Dewey's: Wrapping it All Up

And, now as the sun rises here in Texas, another Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon has come to an end. I took more breaks this time than in years past, and I didn't even try to stay awake throughout the night. Instead, I took myself to bed and set an alarm so I'd be up and reading during the final hour.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by my blog and left some words of encouragement. It really means a lot to see those comments and know that someone actually read what I wrote. See all you Dewey folks next April.

 

Dewey's: After the Nap

Just a quick update. Shortly after midnight, I gave up and took myself to bed. As usual, I read myself to sleep—probably only a page or two—and now I'm up at at 'em for the final hour. It's been fun. It's been intense, even though I no longer have the stamina to read for the full 24 hours. I'll be back in an hour.

Hour 23 Update

Reading Location: My house in Texas

Currently Reading: The Door in the Hedge by Robin McKinley

Total Pages read so far: 433 pages

Dewey's Read-a-Thon: Entering the Home Stretch

Yes, there are only 8 hours left in the October 2015 Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon. Here in Texas, it's 23:00 (11 pm for those who don't do military time). Having just finished reading Calculated in Death, I took an hour off of reading from 9 to 10, spending it visiting other Read-a-Thon-ers and leaving comments as well as scanning Tweets. For the last hour, I've been back into reading with The Door in the Hedge by Robin McKinley.

Hour 16 Update

Reading Location: My house in Texas

Currently Reading: The Door in the Hedge by Robin McKinley

Total Pages read so far: 417 pages

Other Readers I have visited:
1. Shaunesay at The Space Between
2. Judith at Leeswammes' Blog
3. Michelle at Because Reading
4. Rachael at Rachael Turns Pages
5. Olduvai at Olduvai Reads

Mini-challenges completed: Introductory Questionnaire and Mid-event Survey

Finished Books: 1 : Calculated in Death by J. D. Robb

Comments: I'm thinking I might fire up an audiobook for a little while and play some Sudoku while I listen. Or, I'll return to The Door in the Hedge. I haven't decided.

Dewey: The Half-Way Mark

Twelve hours have passed since Dewey's Read-a-Thon began. I've been reading steadily—not constantly. Since my last update, I've nearly completed reading Calculated in Death, visited with my daughter, and eaten dinner. Daughter suggested we have supper together tonight and I happily agreed, but when it came time to decide which restaurant, she said she'd really like to stay in. But it's DEWEY'S. I'm not cooking. So, we threw rice into the cooker and hubby went through the drive-in window at Wendy's, bringing home chili for everyone. Chili on rice is a favorite meal, and getting it at Wendy's means no one had to cook. Score!

I didn't finish reading Calculated in Death before supper, but I'm getting really close to the end now. Also, since I took time away from reading to visit with my daughter, I haven't had time to check out other readers on Twitter or their blogs. I'll plan to do that as soon as I finish this book and before I start the next one.

Mid-event Survey

1) What are you reading right now?

Still reading Calculated in Death by J. D. Robb. I'm getting really close to the end, though.

2) How many books have you read so far?

Just the one. I'll be starting a second book in a short while

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

I've decided to read The Door in the Hedge by Robin McKinley. It's one of the books for the Overdrive Big Library Read. I missed the online chat on the 13th, but it's still fun to participate in a group read-along.

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

I've been my own distraction, starting out this morning frequently falling asleep in my chair. I've taken time out for a visit with my daughter as well. I've not been reading continuously, because I like the social side of Dewey's and visit blogs as well as reading Twitter posts.

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

No surprises. I'm a veteran of several Dewey read-a-thons, and I pretty much know what to expect.

Hour 12 Update

Reading Location: My house in Texas

Currently Reading: Calculated in Death by J. D. Robb

Total Pages read so far: 300 pages

Total Time spent reading so far: Totally don't know.

Other Readers I have visited:
1. Shaunesay at The Space Between
2. Judith at Leeswammes' Blog
3. Michelle at Because Reading

Mini-challenges completed: Just the Introductory Questionnaire

Finished Books: 0

Comments: Feeling really good. Nearly finished with Calculated in Death and thinking about what to read next. Not going to take time to visit other Read-a-thon-ers right now, because I'm so close to the end of my book. (Every avid reader understands the NEED to finish a book, right?)

