readathon

The Sunday Salon: Post-Readathon and Post-Race [4.10.11]

Michelle6 Comments

The Sunday Salon.comGood morning! I hope everyone had a great readathon. This is my fourth time and it never gets old.  I ended up reading for 12 hours. I finished Purple Daze by Sherry Shahan, Betsy and Joe by Maud Hart Lovelace, and Ben and I read Our Town by Thornton Wilder together. At that point, I knew I would want to stay up to finish a book if I started a new one so I just relaxed for a few hours before going to sleep.

This morning I woke up at 5am and made my way to Clearwater Beach for the Iron Girl 5k. My friend, Erin, was running a bit late, but she made it about 15 minutes before the race started. We lost each other in the crowd for awhile though we ended up finishing together, which was really nice. My goal was to run under 30 minutes, but this race was SO crowded that it was impossible. For the first mile, I was trying to weave in and out of walkers and slower runners. Even at the end it was hard to keep a pace for any length of time because there were just so many runners. I finished in 33:11 (13 seconds faster than my first 5k). I know I could have been close to 30 minutes but for the crowd so I feel pretty good. You can see my race stats here if you’re curious.

Erin and Me after the race

Here is the hourly breakdown from the readathon:

  • Hour 1: 84 pages read
  • Hour 2: 70 pages read
  • Hour 3: 59 pages read; Book 1 finished
  • Hour 4: 18 pages read; ran out for packet pickup
  • Hour 5: 30 pages read; returned from packet pickup
  • Hour 6: 52 pages read
  • Hour 7: 36 pagers read
  • Hour 8: 49 pagers read
  • Hour 9: 87 pagers read; Book 2 finished
  • Hour 10: 43 pagers read
  • Hour 11: 43 pagers read
  • Hour 12: 58 pagers read; Book 3 finished
  • Hours 13-15: TV/Relax
  • Hours 15-21: Sleep
  • Hours 22-24: Back up and running my race!

Readathon Update: Halfway for You, Finish for Me

Michelle4 Comments

Hour: Start of hour 13
Current Book: Just finished Our Town
Mood: Tired

Books Read: 3
Pages Read: 629
Reading speed: 52.4 pages per hour
Mini-Challenges Completed: 1

  • Where in the World are you Reading

And I think this is where I sign off, folks. I am tempted to read a little while longer but I am afraid that will result in me staying up TOO late to read finish another book. And I have to get up at 5am tomorrow and run a 5k. So I am going to watch some television now.

Good luck to everyone in the second half!

Readathon Update: 10 Hours In

Michelle2 Comments

Hour: Start of hour 11
Current Book: Our Town by Thornton Wilder
Mood: Hungry (dinner’s cooking)

Books Read: 2
Pages Read: 528
Reading speed: 52.8 pages per hour
Mini-Challenges Completed: 1 (apparently I am ignoring the mini-challenges)

  • Where in the World are you Reading

I finished Betsy and Joe, which was a wonderful readathon read even if it took me all afternoon. Ben and I are reading Out Town together now. After that, I think I’ll settle in with If I Stay until my bedtime (no 24 hours for me).

Readathon Update: 5 Hours In

Michelle2 Comments

Hour: Start of hour 6
Current Book: Betsy and Joe by Maud Hart Lovelace
Mood: Happy

Books Read: 1
Pages Read: 261
Reading speed: 52.2 pages per hour
Mini-Challenges Completed: 1

  • Where in the World are you Reading

I feel pretty good about today. I had to run out and pick up my packet for my race tomorrow so I lost some reading time there, but I finished Purple Daze and am happily back in Deep Valley with Betsy and Joe.

How’s everyone else doing?

Ready to Readathon?

Michelle7 Comments

Good morning, Sunshines!

Ben and I are up bright and early and ready to read. I will need to quit early tonight (I have a very early 5k tomorrow) but I’ll be around until then reading and cheering.

Throughout the day, I will update you with this information:

Hour:
Current Book:
Mood:

Books Read:
Pages Read:
Reading speed:
Mini-Challenges Completed:

I am starting off the morning with Purple Daze by Sherry Shahan. Happy reading, everyone!

My Readathon Pile

Michelle13 Comments

It’s Readathon time again! Dewey’s 24-Hour Readathon is this Saturday at 8am EST. Who’ s in?

And today is my obligatory post showing you my Readathon Pile. Ta da!

  1. Purple Daze by Sherry Shahan: I thought a novel in verse would be a good way to ease into the day and get a book finished early on (always good for motivation).
  2. Skipping a Beat by Sarah Pekkanen
  3. Betsy and Joe by Maud Hart Lovelace: Still slowly making my way through Betsy-Tacy and loving every minute of it.
  4. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
  5. Our Town by Thornton Wilder: Ben and I are going to read this together at some point during the day. It’s or favorite way to read plays.

