great sense of community, mini-challenges each hour, cheerleaders and prizes.  Heather and Andi are the incredible ladies who help organize the whole thing and you can get more details at the official site. 
 

Tomorrow I will be reading from 8 am until whenever I fall asleep. I have my stack of books ready to go (see my pile above) and I will be cheering for at least 4 hours. I am also hosting a mini-challenge this year, so make sure you stop by! 

A FEW NOTES: 
- I will be updating this post throughout the day so I don’t bomb people with half a dozen new posts.
- Please turn off your comment word verification for the day! It’s such a pain for cheerleaders.
- Tweet about your day with the hashtag #Readathon or by tagging @readathon 

- If you need any ideas for great readathon books, all my previous readathon posts are below.

PAST READATHON POSTS:

April and October 2011  /  April and October 2012 / April and October 2013 / April 2014 / April 2015 

Classics and Comics: Hour 10 Mini-Challenge

*******CHALLENGE CLOSED ***********

 Kristen (@glitterfem) is our winner!!!

I hope all of the readathon is going well for all of you! 

Classics and graphic novels are two of my favorite genres, but they're rarely paired together. Recently tons of classics have been turned into graphic novels, (like Jane Eyre seen above), and it's such a fun way to see a beloved story in a new format. 

For this challenge pick a classic novel and pair it with a companion graphic novel that is similar or shares themes in some way. For example, To Kill a Mockingbird would pair well with Persepolis because they are both books about a young girl coming-of-age in the midst of society filled with prejudices. 

Post your pairings in the comments or on Instagram with the hashtag #classicsandcomics and I'll pick a winner at random at the beginning of Hour 13. 

Please leave your email address in the comments!

PRIZE: $15 book of your choice from Amazon or Book Depository

Dewey 24 Hour Read-a-Thon

******UPDATED AT HOUR 18*******

We're still in Iowa, it's midnight and we're back at the hotel. We have a long day with family tomorrow so I can't stay up all night, but I'm planning to read for as long as I can!

I would love to be reading all day today for the Dewey 24 hr Read-a-Thon, but for the first time since I joined in the fun a few years ago, I won't be able to set aside the whole day. 

The Huz and I are visiting family in another state, so I'm getting creative with my reading. I will be sneaking it in whenever I can today, but I am also going to start my read-a-thon about 7 hours early so I can get the majority of my reading done on the drive out there. So I'm sure I'll have a decent number of pages read at the beginning of the read-a-thon and then add very few for the next 10 hours. I'll do the best I can.

I'm going to be updating this post when I can (from my phone) and so we'll see how that goes. Have a great read-a-thon everyone! 

Pages Read: 402 pgs 

Currently Reading: The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet, The Black Count, This is Where I Leave You

Books Finished: Goodbye, Mr. Chips

Breaks Taken: All day to spend time with family. 

Current Location: Iowa

Photo by moi. 

Dewey Read-a-Thon!

**UPDATED AT HOUR 24**  

Pages Read: 1,332

Currently Reading: Swallows and Amazons, Bridget Jones's Diary

Books Finished: 5 (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams, Every Thing On It by Shel Silverstein, Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins, Sandman Vol. III: Dream Country by Neil Gaiman, Coriolanus by William Shakespeare)

Breaks Taken: 1st break to help clean out my great aunt's house (she passed away last month). It ended up taking almost 5 hours, so most of my morning was not spent reading, but I'm back now! 2nd break to spend a few evening hours cheering! 

Snacks Eaten: Oatmeal, lunch at IHOP, 2 cups of coffee, Starbucks Doubleshot, KitKat, turkey quesadilla and cucumber slices

Music Listened To: Iron and Wine

Mini-Challenges Completed: 11 

Blogs Visited and Commented On: 78

End of Event Meme

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? The 21st hour, I feel asleep and that was the end of me. 

2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? Every Thing On It by Shel Silverstein, Persepolis, Bridget Jones's Diary; anything that's fun and a bit different, like poetry, play, graphic novel, etc. works for me!

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Tell readers to turn off the word verification on their blogs! You guys already do it a million times, but maybe make it a million and one. 

4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? The mini-challenges were fun and the hourly hosts did a wonderful job!

5. How many books did you read? 5 completed and more than halfway in 2 more

6. What were the names of the books you read? Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams, Every Thing On It by Shel Silverstein, Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins, Sandman Vol. III: Dream Country by Neil Gaiman, Coriolanus by William Shakespeare, Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding, and Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome 

7. Which book did you enjoy most? Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

8. Which did you enjoy least? Gregor the Overlander, didn't hate it I just had high hopes because of The Hunger Games.

9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? This was my first year cheering. I made a text document of all the blogs I needed to cheer at, then I did about 10 an hour so I could getting some reading done too. That way I could mark them off when I was complete and not miss anyone.  

10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? I absolutely will! What role would you be likely to take next time? I've hosted a mini-challenge and I've been a cheerleader, my main goal is always reading, but I will do either or both of those again. 

Mid-Event Survey:

1) How are you doing? Sleepy? I feel like I've gotten a second wind, so I'm going strong! I uually hit a wall around 11 pm. 

2) What have you finished reading? Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams, Every Thing On It by Shel Silverstein, Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins, and Sandman Vol. III: Dream Country by Neil Gaiman

3) What is your favorite read so far? I really loved Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. What a painful picture of loneliness! 

4) What about your favorite snacks?  Lays Potato Chips and Cottage Cheese, I know it sounds gross, but it's incredible. Lays chips are my favorite, but I only have them on special occasions, so read-a-thons and road trips! 

