End of the Fall 2015 Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon

  End of event meme:

 Which hour was most daunting for you?

     Hour 22.  I made it most of the way through and then just had to give up and take an hour nap.  Maybe I'll make it the whole way next spring.

Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?

     The Taryn's Camera series by Rebecca Patrick-Howard is an entertaining, historically interesting set of ghost stories that are relatively quick reads.


Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?

     Nope.


What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?

     Everything.

How many books did you read?

     4.50

What were the names of the books you read?

 Jekyll Island by Rebecca Patrick-Howard, Hamster Princess: Harriet the Invincible by Ursula Vernon, Star Wars: Clone Wars: The Defense of Kamino and Other Tales by John Ostrander (author), Haden Blackman (author), Jan Duursema (artist) and Tomas Giorello (artist), The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories by Dr. Seuss and a quarter each of  Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen by Mary Norris and Jim Butcher's Dresden Files: Down Town by Jim Butcher, Carlos Gómez (Artist), Stjepan Sejic (Artist).

Which book did you enjoy most?

The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories by Dr. Seuss.  Mostly because this was such an unexpected surprise found in the the  Free Library of Philadelphia's Digital Media Library.


Which did you enjoy least?

 Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen by Mary Norris.  This is really a good book and I look forward to finishing it but if I have to pick a least enjoyable book this is it.


 How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?

     I plan to participate as a reader.

Hour 20 Book 4-The Bippolo Seed...

I had really hoped to be reading Uprooted by Naomi Novik but what I'veactually read (or rather listened to) is The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories by Dr. Seuss.  I haven't taken a nap and my brain hasn't been able to concentrate on a longer story since hour 12 so it's children's books and graphic novels for me.

I'm trying to conserve money so I decided to check out the Free Library of Philadelphia's Digital Media Library, which has an amazing e-book and audio book collection and is free to anyone living in the state of Pennsylvania, and ran across stories I've never heard before from one of my favorite authors, Dr. Seuss.  This book was a wonderful collection of "lost stories" that thoroughly entertained me for about 45 minutes.  I highly recommend it to any Dr. Seuss fan young or old.

As a kind of funny note, I don't remember ever hearing of Dr. Seuss when I was a child and my love affair with his books began as an adult.  I bought many of his books to read for myself in my very late teens and early twenties justifying it by taking them babysitting with me.  I don't babysit any more, never had any children and my niece is fully grown so I have no choice but just admit to loving Dr. Seuss in my own right now.

Hour 19 Book 3-Star Wars: Clone Wars: The Defense of Kamino...

After a bit of a break reading Marvel's Daredevil fan fiction since I find fan fiction very relaxing, I've returned to book reading with the graphic novel Star Wars: Clone Wars: The Defense of Kamino and Other Tales by John Ostrander (author), Haden Blackman (author), Jan Duursema (artist) and Tomas Giorello (artist).  This book, though no longer considered to be canon, describes some of the early difficulties of the clone wars.  The graphics are beautiful and the stories compelling.  

I have difficulty holding actual books because of Sjogren's syndrome, an autoimmune disorder that can cause among other things joint pain, fatigue and neuropathy, so I find myself reading almost exclusively on the computer and or a Kindle.  Graphic novels have turned out to be surprisingly readable in digital format especially on an almost 24 inch screen computer.  I am beyond delighted to be living in the 21st century when nearly every book is in the form of an e-book.  Of course, I would much rather be reading physical books. ebooks just don't have the same feel to them, but the fact that I've not had to give up reading as things have gotten worse is a true blessing of our times.

Book 2-Hamster Princess: Harriet the Invincible

Hamster Princess: Harriet the Invincible by Ursula Vernon is a witty and charming children's book.  Written in a wonderful tongue-in-cheek fashion this author continues to remind me of Mercer Meyer for older children.  In this retelling of sleeping beauty, Harriet proves herself to be anything but a normal fairy tale princess who's willing to accept her fate without a fight.  Neither the curse fate nor her princess fate goes down easy and she quickly proves herself to be more obstinate than those around her expect.  The following early quote is a good example of both the princess and the style of the book:

Her deportment teacher tried to make her walk around with a book on her head to improve her posture. He was later found in the library with a book stuffed in his mouth, and Harriet was grounded for a month.

I discovered Ursula Vernon in an earlier read-a-thon and have been reading her books ever since on read-a-thon day because they're easy, well written and make me laugh.

Fall 2015 Mid-event survey.

Mid-Event Survey:

1. What are you reading right now?

Listening to Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen by Mary Norris



2. How many books have you read so far?

two


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

Not sure yet.



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

Fair bit of family and mostly just went with it.  It is very hard to convince your almost 80 year old mother not to try to talk to you while your listening to an audio book.


