Read-a-Thon Final Update

Traci's Stats:

Currently Reading: Surviving Antarctica by Andrea White
Total pages read since last update: 406
Total pages read cumulative: 1,772

Total books finished: 5 (22 pages from finishing 6)

Total Time spent reading: 1125 minutes (18 hours and 45 minutes) - I dozed off a couple of times

Books Completed: The Tenth Case by Joseph Teller and The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, Dating da Vinci by Malena Lott, The Sea of Monsters (audiobook) by Rick Riordan, Savvy by Ingrid Law

Brandon's Stats:

Brandon got up and joined me again just before 6 a.m.

Pages read since last update: 75

Audiobooks listened to since last update: 1 1/2 (90 pages worth)
Total Audiobook discs listened to: 8 1/2 (we counted each disc as 60 pages)
Total pages read cumulative: 655 + 510 (pages assumed from audiobook) = 1,165 pages

Total books finished: 5

Time spent reading: 1030 minutes (17 hours 10 minutes)

Books Completed: The 39 Clues by Rick Riordan, Everest Book One: The Contest by Gordon Korman, Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel by Eoin Colfer, The Titan's Curse (audiobook) by Rick Riordan, Warriors Power of Three: Eclipse by Erin Hunter

I am exhausted. It has been a really fun night. I only fell asleep twice! Ok, I've got to fix my kids breakfast, then I'm off to crawl into bed. Thanks again everyone for the wonderful comments all night. They've really helped to keep us both motivated.

Good night!!

Read-a-Thon End of the Event Survey

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? Probably Hour 21. I had a hard time staying awake, and didn't get much reading done.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? I really enjoyed The Invention of Hugo Cabret, and the speed you can get through that one made me feel I'd accomplished something.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? No, not really. It was great.
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? The cheerleaders were fantastic, but I've already said that. It was pretty well-organized, I think.
5. How many books did you read? 5 1/2
6. What were the names of the books you read? The Tenth Case by Joseph Teller, The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, Dating da Vinci by Malena Lott, The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan, Savvy by Ingrid Law, 1/2 of Surviving Antarctica by Andrea White
7. Which book did you enjoy most? I actually enjoyed all of them, surprisingly. I think I may have enjoyed Savvy the most.
8. Which did you enjoy least? probably Dating da Vinci just because it was the slowest going for me.
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? I wasn't, but I think they did great.
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? I'd love to do it again. I really enjoyed being a reader. I think I'd like to do that again.

Read-a-Thon Update #8

Traci's Stats:

Currently Reading: Surviving Antarctica by Andrea White

Total pages read since last update: 157

Total pages read cumulative: 1,366
Total books finished: 5
Total Time spent reading: 920 minutes
Books Completed: The Tenth Case by Joseph Teller and The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, Dating da Vinci by Malena Lott, The Sea of Monsters (audiobook) by Rick Riordan, Savvy by Ingrid Law

Brandon's Stats:

Brandon dozed off a couple of times reading his last book, so he reluctantly went to bed. I did let him finish his last book, and he was only 12 pages away from 1,000, so he read a little more of his Superman book to reach it. He was really happy (and sleepy). Here are his final stats.

Audiobook discs listened to: 7 (we counted each disc as 60 pages)

Total pages read cumulative: 580 + 420 (pages assumed from audiobook) = 1,000 pages!!
Total books finished: 5
Time spent reading: 940 minutes
Books Completed: The 39 Clues by Rick Riordan, Everest Book One: The Contest by Gordon Korman, Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel by Eoin Colfer, The Titan's Curse (audiobook) by Rick Riordan, Warriors Power of Three: Eclipse by Erin Hunter

Read-a-Thon Update #7

Traci's Stats:

Currently Reading: Savvy by Ingrid Law

Total pages read since last update: 184
Total pages read cumulative: 1,209

Total books finished: 4

Total Time spent reading: 810 minutes

Books Completed: The Tenth Case by Joseph Teller and The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, Dating da Vinci by Malena Lott, The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

Brandon's Stats:

