Read-a-Thon - Hour 15 update

Hour 15 update:

Title of book(s) read since last update: White Cat by Holly Black

Number of books read since you started: 2
Pages read since last update: 60
Running total of pages read since you started: 605
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 50 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 485 minutes

Time spent blogging: 85 minutes

Time spent visiting blogs: 55 minutes
Mini-challenges completed: 4
Other participants you’ve visited: 12

My giveaways:
Weekend Wondering
ARC Prize Pack at Princess Bookie's Blog (White Cat and A Most Improper Magick) ends 4/11 at midnight
Win Twenty Boy Summer at Princess Bookie's Blog ends 4/11 at midnight
Win The Forest Of Hands and Teeth and Graceling at Princess Bookie's Blog ends 4/11 at midnight

White Cate was great.  Now I'm off to choose my next book.

If I don't update again, I will post a summary post tomorrow and then I will go on a blog hop and see how everyone else did during the read-a-thon!

Read-a-Thon - Hour 14 update

Hour 12 update:

Title of book(s) read since last update: White Cat by Holly Black

Number of books read since you started: 1
Pages read since last update: 82
Running total of pages read since you started: 545
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 60 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 435 minutes

Time spent blogging: 80 minutes

Time spent visiting blogs: 50 minutes
Mini-challenges completed: 4
Other participants you’ve visited: 12

I'm about finished with White Cat (great book) and will probably move onto Double Love by Francine Pascal or I may pick up My Own Personal Soap Opera by Libby Malin.  The read-a-thon is coming to a close for me.  I have to sleep so I'll probably read for another hour or so and then go to bed.

If I don't update again, I will post a summary post tomorrow and then I will go on a blog hop and see how everyone else did during the read-a-thon!

Read-a-Thon - Hour 12 update/mid-event meme

Mid-Event Survey:

1. What are you reading right now? White Cat by Holly Black

2. How many books have you read so far? 1

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? Double Love by Francine Pascal (yes I'm going back to my high school years for a quick read and a laugh)

4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day? No - I didn't really free-up my whole day - my husband has helped out quite a bit.

5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?  Plenty of them.  I didn't stress over them, I just did what I needed to.

6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? That I haven't read as much or visited blogs like I planned.

7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? No I think you do an excellent job!

8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year? I will probably make arrangements for my kids - the one in the fall is usually during deer season so DH will be out of the house, just let the kids stay somewhere else and delve in seriously for 24 hours.

9. Are you getting tired yet?  I did get tired around 4pm, but this is the time of day I get my second wind.  I will probably wind down around 11 or 12 pm though - I have church in the morning.

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?  Nope.

Hour 12 update:

Title of book(s) read since last update: White Cat by Holly Black

Number of books read since you started: 1
Pages read since last update: 44
Running total of pages read since you started: 463
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 40 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 375 minutes

Time spent blogging: 75 minutes

Time spent visiting blogs: 40 minutes
Mini-challenges completed: 4
Other participants you’ve visited: 12

I'm off and there should be less interruptions in the next two hours!

Read-a-Thon - Hour 10 update

Hour 10:
Title of book(s) read since last update: White Cat by Holly Black

Number of books read since you started: 1
Pages read since last update: 94
Running total of pages read since you started: 419
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 110 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 335 minutes

Time spent blogging: 65 minutes

Time spent visiting blogs: 30 minutes
Mini-challenges completed: 4
Other participants you’ve visited: 10

My giveaways:
Weekend Wondering
ARC Prize Pack at Princess Bookie's Blog (White Cat and A Most Improper Magick) ends 4/11 at midnight
Win Twenty Boy Summer at Princess Bookie's Blog ends 4/11 at midnight
Win The Forest Of Hands and Teeth and Graceling at Princess Bookie's Blog ends 4/11 at midnight



Thoughts on book -
White Cat is definitely an interesting book - it's taken off and it's hard to put down.

Read-a-Thon - Hour 8 update

I've been busy with lunch, reading and taking the kids to the park - it's now been 8 hours and here is my update.


Hour 8:
Title of book(s) read since last update: A Most Improper Magick by Stephanie Burgis

Number of books read since you started: 1
Pages read since last update: 100
Running total of pages read since you started: 325
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 60 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 225 minutes

Time spent blogging: 60 minutes

Time spent visiting blogs: 30 minutes
Mini-challenges completed: 4
Other participants you’ve visited: 10

My giveaways:
Weekend Wondering



Thoughts on book -
I've started White Cat by Holly Black now and it's interesting.  I'm a little lost at the moment but learning the back story is interesting.

