Dewey's Read-a-thon closing survey

Hello, fellow Read-a-Thon-ers! It's the last hour of the read-a-thon. We made it! Or at least some of us did; I went to sleep at around midnight, plus I lost four hours to work :( I did not read as many books or as much as I intended, but I had a bit of a breakdown in the middle because of other things and that really tired me out. But anyway, here's how I did:


1. Which hour was most daunting to you?

Honestly, the second hour, because I had gotten up around 6:00 and was very tired. I almost napped, but instead just rested for a minute, recaffeinated, and got back to it.


2. What did I read?

I only read two books, The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue and Bone, a poetry collection by Yrsa Daley-Ward, both of which I had started before the event and had hoped I would finish much more quickly than I actually did. Note to self: do not start a 400+ page book a couple days before a read-a-thon.

3. Which books would you recommend to other read-a-thoners?

Definitely GGTVAV even though it's super long. It's a great, fun, diverse historical YA that's really unique from anything I've read.

4. What's a really rad thing we could do during the next event?

um...just do it again?

5. How likely are you to participate again? Would you be interested in helping organization and prep?

Yes and yes!

#readathonmemories

The fourth-hour readathon challenge is to share what your favorite book was from past readathons. I unfortunately do not remember how many times I have participated in the readathon, so I can't do one book for each one, but last spring 2016, I most loved Summer of Supernovas. It's about a girl obsessed with astrology who uses it to control her whole life after her mother dies. There's a lot of fun and romance and silly teenage mistakes and it's simply a delightful read. I remember ripping through this one in my dorm the year I graduated and just adoring it. If you haven't gotten to this adorable contemporary yet, GET ON IT!!

Dewey Mini-Challenge: 10 Books for 10 Years

Not only is it Dewey's 24-Hour Read-a-Thon day, but it's the 10th year of the event! As such, the first challenge is to recommend a book from each year the challenge has been running. Of course, I find it impossible to recommend only one book per year, so each year on this post will have at least 3 books.

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Dewey's Read-a-Thon Opening Survey

Hello, fellow readers! Today is the day! It's Dewey's 24-hour readathon, and I am planning to be actively reading for hopefully over half of it. The first mini-challenge is the opening survey, the answers for which I will be posting below!

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
Just outside of Hartford, CT. And no, it is nothing like Stars Hollow, unfortunately.

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
This is a tough one, but definitely either Turtles All the Way Down or The Book of Dust. First, I have to finish The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue which I started mid-week last week and am almost halfway through, but then it's time for Turtles! I am not a huge John Green person but I am excited for this one since it's based on his experiences with anxiety and OCD.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
Chocolate chip muffins in the morning and chocolate chip cookies as my midnight snack to keep me going.

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!
Other than reading, I'm really into music. I majored in flute performance in college, and just took up violin again after a 10 year break. I also love to sing. Additionally, I'm pursuing my master's degree in library and information science and will be graduating this winter. Yay!

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?
This year, I plan to try to stay awake all 24 hours, or just take a two or three hour nap at some point if I'm really desperate. The plan is to consume lots of caffeine and have many snacks. Unfortunately, another thing I'll be doing differently is taking a four-hour break because I have to go to work today. Sad face :(

Bloggiesta Update 1

Bloggiesta is a marathon blogging event with the goal of checking some things off of your blogging to-do list. This season's event runs from September 21-24. I'm participating with the hopes of making my blog reader-ready, professional, and branded. Here's my updated list of Bloggiesta tasks, noting the ones I've completed over the past couple of days:

- Branding

     - Branded tagline

     - Branded mini "about me" section

- Professional things

     - add a "professional details" section

     - add portfolio w/ coursework samples

     - add visual resume

     - add librarian-related interests somewhere inc. professional goals and what I like to read

- Posting stuff

     - create a library-related feature

     - make basic schedule


I also made a long list of post ideas that I plan to get going on during my downtime next week, and made a cheat sheet for the format of my reviews based on an older Bloggiesta challenge. Additionally, I'll be participating in tomorrow's Bloggiesta Twitter chat, which takes place at 2pm EST using the hashtag #bloggiesta.

Fall Mini-Bloggiesta Goals & Tasks

Since I've just started blogging again, I have to think all over again about branding, what I'm going to post when, what I'm going to be writing about, have a useful about me page...basically, I have a lot of blog-related things I need to get in order. Fortunately, it's time for another mini-Bloggiesta challenge! When I used to blog, I loved doing Bloggiesta because it would help me get my bloggy priorities in order and help me set up a to-do list for myself, and I would spend the weekend or week being super productive. Bloggiesta is basically a blogging marathon challenge with the goal of getting done what needs to be done on your blog from basics like posts that need to be written to the more conceptual like nailing down your brand.

After browsing a lot of lifestyle and librarian blogs, I have a lot of ideas for things I need to do during this mini challenge, which runs this week from September 21-24 (that's enough time to get this all done, right?) I want my blog to be fun to read, but also be a resource and be something I can put on a resume or talk about in a cover letter in the future when I start applying to full-time library jobs, and I can't do that with a blog that's not up to par. 

So, without further ado, here are the things I hope to do during this round of Bloggiesta:

- Branding

     - Branded tagline

     - Branded mini "about me" section

- Professional things

     - add a "professional details" section

     - add CV w/ coursework samples

     - add visual resume

     - add librarian-related interests somewhere inc. professional goals and what I like to read

- Posting stuff

     - create a library-related feature

     - make basic schedule for what days I'll post certain post types by category (books, pop culture,              lifestyle, librarianship)

Is this enough stuff? Yes. Is it too much stuff for four days? Maybe. Still, I'm excited to get all of this in order and spruce things up around here and really nail down branding stuff and things like that. I also plan to participate in at least one Twitter chat and two mini-challenges if they align with my personal bloggiesta goals, so we'll see if I can add that later. Let's hope I can pull it all off!!

What are your plans for this Bloggiesta?

Bout of Books Update: Day 1

It's day two of Bout of Books and time for my first update! So far, I've finished The Beast is an Animal, continued a poetry book by Lang Leav, and started Wicked Like a Wildfire. I liked The Beast is an Animal alright since it was creepy and atmospheric, but the romance was entirely unnecessary and it got pretty slow at the end.

Wicked Like a Wildfire is pretty good so far. I really like the writing since it's very magical, but I don't understand the actual magic that's going on and have been a bit confused throughout. Hopefully I'll start catching on soon and I'll be encouraged to stick with it.

Books read:

Currently reading:

at 9%

Bout of Books Sign Up Post

I'm a little late to the game with signing up for this round of Bout of Books since I literally just started blogging again, but I'm still super excited to do so! I've participated in almost every Bout of Books I could for the past four years or so, and since I've just started getting my usual reading pace back up to its normal speed, I want to try out Bout of Books again because it's one of my favorite challenges.

Here's the official blurb from the Bout of Books website:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 21st and runs through Sunday, August 27th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 20 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team.

Usually I have a long TBR list for BoB time, but this year I'm just going to read whatever I feel like reading. I'm almost done with two books, so I'm definitely going to finish those, and I might also read a couple MG books I've been meaning to get to as well as a book my boyfriend let me borrow called That's Not a Feeling. I hope to read at least three books for this Bout of Books cycle.

Happy reading!