Post Event Meme, pledge totals, and after pictures.

End of Event Meme:

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?   Because I didn't absolutely insist I stay awake this year, I didn't really feel daunted.  But I think Hour 20 would have been where I really started struggling. Well,and the first hour or two where I felt like I was reading so slowly and am still not sure why...
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? hmmmm....  Fiona and I both read The Monogram Murders and loved it. I could see re-reading the Harry Potter series to be compelling.
3. How many books did you read? I read two and started a third. Fiona read eight and started a ninth.
4. What were the names of the books you read? Me:  The Monogram Murders, To Kill a Mockingbird, started Bad Feminist.  Fio: Coraline, The Diamond of Drury Lane, The Clockwork Scarab, Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms, Grimm's Fairy Tales, Dawn of the Living Fashion Victims, The Iron Trial, started Two-Minute Mysteries Collection.
5. Which book did you enjoy most?  I honestly have enjoyed all the reading I've done, but it was so much fun to read The Monogram Murders -- how lovely to have a new Poirot. I know Fiona felt the same about that one, but she also said that The Iron Trial may be her new favorite book!
6. Which did you enjoy least? Well, we each had a library book in our stack that we chose not to read -- to be fair to the books, we didn't even really start them, just read book flaps.Mine was Accidents of Marriage (decided now was not the time for reading about an abusive marriage) and Fiona's was Lockwood& Co: The Screaming Staircase.  Not sure why it didn't appeal to her and we'll see if she tries it out in the next few days or puts it back in the library bag.
7. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? Oh so very likely.  :)  I think I'll stay a reader only again for this next time, though it's possible Fiona will have an idea fora mini-challenge.

So,pledges!!

$1/book for both of us from Eran = $10  PAID (he rounded up to $40)  :)
$1/book for both of us from Pearlie=$10
$2/book for Fiona from Adelita=$16
$1/book for Fiona from her dad =  $8
 $1/book for both of us from Sara   = $10

Woo hoo!!  We'll have $84 to give to Fiona's classroom once all the pledges are in. And actually, Tamie wrote me on gmail chat yesterday and said she hasn't  read my blog yet but that she would like to donate $40 to the cause.  $124  --  I think they'll be surprised.  :) 

You have several options for how to send your pledge -- You can send it me and Fiona and I will take it in to school once all pledges that are coming in that way have been received.   You can donate directly to the school online here.  And of course, local people, we can use this as an excuse to get together if you like. 

Please let me know if you need more information from me about how to get these pledges to Fiona's classroom!

And I suppose you can't post before pictures without posting after pictures, right? And then a nice bath. With my book, of course.

Hour 24, Jumping Back In!

Well, Fiona convinced me to go to bed for a while to read.:)  She decided to sleep a bit before 11, and I chose to sleep before midnight. (The RAT started at 6 a.m. for us.)  But I just woke up (more or less my usual time) I'm thrilled to be  jumping back in for the final hour.  Not enough time, probably to finish another book for pledges, but enough time to enjoy some more reading,and that's what counts.  So I'll be back at the end for the end of event meme and some pictures.  For now, diving into some essays.

Hour 13 Mini Challenge -- Mo Willems Cosplay

Find an explanation of the challenge here.

We are big Piggy and Elephant fans around here and when Fiona read about this challenge, she decided to be Piggy in I Am Invited to a Party! (where it ends up being a fancy dress pool costume party)  She has even added pig ears to her crown.

Her (unprompted) feelings about her costume? "I wanna dress like this all.the.time. It's pretty rockin'.  I mean, if I dressed like this all the time I'd probably cut the wings, you know, but other than that it's pretty cool."

Hour 5 Mini-Challenge Book Staging

We are having so much fun!  I"m not sure why I"m going so slow, but my book is great.  Fiona is on her 4th book, and she loved the idea for this challenge.

Mini-challenge here.

Fiona's current read (a book that my mother received from my great-grandparents Christmas 1965) --  Fairytales with a fairy. 

Hour 12 Mid-Event Survey

Mid-Event Survey:
1. What are you reading right now?

I'm reading To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (page 129/289)  Fiona is reading Dandelion Fire (70/165). (typing that out makes me want to reread Dandelion Wine)

2. How many books have you read so far
I've only finished one, The Monogram Murders -- so great.  Fiona has finished 7.

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?
Rereading TKAM is a comforting experience. When that is over, there are many others in my stacks that I am looking forward to.  But I'm intrigued by Bad Feminist -- a collection of essays by Roxane Gay -- simply because I have no idea what to expect from it.

4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?
The main thing for me was when Fiona went outside to read and left the front door open, all the talking from outside was distracting to me. I put in earplugs and that seems to solve it. Fiona seems to consider this survey her biggest interruption. :)  (She was at the big ending of The Monogram Murders, and you know how Poirot likes to wrap things up.)

5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?
I've been surprised at how slowly I have started out.  I would have expected to be maybe in my 4th book by now -- or more -- not  my 2nd.  But I sure enjoyed the reading so far, and that's what counts.   Fiona says she is surprised at how hungry she has gotten.  She is now eating a dessert pasty, have no fear.

