Read-a-Thon: Hourly updates Here #1!

Instead of having a bunch of posts, hourly updates for the next 12 hours will go here.

5:30 PM India Time: FINALLY, it begins! I have convinced friends, family that I am busy reading, and not going to venture out too much.

Starting off with Dean Koontz and Odd Thomas -> Odd Hours.

7:00 PM: Getting back online, to see what the world is up to. Found a Hour 1 meme, posted that earlier. I am 230 Pages done here.

7:30 PM: Hour 2 Challenge at http://www.misswisabus.com asks about childhood books. My reply is below:

My favorite book as a 6-7 year old kid was probably anything by Enid Blyton - I started off reading her The Adventures of Mister Pinkwhistle, and then read her A Faraway Tree adventures. I used to even enjoy Noddy, which i later discovered was by her :)
I do have some newer favorites, when I was 12 I read the entire Narnia series, and habitually read them every few years even now.
I did actually include one awesome childhood series of mine - but in a different form. Stumbled across a graphic novel of Biggles (who was a hero of my 11 year-old self) and snapped it up earlier today. I must hv been the only girl of my age with a bunch of Biggles novels. I got gifted several well-worn copies by my teacher.

Now, I'm off for a dinner, this could be a long-ish break. Ciao!

!0:30 PM: I'm baaaaack and starting up a new book after I finish Odd Hours. Probably going to pick Sabriel next.

11:30 PM: Reading Sabriel, 147 Pgs through. Will finish these two books before I sleep. Might do the midnight mini challenge if I'm awake and able!

1:00 AM: I'm done with Sabriel, and with Odd Hours! That is a total of 491+397 = 888 Pages (Fact is stranger than fiction, for sure!)
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Hour 8 Mini-Challenge is at Blkosiner’s Book Blog: Name 5 villain-type characters that you "Love to Hate"
My hate-list includes 1) Sauron from LOTR 2) Chthulhu  3) Moriarty from my beloved Sherlock Holmes and 4) Share Khan from my childhood Mowgli 5) Count Dracula

Continuing Readathon updates here: Read a Thon Hourly Updates #3

Read-a-Thon: Hour 1 Meme

Where are you reading from today?

I'm in Bangalore, India! My 24 hours began at 5:30 PM my time.

How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours?

My pile of library books is at 7, I have 2 ebooks lined up on my laptop and 1 on my Kindle.

I've started Odd Hours by Dean Koontz, at Pg 230 now. A couple of the books are re-reads (for a challenge) so those might be next (Sabriel by Garth Nix and Thud! by Terry Pratchett). Both are favorites, but read a couple of years ago.

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)?

Read for at least 12 hours, Read at least 4 books and 1000 pages. Hopefully, I also take part in at least 2-3 mini-challenges!

Thanks to Nan from http://nanscorner.wordpress.com/ for the meme - I don't know if this is an official one, but I used her idea to kickstart my Read-a-Thon posts

*Update* - Mini-Review of Odd Hours:  While the character of Odd is an old friend of mine, this book finds Odd being pursued by dreams, nightmares and strange prophecies. Perhaps the story has a few too many insights into his head, but the creepiness factor of this book is high and keeps me interested.

Review: The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Grade: B

Pages: 374
Summary:

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. He has no recollection of his parents, his home, or how he got where he is. His memory is black. But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade, a large expanse enclosed by stone walls. 

Just like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning, for as long as they could remember, the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night, they’ve closed tight. Every thirty days a new boy is delivered in the lift. And no one wants to be stuck in the maze after dark.


Plus: A quick take on a dystopian world, where kids are bizarrely put into the Maze as part of an experiment to showcase the really smart ones. I enjoyed the second half of the book, and the story got better once the girl woke up. The ending is terrific, and has a surprising twist.

24 Hour Read-a-Thon

The 24 Hour Read-a-thon is Oct 9th, 5:30 PM India time.

This is my first read-a-thon, and I'm excited to hear/take part in this global event. 

Unfortunately, I am sadly under-prepared.

Not only do I not have any food at home, I also am running out of books to read. I'm now planning on starting my reading a little earlier, say around 11 AM, take a break for lunch and books, and then let the enthusiasm of the new library finds carry me through most of the night.

 Weekly Geeks asks some questions that have awakened me to my lack of proper preparation for the Read-a-thon.

1. Do I have a strategy?

(Just making up one now) I'm going to read mostly Fantasy and Detective fiction. If I can find a good graphic novel, I'll read that in the middle to keep my interest up. Oh, and great music, coffee, chocolate cookies are part of the grand plan.

 

2. Do you have a stack of books prepared to read from?

I've saved "Alpha" for today (by accident, really) so that could be fun.

I want to read a book or two on my laptop at least, and the rest on paper for some variety.

If not so good, I'm going to jump to Out of the Dark by David Weber, who is a very reliable space fantasy author.

I'm also half-way through Conan Iggulden's Lord of the Silver bow, and I have no idea if half-books count towards this (maybe if I converted it into pages?)

3. I'm going to go for number of books,but also count pages.

4. If you have others living in your household, do you have to work around their schedules too?

I do have people I need to have to work around, but I can't really tell them that I am unavailable  (*cough* in-laws). I have cleared it with my husband, but the poor soul has no idea how serious the read-a-thon gets!

*update*  I am now back from my library, and here is a picture of what I got:

Post #100 and Friday Hop Oct 8-10

This weekly BOOK PARTY is an awesome opportunity for book bloggers to connect with other book lovers, make new friends - Thanks to Jen from http://www.crazy-for-books.com/

This weeks question: "What's your favorite beverage while blogging and reading?"

