Bout of Books 23

Hooray it is time again for Bout of Books! What is Bout of Books you ask?

"The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 20th and runs through Sunday, August 26th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 23 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team."

It will be a great week full of extra excuses to read (as if I need any). It will be a busy week work wise but hoping to get some good reading in. I have a small physical stack of books to read, a couple of eARCs and an audiobook. Happy reading y'all!

Monday

Today was a really busy day. I worked at the library and had a city meeting tonight so I mostly got reading in at lunch and when I got home I took a nice long bath. I did get to finish a book that I had started prior to Bout of Books, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. This was my second time reading it but after watching the Netflix movie twice over the weekend I had to read it again! Love that series. I hope Netflix makes all the other books into movies too! 

Monday Numbers:

Pages read: 325

Audiobook Time: 2 hours 9 minutes

Books finished: 1

Tuesday  

Another busy day. I didn’t get much of a chance to read today. Tomorrow is even busier so it may be the weekend before I get any good reading in.

Tuesday Numbers: 

Pages read: 163

Audiobook Time: 2 hours 34 minutes

Books finished: 0 

Wednesday  

Today was a super busy day working until 10 pm so reading was a bust for today.  

Wednesday Numbers:

Pages read: 58

Audiobook Time: 1 hour

Books finished: 0

Thursday 

Today was a very rough and sad day as a family dog died. I got home from work and just didn’t feel like reading so I watched tv instead.  

Thursday Numbers

Pages read: 121

Audiobook Time: 1 hour 29 minutes

Books finished: 0

Friday 

It was another busy day but when I got home from work I tucked myself away with my books and had a glorious evening reading. My husband was at a football game until late so I had no one to interrupt my reading. It was a good way to cap off a long week.

I finally finished The World As It Is audiobook. I have been reading it for about a month. It was painful to get through at times. It was an unflinching look at what is was like working in the Obama White House. I liked the honesty but a lot made me made. So many obstructions. Maddening.

I also finished The Proposal. I adored Jasmine Guillorys first book. It was delightful but this one lacked the same magic for me. 

I also finished P.S. I Still Love You. I forgot how unlikable Peter Kavinsky was in this book. I hope they change that if they make the second movie. 

Friday Numbers 

Pages read: 191

Audiobook Time: 2 hours 15 minutes

Books finished: 3

Saturday 

My depression and tiredness kind of overwhelmed me today so I stayed in bed most of the day. I slept and read The Kiss Quotient. I also am listening to the first Maisie Dobbs audiobook. I have read the book before but never moved on in the series so starting it again!I also started How Fascism Works which was probably a bad idea considering how I feel. I hope tomorrow is a better day.

Saturday Numbers 

Pages read: 326

Audiobook Time: 1 hour 23 minutes

Books finished: 1

Sunday

I felt so much better today that I ended up spending most of the day working on photography things. So I really didn't get much of a chance to read.

I finally started Dread Nation by Justina Ireland! It has been on my TBR list for awhile so I was excited to finally read it. 

I am sad it's the last day of Bout of Books. 

Sunday Numbers 

Pages read: 80

Audiobook Time: 1 hour 9 minutes

Books finished: 0

Warp Up

Well this Bout of Books ended up being different from others I have done. It was a weird emotional week and it was also busy at the library. I didn't have as much time to read as I would have liked. But it was always nice to be able to sink into a book when I was feeling bad. 

Bout of Books 23 Totals

Total pages read: 1,264

Total audiobook Time:  12 hours

Total books finished: 5

Dewey's Summer Reverse Readathon

The wonderful folks at Dewey's Readathon have decided to do a surprise pop up reverse readathon. It will start at 8 pm Friday evening and end 8 pm Saturday night instead of not starting until Saturday morning. I will definitely not have time to read for anywhere close to 24 hours but I will be light participant and see how much reading I can get in!

Saturday

11:00 am

I started reading at 8 pm last night when the Readathon started and went to bed at 2:30 am. I slept in until almost nine and then started reading again.  

I finished my first book China Rich Girlfriend. Sooooo good! Those books are so over the top and indulgent but I love them. Book number three should be arriving today but sadly my mail doesn’t usually come until 5 pm. 

I am also listening to the audiobook The World As It Is by Ben Rhodes. I am loving it. He really digs into the nitty gritty of his time in the Obama White House and he does not shie away from being candid.

I finished my second book Pat of Silver Bush. I love that book so much. I have read it so many times I can’t count and I still sob like a baby when a certain character dies. L.M. Montgomery has the richest grasp of language and paints the most beautiful scene. 

Reading time: 5 hours 46 minutes

Pages read: 111

Audiobook Time: 3 hours 45 minutes 

Books finished: 2

24in48 Summer 2018 Readathon

I am coming right in under the wire in signing up for this readathon! I had a photo session Saturday and a birthday party Sunday so I wasn't able to sign up for the 24in48 Readathon. But my little client is under the weather so I am jumping into this one! I have lots of good books to read and thought I would have to wait until Dewey's next weekend to get some good reading time in. It stats in two  hours! Glad I had a Coke for lunch. It will help me stay up for a little bit tonight!

All right here is my TBR pile that I gathered with 20 minutes before the Readathon starts! I have already started Rust & Stardust and Unbelievable so I hope to finish both of them. I also have a few graphic novels on my iPad that I hope to read as well. And the other two are just in case I finish all the others. I have heard so many good things about The Star-Touched Queen so I am excited to read that. I will also be updating on Twitter and Litsy (ReadingSusan). Happy reading everyone!

1:20 am

Well I think that's enough reading for tonight :-) I can't stay up any later and my eyes are trying to close. But I am enjoying getting back to reading tomorrow!

Totals for this time block

Reading time: 1 hour 16 minutes

Pages read: 43

Audiobook Time: 45 minutes 

Books finished: 0

1:00 pm

I got up a little before eight and jumped right back into reading! I finished my first book, Rust & Stardust. It was a very difficult book to read. I didn't realize until the end that it was based on a true story and was the inspiration for Lolita. It was beautifully written but wow packed a gut punch. 

I  am still listening to Unbelievable by Katy Tur. I can't believe how much stuff I have forgotten. That's all like a gut punch too.

I started The Star-Touched Queen. I have been wanting to read this book for awhile so I was excited when my sister lent it to me. It is so good so far.

Is there anything better than a day spent reading? I think not!

Totals for this time block

Reading time: 5 hours 31 minutes

Pages read: 311

Audiobook Time: 2 hours 13 minutes 

Books finished: 1

8:00 p.m.

I finished Unbelievable. What a great title for the book. I couldn't have said it better myself. I still can't believe all that stuff happened.

I am really, really loving Star-Touched Queen. Her descriptions are just beautiful and I love the world building. I had delicious salty lunch today. I have eaten way too much bad food today so I am just going to eat a bowl of broccoli for dinner :-)

Totals for this time block

Reading time: 7 hours 

Pages read: 190

Audiobook Time: 3 hours 46 minutes 

Books finished: 1

2:00 a.m.

Time to call it a night (morning?). I have my dads birthday party tomorrow so I can't stay up any later. 

I finished the Star-Touched Queen. Wow! What a good book. Maya is a terrific character. I loved getting swept up in this book. I could barely put it down. The descriptions in this book were beautiful and made it so easy for me to picture it in my head. What a great story. I was shocked when I went to do a review on list and saw the low rating. I really loved it.

I started the next Crazy Rich Asian book, China Rich Girlfriend. The Crazy Rich Asians movie comes out next month and I can't wait!! I normally don't like going to the movies but I am so excited for this one! It looks so good. This book is good too. I really like all these characters but Astrid is my favorite!

I am also listening to The World As it Is by Ben Rhodes, President Obama's speechwriter, deputy national adviser and various other positions. It is an unflinchingly honest look at behind the scenes of the Obama presidency. I am enjoying the content of the book but not crazy about the narrator so far (Yes that's my cute dogs paw in that photo). 

I am also reading The Complete Pat of Silver Bush series by L.M. Montgomery. I was so excited to snag these titles on my Kindle. Of course I have them in paperback but its nice to just be able to read them on my phone and iPad. I love the Pat books. I have read them several times. Not as much as the Emily and Anne books but they are so good too. I had a delicious snack of cookies and milk earlier. These cookies from the Publix deli are so good! They have M & M's and giant chunks of chocolate in them. Yum yum!

Well headed to bed and hoping I can get to 24 hours tomorrow. Happy reading everyone!

Reading time: 9 hours 1 minute 

Pages read: 222

Audiobook Time: 1 hour 47 minutes 

Books finished: 1

4:00 p.m.

I woke up before eight this morning and just read the whole morning away. Twas glorious! I didn't finish any books today but I have had a fun day of reading. I think I will get back to reading China Rich Girlfriend. It's such a good book and I want to see what happens!

Reading time: 4 hours 20 minutes 

Pages read: 115

Audiobook Time: 2 hours 13 minutes 

Books finished: 0

Wrap Up

What an amazing 24in48. I had so much fun and read so many good books. I am so glad I was able to do this last minute. It's such a fun readathon. 

Total Numbers

Reading time: 27 hours 8 minutes 

Pages read: 881

Audiobook Time: 11 hours 15 minutes 

Books finished: 3

Bout of Books 22

It is time for Bout of Books!  

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 14th and runs through Sunday, May 20th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 22 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

I love Bout of Books. It is always a fun time. It will be a busy week so not sure how much reading I will get in but I plan on having fun.

This is my TBR for Bout of Books. I also have a graphic novel, audiobooks and ARCs to read from and I have two books in process. I will be happy if I get a chance to finish 3 books this week. 

Monday

Day one of Bout of Books was actually pretty great thanks to audiobooks! I had to work at the library and then had a photo shoot that evening so I didn’t get much regular book reading in. But my audiobook Exit, Pursued by a Bear is so good it is really hard to turn off. I also finished one book I had to read for work. It is a children’s book, The Poppy Lady. It is about the women who popularized the use of poppies as a symbol of fallen soldiers in WWI. I have a patron who wants to come in and do a program on her and I am excited because it’s a fascinating story. 

Monday Numbers:

Pages read: 157

Audiobook Time: 4 hours 47 minutes

Books finished: 1

Tuesday

Today was a busy day so not much time for reading. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. I have a photo session in the morning but then I am off the rest of the day. It’s supposed to rain all day so I plan to snuggle in bed with books and kitties!

Tuesday Numbers:

Pages read: 47

Audiobook Time: 3 hours 5 minutes

Books finished: 1

Wednesday

Today was a much better day reading wise! I had a photo session in the morning, hung out with my sister and kitties for a little bit and then went home and read all afternoon. It was an awesome day! I finished Furyborn. It definitely lives up to the pre published hype. I enjoyed the world creating and am looking forward to the reading the other two in the future.

Wednesday Numbers:

Pages read: 313

Audiobook Time: 2 hours 27 minutes

Books finished: 1

Thursday 

Well today was pretty much a terrible reading day. I worked until 10:30 at night so I only had time for a little bit of audio booking and a few pages of my ebook.  It was an exhausting day.

 Thursday Numbers:

Pages read: 79

Audiobook Time: 3 hours 13 minutes

Books finished: 0

Friday 

This was another terrible reading day. I was just too busy. I worked all day and then headed to my sisters to spend the night for her Royal Wedding party tomorrow. I can’t wait! 👑  

Friday Numbers:

Pages read: 22

Audiobook Time: 28 minutes

Books finished: 0

Saturday 

I simply didn’t have time to read today. I had to watch the Royal wedding. Twice. And my husband and I celebrated our eleventh anniversary. It was a packed and wonderful day with not much reading time but that ok. That’s what I love about Bout of Books. I don’t feel guilty when I can’t get a lot of reading in.