Currently Reading: Warriors Power of Three: Eclipse by Erin Hunter

Total pages read since last update: 0

Audiobook discs listened to since last update: 2

Cumulative Audiobook discs listened to: 7 (we're going to count each disc as 60 pages that we'll add to his final total)

Total pages read cumulative: 350 + 420 (pages assumed from audiobook) = 770 pages

Total books finished: 4

Time spent reading: 830 minutes

Books Completed: The 39 Clues by Rick Riordan, Everest Book One: The Contest by Gordon Korman, Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel by Eoin Colfer, The Titan's Curse (audiobook) by Rick Riordan

Read-a-Thon Mid Event Survey

Mid-Event Survey:
1. What are you reading right now? I'm reading Savvy by Ingrid Law. Brandon's still listening to The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan, but he's nearly finished. We're taking a brownie break right now.
2. How many books have you read so far? I've finished 4 (though 2 of those were already in progress) and Brandon has finished 3 (1 of which was already in progress).
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? Surviving Antarctica (which I think I'll read after I finish Savvy). I've been wanting to read it since I first saw it on the Barnes and Noble shelf months ago.
4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day? Not really - just told my husband so that he would be understanding.
5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? Just once when my dad called and wanted to talk about whether my husband and I were actually considering moving out of the country (we are, and this is something I just mentioned to my dad yesterday, so naturally, he was wanting to discuss it).
6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? How much I'm actually getting read. And, how fast the time has gone by - it's already 7:30!!
7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? I don't know. I think I might organize my personal posts a little bit better, but other than that I can't think of anything. I'm having a great time!
8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year? Have more ready-made food available.
9. Are you getting tired yet? Nope, not yet.
10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered? Hmm...no, but I will say that I think the cheerleaders are awesome!!! Thanks guys, so much. As soon as this is over, I'm going to be bombarding the blogs of all the wonderful commenters, but for now, I must return to my book (and my brownie).


Happy Reading, everyone!! If you'd like to see everyone else's responses, go here.

Read-a-Thon Update #6

Traci's Stats:

Currently Reading: Savvy by Ingrid Law
Total pages read since last update: 51

Total pages read cumulative: 1,025
Total books finished: 4
Total Time spent reading: 585 minutes
Books Completed: The Tenth Case by Joseph Teller and The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, Dating da Vinci by Malena Lott, The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan (this was an audiobook that I listened to the final 30 minutes of while cooking dinner)

Brandon's Stats:

Currently Reading: The Titan's Curse (audiobook) by Rick Riordan and Superman: Strange Attractors by Gail Simone
Total pages read since last update: 44
Audiobook discs listened to since last update: 1/2
Cumulative Audiobook discs listened to: 5 (we're going to count each disc as 60 pages that we'll add to his final total)
Total pages read cumulative: 350 + 300 (pages assumed from audiobook) = 650

Total books finished: 3
Time spent reading: 605 minutes
Books Completed: The 39 Clues by Rick Riordan, Everest Book One: The Contest by Gordon Korman, Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel by Eoin Colfer

Read-a-Thon Update #5

Traci's Stats:

Currently Reading: Dating da Vinci by Malena Lott

Total pages read since last update: 125
Total pages read cumulative: 974

Total books finished: 2

Total Time spent reading: 485 minutes

Books Completed: The Tenth Case by Joseph Teller and The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

Brandon's Stats:

Currently Reading: The Titan's Curse (audiobook) by Rick Riordan

Total pages read since last update: 112

Audiobook discs listened to since last update: 1

Cumulative Audiobook discs listened to: 4 1/2 (we're going to count each disc as 60 pages that we'll add to his final total)

Total pages read cumulative: 306 + 270 (pages assumed from audiobook) = 576

Total books finished: 3

Time spent reading: 495 minutes

Books Completed: The 39 Clues by Rick Riordan, Everest Book One: The Contest by Gordon Korman, Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel by Eoin Colfer

Read-a-Thon Update #4

Traci's Stats:

Currently Reading: Dating da Vinci by Malena Lott
Total pages read since last update: 71

