Read-a-Thon: End of Event update

Well, I did it! 

Currently Reading:  Going Too Far - almost finished @30 pgs. left


Pages read this hour:  66


Books read this hour:  almost finished #9


Minutes read this hour:  50


Total pages read:  925


Total books read:  almost 9



Total minutes read:  788


Time spent blogging/commenting:  10 min


Contests entered:  7


Prizes won:  1

Thanks to everyone for all your support and comments!

Read-a-Thon: End of Event Meme

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?  The 2 AM hour.  That was when I finally had to sleep.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? Not going to give titles, but when I started to get tired, I switched to YA which are faster reads.  That really helped.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?  This is only my 2, so I'm still learning about everything myself.
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?  Using Twitter.  It helped us get a lot of exposure and keep up w/everyone easier.
5. How many books did you read? 9
6. What were the names of the books you read? Maybelle Bunny of the North; The Light, The Dark & Ember Between; Chicken Butt; A Book; Going Too Far; Everything is Fine; Rita & Whatsit; Rita & Whatsit at the Beach; Milo and Jazz-Case of the Stinky Socks.  I started Private Midnight and Follow Me, but did not finish them.
7. Which book did you enjoy most?  Everything is Fine
8. Which did you enjoy least?  Private Midnight, which is why I put it down early on.
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?  I will definitely participate, as a reader.

Read-a-Thon: Hour 1 Meme

Where are you reading from today?  My chair in the living room.  My computer is next to me on the left, the dog on my right.

3 facts about me …1. I am an elementary reading teacher.  2.  My husband and I raise paint horses.  3.  I can't smell.

How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours?  Right now, there are 14 in my stack; mixture of adult fiction, YA, and children's books.

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)?  I would love to get through my TBR stack, but I'll just be thankful to make a huge dent in it!

If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, Any advice for people doing this for the first time?  This is only my second read-a-thon, so my only advice is just do the best you can.  You may not be able to make the whole time, do all the challenges, etc and that's okay. 

Read-a-Thon

Tomorrow, bright and early, is the 24 hour Read-a-Thon.  I will be reading all day, much to my husband's chagrin.  No, I haven't got a list of books, but I'm working on putting a stack together of must reads for blog tours, want to reads, filler books, etc.  You will not see my regular Saturday Snapshot tomorrow, but I will be blogging periodically during the Read-a-Thon so that you can see what's going on, progress, books read, pages read, etc.  If you follow me on Twitter, I will be tweeting with the #readathon hash tag so that other readers can follow.  My goal for tomorrow is to get well into my TBR pile because I have alot of books waiting to be reviewed and I NEED to get them done!  I'll be a review queen after this!  So, it will be everything Read-a-Thon around here until Sunday.

Here are some books I MUST read for blog tours:

Secret to Happiness

The Light, The Dark, & Ember Between

Cycle of Rice, Cycle of Life

Gift of Grace

Private Midnight

Noticer Project

I'm off to make my stacks!

Friday Fill-Ins 4/17/09

1. Join me in wishing Kristi at The Story Siren a happy birthday today!

2. Put a little sunshine in your day!

3. Happiness is falling in love with my husband a little more each day.

4. Dazed and confused.

5. I'm waiting for Touch by Francine Prosse.  It's not out till June, but I really want to read it!

6. Chocolate is hard to resist.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to hamburgers at home, tomorrow my plans include Dewey's 24-hour Read-a-Thon and Sunday, I want to be proud of all the reading I did in the Read-a-Thon!

Tax Relief Giveaway

Well, it's the day after the dreaded Tax Day, and I'm sure many of you are just relieved to be done with it all.  I did my taxes early this year, but know the stress of waiting until the last minute, trying to find a post office open until midnight, having to file an extension, etc.  So, in honor of The Day After Tax Day, as I so deem it, I'm having a Tax Relief Giveaway.  Who couldn't use some relief?  Especially if you had to pay, because this will get you something in return, and it's free!

Here's the deal...I have been given some wonderful books from Hachette to give away, and you get to choose which ones you would like to have.  There are 3 choices this time and each choice will have 5 winners, so 15 people will win.  How cool is that?  Tax day is the 15th, and we will have 15 winners.  Woohoo!  So, get the word out, and enter to win!!!

Choice #1:
The Man's Book by Thomas Fink - great gift for that man in your life: husband, boyfriend, father, son...

Being modern and manly in today's world isn't always easy.

Do you know how to tie a bow-tie, mix a martini, or make a potato gun?

Do you know when to get married and how to break up, or the difference between a bock beer and a bitter?

Do you know which urinal to choose or how to start a fire with a Coke can?

The answers to every man's burning questions are within these pages, from the morning wet shave to the whiskey night-cap, from hunting deer with a .30-06 to wooing women like 007. At a time when the sexes are muddled and masculinity is marginalized, THE MAN'S BOOK unabashedly celebrates maleness. Organized by subject in a man-logical way, it's the go-to guide for anyone with a Y chromosome.


Choice #2
The Girl Who Stopped Swimming by Joshilyn Jackson

Laurel Gray Hawthorne needs to make things pretty, whether she's helping her mother make sure the literal family skeleton stays in the closet or turning scraps of fabric into nationally acclaimed art quilts. Her estranged sister Thalia, an impoverished Actress with a capital A, is her polar opposite, priding herself on exposing the lurid truth lurking behind middle class niceties. While Laurel's life seems neatly on track--a passionate marriage, a treasured daughter, and a lovely home in suburban Victorianna--everything she holds dear is suddenly thrown into question the night she is visited by the ghost of a her 13-year old neighbor Molly Dufresne. The ghost leads Laurel to the real Molly floating lifelessly in the Hawthorne's backyard pool. Molly's death is inexplicable--an unseemly mystery Laurel knows no one in her whitewashed neighborhood is up to solving. Only her wayward, unpredictable sister is right for the task, but calling in a favor from Thalia is like walking straight into a frying pan protected only by Crisco. Enlisting Thalia's help, Laurel sets out on a life-altering journey that triggers startling revelations about her family's guarded past, the true state of her marriage, and the girl who stopped swimming.

