Book Riot Read Harder Challenge

I am happy that this year’s challenge is not as hung up on color and sexual-orientation like previous year’s. I am also doing Popsugar for the first year. Here is the Book Riot list. And I do spot a few items I like in their store so I definitely am going to complete this.

A book published posthumously – A Confederacy of Dunces
A book of true crime
A classic of genre fiction (i.e. mystery, sci fi/fantasy, romance) – Rebecca
A comic written and drawn by the same person – From Eroica with Love
A book set in or about one of the five BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, or South Africa) – Bones of the Master
A book about nature – In Bear Country
A western
A comic written or drawn by a person of color – Yakitate!! Japan
A book of colonial or postcolonial literature
A romance novel by or about a person of color – When Dimple Met Rishi
A children’s classic published before 1980
A celebrity memoir – Siberian Dream
An Oprah Book Club selection – Wild
A book of social science – The Little Book of Hygge
A one-sitting book – Fortunately, the Milk
The first book in a new-to-you YA or middle grade series – Alcatraz Versus The Evil Librarians
A sci fi novel with a female protagonist by a female author
A comic that isn’t published by Marvel, DC, or Image – Entangled Circumstances
A book of genre fiction in translation – Doctor Proctor’s Fart Powder
A book with a cover you hate – A Confederacy of Dunces
A mystery by a person of color or LGBTQ+ author – Raiser of Gales
An essay anthology – Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit
A book with a female protagonist over the age of 60 – Wise Women
An assigned book you hated (or never finished) – Moby Dick

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Popsugar 2018 Reading Challenge

My friends on BookCrossing led me to a new challenge, Popsugar Reading Challenge. Last year’s 666 was fun, but it was rather hard to find books from Oceania and South America, and I ended up reading a few books that I just read because I have to. I do not feel like doing it again so soon. Meanwhile, the Book Riot one which I have been participating every year, seems to get too hung up on color and sexual orientation. A new challenge is therefore most welcome.

PopSugar Reading Challenge

1. A book made into a movie you’ve already seen – We Bought a Zoo
2. True Crime
3. The next book in a series you started – The Twelve Clues of Christmas
4. A book involving a heist – Artemis
5. Nordic noir
6. A novel based on a real person – Come August, Come Freedom
7. A book set in a country that fascinates you – The Sweet Life in Paris
8. A book with a time of day in the title –
9. A book about a villain or antihero – Wickedly Charming
10. A book about death or grief – The Murderess
11. A book with a female author who uses a male pseudonym
12. A book with an LGBTQ+ protagonist – Being Jazz
13. A book that is also a stage play or musical – The Grapes of Wrath
14. A book by an author of a different ethnicity than you – Lakota Woman
15. A book about feminism
16. A book about mental health – Truth & Beauty
17. A book you borrowed or that was given to you as a gift – When
18. A book by two authors – The Scalpel and the Silver Bear
19. A book about or involving a sport
20. A book by a local author – Swamplandia!
21. A book with your favorite color in the title
22. A book with alliteration in the title – Wine and War
23. A book about time travel – Flight
24. A book with a weather element in the title – The Summer They Came
25. A book set at sea
26. A book with an animal in the title – In Bear Country
27. A book set on a different planet – Ray Bradbury Chronicles #1
28. A book with song lyrics in the title – The River
29. A book about or set on Halloween – Pumpkin Pumpkin
30. A book with characters who are twins – A Quick Bite
31. A book mentioned in another book – Truth & Beauty
32. A book from a celebrity book club – Wild
33. A childhood classic you’ve never read – Call of the Wild
34. A book that’s published in 2018 – We Fed an Island
35. A past Goodreads Choice Awards winner
36. A book set in the decade you were born – The Outsiders
37. A book you meant to read in 2017 but didn’t get to – Stories From The Vinyl Cafe
38. A book with an ugly cover – A Confederacy of Dunces
39. A book that involves a bookstore or library – Mr Penumbra’s 24-hour Bookstore
40. Your favorite prompt from the 2015, 2016, or 2017 POPSUGAR Reading Challenges

2018 Popsugar Advanced Reading Challenge

1. A bestseller from the year you graduated high school
2. A cyberpunk book
3. A book that was being read by a stranger in a public place
4. A book tied to your ancestry
5. A book with a fruit or vegetable in the title – Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
6. An allegory – Call of the Wild
7. A book by an author with the same first or last name as you
8. A microhistory – To Cork or Not To Cork
9. A book about a problem facing society today – The Devil’s Highway
10. A book recommended by someone else taking the POPSUGAR Reading Challenge

Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-a-thon October 21, 2017

Time: 9:00 am
I went to nap at around 5, when I got too sleepy to read. I woke up to do my last book, and decided that I want to be able to finish one book cover to cover at least, so I picked Nzingha, a children’s book about a warrior queen in Angola.