5) Have you found any new blogs through the readathon? I discover Sheila at Book Journey because of her fun mini-challenge Book Appetit! 

It's Dewey Read-a-Thon Day!!! Twice a year, once in April and once in October, I participate in the Dewey 24 hour read-a-thon. I've been in a reading slump this month, so I've really been looking forward to this. Unfortunately I have something I have to be at for a couple hours this morning, but other than that interruption I’m planning to read all day.

That's my pup Ollie with a stack of potential books to read today. We'll see what I end up getting to, I'm always a bit too ambitious. I'll be checking in every hour or so and updating this post. Good luck everybody!

Mini-Challenge: Picture It hosted by The Book Monster.
Where I'm reading right now, my library...

Mini-Challenge Introduction:

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? Indianapolis, IN 
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? Re-reading Bridget Jones's Diary. It's been about 10 years sine I read it and I think it will be a fun one. 
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? An Almond Joy and apple slices with almond butter. 
4) Tell us a little something about yourself! I got to meet Ann Patchett last night! (author of Bel Canto and State of Wonder)5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? This is my 5th read-a-thon and my first as a cheerleader! I'm looking forward to encouraging others later today. 

Mini-Challenge hosted by The Estella Society: Self-Portrait 

(Ollie is not impressed)

Book Appetit Mini-Challenge hosted by Sheila: Make up a menu for a book you're reading.

1. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams

2.  Fried Chicken and grits and a birthday cake for Big Daddy! It's a southern birthday party! We'll hang some paper lanterns and a lace table cloth for the "no-neck" kids to ruin. 

3.  A cocktail of course, Brick drinks throughout the book! A whiskey with a splash of tonic water and ice for those hot southern nights. We'll call it "Maggie's Loneliness." 

Hour 4 Mini-Challange: Re-Title Your Current Read hosted by Geeky Blogger's Book Blog:

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams

New Title: Everyone is Lonely 

Mini-Challenge Book Sentence hosted by Midnight Book Girl: 

A Long Time Ago / Ordinary People / Sing Them Home.

Mini-Challenge: Yoga Break hosted by Elizabeth Michelle.
This might be my favorite mini-challenge so far. I did the yoga poses she listed in her post and it was such a perfect break. Cat pose and Bridge pose were the two best stretches for me. I did yoga for about 10 minutes and it was perfect. 

Photos by moi. 

Dewey 24 hour Read-a-Thon!

***New update during hour 19**
This might be my last update for at least a few hours. Both the Huz and my pup are asleep and so I might not last much long. I completed 6 books and passed the 1,000 page mark though, so I'm calling the read-a-thon a success!

Pages Read: 1,044
Currently Reading: Soulless
Books Finished: 6 (The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, A Streetcar Named Desire, Sounder, Eats, Shoots & Leaves, Chicken With Plums, The Loved One) 
Breaks Taken: Lots, for blogging updates
, laundry, lunch, a nap, cheering other read-a-thoners
Coffee Consumed: 2 cups + 1 Starbucks Doubleshot
Snacks Eaten: Strawberry and cream cheese sandwich, apple slices, salad, celery sticks and almond butter, homemade cookies from my sister, carrot sticks
Music Listened To: Joshua Radin, Ben Harper, Billie Holiday, Bon Iver, Bach, Miles Davis
Current Location: My library, the couch, bed
Biggest Distraction: Crazy pup
, dryer buzzing, phone call from my sister... the overwhelming desire to take a nap (I took a "quick" nap and set my alarm... but it didn't go off. So I slept for two hours. This is exactly what happened last year. Fail.), dinner, yoga
Mini-Challenges Completed:12

***Mini-Challenge Hour 17 from One Literature Nut 

For this mini-challenge we're suppose to take and post a picture with the book we're currently reading. So here's me and my very sleepy face and The Loved One.

***Mini-Challenge Hour 16 from The Blue Stocking Society

 

(Spanish Cover/English Cover)

What are your favorite Re-reads?

This year I’ve decided to make rereading a priority and so this mini challenge was perfect. I've learned a lot with rereading; sometimes you return to a beloved book and realize the story now seems childish or more problematic than you remember. Other times it makes you fall in love with the story all over again. No matter what happens, it deepens your relationship with the book.

Here are a few of my favorite books to reread:
-The Time Traveler's Wife
-Everything by Jane Austen
-Harry Potter books
-The Shadow of the Wind
Here's a mini challenge questions called Reading in Translation at Reading Through Life.

1. If you could read any book that’s been translated into English in its ORIGINAL language, what would it be?

The Shadow of the Wind, it was originally written in Spanish. The English translation is beautiful, but I would guess the original is even better!

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

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
A Streetcar Named Desire

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
Fresh strawberries and Almond Joys

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!
I'm planning a trip to Glacier National Park in Montana this year. If you have good tips, let me know!

5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today?
Last time I took a "brief" nap in the afternoon and ended up sleeping for a couple hours. If I nap this time I'm going to set an alarm!

Dewey is finally here. Yay for the 24-hour read-a-thon! I love to read, but there are very few times in my life when I can set aside a huge block of time to just dive into a stack of books. I have been looking forward to this more than I can say. I have snacks ready to go, the above stack of books already picked out and a puppy that's sure to try and distract me. I'm not planning on reading every book pictured, but I figured have my stack picked out will help me from wandering around my book shelves looking for my next book when I'm 13 hours in and I'm tired.

I'm going to update this post through out the read-a-thon so people's google readers won't be bombarded. I'll let you all know what I'm reading as I go.

Here's to a great read-a-thon!

*Photo by moi