Another Dewey Update

The first third of Dewey's read-a-thon is now over. So much more fun yet to come. I'm making progress in Calculated in Death—now well past the mid-point.

Hubby took us out for lunch at a nearby pizza place. As with breakfast, I took the Kindle, reading on the way to the restaurant and while we were eating. Got a slice of “S’mores pizza” for dessert.

Stopped by the pharmacy on the way home to get the annual flu shot. I didn't stop reading. Here's the proof. The pharmacist was probably amused that I asked for a photo, but she was a good sport.

We had one more place to stop on the way home from lunch—dropping off a package at the UPS store. Then, with all of our errands out of the way, we returned home where I checked in on Twitter and Facebook as well as checking out a few more blog posts. Got to get back to reading, though. My book is really interesting now.

Hour 8 Update

Reading Location: My house in Texas; Double Dave's Pizza; Walgreen Drugs; UPS Store

Currently Reading: Calculated in Death by J. D. Robb

Total Pages read so far: 204 pages

Total Time spent reading so far: I've lost track

Other Readers I have visited:
1. Shaunesay at The Space Between
2. Judith at Leeswammes' Blog
3. Michelle at Because Reading

Mini-challenges completed: Just the Introductory Questionnaire

Finished Books: 0

Comments: I'm feeling all energetic after a good lunch of pizza and Diet Coke. I have a mid-afternoon snack of grapefruit sections all ready for me to dig in. Hope to finish reading Calculated in Death by supper time, so I need to get back to reading.

Dewey so far

And now that Dewey's read-a-thon has run for 5 hours, it's time for another update. I find that I'm not reading very fast, and I think the reason is that I'm too comfortable. I keep drifting off and then snapping back to the page. Looking at the clock, I'm not gone for more than a minute, but it definitely is eating into the reading progress. I'm going to relocate for a while. First, since it's noon here in Texas, hubby is taking me out to lunch and I'm going to get my annual flu shot while we're out. And when I return, I'm going to sit at my desk instead of curling up in the recliner. That should help a little bit.

Hour 5 Update

Reading Location: My house in Texas

Currently Reading: Calculated in Death by J. D. Robb

Total Pages read so far: 115 pages

Total Time spent reading so far: 155 minutes (estimated)

Other Readers I have visited: 1, Shaunesay at The Space Between

Mini-challenges completed: Just the Introductory Questionnaire

Finished Books: 0

Comments: OK -- this dozing off is cutting into my reading progress. Time to move around, stir up the blood, and get wide awake.

Dewey Begins

OK, so at the beginning of the 3rd hour, I'm taking a break from reading to post and go visit the blogs of other readers.

I barely got out of bed in time to begin reading at the 7am start time of Dewey's 24-hour read-a-thon, and I caught myself dozing from time to time. By 7:45, hubby was up and talking about breakfast, so we got in the car and drove to a nearby diner for a substantial meal of breakfast burritos with tomatoes and avocado on the side. I read all the way to and from the diner and even read through most of the meal.

As the 24 hour read-a-thon begins, participants are asked to answer the introductory questionnaire.

Introductory Questionnaire

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

I'm at home in Texas. I'll ride along with my hubby as he runs errands, and we're eating out all day, but otherwise I'm planning on kicking back in the recliner and reading my heart out.

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

I don't know that I have one I favor over the others. I'm conscious that I have library books which will need to be returned in just over a week, so I'm concentrating on them first.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

I don't stock up on snacks for the read-a-thon. I will keep myself will hydrated with lots of water and the occasional caffeine-free Diet Coke.

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

I am an avid reader of various fiction genres. Since I've become a grandmother I've noticed that I have less stamina to stay awake for the entire 24 hours of the event, but that's OK, too. I'll still spend my day focusing mostly on reading and avoiding other distractions.

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

I plan to take regular breaks to visit other read-a-thoners and post updates. And over-all, I plan to have fun!

