Hour 24

Read-a-thon update
After I put the kiddos to bed I was able to read about 6 chapters of The Program and I am pulled in.  I was happy the kids were able to put in a few hours.  :)  Hopefully they will want to do it again next year!

Again another great read-a-thon.  Looking forward to Aprils but for some reason that one always ends up being a busy kid day and I rarely get to participate.  I have hopes that 2016 is different!!

Pumpkin Spice Challenge

Thanks for an easy challenge - I give a triple thumbs up FOR Pumpkin Spice!!  Love the cream too - which is my poor man's Pumpkin coffee :)

These are my reading buddies today - notice the 6 year old has no front teeth!!

Pumpkin Spice Challenge

Hour 12 Update

Challenge Entered
Reading Rainbow
A book I didn't want to end and give it an alternate ending

The book I would want a continuation of is "Because of Winn Dixie"  I would want to see Opal get a Mom!  I want to see her adventures with her friends and to see her Dad fall in love and get a great woman to be Opal's Mom.  I would also like to see her adopt another animal from a different store and give it the stores name!!  The more the merrier!

Classics and Comics Challenge
I paired Sisters and Little Women!

Mid challenge Meme
1. What are you reading right now? I am trying to read the secrets she keeps, but am really reading a lot with the kids.

2. How many books have you read so far? 2 kids chapter books and 4 early chapter books


3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? the kids going to bed.  I will probably only read for a couple hours after that, but at least I will get to read some of my books :)

4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? Yep, I expected it

5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? that my 9 year old has stuck with it for the most part.  She has been reading graphic novels and is happy to have read 3!  We are not eating as many snacks as I thought we would.

Hour 9 update

Read-a-thon Update - Hour 9 (4:30 pm)
Challenges:
Armchair traveler
Book Scavenger hunt

Books:
Darcie: Finished "Wherever After Fairest of them All"  - very cute!
Katie - Finished Drama
Kassidy - still working on reading Heidi Hecklebeck

We had lunch and the baby had a short nap.  

Daddy decided to stay home - so hopefully he will take the kids a little this evening :)

Book Scavenger Hunt Challenge

Book Scavenger Hunt:
1.  Something hard - Abby trying to figure out how to fix the Snow White story after Jonah messed it up.

2.  Something fast - Snow kissed the prince and he instantly came back to life

3.  Something sweet - the lucky charms Abby ate when she returned home

4.  Something high - the queens window that Snow, Abby and Jonah jumped out of

5.  Something funny - there were several funny things in the books; the dwarf names were not the Disney names (Disney, Sneezy and Dopey) and 3 were GIRLS!; Snow read property law!

"Wherever After Fairest of them All" 

Top 10 Challenge

Top 10 things to remember when reading with kids

10. Doing mini-challenges with willing participants!!
9. Prepping the snacks with the kiddos!
8. Realizing the things my 6 year old can read.  I am always surprised when she recognizes a word!
7. Reading Heidi Hecklebeck with my 6 year old - its the first chapter book she has wanted to read with me
6. Pajama day!  We will stay in our jammies all day!
5. Planning on not doing anything else for the day (no cleaning or cooking)
4. Snacks are a must
3. It is ok to read what they are reading - it gives you fun stuff to talk about & I love reading what my daughters are reading
2. Nap time is awesome!!
1. It's not about my reading - it's about giving them the piece of fun and an experience to help them love reading!

Here is where you can find the challenge rules
http://bookreviewsfromachristiangal.blogspot.com/2015/10/hour-6-mini-challenge-top-ten-list.html?showComment=1445101906074#c1569892189272976884

Hour 5 - 12:77

Challenge Entered
Cover Escape!

Road Trip 
Here is my letter:
Dear Mom & Dad - 
Sorry Jonah & are aren't in our beds this morning. We go sucked into the mirror in the basement, but you know me I have a plan to get home...I just wish it didn't involve an evil queen.
Love you and Miss you! 
Abby
"Wherever After Fairest of them All" 

I have great ideas for the kids cover challenge just need to get them set up!

Reading:
"Wherever After Fairest of them All" 
Katie is 81% done with Drama according to Kindle.  Even though we have a shelf full of books for her I am seeing the purchase of a new kindle book in my future!

I am also reading Kassidy Heidi still but she needs a lot of breaks  :)

Many interruptions (I mean breaks).  Luckily my hubby is on his way home with lunch before he leaves again for a trip from Ohio to Illinois.

Cover Escape Challenge

Here are the details of the challenge: "Dig through your shelves and share with us a book cover you'd like to escape into! Doesn't matter if the subject, plot, or genre isn't typically your thing; in this case, we're totally judging the book by its cover! :

Katelynn's Cover:

She loved this book and would like to jump into the world.

