Dewey's Read-a-thon: End survey

1) Which hour was most daunting for you?

6:00ish at the end of a grocery shopping trip with my hubby and kids. I was anxious to get back to my audio books, but hubby wanted to keep stopping at this store and that store searching for Prince albums. I'm gutted about Prince too, but come on, honey! We're in Minnesota, and every physical album is already going to be snapped up.

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

ELEANOR & PARK by Rainbow Rowell is the most engaging book I started. The audio book is very good - natural sounding and bittersweet.

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

Nope! Excellent work everyone!!

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

I enjoyed the random geekiness in the new Facebook group.

5) How many books did you read? What were the names of the books you read?

Completed 4 out of 5 that I started.

I AM AMELIA EARHART picture book by Brad Meltzer and illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos. The mischievous drawings reminded me of the Calvin& Hobbes comics. (completed)

LITTLE BIRD'S BAD WORD picture book written and illustrated by Jacob West (completed)

ANNA BANANA: 101 JUMP ROPE RHYMES by Joanna Cole and illustrated by Alan Tiegreen (completed)

ELEANOR & PARK by Rainbow Rowell (completed)

THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ by Frank L. Baum (didn't complete)

6) Which book did you enjoy most?

A toss up between ELEANOR & PARK and I AM AMELIA EARHART. Actually... I might just have to go with the picture book over the romance.

7) Which did you enjoy least?

The audio version of THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ was annoying to listen to. Not very motivating to listen to, but I needed something appropriate for my 6-year-old to listen to. ELEANOR & PARK was totally NOT appropriate for her.

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

Totally! As a reader. If I remember to sign-up early enough, I will donate money or prizes or shipping. Hopefully, the Facebook group updates will remind me to plan ahead next time.

Dewey's Read-a-thon: Book fuel

So, I accidentally discovered this "recipe" a couple of weeks ago.

Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip

8 oz cream cheese

1/4 c canned cranberry sauce (Whole berries if you like some texture. Cranberry jelly is you like a smooth, non-chunky dip.)

Let the cream cheese come to room temperature. It makes it easier to mix it. Combine the cranberry sauce and cream cheese. Using a food mixer makes mushing them a quick task. For maximum flavor marination, let the dip sit for a hour or two. Enjoy with fruit or my favorite - pretzels!

This cranberry cream cheese combo was originally meant for turkey and swiss roll-ups. I was making the roll-ups for a potluck, but I switched this out for another flavor cream cheese. So this was all mixed up but taking up space in my fridge. For breakfast, I grabbed it and paired it with pretzels. NOMMMMM!

Dewey's Read-a-thon: Mid-event survey

Silly me. I feel asleep around 8:30, but am thrilled to wake up early enough to keep on reading!

1. What are you reading right now?

Switching between audiobooks of ELEANOR & PARK by Rainbow Rowell and THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ by Frank L. Baum

2. How many books have you read so far?

Completed 3. In-progress 3.

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

ELEANOR & PARK. Though I don't know if I'll be able to finish it during the readathon.

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

Lots. That's why I rely on audibooks. And read picture books with the kids to keep them content.

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

It took this long to start a Facebook page! :D

Dewey's Read-a-thon: Readblock

Currently reading: (listening to) ELEANOR & PARK by Rainbow Rowell

#Readathon update: Thanks for the distraction, Hazel. I've got a fever... for more #readblock. (Maybe, I'll have a chance to
#winsoulless ?)

Dewey's Read-a-thon: At the starting line

Currently reading: (listening to) ELEANOR & PARK by Rainbow Rowell

My responses to the hour zero challenge:

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

From Fulda, Minnesota in the southwestern corner of the state. Very prairie.

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

No idea! I did no advance planning for this readathon.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

Pretzel chips and cranberry cream cheese dip.

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

I'll be working through part of the day. Luckily, I work at the local library.

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?

Last time, I was trying to do the readathon while on a family road trip. So, there was much more forethought put into it - stocking up on audio books, mapping places to eat on the road, and such.

This time, the readathon completely snuck up on me! Seriously. Yesterday, I turned in the last of my tax papers, did a quick grocery shopping, put in time at work, and went to bed early with a migraine. Today, I woke up and panicked about missing this readathon. I signed up at 4 a.m. and am now winging it while getting ready for work. Very adrenaline.

Dewey's Readathon: Better Late Than Never, 2016 edition

It's 4:00 a.m. and I just signed up for Dewey's 24-hour readathon. Completely winging it this year since it starts officially starts in 3 hours!! (7 a.m. CST). I wonder if the patron saint of readathons will forgive me if I start now? I am losing there hours to work after all.