Wondrous Words Wednesday

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where you can share new words that you’ve encountered or spotlight words you love.

I found so many great new words while reading The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Creation!

1. "The ceiling was very low, with roots coming through, and everything had a genteel fade to it, the old lace and code-breaking machines, the anchors and heavy picture frames, the dinosaur bones and orreries." (12)

orrery - an apparatus showing the relative positions and motions of bodies in the solar system by balls moved by a clockwork

2. "In the midst of copper statues and fountains caked with verdigris rested three huge bathtubs." (58)

verdigris - a green or greenish-blue poisonous pigment resulting from the action of acetic acid on copper and consisting of one or more basic copper acetates

(I actually guessed this word had something to do with the color green just based on the root "verdi.")

3. "All traffic travels widdershins, September thought, giggling." (62)

widdershins - in a left-handed, wrong, or contrary direction

(This term gets referenced - and defined - later in the book, but I thought it was a great word! Also, a twitter friend of mine decided to start using it on the same day I found it in the book. That's quite a coincidence!)

4. "'The Changeling Recital at Dandytown Hall went off splendidly last week, featuring an orchestra of violins, oboes, one piano, a nickelstave, two tubas, a lorelei, and a full grummellphone section.'" (87)

lorelei - a siren of Germanic legend whose singing lures Rhine River boatmen to destruction on a reef

(Neither nickelstave nor grummellphone are in the dictionary, so I'm guessing they were made up. I ran into that A LOT in this book.)

5. "'My name is Doctor Fallow, and I am the Satrap of Autumn.'" (135)

satrap - the governor of a province in ancient Persia

6. "'Do you see an Order of the Green Kirtle on my chest?'" (166)

kirtle - a tunic or coat worn by men especially in the Middle Ages

7. "'What is an indirect dative reserved for things.'" (197)

dative - of, relating to, or being the grammatical case that marks typically the indirect object of a verb, the object of some prepositions, or a possessor

(Sadly, this is not the only grammatical term I've encountered recently that I didn't learn about in school!)

Those are the new words I learned this week! How about you?

WWW Wednesdays

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

My answers:

I'm currently reading: Wonder Woman Unbound by Tim Hanley (to be reviewed on NetGalley). I'm also rereading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets for my HP book club meeting this weekend. It's my least favorite in the series, but I've enjoyed revisiting the stories and seeing how much of the ending was there all along. JK Rowling is a friggin' genius.

I recently finished reading: The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente, The Here and Now by Ann Brashares, and the first volume of Batman: Lil' Gotham. I was pretty disappointed with The Here and Now, but the other two were great!

Next I think I'll read: My comic book pulls for this week and something else from the huge stack of NetGalley ARCs I mentioned last week.

Friday 56

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader (If you have to improvise, that's ok.)
*Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grab you.
*Post it.

Today's excerpt comes from The Here and Now, a futuristic love story by Ann Brashares:

"I get some toiletries at a blindingly bright drugstore. Ethan tags along as I pick out a toothbrush, toothpaste and a pink plastic hairbrush. In a distant way I think the old thoughts: Am I doing this right? Would a normal person buy this? Am I giving anything away?"

Wondrous Words Wednesday

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where you can share new words that you’ve encountered or spotlight words you love.

I found a few wondrous words in one sentence from The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making: "'The earth, my dear, is roughly trapezoidal, vaguely rhomboid, a bit of a tesseract, and altogether grumpy when its fur is stroked the wrong way!'" (pg. 5)

1. trapezoidal - of, pertaining to, or having the form of a trapezoid (a quadrilateral plane figure having two parallel and two nonparallel sides)

2. rhomboid - having a form similar to an oblique-angled parallelogram with only the opposite sides equal

3. tesseract - the generalization of a cube to four dimensions

Hooray for math-related vocabulary!

WWW Wednesdays

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

My answers:

I'm currently reading: The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne M. Valente. I just started it yesterday and haven't gotten very far, but my FYA book club is meeting this Sunday to discuss it, so I really need to finish!

I'm also reading The Here and Now by Ann Brashares and the first volume of Batman: Lil' Gotham, both for NetGalley. Clearly, I'm really far behind on my reviews. I'm hoping that school ending this week will help with that.

I recently finished reading: Jaka's Story and rereading Dune, both for book clubs last weekend. I enjoyed both, but Dune is one of my favorite books. I've read it several times, and each time I notice something new.