Total pages read cumulative: 849
Total books finished: 2
Total Time spent reading: 355 minutes
Books Completed: The Tenth Case by Joseph Teller and The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

Brandon's Stats:

Currently Reading: The Titan's Curse (audiobook) by Rick Riordan
Total pages read since last update: 80
Audiobook discs listened to since last update: 1/2
Cumulative Audiobook discs listened to: 3 1/2 (we're going to count each disc as 60 pages that we'll add to his final total)
Total pages read cumulative: 194 + 210 (pages assumed from audiobook)
Total books finished: 1
Time spent reading: 355 minutes
Books Completed: The 39 Clues by Rick Riordan, Everest Book One: The Contest by Gordon Korman

I thoroughly enjoyed both books I've finished so far. The Tenth Case was surprisingly good - a great legal thriller, and The Invention of Hugo Cabret was a really wonderful story with amazing illustrations. I'm 100 pages into Dating da Vinci, and I'm enjoying it, but it's slower going than those two (especially Hugo Cabret). Brandon's happy about that, because he's eager to catch up.

Brandon says he's enjoying all of his books, too. He really liked 39 Clues and Everest: The Contest, but so far The Titan's Curse is his favorite (he really likes those Percy Jackson books).

And, in case you're interested, I intend to post full reviews of all the books I read today (and I may have a few guest reviews from Brandon) over the next couple of weeks. Thanks again to all who've cheered us on. We're having a blast!

Read-a-Thon Update #3

My husband made us lunch, so I thought it would be a good time to stop and give another update. I would also like to thank all of the cheerleaders and other commenters who've offered their supportive comments. I've been reading them all to Brandon, and he thinks it's really cool that people are cheering us on. So, thank you!!

Anyway, on to the update:

Traci's Stats:

Currently Reading: Dating da Vinci by Malena Lott

Total pages read since last update: 412 (Hugo Cabret really helped to make me feel I was making a dent!!)

Total pages read cumulative: 778

Total books finished: 2

Time spent reading: 275 minutes

Books Completed: The Tenth Case by Joseph Teller and The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

Brandon's Stats:

Currently Reading: Everest Book One: The Contest by Gordon Korman

Total pages read since last update: 59

Audiobook discs listened to since last update: 0

Cumulative Audiobook discs listened to: 3 (we're going to count each disc as 60 pages that we'll add to his final total)

Total pages read cumulative: 114 + 180 (pages assumed from audiobook)

Total books finished: 1

Time spent reading: 275 minutes

Books Completed: The 39 Clues by Rick Riordan

Read-a-Thon Update #2

Traci's Stats:
Currently Reading: The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Total pages read since last update: 242
Total pages read cumulative: 366
Total books finished: 1
Time spent reading: 180 minutes
Books Completed: The Tenth Case by Joseph Teller

Brandon's Stats:
Currently Reading: The Titan's Curse (audiobook) by Rick Riordan
Total pages read since last update: 55
Audiobook discs listened to: 3 (we're going to count each disc as 60 pages that we'll add to his final total)
Total pages read cumulative: 55 + 180 (pages assumed from audiobook)
Total books finished: 1
Time spent reading: 180 minutes
Books Completed: The 39 Clues by Rick Riordan

Read-a-Thon Update #1

Traci's Stats:

Currently Reading: The Tenth Case by Joseph Teller

Total pages read since last update: 124

Total pages read cumulative: 124

Total books finished: 0

Time spent reading: 80 minutes

Books Completed: None

Brandon's Stats:

Currently Reading: The Titan's Curse (audiobook) by Rick Riordan

Total pages read since last update: 55

Audiobook discs listened to: 1 (we're going to count each disc as 60 pages that we'll add to his final total)

Total pages read cumulative: 55

Total books finished: 1

Time spent reading: 80 minutes

Books Completed: The 39 Clues by Rick Riordan

Also, Dewey has this meme up for hour 1:

Where are you reading from today? Our home in Virginia Beach.
3 facts about me … I am not a morning person (we already established this), I love Starbucks (I wish my sleeping husband - also not a morning person - would get up and go get me some coffee!!), I have published two quilting books.
How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours? 9, but that may change
Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)? I'd love to finish 4 books. I've got a pretty good rhythm going if I could just stay off the computer.
If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, Any advice for people doing this for the first time? I'm a first-timer!! Does anyone have any advice for me??