Not a lot of pages read this time around, but I had the most fun with mini challenges this year.

Time: 1:00 am
More than 12 hours later. Been to work and back, managed to listen to The Girl with No Shadow (aka the Girl with Lollipop Shoes), the sequel to Chocolat, while commuting. And a little bit of reading during lunch time. Now, I’m all set to do some serious reading! Well, couldn’t resist first some fun with mini-challenges. To me that’s the best part of read-a-thon!

Time: 11:30 am

I am so glad that I can participate this time, as it’s Dewey’s 10th Anniversary! I wish I could say that I was here since the very first one, but all I say is every time I participated it was a lot of fun. Last year I couldn’t due to travels, but even though I have to work later today, I am reading what I can.

Set my alarm to ring at 7:30am, but didn’t roll out of bed till it’s 8, haha, as my plan to sleep early last night didn’t work well. In all honesty it had been a rather shitty time lately. There was hurricane Irma, my dear parrotlet passed away, and I am in my 3rd round of cold in a month. Really, I think I have snotted out half my brain at this point. And it feels like it, most of the time I was in a zombie mode. Not working out much doesn’t help either, but I don’t have enough energy for the gym, and I find out during downward dogs that gravity is bad for running noses.

Anyway, here I am. Finished the little bit of the book I’m on, and started my second.

Opening Meme
1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
Sunshine state of Florida, as usual.

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
All Things Good by Sarah Turnbull, about her time in Tahiti.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
Mochi! Got three boxes of them from Costco last month.

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!
Love reading since I was a child. Mom said I was such a easy child to raise, just give me a book and I’ll stay quiet for hours. And apparently I slept so soundly as a baby my dad had to wake me up just to be sure I wasn’t dead.

5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today?
Well, I started using Instagram, so I’ll be posting more there and on twitter instead of on my blog.

Total Pages read so far: 513

Plain Secrets pgs 136-202 (67)
The Tale of Kieu pgs 1-24 (24)
The Girl with No Shadow pgs 1-107 (108)
The Wives of Henry Oades pgs 230-363 (134)
All Good Things pgs 1-44 (45)
Nzingha pgs 1-133 (134)

Total Time spent reading so far: 6 hr

Mini-challenges I’ve entered:
Opening Meme

Traveler’s Log
Book and a Beverage
Time Flies

Really love this one, totally brilliant idea. It took me a while to figure out the covers. I would love to make my own clock but as my reading time is scant already I don’t have time to go hunting around for them.

1. First Frost
2. Two From the Heart
3. The Three Musketeers
4. Four Weeks, Five People
5. Fives and Twenty-Fives
6. Six Impossible Things
7. The Seventh Function of Language
8. Orphan #8
9. Sweetness #9
10. The Woman in Cabin #10
11. 11/22/63
12. The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley
Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore
Reading Buddy
Which of course is my dear Walle, who just passed away less than 2 weeks ago, after 9 years with us.

You’re Wearing That?

Books I have finished:

Other Readers I have visited:

@shaunesay
@MelissaVerasR

666 Challenge

I am not sure where this challenge originated in, but I found it on BookCrossing 666 Challenge.

Here are the rules:

You aim to read 6 books which are set in OR are written by an author from 6 different countries in each of the 6 continents within 2017.  You cannot count books of the same country twice and you cannot count one book for more than one country.

This sounds fun, and as I enjoy reading books from different parts of the world, this challenge is manageable, nudging me a slightly beyond my comfort zone.

AFRICA:

KENYA – Facing the Lion by Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton
ALGERIA – The Attack by Yasmina Khadra (story set in Israel but author from Algeria)
TOGO – An African in Greenland by Tete-Michel Kpomassie
IVORY COAST – Aya of Yop City by Marguerite Abouet and Clément Oubrerie
THE GAMBIA – Swing Time by Zadie Smith
ANGOLA – Nzingha: Warrior Queen by Patricia McKissack

EUROPE:

ITALY – Silk by Alessandro Baricco
U.K. – Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
GREECE – The Summer of My Greek Taverna by Tom Stone
FRANCE – The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George
SWITZERLAND – Blue Pills by Frederik Peeters
SWEDEN – The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson

ASIA:

INDIA – The Empire of Tea by Alan MacFarlane & Iris MacFarlane
ISRAEL – Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
JAPAN – With the Light by Keiko Tobe
NEPAL – Peak by Roland Smith
CHINA – From Point to Point by Xu Bing
VIETNAM – Silence by Thich Nhat Hanh

NORTH AMERICA (INCL. CENTRAL AMERICA & THE CARIBBEAN):

USA – Still Alice by Lisa Genova
CANADA – Paddle to the Arctic by Don Starkell
MEXICO –  The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
ANTIGUA – Lucy by Jamaica Kincaid
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

PACIFICA (INCL. ANTARCTICA):

NEW ZEALAND – The Wives of Henry Oades by Johanna Moran
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Islands in the Clouds by Isabella Tree
AUSTRALIA – The Road From Coorain by Jill Ker Conway
HAWAII – Fluke by Christopher Moore
TAHITI – All Good Things by Sarah Turnbull

SOUTH AMERICA:

ARGENTINA – The Aleph by Jorge Luis Borges
VENEZUELA – Indulgence: One Man’s Selfless Search for the Best Chocolate in the World by Paul Richardson
CHILE – Zorro by Isabel Allende
COLOMBIA – One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
BRAZIL – The Zahir by Paulo Coelho
PERU – What Really Happened in Peru by Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan

Book Riot’s 2017 Read Harder Challenge

1. Read a book about sports – Gothic Sports vol 1-2
2. Read a debut novel – The Girl Who Fell from the Sky
3. Read a book about books – The First Among Sequels
4. Read a book set in Central or South America, written by a Central or South American author.– One Hundred Years of Solitude
5. Read a book by an immigrant or with a central immigration narrative. – Goodbye, Vietnam
6. Read an all-ages comic – Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier
7. Read a book published between 1900 and 1950 – Bread Givers
8. Read a travel memoir – Paddle to the Arctic
9. Read a book you’ve read before – Something Rotten
10. Read a book that is set within 100 miles of your location – How Sweet It Is!
11. Read a book that is set more than 5000 miles from your location – The Summer of My Greek Taverna
12. Read a fantasy novel – City of Lost Souls
13. Read a nonfiction book about technology – The Emperor of All Maladies
14. Read a book about war – All the Light We Cannot See
15. Read a YA or middle grade novel by an author who identifies as LGBTQ+ – Boy Meets Boy
16. Read a book that has been banned or frequently challenged in your country. The Book of Bunny Suicides
17. Read a classic by an author of color. – The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea
18. Read a superhero comic with a female lead. – Bound Beauty
19. Read a book in which a character of color goes on a spiritual journey – The Conch Bearer
20. Read an LGBTQ+ romance novel – Trans-Sister Radio
21. Read a book published by a micropress – Hot Donut Salad
22. Read a collection of stories by a woman – Pilgrims
23. Read a collection of poetry in translation on a theme other than love.
24. Read a book wherein all point-of-view characters are people of color – The Golden Son

Reading the list, it feels like whoever makes the list are a bit obsessed with the color of the skin and sexual orientation.  I personally read all types of books, and being non-white I read plenty of non-white books anyway, but I don’t like the list is putting emphasis on the skin color of the author, when a well written book is a well written book.

Also, growing up, I have to say I didn’t consider myself as a “person of color.”
I am yellow, there are whites, and blacks, and browns, but white is a color too, isn’t it? Just a different spot on the spectrum of color. They most certainly are not colorless people. Using the term is so divisive, there is “white” and the rest of the world that do not qualify as “white”. It is white supremacy!

For the banned book, I didn’t realize that the banned book list is so extensive in the U.S., that in fact an average reader will actually have to make an effort not to read any. However, I found that The Bunny Suicides book was on one of the lists. A bit of googling told me that a mom in Oregon hated this book so much, she tried to get it banned from his son’s school, and planned to burn the book rather than returning it to the school. The school board said they would then be forced to spend money to buy a new copy to review it, and would have to bill the parent, as well as banning her son from future loans as he failed to return titles he checked out.

I also found out that in China they banned the book, because a few students attempted suicide. Now, the students didn’t try to kill rabbits after reading the book, and they suicided by jumping into the river or taking sleeping pills, not copy-catting any of the unusual ways depicted in the book. It’s a sad fact that students in Asia do get a lot of pressure to perform well in school, and news of suicide is sadly not uncommon. However, I do find the bunnies quite innocent. Therefore, of all the banned books I read, I decide to pick the Bunnies Suicide for my banned book title.