Hour 5 Update and Fundraising to help cure Cystic Fibrosis (complete with giveaways)

First my hour 5 update and then information on my CF fundraising and more giveaways.   No mini-challenge this hour - I was trying to get some reading done.  I'll have to take a small break this hour to fix lunch for my household of kids and hubby (hey he got me the cool chair that I am enjoying so I'll do that for him and then get back to reading.


Hour 5:
Title of book(s) read since last update: A Most Improper Magick by Stephanie Burgis

Number of books read since you started: 0
Pages read since last update: 74
Running total of pages read since you started: 225
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 50 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 165 minutes

Time spent blogging: 55 minutes

Time spent visiting blogs: 30 minutes
Mini-challenges completed: 4
Other participants you’ve visited: 10, but I plan to get back to visiting in next hour.

My giveaways:
Weekend Wondering



Thoughts on book -
It's getting really good now - it's just a cute and fun book with a great plot and a strong heroine and the sisters make great secondary characters.


Favorite quote from this hour:

"Of course I had to come," Lady Fotherington purred.  "How could I stay away from such a gathering?  Especially with so many charming gentlemen among your company?"

Well that proved it wasn't me, at least.  I would never say anything so disgusting, no matter how many spells had been placed upon me.

Now onto my fundraising and giveaways:

Since I may get a few new readers this weekend I wanted to post again about my participation in the Great Strides Walk that my sister-in-law is organizing locally. I am raising money and holding giveaways for participation either by blogging/tweeting or by donating money.  I will also contribute $0.10 for every comment on my blog this weekend (new posts only) and this runs from 8:00AM on Saturday (EDT) to midnight on Sunday.  So come here and talk to me!

The Great Strides Walk is one of the primary fundraising events for the CF Foundation and I am honored to help raise money for them. As I mentioned previously my 5-year-old nephew has CF so I would love if a cure was found in the very near future. But the good thing about the CF Foundation is even though they are looking for a cure, they are also helping to research things that will improve the quality of life of those with CF.



To look at my beautiful nephew (and since he is five I can still call him beautiful) you would never know that anything was wrong with his health.  This is because there are a lot of treatments out there to help him out.  But a cure still needs to be found, because even though there are treatments, there is still a lot of difficulty with this disease.  My nephew for example usually ends up hospitalized 4 hours away from home on average of one week a year when he gets a bad infection.  He's a real trooper about it, but still it would be great if he never had to do that again!


So onto the point.  I'm fundraising and have had JP O'Donnell who is a wonderful author and a great publisher, Hachette join in with my efforts.

First, what are the prizes?

• Choose 5 books from a list of books (these may be ARCs, recent books and they may be older books but you can have your choice)  (From me) (1 winner - worldwide)  You can see my list here (though it may change - books will be added and some will be given away with other giveaways - this just gives you an idea of what I have)

• $20 Amazon GC. Giveaway open worldwide.  (From me) (1 winner - worldwide)
• Two sets of JP O'Donnell's Gallagher series that is reviewed highly here and on Amazon.com - this is a copy of Fatal Gamble and Deadly Codes for two winners (donated by author J.P. O'Donnell, see his web site here) (2 winners - US/Canada)
• $25 Gift Certificate to Amazon.com (donated by author J.P. O'Donnell, see his web site here) (1 winner - worldwide)
• 3 sets of 4 books from Hachette Books - includes: The Unnamed by Joshua Farris, Roses by Leila Meacham, Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith, and Corked by Kathryn Borel - truly something for everyone. (US/Canada only - 3 winners)

How can you enter?  Giveaway entries will be accepted through 4/24.

• Individual donations would be very welcome. I'm part of my sister-in-law's team, but have my own donation page here.  For every dollar donated you will get 5 entries into these giveaways, just let me know that you donated in the comments of this post (or email me - crystalfulcher@ec.rr.com), you don't have to say the amount - I can figure that out, and a way to contact you if your email is not available in your profile and I will enter you. If you would like to send a check, email me for my address.)

• Blog about this post for an additional giveaway entry.  Tweeting/Face Book mentions will also get entries - just link up in the comments. 2 entries for each of these, tweeting can be done once per day - just have @cfulcher in the tweet so I see it and can tally it.

• If you know of anyone that will sponsor or match funds or offer giveaway prizes - I will do all I can to promote them for a donation.  I'm not above using my blog for advertising to help out a child (and lots of children and adults) :)  This is worth 5 entries.

Please help me get the word out about this disease and help the CF Foundation find a cure!

Thanks everyone for your help!