Next I think I'll read: Wonder Woman Unbound, Doctor Who: Touched By An Angel, Neptune Noir, The Science of Shakespeare, Nick and Tesla's Secret Agent Gadget Battle, Black Canary and Zatanna: Bloodspell (all of which I need to review for NetGalley or LibraryThing), and the new comics I'm picking up today.

Tune in Tuesday: Au Revoir Simone

Happy Tuesday! Here's the song that's currently stuck in my head:



There's not an official music video, sadly, but the sound quality on this one is better than the live versions on YouTube. "Backyards of Our Neighbors" is such a hauntingly beautiful song! It reminds me of summertime for some reason, and since this is my last week of school (with my students at least), it's been on my mind recently.

Thursday Three: Comics!

What is Thursday 3? It's a new weekly meme, hosted by Tasha, in which we will be discussing our love/hate relationship with our current read.

Here is how Thursday 3 works:

Take your current read, or book you previously finished, and tell me the following 3 things about it.

Character from the book you LOVE (This can be a character you want as your BFF or someone you want to take home to meet the parents)

Character from the book you HATE (This character does not have to be the villian, just someone you disliked)

Your overall LOVE/HATE of the book. (If you haven't decided your feelings for the book yet, or if you prefer, just provide a snippet from the book containing either the word "LOVE" or "HATE")

I wasn't going to post a Thursday Three today because I'm still reading A Feast for Crows (I read the other ASOIAF books in 2-3 days, if that gives you an idea of my feelings towards this book), but the I realized I could write a post about the comics I picked up today instead! I'm really digging the new DC 52 - today's haul included Aquaman #4, The Flash #4, The Guild: Zaboo, Batman #4, and Voodoo #4.

Character I LOVE: Zaboo! He's played by Sandeep Parikh on the web series The Guild, and the comic was written by Sandeep and Felicia Day, the creator and writer of the show. The character is lovable and exasperating, and I think the comic did a great job of showing how he got that way.

Character I HATE: the law enforcement in Coastal City! Seriously, Aquaman just saved a bunch of people - give the man some respect! At least Aquaman got a dog out of the ordeal.*

My overall LOVE/HATE of the book: I love all the comics I picked up today (why bother reading them otherwise?), but I have to admit that I'm most surprised by my affection for Aquaman. He used to be the biggest punching bag in the DCU, but between his shark-telepathy in last week's issue of Justice League and his sensitivity in this week's issue of Aquaman, he's really growing on me and quickly becoming one of my favorite heroes.

* When I told my boyfriend about Aquaman's new pet, he suggested the name "Run," so that he could be referred to as "sea-dog Run." Ah, puns.

Thursday Three: A Feast for Crows

What is Thursday 3? It's a new weekly meme, hosted by Tasha, in which we will be discussing our love/hate relationship with our current read.

Here is how Thursday 3 works:

Take your current read, or book you previously finished, and tell me the following 3 things about it.

Character from the book you LOVE (This can be a character you want as your BFF or someone you want to take home to meet the parents)

Character from the book you HATE (This character does not have to be the villian, just someone you disliked)

Your overall LOVE/HATE of the book. (If you haven't decided your feelings for the book yet, or if you prefer, just provide a snippet from the book containing either the word "LOVE" or "HATE")

I'm currently reading A Feast for Crows, the fourth book in George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series.

Character I LOVE: Samwell Tarly! He reminds me a lot of Neville Longbottom (which probably accounts for the affection I feel for him) because he's so bumbling and cowardly. But he's also sweet and stands up for what's right. He's really starting to come into his own, which scares me because Martin tends to kill off awesome characters.

Character I HATE: Robert Arryn. I should probably say Petyr Baelish because he's so despicable, but I find Robert even more odious. And it's really not his fault - he's just so twisted and coddled and poor Sansa has to put up with him. I can't imagine being forced to marry my sickly Oedipal cousin.

My overall LOVE/HATE for the book: I haven't decided yet, but it's leaning more towards hate. The chapters alternate between narrators, which is great if the narrator is a character I like or one who has an interesting story (Cersei, Sansa, Samwell) and really hard to get through if the narrator is unlikable or uninteresting (Brienne). It's definitely not as good as the previous book in the series.

Silliness

It's storming like whoa outside, so I'm about to shut down the computer and spend the day reading. Before I go, though, here are two fun new memes I found. Please to enjoy!

