End of Event Meme

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?

I would have to say Hour 14...that was when I first started falling asleep. I rallied for another few hours, but it was rough.

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

I don't know that my choices are what most people would consider "high-interest," lol. I enjoyed my book of essays, though.

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?

None. It was great!

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

Everything!

5. How many books did you read?

Not even one. But my current book is something like 600 pages, so I knew I wouldn't finish it. I read a good deal of it, though!

6. What were the names of the books you read?

Shaking a Leg by Angela Carter

7. Which book did you enjoy most?

The only one I read.

8. Which did you enjoy least?

Doesn't really apply.

9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?

N/A

10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?

Oh, I will definitely do this again. It's become one of my favorite things to do in October and April!

RaT: Mid-Event Survey

1. What are you reading right now?

Still reading Shaking a Leg by Angela Carter. Still loving her take on literature, movies, TV, art, feminism, etc.

2. How many books have you read so far?

Just this one.

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?

I'd just like to finish this book, if possible.

4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day?

No special arrangements needed, since there was no (important) college football on today!

5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?

Just my lovely husband. And I let him interrupt me. He'll be home from work again soon, so I expect I'll be interrupted a bit more. But he's actually been very good about letting me be. He told me today is for me...awww.

6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?

How tired I am so early on. Sigh. Getting old is for the birds.

7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?

NONE!

8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year?

Nothing, really. This is my third RaT and I think I know what strategies work for me.

9. Are you getting tired yet?

Yes, but I'm ingesting more caffeine right now.

10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered?

Collections of short fiction or essays...and magazines. Things that keep a short attention span engaged!

Things I've Done Meme

One of my best friends is in the hospital delivering her first child. I'm trying to keep my mind occupied so I don't go crazy from the waiting!!!

The things I have done are in BOLD!
1. Started my own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than I can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sung a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched lightning at sea (on our honeymoon cruise!)
14. Taught myself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown my own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill (not from my present job, though)
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught myself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had my portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had my picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Rode an elephant

TOTAL: 42

TV Meme

Okay, I did books, now for TV!

1. Name a TV show series in which you have seen every episode at least twice: Scrubs - Ricky's a HUGE fan, and it's on in syndication, so we're always falling asleep to it. I know some episodes by heart.

2. Name a show you can’t miss: Heroes (or I won't know what the HECK is going on) and The Amazing Race.

3. Name an actor that would make you more inclined to watch a show: David Duchovny, unless the show is on a premium channel (Californication?!), and also Nathan Fillion...can't wait for his new show to premiere!

4. Name an actor who would make you less likely to watch a show: Andie McDowell or Nicholas Cage, if they were doing TV. I think both of them are terrible actors.

5. Name a show you can, and do, quote from: How I Met Your Mother..."LAWYERED!"

6. Name a show you like that no one else enjoys: The Big Bang Theory? Or else Raising the Bar, but all my PD friends watch that!

7. Name a TV show which you’ve been known to sing the theme song: Scrubs, Big Bang Theory, The Office (I know, it's just music, but we sing it anyway)...pretty much all of them...Ricky and I like to sing

8. Name a show you would recommend everyone to watch: Raising the Bar. SO AWESOME. If a bit fake.

9. Name a TV series you own: Firefly; Northern Exposure; The Office...shall I go on?

10. Name an actor who launched his/her entertainment career in another medium, but has surprised you with his/her acting choices in television: Can't really think of anyone.

11. What is your favourite episode of your favourite series? "Eve" from The X-Files, my all-time favorite TV show.

12. Name a show you keep meaning to watch, but you just haven’t gotten around to yet: I've only seen a couple of episodes of Psych, and loved them, but haven't watched any back episodes and keep forgetting to tune in on Fridays.

13. Ever quit watching a show because it was so bad? Lost. I couldn't do it anymore.

14. Name a show that’s made you cry multiple times: Raising the Bar and/or Eli Stone.

15. What do you eat when you watch TV? Sometimes dinner, sometimes snacks...pretzels are good.

16. How often do you watch TV? Two to three hours on most nights. Some nights not at all. It depends on what's on.

17. What’s the last TV show you watched? Heroes, last night.

18. What’s your favourite/preferred genre of TV? Drama, with emphasis on Sci Fi and/or Westerns. For some reason, I cannot withstand the lure of a good Western.

