Wednesday, July 13, 2011

~Once Upon a Read-a-Thon - FINAL Update~

"Once Upon a Read-a-Thon" is hosted by Angela at Reading Angel, Lori at Pure Imagination, Candace at Candace's Book Blog. It runs from 12:01 AM on July 11 to 11:59 PM on July 13th. 



I ended the Read-a-Thon reading: "Iron House" by John Hart

# of Pages Read (of last book): 278 (out of 432 pages) 
  
Total # Pages Read: 1,908 pages

Total # of Books Read (completed during Read-a-Thon): 5

Names of Books Completed: "The Human Race" by O.C. Heaton, "The Mistress's Revenge" by Tamar Cohen, "The Peach Keeper" by Sarah Addison Allen, "Divergent" by Veronica Roth, "Protect the Heart" by LK Hunsaker, and "Iron House" by John Hart (Incomplete).
 



 
 
Comments/Concerns (about the Read-a-Thon and/or your book selections): This was my second read-a-thon ever, and I had done extremely poorly on my first one, so when I signed up for this one, I tried to be as prepared as possible. Last time I didn't choose my books before hand, and ended up spending an insane amount of time trying to pick what I'd read next. This time, I made my TBR pile for the #OUreadathon and vowed that I'd only read any other title if/when I get done with the books I'd already picked. The other strategy that really worked for me was to read as much as possible at night. During the day I keep getting interrupted by family, for errands, housework, conversations, etc - so night time is the prime time for me to get ahead of my goals, and this strategy worked out really well, for the most part. The tactic that I didn't really employ, which I wish I had, was to choose shorter books - these allow for you to flit from different subject to different subject, keeping everything sort of fresh. I mostly chose my books based on how fast-paced I'd thought they'd be - or "mysteries" so that I'd remain glued to the book in pursuit of what would happen next. This also worked in my favor; further proof of this was, when I picked up the historical fiction novel "Protect the Heart", although it was a pretty good book, it took me longer than it would normally take for me to read 198 pages, because the pace in the book was far slower than the pace in the ones before it. Anyhow, OVERALL, it was a delightful experience, and I absolutely LOVED IT! A very big THANK YOU to all the people who helped arrange this read-a-thon, hosted mini-challenges, etc. You all know who you are...and you all deserve a big *squishy* hug! :)


Books I'd Planned To Read:


  • Iron House by John Hart (432 pg.)
  • The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen (273 pg.)
  • The Human Race by O.C. Heaton (448 pg.)
  • The Mistress's Revenge by Tamar Cohen (224 pg.)
  • Divergent by Veronica Roth (487 pg.)
  • Protect the Heart by LK Hunsaker (198 pg.)
  • What You See in the Dark by Manuel Muñoz (272 pg.)
  • Call Me Irresistible by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (eq. of 385 pg.) - Audiobook
In Conclusion:  If you're on Twitter, make sure to add me and say hello! Maybe we can discuss some of the books we read during the #OUreadathon . Also, AGAIN, I want to THANK all the people involved with the Read-a-Thon, and all the people who participated. Special hugs & love to all those who visited my blog/updates and commented - you make my blogging-world go round!

15 comments:

  1. You ended up with more pages after all!! My total was 1852 ;) We both did great! Thank you so much for participating and all your support and pimpage and love and tweets and friendship! I love you!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow, you did great on the read-a-thon...seems like your preparations really paid off :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. You read more than me! Reading angel read more than me! I am last place!!! :))
    Well, you did an amazing job!!
    How did you like them books you read?

    ReplyDelete
  4. @Reading Angel

    OMG Angela,

    I am thoroughly surprised, because I almost didn't read at all last night - I was so busy being silly on Twitter. But then, an hour before the end, I buckled down, and read some...and then created the blog post in the last moments. I am sure there's someone out there (with more than 200 participants) who've read more than both you and I. Candace had already completed two (or was it three?) books on the first day, I wonder how she did!?!? (I'll go check!). THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH for arranging this read-a-thon. I love you <3

    Love,
    ~Hira~

    ReplyDelete
  5. WOW! I don't think I could have gotten through one book much less almost 6. You are amazing!

    I did join up for the Sizzling Summer Reading Group and have read 2 of the 10 that is needed but that was over a two week span.

    How did you like the books that you did get to read? Are you going to be doing reviews of them?

    Much Love to you,
    Mary

    ReplyDelete
  6. @TheBookGirl

    Dear TheBookGirl,

    Yes, the planning & preparing did work. Now, I swear by the "read-a-thon strategy". Although, in all honesty, I think it'll still evolve and be revised a little bit as I participate in more readathons! :) Thank you for your lovely comment, and I hope you'll continue to visit! :D

    Love,
    ~Hira~

    ReplyDelete
  7. @Loretta @ Between The Pages

    Darling Loretta,

    This read-a-thon was a hoot. My 1st read-a-thon, I was so nervous and inexperienced, I totally did not know what to expect - this one was a lot smoother-going. I absolutely loved almost ALL the books I read during the read-a-thon. "The Peach Keeper" and "Protect the Heart" took me a little longer to read, because they were emotional, and thought-provoking novels. It was the mysteries & thrillers that really kept up the momentum. Thank you for your wonderful comment, Loretta...Love ya,

    ~Hira~

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow you read a ton! i can't wait to read divergent...need to get my hands on it lol! Did an amazing job! congrats :D

    ReplyDelete
  9. Whoa. That is a lot of books. Divergent looks amazing, I really need to get going on it! And I think I'm gonna use your idea next time: plan out what I'm going to read beforehand!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks for stopping by! You read a great selection of books! I won a copy of The Mistress's Revenge awhile back, can't wait to get around to reading it!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Wow you got a lot more than me. I think I've decided I don't like to read straight for hours and hours. I need to mix things up.

    Thanks for visiting StuckInBooks.com

    ReplyDelete
  12. You definitely did awesome this time around! Loads better than me. Glad you have fun, I did as well! :) Thanks for stopping by my wrap up post.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Wow. You read a lot of books! I'm glad that you have a great time. I have bought Divergent, but still haven't read it. I knew it's your favorite book from the read-a-thon pile. I have heard many great things about it. So, I will put it in a higher priority in the to-read list. :D

    ReplyDelete
  14. I'm SO happy you read Divergent! YAY! Great job with the read-a-thon!

    ReplyDelete

~Music I Love~

~Blog Awards~

~Blogs I Love~

Get your own free Blogoversary button!