Saturday Numbers:

Pages read: 22

Audiobook Time: 24 minutes

Books finished: 0

Sunday 

This was a much better reading day! I read the whole day except for four hours when I had to photograph a theatre show. It stormed so hard today and there is nothing better than curling up with a good book while it’s pouring. 

I finished Flunk. Start. Wow what an excellent book. If you are looking for a book on Scientology that is shocking with lots of reveals and shocking details this is not the book for you. This is a book full of exploration and inner thoughts of a woman caught up in this cult. It’s very good.

I came within an hour of finishing The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue audiobook. It’s such a funny but also sad book. I really wanted to finish it but I am too tired and about to fall asleep.  

I am also reading an e-ARC The High Season. I am enjoying it so far. Although sometimes I get tired of reading books about people who just keep getting screwed over. I hope this one has a happy ending. 

 Sunday Numbers:

Pages read: 307

Audiobook Time: 2 hours 17 minutes

Books finished: 1

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon April 2018

I am so excited that I am able to participate in Dewey's this year. This is my fourth time doing the Readathon. I am ready to start reading tomorrow. I have finished all my current books as of right now so I am going to start fresh. I can't wait for reading, snacking and socializing with other readers. I have been carefully picking out my stack and once again I have way too many picks in my stack. Here is my print, ebook and Audible stack. I will be happy if I get to finish three books. I have been falling asleep pretty early lately so I am not sure if I can stay up all night but I will try. Happy reading everybody!

I will be posting on Goodreads, Twitter, Instagram (@ReadingSusan) and Litsy (@ReadingSusan).

Previous Readathons I have done!

Dewey's Readathon April 2017

Dewey's Readathon October 2016

Dewey's Readathon April 2016

Opening meme

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? Atlanta, GA
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? Not if I Save You First by Ally Carter. I have been saving this for readathon!
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? Prosciutto!!
4) Tell us a little something about yourself! I am a photographer and a librarian who prefers books to socializing most of the time :-)
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? Hopefully I will be able to stay up for all 24 hours. I got more sleep last night than I usually do before a readathon. But I also have a photo session tomorrow and Monday night so not sure if its wise to stay up all night.

Here is my cozy reading spot for today. It's nice and sun drenched.

10 am

Happy Readathon! So excited that it’s finally here! I have had two good hours of reading so far. I started Crooked Kingdom. So excited to finally read this book. I also started listening to I’ll Be Gone in the Dark while making breakfast. This book has been on my TBR for a long time and with the recent arrest of the killer I knew it was time to read it. I made delicious cinnamon rolls for breakfast which is my Readathon tradition. 

Total pages read: 72
Total audiobook time: 1 hour 7 minutes
Books finished: 0

1:00 p.m.

Onto hour five. I feel like I am reading slowly today. I am about 200 pages into Crooked Kingdom and think I will switch up books soon. I went outside to enjoy some of this sun. And then made myself a nice picnic lunch.

I am really fascinated by I'll Be Gone in the Dark. It's very frightening and I may not be able to sleep tonight. But knowing who the actual killer allegedly is makes it even more fascinating. I am so sad that Michelle never got to know the truth. I may not be able to turn this audiobook! I am getting some cleaning done while listening. 

Total pages read: 196
Total audiobook time: 2 hours 10 minutes
Books finished: 0

4:30 p.m. 

Well this day has just flown by. I can't believe I have been reading for 8 + hours. Whew. My Coke at lunch helped though. I am not really tired anymore.

I took a Crooked Kingdom break and started Not if I Save You First by Ally Carter. I adore her books. And I am enjoying this one. I love her awesome, fierce female protagonists. My sweet cat, Trixie came to snuggle with me for a while and then I went outside and enjoyed a cupcake. I feel like its going to be much harder to stay engaged when the sun goes down so I am going to enjoy it while it is here.

Total pages read: 323
Total audiobook time: 3 hours 49 minutes
Books finished: 0

10:00 p.m.

Not tired yet! Maybe it has something to do with the three Cokes I have had today. I don't think I have ever had that much Coke! I had a delicious dinner of sushi, took a nice audio walk to stretch my legs, ate a delicious dessert outside, made some delicious lavender raspberry iced tea, finally finished my first book and started Crazy Rich Asians which I am loving! I can't wait to see the movie! I have only finished one book this readathon since I have been reading longer books but I am ok with that. I am enjoying all the books I am reading so much.

Total pages read: 623
Total audiobook time: 5 hours 46 minutes
Books finished: 1

2:30 a.m.

I dislike about half the people in Crazy Rich Asians. But I can't put this book down. It's so good. The amount of wealth is pretty mind boggling. I am getting a little tired in hour 18 but mostly of sitting in one place. I tried to go downstairs and read and all I could hear was weird noises outside. Thanks I'll Be Gone in the Dark ha ha. I had to start listening to the Winnie-the-Pooh audiobook to try to banish some of the scary images from my mind. I had some chocolate at midnight and I just had another plate of snacks. Too much salt tonight! I must chug water. I have decided that since I have a photo session tomorrow I am going to go to sleep at three and then wake back up at six. I don't have the luxury anymore of just relaxing after a couple of days of readathon. 

Total pages read: 883
Total audiobook time: 6 hours 25 minutes
Books finished: 1

Wrap Up!

This was a fun Dewey's Readathon! I ended up napping from 3-6 so I didn't get the full 24 hours but I am happy with 20 hours and 44 minutes. I didn't finish many books because I was reading some long ones but I really enjoyed every book I read.

I started the new Siobhan Vivian book, Stay Sweet this morning after eating breakfast in bed with Winnie the Pooh. Stay Sweet is definitely the perfect getting in the mood for summer book. I really just want to read this the rest of the day but I am going back to bed before my photo session this afternoon. I hope everyone else enjoyed the Readathon as much as I did! I am already looking forward to October.

Total pages read: 1,007
Total audiobook time: 7 hours 18 minutes
Books finished: 2

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon Prep

I am so excited that I will be able to do the Dewey's Readathon this month! I have had to miss it the last couple of times but managed to put it on my calendar before scheduling anything else. I am also participating in the prep this week for the readathon. From April 8th-14th the goal is to read 1000 pages. I am hoping this will be a good opportunity to catch up on the SEVEN books I am currently reading. I will be tracking my progress here. Who else is participating? I will also be posting in Litsy and Twitter @ReadingSusan. Drop me a comment below if you are participating in the Readathon or this prep week. 

Sunday, April 8th

Even though I was busy today I still managed to get some reading in the morning and evening. Thanks audiobooks! I finished two books and read a total of 474 pages. 526 more pages to go.

Monday April 9th

It was an extremely busy day today so not much time for reading. I read 75 pages. Hopefully I can read more tomorrow even though I am working most of the day. 

Total pages read: 549

Tuesday, April 10th

It was a busy day at work celebrating National Library Week so I didn’t get much reading in except through audiobook. I finished 116 pages.

Total pages read: 665

Wednesday, April 11th

I got in some reading before work and at lunch but planned to read the eveing away. You know what they say about best laid plans. I had a terrible migraine when I got home from work so my evening reading was ruined. I did manage to read 91 pages in the morning and at lunch.

Total pages read: 756

Thursday, April 12th

I finally finished the audiobook of Children of Blood and Bone and wow it really lived up to the hype! I loved it so much. I already want the next one. The authors note at the end made me weep. I was glad to get some good reading in tonight. I ended up with 177 pages. Looks like I will hit 1000 pages tomorrow. *knock on wood*

Total pages read: 933

Friday, April 13th

Ohhh Friday the 13th. It was lucky for me as I reached and slightly surpassed my page goal! I read 132 pages. Looking forward to the weekend and more reading time. I will keep track of my reading through tomorrow.

Total pages read: 1,065

Saturday, April 14th

Today was an awesome Saturday. I went strawberry picking with my sister which was so fun. It was a gorgeous day. And I still got plenty of reading time in. I finished two books today and read 341 pages.  

I am very happy with how my pre Readathon prep went especially because I didn’t get as much reading time as I thought I would. All together over this week I finished five books and read 1,406 pages. I am so excited for the Readathon in a couple of weeks! I am going to start getting my TBR piles ready this week!

The Big Game's On Read-a-thon

Happy Super Bowl Sunday or as I like to call it Happy Reading Day! I am not a huge football fan unless the home town team is playing so this year I will one again be participating in Jenn's Bookshelves The Big Game's On Read-a-Thon. I plan to spend the day curled up under a blanket reading. It is rainy and cold here so it is a perfect day for reading! I will check in periodically throughout the day.

5:00 p.m.

I started out the day getting back to All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater. I just can't get into this book. It's very slow and just not catching my attention. But I bought it and I am determined to finish it.

I decided to start this Adanced Reading Copy of Curtis Sittenfeld's new short story collection. One word: fantastic!!

I only have a week and a half left on this book before I have to  take it back to the library. So I decided I better start it. I can't even stand to look at this cover. Had to fortify myself with a bloody mary.

Wrap Up

Well that was a fun little read-a-thon! I enjoyed this relaxing Sunday. I only finished one book and didn't read that many pages but my husband and I spent the evening watching a movie and then The West Wing. It was fun!

Numbers

Total Pages read: 324

Total audiobook time: 2 hours 27 minutes

Books finished: 1

Bout of Books 21 January 2018

It's that time again! Bout of Books is here! What is Bout of Books? Well I am glad you asked!

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 8th and runs through Sunday, January 14th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 21 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

I am really looking forward to this readathon as I have been experiencing a bit of a book slump lately. So hopefully this will break me out of it. I have a bookshelf full of books I got for Christmas and some e-ARCs I need to finish so that is probably what I will be reading this week. You can keep up with my reading this week on Litsy (ReadingSusan), Twitter and Instagram. 

Monday

I always like to listen to audiobooks during readathons. I used to listen to audiobooks all the time but podcasts have really cut down on my audiobook time. I went to Overdrive and decided I wanted to listen to a collection of short stories. I found M is for Magic by Neil Gaiman. I am definitely enjoying him reading this book!

I am also trying to get some books read that I have been reading for a week or two. I have some eARCs that are about to come out. I am reading Carnegie's Maid and I am really enjoying this historical fiction. The only thing that annoys me about this book so far is that Clara is very judgmental about things Andrew does when she is being really deceitful.

I am also reading another historical fiction book, The English Wife. This comes out tomorrow so I am trying to finish ad review it tonight but I am only 30% in. I am really loving this book though. I like how it comes back and forth between two points of view and two times to slowly spool out the truth. 

And I am finally about 50% of the way through Juventud. Wow this book is so amazing. But it is a very heavy subject and I can only take it in bits and pieces. It is so beautifully written.

I finally snagged a copy of Paper Girls Vol 3! I was so excited. It was so good.  I finished it quickly. I can't wait to see where this story goes next!

All in all this was a terrific day of reading! Especially considering I worked more hours than I normally do.

Today's challenge: Introduce Yourself #insixwords: Photographer, Librarian, Wife, Sister, Reader,  Feminist.

Monday Numbers:

Pages read: 329

Audiobook Time: 1 hour 52 minutes 

Books finished: 1

Tuesday

I didn't get much reading done today because I was busier but I had time to listen to audiobooks while I was running errands and getting stuff done.