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

That I haven't had a nap yet but that will be changing shortly.

Fall Read-a-thon 2015 1st book-Jekyll Island

Jekyll Island by Rebecca Patrick-Howard is the fifth book in the Taryn's Camera series.  It centers around around Taryn going to Jekyll island to paint two unrestored cottages.  While there she becomes involved in the mystery of a hotel fire in which many people died more than a century ago and the ghosts won't let her rest until she uncovers the truth.  The only problem is that the case was solved and a man hung for the crime 100 years ago.

This book follows the same format as most of the other books in the series by having both a much older paranormal mystery and a modern one.  Like the previous books I found the modern one horribly annoying and really wish the author would simply leave these out as they aren't all that interesting and detract from the story.  The paranormal ones continue to be both interesting and varied.

Interspersed with the wonderful ghost stories is some really good history of the island which the author clarifies in an author's note so that you'll know what is historical and what is fictional.

These continue to be wonderful, quick and imaginative stories and great entertainment.  Taryn is a fascinating and realistic character especially considering the subject matter.  Her relationships are more unidealistic than I've read in most other books so if you're looking for romance this probably isn't the series for you.

This was a great choice for the read-a-thon and I can only hope that the author will write another book before spring.

Mini-challenge: Cover Escape-peaceful

This looks so isolated and peaceful which would be perfect for a read-a-thon and not the way my day is turning out.

Fall 2015 Dewey's 24 hour read-a-thon opening questionaire

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

Williamsport, Pennsylvania USA


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

Jekyll Island by Rebecca Patrick-Howard 

This is a part of the Taryn's Camera series of paranormal mysteries and it just came out this week in time for the read-a-thon.


3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

Magic cookie pie which I made yesterday and haven't had a chance to try yet.


4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

This is my 6th read-a-thon and aside from some cooking I did yesterday I'm not much more prepared this one than last.  Not too worried about it though as I had a great time in the spring despite not being prepared at all. 


5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today?

Nothing really.  Spring went fairly well and I'm not changing it.

Seven Sisters by M.L. Bullock

Seven Sisters by M.L. Bullock is a supernatural type mystery centered around the restoration of a plantation home in Mobile.  The story is interesting, the writing is good and the book is free on Kindle.  The "free" part is really a lie as it is apparently more of a third of a book that is free.

In the story the main protagonist, Carrie Jo Jardine, is a "dream catcher" who dreams the history of the places where she sleeps.  She is also a trained historian who has been hired to help restore the huge plantation home so it can be turned into a museum.  She soon discovers that there is an old mystery attached to the house regarding an heiress that went missing in the 1850s.   The story centers around what happened to the missing heiress and why a friend, who helped Carrie Jo get the job, is acting so strangely.

This story is a great beginning but ends very abruptly making it very obvious that this is only part of a book.  I have bought the other 2 "books" so I can finish the story but will think long and hard before I start another book by this author.  The deception to lure you into purchasing the books is something I find very hard to accept.

If you like this book try the Taryn's Camera series by Rebecca Patrick-Howard

Griffith Tavern by Rebecca Patrick-Howard

Griffith Tavern by Rebecca Patrick-Howard is the 2nd book in the Taryn's Camera series of ghost stories/mysteries.  The first book, Windwood Farm, was decently written and an interesting story but could have used a more professional editing job.  This book was better edited and the abrupt and confusing scene changes in the first book were pleasantly missing.

In Griffith Tavern Taryn's been hired to do a painting of an old tavern and stage coach inn using her creativity to express how the place would look if fully restored.  Her clients hope the picture will help them raise the money to purchase the property and properly restore the building.  Fairly quickly Taryn, a sensitive, begins to experience ghostly activity and the rest of the story is about her using the clues she is given during this rather varied activity (dreams, sightings and images in the pictures she's taken with her camera) to research and piece together what the ghost is trying to tell her.

As in Windwood Farm, there is a more modern mystery that also comes in to play but that is, in my opinion, just as superfluous in this story as it was in the first one.  Having said that the little bit of twist relating to both mysteries and revealed at the end is kind of cute.

On the whole I had a great time reading this book and easily finished it in 24 hours.  It is just spooky enough to be a good ghost story but not so disturbing to make it a horror novel.

People who like this book would probably enjoy Heather Graham's novels.

Windwood Farm by Rebecca Patrick-Howard

Windwood Farm by Rebecca Patrick-Howard is an interesting ghost story/mystery.  The author of the book shows real promise and the book kept me entertained enough to read it in only a couple of days.

The ghost story portion of this book was exactly the way I like them a bit creepy, a little scary and intriguing enough to keep me turning the page to find out what happened.  The mystery attached to the ghost story was well thought out and fairly believable.  The more modern mystery felt contrived and left me wondering why it was even included.  I suspect the author though the book needed more suspense but it felt like the addition of the modern mystery pulled you out of the delightful headspace the ghost story created.

