Hour 13 Mini-Challenge: Best of 2013

The Hour 13 Mini Challenge is hosted by Lisa's World of Books.  It's a Best of 2013 challenge where she is challenging us to pick at least three categories and share our favorite book of the year and why.  So here are my choices:

Best Book of Your Reading Year

 A Little Too Far by Lisa Desrochers
Oh my gosh! This book is just so great on so many levels.  The characters, the plot, the sort-of-taboo.  The way things work out in the end.  I just loved every bit of it and cannot wait for the next in the series.  Lisa did it in YA and she can do it in New Adult as well.  She has a real gift for sucking you into the story and making you care.  The emotions I went through while reading this were just everywhere and that was great.

Best Romance Book of Your Reading Year

Chance of a Lifetime by Jodi Thomas
Jodi takes us back to Harmony, Texas for a new installment in this series and it seems to keep getting better.  Love the small town, love getting to know each of the characters better. Love knowing there will be side stories.  And I loved the love stories between Emily & Tannon and Rick and Trace.  Jodi creates magic with each book!

Best YA Book of Your Reading Year:

 Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
These authors just created such a new paranormal world that I could not help but be sucked in.  I loved the southern gothic element and the characters are fascinating.  I have blown through all but the last book and I'm holding out on it because I don't want the series to end!

Best New Adult Book of Your Reading Year

  Saving Grace by Christine Zolendz
I read Fall From Grace at the end of the year and this is one of my first books of the new year, but I loved this series.  The characters, the rock band, the hotness and the surprise aspect all had me hooked.  If you haven't read this series then you need to!

Best Mystery Book of Your Reading Year

Best Fiction Book of Your Reading Year

 And Then I Found You by Patti Callahan Henry

I loved this heartfelt book of a woman's struggle of giving up a child, finding herself back near the man she ran from and possibly finding the child again.  It was riveting and emotional and based on life events.  It was just amazing.

Best Cover of Your Reading Year

 Breathe by Abbi Glines
For some reason this cover just really got me, the colors, the hot torso, the guitar.  It's everything the book is and it really draws you in.

Best Character You Love To Have of Your Reading Year
 
 Though he was a secondary character who I think will get his book in the next in the series, the one man I really fell for so far this year was Shep from Undeniable by Shannon Richard.  He just sounds hot and like such a bad boy trying to do right, I cannot wait to get to know him more!

Best Setting of Your Reading Year

 Harmony, Texas from Chance of a Lifetime by Jodi Thomas.  I hope she has more and more books set here beause I could never tire of the town's residents, whether they are longstanding or new ones and just the setting of the town itself.  I love this series!
 

Dewey's 24-hour Read-A-Thon Hour 7 Mini-Challenge: Mad Libs #readathon

 

The hour 7 mini-challenge is hosted by Nisaba Be Praised and it's a Mad Libs mini-challenge. It's simple, take a paragraph from the book you are reading, copy it to your blog, then remove some words and fill in with the help of a friend or from her word list on the blog.  I'm going to use the word list on the blog because I just have my kids around at the moment.

My paragraph comes from Conjure by Lea Nolan and in it's original form reads:

Cooper slams the calculus text closed, shoves it back in its spot on the case and then covers it with more heavy books.  We sprint to the door and open it just as she reaches the top of the steps.

And my mad libs version reads:

Cooper gyrates the calculus text closed, crunches it back in its love potion on the case and then reads it with more ominous books.  We quiver to the warlock and open it just as she reaches the nocturnal of the spleen.

Okay that was definitely interesting!

 

Dewey's Read-A-Thon Hour 2 Mini-Challenge: Book Tunes

Mini-Challenge from Hour 2 is hosted by River City Reading and she's asking us to pick a song that best suits our current read and why.  So I'm reading Ruthless (Pretty Little Liars #10) by Sara Shepard and I give you Backstabbers by The O'Jays:



As for the why, it should be obvious to anyone reading the series, these girls are seriously messed up and one in particular in this book is a major backstabber, not that they haven't all been at one time or the other. 

And just for the record, I am younger than this song, but love it and just thought it fit so well.  Off to read more about Backstabbers!