I finished The English Wife before I went to bed because it came out today and I wanted to get my review in. I ended up really liking it. 

I am almost done with Juventud which took a turn I expected but was still so heartbreaking.

Sorry I don't have much to say! Hopefully tomorrow will be a better reading day since I am working in the morning and have most of the afternoon to read!

Today's Challenge: 2018 Reading Goals-- Ironically my reading goal this year is to read less and people more. It has been so cold this winter that I have not wanted to keep this goal.

Tuesday Numbers:

Pages read: 318

Audiobook Time: 3 hours 4 minutes 

Books finished: 1

Wednesday

Today was the day to finish reading all the books. I finished M is For Magic, Juventud and Carnegie's Maid. I also started a new audiobook, That Old Cape Magic and The Woman in the Window. I just fit in the reading around work but didn't have as much time to read as I thought I would have. My new longer work hours start tomorrow and I have a big project for my other job so I don't know how much reading I will get done tomorrow. That's what makes Bout of Books so awesome. It doesn't matter how little you can read!

Wednesday Numbers:

Pages read: 190

Audiobook Time: 53 minutes 

Books finished: 3

Thursday

Pretty much a bust for reading except for my audiobook. There's always the weekend.

Thursday Numbers:

Pages read: 81

Audiobook Time: 2 hours 27 minutes 

Books finished: 0

Friday 

Bout of Books is so different now that I am working a second job. I just don’t have as much time to read.

Friday Numbers 

Pages read: 153

Audiobook Time: 49 minutes

Books finished: 0

Saturday 

Today I spent the day celebrating my birthday with my sisters so once again I didn’t get much reading in. But it was such a fun birthday celebration! 

Saturday Numbers 

Pages read: 40

Audiobook Time: 1 hour 26 minutes

Books finished: 0

Sunday

I spent all morning hanging out with my sisters and then all afternoon and evening reading! Twas a glorious day for the last day of Bout of Books! 

Sunday Numbers 

Pages read: 655

Audiobook Time: 21 minutes

Books finished: 2

Wrap Up

This definitely felt like one of my least productive Bout of Books. I was rushed a lot of the week and sometimes when I was home didn't feel like reading. But the reading I did get in was very satisfying. My favorites were The Great Alone and Paper Girl Vol 3. I am off tomorrow so I plan to continue reading. In the comments below all me how you did for Bout of Books!

Total Numbers

Pages read: 1,766

Audiobook Time: 10 hours 52 minutes

Books finished: 7

Thankfully Reading Weekend 2017

It is one of my favorite times of the year! I love Thanksgiving. It is my favorite holiday. There is lots of yummy food, no presents and lots of time for reading. Thankfully Reading is the first readathon I ever participated in seven years ago. I love this readathon because there are no rules and I can read whenever I can fit it in. Thanksgiving is pretty busy with cooking and family time so its good to have some quiet reading time. As usual I will be starting my Thankfully Reading on Wednesday. This is the first time since I started this readathon that I am working outside my own business so I made sure to take Wednesday off for cooking and Thankfully Reading! All updates will be in this post. For more information on this readathon and to sign up head to the host, Jenn's Bookshelves website! http://www.jennsbookshelves.com/2017/11/14/2017-thankfully-reading-weekend/

Here are all my Thankfully Reading posts from previous years!

I am getting my TBR list together and I have picked A LOT of books haha. It's as if I have two weeks to read and not just a long weekend. Here is my print book pile. I also have an audiobook and some e-books. I can't wait to get started!

Kick Off Morning!

Yay Thankfully Reading starts today and I couldn't be more excited. 

• How will/did you celebrate Thanksgiving? I will celebrate Thanksgiving at my house. My immediate and extended family will be coming and enjoying the day with us. I am so excited.
• What’s in your TBR pile for the weekend? My TBR pile is pictured above. I also hope to finish up some ARCs and an audiobook.
• How much time do you think you’ll have for reading? I should have a lot of time for reading except for Thanksgiving Day. I have one photo session on Friday and then my husband and I will probably binge the last season on Broadchurch Sunday but that is all I have planned! 
• What book are you starting out with? I am going to start out with Alias Grace on audio. This morning I plan to cook most of my Thanksgiving dishes so I will listen to that as I cook. 
• Are you reading print, ebooks, or audio? Maybe a bit each? Definitely all of them! 

I will check back in later today! Happy reading!

Wednesday

Day one of Thankfully Reading is in the books and it was a good day. It was so great to have an entire week day to read. 

I woke up early this morning and started cooking so my first book had to be an audiobook. I decided on Alias Grace. I am loving it. It’s such a good book. I bought the Kindle edition and added on the Audible audiobook and that is my new favorite thing. It is terrific how easily you can switch betweeen the two. I am about 40% of the way through this book. 

The first book I finished was Confess by Colleen Hoover. I have a love hate relationship with some of her books but this one I liked better than any others I have read. It was a quick and entertaining read. 

And then I finally dove in to The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur. I loved this book of poetry so, so much. I can’t always relate to her poems on a personal level but they always crush me with the honesty and the rawness of them. 

The last book of the evening that I started is the absolutely stunning The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo. This book is gorgeous! The covers, the paper, the colored inks and the illustrations are just amazing. It’s so aesthetically pleasing I can barely concentrate on the content of the actual book!

I am so happy that I had such a good reading and cooking day!  I am ready for Thankgiving tomorrow and so excited to spend the day with my family!

Wednesday Numbers:

Pages read: 703

Audiobook Time: 5 hours 30 minutes

Books finished: 2

Thursday 

Thanksgiving was wonderful! I had all my family at my house. We had four tables groaning with food and it was amazing. We have the best cooks in my family. 

​I listened to my Alias Grace audiobook while getting ready and cleaning up after. It is getting really intense. I am about to find out what really happened to Grace. I was finallly ready to sit down with Language of Thorns and a glass of wine but eyes were dry so I popped upstairs to take out my contacts and I accident broke a blood vessel in my eye. 😭 My mom suggested I not strain my eye and read. So that was it for the night. I didn’t even update the blog until this morning. So sad. But I think I will be fine to read all day today. I have a photo session in a few hours and then the rest of the day to read. 

Thursday Numbers:

Pages read: 64

Audiobook Time: 3 hours 37 minutes

Books finished: 0

Friday 

Today was another good reading day! I finished The Language of Thorns. I loved this book of fairy tales from the Grisha Verse. You really don’t have to read any of the Grisha books to appreciate this. I love the twist she puts on some classic fair tales. So good! And the book itself was gorgeous! The illustrations, the ink colors and the beautiful cover made a wonderful reading experience.

I also finished Alias Grace. This was such a good book! I don’t know why I have only read three Margaret Atwood books as I have loved every one of her books! I am also looking forward to watching the mini series on Netflix. 

​I started One of Us Is Lying. And it is so good so far. I don’t think I have figured out the culprit yet and I am enjoying the different POV. That can be a very risky way to write a story as it can get confusing but I am liking it in this book.

I also started the Young Elites audiobook. I have been wanting it read this series for awhile and I have owned the second book for months. So I finally found the audiobook on Overdrive. I am really enjoying it so far. I love everything Marie Lu writes. 

I had a great day of a wonderful family photo session, yummy Thanksgiving leftovers, a Christmas movie and lots of delightful reading time!

Friday Numbers:

Pages read: 479

Audiobook Time: 4 hours 15 minutes

Books finished: 2

Saturday 

I didn’t get in as much reading today as I thought I would. I had a lot of stuff today so I just mainly listened to my audiobook and read print books here and there.

I finally started Shadowshaper. This is a book I have been wanting to read for ages. And when I posted a photo of my to read shelf to Litsy everyone was like read that one, read that one. It is really good. The shadowshaper stuff can be a little confusing at times though but I am thinking that is intentional.  

​I finished One of Us is Lying. I loved it! I did guess part of the ending before the end but I still really enjoyed reading this book. 

I am also reading The Thousandth Floor. I got the second one accidentally at the library but luckily I had the first one on my Nook. I am really enjoying this book so far. It’s set really far the future and NYC is now all inside in a thousand floor tower. It is fascinating world building. I have also had a ton of Thanksgiving leftovers this week. I probably need to go on a long walk tomrorow to compensate for all the delicious food I have eaten. 

The main reason I didn’t get much reading in is that my sister, brother in law and I went shopping this afternoon. It is Small Business Saturday so we went to our local downtown and supported our small, locally owned businesses and got some Christmas shopping done. Tomorrow probably won’t be that great of a reading day since I plan to decorate for Christmas and watch the final season of Broadchurch.

​​Saturday Numbers:

Pages read: 453

Audiobook Time: 4 hours 17minutes

Books finished: 1

Sunday 

So sad it’s the last day of Thankfully Reading Weekend. And I ended up having an awesome reading day due to the fact that Broadchurch doesn’t come on Netflix until tomorrow. Boo!

I finished The Young Elites audiobook and was not happy with the end. Hoping that it gets resolved in book two but not hopeful at this point. I really enjoyed that book. It was very good!

I about 2/3 of the way through The Thousandth Floor and still loving the concept of this book. I am looking forward to settling down and reading it more tomorrow. 

I finished Shadowshaper and it did not disappoint. I am always afraid that having a book really hype do up will cause my expectations to be overblown. But this one really came through. I loved it and I love Sierra. She was an awesome heroine and I can’t wait to read the next one! 

​I took a break from novels for a minute to see what graphic novels Hoopla has. I found the next two Archie volumes and the last volume of season nine of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I am loving the Archie volumes and can’t wait until the next ones come out. It also inspired me to watch a few episodes of the show Riverdale which I really enjoy. 

I also started the book Hanna Fell From The Sky. Whew. That’s a tough one to read! It is very maddening. It’s all about an fundamentalist LDS like cult. The men are awful and they have all the power as the young girls are forced into plural marriages. It’s truly horrible. But the book is beautifully written with some magical realism elements popping up. I am looking forward to seeing where this book goes!

Sunday Numbers:

Pages read: 644

Audiobook Time: 4 hours 6 minutes

Books finished: 4

Wrap-Up!

What a fun Thankfully Reading Weekend! I had a blast reading and enjoying some relaxing down time.

Total Numbers

Pages read: 2,343

Audiobook Time:  21 hours  45 minutes

Books finished: 9

Bout of Books 20 August 2017

It is finally the week of Bout of Books 20! I am so excited.

"The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 21st and runs through Sunday, August 27th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 20 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog." - From the Bout of Books team.

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is one of my favorites because it lasts a whole week. And no surprise my week is packed with work and after work activities. So I don't know how much time I can make for reading but I will get in as much as possible. 

My goal is to finish up the books I am currently reading which are the following:

The Lying Game by Ruth Ware

Devil's Bargain by Joshua Green

Before I Let Go by Marieke Nijkamp

When Paris Went Dark: The City of Lights Under German Occupation, 1940-1944 by Ronald C. Rosbottom

I am also reading A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin but I doubt I will have time to finish it as I am "only" 400 pages in.

Well I am going to get to reading before I have to head to work for eclipse madness!

Well thank goodness for audiobooks is all I have to say. I didn't have a terrific reading day. Work was insane. We were getting phone call for eclipse glasses every 30 seconds before the eclipse started. The good news is I got to see the eclipse. It was so amazing! I definitely am going to plan a trip in the path of totality for the next one.