Hour 2 Update

Reading Location: My house in Texas & Old West Cafe

Currently Reading: Calculated in Death by J. D. Robb

Total Pages read so far: 66 pages

Total Time spent reading so far: 80 minutes

Other Readers I have visited: None so far

Mini-challenges completed: Just the Introductory Questionnaire (see above)

Finished Books: 0

Comments: I'm getting a good start to the read-a-thon. Feeling very energetic now that I've had breakfast.

It's Dewey time again

I almost let the Fall 2015 edition of Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon slip by. It starts bright and early on Saturday morning and as the title says, runs for 24 hours. While I like to participate in read-a-thons, Dewey's is the most intense of all them all. It challenges readers (over 1000 this time around) to read as much as they can in the 24 hours of the event. This read-a-thon is held twice a year and runs from noon UCT on a Saturday to noon UCT the next day. Everyone starts and ends at the same time, so since I live in Texas, my start time is 7am CDT.

I have a couple of library books checked out that I need to read and return, so I'll be focusing on those off the bat. I'll be starting off with Calculated in Death by J. D. Robb as well as The Aeronaut's Windlass by Jim Butcher. Yes, I'll be reading two books, bouncing back and forth between them. And as soon as I finish one or the other, I'll be plunging into The Banished of Muirwood by Jeff Wheeler or perhaps The Heretic's Apprentice by Ellis Peters. Now, I reserve the right to change my mind—particularly when I'm sleepy and get a bit grouchy. But for now, I have a bit of a plan.

Dewey Wrap-Up

I had intended to wake up around 6am and spend the last hour of Dewey's 24-hour Read-a-thon reading. But I didn't set an alarm and I simply slept through the end of the event.

Summary

Total Pages read: 274 pages

Total Time spent reading: ~ 4 hours

Finished Books: Only 1: Justice and Her Brothers by Virginia Hamilton

Books read: 4

Justice and Her Brothers by Virginia Hamilton, Ruler of the Sky by Pamela Sargent, The Innocent by David Baldacci, and A Reckless Witch

 

Dewey Update #4

It was difficult to resist watching tonight's episode of Outlander, but I prevailed. After making my last update, I moved out of the family room to my office so I could read without the distraction of the television. After only a couple of pages, I decided to listen to more of The Innocent. So, for about 2 hours I listened while playing solitaire. Unfortunately, I dozed off and had to back the recording up. But I did cover at least 112 pages.

5 hours to go, but feeling sleepy

Reading Location: My home in Texas

Currently Reading: Ruler of the Sky by Pamela Sargent

and The Innocent by David Baldacci

Total Pages read so far: 257 pages

Total Time spent reading so far: 237 minutes

Other Readers I have visited: None since last update

Mini-challenges completed: Just the Introductory Questionnaire

Finished Books: 1

Justice and Her Brothers by Virginia Hamilton

Comments: I'm going to take my Kindle to bed with me. I know I'll fall asleep at some point, but when I do wake up, I'll have it handy to resume reading. I'll lose track of how much time was spent reading, but I'll know how many pages I read. (Unlike the audio book, which continues to advance even if I've dozed off.)

Dewey Update #3

We turned Aiden over to his Uncle Paul just before 6pm and then headed to supper. I read in the car and while we were eating and again in the car on the way home from the restaurant. I finished reading Justice and Her Brothers before we got to the restaurant, so I started reading Ruler of the Sky, a novelization of the life of Gheghis Khan.

Start time plus 13 hours

Reading Location: My home in Texas

Currently Reading: Ruler of the Sky by Pamela Sargent

Total Pages read so far: 145 pages

Total Time spent reading so far: 217 minutes

Other Readers I have visited: None since last update

Mini-challenges completed: Just the Introductory Questionnaire

Finished Books: 1

Justice and Her Brothers by Virginia Hamilton

Comments: Now that I've had a good supper, I'm settling in to spend some serious time reading. It's a bit painful to ignore the TV right now since the newest episode of Outlander is airing as I write this. I'm recording it to view tomorrow after the Dewey's Read-a-thon is over.

Dewey Update #2

As predicted, I've not been able to spend long periods of time just reading. I'm enjoying the day with my grandson and even sat down to a nice long Facetime chat with my sister in Virginia. When Aiden's daddy gets home later this afternoon, I'll put on a major emphasis on reading—including reading right through dinner. (Wonder where the hubby will take me for dinnner?)