Darcie's Cover:

I liked this cover because it looks so warm and inviting on this cold day in Ohio.  I love Lorna Landvik too I think her books are as inviting.

Thanks for making me take a look at my TBR book shelf!! There are a lot of good books there I want to read...

You can find the challenge http://unabridged-expression.blogspot.com/2015/10/readathon-mini-challenge-cover-escape.html.

Hour 1: 8am

Hour 1 -
The first 30 minutes we finished snacks :)  My 9 year old made the cake batter dip - and yum it's good.  And my 6 year old and I made brownie cookies - we haven't tried them yet but they are brownie mix, cream cheese and white cholcolate chips how can they not be good?

Kassidy (6) - I read 2 chapters of Heidi Hecklebeck Gets Glasses - this book is cute the Art teachers name is Mr. Doodlebee - cracks me up!

Katelynn (9) - is reading Drama (she is reading on a tablet, which means this graphic novel is in color!! She loves it!!)

Darcie (Mom) is reading - Whatever After Fairest of all because Katelynn loved the book but got a little freaked out so wants me to read book #2 with her - so I am playing catch up.  She does NOT like it when I read ahead! :)

Introduction Meme

1)What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
Near Cincinnati, Ohio.  It is a cold day here so perfect for staying in!!  Luckily the kids activities have canceled so we get to stay in - though the hubby is traveling so I know there will be A LOT of interruptions - oh I mean breaks!

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

The Program

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
One daughter is making a Cake Batter dip and the other is going to make brownie cookies so both of those!

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!
I am participating with a 23 month old, 9 and 6 year old.  The 9 year old wants to read today.  The 6 year old too but we will be lucky to get through an hour - I think.  So the 6 and 23 month old are having a TV-thon today.  They are also excited about the snacks!

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?

I am just remembering it's a fun day to make reading a priority - with that being said I am not going to worry too much about how much I get read.  This read-a-thon is really to introduce my kiddos to how fun these are and to get ideas of what they like so we can do mini-read-a-thons throughout the year (like 3 hour read-a-thons).  

Here are Katie's Answers

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?

Ohio

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
Drama (a second read)

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

Cake batter dip

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!
I love graphic novels

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?

Looking forward to reading a book.  Mommy and I do read-a-thons all the time :)

October 2015 Read-a-thon

It is that time of the year again - Dewey's Read-a-thon!!  This year my 9 year old is going to do some reading with me!  :)  I am so excited, but then my nearly 2 year old will probably give us a lot of interruptions!!  We also have some piano lessons so we will have times we can't read - which is a bummer.  But as long as we get some time in I will be happy.  See ya Saturday!

Austenesque Lovers TBR Pile Reading Challenge 2015

You can join here.  This is a goodreads challenge - which is new for me, but I have a pile of Austen Books!

Here are the challenge details:
Challenge will begin January 1, 2015 and end December 31, 2015. People may join at any time.

Anyone is welcome.

Readers need to choose their challenge level and share choice in their introduction comment. Readers may progress to a new level at any time.

Level One Caroline Bingley: 1-5 books
Level Two Marianne Dashwood: 6-10 books
Level Three Anne Elliot: 10-20 books
Level Four Catherine Morland: 20-50 books
Level Five Mr. Bennet: 50+ books

Set up a location to track your reading challenge. This can be by creating a specific shelf here on GoodReads or on your blog.

After challenge begins, go into your chosen reading level here and update either with a list of the books you have read or a link to your update posted elsewhere. I would recommend updating on a monthly basis.

Readers are encouraged to review each book read so other readers can see what you thought of the book, but this is not mandatory.

Readers are also encouraged to cheer on each other, comment or ask about books other challengers have read.

I am going to try for Caroline Bingley!

Audiobook Challenge

 I like to listen to my books so this challenge is a no brainier for me to join!   Here are the details for the audiobook challenge. I am going to for big listener (20-30) with a stretch goal of getting to Marathoner. :)

You can join here

Reading Challenge Details:

• Runs January 1, 2015 – December 31, 2015. You can join at anytime.
• The goal is to find a new love for audios or to outdo yourself by listening to more audios in 2015 than you did in 2014.
• Books must be in audio format (CD, MP3, etc.)
• ANY genres count.
• Re-reads and crossovers from other reading challenges are allowed.
• You do not have to be a book blogger to participate; you can track your progress on Goodreads, Shelfari, Booklikes, Facebook, LibraryThing, etc. – I’ve created a Goodreads Group for the challenge, feel free to join.
• If you’re a blogger grab the button (on the sidebar) and do a quick post about the challenge to help spread the word. If you’re not a blogger you can help by posting on Facebook or Tweeting about the challenge.

