Dewey's 24 hour Read-a-thon April 2013 Edition

The End

I really didn't get much farther after my last update. I did manage to finish Two Ravens and One Crow, but didn't remember anything I read from An Exchange of Gifts, so I don't think I'll even count that one.

My ending stats then are:

Pages: 383 (1 book/2 novellas)
Time listened: 59:30 (2 items, seriously?! 30 seconds short of an hour? Augh!)

Thanks again to all the organizers and cheerleaders, and everyone that makes this event happen!


Hour 17

I took a break and played some computer games and had dinner around hour 14. Just finished listening to The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle, and I'm about 80% done with Two Ravens and One Crow, so I'm going to take that one, and also another Anne McCaffrey short to bed with me and see how far I get! This is probably my last blog update until in the morning, but I may still be on Twitter some.

An Exchange of Gifts by Anne McCaffrey When Meanne, a princess of the realm, runs away from her father's castle and an unwanted suitor, little does she realize the hardships and difficulties that lie ahead of her. Loneliness is the worst part - until she finds a fellow refugee, a boy named Wisp. Together they must make new lives for themselves. Yet they both have secrets - hidden pasts and magical powers that can tear them apart!

Hour 13

My friend Azuki has a fun sounding challenge for us, we get to cook the books!

For this challenge, You will need to think of a popular title, twist it into a cookbook theme, then give us a little introduction about the book.

I struggled with this for a bit, and then inspiration hit, I won't say it was a good one, but I liked it, so I'm going to go with:

Gone with the Wok - A collection of authentic Civil War recipes with an Asian twist! Prissy might not have known "nothin' 'bout birthin' babies" but she could sure make a mean stir fry! You'll find everything from "Scarlett's Never Be Hungry Again Szechuan" to "Rhett's Don't Give a Damn Super Hot Kung Pao" in the pages of this delectable volume!

Hour 11

I finished up Cryer's Cross, very creepy story! That makes 2 books and 1 REALLY short audio finished, page count so far is 318. Now I'm having a hard time deciding what to read next. I've sampled a couple pages of some of my stack and they're just not grabbing me. I think I'll work on Two Ravens and One Crow for awhile, Atticus and Oberon are always good for a laugh!  I also started The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle, a Sherlock Holmes story, ready by Alan Cumming while out driving around, so I'll probably try to finish that up soon, it's also very short, only 47 minutes.

Six years into the training of his beautiful apprentice, Granuaile, a large crow swoops down and transforms into none other than the Morrigan, a goddess who insists that Atticus come with her at once. He must leave his apprentice behind, along with his Irish wolfhound, Oberon—and he must also leave his sword. The Morrigan has always taken extreme pleasure in pronouncing the Druid’s mortal danger and imminent doom, so the fact that she won’t reveal the purpose of their journey makes him very nervous. Of course, any time the Celtic Chooser of the Slain drops in unannounced, it’s never good. When she does let slip that she’ll be saving his life in the near future, Atticus is left to wonder . . . will he soon be giving his legions of enemies something to crow about?

In this holiday-themed short story, Sherlock Holmes and his trusty sidekick, Dr. Watson, follow the trail of a lost hat and a Christmas goose through the streets of London and into a rapidly expanding mystery.

Hour 9

I haven't finished anything else yet, though I'm halfway through Cryer's Cross, have had lunch (Thai buffet yum!) and have new tires on my vehicle, so that's productive, right? Back to reading now, must stay off you tube! Evil Interwebs!

Hour 4

I made a quick detour and listened to Click-Clack the Rattlebag by Neil Gaiman, it's a 12 minute freebie I picked up around Halloween, and unfortunately not currently available, I checked. I can see why he's so popular, I enjoyed his reading of it so will definitely look into more of his audios!