I mostly read my Game of Thrones book and listened to my audiobook but I hope to get more into the Lying Game tomorrow. It's a fascinating story so far and I am looking forward to finding out what really went on. It has been a long day and I have to be up super early tomorrow as I have a photo session an hour away. Better luck tomorrow!

Monday Numbers:

Pages read: 160

Audiobook Time: 3 hours

Books finished: 0

Tuesday

Helloooo Tuesday! Today was an insanely crazy day. I was in my car most of the morning, driving to a photo session and then running all these long overdue errands. I worked at my second job at the library all afternoon so I only got some reading in before bed. But the good thing about being in the car all day is that you have plenty of time to listen to audiobooks!

I finished listening to When Paris Went Dark. I don't know if loved it is the right word considering the subject matter. But this book was really informative and had a good narrative flow. Books about the Nazis are extra chilling these days.

I also finished Before I Let Go. I loved the first half of the book. This was a haunting tale of a girl trying to figure out how and why her best friend died. The pain and grief of Corey was palpable in the pages. And then suddenly the book turned confusing and disjointed. It kind of turned out to be nothing? I was really confused by the resolution of the story. I also didn't like the phone call scenes. They really took away from the flow of the book and didn't really add much (FYI I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review).

I also am reading a book at work called Inside, Outside, and Online: Building Your Library Community. It's very heavy on research and stats. I am trying to read more about the Library world and how it works so this is very helpful. 

Tuesday Numbers  

Pages Read: 330

Audiobook Time: 5 hours 50 minutes

Books Finished: 2

Wednesday

Another subpar day. This just wasn't the best week for me in terms of being able to read. My time is so crunched this week. I think this Bout of Books will just be all about audiobooks. I had work and then had to photograph a really long play so I didn't get much actual reading done. I mainly just was able to finish reading The Lying Game before work. I really loved it! It was just the right amount of suspense and mystery. 

I would say I am hoping for a better reading day tomorrow but I have to take my MIL to the dr. tomorrow and it will probably take up all my time before work. Sunday is the only day this week I will have to read all day so I am looking forward to it.

Wednesday Numbers

Pages Read: 256

Audiobook Time: 3 hours 8 minutes

Books Finished: 1

Thursday

Nope. Just a wash. Better luck tomorrow or the weekend.

Thursday Numbers

Pages Read: 169

Audiobook Time: 3 hours 56 minutes

Books Finished: 1

Friday

OMG its finally Friday! So happy. It has been a long, long week! I feel like the eclipse threw everything off. I am hoping to catch up on sleep and reading this weekend. I didn't get much of a chance to read again today as Friday is one of my long work days. I am sad about my lack of reading time this week. I do miss being able to take time off during read-a-thons but I am so thankful to have found a part time job I love. So it's ok if I wasn't able to read as much as usual. I am happy I am able to read at all!

Friday Numbers

Pages Read: 82

Audiobook Time: 21 minutes

Books Finished: 0

Saturday

Yay finally a decadent reading day and I spent hours at my Grandmas today and still got some good reading in.

I finished Small Admissions. It was quite disappointing. I saw so many good reviews about it. It just reminded me of the usual different girls in the city books. I wasn't that attached to the people in the book and I probably only finished it because it was a readathon.

I was so excited to get an ARC of Andy Weir's new book, Artemis. I started it tonight and it is SO good. It definitely kept me up later than usual. I forced myself to go to bed. When I got Martian I started reading it at 6 pm and I stayed up all night until I was done. I love that this book has a female protagonist. 

Well tomorrow should be a good reading day although I am also hoping to spend some time with my husband too!

Saturday Numbers

Pages Read: 355

Audiobook Time: 38 minutes

Books Finished: 1

Sunday

Well this was definitely the best reading day of the whole week. I finally just got to real and enjoy reading.

I finished Artemis. I really enjoyed this book. I don't think it's always easy for a male to write a female MC and there were a few instances where I thought that missed a little. But I thought this book was so fun. I liked Jazz and her cast of characters. Like The Martian my eyes would glaze over at the hard core science stuff. This book reminded me of an old fashioned heist movie even though they weren't heisting anything!

I also was excited to get am ARC of Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World. This book is awesome! Its a graphic novel packed full of beautiful illustrations and text about awesome ladies from history that you don't usually hear about. It is SO good. 

I started Moonglow too because I have five days to read it before it has to go back to the library.

Sunday Numbers

Pages Read: 522

Audiobook Time: 3 hours 7 minutes

Books Finished: 1

Wrap up!

Well this was not one of the best Bout of Books I have ever done. I just didn't have the time I usually did. But I still did decent. It was a long and exhausting week and I was glad the little pockets of time I was able to escape and read.

Total Numbers

Pages Read: 1,874

Audiobook Time: 20 hours

Books Finished: 6

Reading Susan Read-a-Thon

Wow, I suddenly find myself with a whole weekend FREE. It's a miracle. I was so sad to miss the 24 in 48 marathon a few weeks ago. So I have decided to do my own readathon this weekend. No rules, just reading. I will be posting on here, Twitter, Instagram and Litsy using the hashtag #ReadingSusanRAT. Join me if you want! 

Friday

I am so glad I decided to do my own readathon this weekend. As soon as I got home from work with my Chick-fil-A, I settled in to read. There was rain in the forecast all day but I was sad because it didn't actually rain. I love reading on the porch while it rains. I finished up Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. This book will come out in September but I was excited to receive an ARC from NetGalley. I loved it! You can read my review on Goodreads. 

I am also reading Con Academy  It is about a boarding school and a con man? Yep that ticks a lot of boxes for me. It's falling a little short so far but I am hoping it picks up.

I also needed to take my dog for a walk so I downloaded an audiobook to listen to: When Paris Went Dark: The City of Light Under German Occupation, 1940-1944. This is one I have been wanting to read for a long time.

Friday Numbers:

Pages read: 287

Audiobook Time:  53 minutes 

Books finished: 1

Saturday

I didn't end up reading the whole day because I went to lunch, the library and the grocery store with my husband but I did spend a good portion of the day day reading and stayed up late tonight because I couldn't put my book down.

I finished Con Academy. It was a pretty lackluster book. It had so much potential but the author dropped the ball. The writing wasn't terrible but the story wasn't that great.

However, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake was so good! It was a very unusual book and I definitely saw a lot of mixed reviews after I finished it. But I loved it. The idea that a girl can taste the emotions of the people who cook or make food was so unique! But it is impossible to read this book without a treat! My mouth watered every time I looked at the cover.  

I am also reading two different books about World War II. The non fiction audiobook When Paris Went Dark and The Women in the Castle. The latter is a fascinating story that skips around to the different stories of a few war widows. I feel like in a lot of WWII books the whole book you are just waiting for people to be reunited so I found it interesting that the book starts with the reunion and then goes back filling in the story. The writing is really lovely. This isn't one you read quickly but savor. 

Saturday Numbers:

Pages read: 542

Audiobook Time:  3 hours 22 minutes 

Books finished: 2

Sunday

I didn't end up reading all day because I ended up doing other stuff but I still managed to get some reading in. I finished one book, Turbo Twenty-Three. I love the Stephanie Plum books even though they are all the same. 

Sunday Numbers:

Pages read: 291

Audiobook Time:  1 hour 56 minutes 

Books finished: 1

Wrap Up

I had a great weekend of reading and relaxing! It was an awesome weekend!

Weekend Totals:

Pages read: 1,120

Audiobook Time:  6 hours 11 minutes 

Books finished: 4

Bout of Books 19 May 2017

Yay, it is time for Bout of Books again! 

"The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 8th and runs through Sunday, May 14th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 19 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog." - From the Bout of Books team

I love this week long Readathon. This will be my fourth time doing it. I did Bout of Books 16, Bout of Books 17 and Bout of Books 18. This years readathon will be a little different since I now work all afternoon. But I am still looking forward to reading as much as I can. Check back here during the week for updates. I will also be posting on Goodreads, Instagram and Litsy (@ReadingSusan).

Monday

Happy first day of Bout of Books! I am going to try to get in some reading before I leave for work. The first challenge is to introduce yourself in six words: Photographer. Wife. Sister. Reader. Friend. Liberal. 

I am starting off with Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald. I have been wanting to read this book ever since it came out. I got the audiobook from the library. Looking forward to diving into this one.

Well day one was pretty much a wash. I worked most of the day and then had a newspaper assignment all night. Better luck tomorrow. 

Monday Numbers:

Pages read: 81

Audiobook Time: 3 hours 58 minutes 

Books finished: 0

Tuesday

Tuesday was a little better reading day especially because its one of my shorter days at work but also I had a lot of photos to edit so I was able to listen to my audiobook while editing. 

I was quickly sucked into The Ex by Alafair Burke. It is a terrific mystery and I am dying to find out the solution. I hope to have time to finish it today.

I am still reading LaRose but I have to admit it is a struggle. I wouldn't say I am enjoying it necessarily. The writing is very good and the story is compelling enough to not DNF it. But the lack of quotation marks is infuriating!

I am still loving Z. I am about half way through. I really love the historical fiction books based on real peoples lives. 

I am going to attempt to finish a book today! And maybe read some of my graphic novels before I have to return them to the library. 

Tuesday Numbers:

Pages read: 205

Audiobook Time: 5 hours 36 minutes 

Books finished: 0

Wednesday

Half way through the week. I finally had the time to read a lot more. 

I am almost done with Z and it makes me so mad to see how she was treated. I hate that Scott insisted on putting his name on her stories. Infuriating!

I had to return LaRose to the library since I was out of renewals. I will pick it up again at some point but I am also not crying over having to return it.

I finished The Ex. Even though I guessed the ending I still enjoyed the twists and turns through the whole book. It was so fast paced and suspenseful.

I also read Twilight: The Graphic Novel. I was hoping that it would be better than the original books which I am not a fan of. But I guess I just don't like the whole concept. Bella is willing to give up her whole life and family for a guy. That's just not romantic to me. It's sad.

I started and finished Saga: Volume 5. Before Litsy I never would have been reading four or five graphic novels a month. Before this year I had only read the Buffy graphic novels and Lucy Knisley graphic memoir. Now I love all sorts of graphic novels like Paper Girls, Lumberjanes and Saga. This volume of Saga was so good and had a much anticipated moment. 

The next book I started was What Comes After. This book is SO sad. Don't read it if you are feeling down. Iris' story is pretty tragic and I am hoping this one has a happy ending.

Also, I just found out the new Anne of Green Gables adaption comes out on Netflix Friday so already anticipating that day to be a wash! 

Wednesday Numbers:

Pages read: 725

Audiobook Time: 3 hours 53 minutes 

Books finished: 3

Thursday

Another busy day. If there is one thing I have learned from working outside the home again is that there is no time to do anything anymore especially read. So I just got a little bit of reading in, mainly audiobooks while editing photos.

Thursday Numbers:

Pages read: 383

Audiobook Time: 2 hours 3 minutes 

Books finished: 2

Friday

Another washed out reading day. I worked and had an after work event and then came home and watched the first episode of Anne with an E. And then I was so exhausted I went to bed. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better reading day. I

Friday Numbers:

Pages read: 157

Audiobook Time: 0 

Books finished: 0

Saturday

Oh hello Saturday! So glad to see you! I had awesome day with lots of relaxing and reading. I am still trying to shake this strep throat so I needed a day of rest. 

The Woman Who Stole My Life is a hilarious book that flashes back and forth between the MC's past and present. It is so funny and I am really enjoying it 100 pages in. 