Hour 3 Goofy Fiona

Fiona was more than happy to participate in this challenge -- to take a picture of yourself in a weird reading position. (see below)

My reading is going a little bit slower than I imagined it would ( page 79 of The Monogram Murders) but man am I enjoying it. Hooray for a new Agatha Christie!  Fiona is on her second book, The Iron Trial.

Hour 2 #TeamCSLewis

This was such a perfect mini-challenge for me, since I have a quote from my first read that I really wanted to share.  (see end of post.)  The main jist of the challenge is that one of  Trollope's characters has a quote about loving coffee, and of course C.S. Lewis is the one who had the quote about how a cup of tea can never be large enough and a book can never be long enough to suit him. In both respects, I am definitely Team CS Lewis.  

So far today, I've been drinking a masala chai (hot) from Tea for Ewe and Fiona has been drinking Ripe & Ready (cold) from Birds & Bees Teas.  On the right, you can see a bit of my bright yellow mug -- the smallest I think a mug should be. ;)  See below for the perfect  accompanying quote for this challenge.  (Also, Fiona has finished her first book.)

"All you that drinks coffee when you could be drinking tea want your brains looking at, if you ask me."

p. 10, The Monogram Murders by Sophie Hannah

A Before Picture and Pledge Updates

Here we go!

 And here is an update on our pledges. It's so cool to have so many, so motivating!

 So far we have:

$1/book for both of us from Eran
$1/book for both of us from Pearlie
$2/book for Fiona from Adelita
$1/book for Fiona from her dad  
$1/book for both of us from Sara  

And just a reminder for those who wanted to pledge but haven't yet: 

If you'd like to support us in this endeavor, we are collecting pledges! All pledges will go directly to Fiona's classroom at Compass Montessori. This is her second year in the Fire Room and it has been a lovely place for her. We appreciate her teachers, Ms. Abby & Ms. Maya, so much and would love to give them a little bit of money for some classroom needs and wants.

Some possible options for you: * pledge by minutes read (e.g. a quarter for each minute read) * pledge by books read (e.g. $10 for each book completed during the challenge) * pledge by pages read (e.g. a dime for each page read) You can make a pledge for Fiona's reading, my reading, or both of us.  

We'll take pledges until 6 p.m. today.

So excited about the pledges that are coming in!

Hooray for generous friends and family!

So far we have:

$1/book for both of us from Eran
$1/book for both of us from Pearlie
$2/book for Fiona from Adelita
$1/book for Fiona from her dad

We are so excited to be able to raise money for her classroom and I know that these pledges will be so motivating for us!

My stack for the Read-A-Thon! There is some great stuff in here!

Fiona's preliminary choices for the Read-A-Thon!

This is Fiona on her first day of school, 2014. 

And this is her tentative stack of books for the Read-A-Thon on Saturday.  Many re-reads, and a few that are brand-new to her.   She reserves the right to read outside of this stack, as the fancy strikes her.


Pictures of my own book stack will come later this week.

Pledges for the Read-A-Thon

Fiona, my ten-year-old daughter, and I are getting ready for Dewey's Read-A-Thon next Saturday!

If you'd like to support us in this endeavor, we are collecting pledges!  All pledges will go directly to Fiona's classroom at Compass Montessori. This is her second year in the Fire Room and it has been a lovely place for her. We appreciate her teachers, Ms. Abby & Ms. Maya, so much and would love to give them a little bit of money for some classroom needs and wants.

Some possible options for you:

* pledge by minutes read (e.g. a quarter for each minute read)
* pledge by books read (e.g. $10 for each book completed during the challenge)
* pledge by pages read (e.g. a dime for each page read)

You can make a pledge for Fiona's reading, my reading, or both of us.


Let us know if you have any questions or comments -- you can invent your own amount to pledge!  Also, and this has been a popular option in the past, if there is a book you'd like to insist one or both read during the challenge, you can ensure it happens for the low, low rate of $20 a book. :) This is your chance, folks, to preach, to what may or may not be the choir, about your favorite book(s). Don't let the door of opportunity slam shut on your toes![This is assuming we can get our hands on the book in time. Though there have been cases where a promise has been made to read the book as soon as possible if we can't get it in time for the read-a-thon -- I'm looking at you, Mom and Waylon Jennings.]

Stay tuned for pictures of our reading stacks!

Getting Ready for Dewey's Read-a-thon!

It's time for a fresh start, blog-wise, and Dewey's Read-a-Thon is good motivation.  The Read-a-Thon is what prompted me to start my last blog.  I blogged there for two full years and loved it.  It's possible I have one facebook friend who started as a blog follower.  :)  My last blog was super open and also all over the place subject-wise. I decided to try to have a blog that is more book focused so that I can feel comfortable sharing it widely, especially for read-a-thons.  I don't always compartmentalize well, so we'll see how it goes. :)  It's hard to imagine having a second blog for my more private musings (rather than just having it all in one place, as was the case with my last blog.)

So here's to new beginnings and to Dewey's Read-a-Thon!  I'll be back with more details.