Book Riot Reading Challenge

I totally had fun with Book Riot’s challenge in 2015.  There are plenty of reading challenges out there, but this one just seemed perfect, the right amount of books, and a mix of some that I read all the time and some that stretches me slightly beyond my comfort zone.

The list for 2016:
Read a horror book – Slade House
Read a nonfiction book about science – Modified: GMOs and the Threat to Our Food, Our Land, Our Future
Read a collection of essays – Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls
Read a book out loud to someone else –
Read a middle grade novel – Endymion Spring
Read a biography (not memoir or autobiography) – A Thousand Miles of Dreams
Read a dystopian or post-apocalyptic novel – Rut
Read a book originally published in the decade you were born – 2001: A Space Odyssey
Listen to an audiobook that has won an Audie Award – The boy in the suitcase 
Read a book over 500 pages long – City of Glass
Read a book under 100 pages – The Sleeper and the Spindle
Read a book by or about a person that identifies as transgender – Stuck in the Middle with You
Read a book that is set in the Middle East – I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced (Yemen)
Read a book that is by an author from Southeast Asia – The Bondmaid (Singapore)
Read a book of historical fiction set before 1900 – Cloud of Sparrows
Read the first book in a series by a person of color – With the Light
Read a non-superhero comic that debuted in the last three years –
Read a book that was adapted into a movie, then watch the movie. Debate which is better –
Read a nonfiction book about feminism or dealing with feminist themes – I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced
Read a book about religion (fiction or nonfiction) – A Chant to Soothe Wild Elephants
Read a book about politics, in your country or another (fiction or nonfiction) – Blood Diamonds
Read a food memoir – Roasting in Hell’s Kitchen
Read a play – Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Read a book with a main character that has a mental illness – The Atlantis Complex

And, for record, my 2015 list:

1. A book written by someone when they were under the age of 25 – A Fine and Private Place
2. A book written by someone when they were over the age of 65 – The Tent
3. A collection of short stories (either by one person or an anthology by many people): Fantasy Gone Wrong
4. A book published by an indie press – Aaron’s Crossing
5.A book by or about someone that identifies as LGBTQ: Shanghai Tango
6. A book by a person whose gender is different from your own – Lego: A Love Story
7. A book that takes place in Asia: The Painter from Shanghai
8. A book by an author from Africa: The Almond
9. A book that is by or about someone from an indigenous culture (Native Americans, Aboriginals, etc.) – Morning Girl
10. A microhistory – Tilt
11. A YA novel – The Hunger Game
12. A sci-fi novel – Shades of Grey
13. A romance novel – The Inheritance
14. A National Book Award, Man Booker Prize or Pulitzer Prize winner from the last decade – The Inheritance of Loss
15. A book that is a retelling of a classic story (fairytale, Shakespearian play, classic novel, etc.) – Godmother
16. An audiobook – The Painted Girls
17. A collection of poetry – Voices from WahKon-Tah
18. A book that someone else has recommended to you: The Chaperone
19. A book that was originally published in another language – The Character of Rain
20. A graphic novel, a graphic memoir or a collection of comics of any kind – The Color of Earth
21. A book that you would consider a guilty pleasure (Read, and then realize that good entertainment is nothing to feel guilty over) – Bite Me If You Can
22. A book published before 1850 – Ourika
23. A book published this year – Vitamania
24. A self-improvement book (can be traditionally or non-traditionally considered “self-improvement”) – Doing What Matters

Dewey 24 Hour Read-a-thon ~~ October 17 2015

Time: 8:00 am
I did it!! Another year of Raed-a-thon! Can’t believe it’s over already and I have to wait another six month… sob…

It was kind of slow reading for a while, I finished The Inheritance and started on Just My Type, even though I know I won’t be able to finish the book. Glad I did, it was an interesting read.

This year I’ve read a lot of manga, which was a nice boost to my page count.

Time: 2:40 am
I finished vol 7 and 8 of Peach Girl in an hour, wanted to start on something new but my eyes couldn’t read a straight line. You all know how it’s like. So I took a quick nap, and now hopefully am ready for a thin quick book, The Inheritance by Louisa May Alcott. Written in 1849 when she was 19, this book nicely fills two spots for the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge (written before 1850 and written by someone under 25.)

Time: 11:30 pm
I had a break for dinner, and by this time finished vol 6 of Peach Girl. Will continue on to vol 7 and 8 (I hope it ends at 8) and then get back to reading another book with more words.

