End of Read-a-thon questionaire and final totals

End of Event Questionaire:

1.  Which hour was most daunting for you?

 The last 2.  Didn't want to take another nap but was so tired.  Now I'm really wide awake.  Go figure.

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

If you don't mind children's books, Nurk by Ursula Vernon was truly wonderful!!

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

Nope.  Liked it just as it was.

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

Everything!

5.  How many books did you read? 

4 but I kind of cheated and finished the 4th about 45 minutes late. 

6. What were the names of the books you read?

Killer by Jonathan Kellerman, Nurk by Ursula Vernon, Forgotten Bookmarks by Michael Popek and The Sound of Broken Glass by Deborah Crombie.

 7.  Which book did you enjoy most?

Nurk

 8.  Which did you enjoy least?

Forgotten Bookmarks but only because the print was too small for tired eyes.  The book itself was great!!

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

I'll be at the next one if at all possible probably as a reader.

 

2nd Half Read-a-thon April 2014

Hour 20

Somewhere in here I finished Forgotten Bookmarks which was wonderful but a bit hard to read with my tired eyes because of small print.  I think I prefer the blog if only because I can increase the font size. 

 I also took a couple hour nap, started Killer by Jonathan Kellerman and paused to read a bit of relaxing fan fiction which has been my reading of choice since I've been depressed lately  (Fan fiction works when my brain isn't up to following books because it is based on something I'm already familar with so doesn't require quite as much brain power for imagination)

So far I've read 3 books and 760 pages.


Hour 12

 Ended up reading Nurk: The Strange, Surprising Adventures of a (Somewhat) Brave Shrew by Ursula Vernon which I found at Elisa's Leopards and Dragons blog ( I couldn't resist visiting a fellow Elisa participating in the read-a-thon)  It is a children's book and surprisingly humorous.  Kind of reminded me of the Little Critter books by Mercer Mayer in that it would be a wonderful book for children and is surprisingly amusing for adults.  I read it as an e-book but according to Amazon.com it has 144 pages so that brings my totals to 2 books and 574 pages.


Mid-Event Survey

1. What are you reading right now?

Forgotten Bookmarks by Michael Popek



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?

Haven't decided yet.



4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day?

Made sure everyone knew what was going on.


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

Not really.

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

Found a children's book to read by looking at someone's blog.  Didn't expect to find a different book than the ones I had already picked out but thanks to e-books I was able to read it today.  


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

Nope



8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year?

Nothing that I can think of right now.

9. Are you getting tired yet?

Was since I got up way too early but I took a nap.

10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered?

Nothing I can think of.

Read-a-thon April 2014

Hour 8

Somewhere toward the end of hour 8 and I've just finished The Sound of Broken Glass.  It was an enjoyable mystery and I didn't guess who-dun-it until close to the end.  First book to be finished in a couple of months so I'm truly happy for that.  I'm also very thankful for this read-a-thon for inspiring me to read and the fact that if I tell my family I want to be left alone for a while they completely ingnore it but if I tell them that it's read-a-thon weekend they will guard my time even more than I will and let me read.  Thank you Dewey's Read-a-thon and all who make it a success!!! 

For now I've read 1 book and 430 pages.  

Hour 4

 
So far I've started 2 books  Forgotten Bookmarks by Michael Popek and The Sound of Broken Glass by Deborah Crombie.

Both  are quite good.  I currently plan to inter-space chapters of Forgotten Bookmarks in between other reading since it isn't very reading intensive and serves as a good break for the mind.



So let's see, that's 109 Pages of The Sound of Broken Glass and 29 pages of Forgotten Bookmarks for a total of  138 pages.  Not the fastest reading in the world  but it is progress.



Hour 1

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

Williamsport, PA USA

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

Forgotten Bookmarks by Michael Popek.  Lots of pictures and not as much reading but I adore the blog and so am looking forward to the book


3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

Splurged a bit on macadamia nuts for a salty snack and pecan pie for a sweet one so am looking forward to both of those.


4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

Been a bit depressed lately so this is the first time I plan to read a whole book in about 2 months.  Hopefully it will get me in the mood to read more.

5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?

