I’m ashamed to say that I did very little reading last week. Besides my “easy-read” Babysitters’ Club Books, I did start 2 new books. One non-fiction: Alison Weir’s Children of England, a novel about King Henry VIII’s heirs (Edward, Lady Jane Grey, Mary, and Elizabeth). I really enjoy the way Weir writes. It doesn’t really feel like non-fiction at all (maybe that’s why her historical fiction novels are so good).
The other book I started was Wilkie Collins’ The Moonstone which, along with being one of my Fill in the Gaps Project books, has been on my TBR pile for at least 3 years. I’ve read his Woman in White about 2 years ago and thought it was really well written so I really don’t know why it’s taken this long for me to start The Moonstone. I’m only about 3 chapters into it but so far, I like what I’m reading. I’ll keep you posted!
Archive for April, 2009
No books finished over the weekend.
Posted in Uncategorized on April 27, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Blast from the Past!
Posted in Uncategorized on April 23, 2009| 1 Comment »
After the Read-a-thon I wanted to read something a bit lighter. Soooooo, I went to my parents’ house and went through some boxes of my old books. I chose 3 of my old Babysitters Club books by Ann M. Martin. It was my favourite book series between the ages of 8 and 11. Sadly, their not available for purchase anymore unless you can find them on Ebay or used on Amazon. Over the last 3 days, I’ve read Super Special#5 California Here We Come!. Where the girls go on a trip to California and stay at Dawn’s father’s house after winning some money. Next Super Special #6 New York, New York, the gang go to..you guessed it, NYC and stay with Stacey’s dad. Yesterday, I finished Super Special #7 Snowbound where a random snowstorm hits the girls’ hometown of Stoneybrook, Conneticut and we learn about the adventures (or misadventures 🙂 ) that they go through before, during, and after it.
It was nice to have a little break with some of the books that got me so interested in reading in the first place. I think I’m ready now to go back to some adult reading (but not the inappropriate kind).
It’s all over
Posted in Uncategorized on April 19, 2009| 6 Comments »
I had to stop updating for a while because the computer screen was making my eyes too tired. But I did it!
End of read-a-thon meme.
1. Which hour was most daunting for you?
– Hour 18 was pretty rough.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
– The Birth of Venus, and anything by Agatha Christie
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
-Can’t think of any at the moment
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
– The cheerleaders really were helpful. It was nice to have encouraging words.
5. How many books did you read?
– 5 books read / 3 books completed / 1 short story completed
6. What were the names of the books you read?
In order:
-The Lady Elizabeth (Alison Weir) – finished
– The House of the Seven Gables (Nathaniel Hawthorne) – gave up for now
– The Birth of Venus (Sarah Dunant) – finished
– The Murders in the Rue Morgue (E.A. Poe) – finished
– The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Agatha Christie) – finished
– Shopaholic and Baby (Sophie Kinsella) – half way through
7. Which book did you enjoy most?
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd with The Birth of Venus coming in a close second.
8. Which did you enjoy least?
– The House of the Seven Gables. It was just tiring me out too much so I had to drop it. I should’ve maybe started with that one.
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
– I was not. But I really appreciated them! 🙂
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
– Very likely. Same role or maybe half and half reader/cheerleader.
Thanks to all the organizers for their hard work! I really had a good time with this. When I’m more awake I’ll have to go visit other blogs and review my reads.
But for now…I sleep!
Birth of Venus completed!
Posted in Uncategorized on April 19, 2009| 4 Comments »
Total number of books read: 3
Total number of books completed: 2
Pages read since last post:93
Total pages:449
Success! I’ve finished the Birth of Venus. Too tired to write a review at the moment. Must. Keep. Reading. Must. Stay. Awake!!! Only 7 and a half hours to go! I can do this…I think.
I’m back!
Posted in Uncategorized on April 19, 2009| 3 Comments »
Pages read since last post: 53 (see previous post for reason why)
Still working on The Birth of Venus. I have returned from my girl’s night dinner and am ready to keep going. It looks like a lot of people are doing far better than I am. But I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to finish strong. We shall see….
Heading toward end of hour 8
Posted in Uncategorized on April 18, 2009| 9 Comments »
Title of book(s) read since last update: The Birth of Venus
Number of books read since you started:3
Pages read since last update:80
Running total of pages read since you started:303 (shameful!!!)