A few words from Neil: "Why tell ghost stories? Why read them or listen to them? Why take such pleasure in tales that have no purpose but, comfortably, to scare? "I don't know. Not really. It goes way back. We have ghost stories from ancient Egypt, after all, ghost stories in the Bible, classical ghost stories from Rome (along with werewolves, cases of demonic possession, and of course, over and over, witches). We have been telling each other tales of otherness, of life beyond the grave, for a long time; stories that prickle the flesh and make the shadows deeper and, most important, remind us that we live, and that there is something special, something unique and remarkable, about the state of being alive. Happy Halloween!" "'What kind of story would you like me to tell you?' 'Well,' he said, thoughtfully, 'I don't think it should be too scary, because then when I go up to bed, I will just be thinking about monsters the whole time. But if it isn't just a little bit scary, then I won't be interested. And you make up scary stories, don't you?'" So begins this subtle, witty, deceptive little tale from master storyteller Neil Gaiman. Lock the doors, turn off the lights, and enjoy!

Hour 3

I've finished If Wishes Were Horses, a nice short fantasy novella and I'm moving on to Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann. I really enjoyed her Dreamcatcher series, a couple of which I read in past read-a-thon's so it should be perfect!  This one is a bit longer, so I don't expect you'll be seeing another update for awhile! ;)

Kendall loves her life in small town Cryer's Cross, Montana, but she also longs for something more. She knows the chances of going to school in New York are small, but she's not the type to give up easily. Even though it will mean leaving Nico, the world's sweetest boyfriend, behind. But when Cryer's Cross is rocked by unspeakable tragedy, Kendall shoves her dreams aside and focuses on just one goal: help find her missing friends. Even if it means spending time with the one boy she shouldn't get close to... the one boy who makes her question everything she feels for Nico. Determined to help and to stay true to the boy she's always loved, Kendall keeps up the search--and stumbles upon some frightening local history. She knows she can't stop digging, but Kendall is about to find out just how far the townspeople will go to keep their secrets buried....

Good Morning! - Hour 1

Apparently my cat was just as excited for the read-a-thon as I was since he started calling for breakfast at least half an hour before I'd set the alarm.  *looks pointedly at unrepentant feline*  So I'm up and have chosen to start with If Wishes Were Horses by Anne McCaffrey a beloved and much missed favorite author.

Young Tizra and her twin brother Tracell find their world abruptly changed when their father is unexpectedly called to fight in a war which promises to last much longer than the usual three-day skirmish. Their mother -- the village healer -- enlists her children to assist her in caring for the many refugees left wounded and homeless by the conflict. Inspired by her mother, Tizra learns never to surrender hope even in a time of fear and uncertainty.

The Night Before

It's almost time again for another Dewey's 24 hour read-a-thon! It begins at 7 am on a Saturday morning for me, and it's almost like when you're little and have a hard time sleeping on Christmas Eve. Read-a-thon prep is always fun though, as you have that completely clean slate, and you start massing all the books you want to read, and it's always more than you'll ever get through, but you just don't know what you'll be in the mood for right? Here's my stack so far, but even as I was posting this picture I was thinking of other books that I might want to add to it, plus I have a couple of shorter stories on my Kindle app ready to go.

I see a lot of people talking about planning out snacks, some are healthy, some not so much, I don't do a lot of that other than to make sure I have a nice tasty dessert around. I'm also not really one for staying home the whole day, I always think that sounds great, but my attention span is kind of short, and I need to move around a lot, especially while reading. If I get too comfortable, it's lights out for me! There are always errands to do still, but my husband is kind enough to drive so I can still read, I have impressed upon him the importance of read-a-thon, and luckily he's a reader himself so he understands. At least he understands it's important to me, and you should always humor the crazy woman, right? Just nod, it's okay.

Well, I think that's about all for now, I'll probably add a few more books to the stack tonight. I'll do all my updates in this post, not sure if I'll do newest at the top or the bottom. I think I do my updates differently every single time, I'm still looking for the perfect method!

Happy Read-a-thon everyone, and my the pages turn ever in your favor! (Listening to Mockingjay today so I had to say it!)