Once Upon a Read-a-Thon Summary

613 pages read overall...not bad but not too read-a-thontastic either!  This was my first read-a-thon and while it was extremely well organized and I enjoyed the mini-challenges...I'm not sure I want to do another read-a-thon.  I've realized that I just like to read at my own pace and don't like to ignore my life to be a reading zombie.  I know it was only 3 days, but I couldn't even manage to devote one whole day to reading...maybe a weekend read-a-thon would work better for me?

I definitely read more in 3 weekdays than I do on average (and my husband got to play many more hours of video games) but I didn't feel like my reading accomplishments were all that impressive.  Anyways, thanks to the lovely hosts of this read-a-thon for a chance to participate in this event!  It was an interesting experience and the mini-challenges were super-fun!

Once Upon a Read-a-Thon Day #3

So, I did much better yesterday than I had on day #1 but...I still wish I had read a bit more :)  Here's my stats from yesterday:

The Cypress House by Michael Koryta: 173 pages read (still unfinished)
When She Woke by Hillary Jordan: 202 pages read (still unfinished...but not for long!)

I know I didn't list When She Woke originally in my readathon pile...but that's because I just received the ARC in the mail.  I was so excited to read it that I decided to open it up right away!  I'm usually a one-book-at-a-time kinda gal, but I figured the readathon requires a bit more variety.  I'm hoping that this last day is the most productive and I read like a madwoman!  Happy reading!
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Today's Mini-Challenge

For today's challenge we are asked to recommend any book of our choice as well as recommend our favorite book from the read-a-thon.  So, here's my recommendations:

Any book of choice: A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Witches, daemons, vampires, wine, yoga and scholarly pursuits - so much fun!  This is the first novel in what is sure to be a fantastic trilogy. 

Favorite book from the readathon: When She Woke by Hillary Jordan

A compelling dystopian retelling of The Scarlet Letter that will haunt you long after you've read the last page!

Once Upon a Read-a-Thon Mini Challenge

For my first mini-challenge I simply tweeted my answer...but since this challenge is a bit more involved, I thought I'd devote a post to it!

Mini-Challenge:
The mini-challenge I chose to participate in is hosted by The Bookish Type and the instructions are as follows:

Pick any book from your readathon pile and write a fake synopsis based solely on the cover. The synopsis does not have to be related to the actual book at all, just the pretty, pretty cover.

So, here's my faux summary for Alice LaPlante's Turn of Mind:

In this modern-day retelling of Alice in Wonderland, Turn of Mind introduces you to middle-aged Alicia who's about to have her world turned upside down.  One fateful day, Alicia comes down with a terrible headache and decides to take a nap.  While asleep, she dreams about the most curious of worlds where nothing resembles reality and everything is bizarre.  Follow Alicia through her adventures and cheer her on as she navigates the increasingly complex political landscape of this strange new world!

Once Upon a Read-a-Thon Day #2

Sooo, I'm a bit disappointed with myself because my progress really hasn't been read-a-thon worthy.  Time to step up my game!  I'm still reading Koryta's The Cypress House and have only read a mere 99 pages. 

I probably should have prepared a bit better this weekend for the read-a-thon.  I had quite a few errands to run yesterday that put a real dent in my reading time.  Oh well!  I'm errand free today and plan to hit the books hard to make up for my lackluster first day!

Goals:
To finish two books today and begin a third!! So, hopefully by tomorrow I will be reporting that I've finished The Cypress House and Last Letter to Your Lover and began Turn of Mind.  Good luck folks!

Once Upon a Read-a-Thon Kickoff!

Once Upon a Read-a-Thon hosted by Reading Angel, Candace's Book Blog, and Pure Imagination has officially begun!  This is the first time I've participated in this event and I'm super-excited!  I'm hoping to finish at least 3 books over the course of these three days, and read 900+ pages.  The books I’m hoping to read:

1. Finish The Cypress House by Michael Koryta
2. The Last Letter from your Lover by Jojo Moyes
3. Turn of Mind by Alice Laplant
4. The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

Luckily, I think I can accomplish my goals thanks to my husband being such an understanding guy (plus it gives him a chance to play all the video games he wants).  During this time, my posts will pretty much be read-a-thon focused so I don't get distracted from my reading...but I'll catch-up on my reviews and such next week! Also, I'll be tweeting my progress throughout - for those of you who aren't already twitter followers you can see my reading advancement via my handle @NoPgLeftBehind.