Dewey's Read-A-Thon Update Post

This will be my update post so my only other posts will be the mini-challenges. So this one will be updated each hour with what I have accomplished.

Updates:
Hour 1:
Currently Reading: Ruthless by Sara Shepard
Pages read last hour: 65 (Chapters 5-11)
Time read: 40 mins

Blogs visited: 5

Reading this hour: Ruthless by Sara Shepard

Hour 2:
Currently Reading: Ruthless by Sara Shepard
Pages read last hour: 51 (Chapters 12-16)
Time read: 40 mins

Blogs visited: 0 (spent working on mini-challenge and fixing quick breakfast)

Time spent blogging/visiting blogs: 15 mins

Reading this hour: Ruthless by Sara Shepard

Hour 3:
Currently Reading: Ruthless by Sara Shepard
Pages read last hour: 51 (Chapters 17-24)
Time read: 40 mins

Blogs visited: 0 (spent working on A Puzzling mini-challenge)

Time spent blogging/visiting blogs: 15 mins
Time spent dealing with arguing kids: 5 mins

Reading this hour: Ruthless by Sara Shepard

Hour 4:
Currently Reading: Ruthless by Sara Shepard
Pages read last hour: 88 (Chapters 24-36)
Time read: 50 mins

Blogs visited: 0 (will get back to this during hour 5)
Time spent blogging/visiting blogs: 10 mins

Reading this hour: Ruthless by Sara Shepard (should finish, not sure of next book yet)

Hour 5:
Currently Reading: Ruthless by Sara Shepard, Allure by Lea Nolan (2%)
Pages read last hour: 32, finished book, 2% of Allure
Time read: 20 mins

Blogs visited: 1 
Time spent blogging/visiting blogs/twitter: 15 mins
Lunch prep: 15 mins
Misc crap to do: 10 mins

Where I read: my chair in living room
Food: Burrito Nachos (yum!)
Books finished: Ruthless by Sara Shepard


Reading this hour: Allure by Lea Nolan

Hour 6:
Currently Reading: Allure by Lea Nolan
Pages read last hour: 60
Time read: 45 mins

Blogs visited: 0
Time spent blogging/visiting blogs/twitter: 15 mins

Where I read: hammock on front porch

Books finished so far: Ruthless by Sara Shepard


Reading this hour: Allure by Lea Nolan

Hour 7:
Currently Reading: Allure by Lea Nolan
Pages read last hour: 46
Time read: 40 mins

Blogs visited: 0
Time spent blogging/visiting blogs/twitter/mini-challenge: 20 mins
Where I read: hammock on front porch
Books finished so far: Ruthless by Sara Shepard

Reading this hour: Allure by Lea Nolan

Hour 8:
Currently Reading: Allure by Lea Nolan
Pages read last hour: 27
Time read: 20 mins

Blogs visited: 0
Time spent blogging/visiting blogs/twitter/mini-challenge: 5 mins
Time spent trying to settle why cell phones quit working: 30 mins
Where I read: hammock on front porch
Books finished so far: Ruthless by Sara Shepard

Reading this hour: Allure by Lea Nolan

Hour 9:
Currently Reading: Allure by Lea Nolan
Pages read last hour: 57
Time read: 45 mins

Blogs visited: 0
Time spent blogging/visiting blogs/twitter/mini-challenge: 5 mins
Misc: 10 mins
Where I read: hammock on front porch
Books finished so far: Ruthless by Sara Shepard

Reading this hour: Allure by Lea Nolan

Hour 10:
Currently Reading: Allure by Lea Nolan
Pages read last hour: 45
Time read: 35 mins

Blogs visited: 0
Time spent blogging/visiting blogs/twitter/mini-challenge: 5 mins
Misc: 20 mins
Where I read: hammock on front porch
Books finished so far: Ruthless by Sara Shepard

Reading this hour: Allure by Lea Nolan


Hour 11:
Currently Reading: Allure by Lea Nolan
Pages read last hour: 74
Time read: 50 mins

Blogs visited: 0
Time spent blogging/visiting blogs/twitter/mini-challenge: 10 mins

Where I read: hammock on front porch (it's dark now so I must move back inside)
Books finished so far: Ruthless by Sara Shepard

Reading this hour:  finishing Allure by Lea Nolan and starting ??

