Monday, October 28, 2019

Dewey's 24 Hour Readthon - Closing Post

Image result for dewey's 24 hour readathon

WRAP-UP SURVEY

1.) How would you assess your reading overall?

Overall, I'm happy with what I'd gotten read, despite quite a few interruptions throughout the day. I didn't do the math to figure out the number of pages since a couple of my books were unnumbered and I listened to a few read alouds of children's books - plus, I'm just too lazy to look up all those page numbers and add them together. 

I think I 'read' somewhere around 700 pages overall, including the read alouds, though. 

2.) Did you have a strategy, and if so, did you stick to it?

My strategy was to try the Storyline Online site when I got tired of reading so I could have a little break but still increase my page count at the same time. I really enjoyed it! It's such a great site to use for these read-a-thons and I will definitely be employing this strategy again at the next read-a-thon. 


3.) What was your favorite snack?

All I really had was Taco Bell. I had coffee in the morning and then went out to grab some things from Taco Bell's dollar menu and side items (spicy potato taco, pintos & cheese, nachos). Mostly, I just enjoyed coffee and tea with heaver creamers throughout the day. 


*************************************************************


The print books I read are: 


The Lottery: The Authorized Graphic Novel by Shirley Jackson, illustrated by Miles Hyman


My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett 

Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlin

"The Celebrated Jumping Frog" by Mark Twain (short story)

"Yowlinin" and "Rite of Spring" (short stories) from Black Juice by Margo Lanagan

I read the first novella, "Jubilee Express" by Maureen Johnson from Let It Snow (a book of 3 interconnected holiday romances, each written by a different YA author - John Green and Lauren Myracle are the other two authors).

I also read the first 80 pages of Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan, and I fell asleep after the first section of short stories from More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (Scary Stories #2) by Alvin Schwartz




*************************************************



I watched/listened to quite a few children's books on the YouTube Channel, Storyline Online, on my Smart TV as a way of taking little breaks while still "reading" at the same time. 


Image result for storyline online


Storyline Online - Actors read aloud a children's book while the video shows the illustrations from the book, which are edited to move as if you are watching an animated short film. At the end of the read aloud, the actors talk briefly about what they love about the book and the lesson it gives. 

It's an amazing, FREE site. Each read aloud is between 5 to 15 minutes long.


Image result for storyline online


Here are the list of books that I watched and listened to on Storyline Online :

The Lorax by Dr. Seuss *****

No More Noisy Nights by Holly L. Niner *****

Quackerstein Hatches a Family by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen ***

The Night I Followed the Dog by Nina Laden ***

Guji Guji by Chih-Yuan Chen ***** (LOVED This One So Much!!)

I Need My Monster and Hey, That's MY Monster! by Amanda Noll ***** (for both)

Lotus and Feather by Ji-Li Jiang ****

The House That Jane Built: A Story about Jane Addams by Tanya Lee Stone *****

Please Please the Bees by Gerald Kelley ****



****************************************************

BINGO 




Nearly got Black Out. . . I was having trouble with my computer's wifi/internet connection this weekend, but if I'd had internet, I think I could have done it.

My "New Book" was Undying by Michel Faber (poems), so rather easy to get through if motivated to Black Out the BINGO board (I fell asleep right before I planned to get to it - around 4:15am in my time).

And as for the "Healthy Snack," I ended up just having Taco Bell throughout the day . . . HOWEVER, I have Greek Yogurt in the fridge, so again, if I'd been motivated . . .




Sunday, April 7, 2019

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon - Ending Survey

1) Which hour was most daunting for you?

I had a lot of trouble focusing in Hours 8 and 9, and I think I only got through 50 pages, if that, in that time.

And, of course, I wasn't able to make it through Hour 21 (went to sleep a little past 4am)

2) Tell us all the books you read!

-Drama by Raina Telgemeier

-Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier

-Four Quartets by T.S. Eliot

And I also read 1/3 of When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead & 40% of The Beauty and the Beast (the original novella) by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve

Total pages read: 700 (woo-hoo!)

3) Which books would you recommend to other Read-a-thoners?

They're all good, quick books for a readathon, but I especially love Telgemeier's graphic novels.

4) What's a really rad thing we can do during the next read-a-thon that would make you smile?

More mini-challenges, maybe? 

It would also be cool if you could have the one of the Goodreads group moderators put up a blog post about what's going on over at that site, and maybe one for the Facebook group and such too . . . Just give a little update about (and encouragement to check out) the other discussions and activities that are happening at other sites . . .


5) How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? 

It's a guarantee! 

Saturday, April 6, 2019

Mid Event Survey - April '19





1) What are you reading right now?

The Beauty and the Beast by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve (illustrated novella by MinaLima)

I'm on page 48 of 201 pages, and am really enjoying it so far, though I'm only two chapters in and Beauty just arrived at the Beast's castle . . . love the elegant illustrations

2) How many books have you read so far?

I've read 2 so far and am 1/4 of the way through 2 others (including my current read from above)

I read the graphic novel Drama by Raina Telgemeier & T.S. Eliot's poetry volume, Four Quartets.

I also started When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead and got to page 67 of 197 pages, but set it down to read Eliot and Beauty.

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

Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier

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

Only 2 short ones - I took my dogs for a 20 minute walk in the early afternoon and a friend came over and visited for about half an hour soon after. 

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

I'm a little surprised at how quickly this read-a-thon seems to be going by this time . . . I can't believe it's already 10:30pm here. In the past, I haven't made it much later than midnight (so about 16 hours of reading) which means I may only have about a couple of hours left in me . . . but we'll see . . . I was really hoping I could finish both The Beauty and the Beast as well as Ghosts before I crash . . .

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon - April 2019


Getting to Know You Survey

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

I am reading from a beautiful little town called Pilot Mountain, in the foothills of North Carolina. It borders Mt. Airy, which is where Andy Griffith is from!

Image result for andy griffith show


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

MinaLima illustrated Beauty and the Beast.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

I may make some buffalo chicken dip in the crock-pot later on today . . . And I'm really looking forward to my Crab and Corn Chowder. Yum!!


4) Tell us a little something about yourself.

I'm an elementary school teacher, and the fact that Easter/Spring Break is coming so late this year is driving everyone bonkers!! It'll be so nice to just have a day to relax, read and not worry about the stresses that come from molding young (restless) minds.

As far as what I like to do in my leisure time - I love reading, painting and hanging out with my dogs. ;-)

Here's me hiking at Stone Mountain in NC with my two dogs, Libby and Nova.





5) If you participated in the last readathon, what's one thing you'll do different today?

I didn't really choose the books I wanted to read ahead of time. I want to have fun looking through my shelves throughout the day as I pick the next read . . .