That Just Happened!

Two years ago I signed up to participate in the Book Blogger Holiday Swap.  I successfully sent off my package and it was received, but my own never did come.  Cue sad face emoticon…    There you are, sad face!  Last year I didn’t participate because I had a few other things going on, including participating in the 2010 Holiday Reading Challenge.

This year I am Secret Santa-ing again and it is going to be awesome!  I signed up just before the deadline (which is today at midnight, so head on over to the sign up page)  and am well on my way to sending and receiving mail that isn’t bills!  And again, I will remind you how much I looooove getting suprise mail, so it is something to look forward to.  Plus, it is a great way to kick off the holiday season and connect with other bloggers!  I’m already cooking up ideas on what to send my Secret Santa recipient, so we’ll have to wait and see who I get!

That’s all for now.

That Just Happened!

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?  I think the most daunting one was around midnight.  We had been reading for so long, but there was still 8 hours left and I was thinking, “How am I going to finish this?”
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? Definitely anything in the Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer, and any book that’s short and funny.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Not really.  This was my first time participating and I really enjoyed it.  Everything seemed to go pretty smoothly (for me, anyway).
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? Having the email update reminding you of the date was nice.  Also, it seemed like there were more people without blogs who could participate.
5. How many books did you read? 5 books.
6. What were the names of the books you read? “Wicked Craving“, “Drop Dead, Gorgeous“, “Plum Lucky“, “Burning Water“, and “Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex“
7. Which book did you enjoy most? Definitely the Artemis Fowl one, but I was also very surprised about “Plum Lucky” which actually had me laughing out loud.
8. Which did you enjoy least? I felt a little let down by “Drop Dead, Gorgeous.”  I have read other books by that author that I have enjoyed way more.
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? Nope, I think they did a great job.
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? I would definitely participate again!  I think I would commit to more cheerleading time and I would also donate a prize.

This has been such a great experience all around.  I really appreciate all the hard work and coordination that goes into this event and it really brings the blogging community together.  Amazing job, everyone!

Here are my final totals for the event:

Books Read : 5 books
Total Pages Read: 1185 pages
Participation: 4 mini challenges, Half Way There Survey, Final Survey
Cheerleading: 10+ blogs visited
Total Hours Spent Reading: 18.5 hours

That Just Happened!

I just finished “Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex” by Eoin Colfer and it was awesome!  I love the Artemis Fowl series.  They are fast reads, full of adventure and move along at a fast pace.  I also love the character Artemis Fowl because he is a child genius with a penchant for suits and a dark, sarcastic wit.  It was the perfect book to end the Read-A-Thon with.

Yes, my lovelies, it is time I called it a night.  Next time I participate I am going to try to clear my schedule for the following day so that I can actually stay up until the end.  I will be writing a summary post tomorrow (right now my brain is mush) and I will have the final tallies.

Thank you to all the cheerleaders who left comments, the hosts of the mini-challenges, and the brave souls who actually host this challenge.  Good luck to those still reading and toughing out those final hours.  This has been an epic first time and I look forward to participating again.  So the time has come for…

The End.

That Just Happened!