Eight and a Half Hours In

Reading Location: Aiden's house in Texas

Currently Reading: Justice and Her Brothers by Virginia Hamilton

Total Pages read so far: 72 pages

Total Time spent reading so far: 98 minutes

Other Readers I have visited: Camilla's blog, ScottishBookNerd's Instagram, Kim's blog and Sarah's blog

Mini-challenges completed: Just the Introductory Questionnaire

Finished Books: 0

Comments: I took an Internet break at 10am (after 3 hours), updating my blog, visiting Twitter, and checking out updates from other Dewey's participants. I thought I could get that done in only an hour, but what with interruptions and wanting to take my time reading various updates, over 90 minutes had passed. That made it time to get lunch. Aiden asked to go to Chick-fil-A so he could play on the indoor playground. Suited me!

Dewey Progress after 3 hours

The Spring 2015 Dewey's 24-hour Read-a-thon kicked off at 7am local time. Hubby and I were just leaving the house and heading down to our son's home to spend the day with 5-year-old Aiden. I have spent less than an hour reading so far. It's nice that Aiden is old enough to play by himself part of the time, but I still need to be attentive to him, so I can't get lost in my book.

Hour 3 Update

Reading Location: Aiden's house in Texas

Currently Reading: Justice and Her Brothers by Virginia Hamilton

Total Pages read so far: 39 pages

Total Time spent reading so far: 48 minutes

Other Readers I have visited: None so far

Mini-challenges completed: Just the Introductory Questionnaire (see below)

Finished Books: 0

Comments: Every time I sit still to read, I start getting drowsy. I went to bed too late last night and got up early, so I could use a nice long nap. Can't do that right now since I need to pay attention to Aiden.

Introductory Questionnaire

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

I'm at home in Texas. Splitting my time between my son's home with his 5-year-old and my home about an hour away.

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

Probably The Quilter's Homecoming by Jennifer Chiaverini

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

I don't stock up on snacks for the read-a-thon. (Though it might be a good idea to lay in some snacks for the wee hours of the morning as we approach hours 20-24).

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

I am an avid reader of various fiction genres. Since I've become a grandmother I've noticed that I have less stamina to stay awake for the entire 24 hours of the event, but that's OK, too. I'll still spend my day focusing mostly on reading and avoiding other distractions.

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

I don't really have any changes to make to my participation. I plan to just go with the flow today.

The Return of Dewey's Read-a-thon

It's that time again. Dewey's Read-a-thon is taking place on Saturday. It's the most intense of all the read-a-thons that I participate in, challenging readers to read as much as they can in the 24 hours of the event. This read-a-thon is held twice a year and runs from noon UCT on a Saturday to noon UCT the next day. Everyone starts and ends at the same time, so since I live in Texas, my start time is 7am CDT.

My first Dewey's was in October 2009. I don't know how many I've participated in, and I had thought I'd skip it this time. Nearly six years on, I find that I don't have the energy to stay awake the entire time, so I allow myself to turn in when I'm too tired to read any more. My basic approach to Dewey's is to avoid television and all other distractions.

Unlike a lot of other readers, I don't have a stack of books to photograph and share with you. In fact, there's only one book printed on paper that is on my list of books that I've queued up for Saturday. Other than an audiobook in progress, all the other books are sitting in my Kindle and BeBook eReaders. I expect I'll only finish two books tomorrow, but I will have fun regardless.

Spring 2015 Readathon Pile

Dewey: Reviewing the Event

Another Dewey's 24-hour read-a-thon has come to a close. I read for about one more hour after uploading the Update post, then went to bed. I woke up a couple of times in the night and read for about 10 minutes each time before falling back to sleep.

Summary

Total Pages read: 276 pages
Total Time spent reading: 493 minutes
Number of books read: 3
Finished Books: Only 1: Magic 101 by Mercedes Lackey

End of Event Meme:

1) Which hour was most daunting for you?

Immediately after our brunch I found it difficult to concentrate on reading. The car was cozy and I caught myself drifting off. I only slept for 2 or 3 minutes at a time, but found that I was fighting the urge to doze.