Amount of time spent reading since last update:1 hr
Ok, so….I fell asleep around the beginning of hour 7! But now I’m up, had a shower, and did the dishes all of which took away precious reading time. Chalk it up to a bunch of rookie mistakes. Also, another hitch in the proceedings is that I have to leave the house at 5:30 (Eastern Time) for a minimum of 5 hours. My sewing club, (which does no sewing, mainly just girls hanging out getting a break from the husbands and kids), is getting together today. I knew this going in but thought that I would get a lot more accomplished by now. Oh well. This is all stuff to remember for the next read-a-thon. I’m really enjoying the book though and I’m hopeful that I will finish it. I’ve got one more hour to be productive until I have to get ready to leave. Hopefully, I don’t run into any other distractions!
Read-a-thon: hour 5 complete
Posted in Uncategorized on April 18, 2009| 1 Comment »
Title of book(s) read since last update: The Birth of Venus
Number of books read since you started: still 3
Books completed:1
Pages read since last update:85
Running total of pages read since you started:223
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 75 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 210 minutes
Still working on The Birth of Venus. Although, I think I’m going to move on outside for a little while just for a change of scenery. I’m really enjoying the book so far even though some of the descriptions of death and torture are making me cringe! But..I’m not going to give up!
Read-a-thon: commencing hour 4
Posted in Uncategorized on April 18, 2009| 7 Comments »
Title of book(s) read since last update: The House of the Seven Gables
The Birth of Venus
Number of books read since you started: 3 (not all finished though 😉
Pages read since last update: 80
Running total of pages read since you started: 139
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 75 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 135 minutes
Mini-challenges completed:
Other participants you’ve visited: Becky, Bookworm, A high and hidden place
Prize you’ve won: 0
Still doing well. It’s so hard not to get sidetracked reading other blogs and seeing how others are doing! I had to leave Hawthorne for a bit. It seemed a bit heavy reading for such a beautiful day. I’ve now taken up Sarah Dunant’s Birth of Venus which is going a lot more smoothly. I’m hoping to finish it in a couple of hours. Wish me luck!
Hour #1 Down!
Posted in Uncategorized on April 18, 2009| 4 Comments »
Hour #1 Meme:
Where are you reading from today?
– My little house and most likely my backyard as well. It’s supposed to be gorgeous outside today!
3 facts about me:
– I’m a highschool French teacher
– I just got married last August (and am still loving being married)
– I have a four year old, female Jack Russell terrier named Charlie
How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24hrs?
– 6 so far but I’m not sure how far I’ll get
Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon?
I want to finish the 3 books that I’ve been working on for a while and read over 1000 pages
Read-a-thon time: 1 hour
Pages read: 59
Books finished: 1
I started off this read-a-thon by finishing a book a wanted to finish last night but just couldn’t stay awake long enough to do it. I can now cross off The Lady Elizabeth by Alison Weir. The novel is a fictionalized version of Queen Elizabeth the 1st’s childhood and the events leading up to her coronation. I really enjoyed it! I was already a fan of Weir’s non-fiction books on the English monarchy and so it was natural to see how her fiction writing was like. The fact that she has such a strong knowledge of history made this novel really believable. I’m now trying to plow my way through Hawthorne’s The House of Seven Gables as I eat my Captain Crunch. So far, so good! I’m trying to avoid distractions but it’s really hard with my little puppy Charlie chasing a fly around the living room!
24 hr read-a-thon preparation
Posted in Uncategorized on April 17, 2009| 3 Comments »
I think I’m at a place where I can keep this up now. I’m reading more often and I’ve decided to be a part of the 24 hr read-a-thon going on this weekend. It will force me to keep up with this for at least 2 days in a row. That’ll be a good way to start. I have a huge stack of books to tackle and my New Year’s resolution was to read half of it before I would allow myself to buy anymore. The list was at 90 when I made this crazy promise to myself which means I still have about 35 more books I have to read before I can go shopping for new books. I’m really excited about this reading challenge. I followed allong during last October’s challenge so this time I’ve decided to become a participant.
I’m planning on finishing at least 3 books I’ve been working on simultaneously as starting some new ones to cross off my stack. Wish me luck. I promise to I will be back!!!
Literary Adventures 