Fall 2016 Mid-event survey

Mid-Event Survey:

1. What are you reading right now?

Just finished Hamster Princess: Of Mice and Magic by Ursula Vernon


2. How many books have you read so far?

one


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

I haven't chosen my next book yet.  May have to check out the online libraries.

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

Off and on mostly mother related.  Just had my mother inform me she's having suicidal thoughts.  She's been sick for over 6 months and I know this is at least partially neural chemical but I take one day off from mostly caring for her (my niece is mostly looking after her today) and she comes up with this.  Probably didn't handle it very well but my sympathies were/are very low and I told her we'd have to get her some anti-depressants and maybe she should try not being so self focused but it is her choice.  I'm tired of poor pitiful Dorothy.  I get that she's in pain and tired but she's better than she was and does nothing to help herself and every time I take a sort of break from care giving she finds some way to pull me back.

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

That I've gotten even 1 book read.

Fall 2016 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?

Hamster Princess: Of Mice and Magic by Ursula Vernon 

I didn't get this read the last time though I was really looking forward to it so I'm trying again this time.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

Chocolate chip cookies which I plan to make  while listening to an audio book.

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

This is my 8th readathon and the one I was really sure I was going to miss.  My life has changed so much this year and I've become my mother's caregiver which is like having a 2nd full time job with no weekends off or vacation days.  However my family tends to be supportive of my readathon days and my niece is going to take care of my mother for most of today so I can read.  Yeah!!!!

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

I'm the least prepared for this readathon with only one book ready and the food only partially prepared  with ingredients instead of final products currently in slow cookers so I'm probably going to be using audio books frequently today to allow for getting things done.

Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs

Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs is a wonderful continuation of the Mercy Thompson series.  It continues the overall story line of the werewolves, vampires, fae and humans while telling a terrific standalone story.  Only the 2nd book I've completed this readathon but a very enjoyable one.

Spring 2016 Mid-event survey.

Mid-Event Survey:

1. What are you reading right now?

Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs


2. How many books have you read so far?

one


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

Hamster Princess: Of Mice and Magic by Ursula Vernon.  I've been saving it for when I get tired.

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

Lots off and on.  My mother has been very ill with a compression fracture of her spine and had to go to a nursing home this last week so basically nothing got done while I took care of that, worked and visited her.  Today has been a catch up day around the readathon so it came with built in interruptions but still reading is getting done and I'm more relaxed than I've been in a month.


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

How much it has helped to unstress me.  My mother has been ill for month and things have gotten worse almost every week so my stress levels have reached epic proportions but this has been a good day to relax and regroup before she has surgery next week.

Night Broken by Patricia Briggs

Just finished Night Broken by Patricia Briggs as my first readathon book of the day.  I didn't plan on reading this one having read it before but when I went to read Fire Touched, the next book in the series, I discovered that I had no idea what was going on so came back to this one for a refresher.  The Mercy Thompson books are great readathon books because they are not too long but they are action packed.  I barely remember any of this so it was like reading it for the first time.  Some of it was laugh out loud funny, especially the stuff with the ex-wife, some of it was touching  and most of all it moved along and kept my attention.  Now to try Fire Touched again.

Spring 2016 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?

Hamster Princess: Of Mice and Magic by Ursula Vernon 

I know it's a children's book but I discovered Ursula Vernon during a readathon a few years ago and she always makes me laugh.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

Brown Cow Yogurt which I just discovered this week and is so amazingly good.

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

This is my 7th readathon and I'm not prepared beyond a short trip to the store and a couple of books but it will all work out.

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

Nothing really.  Fall went well and so I'm not stressing about spring.

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.