I finished the graphic novel, Locke & Key: Brain Games. I loved this volume! It was so crazy and fascinating. The detail in the drawings just amaze me. I can't wait to read the third volume!

Paperweight was such a hard book to read. It is about a seventeen year old with an eating disorder. Being in Stevie's mind can be a really uncomfortable experience. She views her body and the world through this warped lens and it so tragic. But this book is SO good. So well written. I highly recommend it but it is also difficult.

Wrecked was another heart wrenching book as it was about college rape. It was an interesting perspective as the main story wasn't from the POV of the victims or the accused. I was definitely left with some questions after the book was over which dropped it in my estimation. 

I started Hunted which is a retelling of the Beauty and the Beast story. I am a sucker for retelling of fairy tales stories! I am only 50 pages in but am enjoying it so far.

My husband and I also watched Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I loved it! It was so good. I loved how much more magic there was than in the HP movies. I can't wait until the next one!

Tomorrow is Mothers Day and I am hosting so I don't know how much reading I will get done. I probably won't finish any more books. I might dip into Game of Thrones again since I have been reading it since the last Bout of Books. I need to stop getting books from the library and read my own!

Saturday Numbers:

Pages read: 617

Audiobook Time:  0

Books finished: 3

Sunday

As expected I didn't get much reading done since it was a busy Mothers Day. When you aren't a mother on mothers day you have to do lots of non fun stuff like cook and clean for mothers ha ha. So my last day of Bout of Books was sad. I wish these reaadathons wouldn't coincide with events like this.

Sunday Numbers:

Pages read: 176

Audiobook Time: 0

Books finished: 0

Wrap Up

Definitely my worst Bout of Books yet. I used to be able to work just a little bit during this readathon since I was my own boss. So this was a quite an adjustment. I love this readathon but this time it just felt more stressful with work. So I don't know if I will do this again. It makes me sad.

Final Numbers:

Pages read: 2,344

Audiobook Time: 15 hours 30 minutes

Books finished: 8

Dewey's Readathon April 2017

Well it is that time of year again! Dewey's Readathon starts in a few days. I am so excited for it. I have made sure to block off the whole 24 hours and not planned anything else. I can't believe this is only my third Dewey's. You can check out my blog post for October 2016 and my first year in April 2016. 

This is my current pile of books to choose from. I always make sure to have lots of choices as that is what will keep me interested and awake. This year I made sure to get even more graphic novels. My goals this year is to stay awake for at least 22 hours and finish 3 books and 3 graphic novels.  

I have also stocked up on a lot of delicious snacks! Healthy and non healthy. 

I am so excited to get started! Let me know if you have read any of the above books and what you thought of them.  I will also be posting intermittently on Twitter, Goodreads, Instagram and Litsy (ReadingSusan).

Day Of!

Yay! It is finally here! Readathon day! The official start is about 20 minutes away so I thought I would go ahead and do the opening meme before I get started reading!

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? Georgia, U.S.A. 

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? Gemina. Of course it's a long one so I don't know if I will be able to get through the whole thing. But I also think it looks longer than it is because of the formatting.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? Cheese and chocolate!

4) Tell us a little something about yourself? My name is Susan. I am in my mid 30's. I am a photographer and part time adult programming librarian. I have two cats and a dog that will be keeping me company while I read today.

5) If you participated in the last readathon, what's the one thing you'll do different today? Try to  stay up longer and plan my nap better. I missed the end of RAT last time because I napped too late and just didn't want to get up. I feel myself getting sick so I hope that won't interfere with the readathon.

I plan to start out reading in my comfy chair in my sunroom. My dog won't be happy because he has pretty much claimed it for himself.

9:30 am

An hour and a half in to readathon and just stopping by for a quick update. I am already tired which is not a good sign. I woke up too early and couldn't go back to sleep. 

I started off with listening to A Man Called Ove audiobook as I did all my morning chores. I love how grumpy Ove is. I think I see where is this book is going.

I made my traditional readathon cinnamon rolls. Delicious. I started my first print book All American Boys. And wow its really heavy so far. It's early to already be getting emotional about a book. 

Well headed off to read some more. I will check in later. I hope everyone is enjoying the readathon so far!

Total pages read: 102
Total audiobook time: 46 minutes
Books finished: 0

1:30 pm

I had to take about an hour break to pick my MIL up from dialysis but then I was able to get back to reading. 

I finished All American Boys. I love how it is not only written from two different boys perspectives but how it was actually written by two men coming from different places. This was a very heavy book to start out the readathon with but I feel like it will be on my mind for weeks to come. It was very well written and thought provoking.

Next up is lunch and a graphic novel of Romeo and Juliet. I am so excited to read this!

Hours Spent Reading: 5 hours 8 minutes
Total Pages read: 366
Total Audiobook time: 1 hr 58 minutes
Books finished: 1

6:00 pm

What a good afternoon of reading! I finished Romeo and Juliet. I really enjoyed it. I like how he added some modern touches to the drawings and switched the race and religion of the characters. My cat, Gehrig finally emerged but refused to snuggle with me. Probably because it is so hot today.

Next, I read a book I have been wanting to read for a few months, I Am Your Biggest Fan by People editor Kate Coyne. I laughed, cringed and winced at her celeb encounters. It's very funny and you have to appreciate someone who tells embarrassing things she has done in front of celebrities. I also broke into my chocolate stash. As usual I bought too many snacks and haven't eaten that much today. Sitting around and reading isn't exactly the best way to be hungry ha ha

I am still listening to a Man Called Ove audiobook in between the other books or when I am doing a quick social media check. I am really loving this book. I am real worried about how this is going to end though.

I am getting a little sleepy so I probably need to go for a walk or something. I am thinking the chances of me staying up too late tonight is just not going to happen. Which is fine. I no longer have the luxury of being able to take a couple of days to recover from readathons. Ok back to reading.

Hours Spent Reading: 9 hours 36 minutes
Total Pages read: 696
Total Audiobook time: 2 hours 58 minutes
Books finished: 3

8:15 pm

I had a lovely walk around the neighborhood while listening to my audiobook. It was supposed to storm all day today but it has been beautiful all day! I sat outside and read the fourth volume of Lumberjanes. I love these graphic novels. They are so funny and I really love the artwork. The adventures of the Lumberjanes are always fun. What the junk!

I just ate dinner and it was so delicious. But very salty ha ha. I will be chugging water the rest of the night. I started Scarlett Epstein Hates It Here. I won this in a Goodreads giveaway a few months ago and I am loving it a few chapters in. 

Hours Spent Reading: 11 hours 49 minutes
Total Pages read: 846
Total Audiobook time: 3 hours 59 minutes
Books finished: 4

1:30 am

I was getting sleepy so I had half a Coke and some chocolate and got my second wind! I finished Scarlett Epstein Hates It Here. I enjoyed it but it didn't blow me away or anything. It reminded me a lot of Fangirl.

I started and finished the third volume of Saga. So good! This was my favorite volume so far. It was action packed.

My household is all sleeping now and I am the sole person awake. Even the cats are sleeping under the bed. I am afraid if I try to nap that I won't want to wake up but I may try to nap from 2-4. We will see. Time for a bath and my next book!

Hours Spent Reading: 16 hours 47 minutes
Total Pages read: 1232
Total Audiobook time: 5 hours 16 minutes
Books finished: 6

5:00 am

Wow I just finished Things I Should Have Known. I won this during the 24 in 48 Readathon and I am just sorry that I didn't read it before. I really enjoyed the story. It was all about sibling bonds and the character development worked really well for me.

I can't believe I am still awake. I don't think I could go to sleep even if I wanted to. There are birds loudly tweeting outside. Its very annoying. I also am having to face the fact that what I have been dismissing this week as allergies is me being sick. I can't stop coughing. I may actually make it to 8 am. But hoping I will be able to go to sleep. I am going to start reading the next volume of Saga and hopefully I will get sleepier. I am chugging throat comfort tea too. Hoping that helps my throat.

Hours Spent Reading: 20 hours 24 minutes
Total Pages read: 1543
Total Audiobook time: 6 hours 16 minutes
Books finished: 7

Wrap Up!

Well I am super happy with how my third readathon went! I finished 8 books, including 4 graphic novels, one memoir and 3 YA books. The key for me this year was definitely sticking to shorter books so my interest didn't wane especially in the early morning hours. I also finished about 71% of my audiobook A Man Named Ove, All the books I read but one were a four or five star so that makes it extra successful! I also hit my reading goal in Goodreads of 100 books! I can't believe I made it to that even with my new job! I fell asleep before the official end of readathon but I am really pleased with my final numbers. Also, I went to the dr this morning and I just have really bad allergies so I am not sick. Yay!

Totals

Hours Spent Reading: 22 hours 3 minutes
Total Pages read: 1695
Total Audiobook time: 6 hours 49 minutes
Books finished: 8

I am already looking forward to October! Tell me in the comments how your Readathhon went and link to your blog if you have one.

April 2017 Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon stack completed 

24in48 Winter 2017 Readathon

I love the 24in48 Readathon! The premise of it is to read for at least 24 hours of a weekend. I enjoyed doing this last year. I thought I wasn't going to be able to do it this year due to other commitments but they all fell through so suddenly with one day before it starts I get to sign up! I have one photo session Saturday morning but other than that I plan to read, read, read. It is perfect timing as I want to escape from all coverage of the Darkest Day. I doubt I will be able to do 24 hours because of my photo session and I can't stay up all nigh but I will read as much as I can. I will keep this post updated throughout the readathon and I will also be updating on Litsy and Instagram at ReadingSusan. Not sure if I will venture back into Twitter but will definitely be on the other two. Happy reading everybody!

These are the books I am planning on choosing from during the readathon

Saturday

2:30 pm

Wow it has been a great day of reading so far. I sadly ended up having to cancel my photo session because of really bad weather. We were under a tornado watch but luckily didn't get any tornados. But that left me plenty of time to read as the wind and rain howled outside.

I finally finished Carve the Mark which I started reading before the readathon began and I know that there was some controversy about the book but I really enjoyed it. I definitely liked it better than the last Divergent book. 

I am also listening to the audiobook Shrill by Lindy West. Such a great book! And a perfect book to read today thinking about feminism and empowering women. 

I also started The Comeback Season by one of my favorite young adult authors. It's also about baseball so that is awesome! I have pretty much been reading the whole day only taking occasional breaks to go on Twitter and enjoy all the Women's March posts. Today is the most hope I have felt since the morning of November 8th! 

Totals for this time block

Reading time: 6 hours 17 minutes

Pages read: 243

Audiobook Time: 2 hours 10 minutes 

Books finished: 1

10:30 pm

I have been reading interspersed with breaks to check in on the different women's marches. So inspiring! It makes me so happy! I wish I could have participated. 

I finished The Comeback Season. It was good and I enjoyed it. I loved reading about the Cubs and the sadness of them never winning a World Series when they finally won last year. 

I started Don't You Cry by Mary Kubica. I always enjoy her books and this one seems like it is going to be another suspenseful one. I just wish the blurb on the front cover didn't give some of it away! I had a great evening reading and drinking a delicious rose while my husband made me dinner. I love weekends!

I also started reading Mandie and Holiday Surprise. As I said in My Bout of Books post a few weeks ago I have been rereading these holiday classics. It is amazing how I can remember whole passages from these books. I read them over and over as a child as they were one of the few series I owned. My cat Trixie (yes named after Trixie Belden!) has been extra snuggly today because she was so scared of the storm earlier. Looks like we will get more storms in the middle of the night and possible tornados. I hate this kind of weather.