Time: 7:50 pm
Progressing nicely – since I had a late start I’m still going strong.
Snacked a little on a Earl Grey Moonlight Tea chocolate bar from Adagio Teas. It is milk chocolate with some tea leaves and black sea salt in it. Quite delicious.

Mid-Event Survey:
1. What are you reading right now?
A manga series called Peach Girl.
2. How many books have you read so far?
4.5
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?
Not sure if I’ll get to it but I have a book about type face: Not My Type. I know, an odd choice but I’m excited about it as I like fonts.
4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?
Oh yes… getting groceries, meals, doing laundry. It’s life. Would love it if my hubby offers to do it all…
5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?
No big surprise, but it’s turning into a manga-a-thon for me! It feels real good to the ego to breeze through the volumes.

Time: 5:20 pm
Okay, I finished Sour Sweet. I thought I was really slow, but doing the math it was about a page a minute, so not too shabby.

Mini-challeng: Book Scavenger Hunt
From Sour Sweet by Timothy Mo
1. Something hard: The coffin the grandpa makes in his backyard
2. Something fast: the way Lily drives her car
3. Something sweet: the sweet cake the family enjoyed at new year
4. Something high: the aspiration Lily has for her son
5. Something funny: instead of getting a driver license, Lily stuffed some money into her card holder. Which worked as a bribe when she was stopped by a cop.

Time: 2:07 pm
So, finally… Ate breakfast, unpacked luggage, bought grocery, ate lunch. Now seriously starting my Read-a-thon in earnest. Will try to finish Sour Sweet, which I have been slogging through for a while. I must admit I suck at breaking up bad relationships… lucky for me I haven’t met many awful guys, but I have a hard time giving up a book even if I’m not enjoying it. Anyway, am hoping that I can just fast-read through it today.

Time: 10:56 am

Had breakfast.  That would be dinner in Hong Kong time zone.  Unpack my bag.  Good news: my beers from Hong Kong arrived safely.  I didn’t doubt they would but nonetheless it’s glad to open the suitcase and not see broken glasses and beer smelling clothes.  Bad news: American Airlines broke my luggage. They reduced their overhead bin size so much they hardly have space for everybody to fit their carry ons, so they made me check in mine.  Grrrrrgh!!

Ok, my goal for this read-a-thon: I hope I get to read some manga, and one or two mico-history books, as I have both bookboxes coming to my doorstep soon, and need to read up to have some AVLs for trading.

Total Pages read so far: 2160

Sour Sweet pgs 100-279
Hats (160 pgs)
Peach Gril Vol. 1 (180 pgs)
Peach Gril Vol. 2 (168 pgs)
Peach Gril Vol. 3 (176 pgs)
Peach Gril Vol. 4 (176 pgs)
Peach Gril Vol. 5 (179 pgs)
Peach Gril Vol. 6 (176 pgs)
Peach Gril Vol. 7 (174 pgs)
Peach Gril Vol. 8 (170 pgs)
The Inheritance (188 pgs)
Just My Type (1-232 pgs)

Total Time spent reading so far: 13 hr

Mini-challenges I’ve entered:
Mid-Event Survey
Book Scavenger Hunt
Accio Cinnamon Rolls
4 Seasons 4 Books

Who am I?
Blanket Fort

 

Books I have finished:

(Not finished)

Other Readers I have visited:

@shaunesay
@MelissaVerasR
@gee_elsi
@Beczenbooks
@estellasrevenge
@LittleBookOwl
Deb @ ReadWriteTell
Chris

Dewey Read-a-thon October 17, 2015 Opening Meme

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

I’m in Miami, Florida

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

Hmm… I don’t know yet… just woke up, ha hah.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
Tim Tam!!  Always!  The Unofficial snack of BookCrossing

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

Love to read, love to eat, likes wine and beer.  Enjoy travelling, love a good massage.

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?

Well, this is most certainly different from my previous read-a-thons!!  Usually I have everything all set up days before and am up and ready for the event!

This year – well, I didn’t even think I would be able to participate.  I was in Asia the past few weeks, and was scheduled to fly back to the U.S. on Friday afternoon.  So I most naturally think that I would be up on the airplane the most of the read-a-thon.  I may do some reading on my own but not able to participate socially.  Until my husband pointed me to the miracle called time difference.  The same wondrous thing that allows Fogg to win his wager in Around the World in 80 Days.

So, I arrived home in time, but it wasn’t till 1am Saturday morning that we got home. Good thing was I was so tired I slept through the night without jet lag, but I barely woke up now.  Will have some breakfast and get started.