Mid-Event Survey

1) How are you doing? Sleepy? Are your eyes tired?
I'm fine, my eyes aren't tired and my sleepiness went away during about hour 8.
2) What have you finished reading?
I've finished Ruthless by Sara Shepard and should finish Allure by Lea Nolan this hour.
3) What is your favorite read so far?
Allure.
4) What about your favorite snacks?
Corn chips and I just had a handful of chocolate chips :)
5) Have you found any new blogs through the readathon? If so, give them some love!
I've found some and will be a new follower and hope to find some more as the night goes on, but forgive me for not noting them now, I want to finish my book :)

Hour 12:
Currently Reading: Allure by Lea Nolan
Pages read last hour: 37
Time read: 30 mins

Blogs visited: 0
Time spent blogging/visiting blogs/twitter/mini-challenge: 10 mins
Misc (Supper prep): 20 min

Where I read: living room chair
Books finished so far: Ruthless by Sara Shepard, Allure by Lea Nolan

Reading this hour:  Starting My Own Miraculous by Joshilyn Jackson

Hour 13:
Taking a break this hour, visiting blogs, eating supper and watching Dexter (hey it's based on a book) with the husband.  I'll be back at it next hour.

Summary so far:
Books completed: 2
Pages:  649
Hours read: 7 hours 55 minutes

Hour 14:
Currently Reading: Starting My Own Miraculous by Joshilyn Jackson
Pages read last hour: 20
Time read: 20 mins


Time spent blogging/visiting blogs/twitter/mini-challenge: 20 mins
Misc (Supper cleanup/finish watching Dexter): 20 min

Where I read: living room chair
Books finished so far: Ruthless by Sara Shepard, Allure by Lea Nolan

Reading this hour:  My Own Miraculous by Joshilyn Jackson


Hour 15:
Currently Reading: Starting My Own Miraculous by Joshilyn Jackson
Pages read last hour: 38
Time read: 45 mins

Time spent blogging/visiting blogs/twitter/mini-challenge: 15 mins

Where I read: living room chair, my youngest son joined me this hour reading his book on the couch :)
Books finished so far: Ruthless by Sara Shepard, Allure by Lea Nolan

Reading this hour:  My Own Miraculous by Joshilyn Jackson, The Deepest Night by Shannon Abe

Hour 16:
Currently Reading: My Own Miraculous by Joshilyn Jackson, The Deepest Night by Shannon Abe
Pages read last hour: 74
Time read: 45 mins

Time spent blogging/visiting blogs/twitter/mini-challenge: 15 mins

Where I read: living room chair
Books finished so far: Ruthless by Sara Shepard, Allure by Lea Nolan, My Own Miraculous by Joshilyn Jackson

Reading this hour:  The Deepest Night by Shannon Abe

And with that I'm heading to bed to read a little while and then fall asleep.  I'll see everyone in the morning!

Hour 17:
Currently Reading: The Deepest Night by Shannon Abe
Pages read last hour: 32
Time read: 35 mins

Time spent blogging/visiting blogs/twitter/mini-challenge: 15 mins
Time spent trying to go to sleep: 10 mins

Where I read: in bed
Books finished so far: Ruthless by Sara Shepard, Allure by Lea Nolan, My Own Miraculous by Joshilyn Jackson

Reading this hour:  The Deepest Night by Shannon Abe

So I thought I was going to bed, but my body has other ideas, so I'm back up for now until my sleeping pill finally kicks in.  But I have to admit, this is the only time I ever don't mind being back up since the read-a-thon is still going!

Hour 18:
Currently Reading: The Deepest Night by Shannon Abe
Pages read last hour: 48
Time read: 40 mins

Time spent blogging/visiting blogs/twitter/mini-challenge: 10 mins

Where I read: living room chair
Books finished so far: Ruthless by Sara Shepard, Allure by Lea Nolan, My Own Miraculous by Joshilyn Jackson

Reading this hour:  I'm going to bed!  Barely kept my eyes open the last few minutes so hopefully I will sleep now.  I do think this is the latest I have ever stayed up for the read-a-thon!