By request, a new level (Marathoner) has been added this year for the hardcore listeners and the numbers for My Precious has been changed from 30+ to 30-50.

Levels:

• Newbie (I’ll give it a try) 1-5
• Weekend Warrior (I’m getting the hang of this) 5-10
• Stenographer (can listen while multi-tasking) 10-15
• Socially Awkward (Don’t talk to me) 15-20
• Binge Listener (Why read when someone can do it for you) 20-30
• My Precious (I had my earbuds surgically implanted) 30-50
• Marathoner (Look Ma no hands) 50+

We’ve decided to go back to having quarterly updates to help keep everyone motivated and to snag new participants through out the year. There will be posts on the following dates for you guys to check in to let us know how your listening is going for 2015.

Update Schedule:

• March 27th: 1st Quarter Update
• June 19th: 2nd Quarter Update – Giveaway included
• September 25th: 3rd Quarter Update
• December 18th: 4th Quarter Update and Wrap – Giveaway included

Deal Me In Short Stories

 

I am going to participate in the Deal Me In Short Story Challenge.  I love short stories but rarely read them...this is a great challenge for me to read one per week!

What is the goal of the project?
To read 52 short stories in 2014 (that’s only one per week)
What do I need?
1) Access to at least fifty-two short stories (don’t own any short story collections or anthologies? See links to online resources below)
2) A deck of cards
3) An average of perhaps just thirty minutes of reading time each week

Here is a link if you want to join:
https://bibliophilica.wordpress.com/2014/12/21/its-the-most-wonderful-time-of-the-year-deal-me-in-2015-sign-up

Story	Author	Suit	Card	Status
Where There's Smoke: A Short Story	by Jodi Picoult	♥	A
Miss Merriweathers marriage	Kathleen Y'Barbo	♥	K
Home to Pebble Creek		♥	Q
Christmas at Pebble Greek		♥	J
Special Delivery (Valentine Short Story)		♥	2
Weightless		♥	3
The Glass Case	Kristin Hannah	♥	4
Magic Touch	Dara England	♥	5
Out of the storm		♥	6
Waking Kate		♥	7	COMPLETE
Honeymooning: A Cypress Hallow Yarn Story		♥	8
Freaks: A Rizzoli & Isles Short Story		♥	9
The Provincials	Daniel Alarcon,	♥	10
Bravery	Charles Baxter	♠	A
Malaria. Mental illness.	Michael Byers,	♠	K
Miss Lora	Junot Diaz,	♠	Q
Horned Men*	Karl Taro Greenfeld	♠	J
The Third Dumpster	Gish Jen,	♠	2
Encounters with Unexpected Animals	Bret Anthony Johnston,	♠	3
Magic Men	Sheila Kohler	♠	4
The Chair	David Means	♠	5
A Voice in the Night	Steven Milhauser	♠	6
Referential	Lorrie Moore	♠	7
Train	Alice Munro	♠	8
Chapter Two	Antonya Nelson	♠	9	COMPLETE
Nemecia	Kirstin Valdez Quade	♠	10
Philanthropy	Suzanne Rivecca	♦	A
The Semplica Girl Diaries	George Saunders	♦	K
The World to Come	Jim Shepard	♦	Q
The Wilderness	Elizabeth Tallent	♦	J
The Tunnel, or The News From Spain	Joan Wickersham	♦	2
Breatharians	Callan Wink	♦	3
Wish Upon A Star	Lainey Bancroft	♦	4
Tears For Hesh	J. Michael Radcliffe	♦	5
You Can Call Me Ari	Darcia Helle	♦	6
Flames	Maria Savva	♦	7
Minor Details	Jaleta Clegg	♦	8
Ice Cream Man	Neil Schiller	♦	9
No Eyes But Mine Shall See	Sharon E. Cathcart	♦	10
The First Texas Twister	Magnolia Belle	♣	A
Shadow Lantern	Gareth Lewis	♣	K
Stained	Amy Saunders	♣	Q
What Was Lost `	James Sophi	♣	J
The Art of Breathing	Jaime McDougall	♣	2
Soul Windows	Jaleta Clegg	♣	3
I Didn't Know His Name	Darcia Helle	♣	4
Red Route	James Everington	♣	5
Make A Wish	Susan Helene Gottfried	♣	6
The Last Chance Motel and Mausoleum	Joel Blaine Kirkpatrick	♣	7
Isolation	Maria Savva	♣	8
Beyond The Green Hills	Tom Gahan	♣	9
From Joy We Come, Unto Joy We Return	Ami Blackwelder	♣	10