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

Every year, I find this question difficult to answer. For me, the high-interest books were the paranormal mysteries by Mercedes Lackey. I finished one of them, Magic 101 and read over 20% of the second one, Burning Water

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

I really don't have any suggestions for improvement. The event has matured over the years and I believe it is very well run.

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

I really liked the Warm Up posts. They helped build up the anticipation for participants.

5) How many books did you read?

I read three different books, finishing one. I started out the day reading a science fiction novel, POD by Tobias Roote. After brunch, I swapped that out for Magic 101 by Mercedes Lackey which I finished in mid-afternoon. Next up was Burning Water, also by Mercedes Lackey.

6) Which book did you enjoy most?

It was definitely the Mercedes Lackey books.

7) Which did you enjoy least?

Well, that's like asking which of your 3 favorite desserts you like least. I definitely was enjoying all the books, I just decided to move to another one in mid-morning. I will return to POD as some time, but I was just tired of it when I switched out.

8) If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?

Since I was in the car most of the hours that I was awake, I wasn't able to volunteer as a cheerleader. I know as a reader, receiving encouragement from cheerleaders—either as comments on my blog or through replies to my tweets—is a big part of the enjoyment of the read-a-thon.

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

It depends on what I have scheduled against the read-a-thon. I find that I am not able to stay up all night, so somewhere around midnight I have to give up and go to bed. Therefore, my participation is necessarily limited to the waking hours. I may volunteer as a cheerleader next time—I've been a reader in every other Dewey's.

Dewey: An Update

Good evening. 14 hours have elapsed since the read-a-thon began—for me at 5:00 am! I've been reading all day and now it's time to take a short break and tell you all about it.

Yes, I was up and writing my kick-off post at 5 am. I was only able to read for a very short time before I had to pack our bags and tend to a very hungry 4-year-old. Shortly after the hotel's breakfast buffet opened at 6 am, we were downstairs eating eggs and waffles. We pulled out of the hotel's parking lot shortly before 7 and I settled down for some serious reading. Since I could not get online while we were traveling, I tweeted periodically with a status update.

We rolled into Las Vegas around 8:30 and by 9 am we were unloading the granddaughter at her mother's house. Hubby had made arrangements to meet with his brother and sister-in-law, so we drove across town and joined them for brunch. After a lovely visit around the restaurant table, we were back on the road, driving from Las Vegas to Flagstaff by way of St. George, Utah. We just finished supper and checked into a hotel in Flagstaff.

What I've been reading

I started off the morning reading POD by Tobias Roote, the second book in his Pattern Universe science fiction series. Mid-morning, I switched to Magic 101 by Mercedes Lackey, and finished it around 16:22. Rather than go back to POD, I decided to read another of Lackey's Diana Tregard paranormal mysteries, so I chose Burning Water. At this time, I'm 18% of the way into the book.

Summary

Total Pages read so far: 248 pages
Total Time spent reading so far: 412 minutes
Finished Books: 1: Magic 101 by Mercedes Lackey

Dewey: Opening Post

Good morning. It's time for another Dewey's 24-hour read-a-thon. I've lost count of how many I've participated in—suffice to say that this is not my first. Here's the opening meme to tell you a little bit about me and the reading I'll be doing today:

Introductory Questionnaire

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

I'm on a road trip. We're starting out today in Kingman, Arizona, and will be driving to Las Vegas where we will drop off our granddaughter at her mother's house. Then we head to St. George, Utah, where I think we will be spending the night. Since we're out west, I'll be reading from 5am to 5am, Pacific Daylight Time.

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

I think this is probably Magic 101 by Mercedes Lackey.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

We're at the mercy of whatever restaurants we locate. I'm tired of fast food and will probably refuse to set foot in another one during this trip.

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

I am an avid reader of various fiction genres. Since I've become a grandmother I've noticed that I have less stamina to stay awake for the entire 24 hours of the event, but that's OK, too. I'll still spend the entire day focusing mostly on reading.

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

I was tickled pink to discover that Dewey's was taking place during our road trip. I get a lot of reading done in the car since there are no distractions from TV or the Internet. I plan to just go with the flow today.