Notes:
First hour passed quickly.  I set a chapter goal then a blog visiting goal and finished up the hour reading.  Onto hour 2, but first a fresh cup of coffee this hour and some breakfast!

Did the Book Tunes mini-challenge and this hour passed even faster.  Didn't get as many pages read, but the book is getting good. Slightly more predictable than the earlier ones, but then again I think this is the 9th one I've read in a row.  They are still fun though.  Ditched the coffee for Diet Dr. Pepper and had some yummy butter & honey toast (g-free bread).  Onto hour 3!

More reading & I think I have two left on A Puzzling mini-challenge.  Brief break to deal with arguing boys, such fun.  Now I think I'm ready to head outside to my hammock and read without distractions for the next hour.

Lots of reading during hour 4, didn't make it to hammock but will during next hour. It's nice outside, cloudy but comfortable, perfect for the hammock.

Crappy hour for reading, but I finished my first book!  This hour I am headed out to the hammock with hopefully no interruptions!

Yay for hammock reading hour and for Allure sucking me in from the beginning.  I loved Conjure so I can't wait for more of Emma, Jack, Cooper & Ms. Delia's adventure.  Love the hoodoo aspect and I'm working on pronouncing Beaufort the SC way, LOL (everyone pronounces the NC Beaufort, which is where I live the SC way it seems)!

Hour 7 was sabotaged by cell phone issues.   Realized I hadn't heard from hunting husband and went to text him to check on him and found the phones not working.  Ugh!

Yay for another good reading hour.  Hour 8 was spent mostly reading.  Now a quick run to the grocery store for goodies for supper and I'll be back at it!

Mini-Challenges:
Introductory Questionnaire - complete (not a challenge, but it's a read-a-thon related post)
Book Tunes Mini-challenge - complete
A Puzzling mini-challenge  - complete
Mad Libs mini-challenge - complete
Mid-Event Survey - complete - see above
Best of 2013 mini-challenge - complete
Audio Book Dream Date mini-challenge - complete
Cheap Thrills mini-challenge - complete (my choice, The Skull Ring by Scott Nicholson, $2.99)
Bookish Travels mini-challenge - complete (my choice Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran)

Dewey's 24-Hour Read-A-Thon start

Good morning, it's start time and I'm getting ready to eat my breakfast and continue on with my current book, Ruthless by Sara Shepard (Pretty Little Liars #10).  I have pretty much worked my way through these books straight through since I found them available on the book service Scribd.  I think I have two left that are available for free.  I may finish them today or I may take a break, they are pretty fast reads and have cliffhanger endings that make you want to keep reading.

Here is my introductory meme and I'll see you in an hour or two. :)

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? Coastal NC, a little town outside of Beaufort (pronounced bow-fort here in NC).  Today is opening day of rifle season for deer so my hubby and oldest son are gone all day. It's supposed to be a nice fall day.

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?  Lucky (an It Girl novel) by Cecily Ziegler, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke, and many others. I'm completely undecided on what I'm going to read, so here's a look at some of my possibilities on my Goodreads shelf for today.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?  Corn chips.  I have a salt fetish at the moment.  Also Hershey Special Dark.  I'm gluten-intolerant so my choices are a little more limited.  But if I need a break I have some chocolate chip cookie mix I can make, cookie dough - yum!

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!  I'm a wife, working mom, mom to two boys and a newly made football mom (my oldest is playing middle school ball).  I love football so this is one of the most exciting things for me right now.  I love to read obviously and have been doing the read-a-thon since 2010.  However I don't think I've ever made it past 1am.  I probably won't this year either as I am recovering from a flare-up from whatever you want to name what is wrong with me (doctors are still trying to figure out after 5 years).  I will try to make it as long as I can.

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?   What I'll do different:  take breaks, move around, read different books in different formats to change things up.  Make cookies, maybe listen to some music and participate in as many challenges for something to change things up as I can.

So there you go, I have my cup of green tea ready, a stack of books on my kindle, my tablet (scribd) and physical books as well.  I'm kicking off hour 1 with Ruthless by Sara Shepard on my tablet, I'm at 17% which puts me on about page 60.  See you in a bit!