Read-a-Thon ~ Final Tally

I’m writing this final RaT post on the fly, waiting for our ride to church. When I get back, I’ll write my Sunday Salon post and go a bit deeper about things, but I just wanted to write an official wrap up post.

The last two hours of the Read-a-Thon were looooooooong and slooooooow. The last half hour, I pretty much kept reading over the same lines again and again, never comprehending the bizarre inked symbols pressed into the once-living-tree-material. My last page in Marked was 134.

On the other hand, oddly enough, I’m feeling a tremendous, magnetic pull from one of the families in one of the books I’m writing. The eldest and youngest sisters are fighting and expelling everything they’ve ever thought and felt about the other’s character flaws and bad-daughter-ness. I’ll def have to work them through it later today.

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Reading Totals:

Empire Falls by Richard Russo ~ finished.
The Magician’s Nephew by C. S. Lewis, Chapter Four “The Bell and the Hammer” ~ finished
How to Be a Villian: Evil Laughs, Secret Lairs, Master Plans and More!!! by Neil Zawacki ~ finished 😀
Marked: A House of Night Novel by P. C. Cast & Kristin Cast ~ 134 pages.

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Read-a-Thon ~ Takin’ a Break :-)

As I was reading Marked, I came across the perfect passage to include in the review, so I had to log in and start the review, saving the quote. Sometimes that happens when I’m reading, most of the time, actually. I’ll be reading along and something will just hit me, and I’ll be, like… “Wow, that’s the perfect quote for this book!” When that happens, I always try to get it in here, lest I forget it when I’m actually sitting down and writing the review.

I know what quote I’ll use for How to Be a Villian, but I haven’t got a clue for Empire Falls. That happens sometimes, too, and every once in a while I even think about cheating and putting what’s on the back cover or front flap for the quote.

BTW, the House of Night series has been optioned for a movie. No work has really been done on it, just the plan to make it into film. I can see the spoof-movie now, “Not another Teen Vampire Movie!” Though, this book is NOTHING like Twilight.

If you’d like to check out the series, click House of Night Series. There you can click on the yearbook and learn about the characters, watch vid clips for each of the books, and even get your own vampyre Mark tattoo 😀

Reading Update:

Empire Falls by Richard Russo ~ finished.
The Magician’s Nephew by C. S. Lewis, Chapter Four “The Bell and the Hammer” ~ finished
How to Be a Villian: Evil Laughs, Secret Lairs, Master Plans and More!!! by Neil Zawacki ~ finished 😀
Marked: A House of Night Novel by P. C. Cast & Kristin Cast ~ starting Chapter Six, page 43

Read-a-Thon ~ I Can Now Be a Villian :-D

YaY! I just finished How to Be a Villian by Neil Zawacki. At the back of the book there’s a template called an Evil Plan Generator, and I thought it’d be fun to post mine here.

Now, my Sinister Name worked out as: Countess Carnal Fury

My Evil Plan is:

Stage One:

To begin, I must first _seduce_ _the Chosen One_. This will cause the world to _whisper among themselves_, _amazed_ by my arrival. Who is this _Destroyer of All That is Good and Nice_? Where did she come from? And why does she look so frightening in that _dominatrix outfit_?

Stage Two:

Next, I must _steal_ _that Opera House in Sydney_. This will all be done from my _Underground Secret Headquarters of Doom_ , a mysterious place of unrivaled dark glory. Upon seeing this, the world will _weep uncontrollably_ , as countless hordes of _Demented Clowns_ hasten to do my every bidding.

Stage Three:

Finally, I must _tauntingly wave_ my _Needlessly Big Weather Machine_ , bringing about _something really, really bad_ . My name shall become synonymous with _fuzzy bunnies_ , and no man will ever again dare _interrupt my sentences_ . Everyone will bow before my _mystical abilities_ , and the world will have no choice but to _restore my credit rating_.

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It was a fun book, and I’ll post a review tomorrow or Monday. For today, more reading! 😀 Next, I’m going to read Marked by P. C. Cast. It’s the first book in the House of Night series. It’s a book about a boarding school for the training of teenage vampyres. Coincidently, I talked to a good friend of mine last night, and she started telling me about a book series she was into at the moment, and when I asked her what it was called, she said “House of Night.” I thought that was really cool, since I was planning to read Marked today 😉 Then again, she’s really into vamps (she’s my SL vamp clan’s Queen, in fact), so I shouldn’t be too surprised.

*sigh*… peace and quiet’s over, Gwen’s home and wants to tell me everything that was wrong with my demented idea of sending her to the Y.

