Mid-Year Reading Stats, and other stuff

First, Happy 4th of July! Hope everyone has a fun and safe holiday today :-)

In other news... I decided to post my reading stats for the first half of the year. Honestly, they're not where I wanna be. So I'm hoping to get super-amounts of reading done during the rest of the year. Honestly, I'm only about 5 to 10 books behind where I'd like to be... Ideally, I want to read 130 books this year.

So here's how the first six months of this year have gone...

January: 13 books read, 5502 pages
February: 10 books read, 4407 pages
March: 8 books read, 4195 pages
April: 13 books read, 4631 pages
May: 8 books read, 3349 pages
June: 6 books read, 2825 pages

Total books read: 58
Pages read: 24,909

Broken down my genre...
Classics: 2
Comic: 1
Fantasy: 7
Historical Fiction: 4
Non-fiction: 3
Poetry: 2
Romance: 6
Sci-fi: 1
YA: 13
General fiction: 19

And here's my thoughts...

• Stupid June. I was pretty busy in June... my little brother graduated, and we threw a baby shower for my little sister Amanda who is supposed to have her baby at the end of July.



• OK, so it wasn't just that I was busy in June... I've been relying on DVD's at work to keep me awake, because I don't get enough sleep beforehand. But work is a huge chunk of my reading time, so I gotta cut that mess out and start sleeping right so I can read more. Plus I did more crocheting/sewing this month than usual. Which is awesome, but means less reading.



• January was awesomesauce. Partly because I was re-reading the Harry Potter series in the beginning of the year, and I flew through those.



• Also, 8 of those YA books were Harry Potter books. So if you don't count those (because they're amazing and should have their own genre), my YA count is actually only like 5.



• Fiction is all of the books that don't really fit into my other categories...



• I need to read more classics, sci-fi, and non-fiction.



• I didn't list it, but 12 of those books were re-reads. But since my goal this year was to kind of focus on re-reads, that's okay.



• I'm sick of these bullets.
  

SO, that's my reading info for the first half of this year. OH also, I've accrued 108 books so far this year, and spent $532.86 on books. Crap, that's a lot when you really look at it. Kind of regretting starting that "book purchases" spreadsheet now...

ALSO, because this is one long-ass post and I'm too lazy to do a seperate post....

The Summer Mini-Readathon is only SIX days away! Yup, it's on this Sunday. I can't wait!
I'm a big one for preparing. I have most of the challenges figured out, so lately I've been planning out my snacks / drinks / books!

Food stuff:

Probably just waffles & coffee for breakfast.

Homestyle popcorn as some point. Because it's delicious and perfect snacking-while-reading food.

I'm thinking soup & bread for lunch. If I have the A/C on. I really, really like to read while I eat soup. I have no clue why.

Deviled eggs, if I'm not too lazy to make them. Because they're SO GOOD.

Not sure about dinner... maybe I can ask the honeyman to make a pizza. That way I don't have to worry about cooking :-)

Oh, and that coffee I mentioned earlier? There will be coffee all day. Because I love coffee.

And near the evening... probably wine, or some amaretto sours.

THE BOOKS:

Definitely, Maybe by Heather Webber (a short-story that I'll be reading on Kindle-for-PC)

Shambling With the Stars by Jesse Petersen (a short-story that I'll be reading on Kindle-for-PC)

Into the Dead by Jesse Petersen (a ARC of nine short stories that Jesse sent to me for review, also reading on the computer)

The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran (might re-read if I get outside at all that day)

Barefoot by Elin Hilderbrand (one of the poll-winners for this month!)

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray (other poll-winner, I have it on hold at the library, hopefully it comes soon)

Voyager by Diana Gabaldon (might start re-reading this by the end of the readathon)

1776 by David McCullough (actually currently reading this, so I'm hoping to get a couple chapters in during the readathon. Trying to celebrate Independence Day and up my non-fiction numbers all at the same time)

Obviously that list is way too long. But I like to have options ready! I never know what I'll feel like reading next. And I fully expect to read those three short-story novellas right away, hopefully they'll only take a couple hours.

*Also, I linked to the books where I could in case you were interested in them. I linked to Amazon (mostly out of laziness), but I don't get anything from Amazon for doing so. It just seemed easiest.

So, are you getting ready for the readathon? Books picked out? Food all planned? Tell me about it!

Summer Mini-Readathon Reminder! And some updates!

You guys! The Mini-Readathon is only TWELVE DAYS away! So here's a little recap, reminder, update thingamajig...

• Will take place on Sunday, July 10th for any 12 hour block of your choosing. I am reading from 10 AM to 10 PM Eastern time.


• There will be five mini-challenges, one of which will be hosted by the fabulous Jenn from Booksessed. I am SO excited to have Jenn hosting one of the challenges!


• Taking part in the 5 mini-challenges will get you up to five entries to win one of the three gift card prizes!


• First winner will receive a $30 Amazon gift card.


• Two second prize winners will each receive a $10 Amazon gift card.


• There will also be a BONUS mini-challenge & giveaway, held by my wonderful sister Heather at All You Need Designs. Heather not only designed my blog, she also makes awesome handmade jewelry, bookmarks, and more. If you take part in her bonus challenge, you'll be entered to win a beaded bookmark made by her! She's going to make one especially reading-themed to giveaway, but visit her very successful Etsy shop for some examples!

I know this is a lot more low-key than other Readathons. It's shorter so that you don't burn out. It has fewer mini-challenges so that you can focus on reading. There's not a bajillion giveaways and prizes, because for the most part this is all coming out of my pocket. And because I want people to participate because they want to read, not just because they want to win free stuff.

I'm really looking forward to this! I already have several books in mind to work on throughout the readathon. And I'm really, really excited to have Jenn & Heather helping out too. Please visit here to sign up if you haven't already joined.

See you guys on the July 10th!


~Sarah

Mini-Readathon Update: Challenge Prizes

OKAY, so after a lot of consideration (and by that I mean the last half hour or so), I've decided how I want to do the prizes for my Summer Mini-Readathon.

Now, there will 5 be mini-challenges in that 12-hour block. I'll post one every 3 hours - so one at the beginning, three in the middle, and one at the end for a total of five.

You don't have to do them right away. The point of the readathon is to get some reading done, right? So since it's taking place on Sunday, July 10th - you'll have until 6 PM (Eastern) on Monday July 11th to post the links / complete the mini-challenges you feel like doing. Cause I'm nice like that. I'll pick winners and announce them on Tuesday, July 12th.

Each challenge you complete is an entry for the prize, so you can potentially earn yourself 5 entries. Awesomeness, right?

I'll be picking three winners via random.org.

1st winner - $30 Amazon e-gift card
2nd & 3rd place winners - $10 Amazon e-gift card each

So I'll be giving away a total of $50 in prizes. The cool thing? With e-gift cards, you don't need to give me your mailing address, just an email address. Plus, this comes out of my own pocket, so I save on shipping costs too and therefore can give cool prizes like this, that are exciting for anybody.

Here's the link to go sign-up! You don't wanna miss it. I promise.