Here we go...

I'm so not a morning person...but I'm up. Set the clock for 7:20, and here I am just about ready to go. Brandon's up, too, and we're both stumbling around rather quietly - he's not a morning person either.

So, anyway, we're just about off. I'm starting with The Tenth Case by Joseph Teller, since I'm already 220 pages in. Brandon's going to start off with 39 Clues by Rick Riordan - he only lacks 5 chapters finishing it, so he'll likely be done soon.

Anyway, enough typing. Gotta get comfortable (as comfortable as one can get at this early...)

The fun starts in 3...2...1...

24 Hour Read-A-Thon Approaches

It won't be long now. In about 8 1/2 hours, the 24 Hour Read-a-Thon will begin. I will try to update fairly regularly, about every couple of hours. My 10 year old son will also be joining me in the Read-a-Thon. We're going to compete to see who can read the most pages - I can tell you right now that unless he flakes out on me, it'll be him. Anyway, here are the books we have planned for tomorrow.

Traci's Stack:

• The Tenth Case by Joseph Teller (this is in progress)
• The Sea of Monsters (audiobook) by Rick Riordan (also in progress - only about 25 minutes left)
• The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
• The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo (I'm reading this aloud to my daughter - I don't plan to finish this, just read some to her throughout the day)
• Dating da Vinci by Malena Lott
• The Ark, the Reed, and the Fire Cloud by Jenny L. Cote
• Rune Warriors by James Jennewein
• Surviving Antarctica by Andrea White
• Savvy by Ingrid Law

Brandon's (very tall) Stack:

• Quidditch Through the Ages by Kennilworthy Whisp
• Salamandastron by Brian Jacques
• Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel adapted by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin
• The Keys to the Kingdom by Garth Nix
• The Ruby in the Smoke by Phillip Pullman
• Warriors: Eclipse by Erin Hunter
• Left Behind The Kids: Book Two by Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim LaHaye
• Everest Book One: The Contest by Gordon Korman
• Guardians of Ga'Hoole: Exile by Kathryn Lasky
• Wild Magic Book One: The Immortals (audiobook) by Tamora Pierce
• Superman: Strange Attractors by Gail Simone
• The 39 Clues by Rick Riordan (in progress)
• The Titan's Curse (audio) by Rick Riordan
  

Well, it's getting late, so I should probably get some rest - got a big day ahead of us tomorrow. I hope you'll stop by to see our progress and cheer us on tomorrow!!

24 Hour Read-A-Thon

So, I decided to participate in the 24 Hour Read-a-thon this Saturday. If you don't already know about it, here's a little bit of info on how it all works.

• You sign up here.
• The Read-a-thon starts Saturday at noon GMT (that's 8 a.m. for all of us east coasters)
• It runs for 24 hours (hence, the name, 24 Hour Read-a-thon!!), but you don't have to read the entire time - I would like to try, but I am certain I won't be able to make it for all 24 hours.
• There are prizes, mini-challenges, blogging, and lots and lots of reading
• There are other ways to participate other than just being a reader (such as Cheerleader, Mini-Challenge Host, etc)

So, here's my question to all of you. What books would you suggest for this marathon of bookish delight? I'm thinking shortish books (or at least those with a nice quick pace) would be good, and I'm trying to put together a list including some of my TBR books. (Here's a new link to my TBR pile - hopefully this one will work). I'm planning a trip to the library later this week, so suggestions that aren't in my library are certainly welcome, too!

A couple I have pre-selected as possibilities are:

• The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
• Dating da Vinci by Malena Lott
• The Ark, the Reed, and the Fire Cloud by Jenny L. Cote
• Rune Warriors by James Jennewein

So, any suggestions? Are you going to participate as a reader? cheerleader?