P.S. Thanks to everyone who said they love my RaT button 😀 It was fun making it, too 😉

Reading Update:

Empire Falls by Richard Russo ~ finished.
The Magician’s Nephew by C. S. Lewis, Chapter Four “The Bell and the Hammer” ~ finished
How to Be a Villian: Evil Laughs, Secret Lairs, Master Plans and More!!! by Neil Zawacki ~ finished 😀
Marked: A House of Night Novel by P. C. Cast & Kristin Cast ~ just starting

Read-a-Thon ~ Ahh… Peace and Quiet!

Sammi has gone to her friend’s for the night, and I just sent Mags and Gwen to the Y for open swim and told ’em not to come back until it closed (4 o’clock). Now, maybe I can get some real reading done!

After upturn laundry baskets (hunting for bathing suits), and piteous cries bemoaning their wretched fate of forced march to their dooms in the swimming pool of torment, my ears are ringing from the lack of sound. The starting and stopping of reading has made me nearly forget which book I’m even reading at the moment!

So I thought I’d take a sec for an update. I’m going to forego another until I finish How to Be a Villian, which is funny! I keep thinking about Austin Powers’ Dr. Evil, and many other evil-doers of film and TV. Even a few of the book giants, too 😀

In the pursuit of evil henchmen, the mean English teacher is highly recommended, as she (or he) has the power to make heroes wilt at the mere thought of her (or him).

Reading Update:

Empire Falls by Richard Russo ~ finished
The Magician’s Nephew by C. S. Lewis ~ Chapter 4, read.
How to Be a Villian by Neil Zawacki ~ pages 88 – 121 read, 39 more to go.

and Maggie’s back. She dropped her swimsuit and had to come back for it. lol… What a day!

Back from Lunch WITH a headache :-\

After everyone settled down, we made quick work of Chapter Four in The Magician’s Nephew. The kids were quite engrossed with the reading by the time Digory grabbed Polly with his one hand to keep her from slipping her yellow ring on and ringing the bell with the other. They were chanting, “Next chapter! Next chapter!” but it’s one chapter a day, and no more 🙂 They’re dying to know what magic thing will happen after Digory rang that bell 😉

We trotted off to the library and lunch, where I got a monster headache and don’t know why, then carted three takeout dinners of lasagna for supper tonight. One less thing to worry about.

So here I sit, ibuprofen consumed, and ready to pick up where I left off in How to Be a Villian. Gwen’s sighing… loudly… for her computer time. I have quite rudely routed her from the chair for my own selfish need to blog an update. Tcha! What was I thinking!

Reading update hour four:

Empire Falls by Richard Russo ~ finished.
The Magician’s Nephew by C. S. Lewis ~ chapter four, pp 45-60, read.
How to Be a Villian by Neil Zawacki ~ starting page 88, “Location for Your Lair: corporate tower” section.

Read-a-Thon ~ Finished a Book!

YaY! I finished Empire Falls, finally! I’ll blog a review on it tomorrow or Monday, and keep reading today. After finishing, I grabbed a toasted cheese sandwich and a cup of coffee. Then I picked up my half-read copy of How to Be a Villian: Evil Laughs, Secret Lairs, Master Plans and More!!! by Neil Zawacki. I was on page 82 when I started, and am now on page 88, “Locations for Your Lair: corporate tower” section.

Right now, while I’ve got all three kids, we’re going to read the next chapter in The Magician’s Nephew by C. S. Lewis. I’ve been reading (or trying to read) a chapter a day with them. Digory and Polly have just sorted out the rings, yellow rings bringing them into the Wood Between the Worlds, and the green ones allowing them to get to the other worlds in the pools.

I’ll prob go to the library (over due DVD finally found) and grab a lunch on the way back (as well as dinner to go) around 11, so I probably won’t post again until noon.

Reading Progress Tracked:
Empire Falls by Richard Russo ~ finished
How to Be a Villian: Evil Laughs, Secret Lairs, Master Plans and More!!! by Neil Zawacki ~ page 88 out of 160 pages
The Magician’s Nephew by C. S. Lewis ~ page 45, chapter 4 “The Bell and Hammer”

Read-A-Thon: Slogging along…

Arguments quelled and quieted for the moment… after meds have been given, I might add. Apparently, Sam only had about 10 minutes left in the movie when Gwen demanded her give her back the player. I can sympathize, it would piss me off, too, but it’s all working to convince me to buy those TVs for their rooms.

