Sunday, April 4, 2010

TSS: Preparing for the Read-athon!

The weather has finally turned to Spring here in Kansas and it is (supposed to be) a lovely Easter Sunday morning!  The sun is shining, the temperature is in the high 60s, the day is filled with hope and thanksgiving, and I am looking forward to having a leisurely dinner with the family.   I hope that you too are enjoying the rejuvenation of this Easter day!

I simply cannot tell you how excited I am for this 24 hour read-athon!  This will be my third time to participate, and I think I am looking forward to this one most.  My first read-athon was last spring and I truly had no idea what to expect.  I learned that 24 hours does not necessarily translate to "I can read several books in a weekend" --- it just means that I can read several pages in a weekend.  I also realized that I hadn't adequately planned for meals (for myself or other members of the family) and that ate up (pardon the pun) a rather large chunk of my reading time.

Last fall I was a bit more realistic with my reading goals, and I communicated better with the fam (I know that I cannot stay up for a full 24 hours, so my plan for all three events has been to read for about 8 hours on Saturday and another 4 hours on Sunday for a total of 12 hours over the course of the weekend).  I selected fewer books and even included some YA titles that are no less enjoyable, although sometimes a bit less complicated.  I had a difficult time, however, coordinating the number of hours I would read vs twitter vs post on my blog.  Consequently, I still did not accomplish all that I had hoped, but had another great time.

Now I figure "third time's a charm" --- my family is well aware of my weekend plans; I will definitely have meals and snacks ready to go; I will try to post 3 times on Saturday (a start post - a middle post - and an ending post) and a summary post on Sunday; I will not try to follow all the tweets, but rather pop in and out as I need a break.  I would like to be more purposeful in my reading, that is, try to read books that I will enjoy (eg - not for teaching or summer school), but that will also fulfill a challenge obligation (I did not complete nearly as many challenges as I had hoped last year, so I want to try to do better in 2010).  While I do not have a complete list ready to post, I will tell you which books I am considering:
  • Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death by M. C. Beaton (for the Mystery Read Cafe challenge - author's last name begins with "B")
  • The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly (for the Once Upon a Time challenge that I have yet to sign up for because I am afraid I will not have a chance to read a book in time)
  • Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie (also for the Mystery Read Cafe challenge - the first in a series)
  • The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (for the Our Mutual Read challenge)  Some students in my English 1 class selected this as a book to read in literature circles.  OH MY - did this create quite the uproar with some conservative parents.  I want to read the book myself to see why it received such negative attention.
  • Why My Third Husband will be a Dog by Lisa Scottoline.  This will not fulfill any challenges, but it looks like a light, hysterical, fun read that will be a welcomed diversion when my eyes become bleary.
  • The Flaneur by Edmund White.  Again, this will not fulfill a reading challenge that I know of, but it is a short book with the subtitle "A Stroll through the Paradoxes of Paris." and it came highly recommended by CB (see his review here).
I hope to finish Shutter Island prior to the weekend, as I have been nursing it for far too long.  This book will go towards CB James' Read the Book See the Movie challenge (or in my case....See the Movie, Read the Book challenge).  I almost feel as though I will have to see the movie again in order to do the review justice (it is my understanding that the major difference in the movie is the "last line" -- but I have now forgotten what the last line was).

This is my potential list for now --- emphasis on the word "potential"  I know myself well enough to know that if I want to have a great time and fully enjoy this coming weekend, I must be open to reading whatever strikes my fancy at that particular time.

How many of you will be able to participate?  Do you have a list of books already prepared to read?


24 comments:

  1. A nice choice of books for a 24 hour read. Enjoy! Happy spring and Easter! My Sunday Salon.

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  2. Molly, hope you have fun with the read-a-thon. You have some great books planned. I will not be participating, but I did last fall and it was fun.

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  3. Ohh, I am SO considering doing this Read-a-Thon. I should be able to do so, but is that next weekend? I'm thinking I'll be babysitting, but I could probably manage if my grandson brings his video games (bad Nana!).