On the whole I really liked this book and will probably start the 2nd book in the Taryn's Camera series fairly quickly however a really good editor would have taken this book from a good book to an awesome book in its genre.  In addition to the issues with the modern mystery there are a number of rather abrupt scene changes that kicked me out of the story and caused me to go back over the last couple of pages thinking that a page or two had been skipped.  Still this author shows real talent and I'm looking forward to my next excursion with Taryn's Camera.

If you like this book you may also like books by Wendy Webb.

The Book of Killowen by Erin Hart

The Book of Killowen by Erin Hart is both an enjoyable historical mystery and an intriguing modern mystery in one.  Written very much in the same vein as the first 2 books in the Nora Gavin/Cormac Maguire series (I haven't read book 3), this was a quick and satisfying mystery which I easily read in less than 24 hours because I just had to know the conclusion which did not disappoint.

The story begins with the introduction of the historical 9th century characters and the murder of one of them.  Though you never know precisely who ordered the killing of the character you are shown his murder and his "burial" in the bog. The historical mystery centers around the book that the man was killed for and why his death was deemed necessary.  

The modern mystery comes into play when a car is dug up with both the bog man and a more modern corpse inside.  The rest of the book tells the story of why the new murder happened and the book that connects the 2 cases.

This story should be enjoyable to the people who read and enjoyed Erin Harts first 2 Nora Gavin/Cormac Maguire mysteries, anyone who has read and enjoyed Deborah Crombie's A Finer End and those who like a medieval mystery with their modern story especially if it involves the church. 

Tortured Minds: Pennsylvania's Most Bizarre--But Forgotten--Murders by Tammy Mal

Tortured Minds: Pennsylvania's Most Bizarre-But Forgotten-Murders by Tammy Mal is a well written, entertaining true crime book.  It tells the story of 4 unconnected murders that took place in the state of Pennsylvania in the 1930s.  All are a little bizarre though the claim of them being the most bizarre seems rather unlikely. 

This book is almost in the form of 4 short stories giving out the information about the murders in a slightly fictionalized (how would the author know what people were thinking and feeling) but very appealing fashion.  If you enjoy true crime, especially those that happened long enough ago to be more stories you can enjoy as opposed to news you have to feel sorry about, this book may be for you. 

Snuff by Terry Pratchett

I was saddened to read that Terry Pratchett died in March.  For a long time his work, especially the City Watch portion of the Discworld novels, has given much pleasure and even the occasional bit to ponder.  Having learned of his death during Dewey's 24 hour readathon, I decided to go ahead and finish the readathon with a Discworld novel and chose Snuff.  (I only finished part of it before the end of the readathon but have since read the rest.)

This is my second or third reading of the story but it remains one of my favorites.  Sam Vimes is so very Sam and all the other important characters are there.  I love Sam as a father and husband.  I appreciate his thoughts on what is going on in the story.  Sam is a sarcastic contradiction that always brings a smile to my face and I am truly saddened that all of his story has been written but will continue to enjoy what has been written for a very long time.

End of the Spring 2015 Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon

 End of event meme:

 Which hour was most daunting for you?

     Hour 23.  I'd slept some earlier and planned to stay up the rest of the time but just couldn't make it and in the last 15 minutes of hour 23 went back to bed.


Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?

     If you like children's books, Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon is fun, witty and easy to read.


Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?

     Nope.


What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?

     Everything.

How many books did you read?

     4.25

What were the names of the books you read?

     Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon, Jim Butcher's Dresden Files: War Cry by Jim Butcher (Author), Mark Powers (Author), Carlos Gomez (Artist), Stjepan Sejic (Artist), Winnie-the-Pooh: A.A. Milne's Pooh Classics, Volume 1 by A. A. Milne, Mercy Thompson: Hopcross Jilly by Patricia Briggs, Rik Hoskin and Tom Garcia and started Snuff by Terry Pratchett.

Which book did you enjoy most?

    Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon.


Which did you enjoy least?

     Mercy Thompson: Hopcross Jilly by Patricia Briggs, Rik Hoskin and Tom Garcia though by enjoy the lease I mean I really enjoyed it but it was my least favorite of the 5.


 How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?

     I plan to participate as a reader.


Closing thoughts:  The cheerleaders this time were amazing and the readathon was fun and relaxing.  Thank you to all who put this together. I know it must be such hard work but it is something many of us look forward to and would truly miss.  As someone who is having a very hard year, this is the only vacation I'm likely to get for the foreseeable future and it was a good one!