Totals for this time block--

Reading time: 5 hours 2 minutes

Pages read: 271

Audiobook Time: 2 hours 10 minutes 

Books finished: 1

Just before midnight 

Well this is a quick update and Saturday wrap up. Since the last time I checked in  I finished my Mandie book and am close to finishing up the Shrill audiobook. I am also really starting to get into Don't You Cry although I feel like it took awhile to get the story going.  

Totals for this time block--

Reading time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Pages read: 82

Audiobook Time: 19 minutes

Books finished: 1

I am pretty tired so I am not sure how much more I will read. We have strong storms on the way so if they fire up I may not be able to sleep. But hoping to get some sleep in before then. I was hoping to get at least 12 hours of reading in today and I got really close! I will check in tomorrow. 

Saturday Totals

Reading time: 11 hour 38 minutes

Pages read: 596

Audiobook Time: 4 hours 43 minutes

Books finished: 3

Sunday

10:30 am

I didn't sleep great last night as violent storms kept coming through so I listened to a little of my audiobook throughout the night when I would wake up. I finished Shrill. Wow what an excellent book. The online harassment Lindy West has had to put up with is ridiculous. I hate the whole oh it's the internet what do you expect argument. When did we stop being concerned about being decent people?

This morning I started the audiobook Memoirs of A Teenage Amnesiac about a 16 year old girl who hits her head and can't remember her life past age 12. I am really enjoying it so far. My husband made me biscuits for breakfast this morning which were so good. I am also still reading Don't You Cry. I am losing interest in it a little. My audiobook is far more interesting at this point. I hope to get at least 13 reading hours in today. I also want to spend some time with my husband so I don't know if that will happen. We shall see. Off to read more! 

Totals for this time block--

Reading time: 3 hours 1 minute

Pages read: 62

Audiobook Time: 2 hours 11 minutes

Books finished: 1

3:30 pm

I have had a terrific and relaxing afternoon reading! It is so great just to be able to push everything else aside and read. 

I finished Don't You Cry. It was such a disappointment. I feel like nothing happened until the very end and I had already figured out most of the plot twists. And it felt like it took me forever to finish those last 200 or so pages.

I am really loving the Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac audiobook. It is so good. I think I need to go do some yoga while listening because my back is starting to get sore from too much reading. I had to take a long hot bath this afternoon. I also started Boy Erased A Memoir. I have been wanting to read this book for a long time.

We are under a tornado watch right now which stinks. I have huge tornado paranoia and anxiety about them so I am hoping to use books to distract me until 8 when it expires. But I am sure I will be watching the radar the whole time.

Totals for this time block--

Reading time: 3 hours 40 minutes

Pages read: 149

Audiobook Time: 52 minutes

Books finished: 1

11:30 pm

Well it has been such an awesome day of reading! I started and finished the graphic novel Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Freefall. It was a great issue in that series. I really need the next one ASAP!

I also finished Folly's Bride #4 in the Brides of Montclair series. I love this series of books. I have been reading and rereading it since I was a teen. I made a delicious dinner of cracked pepper pork tenderloin and garlic green beans. 

Erased is a really hard book to read. It is terrible to read about gay conversion therapy. I thought I grew up in a really restrictive environment but the one in the book is way more extreme. I think this is a really important book to read.

Totals for this time block--

Reading time: 5 hours 44 minutes

Pages read: 493

Audiobook Time: 2 hours 43 minutes

Books finished: 2

Sunday Totals

Reading time:  12 hours  25 minutes

Pages read: 704

Audiobook Time:  5 hours  46 minutes

Books finished: 4

Wrap Up! 

I had a terrific weekend reading. I am so happy I was able to do this readathon at the last minute, I also really enjoyed interacting with the wonderful bookish community on Litsy. I just made it to 24 hours. I can't wait until the next readathon. 

Readathon Totals

Reading time:  24 hours   3 minutes

Pages read: 1,300

Audiobook Time:   10 hours  29 minutes

Books finished: 7

Bout of Books 18 January 2017

I love the Bout of Books read-a-thon. This is held twice a year. This will be my second time participating. 

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 2nd and runs through Sunday, January 8th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 18 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team.

I really enjoy this read-a-thon and am looking forward to a fun week. It will be a great way to ease back into post holiday work. I will be updating this post throughout the whole week!  I will also be on Twitter, Instagram and Litsy as Reading Susan!

Monday

The first day of Bout of Books I have been a little scattered and not done a lot of reading between storms (scared puppy), last day of vacation and setting up this lovely new blog home.

I was about 50 pages in on Flash and Bones by Kathy Reichs so I finished that up this afternoon. It was an interesting installment in the series although it was set in summer and kind of threw me out of the story. I also enjoyed some of my delicious Christmas candy including this out of this world salt water taffy. 

After I was done with that I started A Necessary End which was a book I won through a Goodreads Giveaway. I am about halfway through now and this is one that is holding my attention mostly because I really want to find out what happens at the end. 

I started listening to audiobook Night by Elie Wiesel. Whew. 15 minutes in and it is intense. This may be one I can only listen to in small chunks. This is a book I have been wanting to read for years and I am glad I finally bought it. I enjoyed some tea tonight as its pouring down rain in my new Jane Austen mug. My sister got it for me for Christmas and it is so cute. I will have to take more close up photos tomorrow because I love all the quotes all over the mug.

Monday Numbers:

Pages read: 435

Audiobooks Time: 22 minutes 

Books finished: 1

Tuesday 

Today was my first day back to work after the holidays. I got a lot done and was super energized. I didn't get much reading time but I did finish one book and start reading Roses and Rot by Kat Howard. I am hoping to have more reading time tomorrow.

Tuesday Numbers:

Pages read: 224

Audiobooks Time: 2 hours 4 minutes

Books Finished: 1

Wednesday

Today was another busy day with working on sales tax and my (accounting) books. Numbers are not always my friend. I got a little more reading in today but still felt a little distracted. I am working on Sunday so I decided to take tomorrow off and just enjoy reading.

I finished Night. Wow was that a hard read. Very difficult to comprehend how much horror people went through at concentration camps. Also, terrible to think how much Elie Wiesel has had to put up with from Halocaust deniers. So awful. This book should be read by everyone. Never forget how quickly evil men can destroy the people with their hideousness. 

I also finished Roses and Rot. I liked it for its strangeness and some of those characters were really interesting. But I feel like it faltered in places. It could have been so much better and I didn't feel the story was developed as much as it could be.  

I started listening to the audiobook of The Man of My Dreams. I was so excited to see this on my library page. I love Curtis Sittenfeld and I thought I had read all of her books. 

I splurged and bought Heartless today so I started that next. I am super excited to read it. I love anything based off of fairy tales or other books and this is based off of Alice in Wonderland. I got some good kitty snuggles while reading tonight. Looking forward to tomorrow!

Wednesday Numbers:

Pages read: 326

Audiobooks Time: 1 hour 38 minutes

Books Finished: 2

Thursday

I had more time to read today, especially my audiobook. I didn't take the day off like I planned because I had to much to do. Lately I have been re-reading the Mandie books which are books I loved so much as a child. I started the tenth in that series today. They are quick reads so I finished it tonight. The forecast is calling for 3-4 inches of snow which is huge for here. I am super excited and hope it really happens.

Thursday Numbers:

Pages read: 332

Audiobooks Time:  6 hours 7 minutes

Books Finished: 1

Friday

How is it already Friday!? It is shocking to me how fast this week went by. I really feel like I didn't read much this week but that is only because I read for so many hours during vacation. Today I read a lot. We had a winter storm system forecasting today so I just huddled under blankets trying to stay warm, drinking wine, baking cookies and getting so excited for the snow. We hardly ever get any snow and some forecasters said we could get up to three inches which is so exciting for this area. I love snow sooo much. I was more excited the last couple of days about the snow then I was about Christmas. Well we got a whole lot of nothing! Absolutely no snow. All gross freezing rain. And now we will be stuck in the house all weekend because of the ice but no snow. Huge waste! So I am super down in the dumps about that.

I finished listening to the audiobook of The Man of My Dreams. It was an interesting book in places but overall was just kind of dullish. If you don't like unpleasant main characters definitely don't read it because Hannah is awful. 

I also finished Heartless. It seemed to take me forever to read. The premise of this book (the origin story of the Queen of Hearts) was so good. But the execution was just so so. There were parts I adored (like the things she would dream) and parts I hated (pretty much Jest). I think maybe that was a book I had been anticipating so much it could have never lived up to my expections. 

I started and finished You Know Me Well and it was so good. I loved how it was written by Nina LaCour and David Levithan and they each wrote parts of it. It really gave Mark and Kate such distinctive voices because it was! Terrific book and perfect since I want to read more diverse books in 2017. 

Friday Numbers

Pages read: 470

Audiobook time: 2 hours 23 minutes

Books finsished: 3 

Saturday  

I had such a great and relaxing day today. Although it did not snow it was icy so I just stayed in all day drinking tea, reading books, watching Sherlock, eating and listening to audiobooks and podcasts. It was glorious. 

I started reading All the Rage this morning and this book really did enrage me. Don't get me wrong it was a great book but it was a very difficult subject matter dealing with a teenage rape victim. The way she is treated is sickening and even though I know it's a fiction book I also know this is how people treat victims all the time. The rape culture we have is truly terrible and I hope in my lifetime I can see that go away. I did enjoy using my new teapot although I did take this photo before I read the book and realized it was such a  heavy topic.

I had to take a little break in reading books after I finished All the Rage since it was so upsetting but then I stated something a little lighter Yes Please by Amy Poehler. It's a really good and funny audiobook. I always enjoy when an author narrates their own book.

I also started The Sun Is Also a Star. I am about 100 pages in and absolutely loving it. I loved Nicola Yoon's first book and this one is so good so far. 

I also finally started the fourth Game of Thrones book. I only read these books when it's cold so I figured today's would be a perfect day for that. 

I can't believe tomorrow is the final day of Bout of Books! I have done a terrible job of interacting on social media and others blogs but I plan on doing that tomorrow. And doing lots of blog reading on Monday. 

Saturday Numbers 

Pages Read: 479

Audiobook Time: 50 minutes

Books finished: 1

Sunday

Well this was an even more leisurely day than yesterday. I spent more time watching TV than reading because I had a hard time concentrating on reading. I also didn't feel very good which meant that I was able to take a nap which I usually have a really hard time doing during the day.

I finished The Sun Is Also A Star. I really, really loved that book. I usually am not a fan of "instal-love" but this story went a little deeper than that and I liked the themes of immigration and race.

I am about half way through Yes Please and I highly recommend the audiobook version. Amy Poehler is so funny and I love listening to her read her book. She also brings in special guests like Seth Meyers and her mom. It is really funny.

A Feast for Crows is really good. I don't know why people were telling me that none of the main characters were in this book. I would have read it a long time ago if I knew that they were.

I also started an ebook The Last Anniversary which has been on my Kindle. It is really interesting and I can't wait to see what really happened. I have a mixed reaction to Liane Moriarty books. I either love them or hate them and I think this was one of her first books.

Sunday Numbers

Pages Read: 368

Audiobook Time: 3 hours 12 minutes

Books Finished: 1

Bout of Books Wrap Up

I had so much fun participating in this week of reading with the awesome book community. I am very happy with all the reading and relaxing I was able to get in. It was a great way to begin 2017! Thanks to Amanda, Kelly and all the other volunteers for making this such a great event!