Choice #3

Boomer Beauties - set of 2 books - and

Living Beauty by Bobbi Brown

Bobbi Brown began the trend toward natural-looking cosmetics with a simple philosophy: Women want to look and feel like themselves, only prettier and more confident. Today, top editors at elite fashion magazines--including In Style, Vogue, Allure, and Harpers Bazaar--revere her, and celebrities and millions of regular women throughout the world swear by her beauty advice. Now Bobbi Brown has written THE book redefining beauty for women over 40, BOBBI BROWN LIVING BEAUTY. In this refreshing look at beauty and aging, Bobbi offers specific makeup tricks for a stunning face--showing how makeup can solve most of the flaws that many women go under the knife to fix. In fact, the right makeup can create an even skin tone, lift the cheeks, plump a smile...even take years off any woman's face. The key is to use makeup to enhance each woman's best features and showcase her natural beauty. With step-by-step makeup instructions and quotes from beautiful women like Marcia Gay Harden, Vera Wang, Susan Sarandon, and Lorraine Bracco, Bobbi Browns natural, celebratory approach to aging will enlighten and inspire women everywhere.

How Not to Look Old by Charla Krupp

Charla Krupp knows that aging sucks! So she's here to help. It's every woman's dream: looking hip, sexy, fresh, and pretty--whether you're in your 30's, 40's, 50's, or 60's. Now it's every woman's necessity: looking younger will help you hold onto your job and your partner--particularly when everyone around you seems half your age. It's about making the ultimate "to-do" list of LITTLE beauty and fashion changes that pay off BIG TIME.

To enter, just tell me, in the comments, which choice you would like.  Feel free to enter for all of them if you'd like to!  As always, if you are a follower, become a follower, tweet about this, or blog about it, I will give you extra entries.  Just leave everything in the comments and I'll take care of the entries for you.  Contest will run until April 30th.  I will post the winners on May 1st.

Good Luck!!  Please spread the word!

Little Skink's Tail Winner!

Thank you to all of you who stopped by to read my interview with children's author Janet Halfmann.  I loved being able to get to know this wonderful children's author better. 

The winner of the autographed copy of Little Skink's Tail is...

SHELLEY!

Here is what Shelley had to say:  "This sounds like a great book!  I follow, and I blogged about it here: http://sazfreelunch.blogspot.com/2009/04/childrens-book-giveaway-little-skinks.html"

Thanks for getting the word out about this one!  I hope you enjoy your book!  Please send me your mailing info by Saturday so that I can send it on to Janet.

Look for more giveaways real soon!!!

Review: The Forest of Hands and Teeth

 

Title:  The Forest of Hands and Teeth

Author: Carrie Ryan

Review Copy Provided by: Curled Up with a Good Book

About the Book:  

In Mary's world, there are simple truths.

The Sisterhood always knows best.

The Guardians will protect and serve.

The Unconsecrated will never relent.

And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village. The fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth.

But slowly, Mary's truths are failing her. She's learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power. And, when the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness.

Now she must choose between her village and her future, between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded by so much death? 

My Review:  I am on a YA reading roll!  Seems like all I want to read these days.  It may be because the ones I've chosen lately have just kept me so riveted that I couldn't put them down.  The Forest of Hands and Teeth is one of those books.

If you aren't into zombies, you may not want to read this.  I'll admit, I've never really been into zombies, didn't like Night of the Living Dead, but this, I liked!  I think it's because the focus of the book is not really the zombies, but Mary and her delimna.  

Mary is a great character!  She's a dreamer, a wisher, a hoper.  She just "knows" that there is something beyond the Forest, but no one will listen to her.  Why do we do that to kids, try to squash their dreams?  Mary is also strong.  She has lost both parents and been ostracized by her brother, but still, she perseveres.  I admire her for that.  She doesn't let the fact that she is alone get her down.  Instead she tries to think of ways to get out of her current situation.  What a girl!

When the breach occurs and the Unconsecrated are unleashed in the village, Mary is reunited with her brother and childhood friends.  Together they must try to survive.  I love the way that Ryan writes more struggles into this part of the story.  Mary and her brother find the love that they once knew for each other as they struggle to survive and keep their friends alive.  Again, Mary is the optimist, knowing that they will succeed in finding life past their village and away from the Unconsecrated.  If only the others had her faith!

This book opens up alot of discussion about choices.  Why did Mary make the choices she made, with her mother, between Travis and Harry, and many others throughout the book.  What are your thoughts on hope?  Should you let others squash your dreams?  What would you do/give up for your family/friends?

I really enjoyed this book, and it has "haunted" me since I finished it.  I find myself thinking about Mary and the Unconsecrated many times.  I know that middle grade students on up to adults will enjoy this one.  I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

copyright 2009 by shelburns for Curled Up With a Good Book

originally published at Curled Up With a Good Book/curledup.com

See other reviews here:
Wands and Worlds
Bookshelves of Doom
Not Enough Bookshelves
A Chair, A Fireplace and a Tea Cozy
Presenting Lenore
The Story Siren