Read-a-thon Wrap Up: The Morning After

It's 11:30am, six and a half hours after the end of this year's read-a-thon. It was an awesome event as always, even if I did accidentally schedule the world's slowest painting contractor to come give an estimate right in the middle of it. I also did a couple of new things this read-a-thon that I've never done before --

1. I did a bit of cheerleading as part of #teamrogue
2. I listened to an audiobook
3. I fell asleep

That's right kids ... I turned on my audiobook to rest my eyes at about 2:00am and all of a sudden it was 2:40am. I didn't even tweet one last time or anything. I just shuffled off to bed and was asleep within minutes. This definitely taught me a lesson about when audiobooks work for me (while prepping food, baking and eating) and when they don't (when I will fall asleep immediately upon closing my eyes).

Here are a few of my stats from the day:

Books finished -- 2 (Primates graphic novel and The Castle of Llyr)

Books in the middle of -- 2 (The Pigeon Pie Mystery and Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library audiobook)

Pages read -- 470

Minutes listened -- 110 (I didn't count the time when my book was playing but I was, ahem, not listening)

Minutes spent cheering -- 55

Total read-a-thon hours -- 10

This is a really low number for me in pages and hours. I blame the dawdling contractor, my extra late start and social media. Still, I had SO much fun! I chatted with a bunch of people on Twitter, left some comments on new-to-me blogs and thoroughly enjoyed everything I read. Now, though, it's time to go pay for all of those snacks yesterday with some time at the gym.

Did you participate in the read-a-thon? How did it go?

Packing up my spreadsheet until October,
K

Super Duper Read-a-thon Kick-Off

It's 5:00am Pacific ... time to start Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon! I, as usual, am still in bed right now as I'm so, so, so not a morning person and would not be very successful at this event if I gave up any of my precious sleep. I usually get up around 8 or 9 out of sheer excitement though. (Yes, these are still early-rising times for me.) But here are the books I'm planning on reading once I wake up ...

The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories, Volume 3 by various

The Aviary by Kathleen O'Dell

The Castle of Llyr by Lloyd Alexander (book 3 of series)

The Pigeon Pie Mystery by Julia Stuart

Primates by Jim Ottaviani and Maris Wicks (graphic novel)

The Professor's House by Willa Cather (novella)

Queen Victoria's Book of Spells by various (short stories)

I have also downloaded a couple of audiobooks for when I'm baking/cooking and possibly resting my eyes --

M is for Magic by Neil Gaiman (short stories)

 Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein

Z says he will be joining me too with Ramona's World by Beverly Cleary, which he needs to read for a realistic fiction book report. (I might have told him that the snacks are only for readers ... lol.)

As for snacks and meals, I'll be making some scones and tea in the morning as usual and I'll be putting a huge pork roast into the slow cooker for bbq pulled pork sandwiches for dinner. I'm pretty sure we're all set for snacks (for the next month). And yes, I bought a pineapple.

I'm not sure how many updates I'll post here on the blog but I will definitely be on Twitter and Instagram all day long so come find me! I think I'll aim to stay up until about 2:00am. I think that's usually the point that my mind starts melting a bit. I'm also one of the sponsors of a giveaway (any book up to $15 from the Book Depository), an international Angel (I'll help a US giveaway book get to an international winner), and a rogue cheerleader on #teamrogue. Why yes, I do love the Read-a-Thon something fierce! It's my favorite excuse to read a small stack of books, eat junk food and talk books with you lovely people all day long.

Finally, thank you so much to Andi and Heather for coordinating this wonderful event. It gets better each time thanks to your dedication. I never had the chance to meet Dewey but I can tell that her reading spirit is alive and well through this event.

On my mark, getting set,

K

Spring Break in the San Juans

I hope you all didn't miss us too much while we took a short trip and had a house guest for spring break. I'll share a few piccies with you of our trip to Friday Harbor, WA so that you can understand why I didn't bother to get my computer out even once.

This is the small rocky beach that was on the property we stayed at. Looking out, you see some of the other islands in the San Juans. When we first arrived, there was a harbor seal in these waters, waiting to welcome us. We saw him or her a couple times more during our trip.

Z, being an almost ten year old boy, found a spot up a tree to sit and ... play Gameboy. After a while of doing that, he threw rocks into the ocean.

It was gorgeous the entire time we were there, with only a few morning clouds followed by pristine blue skies the rest of each day.

One day we drove to British Camp (a.k.a. English Camp) and hiked up to the top of Young Hill.

The view from the top was stunning.

Another day, we went out to the lighthouse at Lime Kiln State Park. Sadly, the orcas have been in more southern waters recently so we didn't get to see any.