And what did YOU do today, dear?
I yelled at a phone in your bathroom because the voices told me to!
(visit Florinda to get in on the fun)

Make your own album cover!
Here's mine:

BWE tells you how.

Comment and share yours!

Besotted by B's

Care assigned me the letter B in the alphabet meme. Here are ten of my favorite B-words:


Caspian Beach ساحل خزر
Originally uploaded by >TOORAJ
1. The Beach! Any beach, really, but I'm partial to Hilton Head Island, SC (my family vacations there every year) and Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL (where my mom grew up and the majority of her family still lives).

2. B Bands. The Beatles, Boston, bis (RIP), bicycle, Ben Folds (Five), The B-52's...


3. Boston terriers. Generally speaking, I love all dogs. Yes, even the two that bit me on the face when I was little - OUCH! But when I finally have a house and fenced-in back yard of my own, I really want to get one of these. They're so cute! And smart and lively to boot.

4. Baking. I love making cookies, cakes, cupcakes, etc. It's relaxing. And yummy!

5. Backrubs. Speaking of relaxing...who doesn't love a good rub down now and then? One of my friends went through training to become a message therapist a few years ago, and I loved being her guinea pig.

6. Book-related websites. BookCrossing, BookMooch, LibraryThing, GoodReads...I use and love them all.


7. Bernal, Gael Garcia. One of my favorite actors. I loved him Amores perros, Y yu mama tambien, and El Crimen de padre Amaro. I have yet to see The Science of Sleep, but I'm sure it's wonderful, too.

8. Bubble wrap. Is there anything as satisfying as receiving something in the mail and then spending the next ten minutes blissfully popping all the bubble wrap it came in? I think not.

9. Buffy - the movie ("Pike isn't a name; it's a fish.") and the TV series ("Well, I like you. You're nice, and you're funny, and you don't smoke. Yeah, okay, werewolf, but that's not all the time. I mean, three days out of the month I'm not much fun to be around either."). I still listen to the "Once More, With Feeling" soundtrack almost every day. It must be bunnies!

10. B&Bs. When I went to the UK, my tour group stayed in a variety of Bed & Breakfasts. They're cozy, the people who run them are friendly, and you're guaranteed a great breakfast when you wake up. The place we stayed in Monmouthshire (Wales) even had cats that slept in the bed with you!



I realize this meme has probably run its course by now, but if you'd like to play along, leave a comment and I'll give you a letter.

I'm the other Hepburn

Fun, random quiz found via Kristina. There are only two questions, yet it's amazingly accurate!

You are a Katharine -- "I am happy and open to new things"

Katharines are energetic, lively, and optimistic. They want to contribute to the world.

How to Get Along with Me

• * Give me companionship, affection, and freedom.


• * Engage with me in stimulating conversation and laughter.


• * Appreciate my grand visions and listen to my stories.


• * Don't try to change my style. Accept me the way I am.


• * Be responsible for youself. I dislike clingy or needy people.


• * Don't tell me what to do.

What I Like About Being a Katharine

• * being optimistic and not letting life's troubles get me down


• * being spontaneous and free-spirited


• * being outspoken and outrageous. It's part of the fun.


• * being generous and trying to make the world a better place


• * having the guts to take risks and to try exciting adventures


• * having such varied interests and abilities

What's Hard About Being a Katharine

• * not having enough time to do all the things I want


• * not completing things I start


• * not being able to profit from the benefits that come from specializing; not making a commitment to a career


• * having a tendency to be ungrounded; getting lost in plans or fantasies


• * feeling confined when I'm in a one-to-one relationship

Katharines as Children Often

• * are action oriented and adventuresome


• * drum up excitement


• * prefer being with other children to being alone


• * finesse their way around adults


• * dream of the freedom they'll have when they grow up

Katharines as Parents

• * are often enthusiastic and generous


• * want their children to be exposed to many adventures in life


• * may be too busy with their own activities to be attentive

Take Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz at HelloQuizzy

Mailbox Monday

This is my first time participating in Mailbox Monday. Every week, Marcia at The Printed Page hosts this meme. I wanted to share this week because I actually got quite a few books in the mail this weekend:


I got a copy of Rock Bottom from the LibraryThing Early Reviewers, and I won two cookbooks from Bethany: Katie Brown Celebrates and Confetti Cakes for Kids. My copy of Dumbing Us Down also arrived, but after I took this picture. Yay, lots of books!