Read-a-Thon - Hour 4 update and mini-challenge

Four hours on the books, and here is my update and mini-challenge.

Mini-Challenge #4 is hosted by Bart at Bart's Bookshelf and it's about creating a sentence with book titles.  I used books on my read-a-thon tbr pile and came up with: 

 My sentence:  The last thing I remember, a distant melody, it had to be you.

:)

Hour 4:
Title of book(s) read since last update: A Most Improper Magick by Stephanie Burgis (almost completed now)

Number of books read since you started: 0
Pages read since last update: 17
Running total of pages read since you started: 151
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 10 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 115 minutes

Time spent blogging: 50 minutes

Time spent visiting blogs: 30 minutes
Mini-challenges completed: 3
Other participants you’ve visited: I'm still at 10 because this hour my DH stole me for a few minutes to add this wonderful chair set to our backyard for my reading pleasure - isn't he a sweetie!



My giveaways:
Weekend Wondering



Thoughts on book -
Didn't get too far this hour but hope to do more in the next.


Favorite quote from this hour:

It was obivous  that nothing was going to be sorted out now,so I only gave Mr. Gregson one last warning look and left the sideboard without bothering to curtsy.  It was a good thing Stepmama wasn't down yet, or she might have had a Spasm at the oversight.

 It's funny but I keep picturing Angelica Huston as the Stepmama as she was the one in Ever After.  This book is nothing like Ever After but the Stepmother just reminds me of her.

Read-a-Thon - Hour 3 update and mini-challenge

Three hours on the books, and here is my update and mini-challenge.

Mini-Challenge #3 is hosted by 'Til We Read Again and it's about favorites.  So here are my nominees in the categories.

Favorite Female Character in a book:  Stephanie Plum - she just makes me laugh
Favorite Male Character in a book: Daniel Gallagher in the Gallagher books by J.P. O'Donnell (Fatal Gamble & Deadly Codes)
Favorite Side Kick in a book: Lula in the Stephanie Plum books - she is just funny
Favorite Couple in a Book: Eve Dallas and Rourke
Favorite Book Series: In Death Series by J.D. Robb
Favorite Author: umm, this is hard, but I'll go with my old favorite - Stephen King
Favorite Book Cover: at this moment - SEALed with a Ring by Mary Margret Daughtridge - it's just yummy :)
Favorite Book of 2009: It's a toss-up:  After by Amy Efaw, Fatal Gamble by JP O'Donnell and The Dark Divine by Bree Despain

Hour 3:
Title of book(s) read since last update: A Most Improper Magick by Stephanie Burgis (almost completed now)

Number of books read since you started: 0
Pages read since last update: 30
Running total of pages read since you started: 134
Amount of time spent reading since last update:
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 105 minutes

Time spent blogging: 40 minutes

Time spent visiting blogs: 30 minutes
Mini-challenges completed: 3
Other participants you’ve visited: An additional 5 this hour bringing me to 10.  I plan to up the number at lunch time and spend more time perusing the blogs.
Prize you’ve won:

My giveaways:
Weekend Wondering



Thoughts on book -
Still enjoying it.  It's cute and fun.


Favorite quote from this hour:

Elissa really did look beautiful.  Even her pale cheeks only set off her deep blue eyes and fair hair, and she was wearing her newest and finest gown, of pure white muslin, with puffy short sleeves, a modest round bodice and string of pearls around her neck

Read-a-Thon - Hour 2 update and mini-challenge

The second hour is now on the books.

Mini-challenge 2 is hosted by Miss Remmers' Review and it's about what you surround yourself with for the kickoff of the read-a-thon.

I started the read-a-thon on my front porch with my breakfast and my tropicana orange drink and my watch to keep track of time.  I had to move inside though because it's a little chilly this morning.  So now I am inside on my bed with my laptop, my book, my watch, an extra bookmark to bookmark my quotes from the hour, my sunglasses (for when I return to the yard or the porch and my drink.  I am also surrounded by my husband who keeps coming in and my two sons's and my oldest son has  his best friend over (what was I thinking).  Actually everyone is being great and supportive.

Hour 2:
Title of book(s) read since last update: A Most Improper Magick (still not complete)
Number of books read since you started: 0
Pages read since last update: 34
Running total of pages read since you started: 104
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 20 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 75 minutes

Mini-challenges completed: 2
Other participants you’ve visited: I visited 5 this hour - just randomly picked blogs I wasn't familiar with from the hour 1 mini-challenge.  That was fun.



My giveaways:
Weekend Wondering


Thoughts on book -I'm still loving this book - Kat is a great character and the plot is really starting to develop.  I'm off to read some more and visit blogs later in the hour.


