ReadaThon Wrap-Up

Apr 192009

Well, we’re half-way through hour 23, but I’m heading off to bed. I have church in 5 hours and the ladies there are throwing me a baby shower after the service, so it would be best if I’m not completely bleary-eyed. Instead of sleeping until the last minute, I think I’m going to get up a bit early and make an omelet and whole grain pancakes for some good energy.

My final reading statistics:

I finished three books, and one audiobook (a novella which I was already about 2/3 of the done with). I also started a second audiobook. In all, I read 1035 pages and listened to about 2 hours of audio. I probably could have done more if I was pregnant and already sleep-deprived, but I think I did pretty well, considering I slept for at least 6 hours of the ReadaThon.

I want to thank all of the cheerleaders (and other readers!) who left me messages encouraging me and making me feel good about my naps. Special thanks go out to my personal cheerleader who kept me company for pretty much the whole ReadaThon:
004 300x225 picture

I’ll leave you with my completed books:

book theif picture uncommon reader picture kings confidante picture lucky girl picture

ReadAthon Hour 19 Update – 1 am Central

Apr 192009

Well, I’ve read about 760 pages so far, plus my 2 or so hours of audio. As per my plan, I spent the last 3 hours sleeping, until I got the point where I was uncomfortable. Now I’m going to keep reading as long as I can. I’m hoping I can finish my current book (still Jean Plaidy) get at least most of the way through my next one to hit 1,000 pages. I’m hoping to make it at least until the beginning of hour 24, then end a bit early and have one more 3 hour nap before it is time to get up and go to church and my baby shower. No more audio from now until the end, because I’m too tired to accomplish anything while reading and if I try any audio while sitting here I’ll definitely fall back asleep.

Currently reading:

kings confidante picture

Next up:

lucky girl picture

ReadaThon Hour 13 Update

Apr 182009

Well, since I last posted I fell asleep again for another hour and 1/2 or so. I was hoping to sleep only until the buzzer went off for the laundry, but my husband turned it off when it started to ring, to let me sleep more. I probably did need it, but it meant my nap was about an hour and 1/2 instead of just 30 minutes.

So far I’ve slept for 3 or so hours, done laundry, gone to the library and the store, and made dinner. In the midst of that I’ve read about 600 pages and listened to a little over 2 hours of audiobooks. Since I haven’t been able to sleep through the night lately anyway, I plan on 2 more longer naps, maybe 3 or so hours each, and to keep reading the rest of the time. opefully I can finish at least the book I’m reading now and one other. So far I’ve finished “The Book Thief” and the audiobook of “The Uncommon Reader.”

book theif picture uncommon reader picture

I’m currently reading “The King’s Confidante” by Jean Plaidy and listening to Abraham Verghese’s “Cutting for Stone.”

kings confidante picture cutting for stone picture

ReadaThon Hour 7 Update

Apr 182009

book theif picture Last night I got around 6 hours of mediocre sleep, so after my first two and 1/2 hours of reading I couldn’t really keep my eyes open anymore and took an hour and 1/2 nap. Since then I’ve been reading, with some lunch thrown in, and I just finished my first book, “The Book Thief.” I did have that started before the Readathon, but I was only 45 pages into it, so I’ve so far read 505 pages.

uncommon reader picture

I’m going to take a little break from the printed word right now and switch to the audiobook of “The UncommonReader”. I need to get the laundry ready to go and started. Once I get the first load in, my audiobook and I are going to head over to the library to make some returns and get some more books, leaving my husband to put that load in the dryer and start the second load. I may pause for a bit at the library and read a story or two out of “Tunneling to the Center of the Earth” before I come back home to put the laundr away. I’m not totally sure what I’ll start reading when the laundry is done, but I’m contemplating either “The King’s Confidante” or “Lucky Girl.”

Introduction Meme and the End of Hour 1

Apr 182009

3 facts about me …

-I’m having a little boy in June
- I’m a descendant of Patrick Henry (think American Revolution)
- My feet are freezing right now, and I need my husband to wake up and bring me socks so I don’t have to get up!

How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours?

15 books and two audiobooks (the first audiobook is a novella I’m already halfway finished with)

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 know I can’t read the whole 24 hours (pregnant, got less than 6 hours of sleep last night, and have church and a baby shower tomorrow), so I’d like to get through between 1000 and 1500 pagesl

If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, Any advice for people doing this for the first time?

Don’t feel that you have to participate in every challenge, visit every other reader now, or post updates every hour, if you try you won’t get ANYTHING read. Come back to the computer when you need a break.

And my update:

I finished about 80 pages of “The Book Thief.” Time to go get some cereal and continue reading!

Helloooo Readathon-ers!

Apr 182009

Good morning/afternoon/middle of the night to all of you!

I’m beginning my readathon in the middle of of “The Book Thief” with my trusty bookpile by my side. The pile has changed a bit from my preliminary list; I removed “The Help,” “The Witch’s Trinity,” and “The Last Days of the Romanovs” due to two early finishings and an abandonment and added “The Angel’s Game.” Once I head over to the library to exchange some books I’ll likely add “Shadow of the Wind” and “Gang Leader for a Day” as well.

