Winter Mini-Readathon! (Hosted by Sarah Says Read) – COMPLETED!

Have you signed up for the Winter Mini-Readathon yet? 

The Sarah Says Read Winter Mini Readathon is tomorrow, Sunday, January 22, 2012. The goal for participants is to read for any 12 hour period that day … I plan to read from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., with obvious breaks for tea, food, and tending to my kids … er, dogs. I’ve been a reading fool all week, but hope to end the week with a bang!

My goals for the day:

1. Read for 12 hours! Obviously.

Err … not quite. I had a timer going and actually READ for 11 hours. Not 11 hours straight, mind you, but 11 hours of reading during the day (until the end of the day, midnight). My eyes feel buggy.

2. Read 2 FULL books.

Done! I’m not sure if I would’ve been able to read 2 books had I not had the timer going, or had I taken a nap in the afternoon — something I seem to be accustomed to on the weekend. I even got some more reading done on The Historian, a big book I’m reading in small chunks.

3. Maybe meet some new faces on Twitter.

I don’t think I met many new faces … at least, I was following all these folks to begin with … but I tried to chat where I could. It’s not just about the reading — it’s about the networking and socialization, too!

The hashtag for this event is #ssrminiread and you can follow my updates by following @ReadingInWinter.

You can sign up for the event over at Sarah Says Read‘s blog!

If you’re participating tomorrow, have fun! 🙂

xx

K

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FIRST MINI CHALLENGE: 

1. Tell everyone three random things about yourself:
– I once wrote a song about milk. Yes, milk.
– I love snow.
– My favourite food is pizza.

2. Is this your first readathon?
No! I’ve participated in the Bout of Books readathon twice and the Dewey 24-hour readathon. Love them!

3. Do you have any specific goals for today? (# of books or pages to read?)
See above … I plan to read 2 books, meet new bloggers, and read for 12 hours (I have a timer). Oh, and have fun!

4. Do you have any specific snacks, drinks, or books planned?
I have 3 books picked out … Shadow, by Michael Morpurgo; The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett; and Distant Shores, by Kristin Hannah. All are books from my TBR pile, except Shadow, which is a library book. Snacks are whatever I find in the kitchen, though I think a bagel pizza will be on the menu! And drinks will be tea and lemon water.

5. What hours do you plan on reading during?
I started at 7:00 this morning and have a timer set for 12 hours. Since I have a few chores to do and have to tend to the fire and the dogs, I’ll pause it when I take a break! I’m aiming for a full 12 hours of reading.

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SECOND MINI CHALLENGE: 

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THIRD MINI CHALLENGE: 

Here’s my ‘Read’ picture … I’m sure on a normal day I could do something more creative, but as I was in the kitchen, this is what happened. Too bad I wasn’t still reading Anna Dressed In Blood … the ketchup would’ve been fitting!

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FOURTH MINI CHALLENGE: 

For the 4th mini challenged, we are to take one of the books we’ve read or are reading, list the main characters and create a cast for the movie!

I decided to choose the book Shadow, by Michael Morpurgo, because I absolutely BAWLED while reading it. This is the same guy who wrote War Horse, and while I think that movie sounds good, I’m definitely more of a dog person than I am a horse person so I immediately thought THIS book should’ve been done instead.

So I’ll make my own movie.

The main characters are simple:

Grandpa: I immediately thought of Michael Caine because he’s so cool and so British. I don’t think he’s British in the book, but I see him as being British in the movie.

Matt: Matt’s a young kid and I don’t really know a lot of young kid actors, but I think Chandler Canterbury would be a good fit. He has an innocent look about him, but looks like he could put up the fight needed at the end of the novel (and those blue eyes!).

Aman: I am quite ignorant when it comes to young Indian actors — I don’t watch a LOT of movies or TV to  know names, but I do remember the boys from The Kite Runner … I think Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada has the perfect look for Aman.

Aman’s mom: Again, another Indian actor, but this time I have someone in mind. I choose Tabu from The Namesake. I thought she was wonderful in that movie (at least for the last part of it when she started to show emotion).

Sergeant Brodie: Immediately when I thought of this role, I thought of Stephen Lang — I usually only see him in mean Army-guy roles, but I think it would be nice to see the softer side of him.

Shadow: And for the role of Shadow? The awesome dog that took my heart? I would choose my dog, Grace, after she received a TON of acting lessons because she’s CRAZY, but she looks so much like the dog on the cover!

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FIFTH (& FINAL) MINI CHALLENGE

1. How many books and/or pages were you able to read?

I managed to read 2 full books — Shadow, by Michael Morpurgo and Distant Shores, by Kristin Hannah — as well as about 100 pages or so more of The Historian, a book I started to read during the Bout of Books readathon two weeks ago (and, yet, I’m still not halfway through it!). I was hoping to get around to reading The Secret Garden today, but thought my time would be better spent continuing The Historian, since it’s been quite a few days since I’ve read anything from it.

2. About how many hours were you able to read for? (Were there many distractions, breaks, etc?)

I had a timer going, so I set it to count down 12 hours. I’d start it when I was actually reading and end it when I had to get up and do chores or make dinner. Surprisingly, I wasted quite a bit of time doing who-knows-what? I know I did laundry, took a shower, made a fire, made dinner, but 5 hours worth? I guess when I factor in doing the challenges — since those were off the clock, so to speak — it adds up. And my husband came home from visiting his brother for the weekend, so there was a bit of a break there, adjusting from a perfectly quiet house to a noisy house. 🙂 Since the readathon went until the end of the 22nd, as in midnight, I read for 11 hours. Like, actual reading. That’s crazy!

3. Do you have any likes/dislikes about the 12-hour readathon, compared to a 24-hour readathon?

I really preferred the 12-hour readathon … I felt it was easier for me to actually focus on reading for 12 hours, whereas I get really sleepy doing the 24-hour readathon. Of course, having started at 7am, I still went until midnight reading and STILL didn’t read for 12 hours. What the heck was I doing? Maybe next time I’ll be able to manage my time better.

4. Favorite and least favorite books that you read today?

I absolutely adored Shadow. It’s more of a middle-grade, teen book, so it was easy to read, only took a few hours. A big focus in it was a dog and I cried and cried. The dog doesn’t die — don’t worry! — it was more of those happy cries. 🙂 The other book I read, Distant Shores, was good, though I felt that the ending wasn’t exactly absolute. I felt like I was missing something when I finished it. I wouldn’t say it was my least favourite because I really enjoyed it, but I just didn’t feel that it was complete.

5. Do you have any suggestions for things you’d like me to do differently if I host another mini-readathon?

I really enjoyed this one! Maybe more advertising to get more people signed up? I liked chatting on Twitter, but felt there wasn’t a lot of chitchat going on. Although, the size was nice — easier to keep track of people! I loved the challenges … that Wordle one was great! And I really liked, as I said before, that it was 12 hours. So much more manageable! Thank you for hosting — I had a lot of fun AND managed to conquer some of my TBR pile!

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© 2012, Reading In Winter. All rights reserved.

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