I will attempt to read some today, but also need to unpack, do laundry, get grocery, etc. all the boring things one have to go through after a good time away.  But going from not able to participate to being able to, it’s a lovely thing.

Dewey Read-a-thon April 25, 2015

Time: 5:40 pm

So, finally got home from work, ate a quick late lunch (by mistake, grab the wrong container from my fridge… so didn’t have a proper lunch at work) and started reading. With my late start at Hour 9, I am happy to report that I finished my first book.  Actually, it’s half a book, I think I started on it during another read-a-thon and then didn’t finish.  I guess you can say it’s not a page-turner, but I’m the commited type who tend to stay in a relationship till the end, unless it’s really hopeless.  I was looking on my shelf for my TBR books for RAT, and saw this and figure it’s about time to end the affair.

Time: 9:02 pm

Took a quick nap at 7pm for half an hour, then woke up and helped hubby prepare dinner.  He was nice enough to do the cooking and washing, while I offered some token help, like mincing the garlic and laying the forks out on the table.

Time: 9:54 pm

Finished Brewing Up a Business, written by Sam Calagione, the head of Dogfish Head.  It’s a shame that I was reading about beer but I couldn’t drink any!  Sadly, experience taught me that I would get too giddy and sleepy to continue reading much.  This book was autographed by the author when he came to Funky Buddha Brewery a few weeks ago.

Time: 12:10 am

Finished The Tent.  A easy, beautiful and enjoyable read. Not really sleepy yet but as I goes to work at 6am not sure if I can do much more.  Maybe something short or a manga.

TIme: 1:38 am (hour 18)

Another book done! I picked Earth and Ashes up at a Booklegger shelf, thinking that this thin book is perfect for read-a-thon.  Snack: Tim Tam!

Time: 3:42 am (hour 20)

As it’s late it’s perfect time to pick up from manga!!  A marshmallowy high school romance. First love, first kiss. Ah, beautiful youth! Now time for bed as I have to be leaving for work at 6am.

While I did not read as much as I’d want, I had a great time this read-a-thon.  I have joined a few mini challenges, and have great fun joining the chat on Twitter, “meeting” other readers from different cities and countries: Denmark, Dominican Republic…

Total Pages read so far: 955

Tone Deaf in Bangkok:  pg 73-155
Brewing up a Business: pg 168-269
The Tent by Margaret Atwood pg 1-155
Earth and Ashes by Atiq Rahimi pg 1-54
We Were There vol 1-3 by Yuki Obata pg 186, 186, 186

Total Time spent reading so far: 9 hr

Other Readers I have visited:

@shaunesay
@Atrixareads
@DNWilliams2 www.giz-blog.dk
Alysha @lilpocketbooks
@xenia.ej
@MelissaVerasR

Mini-challenges I’ve entered:

In 100 Years… 

Which contemporary books will become classic in a 100 years? It’s a fun mini-challenge, and wish there is some way I could really know what books will still be around and read by students in a 100 years. After some quick consideration, my votes are: 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Bookish Brews

It’s funny I am reading a book about Dogfish Head Brewery, and up pop this challenge. While a bottle of beer would be my “choice of beverage”, sadly, experience taught me that I don’t read too well under influence. So the next best thing is the butter beer. Found it at Whole Foods a few years back and it simply screams Harry Potter without infringing any copyright.

Sadly books and beer don't mix for me but butter beer is my official #readathon drink. #bookishbrews http://t.co/4PbHDk2rvT—
Crystal S. P. (@CrystalSP) April 26, 2015

Six Words Story

Tired eyes conquering Mt TBR… not #DeweySixWordStory #readathon

— Crystal S. P. (@CrystalSP) April 26, 2015

Books I have finished:

Getting Ready for Dewey’s Read-a-thon April 25, 2015

Yay!  Another read-a-thon!  I read on the website that this is the 8th year of Dewey’s Read-a-thon, and it will be my 9th. Not bad, huh?

I have to work both Sat and Sun morning this weekend, so that would cut into my reading time, but I plan to try my best!  STAY AWAY FROM MY PHONE, for example.  I had plans to go out for dinner, but when my friend texted me to cancel, boy, I’ve never been happier!  A whole evening of reading!

I’ll likely start my Read-a-thon listening to an audio book as I drive to work.

