Good morning! 😀
Yesterday was The Dewey Read A Thon... an event I have participated in since I found the book blogging world in early 2009. Twice a year the read a thon takes place and twice a year I try to set aside the day from commitments so I can actually make a successful attempt at reading and audio.
Well… ummm…. yeah… about that…
I thought that after the hectic weeks I have been having that a day of sitting in my favorite chair surrounded by my favorite surroundings (errr… books) would be a no brainer… “but alas, earwax!” (Harry Potter quote) I was wrong. During readathon time I:
played with the dogs * washed dishes * cleaned the shower * ran three loads of laundry * make breakfast * made lunch * cleaned my bedroom * considered cleaning a spare room* had dinner plans and was MIA from 5 – 8 pm * put away all lawn furniture for the winter * played quite a bit of online scrabble * participated in almost all mini challenges from 7 am – midnight.
I did try to listen to audio while I was up and about but I did not get a ton of reading done and now my proud pile “the chosen ones” from yesterdays event sit on the coffee table glaring accusingly at me saying “what about me?”
**gulp* Obviously I stayed up too long if the books are now talking to me….Ok enough self loathing.. on the positive side I did complete two books, Shelter by Sarah Stonich and Girls Like Us by Rachel Lloyd. I also completed the audio book Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian which will make a perfect review for Halloween week…. 😀
As for mini challenges (I do love them!) I posted on separate pages so as not to clutter up the blog or your readers for those who follow me, but here are some of the highlights:
We had to make book titles out of objects – here are two of mine:
Then we made word puzzles for books we are reading….
(Please Stop Laughing At Me)
(Sleepers Run by Henry Mosquera)
And this one was fun too…. 5 books we are looking forward to:
Since I was reading for charity, here are my totals:
120 minutes of audio
338 book pages
= 45.80 to Camp Benedict
Not too bad I guess…. 😀
I really did have a lot of fun, had HUGE plans to stay up late and read and read but perhaps a big steak dinner was not the best “stay alert” food choice for dinner and I promptly fell asleep book in hand a little after midnight. 😀
Book Journey 
My readathon was quite relaxing. I got in three books (about 1240 pages, but a good half of them or more came from Wonderstruck, so that’s not as impressive as it sounds, haha!) and called it quits around 7pm. Spent the rest of the evening hanging out with hubby. 🙂
I really have to get Wonderstruck! (See there I go again… coveting other peoples books!) LOL
You did awesome Amanda!
I would have loved to participate in the readathon, but had too many things to do yesterday as well as today 🙂 But seems like I could’ve participated anyway 😉 Loved your pictures!
Louise – totally! It an be whatever yo can put into it! I never stop life for it, but I do try to slow down 😀
You did great! After reading all the other things you did, I was prepared for…nothing completed! But no, awesome you did an amazing job.
Hey, I love the pictures of the dolls. I have some of those. I told myself I was buying them for Fiona (for her Ty Girls site), but they sit atop my books and pose for pictures for my blogs.
I didn’t officially participate in the challenge, but enjoyed visiting posts with the mini-challenges and seeing the fun unfolding.
I finished one book…unofficially.
Thanks Laurel, the dolls I found at a garage sale and I have been saving them to give to the kids in the homeless program. 😀
Join in next time – as you can see it doesn’t matter how much you are able to do…. 😀
I finished three books also, one of them being Wonderstruck, which oddly enough struck me in the face around 1 am! You should read it! It’s an awesome book! My eyes and head are hurting this morning!
Beth I have to get a copy of that book…. it sounds like it was a perfect read a thon read. 🙂
I had to laugh reading this! I’ve done the same thing in past read-a-thons so don’t feel bad. 🙂 You still did great.
Thanks… I always envision this day of power reading but no… life happens 😛
You did good considering all the other things you had going on. I didn’t even try to commit to participating as I already had a few things scheduled and then there are those other things that pop up.
Thanks Leslie 😀
Glad you had fun! That’s the most important thing! Love your mini-challenges!
I do too Joy 😀
It’s all about fun and the fact that you raised money for charity makes it great!
Thats true 😀
Sounds fun, but difficult. When you have 5 kids around the house things are always hopping. But then, there is always the laundry, the vacuuming, etc. like you said!!! I’ll keep my eyes open for the next one. It was really a good idea to read for charity!!
5 kids would be hard… they all need play dates on that day I think and not at your house… ha ha 🙂
I like to do the charity read… you would think it would keep me more focused.
Whoa! After seeing all that you accomplished, I really thought you were going to say you didn’t get any reading done, only to find out you finished three! Congrats on being incredibly productive!
Love the pictures you came up with for the mini-challenges!
Thanks! I love the mini challenges 🙂
I was able to finish three books this time and did more mini-challenges than last time but wow! you got so much else done, I’m jealous of your energy 😀
Ahh Gine, you are too kind… I wish I had more energy…. I felt like all I have done lately is work in an office and come home…. I need to get back into my workout rhythm 😀
I stayed up the whole 24 hours for Dewey’s Readathon, dozing in my reading-recliner about an hour and a half toward the end (around 4:00 a.m. my time). That means I slept right through the automatic posting on my blog this morning and the reason I’m here now. I’m here to tell you … TA-DA!
I have awarded you the Versatile Blogger Award. To receive your award, go here to pick it up: http://bonniesbooks.blogspot.com/2011/10/award.html
You certainly deserve it, my versatile blogging friend!
LOL…. you crack me up my friend of little sleep 😀
Impressive that you made it practically all 24 hours!!! Someday I am doing that!
Congrats on the reading you got done! I’ve only participated as a reader once and was surprised at how difficult it was to read all day long (especially considering how much I normally read). It’s a hard thing to do nonstop.
Thank you Alyce! You would think sitting and reading would be second nature for us but something about reading on demand…. LOL
Sounds like your read a thon experience was kind of like mine! I would get some reading done and then get some stuff around the house done, and then get some reading done and then some stuff around the house done! Oh well, I had a fun day 🙂
That is true… it was fun 😀
Well, you didn’t do too badly considering all the other things you got accomplished! Glad you joined in, I did too and had a great time.
Thanks, I love how we all come together for these events 😀
Looks like you had a lot of fun! Cool mini-challenge entries. 🙂 It was a #fail situation for me. I went to a library sale, lunch with mom, and shopping on Saturday so only read for 12 hours, but, like you, didn’t read the entire time. I was quite the social butterfly on Twitter and I rocked some mini-challenges too. I had fun though so not a total loss.
OOH – doesnt sound like a fail to …. book sale, lunch with mom and shopping??? 😀
I didn’t do any mini challenges. You sure were busy on Saturday! I used the readathon as an excuse to not do any household chores!
LOL – I wanted to do that but I have two big weekends coming up here and felt guilty for just chilling on the one 😀
I have not yet attempted a read-a-thon, Sheila, because of exactly what you describe here – I know our hectic household would pull me in a hundred different directions. It does sound dreamy, though – a whole day devoted to reading. Maybe someday when the kids have moved out!
Sue
I hear you Sue….if the kids were home this would not be possible.. 😀