I don’t expect to read all of these. It’s just the pile from which I will choose my books. I’m doing Readathon Lite again. I have a race Sunday morning that I need to be up VERY early for so I will be quitting early. I also need to run out and pick up my race packet at some point on Saturday. But I will still be around for the fun most of the day.

What are you looking forward to reading on Saturday?

The Sunday Salon: The Post-Readathon Edition

Michelle16 Comments

The Sunday Salon.com

Good morning everyone! Have I mentioned how much I love waking up to open windows and fresh air? Love that we have some cooler nights now.

Congratulations to all the Readathon participants: readers, cheerleaders  (I heart the cheerleaders), and organizers. I hope everyone had a blast as usual.

How did I do? Well, I kind of failed at the readathon this time around. My heart just wasn’t in it. I finished two books, but I could probably do that on any lazy Saturday if I really wanted. I only gave you one update, didn’t participate in any mini-challenges, and didn’t really cheer that much at all. But, as usual, I had still had a lot of fun.

My day went something like this:

  • Start reading at 8am for an hour.
  • Half hour break.
  • Read for an hour.
  • Half hour break.
  • Read off and on until 2pm when I finish Paranormalcy.
  • Go to the grocery store for snacks and dinner.
  • Sit anxiously on the couch awaiting the start of the Michigan game.
  • Attempt to start a new book but unable to really get into it because of the Michigan game.
  • Take an incredibly long break to watch the Michigan game.
  • Grow more and more depressed as my team collapses and eventually loses to it’s second-biggest rival for the third year in a row.
  • Too devastated by first loss of the season to read.
  • Beer.
  • Calm down enough to read a little.
  • Still restless so read in the bath to calm down further.
  • Read the saddest thing ever while taking the bath and end up sobbing uncontrollably.
  • Continue to read while watching a little hockey and baseball.
  • Finally finish Hurt Go Happy around midnight.
  • Put on audiobook while going to bed.
  • Fall asleep in less than 5 minutes.
  • Wake up at 7:53 to congratulate those who did not sleep through 1/3 of the event.

See what I mean? I’m a bit of a Readathon failure. But it’s ok. I went into it expecting to have a more relaxed day than normal. And now I have two library books that I don’t have to return unread.

Today, I am hoping to write some reviews, start Never Let Me Go, get various things done around the house., and maybe catch a movie. As I am well-rested, that should be possible. Any fun post-readathon plans for you?

Readathon Update Number 1

Michelle7 Comments

7 1/2 hours in and my first update. I told you this was going to be a lazy Readathon for me.

So far I have finished one book, Paranormalcy by Kiersten White. It was a great Readathon book – paced just right to keep me reading.

I am currently working on my second book of the day, Hurt Go Happy by Ginny Rorby.

But I am taking a pretty decent break right now to watch the Michigan/Michigan State football game. I’ll probably squeeze some reading in there but I’m a little too anxious/excited for this HUGE game to really concentrate. I’ll try to squeeze in some Cheerleading as well.

Happy reading to all participants. And a big thanks to the cheerleaders for leaving wonderful comments.

Happy Readathon

Michelle13 Comments

Good morning. I am up bright and early (well…for a Saturday) for Dewey’s 24-Hour Readathon. I am taking a laid back approach this time around. I’ll read what I read – no pressure. I’ve had at least 3 absolutely insane weekends in a row and I’m glad for this relaxing one. What does this mean for you? Well, I probably won’t post here every four hours like I generally do. And I’m not sure I’ll track my “stats” as closely either. I just want to read. And maybe get through some library books.

So good luck to all the readers. And cheerleaders. Hope everyone has fun.

The Readathon is Almost Here

Michelle21 Comments

October 9, 2010

Last October, I experienced my first 24-hour-readathon. I still felt pretty new to the book blogging world and I wasn’t entirely sure what I was getting into. But I had a blast. And met so many awesome people. So I am thrilled that this October’s readthon is on the one Saturday I have no plans this month (although I will be watching the Michigan/Michigan State game in the middle – I assume Emily is with me on this one).

I’ve decided to dedicate next week’s readathon to library books. Because they are quickly taking over my staircase (that’s where they live when the come to say with me) and I would love to actually read a few of them before they must be returned. So my reading list was pretty easy to come up with. These are the books I currently have checked out and I hope to get to 2-3 of them next Saturday.

Knowing me, I’ll probably end up reading the two YA books during he readathon but I’ll see how I feel then.

Have you signed up yet? You really should…