    You're going to LOVE Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog! Funny book, which I hadn't expected from this author; however, come to think of it, she has funny moments in her suspense books, too.

    My Salon:

    http://laurel-rainsnowsaccidentallife.blogspot.com/2010/04/sunday-salon-happy-easter.html

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  4. Picture of Dorian Gray is pretty tame by today's standards, as I remember. I'll be interested in your opinion.

    I think I should read/watch Shutter Island. Looks like it's becoming a very popular pairing for the book/movie challenge.

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  5. I think John Connolly is a wonderful choice for the readathon. His stories are so interesting! I'm participating too!

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  6. This will be the first read-a-thon I've participated in, so I'm really looking forward to it. :) I think 12 hours will be a realistic goal for me too.

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  7. Looks like you're all ready to go, Molly. The Quiche of Death was such fun - it made me an Agatha Raisin fan!

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  8. I'm doing the readathon. I don't have a list per se but I'll probably read some of my Christmas present books.

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  9. Having participated in several of these now, I agree - you get much better at setting REALISTIC goals and planning your time as you do more of them! You have a fun list of books - I think mysteries are a really good choice for the Read-A-Thon because they tend to be fast paced and hold your attention. I've got a list going, but it might change before Saturday!

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  10. Yes1 This will be my second time and I already have a list of six books I must read with my students for our Battle of the Books Reading Challenge. I already read, Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban and am planning on reading: Lemonade War, Fabled Fourth Graders, Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat and Night of the Howling Dogs. This will also help me with my O.W.L. Reading Challenge!

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  11. Happy Easter! I will be cheering all of you on during the Readathon.

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  12. I hope you have a wonderful Easter!

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  13. I am totally on board with my kids for the first time! Each of us has a huge stack of books. My daughter is determined to read all of hers. I'm really really looking forward to it, although I have no expectations. Yes, you are right, the last line of Shutter Island (the movie) made me yell out in protest. How dare they change the whole ending????

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  14. Good luck with the read-a-thon! I won't be participating as a read this time, but will be doing some cheerleading. It looks like you have a great selection of books.

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  15. It looks like you have seriously analyzed the read-a-thon and you are ready to go. It's going to be a great one. I hope you have loads of fun. Good luck.

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  16. Great choices! The Girl and I are participating for the third time as well. Have fun!

    --Anna
    Diary of an Eccentric

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  17. Have fun! It sounds like you have it planned out well. I was completely forgetting about the Twitter aspect!

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  18. I've read The Book of Lost Things and Dorian Gray - great choices! I'll be posting my readathon stack this week sometime :) Thanks for the reminder about Twitter - I forgot how engrossed I got in that last time around and it did end up being a huge distraction from reading, but a lot of fun, too :)

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  19. Am I looking forward this weekend?? You know it!! I have my stacks of book ready to go and will be getting the snacks ready later in the week. Our tradition the past 2 read-a-thons is Chinese food take in for dinner! Since I will be co-hosting for a shift, that will eat up a bit of my reading time. I am hoping I can figure out the wordpress site so I can post my official updates! Sam is pumped to read with me too--it will be a sad event when he one day chooses not to participate with me!
    Have a great week--
    *smiles*

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  20. I'm so looking forward to this weekend. I need to settle down and get a good chunk of my reading done. I haven't set a list, just went through and picked books off my TBR list and have them waiting for me.

    I hope you enjoy your weekend!
    -Jess.
    (Find the Time to Read)

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  21. I like the look of your read-a-thon pile! The Book of Lost Things is a good read. I'm participating in the read-a-thon also and I can't wait! I started making a pile of books I'm interested in reading. My goal is to read at least four. We'll see what happens. Good luck and happy reading!

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  22. I'm looking forward to the Readathon. Great book choices, especially Agatha. In fact, I highly recommend Agatha. Perfect Readathon material.

    I'm trying for a French theme. French books. French snacks. Perhaps a bit of French wine.

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  23. You've got some great books to choose from, many of which have been on my TBR list for awhile!

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  24. Good luck on the readathon! I've finally posted my list (it's all school/work related, but they're all fun!). I hope third time is a charm for you.

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