I don't ever have anything to drink or sip while I blog or read! I usually get fully immersed into what I am doing, so my drink gets cold (or warm, if it started off cold!).
WHOO this is my ONE HUNDREDTH POST! I must say, I am excited about all the people I've gotten to know a little bit since the blog began. Thank you! If you have not yet entered my Giveaway, please do. Also, a few of my favorite posts are here:
Review: The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
Free Ebooks Download - Do you want some?
Multiplying Like Rabbits
Medieval copyright Protection

If you want to begin considering the ebook option -
Starting with EBooks - for beginners and explorers...
Readability - The battle of the Kindle vs. Paper v...
ilona Andrews - Magic Bites & Magic Burns

New Feature: Readers with e-readers

I love getting to know all you bloggers and visitors better, and I thought others might as well!

Hence, this blogger spotlight will feature folks with ereaders of any kind.

Here are some sample questions below - I'd like to end up with a few really interesting, funny questions, and will need Your help with those!

*****

Give us an idea of who you are:

Describe a typical day or send me a Photo of the region u live/your bookshelf/whatever. You can do both - photos are better! 

• What e-reader do you own and how did you get it?
• Did you consider other readers in the market? Why did you pick this one?
• What's the top thing you like about it?
• What is your favourite recent read?
• When do you read a paper book and when do you pick up an ebook?
• Where do you like to read? Did that change with an e-reader?
• Have you transformed your reading style or frequency?
• If your e-reader could have one magic feature, what would it be? (Top of Wishlist, really)

Now it is your turn!! Leave a comment if you would like to be a "Readers with e-reader" spotlit blogger.

And don't forget to help me with the questions - I need your suggestions!

Teaser Tuesdays #14 - Anna Strong chronicles

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should be Reading.

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Today, I'm beginning Chosen (Anna Strong Chronicles, Book 6):

Even though this is Book 6, I really don't remember any details AT ALL from the previous books. I'm hoping that I start following the storyline as I read. Also, I recently finished The Way of Kings (my A+ review is here) and I know almost any book is going to fare poorly in comparision. *keeping my fingers crossed*

"Underwood is more than an old-soul vampire. He possesses more than vampiric powers. He uses sorcery.
What sort of creature does that? What sort of demon?"




What is your chosen read for today? :)
Have you seen my Giveaway yet?
 I also have an International Giveaway – Win Any Book of choice for $15
Giveaway at e-Volving Books

Review: The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

Grade: A+

Excerpt:

Speak again the ancient oaths,

Life before death.

Strength before weakness.

Journey before Destination.

and return to men the Shards they once bore.

The Knights Radiant must stand again

Length: 1008 Pages, 19680 Kindle Pages

The buzz over this book has been phenomenal. Brandon Sanderson has to be one of the most marketed authors today, across genres. It seems strange that this first book was published in 2005, given that he has managed to publish Five books in five years. There are three central characters: 1) Kaladin - A man trained to be a surgeon, turned into a slave, forced to work in highly dangerous debilitating conditions and find leadership within himself. 2) Shallan - A young, gently-brought up lady with a fervor for scholarship and some strange talents with art. 3) Dalinar - An aging general, brother to the dead King, beset by doubts about himself, dreams, and his way of life.

September Roundup - Thanks to You!

Wins:
We went from about 600 visits to 900+ (Woot!). 

Blogger Stats show that my Sept visits were at 1696! (I still don't know why Blogger vs. Google Analytics is different)

Page views went up by 20% as well, so I just want to thank you all for visiting and reading!

Reviews/Interesting Posts:

100+ Follower Giveaway - Ends Oct 15 (highest reads)

Free Ebooks Download - Do you want some? (FREE Books!)

Skins for your ebook reader - style over substance... (I've bought super skins here myself)

Banned Books Week - Sept 25th to Oct 2nd

Why book publishing needs to Change

Baen Publishing - a home for ebooks and new author...

If you need a laugh - Medieval copyright Protection is a good way to relax!

Also, in the interests of this week's blogger hop question - 

it looks like the Friday Hop, Twitter and Teaser Tuesdays are the biggest connectors.

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A big heartfelt THANK YOU shoutout to all the lovely people who are reading my blog 

and are bloggers themselves.

It is so much fun getting to know you all!
Remember, I Follow Back. 

Book Blogger Hop: October 1 - 4

This weekly BOOK PARTY is an awesome opportunity for book bloggers to connect with other book lovers, make new friends - Thanks to Jen from http://www.crazy-for-books.com/

This weeks question: "How do you spread the word about your blog?
(e.g. Social Networking sites, Book Blog Directories, comments on other blogs...)"

The few months I've been blogging have really been a discovery into the world of blogging! I joined Book Blogs and eventually Goodreads, for example. I used to Tweet about whatever interested me, and I began using that to announce when I had a new post out. More than anything, it helps to be seen commenting on other blogger's posts. I also got my husband to put it on his facebook page :D, but can still up my facebook publicity via my page too.
I noticed that some blogs have comment boxes that show your latest post by default - what a great idea! What do you think about adding your blog/website to your email signature? I'm thinking of doing that! Is it too presumptous? Ideas?
Earlier this week - I launched a contest with an International Giveaway!!, Celebrated Banned Books Week and had a Guest Post at I just wanna sit here and Read.

Posted via email from e-Volving Books