19. What was the first TV show you were obsessed with? Obsessed with? The X-Files. My sister and I used to quote it to each other.

20. What TV show do you wish you never watched? Lost. See above. What a waste of my brain cells.

21. What’s the weirdest show you enjoyed? One of the Westerns...when I was a kid, I loved this show called Guns of Paradise (and later just Paradise) and also the one called Young Riders, I think, about the Pony Express. WTF? I don't like country, but I love me some Westerns.

22. What TV show scared you the most? Some episodes of The X-Files.

23. What is the funniest TV show you have ever watched? The Office and/or 30 Rock. Both crack me up.

Snagged from Heather.

Book Meme

Ricky sent this to me and I thought I'd post it, just for something a little different.

1. Which book has been on your shelves the longest?

Well, this depends on if we're talking children's books, because I have some of those that have been around a while, or if we're talking adult books. Children's books, I'll go with either my Raggedy Ann and Andy books or A Peaceable Kingdom: The Shaker Abecedarius. I've had both since before I could even read. Adult books: I'll go with my L.M. Montgomery books; I've had them since about age 9 or 10.

2. What is your current read, your last read and the book you’ll read next?

Current read: Doctor Zhivago (which is taking me forever to get through, although I got a lot read yesterday, while sick)
Last read: The Eight by Katherine Neville...really good
Next read: The Best American Short Stories of 2008

3. What book did everyone like and you hated?

Okay, I didn't HATE it, but I really just didn't get into Pride and Prejudice.

4. Which book do you keep telling yourself you’ll read, but you probably won’t?

Anything else by Hemingway. HATE Hemingway.

5. Which book are you saving for “retirement?”

At the rate I'm reading, all of them. But, really, nothing in particular.

6. Last page: read it first or wait til the end?

Oh my gosh, wait till the end! I'm so obsessive-compulsive that reading it first would kill me.

7. Acknowledgements: waste of ink and paper or interesting aside?

I like the acknowledgements and I'll at least peek at them. If they are too boring, I won't slog through.

8. Which book character would you switch places with?

Hmm, I'd like to be Mary Lennox in The Secret Garden.


9. Do you have a book that reminds you of something specific in your life (a person, a place, a time)?

Any of the L.M. Montgomery books remind me of my aunt, who introduced them to me, and make me think of the last time I read them straight through, which was in April and May of 2002, right before I made the decision to go to law school.

10. Name a book you acquired in some interesting way.

My friend Greer and I traded: my copy of Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things for her copy of The Talented Mr. Ripley.

11. Have you ever given away a book for a special reason to a special person?

Well, I loaned Sophie's World to my friend Susanna after a nasty break-up, when she needed something to keep her mind occupied.


12. Which book has been with you to the most places?

Probably The Stand, which was with me in Ohio, Georgia, Oregon, and Florida. It finally got Mooched away to another home, too.


13. Any “required reading” you hated in high school that wasn’t so bad ten years later?

I haven't re-read much from high school. Maybe if I DO give Hemingway another go, I'll appreciate him much more now. Most of my re-reads have been things I loved, like Jane Eyre and To Kill a Mockingbird. Although it wasn't required reading, I couldn't make it through The Lord of the Rings back then, but loved it when I read it last year.

14. What is the strangest item you’ve ever found in a book?

Nothing too weird. Bookmarks, notes, etc.

15. Used or brand new?

Used, if I can get it. It's cheaper and more eco-friendly. But, if not, I'll buy it new. That way, I support the authors and publishers and insure they stay around!

16. Stephen King: Literary genius or opiate of the masses?

I've not read much Stephen King, but I couldn't put The Stand down.

17. Have you ever seen a movie you liked better than the book?

Can't think of one. I like to read the book first, and the movie almost never stands up to the book.

18. Conversely, which book should NEVER have been introduced to celluloid?

Most of them.

19. Who is the person whose book advice you’ll always take?

Any of my bloggy friends!

Not going to tag anyone, but if anyone is interested, please feel free to steal this meme! I got it from Ricky, who got it from
Book Group Buzz and/or Booklist Online.