I plan on relaxing and going with the flow with no real goals for myself this time.

Death in Reel Time by Brynn Bonner

This review is from an uncorrected proof for a book to be published March 11, 2014.  I will add a picture when I can find one.


When genealogists Sophreena McClure and Esme Sabatier begin working on the genealogy of their friend Olivia Clement they knew that would be looking into the mystery of her father's disappearance in the 1940s.  What comes as a surprise is that they are soon also trying to help solve the murder of Olivia's son-in-law. The even bigger surprise is that the two mysteries, some 60+ years apart, have so very much in common

Jabril by D. B. Reynolds

Jabril is the second book in the Vampires in America series by D. B. Reynolds and I strongly recommend that this book be bought at the same time as the first especially if your primary focus is the romance portion of the story.

The story of Cynthia "Cyn" Leighton and Raphael the vampire lord of the North American western territories continues.  However, with their relationship dead in the water, Cyn, a private investigator who frequently works with/for vampires takes a case offered by Jabril the lord of the southern United States territories.  She soon discovers that, while Raphael was sometimes ruthless but honorable, Jabril is everything that is loathsome and questions if finding the human girl who has runaway from his household for him is the right thing to do

Retreating to Raphael's territories with a young vampire in tow and determined to help the runaway though definitely not return her to Jabril, Cyn reluctantly finds her life becoming entwined in Raphael's household and with Raphael once again.

This book continues to be a romance between Cyn and Raphael and a good one at that but also has a strong urban fantasy plot.  The world building involving the vampires and their place in society continues apace and the story outside of the romance is well plotted and satisfying and should appeal to urban fantasy readers who don't necessarily enjoy romance novels.  As with the first book a warning for violence outside of the norm in romance novels must be tendered.

Raphael by D. B. Reynolds

Raphael by D. B. Reynolds is the first of two books comprising a romance novel between Raphael the vampire Lord of the Western Territories and Cynthia "Cyn" Leighton a private investigator in Malibu.  Raphael hires Cyn to find a female vampire who was kidnapped from his estate while he was not in residence.  Since she was kidnapped by humans, with the help of a vampire traitor, he reasons that a human has a better chance of dealing with the human side of the matter.  Not to give too much away, that doesn't go precisely as he planned.

Though this is very much a romance novel with sparks flying between the two main protagonists almost immediately it has strong undertones of a dark and rather violent urban fantasy.  Cyn does not come across like a typical romance heroine and you probably want to think more along the lines of Mercy Thompson than Harlequin.

Though the mystery of the kidnapping is rather predictable it isn't dissatisfying and the romance is rocky but well written.  However, for me, the best parts of the story are the urban fantasy elements which are well designed and have descent world building setting up the culture and political structure for later novels in the Vampires in America series.  Those starting this series should be warned that if you are looking for a vampire romance novel this one is very, very violent and the romance portion of the story isn't resolved until the next book in the series.

Ghost Walk by Heather Graham

This is my second book for the year and the second one by Heather Graham and if anything I enjoyed this even more than the first.

It is the story of Nikki DuMonde who gives ghosts tours in New Orleans and whose friend comes to her in the early morning hours at the same time she is being killed in another part of the city.  Though Nikki has had feelings about things in the past she has never seen ghosts before and now she is seeing them all the time.  She finds it very disconcerting and her best friend thinks she's losing it and more-or-less forces her to see a psychiatrist.

Enter Brent Blackhawk who is used to seeing ghosts and has been sent by his boss to solve the mystery of a dead FBI agent whom Nikki had had a chance encounter with.  After Brent becomes convinced that Nikki is the key to solving this mystery the two join forces and Brent helps Nikki with her unexpected and not very welcome gift.

Once again the mystery in this is very dissatisfying.  It is the backdrop of the story but doesn't read like a mystery novel and leaves me feeling as if I missed something.  The stories of both the people and ghosts however more than make up for this and some of the stories about the ghosts or told on the ghost tours are almost like short stories all their own and are quite fun to read.  The obvious romance is reasonably enjoyable as well.  For a light read this is a descent book as long as you are looking for more of a ghost story and less of a mystery novel.