Pages Read: 2,634

Audiobook Time: 16 hours

Books Finished: 10

Thankfully Reading Weekend 2016

Thankfully Reading Weekend

is one of my favorite events of the year. It is a nice break from Thanksgiving hustle and bustle and much better than all the Black Friday and shopping madness.

This year I am celebrating Thanksgiving at my parents house. I am going to make two dishes to take to our potluck. I love that we do a potluck. It takes off the pressure on one person to do all the cooking.

I have a large TBR pile for this weekend. I know I won't get a chance to read them all because I won't have that much time. My goal is to at least finish two books.

I have a photo session Friday and the Gilmore Girls comes out that day too so I won't get much reading done that day. But Saturday and Sunday I have no plans except for editing photos.

I will be reading a combination of print, ebook and audiobook. I am starting out with

The Handmaid's Tale

on audiobook read by Claire Danes. I love this book and I thought it was an appropriate time to read it again. I purchased it in the big Audible sale earlier this year and am excited to listen to the audiobook this time.

My sisters also love to read so I am sure we will be swapping recommendations at Thanksgiving. I will pass them on if I receive them.

This year I am going to do one big post for Thankfully Reading so I will update here.

Wednesday

7:30 pm

Well its been a busy day with running errands to get ready for Thanksgiving, cooking and editing photos. But I still have managed to spend plenty of time reading and listening to my audiobook. I finished

Crazy In Love

 earlier. It is pretty funny and one of my favorite Lani Diane Rich books so far.

My next book is

Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood

. It is a retelling of The Tempast. Loving it so far. I just realized I am reading two Margaret Atwood books. My house smells delicious from the cornbread I made for tomorrow and the mustard pork loin I made for dinner. Yummy!

11:50 pm

I am really enjoying Hag-Seed. Its a modern day retelling of The Tempast. A theatre art director who was screwed over by his right hand man seeks long term revenge. I love how he teaches prisoners how to act and put on productions. I enjoy all the characters he works with and their Shakespearian curse words! I also started a new book

Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover

. I saw this book all over Instagram so I thought I would get it from the library. It's about a deaf songwriter who finds a muse in his neighbor. I am loving it so far. Well I am headed to bed so I won't be totally worthless for Thanksgiving tomorrow.

Pages read: 575

Audiobook time: 5 hours 6 minutes

Books finished: 1

Thursday

10:30am

Happy Thanksgiving! I am so excited to go to my parents house and eat lots of delicious food. We have the best cooks in our family. My Grandma's dressing is my favorite dish. It is so yummy. I am surprised how much reading I got done this morning. I am almost done with Hag-Seed and about half way through my audiobook. Well I am headed out. I hope everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving day!

Pages read: 97

Audiobook time:  2 hours 22 minutes

Books finished: 1

Friday

10:50 pm

Well it has been a busy couple of days. I ended up staying at my parents house yesterday until about 6 pm. Once we got home and made delicious leftovers I wanted to watch the last episode of season seven of Gilmore Girls in order to be ready for the new episodes. We were about twenty minutes in when all the power went out and we heard a big boom. It must have been a transformer box exploding. It was awful. Our whole neighborhood was so dark. So I didn't get a chance to read because my book light battery was dead.

I had a photo session this morning that was so fun. It was an awesome, hilarious family. I stopped by Dunkin Donuts on the way home and got a half dozen doughnuts. And my husband and I preceded to watch all four episodes of the Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life with only occasional breaks for his work phone calls. No spoilers for GG so I won't say how I felt. Still need to process.

And I have just been reading since we finished watching GG. I finished Hag-Seed. Loved it! It turned out to be such a good book and I recommend it highly. I am about to finish Maybe Someday and I hope to start another book before bed but we shall see. I bought the audiobook of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe since it was on sale on Amazon/Audible so I will start that when I finish The Handmaid's Tale. I will be listening to a lot of audio the rest of the weekend as I have five photo sessions to process.

Pages read: 326

Audiobook time: 2 hours

Books finished: 3

Saturday

7:00 pm

Well I haven't read that much today. I have been busy running errands, spending time with my husband and working. I finished the Handmaid's Tale audiobook and started listening to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I also started Lily and Dunkin which is heartbreaking.

Pages read: 298

Audiobook time: 2 hours 51 min

Books finished: 2

Sunday

12:00 pm

I have been terrible about updating my blog. But I have been reading in between doing other things. I planned to read all this morning and then edit photos this afternoon but my husband tricked me into going shopping this morning and we just got home. I am exhausted. I hate to shop with a burning passion and I tried on way too many clothes and we went to way too many stores. But I am excited for the few things I found. When we stopped for lunch I just blatantly pulled my book out of my bag and started reading as my husband was composing some work emails. I mean if he was on his phone  may as well read. Late last night I started The Last Boy and Girl in the World. I am excited to read more of it later today. For the time being I am going to continue to listen to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe while editing the sweetest newborn photos. I will check in later. I hope everyone is enjoying the final day of Thankfully Reading!

Pages read: 466

Audiobook time: 4 hours 3 min

Books finished: 2

Wrap Up

I felt like I really didn't read that much this Thankfully Reading weekend but I look at my numbers and they tell a different story. This is the first year in a long time that I didn't start the weekend on Tuesday so I had less time and was really busy during the weekend. But I still made time for reading. I didn't really get a chance to participate much on

Twitter

,

Instagram

and

Litsy

like I planned. But I finished nine books and that is WAY over my goal of two! This weekend seemed to whiz by so fast. All in all it was another fun reading even. Thanks so much

Jenn

for hosting it!

Totals:

Total pages read: 1762

Total audiobook time:  14 hours  20 min

Books finished: 9

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon October 2016

I am so excited that this weekend is the

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon

. It is such a fun event. It goes from 8 am Saturday to 8 am Sunday in my time zone. It is a time to read books, relax, chat with other book lovers and try to stay up 24 hours to read. I did it for the first time

earlier this year

 and it was so fun! I wasn't able to stay up for 24 hours but it is always fun to attempt. There is no pressure to read a certain amount of books and not a lot of rules to follow. 2016 has been a rough year so I am looking forward to a reading weekend!

This is my stack of possible books to read. Obviously I won't read all of them. But what I learned from the first readathon is that it was nice to have books to dip in and out on.

I will be updating this blog post a few times during the readathoon. I always try to spend a little time online so I will be updating

Twitter

,

Instagram

and

Goodreads

as well. Now I am off to buy snacks!

10 am

Well I didn't get as much sleep as I would have liked last night so I am doubting I will be able to make the whole 24 hours. But I popped out of bed excited to get started on reading. I began with an audiobook while getting ready for the day,

Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor

. I didn't really like the second book in this trilogy but I decided I wanted to find out what happened. Hopefully this one is better than the second. Then I made cinnamon rolls (from a can:-) for breakfast and started Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon while waiting for them to cook. I have been waiting to read this book for months. It is not a disappointment. It is funny, entraining and touching. However, I don't see any way around it being a heartbreaker.

Hours Spent Reading: 2

Total Pages read: 168

Total Audiobook time: 40 min

Books finished: 0

1:30 pm

Everything Everything ended up being terrific. I definitely gasped out loud near the end. I was NOT expecting that. I highly recommend you read it. I can't wait to read Nicola Yoon's new book when it comes out.

My second read of the day was Shockaholic by Carrie Fisher. It was a hilarious book with also some pretty sad moments. It was only about a 150 pages so it was a quick read. My head is feeling a little fuzzy so before I start my next read I think I will go for a walk while listening to my audiobook.

Hours Spent Reading: 5.5

Total Pages read: 468

Total Audiobook time: 1 hr 6 min

Books finished: 2

4:30 pm

I enjoyed a beautiful walk while listening to 

Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor

. It is a gorgeous fall day here. A little chilly but warmed up throughout the afternoon. I love fall but hate that winter is on the way. 

I enjoyed a yummy pizza for lunch. And then sat on the front porch to read my third book,

A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro

. I love this modern take on the Holmes/Watson story. I am really enjoying the characters and the story. I am developing a little bit of a headache and if this advil doesn't work I may have to take a nap to get rid of it.

Total Hours Spent Reading: 8.5

Total Pages read: 624

Total Audiobook time: 2 hr 20 min

Books finished: 2

9:30 pm

Wow I can't believe I am halfway there and I am still reading. That seems like a win to me. It took me quite a long time to finish A Study In Charlotte. I absolutely loved it. I loved the characters of Holmes and Watson. I am looking forward to reading more of their stories. I dug into my snack stash for some yummy candy corn which means it really is fall!

I started lagging a little so I decided I needed caffeine in order to make it through the evening. I rarely drink caffeine and never after one so this should keep me pretty hyper at least for awhile.

I started my fourth book

Fortune's Bride by Jane Peart

. This is a reread. I love the Brides of Montclair series. I have been reading them since I was about 12 years old. I started my reread a few months ago and this is the third book in the series. I loved these generational series as a young girl where it followed one family through many different generations and times. I broke into some more snacks after realizing I forgot to eat dinner.

Hours Spent Reading: 13.5

Total Pages read: 891

Total Audiobook time: 3 hr 22 min

Books finished: 3

1:00 am

Well I am getting a little sleepy. I may have to nap soon. I am reading in bed now and that's not the best place to stay awake. My husband is at a work event though and I probably won't be able to sleep until he gets home.

So I have pretty much been reading or listening to an audiobook since 8 am except for popping in on social media and writing blog. It's a lot! I am glad I had the audiobook so I can get up and move around. Ironically I have more Fitbit steps today than I have had the whole week.

I finally had one of my cats come snuggle with me after being snubbed by them all day. They can't resist the red blanket! I think Trixie knows how pretty her light fur looks against it. I finished Fortune's Bride after forgetting how annoying the heroine was.

I bought some special pastries at Publix yesterday: fall petit fours and a mini cannoli. They were quite delicious and gave me a wonderful sugar buzz. And they are so pretty too!

I just started my fourth (fifth if I count audiobook that I haven't finished) book of the day:

Heaven to Betsy by Maud Hart Lovelace

. I read the Betsy high school books every fall so I thought Readathon was the perfect time to start. I took a nice relaxing bath hoping that would wake me a little. It did not. Just made me sleepy but I am going to try to stick with it at least another hour before I try to nap.

Hours Spent Reading: 17

Total Pages read: 1104

Total Audiobook time: 3 hr 42 min

Books finished: 4

Wrap-up

Well at three thirty I decided take a little nap and set my alarm for five. My alarm went off and I could barely open my eyes so I listened to my audiobook for about 15 minutes and then decided I wanted sleep more than reading and woke up at nine. A little sad I missed the very end of Readathon but also happy I won't want to spend all of Sunday sleeping. Because of course I will be reading! This was a terrific readathon. I finished four books and got halfway through another and about 1/3 of the way through my audiobook and I read over 1000 pages which was my goal. I didn't read as many books or say awake as long as I did in April. But I also spent more time this year participating in social media and blogs throughout the day. I am already looking forward to April!

Final Totals:

Hours Spent Reading: 19 hr 30 min

Total Pages read: 1250

Total Audiobook time: 4 hr 54 min

Books finished: 4

Save

Save

Bout Of Books August 2016

Wow I can't believe it's almost time for the next Bout of Books.