Hour 16 book 4

Spent the last couple of hours reading Mercy Thompson: Hopcross Jilly by Patricia Briggs, Rik Hoskin and Tom Garcia.  To be fair I read them as electronic comics because the graphic novel doesn't come out until June 23 but I'm going to blog it as if I read the graphic novel so I don't have to list 6 separate titles.

This is a fairly enjoyable story with a lot of the focus on Jesse, Mercy's step-daughter.  Not as good as the Dresden Files one I read earlier but still a decent title that held my attention throughout.

Hour 14 and book 3

Just finished listening to Winnie-the-Pooh: A.A. Milne's Pooh Classics, Volume 1 by A. A. Milne.

Yes, at 43 I'm a bit late to reading Winnie-the-Pooh but I'm not sure I'd ever heard of him as a child.  In my early 20s, I discovered a cartoon about him on Sunday mornings that I enjoyed after finishing a long night of work Saturday night  (Don't judge there really isn't a whole lot to watch on tv Sunday mornings) but this is the 1st time for the book.  It was cute and funny and the reader, Peter Dennis, was excellent!

Spring 2015 Mid-event survey.

Mid-Event Survey:

1. What are you reading right now?

Listening to Winnie-the Pooh by A. A. Milne



2. How many books have you read so far?

two



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

I'm thinking of switching to comic books for a little while and reading Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson: Hopcross Jilly issues 1-6.   It's not technically a book yet because they won't be available as a graphic novel until June 23 but it's a readathon and I want to read these now.



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

2 both related to a motorcycle accident on our property yesterday. The first was easy because I just had to give a woman the phone number of the kid who had the accident so she could check on him and stop worrying.  The 2nd was his father picking up the motorcycle which we had allowed to be stored in our yard.  It would have been quick but he got stuck.  Still, with boards, a shovel and a friendly neighbor with a truck, about an hour later he was on his way.

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

I guess how much I've enjoyed it interruptions and all.  I was uptight and tired coming into this today and so I didn't think it would be that great but I'm actually finding it very relaxing.

Hour 10 and 2 books read

It's hour 10 and I've finished my 2nd book for the day.  It's a graphic novel.  Most of the books I read today will probably be easy reading as I'm not quite up to anything too difficult to follow but I have to admit that, despite graphic novels not really being my thing, I've truly enjoyed the Dresden Files ones and would probably have read this one anyway.

Jim Butcher's Dresden Files: War Cry by Jim Butcher (Author), Mark Powers (Author), Carlos Gomez (Artist), Stjepan Sejic (Artist) is an excellent story that takes place shortly after Harry is named a Warden of the White Council.  The adventure is both typical and exciting and I won't spoil it here but I was most impressed by how much of an emotional punch shows up in this story.  The art and the dialog go well together making this a wonderful example of the graphic novel genre.

Hour six and one book down.

Well it's hour six and despite numerous interruptions (you can tell friends and family about the readathon and they will let you be but it is impossible to keep total strangers from knocking on your door it seems) and I've finished my first book.  It was Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon.

This was a truly charming children's book about the wicked (not evil) witch that comes to be the mistress of Castle Hangnail.  Castle Hangnail needs a new mistress or it will be decommissioned as a magic castle.  Molly, the wicked witch in question, is mostly looking to get away form her overly good twin sister Sarah.

My favorite quote from the book is from the end but contains no real spoilers

“Hecate’s ghost!” said Majordomo. “She is the good twin, isn’t she?”

“That’s Sarah,” said Molly.

Sarah was exactly the same height as Molly and had exactly the same slightly frizzy hair, but she wore it in a ponytail with a pink scrunchie. Her shirt had a comical kitten on it and her shoes were covered in sequins. Her expression was one of saintly good temper, and Majordomo wondered how anyone lived with her for more than five minutes without going barking mad.

This book is well written and witty a perfect book for a later elementary school child or the child in all of us.

Now for a nap and then the hunt for another book.

Spring 2015 Dewey's 24 hour readathon opening questionaire

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

Williamsport, Pennsylvania USA


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

Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon
(Yep, it's a children's book but ever since a fellow readathon reader blogged about Nurk by the same author I've been a fan and this book came out last Tuesday just in time for the readathon)


3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

Utz Sweet Potato chips.
 

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

I believe this is my fifth readathon and the one I'm least prepared for.  I originally took the week off before this as my annual spring vacation but then we had a family emergency at the end of March and that used up my vacation days. I still managed to keep Friday off to prepare.  That was good because there were family problems to be taken care of that day too.  So I'm winging it this year.  Thankfully I'm using a Kindle because I'll be buying  books as I go and the only one I'm sure of is Castle Hangnail.


5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today?

Sleeping.  Probably not the usual thing but it been a bad month due to a family emergency and I've had broken sleep at best so my plan is to read when I can and sleep when I have to and enjoy the day all around.