I’m at least starting my morning in the baby’s room, because it is a clean, quiet, happy place to spend the day. Some pictures from the beginning of my Readathon:

The space I made in the baby’s room to read:

Since I’m in the baby’s room, I have to give you all a couple of sneak peeks of the not-quite-finished room:

My bookpile:

The Book Buddy, all loaded up with “The Book Thief” and ready to go:

What are you reading to start out? Where are you reading? Are you happy with your book pile?

Tory Widow & Tears of the Desert Giveaway Updates

Apr 172009

There is still one more week to enter my giveaways for Tears of the Desert and The Tory Widow (links go to giveaway posts).

When I originally posted these giveaways, I had two copies of Tears of the Desert for lucky readers and one of The Tory Widow. However, because of the great response, Christine Blevins has offered a second copy of “The Tory Widow,” along with an 18th-century survival kit. So now I have TWO copies of EACH book to give away. Check them out!

Water Ghosts – Book Review

Apr 172009

Water Ghosts by Shawna Yang Ryan

“Water Ghosts” is a mysterious little book that primarily takes place in Locke, California, a town comprised mainly of Chinese immigrant men in 1928. At the time, the US government was severely regulating Chinese immigration to the United States by rarely allowing women to come over with their husbands. This policy meant that a huge stir was created when three mysterious women showed up on a boat in the river on a day when all the townspeople of Locke are at the river for a celebration. One of the women is the wife of a man in town, a wife he has not seen for many years. Of the other two, one is married to a man who is somewhere in the United States and the other is unwed. The idea that there are now available women in their town drives many of the men crazy, forcing them to do desperate things to be noticed by these women. And yet, something about these women isn’t quite right. They have an ethereal, almost ghostly quality.

The book itself was definitely an interesting look at the life of a small, rural immigrant community in California in the first part of the last century. Most of the characters were quite interesting too. I did find the book a bit hard to follow, particularly at the beginning. There are no quotation marks for the dialogue and the narration jumps around not only between characters but between time periods: from the ‘present’ of Locke in 1928, to earlier periods in both China and California. That being said, I felt that the ending really brought all of the disparate pieces of the story together for an absolutely fantastic finish. The last 30 pages or so had me completely in their grip.

Whether or not you will enjoy this book probably depends on how much tolerance you have for a story with shifting view points and time periods (and no quotation marks!) and how much a great ending can redeem a complicated read for you.

Buy this book on Amazon.

The Mercy Seller – Book Review

Apr 162009

The Mercy Seller by Brenda Rickman Vantrease

Anna is the granddaughter of a Lollard illuminator and book-seller living in Prague. When religious officials in the city begin cracking down on this heresy, Anna loses both her intended husband and her grandfather in a short period of time and begins a treck west towards England – where her grandfather told her to search out Sir John Oldham – with a band of gypsies. Stopping in France, Anna meets and falls in love with a man who is not quite what he seems.

This book was interesting and well-written, but it didn’t exactly blow me away. Most interesting was definitely the plot most directly surrounding the persecution of the Lollards by the church and the beliefs of those who were willing to risk their lives to read and disseminate the Bible in English. Least interesting, probably Anna’s trip to France and, to a lesser extent, her time in France. Once Anna arrived in England the story picked up much more for me.

I think that part of my problem was that I didn’t realize that this was a sequel. By and large it is a stand-alone book, but there were moments when certain characters harkened back to events in the previous book, which I had not read. I suspect that if I had even known this information, even if I still had not read Vantrease’s previous book, this wouldn’t have bothered me so much.

This isn’t a book I would encourage anyone to run out and buy, unless perhaps you’re very interested in the situation between the Catholic Church and the Lollards, but I would recommend picking it up if you see it at your library, or for a good price.

Buy this book on Amazon.

BTT: Windfall

Apr 162009

Yesterday, April 15th, was Tax Day here in the U.S., which means lots of lucky people will get refunds of over-paid taxes.

Whether you’re one of them or not, what would you spend an unexpected windfall on? Say … $50? How about $500?

(And, this is a reading meme, so by rights the answer should be book-related, but hey, feel free to go wild and splurge on anything you like.)

We are getting a decent-sized return this year, and I already know what bookish thing I am going to spend it on. A new bookcase! My mom’s Christmas gift to us is to be a new bookcase, and we have wanted to buy a second one, so we have a matching pair. So far we’ve been hindered by space constraints in our little condo. However, we’re finally ready to make this work. We are going to move our two older, less attractive bookcases into the baby’s room and hide their non-matching wood finish (everything in our house is dark wood except the baby’s room) behind some nice, colorful, Eric Carle fabric. The new, nicer bookcases will then take their place in the living room. At that point I MAY have enough room for all my books, although I imagine space will still be a bit tight on the shelves.

Other than that, I probably won’t be buying many books for myself with the money (other than maybe a few parenting books). We need to save most of this money for baby, but I’ll probably use a fair amount to head over to Half Price Books and supplement his library.

If you haven’t yet, please check out my giveaways for Tears of the Desert and The Tory Widow (plus 18th century survival kit).