Text and Java

I think my first readathon went very, very well. I'm not just thinking about what I read or how much I read but about the day in general. It was gorgeous weather, I had very few distractions, and I was able to stay on track with only two breaks. The first was to go food shopping (it had to be done, People!) and then second to attend an event at the local B&N where they were introducing new tabletop games. I only stayed for one round of Kodama, but it was soooo much fun. The readathon was already a success because I didn't set a book limit or minimum page count restriction on myself. I had a stack to choose from and read what I wanted when I wanted to. All day! Success! I think I also managed to post about 7 readathon themed posts on IG and this will be the 3rd blog post. There was also a donation made to Room to Read, and I honestly didn't know about  that until the last minute so I gave what I thought was fair. I'll be better prepared in October! The Stuff ...

I woke up at 7:55 this morning and JUMPED into the readathon. I have faced several setbacks such as trying to read before the morning coffee had kicked in (words? What are words?), a storm blew through last night that left debris all over my outdoor reading"lounge" and that all had to be cleaned, and my Kindle is currently on "gasping for life" battery-wise. I'm taking a break to recharge the device and myself mentally as I meditate mostly every day and I skipped it this morning. So far I have finished 2 graphic novels, one novel, a short story, and am about 25% in on a Kij Johnson novella. After a break, and some lunch, I will get back up to speed. That is my reading level check in but what I am REALLY accomplishing is spending a whole day reading! I have found my new favorite short story of 2017- The City Born Great by NK Jemisin. Can I just take a minute here and say how grateful I am to live in a world (and a dimension) in which N.K. Jemisin not only ...

Reading | by Moyan_Brenn Reading | by Moyan_Brenn via Flickr This being my first readathon, I thought perhaps I should list my goals because I tend to forget what the big picture is. I can just imagine me  around 2pm on Saturday, running up and down my street sceaming "Read ALL the books!" In order to keep things sane, I want to set some goals for myself. I began preparing by watching a lot of vloggers on Youtube lay out their TBR's. This was awesome because I realize now that the readathon is a lot looser in structure then I originally thought. For example, I see a lot of readers who are working on finishing a novel but stopping with a 100 pages or more to go with the goal of finishing during the Readathon. Okay! That works for me. The bad side effect of watching the videos is that I keep adding up more and more titles to my own TBR. Sigh. The Goals I can read as much or as little as I want. The point here, for me, is to actually enjoy a full 24 hours of doi...

Read about the Readathon here . I have actually never done one before and am super excited to use this as an opportunity to get my TBR stack down AND to use the patio furniture I just drug out of storage and hosed off. Double win! I had dedicated April to reading middle grade chapter books, and poetry BUT I started reading other things instead. I have to admit my library system does the WORST job of buying poetry, so I'm out of luck there unless I buy some and .......meh. I'm going to throw together a nice stack to read. Oh, and I'm super excited about Fig and Thistle's Instagram Challenge ! Here it is: I'll be back with a TBR post later, also I will be all over IG with this.

I know, I know, 2016 is not exactly over just yet but I feel pretty confident that the short story collection I'm reading right now will hold me until the 1st. 2016 was a terrible year in many respects, but it was pretty great for reading. In 2016 I discovered the Awkward Yeti, Sarah Anderson, and Bitch Planet. I also found a ton of Booktubers I just love to follow. My TBR list has grown to astronomical levels. I also read 101 books. I made it about 80% on the PopSugar Challenge and about 90% on the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge. I will try harder next year on those. I am also going to read a lot more nonfiction....more on this later on my planning for 2017 post. If you would like to see what I read this year, follow me on Goodreads! Or check this out. When choosing my top 10, I hold them up to a harsh criteria. I had to rate them really high right after reading them, they had to make the world disappear while I was reading them, and I still have to remember them months l...

I'm not what you would call a structured reader. I had complete freedom to read whatever I wanted as a child and to read whenever I wanted. No one had to force me to read or to build time into my day just for reading. Maybe this is why I have such a hard time completing challenges. I just can't read something if I feel like "they" are making me read it. Screw the man! So, to build up my muscle, I'm going to try a couple of the bookstagram mini-challenges. I love Halloween most of all, so it makes sense to start in October. Day One of #hauntedbooktober (instagram) was easy- ghost stories, but Day Two required a shot of my TBR list and well, grr..... So, here is a pic of what is on my radar to read in October. I just want to point out that I did absolutely want to read some scary stories this fall, so some of those have come in and they are pictured. There are more that I am considering reading. Also, I have to mention that I am working on creating a Tween S...

I don't know what it is lately, but I am just filled with the urge to READ ALL THE BOOKS! via GIPHY I suspect it is because I have stumbled upon the world of  Booktube and all of the magical creatures that live there. Add in the fact that I have found it IS possible to be on the treadmill and not listen to music but watch videos instead opens up this whole world of watching people talk about what they are reading and why. The hardest part was finding readers who have similar reading interests as me and who live in my country (although, that is not super important). So far I have only gone crazy trying to find a book that isn't yet published in the US once. But I've been burned and am now wiser. So, who to watch? Well, like choosing underwear, that's deeply personal for all viewers/readers but I will share a few of my favorites and the number one type of book vlogger I avoid. Several blog posts just like this one introduced me to the world of booktube, so I am hap...