Read-a-Thon April 2016
I have not participated in a read-a-thon in a very long time, but I am super excited to get back into the book bloggers universe and get a ton of reading done! I’ve got a fat stack of books ready, a few good trade paperback comics, and a charged up e-reader I am ready to roll!
Later today I’m going to break to head to the game store to play some spy-themed board games with other nerdy girls (yes that’s the name of the meet-up group). I also have a lot of running to do today which is unfortunate but necessary. But I will be back to read some more after that!
For my fellow read-a-thoners, some previous read-a-thon goodies!
- Instrumental Reading Music Stations
- Free Short Stories Available Online
- October Read-a-Thon Buttons
- April Read-a-Thon Buttons
Now to start reading!
Hour 1
I’m up with a cup of tea and ready to get started!
Opening Meme
St Louis, Missouri
I’m excited about finishing several books, actually! I am just about done with my romp through Austen canon and am looking to polish off the final chapters of Persuasion today.
Honestly? I’m looking forward to all of the cups of tea the most, ask me later after I’m more awake!
I’m a nerd and I just realized I have now been blogging in one form or another for nearly 18 years this spring.
I have a lot more distractions this time around, I have running that needs done, vet appointments, and so on so I’m not sure I will get much reading done until night fall and by then will be quite tired! Ah well its the spirit of the challenge that is exciting, not its execution which this time around will be debatable!
Hour 2
I finished my first book of the read-a-thon, the trade-paperback for Princess Leia following her adventures after the end of Episode VI reuniting the scattered survivors of Alderaan. It was an excellent story, and a great start to the read-a-thon!
Our Bookish Childhoods
For this challenge we are listing our five best memories from reading growing up!
I remember toting around my little suitcase built to hold those bright red cassette tapes. The side pockets would hold the matching books and I would have my little tape player I would use to listen to my favorite books while following along with my finger under each word. I would listen to those books over and over for hours on end.
I graduated to the Babysitters Club and American Girl books. I remember at one point for fun I would read a set in a round. The first chapter of each and then the second chapter of each and then the third chapter of each…
I remember diving into classics next with Anne of Green Gables, Little Women, Jane Eyre and Sherlock Holmes. I remember reading one Sherlock mystery everyday on the bus ride to and from school.
I wandered into adult books around 9 or 10 and re-told fairy tales by Terri Windling and Ellen Datlow became my jam. Loved reading those and probably read a few books that were a little too much of an adult nature, but no one seemed to notice so I kept on reading!
There were several books I shared with my younger brothers or read with and too them and Goosebumps was a set of books we all enjoyed! It was great to have a story to share in with others. Not to mention a story that would also completely creep us out!
Hour 3
I managed to finish up some adulting and made good progress on reading Persuasion, only four chapters left to go!
Five Word Story
Next challenge is to make a five word story using words on the spines of our books. My story is: Secret Courage… Last the Night-Time!
Hour 5
Managed to finish the last short story in Stars Above so that’s my second finished book for this read-a-thon!
Road Trip Challenge
Currently just finished up Stars Above a collection of short stories based in the Lunar Chronicles universe. Would definitely be jamming out to “Love is With Me Now” no matter which lead girl I was rolling with. All the feels!
Hour 7
Finished reading my third book of the read-a-thon Paper Girls and absolutely loved it! Can’t wait for volume 2 to come out!
Operation: Quotation!
I chose a quote from The Heroine’s Bookshelf.
“In times of struggle, there are as many reasons not to read as there are to breathe. Don’t you have bigger things to do? Reading, let alone re-reading, is the terrain of milquetoasts and mopey spinsters. At life’s ugliest junctures the very act of opening a book can smack of cowardly escapism. Who chooses to read when there’s work to be done?
Call me a coward if you will, but when the line between duty and sanity blurs, you can usually find me curled up with a battered book, reading as if my mental health depended on it. And it does, for inside the books I love I find food, respite, escape, and perspective.”
― Erin Blakemore, The Heroine’s Bookshelf: Life Lessons, from Jane Austen to Laura Ingalls Wilder
Readblock
I’ll be honest. The number one thing that stops me from reading is depression.
Hour 10
I have read two more chapters of Persuasion and have slowed down a bit as family comes first!
Share a Quote
I have picked a quote from Persuasion as I am coming up on the final chapter!
“I do not think I ever opened a book in my life which had not something to say upon woman’s inconstancy. Songs and proverbs, all talk of woman’s fickleness. But perhaps you will say, these were all written by men.”
“Perhaps I shall. Yes, yes, if you please, no reference to examples in books. Men have had every advantage of us in telling their own story. Education has been theirs in so much higher a degree; the pen has been in their hands. I will not allow books to prove anything.”
― Jane Austen, Persuasion
Hour 17
Having finished only three books I think I am going to end the read-a-thon. I had an awesome game night with the nerdy girls and am looking forward to going out letter boxing with other nerdy girls tomorrow afternoon. I also had a ton of fun reading today and feel like I got a lot accomplished. Thanks for cheering me on, and enjoy the night!
10:25 pm on April 23rd, 2016
Hope you are having a great reading day!! I no longer live in STL, but I miss it dearly. All those fabulous bookish events!!