Also plan to finish the book I’ve been reading,

Afterwards, will likely start on:

For any cheerleader and fellow Read-a-thon-ers, thank you so much for stopping by to cheer me on! Just want to let you know that I really appreciate that. It makes reading less lonely. (Probably that’s why I love BookCrossing so much.) Happy Reading to you all!! 

Dewey’s Read-a-thon Oct 18, 2014 Wrap Up

That’s it, my 8th Dewey’s Read-a-thon!!

Well, this year I totally missed the RAT in April as I was travelling, and for October’s, I was out and about most of the day, so I really did minimal reading – a little bit of audiobook while driving, a hurried few pages here and there, except for (really proud of myself) a solid two hours when I woke up at 4am to read two hours before heading to work!

I have to admit, with some shame, that my smart phone has seriously taken time off my reading.  However, reading last year’s notes, I realized that I’ve actually read more books this year than last year.  I guess my longer commute helps made a difference.

Knowing that I have little time to read, I’ve picked some really slim books, and as a result I managed to finish quite a few books!!  More than some other RATs, I’d say…

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?

Well, considered I didn’t read much, it wasn’t daunting, except that I have to say I am really proud of myself for waking up at 4 am to read for 2 hours before heading to work!

2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?

Manga/graphic novels are great for in between longer reads. Young adult paranormal fantasies are great too.

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
Funny, last year I complained about not receiving any cheering, and this year I got several visits!  I used twitter more this year as I was on the road mostly, and I guess it helps, easily for both me and the cheerleaders to fire off a short exchange?

4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
The tweets.

5. How many books did you read?
I’ve read 5, plus a manga and an audio book I didn’t finish.

6. What were the names of the books you read?
At Her Majesty’s Request
What?
The Last Brother
The Snow Geese
Sumo
Angel
The Ghost Map

7. Which book did you enjoy most?
Happy to say I enjoyed all the books and didn’t think any was a waste of my time.  The Snow Geese is my favorite.

8. Which did you enjoy least?
Can’t pick one – I like them all so even to pick one and say I like it least feels like a betrayal.

9. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
Most definitely. And hopefully I’d have more reading time so I can join the cheerleading as well. Overdue for some pay it forward!

Total Pages read: 726
At Her Majesty’s Request – 140
What? – 84
The Last Brother – 164
The Snow Geese – 58
Sumo – 106
Angel – 74
The Ghost Map – 100

Total Time spent reading:

About 4 hrs

Other Readers I have visited:

Books I have munched on:

Books I have finished:

Mini Challenges I participated in:
Sadly, none. Hopefully next time as I do love them.

Dewey Read-a-thon Opening Meme

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

I’m in Miami, Florida

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

Hmm… I would say it’s my manga.  If I get to it.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
Tim Tam!!  Always!  The Unofficial snack of BookCrossing

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

Love to read, love to eat, likes wine and beer.  Enjoy travelling, love a good massage,

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 didn’t do April’s but have done a few read-a-thon before.  One thing I do different today? Umm, not read as much… because luckily, or sadly, I won a free ticket to a food & wine fest and that’s just too good to pass up!! Will try to read while in car, etc, and I have stacked up a few very thin book so at least I can claim to finish a book or two.

Now on to a little bit of reading before I have to go to volunteer at the library!

Getting Ready for Dewey’s Read-a-thon October 18, 2014

Just a sleep away from the read-a-thon!!

I missed April’s as I was travelling in Thailand on that day. True, I could read some books, but I figure it would be a terrible waste of a trip that could be once-in-a-lifetime.

For October, I requested my day off work way ahead. However, it looks like there’s some conspiracy from the Universe to keep me from my books (other than inventing the smart phone, that is…) I won a pair of tickets to an event. It’s called Seeds Food & Wine Festival, supposedly the first vegan food & wine festival in the country. I admit I’m not a vegan, though mostly vegetarian, but it does sound like a fun event, and with the ticket costing $40, it seems a waste to pass it up.

Then my friend organized a meetup on Sat night at one of my favorite restaurants, Gyu-kaku, a Japanese BBQ place, where you grill your food at the table. (Yes, I admit, I’m NOT vegetarian)

So, I will try my best to read as much as I can. But in all honesty it won’t be a lot. I have to work Sunday at 7am so it’s not even like I can stay up at night to play catch up. I will probably tweet my progress (@crystalsp) as I’ll be out most of the day.

For any cheerleader and fellow Read-a-thon-ers, thank you so much for stopping by! Happy Reading to you all!!

