Some Books for You

Simon did this meme again, and given the fact that I am extremely busy, haven't reviewed much in the last two months, and am now sick, I figured I would give it another go too!

1. Book I am currently reading: With me, there's never just one! I'm reading A Storm of Swords, by George R.R. Martin, Stargirl, by Jerry Spinelli, (for school--I teach this to my freshmen), Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (also for school--I teach it to my juniors), and Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy, (for Wallace's readalong; I'm dreadfully behind). I'm currently listening to Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief, by Rick Riordan, because I'm trying to find some more boy-friendly books that I can have on my classroom shelves.

2. Last book I finished: A Clash of Kings, by George R.R. Martin. It's been my favorite of the series so far, but A Storm of Swords is really good so far!

3. Next book I want to read: I really want to read The Scorpio Races, by Maggie Stiefvater, but I will probably read A Feast for Crows, by George R.R. Martin, if my hold goes through at the library in time.

4. Last book I bought: The Scorpio Races. I've actually been REALLY good about not buying books lately ;).

5. Last book I was given: I don't get books very often. But I do have high hopes of getting this gem for Christmas:

Readathon: Update the Last

I got a little distracted by the internet last night, so I didn't manage much more reading. Overall, however, this was one of my more successful readathons! Can't wait for April's!

1.Which hour was most daunting for you? Probably from about 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. That's when I finally gave up and went to bed.
2.Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? I was completely enthralled by the end of A Clash of Kings, but I think only the last 200 pages could be considered "high-interest" in terms of makes you want to keep reading even at 3 a.m. I did have The Scorpio Races but didn't get to it because I was so engrossed in Clash.
3.Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
4.What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? Everything! I visited the site and others' blogs less this year just because I was driving for a good chunk of the time, but I LOVE the readathon!
5.How many books did you read? I read three and finished two.
6.What were the names of the books you read? Revolution, by Jennifer Donnelly, A Clash of Kings, by George R.R. Martin, and A Storm of Swords, by George R.R. Martin.
7.Which book did you enjoy most? A Clash of Kings
8.Which did you enjoy least? There were parts of Revolution that dragged for me, but that's probably because I was in the car and listening for a LONG time.
9.If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
10.How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? Very likely! And I'll probably sign up to cheerlead!

Here are my final stats:
Books finished: 0 (2 total)
Pages read: 37 (231 total)
Minutes listened: 45 (255 total)
Hours read: 1 1/2 (9 total)

Readathon: Update the Second

I just finished A Clash of Kings, and HOLY SMOKES. It was so good that I'm going to dive right into A Storm of Swords instead of starting The Scorpio Races. Given how much I've been looking forward to The Scropio Races, that is saying a lot!

Here's my progress:
Books finished: 1 (2 total)
Pages read: 169 (194 total)
Minutes listened: 0 (210 total)
Hours read: 3 1/2 (7 1/2 total)

Readathon: Update the First

I just got home from my parents', and I am DYING to dive back into A Clash of Kings! I read a bit when I stopped for lunch, and it got INTENSE!

Here are my bookish facts/stats:

Books finished: 1 (1 total)--Revolution, by Jennifer Donnelly
Pages read: 25 (25 total)
Minutes listened: 210 (210 total)
Hours read: 4 (4 total)

The Readathon Begins!

As you are reading this, I am driving home from my parents'. Luckily for me, I can still participate in the readathon because I'm listening to Revolution, by Jennifer Donnely, and will also probably have a chance to start the first Percy Jackson book, The Lightening Thief.

I don't have a strict schedule for today, but I do hope to come close to finishing A Clash of Kings, I'd like to read a good chunk of Anna Karenina,and, if UPS cooperates, The Scorpio Races will also make an appearance (I hope!).

Happy reading to all!

Further Evidence That I Am Crazy

But that's pretty much a prerequisite for an English teacher, right?

The evidence alluded to in my post title is the fact that I am joining Wallace's read-a-long of Anna Karenina. I actually tried to read this back in college, but a serious bout of mono derailed my reading, and I never went back to it. Each week's reading is extremely manageable, so I'm hoping this proves doable.

But why is that so crazy? Book bloggers join read-a-longs every day. Well, it's crazy because I'm starting a new reading project; it's even more crazy because I am currently 160 pages in to Clash of Kings (its over 1,000 pages long), and I have Storm of Swords staring me down from the shelf thanks to some fluke in the library system that resulted in my hold requests for both (1,000+ page books) being processed at the same time. This means that I have until October 21st to finish those two books, or else I have to return Storm of Swords without finishing it (highly unlikely) or keep it and rack up library fines (highly likely). We do have a school break in about two weeks which could help my chances on the bookish front, but still. What am I thinking?

There are too many books....I cannot resist them....

You know you have a book problem (is there such a thing?) when you start telling yourself things like, "well, it will be okay because I can read the Martin during D.I.R.T. (Daily Independent Reading Time--I do it three times a week with my freshmen), and I can read the Tolstoy on the weekends; everything will get read!" Only in a perfect world, self, only in a perfect world.

Now it's time to fess up: who else has this problem? Please tell me I am not alone...

Various and Sundry Things

Happy Sunday to all!

This has been a puttering type of weekend for me. I started to feel rather icky Friday morning at school and have been trying to ward off fully succumbing to illness (and missing school), so I haven't done much this weekend that required a lot of energy. I did enjoy going through my books to find some candidates for my new project (send me some suggestions! 1900-1920 are looking a little bare!), and I've managed to almost finish Game of Thrones. Sadly, I won't get the next book for almost three weeks, but I hope to get a good start on some of my project reading as I wait for A Clash of Kings.

Another excellent bit of bookish news is the fact that the date for the fall read-a-thon has been set: October 22 it is! Mark your calendars, sign up, and start stockpiling your books! I know I will.

I hope all of you are experiencing more typically fallish weather than we are here. The high for today is 81 (grrr), and I'm tired of it. Last year we had our first snow of the year the first week in October, so I just hope we get a little fall before winter comes to stay.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!