Part of Sam’s appeasement is that I told her she could have an hour on the computer after I write this post.

Reading Update: I’m on page 479 in Empire Falls, with 4 more pages to go.

Is this my hour 1 or hour 2 post? Do we count the hour at the beginning or the end of the hour?

Read-a-Thon: First Post!

Good morning, everyone 🙂  This is my first post of my first read-a-thon… YaY!

I’m starting out where I left off last night in Empire Falls, a book I really do like, but it seems like I’m never going to finish…

ever.

So Hour One: Sam, 16, and Gwen, 14, are fighting like cats and dogs. Gwen wanted her DVD player back so she can watch something and demanded Sam give it back. Now Sam is yelling “Shut up!” at her and throwing plastic eggs, while Gwen is bawling loudly. I sooOOoo want TVs for each of their rooms! *sigh* It’s going to be a fun reading day. Sam’ll be going to her friend’s house in a couple hours, and spending the night there. YaY!

K.. as to reading: I’m on page #467 in Empire Falls, 16 pages to go.

see ya at 9!

FFI~ Happiness and Purple Slurnaps found in Giant Ball Pit of Death

And…here we go!

1. Join me in the giant ball pit of death.

2. Put a little >omitted due to decency standards< in your day!

3. Happiness is like finding yourself. You don’t find happiness, you make happiness. You choose happiness. Self-actualization is a process of discovering who you are, who you want to be and paving the way to happiness by doing what brings YOU the most meaning and contentment to your life over the long run… *snoring loudly* Wha?  sorry… fell asleep on that.   My 96-year-old Grandma used to say Happiness is a good shit, and the older I get the more I find this to be true.

4. _Men are like dogs, they wander around sniffing butts, looking dazed and confused. (J/K… only some men are like that)

5. I’m waiting for the purple slurnaps to creep from the deep with their bursnap slaps and giving me my antipsychostics pilz against.

6. An opportunity to be silly, stupid and goofy is hard to resist.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to finishing Empire Falls by Richard Russo, tomorrow my plans include reading, reading, and more reading in the Dewey 24 Hour Read-a-Thon, and trying to get my kids to read some, too and Sunday, I want to sleep and watch the first disc from Netflix of HBO’s miniseries version of the book Empire Falls!

If you’d like to join in the fun, click Friday Fill-Ins!  Happy Weekend, y’all!

My First Dewey 24 Hour Read-A-Thon :-D

Dewey’s Read-a-Thon

Mt. TBR’s first post was on June 11, 2008, and was the WordPress standard Hello, World!  Not long after I started blogging my reading, there was a 24 hour read-a-thon.  I didn’t participate, but I read a lot of the updates of those who did.  I was unable to join in the October one, but read several of those as well.  So this time when I read S. Krishna’s announcement that she’s throwing in her hat, I decided to give it a try.

One of the reasons I haven’t joined before now is that I’m intimidated by the “updating.”  What if I mess up?  What if I do it all wrong?  I don’t want to screw it all up and make the whole blogosphere collapse because of my ineptitude!

Okay, so maybe that’s a littleexcessive, but still…  Do I have to collect donations?  Is it like the Math-a-thon I did as a kid, going door to do collecting pledges on how many problems I solved?  Do I get my friends and neighbors to donate a penny a page?  Ach!  It’s so confusing!

So okay… I’m not doing giveaways or mini-challenges here…. at least not this time, at least not now.  And I’m not going to put together a list of what I’ll read… I’ll read what I would normally.  If I’ve not finished with Empire Falls by then, I’ll finish it, though I’ll probably be deep into Dune by then… If I’m not done with that one, too.   I’ll probably read a couple of books Maggie and I picked out, maybe pick up Warrior Cats with Gwen again.  There are a couple books Sam’s read and she’d like me to read, too… So maybe I’ll make it a family “read and share” read-a-thon. 🙂

So… beginning bright and early at 8 in the morning (Indiana time) on  Saturday, April 18th, 2009, I shall check in to let you know I’m awake… coffee and Krispy Kremes in hand, preparing to read like a maniac 😀

Click target=”_blank”>Dewey’s Read-a-Thong if you’d like to join in the fun! PS, like my button?

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From his book, Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders, Neil Gaiman reads the poem “Instructions.” I love Gaiman’s writing, and look forward to reading more of his books sometime. Stardust and Neverwhere sit on Mt. TBR right now, and I think there may be a third somewhere in there. I suppose I could pull Fragile Things out again… not like it stays on the shelf long, anyway… for when I get board with reading on Saturday.