To be honest, the recipes in Confetti Cakes look a little intimidating, but I'm willing to give them a try. Katie Brown Celebrates, though, is full of easy, yummy-sounding recipes. To celebrate, I cooked the Tomato Bread Pudding recipe that Bethany featured on her site. It is delicious!


I actually just had some for breakfast. Yum...

What about you? Have you received any exciting packages in the mail?

The Sunday Salon - 4 January 2009

Good morning, fellow Saloners! 2009 has gotten off to a great start. I'm slowly working my way through all of my challenges, and I've begun my 101 things to do in 1001 days as well. Today is my last day of vacation before school starts up again on Tuesday (we have a teacher work day tomorrow, so my second semester officially starts then), and I plan on spending it curled up with a good book. Several, in fact. I'm just about done with The Last Days of Dogtown - it's such an intense novel, I keep having to put it down and read lighter, happier fare - and I'm also re-reading a few books from the Taffy Sinclair series (by Betsy Haynes) which I found at a used book store and thought would be great for the YA Reading Challenge. I've also been reading What Would Audrey Do? (very sporadically - a chapter a day or so), which is a combination biography of Audrey Hepburn and guide to living with style. I don't feel like I've learned much about style (I think I'm pretty much a hopeless case on that score), but I have learned quite a few tidbits about Ms. Hepburn that I'll be sharing in my review. Whenever I get to it, that is...

One of my goals for this break was to write several reviews. I didn't get to them (yet), but I still want to. So in the next month or so, look for me to post about The Mating Season, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Sick Puppy, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Graphic Novel, Austenland, The Little Prince, and An Abundance of Katherines. Whew! The sad part is, none of these count toward my 2009 challenges. Oh, well...

One last (fun) thing: the "What Kind of a Reader are You?" Quiz

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Dedicated Reader   You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more.
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Book Snob
Literate Good Citizen
Non-Reader
Fad Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

I got this from Beth F. Good times.

Happy reading! :)

What Book Am I?

You're Prufrock and Other Observations!

by T.S. Eliot

Though you are very short and often overshadowed, your voice is poetic and lyrical. Dark and brooding, you see the world as a hopeless effort of people trying to impress other people. Though you make reference to almost everything, you've really heard enough about Michelangelo. You measure out your life with coffee spoons.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Actually, my friend Ashley often teases me because of my esoteric allusions (which no one but myself ever understands). I should have been a pair of ragged claws. Scuttling across the floors of silent seas. . .

Quiz found via Vasilly.

Which Reindeer Are You?

You Are Blitzen

Always in good spirits, you're the reindeer who loves to party down with Santa. Why You're Naughty: You're always blitzed on Christmas Eve, while flying! Why You're Nice: You mix up a mean eggnog martini.

Which of Santa's Reindeer Are You?

An eggnog martini sounds gross, but I did have a gingerbread martini this week that was pretty tasty.

I'm a Performer!

I've taken Meyers-Briggs personality assessments before, but I can never remember what they classified me as. This one is oddly on the mark, though:


(Click for a larger view)

From the Typealyzer, found via Joanne.

In other news, BoingBoing has a holiday gift guide featuring comics and graphic novels and Neil Gaiman is having a contest, of sorts, to promote The Graveyard Book. I'm off to help set up a display at the tiny public library...

Weekly Geeks #26

This week's WG challenge: bloghopping!

1. Using the WeeklyGeeks category here in my blog, find 5 Weekly Geeks you don’t know. The easiest way is probably to look at the Mr Linkies in my weekly Saturday posts.

2. Visit each of your 5 new blogpals and snoop around their blogs to find at least one thing you have in common.

3. In your blog, write a post, linking to your 5 new blogpals, about what you have in common with them.

4. Come back and sign Mr Linky.

5. As you run across other Weekly Geek posts (or deliberately seek them out) if you see anyone mentioned who has something in common with you, pay them a visit.

I decided the easiest way to find out if I had something in common with other Weekly Geeks was to check out the responses to WG #24. I found several people who liked the same authors I do, and linked to them on my own WG #24 post. Here are other commonalities I discovered:

1. First up, Ali from Worducopia. In addition to having an awesome blog name, Ali is also a fan of Christopher Moore. She's read several books (including The Gargoyle, Madapple, and Eat, Pray, Love) that are on my TBR list, she has a Guster song in her sidebar playlist, she loves Harold and Maude, and she's visited Paris and Italy - two places I very much hope to see myself one day.