End of Read-a-Thon Meme

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?

I got REALLY tired during Hour 16. But once I got my second wind, I got in another good three hours or so of reading time.

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

Mmm, I've heard others say that series books are really good for the Read-a-Thon. I read a classic, which I don't think many people would recommend, but I enjoyed it a lot. I think it depends a lot on the individual reader's personality.

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?

None, really. I would like to do two 12-hour periods over two days, but I understand that that takes some of the fun out of trying to stay up for 24 hours. I guess it depends on whether the point is to stay up as long as you can, or to READ as much as you can. I could get more quality reading time in during two 12-hour periods...

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

I LOVED the cheerleaders stopping by, and all the mini-challenges. Overall, I think everything went very very well.

5. How many books did you read?

I read one full book, one full magazine, and finished a book I'd started before the Read-a-Thon.

6. What were the names of the books you read?

I finished The Empress of Weehawken by Irene Dische; I read November's Glamour magazine; and I read H.G. Wells' The Invisible Man from cover to cover.

7. Which book did you enjoy most?

Definitely The Invisible Man.

8. Which did you enjoy least?

The Empress of Weehawken, which was a review book for LibraryThing, so I really WANTED to like it. And it was okay, just not great.

9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?

I was a reader who cheered others on, and I really appreciated the cheerleaders coming by my blog. It was great.

10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?

I would ABSOLUTELY participate in the next Read-a-Thon, schedule permitting. I'll be a reader again next time.

24-Hour Read-a-Thon Hour 1 Meme

Hi everyone! Hour 1 has gone swimmingly so far. Quiet, with one little break to eat some breakfast (waffles, if you must know).

Here's a meme for Read-a-Thon-ers:

Where are you reading from today?

Um, if this means location, the couch in my living room. If it means WHICH BOOKS, right now I'm trying to finish up The Empress of Weehawken by Irene Dische.

3 facts about me …

1) I LOVE football. I will be watching the University of Georgia game later, despite it being the Read-a-Thon. My devotion to the Dawgs outweighs my desire even to read.

2) I'm engaged to the most wonderful man in the world, who didn't look at me like I was crazy when I told him I wanted to read books for 24 hours straight.

3) I live in Florida, and it's warm enough outside right now to make me think of turning the air conditioner back on.

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

Ohhh, I've got about ten, but I think I'll only get to the four or so that I posted about the other day.

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)?

My goal is just to READ. Life has been crazy lately and I haven't been able to devote the amount of time to reading that I was this past spring. So, although I have no specific goals, I'll be happy if I just spend the bulk of the day immersed in a book.

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

This is my first Read-a-Thon, so no advice from me!

How Many Have YOU Read?

I've seen these everywhere, and have played along in my head, but now is the time to REALLY see how well-read I am.

!) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Underline the books you love.
4) Strike out the books you have no intention of ever reading, or were forced to read at school and hated. (I will make these RED instead.)
5) Reprint this list in your own blog.

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4. The Harry Potter Series - JK Rowling
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6. The Bible - God (I don't think I've read it all, but I read a good deal of it during high school/college.)
7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12. Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare (I've read many, but not ALL, of his works. I do intend to get to all of them, though.)
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19. The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot
21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald (I read this in high school, but intend to read it again soon...)
23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25. The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis (I read most of these, but not all, when I was a child. I intend to read them again soon, though.)
34. Emma- Jane Austen
35. Persuasion - Jane Austen
36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40. Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41. Animal Farm - George Orwell
42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44. A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery (If I could underline this five MILLION times, I would. One of my favorite books of all time.)
47. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48. The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49. Lord of the Flies - William Golding (Going to re-read soon.)
50. Atonement - Ian McEwan
51. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52. Dune - Frank Herbert
53. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66. On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68. Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69. Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70. Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72. Dracula - Bram Stoker
73. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75. Ulysses - James Joyce
76. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78. Germinal - Emile Zola
79. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80. Possession - AS Byatt
81. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87. Charlotte’s Web - EB White (Want to re-read.)
88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94. Watership Down - Richard Adams
95. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98. Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100. Les Miserables– Victor Hugo

Not bad, 36 of 100. I want to read almost everything on this list, though, so hopefully that number will shoot up soon.