It was a great, last minute Spring Break trip and it was hard to come back home. This is a place we keep going back to every couple of years and will continue to do so probably for the rest of our lives.

Missing the peace and beauty,
K

Sometimes Mere Scales Can Be Beautiful Music

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman. I LOVED this book. I loved this book so much that I want to tell you all to read it right now. You don't have to take my word alone for it either. Ask anyone else who has read it. They'll also sing its praises because it's just that good.

Now you probably want to know what it's about. Well, I'll be honest. It's a little different. It's about humans ... and dragons. But don't let that scare you if dragons aren't your thing. They happen to be dragons that have the ability to change their appearances to look like humans. So most of the time this story is just about people of different races because, really, that's all they are underneath. Some of those people want peace between the races and others can't accept anyone who is different and they actively cause trouble. And then there's Seraphina. She is a new musical apprentice in court and she has a secret that keeps her distant from everyone else, a secret that could change the relations between the two groups. So this is a story about music and identity and it's got a bit of romance and politics and it's just really, really smart. And yes, it has dragons.

I hope that I've convinced a few of you to give this book a try. There is a sequel coming out a year from now so the only complaint I (and others) have is that that date is too damn far away!

Waiting impatiently to hear the music again,
K

Note: This was my first read for the Once Upon a Time Challenge.

You Said You Would Wait Until the End of the World

After the joy of strictly reading one of my favorite authors for an entire month, it was tough to choose my first non-DWJ read. I eventually decided to go for something entirely different and chose The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters (the co-author of Sense and Sensibility of Sea Monsters), first in a trilogy. I chose wisely because this was a wonderful book.

The titular last detective is Hank Palace, a newish recruit to the Concord, New Hampshire detective force. Sadly, his time on the force will likely be short because a massive asteroid is heading toward Earth and they're only six months away from impact. Suicides are on the rise and when Hank gets called to examine a body found in a fast-food restaurant restroom, he's pressured to give this death the same tidy verdict. But he feels that something is off and, even with the imminent end of the world, he is determined to do his job and solve what could be his last murder case.

There were so many layers to this story, from the basic murder investigation to a pre-apocalyptic romance to the more philosophical questions of what to do with the last six months of your (and possibly everyone else's) life. Everyone in the story is some shade of unpleasant for the obvious reasons but, because of the circumstances, they almost all become sympathetic. Hank's dedication to his job is especially admirable but also a bit compulsive which makes him a complex character that you want to learn more about. I read this entire story in one day and can't wait to get to book two, Countdown City, which I have sitting here, and book three, World of Trouble, which comes out in July.

With a glimmer of hope,
K

p.s. I received my copy of this book from Quirk Books in exchange for an honest review.

Another Book List to Obsess Over: Best of the 19th Century Brits

Flavorwire posted this list of The 50 Greatest British Novels of the 19th Century last month and, since this is obviously a period and place from which I choose many of my reads, I wanted to know how I was doing on finding "the best". (Bold are the titles I've read.)

1. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
2. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë
3. Middlemarch - George Eliot
4. Wuthering Heights - Emily Brontë
5. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
6. A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
7. Persuasion - Jane Austen
8. The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde
9. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
10. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
11. Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
12. Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson
13. The Mill on the Floss - George Eliot
14. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
15. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
16. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
17. The Time Machine - H.G. Wells
18. Alice Through the Looking Glass - Lewis Carroll
19. Daniel Deronda - George Eliot
20. A Study in Scarlet - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
21. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
22. Vivian Grey - Benjamin Disraeli
23. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall - Anne Brontë
24. Lord Jim - Joseph Conrad
25. The War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells
26. Mansfield Park - Jane Austen
27. Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
28. Dracula - Bram Stoker
29. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
30. Wives and Daughters - Elizabeth Gaskell
31. Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson
32. The Light That Failed - Rudyard Kipling
33. Rob Roy - Sir Walter Scott
34. Cranford - Elizabeth Gaskell
35. Agnes Grey - Anne Brontë
36. New Grub Street - George Gissing
37. Coningsby - Benjamin Disraeli
38. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
39. Emma - Jane Austen
40. Ivanhoe - Sir Walter Scott
41. Kidnapped - Robert Louis Stevenson
42. The Last Days of Pompeii - Edward Bulwer-Lytton
43. Windsor Castle - William Harrison Ainsworth
44. Mary Barton - Elizabeth Gaskell
45. The Adventures of Mr. Verdant Green - Cuthbert M. Bede
46. The Return of the Native - Thomas Hardy
47. Sybil, or The Two Nations - Benjamin Disraeli
48. Villette - Charlotte Brontë
49. Nicholas Nickelby - Charles Dickens
50. The Wanderer or, Female Difficulties - Fanny Burney

Okay, so I've read 22 of the 50 on this list--just under half--and have another three sitting on my TBR shelves. BUT, I am not totally loving this list. Why are there three books from Benjamin Disraeli on the list and only one from Wilkie Collins? Where is Lady Audley's Secret? Why is Wuthering Heights so much higher than Pride and Prejudice? Who is Cuthbert M. Bede?

