Thursday, October 16, 2008

24-hour Read-a-thon!!!

I was heartbroken and crushed when I found out I was going to be out of town for this read-a-thon. Scott and I were supposed to head to College Station for the weekend (which happens to coincide with Texas A&M and Texas Tech weekend--I'm an Aggie and Scott is a Red Raider--even though I have a degree from both schools). But, the plans fell through and I am THRILLED to be joining afterall. THRILLED!! Did I mention how excited I am??? :D


Wow that's a crappy picture. So, since you can't see, I've got the following books in the stack:

*The Light Fantastic
*Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
*The Eyre Affair
*Notes from the Underbelly
*The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven
*Much Ado About Nothing
*A Tale Out of Luck
*Cause Celeb
*The Ice Queen
*Mary Poppins and Mary Poppins Comes Back

And next to the stack is my handy timeline sheet so that I can keep track of the time in the wee hours of the night without having to use my brain. :) It has the hour, Central time zone (me) and Pacific (official Read-a-thon time).

Have you read any of the following books? Would any make good read-a-thon material? I'm looking for shorter books that don't require a lot of patience and work (unfortunately none of my remaining challenge books fit the bill...).

Plans for the read-a-thon: I read a little over 700 pages over roughly 12 hours of actual reading time. I'd love to surpass 800 pages this time and do a little bit more reading. I did take a couple of breaks last time for shopping and sleeping, but I love that the read-a-thon starts earlier this year. I still plan on hopping around on the blogosphere when I do take those breaks, but I've got to learn to be more efficient!

So what suggestions do you have for making the most out of the read-a-thon?? What types of books are in your stack? Any late night tips? And most importantly, what snacks will you have handy?? ;)

And you say you haven't signed up yet?? Head over to Dewey's to do so. Even if you can only participate part of the time--it is a blast and I really recommend it.

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!

32 comments:

bethany (dreadlock girl) said...

oh, awesome!!! I just wrote another post on the read-a-thon as well. I love doing it! It will be fun. (I promise not to be a party pooper!!)

Anonymous said...

ohh wow! I am glad, you can make it :-)

I really hope you can surpass 800 pages too :-) Best of Luck!!

Amanda said...

What IS the read-a-thon? I've never heard of it.

1morechapter said...

The Eyre Affair would be a great choice. I'm thinking of reading the second book in that series for the readathon.

I suggest lighter, easy reads.

Lisa said...

Man, I WANT to do this so bad, but it always falls on a weekend that is just un-do-able (yes, it's a word) for me. My brother in law will be here (seems like he was last here for the last read a thon) and my spouse has to work, so I'm single parenting WITH the inlaws! I swear, the next one I'm doing.

Laura said...

I know I've already told you a million times, but I'm SSSOOOO glad you are participating! I've read zero of the books on your list, and some of them I've never heard of, so I'll be looking forward to seeing how they work out for you!

As far as the snacks go...I will be going to the grocery store on Friday night, and I know FOR SURE I will be buying Cheetos, Haribo gummy bears and Diet Coke. So healthy! :)

Melody said...

I'd have to give it a miss this year...sniff sniff... I'm glad you're able make it though!! The Eyre Affair sounds like a good read to me. :)

Anonymous said...

What fun and what great books you have listed - the Terry Pratchett especially, that was the first Pratchett my husband ever read and he was instantly hooked.
I haven't read any of the others. I always grab for Austen or a Bronte when I want absolutely absorbing reading material, any of those you haven't read?

Also, can't help but mention, my sister and brother-in-law are both professors at A&M (although they just started there this fall) - small world!

Anonymous said...

lucky you!!:) so you actually get to take part in it!! i have no such luck.. i am moving this weekend and my stuff's already half packed..so there's no way i am going to be able to do it..:(
i have read anne frank's diary..it is an awesome book and i loved reading it.. that was my first exposure to the nazi atrocities.. i haven't read any of the others..so will be haunting your blog to see your reviews:))

Debi said...

And I'm still grinning ear-to-ear since first finding out that you're going to reading, too!!! You know what, you should run to the library or the bookstore and pick up a short, eerie read. Maybe some Shirley Jackson or something like that. Carl is hosting a mini-challenge running during the wee morning hours that requires reading RIP type stuff, and he's got a great prize package. You have to sign up for the challenge at his blog at this post. You might want to check it out, if you haven't already. Yep, still grinning!

Debi said...

By the way, LOVE your time sheet! Is it any wonder I adore you?!!

Anonymous said...

Good luck with your reading.

Michelle Fluttering Butterflies said...

Hey - good luck with the readathon, it's great you're able to join in (sadly, I can't!) I've always found Alice Hoffman's books to be really easy to just sink into, so I recommend that one. Also, Anne Frank's diary is one I've read and reread constantly! Have fun!

Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanity said...

*Bethany - Every party has a pooper...haha, just kidding. :) I'm glad we'll be able to do this again together, but I understand you wanting to read more (I read your post this morning and will try to respond soon).

*Veens - Will you be joining in the fun?? :)

*Amanda - What?? :) The link for Dewey above will take you to the FAQ about the read-a-thon. If you want other specifics, feel free to email me at tstineman AT hotmail DOT com and we'll chat. :)

*3M - Oh, I'm glad! I didn't realize it was part of a series--i'll have to check to make sure I'm not reading out of order.

*Lisa - Boo! :) I totally understand, though! 24 hours for anyone is a lot to commit...I'll probably have to steal away for a few hours to watch the A&M/Tech game with hubby.

Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanity said...

*Laura - Cheetos? Eww. :) I'm gonna have to make a run to the store tonight as well to make sure I'm fully stocked. Gummy bears sound so good. And I'm really glad you'll be joining in as well! Can't wait.

*Melody - I'm sorry you won't be able to join us. I can understand with a new little one, though! I don't know anything about The Eyre Affair, but I've heard good things about the author.

*Verbivore - Too cool!! What do they teach at A&M? There are a lot of really good programs there and of course the school is awesome! :) I'm not biased...

*Ramya - NO!! Good luck with the move, though...hope everything goes well. I won't be posting any actual reviews during the read-a-thon so no worries.

*Debi - I'll definitely have to check it out. I was actually thinking of seeing if I could find Coraline! And I'm grinning too--and your grinning is making me grin even more. :D And for all the scatteredness of my life, I am strangely organized...my handwritten chart last time just didn't cut it.

*Bermudaonion - Thanks! Will you be joining the fun?

*Michelle - Glad to hear about Hoffman! I've heard great things about the Ice Queen so I'm looking forward to it.

Ana S. said...

yay! I'm so so glad you can participate after all :D It will be even more fun with you around!

The printed time sheet is a brilliant idea. I think I'm going to do that too. As for what to read, you won't be surprised to hear that I recommend The Light Fantastic and The Ice Queen :P I can't actually remember how long The Light Fantastic is, but The Ice Queen is a very fast read.

I'm going to post my own book pile in a bit. I'm so excited :D

Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanity said...

*Nymeth - The time sheet I think will come in handy and Laura helped improve it by adding a pages and time column to keep track of how many and how much each segment! I had handwritten that in last time, so now this will be even more organized. (I get really excited about these types of things if you can't tell). We were also talking about jotting in when the mini-challenges will be--is there a list of already set times for these?? I haven't seen anything yet but I thought I remembered seeing something last time?

I'm really excited about this as well and am thrilled that you're cohosting!!

Michelle said...

I did it! I signed up... This should be an interested 24 hours. Who thought this one up anyway?

Jeanette said...

I tried reading Cause Celeb a few years ago and got bored. Never finished it.

This is my first time doing the read-a-thon and I am really looking forward to it. I am making some cookies and Buckeye bars for snacks and I bought pretzels and Italian ice as well. Oh, and Mt. Dew as well. :-)

Wendy said...

Woo hoo! Glad you'll be participating after all, Trish :) I'm gazing longingly at your nifty time sheet...*must make one for myself!*

Amanda said...

Trish, your Dewey link goes to a category link on your page (specifically to this address: http://trishsbooks.blogspot.com/search/label/Read-a-thon) but by searching for the name Dewey I came across the Hidden Side of a Leaf blog. Hopefully that's the right one and it did have a lot of info on it about the Read-A-Thon. Unfortunately, there's no way I can participate in this one as it's my son's birthday on Saturday and his birthday party, so I'm going to be one busy mom during that time. Ah well. i'll keep my eyes open for the next one!

Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanity said...

*Michelle - YAY!! Rachel sent me an email this morning telling me I'm nuts. Now I can say we both are. :) Dewey from The Hidden Side of the Leaf started doing this about a year ago.

*Jeanette - Oh my goodness you are making my mouth water. Yummy!!! Look forward to "chatting" with you through the read-a-thon.

*Wendy - I don't know if you saw my response to Nymeth above, but Laura (from reading reflections) added two more columns for time spent reading and pages read for each hour which makes it even more handy!!

*Amanda - Ooops!! Thanks for telling me. I've got it fixed now and yes, you're right...Dewey is hosting. I completely understand your not joining and hope you have a great birthday weekend with your son. Hopefully next time. :)

Darlene said...

Good luck Trish! The Diary of Anne Frank is a fast read because it's quite interesting. The only other one I've read was Ice Queen and I remember it being good.

Lisa said...

All these comments make me want to play too!!

valentina said...

Yay, that's great!
I read the Eyre Affair, it pretty longish, but gripping so go for it!

bethany (dreadlock girl) said...

hey, thanks so much for joining in support for living water international!!! YAY!! I better go to bed, tomorrow is going to be long.

Anonymous said...

I'll be cheering you on tomorrow! Have fun!!

Anonymous said...

Wow, a time sheet!!! I'll try to pop in tomorrow and cheer you on. I'm crying a bucket of tears that I've got family in town this weekend. But to make things better I am going to a book sale. Good luck and have fun!!

Ana S. said...

Trish, sorry, no mini-challenge schedule ahead of time...the whole idea is for each hour to bring a surprise :P But don't worry too much about checking every hour, just do it whenever you need a break or when you feel like it. This will be so much fun :D

Anonymous said...

I was scheduled to be out of town too this weekend and unfortunately my plans didn't fall through so no read-a-thon for me this time. =( I'm really jealous! That's a nice pile you have there! Have fun and I'll be rooting from the sidelines!

Anonymous said...

I was scheduled to be out of town too this weekend and unfortunately my plans didn't fall through so no read-a-thon for me this time. =( I'm really jealous! That's a nice pile you have there! Have fun and I'll be rooting from the sidelines!

twiga92 said...

The Eyre Affair is a great book - but might require a bit of brain power to follow what is going on. It's a very unusual book. I would suggest reading that when your brain is still fresh, not the wee hours of the night.