Read-a-Thon Wrap-Up

Well, another one under my belt, huh? It's been so much fun again this time. Here's my final stats, and the official wrap-up meme.

Title of book(s) read since last update: The Best American Short Stories of 2008 and Bookmarks magazine
Number of books read since you started: one book and one magazine (I am just a couple of pages from the end of the mag, so I'm counting it.)
Pages read since last update: 18
Running total of pages read since you started: 328
Amount of time spent reading since last update: One hour.
Running total of time spent reading since you started: (keep track of this one to be eligible for a prize!) Eleven and a half hours.
Mini-challenges completed: Two.
Other participants you’ve visited: Eva, Carl V., Anna and the Girl, debnance, Alaine, and Fantaghiro; BJ, Carrie at The Book Girl, Lissa at Lissa's Long Yarn, Lisa at Books Lists Life, Leslie at Life on the Shelves, and Karen Beth at The Pink Bookmark; Laza at Gimme More Books, Lynda at Lynda's Book Blog, Mary Beth at Boo's Bookshelf, mari at MariReads, MandaNikole at Literary Mumblings, and Peta at The Bookling; Tammy at Tammy's Book Nook, tanabata at In Spring It Is the Dawn, Valentina at Valentina's Room, Sandra at Fresh Ink Books, Reeder at Reeder's Corner, and Rebecca at Lost in Books.
Prize you’ve won: 0 yet (I haven't yet checked, but I'm assuming 0.)
What I've eaten: Peanut M&M's; instant mashed potatoes (I don't know, the cupboards are pretty bare and I was carb-craving!); Life Savers and more Diet Mountain Dew of course; chunky peanut butter and pretzels; Chik-Fil-A sammich and fries with my honey and more Life Savers; more Diet Mountain Dew; popcorn, more peanut M&M's.

Eleven and a half hours??? That's like half of the really real Read-a-Thon! And 328 pages. Do you even KNOW how long it would take me to read that many pages in real life?! Awesome. I'm sure I'm nowhere near the top of the pack, but I'm proud of myself, even if I didn't quite make it into the Ya-Ya's.

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Wrap-Up Meme:

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?

Ooh, I'd say Hour Sixteen. I had to take a nap.

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

I highly, highly recommend a short story anthology. (Is it an anthology when it's by different authors? That's what I'm trying to say...) At least for my attention span, they really worked.

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

More random prizes? Like just drawings for no reason? I found that the Mini-Challenges, while fun, distracted me from my reading, which for me was the main focus...I understand that the idea is to get away from the book for a while, but it would be nice for those of us who are more hard-core about the reading to be able to win prizes too.

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

Pretty much everything. I am so grateful to Nymeth, Trish, and Hannah for carrying out Dewey's vision, even after she's gone. It was just as much fun as last time, when Dewey was in charge. And, of course, Dewey. Wherever you are, thank you for helping our little (HUGE?) blogging community come together to celebrate our love for reading.

5. How many books did you read?

One book and one magazine.

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

The Best American Short Stories 2008 and most of my newest Bookmarks magazine.

7. Which book did you enjoy most?

The short stories.

8. Which did you enjoy least?

The magazine, but it was good, too.

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 absolutely be back next time. As a reader.

Thanks to everyone who helped put this event together, who came by to cheer me on, who donated prizes....everything. It was freakin' AWESOME and a great testament to Dewey.