Favorite quote from this hour (from A Most Improper Magick by Stephanie Burgis):

I was certain other gentlemen must have more varied forms of entertainment than Charles had, and certainly more than poor Papa, who would sit wrapped up in a book all day long if he was allowed.

 This quote just seemed to funny in light of what I am doing today :)

Weekend Wondering - Read-a-thon edition - 4/10

Okay - we are in the midst of Dewey's Read-a-Thon as I post this and since I first participated last fall, this is something I really look forward to.  A day for reading.  Do I think I will make it 24-hours.  Nope, not at all - I have church on Sunday morning and have kids so that is next to impossible.  Will I enjoy the 12 hours or so that I do read - yes - every minute.


The weather is nice, my son's t-ball game was canceled (something I am saddened by - I was ready for his first game) and even though my oldest son has a friend over, I still plan on reading the day away.


So I want your thoughts.  Would you enjoy doing something like a read-a-thon?  Are you doing the read-a-thon?  Do you think we are all crazy?  Tell me what you think of read-a-thons.  Just a yes I love them or no I would never do one is fine - or you can explain.  I just love to hear your thoughts.


Tell me what you think and be entered to choose a book from my giveaway shelf which is here and may change over the weekend (I'll add books).  This one is open to international and will end on 4/16.  I'll announce the winner next weekend.


Here's a sampling from my giveaway shelf and you can see it in it's entirety here:

Crystal's giveaway shelf

Crystal's favorite books »

Disclaimer: The books on my giveaway shelf have generally been read once, but I take good care of them.  Also some are ARCs, some are hardcover and others are paperbacks - all are very readable!

Read-a-Thon - Hour 1 update

The first hour has passed and here is how it went. I'll probably give updates every hour or two - just brief posts like this. I will also do some blog surfing each hour just to see what is going on. So here's the summary:


Here are my answers for the first mini-challenge and then below is my hour 1 summary:

Where are you reading from today? 
I am starting with A Most Improper Magick by Stephanie Burgis and after I finish it I think I will read White Cat by Holly Black.

3 facts about me … 
1.  I have two children, both boys, a husband and a male cat - I am surrounded by boys. 
2.  I love diet mountain dew  
3.  I am addicted to the game Cradle of Persia - I will try to stay off of it today but it is hard. :)

How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours?
I'm not sure - I think I have between 10 and 20 but don't expect to read that many - will probably get through 2-3, depending on how long the books are.


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 haven't really thought about goals.  I hope to read for at least 30 minutes during each of the first 12 hours.  I plan to post every hour or two.  I plan to visit blogs for about 15-20 minutes each hour and I plan to have fun!


If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, Any advice for people doing this for the first time? 
Have a variety of books ready to read, if you get bogged down in one, put it aside or go and read blogs - this is about fun so make it fun!

My Update:
Hour 1:
Minutes spent reading: 55 (started 5 minutes late trying to get the kids fed and things organized for the day)
Book read:  A Most Improper Magick by Stephanie Burgis
Pages read:  70


Thoughts on book - this book is really cute so far and I am intrigued.  It has definitely pulled me right in and I can't wait to get back to it.


The first lines of the book is great:

I was twelve years of age when I chopped off my hair, dressed as a boy, and set off to save my family from impending ruin.


I made it almost to the end of my front garden.

It's Time, It's Time!

It's time for the official start of Dewey's 24-Hour Read-a-Thon!

I'm off and starting with A Most Improper Magick by Stephanie Burgis. This is an ARC I won from the author on Lisa Mantchev's blog. It will release on June 15, 2010. I am giving this one away as a part of the Contest Craze on Princess Bookie's Blog, so go check it out and keep posted - lots of giveaways going on there today! So I'm headed out to the front porch with my green tea and chocolate crescent rolls in hand. I'll check back in in about an hour!

Here's a little bit about A Most Improper Magick: The Unladylike Adventures of Kat Stephenson by Stephanie Burgis:

Twelve-year-old Kat Stephenson may be the despair of her social-climbing Step-Mama, but she was born to be a magical Guardian and protector of Society--if she can ever find true acceptance in the secret Order that expelled her own mother. She's ready to turn the hidebound Order of the Guardians inside-out, whether the older members like it or not. And in a society where magic is the greatest scandal of all, Kat is determined to use all her powers to help her three older siblings--saintly Elissa, practicing-witch Angeline, and hopelessly foolish Charles--find their own true loves, even if she has to turn highwayman, battle wild magic, and confront real ghosts along the way!