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 22nd and runs through Sunday, August 28th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 17 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

OF COURSE it will be a super busy week and I have more scheduled than I have in the last few months. But that seems to be the way most readathons go for me. I still went to the library and got a pile of books plus I will be trying to read some of my ebook TBR and audiobooks while driving around. I will be updating this post all during Bout of Books so stay tuned here and to my Twitter and Instagram accounts.

Monday--

Well as expected I didn't have that much time to do anything but listen to audiobooks today. I had an awesome newborn session this morning. I love cuddling new babies! I was in the car for a few hours so I took the time to listen to The Hunger Games audiobook. I love The Hunger Games books so much and it is such a different experience to listen to the audiobook than read the book. I am really enjoying it. I have a lot of photo editing to do tomorrow so it is quite possible that I will finish the audiobook. 

I am also listening to the audiobook of Missoula: Rape and the Justice System In A College Town. This one is rough to listen to. It is enraging, devastating and heartbreaking. I can only listen to it in small pieces. It is such an important subject. I love Jon Krakauer's writing. All his books are fascinating. 

I started Insatiable by Meg Cabot. I love the modern day twist on a vampire story. I didn't get that far in it as I could barely keep my eyes open but I am really looking forward to reading more of it tomorrow. I didn't even take any photos of my books today which is quite surprising but I will try to be better on Instagram tomorrow. 

Day One Numbers 

Pages read: 183

Audiobooks Time: 5 hours 45 mins

Books finished: None

Tuesday-- This was a much better reading day since my photo session today was only about 25 minutes. I had lots of editing/audiobook time and I even finished a few books. I didn't finish either of my audiobooks but I am nearing the end on both. 

I finished up Insatiable. It ended up being a pretty fun read if the author meant it to be a cheesy vampire parody. If she didn't well not so good. 

I also started and finished My Folks Don't Want Me To Talk About Slavery. It is a collection of twenty one oral histories from the Slave Narrative papers. People went around in the late 1930's gathering all these stories and commentary on slavery: how they were treated, what they ate, were they educated etc. I think this is a must read. Their voices were silenced most of their lives and it's important to hear what they have to say. I plan on looking for more books written about these first person narratives. 

In honor of the Olympics being over I started reading You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott. Ahh it is SO good. I could barely put it down and go to bed. I have heard so many great things about her books and now I want to read them all.

I have to take my MIL to the dr tomorrow an hour away so I have downloaded another Jon Krakauer book for us to listen to in the car. 

Day Two Numbers 

Pages read: 445

Audiobooks Time: 5 hours 47 mins

Books finished: 2

Wednesday--

Well today was a busy day with lots of editing. And a simple 10 minute doctors appointment turned out to be a nightmare of traffic and storms and five hours away from the house. I finished The Hunger Games audiobook and You Will Know Me. I started The Great American Whatever and The Invisible Intruder. I am pretty irritated tonight so I will talk more about these books tomorrow. 

Day Three Numbers 

Pages read: 388

Audiobooks Time: 5 hours 23 mins

Books finished: 2

Thursday-- Well this was a much better actual book reading day although I didn't feel very good. I am afraid I am getting sick. 

I finally finished the Missoula audiobook that I have been listening to for a few months. It was a tough one to get through. It's a very difficult subject matter and very enraging. But I definitely recommend reading it. It should be required reading for boys and girls in high school.

I also am listening to Under the Banner of Heaven. I downloaded this for our  trip to the dr yesterday. It is a book about Mormon fundamentalists. It is another very hard subject matter. 

I finished The Invisible Intruder, the 46th Nancy Drew book. I love the Nancy Drew books so much. I have a huge collection of Nancy Drew books and companion books.

They are some of the first books I remember reading. My mom had all the blue covered books. She threw them away one day for some reason and I will never get over it. Sadly I just have the new yellow ones. It is interesting to read these books and even though they have been updated from the original books they still are old fashioned. And poor Bess gets fat shamed all the time. I enjoy the three or four older books I have because they have the illustrations inside the front cover from all the books. It just brings me right back to childhood! 

I also finished The Great American Whatever. I really loved this book! The breezy style Tim Federle writes with is great even with the sad subject matter. I would say this isn't so much a love story as a story of grief and acceptance. I love all the quips and jokes. I enjoyed being in Quinn's head. 

I started listening to Catching Fire, the next Hunger Games book. This is my favorite of all the Hunger Games books. I love it so much. I am just really enjoying listening to these. It's a different experience. 

I started and finished the 19th Agatha Raisin book, A Spoonful of Poison. I love these cozy mysteries and I love Agatha. She is so unpleasant and foolish about men but she always solves the case! The books always make me laugh. I have really been enjoying the books since she started the detective agency. 

I started See Me, the newest Nicolas Sparks book. I won it in a Goodreads giveaway so I figured I would read it now. I feel bad when I win a book and don't read and review it right away. I have a love/hate relationship with Nicolas Sparks. A lot of his books are too formulaic. However I don't mind formulaic (see Nancy Drew and Agatha Raisin above ha ha). I am having a hard time getting into this one though. I also ate about a pound of Twizzlers while reading it. Not a good idea when I already don't feel good. 

Tomorrow I plan on finishing editing my last photo session, listening to the new Butch Walker album and hopefully getting some reading in. 

Day Four Numbers 

Pages read: 695

Audiobooks Time: 3 hours 19 mins

Books finished: 4

Friday-- It was a fairly good reading day even though I also was busy with work and cleaning. I stayed up late since it was Friday. 

I finished See Me and it ended up being pretty good near the end. But there were just so many annoying characters and it was too long and rambly. I felt like the character development was terrible. Lily was a horrible cliche of a Southern woman which is ridiculous because Nicolas Sparks is from the South and knows better. But Lily and Serena seemed to share too many characteristics. And I just didn't buy the romance between Colin and Maria. I thought a real woman would have been SO annoyed by his saying okay all the time. Nope not cute. I hated how her family had to be told about his past and Colin have that dramatic talk with her father. My parents would never have a say in who I dated at 28. Ridiculous! Anyway I am just glad he has gone away from one of the main characters always dying at the end. That was getting pretty predictable. 

I also started and finished the next Agatha Raisin book There Goes the Bride in which James Lacey's young bride to be is shot to death on their wedding day. Oh James you and Agatha belong together because you are idiots about the people you date. Ha ha. The only sad thing about this book is that I don't have the next one.

I finally started Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi. I can't wait to read this one as I have heard so many good things about it. And I love following Tahereh's travels and photography on Twitter and Instagram. She wears amazing outfits. And she and Ransom Riggs are #relationshipgoals. Am I too old to say that?

My goals for tomorrow and Sunday are to read as much as I can while enjoying it and hopefully do something fun along the way as summer is winding down.

Day Five Numbers 

Pages read: 655

Audiobooks Time: 3 hours 1 min

Books finished: 2

Saturday-- Today was a pretty leisurely day. I did work a little and then enjoyed dinner and spending time with my husband so didn't get as much reading in as I did the last two days but it was a good day.

I am still listening to and really enjoying Catching Fire. I forgot how much of the book was set before the Quarter Quell even started. 

I am still reading Shatter Me. I am liking the characters but I am fascinated with this world and hope to hear more about it before the book is over.

I started and finished another Meg Cabot book Nicola and the Viscount, a Regency romance and it was funny and very entertaining. I also started the Overbite, the sequel to Insatiable, but I am having a hard time getting into it.

Tomorrow is the final Bout of Books day and I probably won't read as much as I have been because I have some work to do. We shall see. Oh and I also noticed today on Goodreads that I met my book reading goal for the year! I didn't know I would meet it so early. I may have to change the goal to the amount of books I read last year. 

Day Six Numbers 

Pages read: 466

Audiobooks Time: 3 hours 11 min

Books finished: 1

Sunday-- I got some good photo editing in today and also watched a movie with my husband but still was able to do a good amount of reading on the final Bout of Books day.

I finished the Catching Fire audiobook and listened to a few more chapters of Under the Banner of Heaven. I finished Shatter Me and started and finished Ramona the Brave. I just can't help but marvel at how perfectly Beverly Cleary captures the emotions and feelings of being a child.

I will do a wrap up post tomorrow.

Day Seven Numbers 

Pages read: 471

Audiobooks Time: 4 hours 9 min

Books finished: 2

Wrap Up & Totals

Well Bout of Books 17 has come to an end. I really enjoyed taking the time all week to just enjoy books. I didn't watch any tv or listen to any podcasts. Even though I did miss my podcasts I did enjoy time away from the TV. It was a busy week but I definitely read way more than I thought I would. I read many hours of audiobooks while working and driving and that definitely helped me read more. I am already looking forward to the next Bout of Book in January!

Totals

Pages read: 3,303

Audiobooks Time: 30 hours 35 min

Books finished: 13

SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSave
SaveSave

24 in 48 Readathon

This was the first year I have done the 24 in 48 Readathon. The reason why I never did it before was because I thought it was 24 books read in 48 hours. Ha ha. Anyway the Readathon was July 24 & 25th. It was a really busy weekend for me of course. The weekend before and after I had nothing to do but that weekend was busy with photo shoots, movies with friends, plus Stranger Things 😃

I ended up reading 19 hours which was way more than I thought I would be able to when I signed up. I listened to 8 hours 24 minutes of audiobook and read 945 pages. I finished six books: The Walls Around Us, Unbreakable, The Mystery of 99 Steps, Champion, The Clue in the Crossword Ciper and Open Road Summer.

I had fun participating in this Readathon and will definitely do the next one. You can see photos I posted during the Readathon on my Instagram account. 

Bout of Books 16

The Bout of Books Read-a-thon sounds like a really good read-a-thon!

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 9th and runs through Sunday, May 15th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 16 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

It sounds like it is a fun and casual read-a-thon so I thought I would participate although this week and weekend is busier than usual. I always can make time for reading! I will update this post with all the books I am reading so check back in throughout the week! I will also be updating at Twitter and Instagram.

Monday

Books Read: 1

Pages Read: 328

Notes: I finished Salt to the Sea. I also am switching off on listening to the Jane Eyre audiobook and reading the book depending on what I am doing.

Tuesday

Books Read 0

Pages Read: 293

Notes: I finished about 75% of The Guest Room. It is such a great book and I can't wait to finish it tomorrow. I also read a little more of Jane Eyre.

Wednesday

Books Read: 3

Pages Read: 729

Notes: I finished The Guest Room and started and finished Kissing Christmas Goodbye and Marcy Catches Up. I started Criminal That I Am and kept reading Jane Eyre. The Guest Room was very good and Criminal That I am is a fascinating memoir. Kissing Christmas Goodbye is an Agatha Raisin book that had a Christmas celebration in the last ten pages so they slapped a Christmas name and cover on it. Marcy Catches Up was the second installment of a 1950s YA series I have been reading.

Thursday

Books Read: 2

Pages Read: 466

Notes: I finished Criminal That I Am, started and finished The Good Girl. I read more of Jane Eyre, or rather listened, while I ran errands. And I started The Dream Thieves.

Friday

Books Read: 0

Pages Read: 195

Notes: I didn't get much reading in today as it was a busy work day.

Saturday

Books Read: 1

Pages Read: 157

Notes:I didn't get much reading in as I was working but I did finish the 3rd Marcy Rhodes book and read more of The Dream Thieves.

Sunday

Books Read: 0

Pages Read: 86

Notes:Another bad reading day since I had a photo session and then hung out with my sister afterwards.

Bout of Books Totals:

Total Books Read: 7

Total Pages Read: 2,254