I know I need to eventually read some Thomas Hardy but some of the others on this list are ones I probably won't ever pick up (The Last Days of Pompeii).

What do you think of this list? Can you think of any major omissions (author or novel)? Is there one of these that I haven't read that you think I should get to ASAP?

Always in the mood for a little list action,

K

New Release: What Makes This Book So Great

What Makes This Book So Great: Re-Reading the Classics of Science Fiction & Fantasy by Jo Walton is the last book I read before DWJ March and I'm actually writing this post on February 28th because I don't want to miss sharing any of what I've gained from reading this book. I have yet to get to any of the Jo Walton books that have made it onto my TBR but it doesn't matter (and I don't think she would mind so much either). She's an avid re-reader and so am I and so I'm sure that we could be friends.

While this book is subtitled "science fiction and fantasy", it's really mostly science fiction and, in addition, it's really mostly older science fiction so I haven't read many of the books that she is talking about. In fact, I counted and there were only maybe seven books that she mentions that I have read. But again, this didn't matter at all because she's not reviewing the books and she's not assuming that you've read them before either. Instead, she takes each of the 100+ books that she's just re-read and she briefly gives a synopsis of sorts and then talks about the experience of re-reading each one and tells which are the things that bring her back to these tales time and time again. There are also a few posts (these were all originally posts on Tor.com) just about reading and those will be easy to relate to by any of us readers.

In addition to making me consider immediate re-reads of some of the books she mentioned that are particular favorites of mine (Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, To Say Nothing of the Dog, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency), she also made me really think about my (then) upcoming Diana Wynne Jones re-reads, about what I was hoping to get out of them and about why I wasn't only picking up those of DWJ's books that I hadn't read yet. Walton's reason for re-reading turns out to be exactly my own --

"A re-read is more leisurely than a first read. I know the plot, after all, I know what happens. I may still cry (embarassingly, on the train) when re-reading, but I won't be surprised. Because I know what's coming, because I'm familiar with the characters and the world of the story, I have more time to pay attention to them. I can immerse myself in details and connections I rushed past the first time and delight in how they are put together. I can relax into the book. I can trust it completely. I really like that."

Finally, the last entry of this book also got me thinking about this blog. Since her original writings were in blog form, I really feel like there is a similarity in purpose and style and the way that she unapologetically states that she is not a critic but rather a fan really resonated with me and gave me the confidence to keep pushing my blog in the direction I've chosen to take it. To dedicate a month to a favorite author is perfectly acceptable because I'm celebrating reading and re-reading and the books that I love.

"You may also have noticed a lack of critical detachment. I am talking about books because I love books. I'm not standing on a mountain peak holding them at arm's length and issuing Olympian pronouncements about them. I'm reading them in the bath and shouting with excitement because I have noticed something that is really really cool."

I highly recommend this book to anyone with even a passing interest in SciFi/Fantasy and especially those of you who are re-readers. Also, her posts are still going up on Tor.com so you can read them there (plus many, many more). I have a feeling that I will go down that rabbit hole soon and come out a better and more confident genre reader (and, of course, re-reader) in the end.

With kudos to a great book about great books,
K

Joining Up: Once Upon A Time VIII

Now that DWJ March is over, I am moving on to my next highly-anticipated reading event ...

Once Upon A Time Challenge VIII!

Though this event kicked off at the start of spring, March 20th, and I've just spent a month reading nothing but fantasy, I'm quite excited to join this well-loved event again this year. I will be choosing books that fall under any of four categories--Fairy Tale, Folklore, Fantasy and Mythology--to enjoy between now and June 21st.

As I usually do, I'll be mostly reading books from my own shelves. Here are some of my possibilities:

The Emerald Atlas (reread) and The Fire Chronicle by John Stephens

The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker

The Apothecary by Maile Meloy
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Time Cat by Lloyd Alexander

and the ones I'll be reading for sure for the Top 100 Chapter Books project ...

The Black Cauldron, The Castle of Llyr, Taran Wanderer, and The High King by Lloyd Alexander

The Children of Green Knowe (reread) by L.M. Boston

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

Half Magic (reread) by Edward Eager

Have you signed up for this event? What is the first book you have chosen to read?

With magic and adventure,

K