Dewey’s Read-a-thon Oct 2013 Wrap Up

So, another Dewey went by, again with some tinge of regret that I didn’t read more, but also some pride as I have not been reading much at all the last few months as work was just too busy. I normally clock 10 books a month but this year I’ve read only 80 plus so far. As I have included some graphic novels and a novella, the number of books read this time tops previous read-a-thons.

I finished reading The Bookshop by Penelope Lively with around 20 min to go. I would have called it quits but the book ended on such a sad note with the closing of a bookshop, and I just couldn’t end a read-a-thon on such a sad note, so I decided to pick up another book, a short 100-pager with large print and wide spacing.

Quite pride of myself for brewing a perfect cup of Earl Grey this morning. I like a good cup of tea, but not usually very mindful of brewing one, so often ended up too astringent a cup by steeping the leaves too long. But I managed a nice cup this morning.

Meanwhile, it does sound like I take a perverse joy in this but my hubby asked me to wake him at 6 this morning to go paddling this morning but is still snuggled up. And I should be joining him after I finish the wrap up meme.

As I haven’t done the beginning or midway challenge (as I wasn’t reading at that time), here at least is my wrap up:

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?
Well, the hour around 3am I suppose. At the junction I could take a nap or just plod on the finish line.

2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
The Maximum Ride series is great, so is the Immortal Instruments, and a good manga series.

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
Well, not sure why, but I didn’t get any visit from the cheering squad? I get some personal friends visiting, but usually I get at least a few visits. Not that I feel offended, but I did enjoy the comments the cheerleaders left, it does make a difference, you know.

4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
I enjoy the videos.

5. How many books did you read?
I’ve read 9, but really finished copy-to-copy, or mostly, 6.

6. What were the names of the books you read?
Books That Changed The World
Something Rotten
Beethoven’s Hair
Necromancer: A Novella
Pluto Vol 1-3
The Bookshop
a cool moonlight

7. Which book did you enjoy most?
I’d say Something Rotten, from the Thursday Next series. But I’ve only listened to 1.5 CD of that, so not counting it, I’d say Beethoven’s Hair.

8. Which did you enjoy least?
Necromancer. I actually didn’t realize the first half is an extract from the full-length book, which explains why the pace isn’t as brisk as I expected. I enjoyed the novella, but the extract, the writing I dislike so much I almost gave up. Not likely to make me want to read the full version.

9. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
Hopefully I can be off work and free to spend the whole day reading. I’d love to be cheering again.

Total Pages read: 1028
Books That Changed The World: pg 162-203 (42)
Something Rotten: approx 50 (50)
Beethoven’s Hair: 76-273 (198)
Necromancer: A Novella 1-36 (36)
Pluto Vol 1: 163-198 (36)
Pluto Vol 2: 1-206 (206)
Pluto Vol 3: 1-201 (202)
The Bookshop: 1-123 (124)
a cool moonlight: 1-133 (134)

Total Time spent reading: 8.25 hr
8:30 am – 9:00 am Something Rotten
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm Something Rotten (audio CD while driving)
2:30 am – 6:00 pm Beethoven’s Hair
7:30 pm – 8:15 pm Necromancer (on my cellphone while hubby’s driving)
12:30am – 2:30 am Pluto Vol 1-3
5:30 am – 8:00 am The Bookshop, a cool moonlight

Other Readers I have visited:

shaunesay
noumena

Books I have munched on:

Books I have finished:

Mini Challenges I participated in:
None. As I didn’t really get much reading time I don’t want to be sidetracked. Normally, I do enjoy the mini challenges to keep things exciting.

Read-a-thon Hour 22

I’m up and I’m reading!!.
Feeling a bit lonely though… no cheering team this year it seems like. : (

Time: 5:30am

Currently Reading:

Reading Location:In living room, on sofa.

Total Pages read so far: 770
Books That Changed The World: pg 162-203 (42)
Something Rotten: approx 50 (50)
Beethoven’s Hair: 76-273 (198)
Necromancer: A Novella 1-36 (36)
Pluto Vol 1: 163-198 (36)
Pluto Vol 2: 1-206 (206)
Pluto Vol 1: 1-201 (202)

Total Time spent reading so far: 5.75 hr
8:30 am – 9:00 am Something Rotten
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm Something Rotten (audio CD while driving)
2:30 am – 6:00 pm Beethoven’s Hair
7:30 pm – 8:15 pm Necromancer (on my cellphone while hubby’s driving)
12:30am – 2:30 am Pluto Vol 1-3

Other Readers I have visited:

shaunesay
noumena

Books I have munched on:

Books I have finished:

Mini Challenges I participated in: