My first read-a-thon- it's over!!

The Dewey's 24-hour Read-a-Thon is officially over...

I finished 2 books and got 23% of the way done with a third. I call that a success! And I won a door prize at Hour 24- woot!

End of Event Meme:

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? Probably the last hour I participated, which was hour 15 I believe. I was tired, and knew I needed to get to sleep because my husband was going to be waking me up early!
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? Any of the books by Marcia Clark or Sue Grafton. High fantasy fans will probably like the first book I completed this year, City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? It was my first read-a-thon, so I think it went well!
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? The blog was prompted updated every hour, the cheerleaders were great. 
5. How many books did you read? I finished 2 that were partially read when the event started, and got 23% of the way through a 3rd.
6. What were the names of the books you read? City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett, Tabula Rasa by Kristen Lippert-Martin, Gabriel Finley and the Raven's Riddle by George Hagen
7. Which book did you enjoy most? City of Stairs- I'm going to give fantasy another try because of this book!
8. Which did you enjoy least? Even though I'm not not enjoying it, I would say Gabriel Finley- it's middle grade so sometimes it's hard for me to really get into it. But I am liking it so far!
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 be participating again as a reader!! I just hope it falls on a day that I have completely free to devote to reading. 

Dewey's Read-A-Thon: Half-way point!

Hour 12! Halfway!! Woo!! To everyone still reading:

Mid-Event Survey:

1. What are you reading right now? Tabula Rasa by Kristen Lippert-Martin

2. How many books have you read so far? This is my 2nd book.

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? Honestly, I'm not sure what I'm going to pick up next!! I have a bunch of galleys to review so I'm trying to get through those.

4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? I'm very distractible so I have had plenty of interruptions. But I take them as my brain needing a little break so I let myself get distracted for a few minutes, then get back to reading.

5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? How content I am to spend the day on the couch with a book. Ok, so I really already knew I would be. But it feels great to actually do it!

Finished one book, onto the next!

Hour 9. One book down. I finished City of Stairs, which I gave 4 stars. Look for my review soon!

Next on my list...

I am currently 39% done with this e-galley from NetGalley. Its getting good and I would love to finish it!!! This book was released September 23, 2014. Here we go...!

Dewey's 24 Hour Read-A-Thon Update #1

Good morning guys!!

The read-a-thon started 2 hours ago, but I'm getting a late start because who doesn't love sleeping in on a Saturday morning?!

I am half-way through City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett, received from Blogging for Books for review. I've been reading this for weeks and would really love to finish it very soon, so I'm going to plug away on that for a bit.

Opening meme questions:

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? I am in the USA!

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? Winger by Andrew Smith

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? I don't have much to choose from in the house- maybe some dried pineapple or pumpkin seeds.

4) Tell us a little something about yourself! I'm a married physical therapist with 2 cats and a huge library!

5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to? Even though I don't have the full 24 hours to participate, I'm looking forward to completing at least 1 book.

My First Read-a-Thon

Hey there readers!! Ever since I started watching Booktube, I have been seeing people participating in Read-a-thons. Every time there is a read-a-thon, I have plans and cannot participate. However, I have decided that it is time to try it out! While I do not think I will be able to participate for the full 24 hours, I'm going to do what I can. I have so many ARCs to get through, this may be a great way to do it. 

Join me if you would like! The Dewey's 24 hour read-a-thon is taking place on October 18, 2014. Everyone starts at the same time, so start times are time zone specific. You can see start times here. For more information and the official sign ups, check out the official website http://24hourreadathon.com/. 

Review: A Sudden Light by Garth Stein

Published September 30, 2014
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Synopsis: In the summer of 1990, fourteen-year-old Trevor Riddell gets his first glimpse of Riddell House. Built from the spoils of a massive timber fortune, the legendary family mansion is constructed of giant, whole trees, and is set on a huge estate overlooking Puget Sound. Trevor’s bankrupt parents have begun a trial separation, and his father, Jones Riddell, has brought Trevor to Riddell House with a goal: to join forces with his sister, Serena, dispatch Grandpa Samuel—who is flickering in and out of dementia—to a graduated living facility, sell off the house and property for development into “tract housing for millionaires,” divide up the profits, and live happily ever after.

But Trevor soon discovers there’s someone else living in Riddell House: a ghost with an agenda of his own. For while the land holds tremendous value, it is also burdened by the final wishes of the family patriarch, Elijah, who mandated it be allowed to return to untamed forestland as a penance for the millions of trees harvested over the decades by the Riddell Timber company. The ghost will not rest until Elijah’s wish is fulfilled, and Trevor’s willingness to face the past holds the key to his family’s future.

Review: How would I describe this book? A family drama, ghost story and historical fiction all rolled into one. The characters are rich and dramatic, the plot line interesting with twists and turns, lies and deception, mystery and emotion. I really liked the flow of this story, there was some repetition of themes and ideas but they were purposeful and helped to build the plot. This story was very different than anything I have read and that's a huge plus for me. 

What a smart 14 year old Trevor is! First off, he starts seeing ghosts and doesn't panic. Um, I am well past 14 and if I saw what he did, I would hid under the bed. Seriously. He pieces together so many different parts of a puzzle and comes to the real conclusion. But will anyone believe him? 

Serena really made me angry throughout this story. She is rude and crazy from the get go. And the way she treats Grandpa Samuel was really what made me the most angry. Probably because I work with the dementia population, but I had to skim over certain sections of her text because I was annoyed. This was all a part of her character that develops and makes more sense as the story goes on. 

All in all, I would recommend this read. This was my first Garth Stein book despite having The Art of Racing in the Rain on my bookshelf for a while now. Looking forward to my next Stein book!

* I received a copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Top 5 Wednesday- Non-YA Books!

I do read a fair share of non-YA books. I actually never really read YA until a couple of years ago, but I really got into them more when I started watching Booktube. So here are 5 recommendations for non-YA books!

1) Carved in Bone by Jefferson Bass. Really, any of this Body Farm series. This is one of my favorite series ever. So far there are 8 books out (the 9th one is expected in 2015, I think) and I have only read the first 4 because I don't want them to be over! If you like CSI type plots, this is for you.

2) Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands by Chris Bohjalian. I just read and reviewed this book, my review can be found here. This book was touching, and dealt with some difficult subject matter. And the title...*sigh*...I'm not going to give it away. You need to read it to find out what the title is from.

3) Brain on Fire- My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan. It doesn't get more real than this- a memoir of someone who went through a psychiatric break and fully recovered, writing this book about her experience. Wow. This book grabbed me and held on for every page- I pretty much read this in one day. 

4) Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. This book was beautifully written and dealt with some difficult subject matter. Highly recommended.

5) The "Bones" series/ Temperance Brennan series by Kathy Reichs. I am not recommending these books because they have stellar writing or my breath was taken away by the beauty of the novel. These are just solidly written crime stories that I find majorly interesting and engrossing. 

And there we have it!! 5 non-YA recommendations!