2. Next, Sam from Wrongdecade. I'm going to go into detail explaining this similarity, I can tell. See, I used to work at a clothing store that played music from the 50s and 60s, and because I heard it so often (and knew so much of the music already, because my mom listened to the oldies station exclusively while my sister and I were growing up) I knew the words to pretty much every song and would sing along with them. Loudly, if there were no customers in the store; quietly, if there were. There was one song called "Born Too Late" by the Poni-Tails (hear it here) that used to come on at least once a day, and of course, I would sing along. My co-worker, Stella, used to joke that the song had been written about me, because I clearly belonged in an earlier decade. For what it's worth, I would've made an awesome flapper. Anywho, Sam also feels that she was born too late. Plus, she's a vegan, and I'm a vegetarian.

3. Sarah from Behold, the thing that reads a lot and I both disliked The Nanny Diaries.

4. Florinda from The 3 R's and I are both fans of Michael Chabon. And I love the links in this post. She's also responsible for introducing me to this quiz:

Jessi's Dewey Decimal Section:

083 Collections in other Germanic languages

Jessi's birthday: 11/03/1980 = 1103+1980 = 3083


Class:
000 Computer Science, Information & General Works


Contains:
Encyclopedias, magazines, journals and books with quotations.



What it says about you:
You are very informative and up to date. You're working on living in the here and now, not the past. You go through a lot of changes. When you make a decision you can be very sure of yourself, maybe even stubborn, but your friends appreciate your honesty and resolve.

Find your Dewey Decimal Section at Spacefem.com

5. Last but not least, Jessica at The Bluestocking Society. We have the same name, enjoy the same books (The Handmaid's Tale, Coraline, Midnight Sun, The Graveyard Book, and An Abundance of Katherines - those last two are currently in my TBR pile, although I started The Graveyard Book during last month's Read-a-Thon), and I love the idea of reclaiming a formerly-disparaging term and embracing it as a way to describe intellectual, literary women.

24-Hour Read-a-Thon: Hour Twelve

Title of book(s) read since last update: currently listening to "A Horseman in the Sky," Ambrose Bierce
Number of books read since you started: 2, part of 1; 1.5 short stories
Titles of books read since you started: Pretties, Scott Westerfeld; Harry Potter y la camara secreta, J.K. Rowling; Bella at Midnight, Diane Stanley; "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," Ambrose Bierce
Pages read since last update: n/a
Running total of pages read since you started: 581
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 40 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 384 minutes
Mini-challenges completed: Freerice.com mini-challenge, Sarah's foreign language mini-challenge, Meryl's book quote mini-challenge, Freerice.com 2, Icedream's book cover mini-challenge, Kim's "walkin' and snappin'" mini-challenge
Other participants you’ve visited: 0 this hour
Prize you’ve won: none (yet!)

Mid-Event Survey:

1. What are you reading right now? I'm listening to two Ambrose Bierce short stories from The Classic Tales Podcast.

2. How many books have you read so far? I've finished two, read part of one, and listened to one (almost two) short stories.

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? Either The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks (which I got out of my car during last hour's mini-challenge break) or Specials (so I can finish up the Uglies trilogy).

4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day? Nope! I had to turn down a few social invitations, but nothing that couldn't wait.

5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? My roommate invited a friend over for dinner, but she placated me with food and cake. I just looked at it like a break and got back to reading as soon as I could.

6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? I don't drink much caffeine, so I'm surprised at how awake and alert I've been feeling. I didn't get much sleep last night, but I haven't been tired or had the urge to take a nap all day. I'm sure I'll be passing out in a few hours, but for now I'm really pleased with myself.

7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? I think it would be fun to organize a book club - if we could get everyone to agree on a book to read and write about for a few hours, just to see how our opinions differ.

8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year? I think I did okay this year. I wouldn't mind having more snacks in the apartment...

9. Are you getting tired yet? Nope! (knock wood)

10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered? I think taking that walk outside really energized me, especially since the weather is starting to get colder. Having an awesome roommate who makes you cake for no reason is pretty helpful, too. :)

24-Hour Read-a-Thon: Hour Two

The current mini-challenge is to go to this website and test your vocabulary knowledge to earn free rice. I played until I got to 2,000 grains and learned a bunch of new words that I will probably forget in a few minutes. Did you know that nimbus is actually a word? I thought J.K. Rowling made it up. :)

Now I really need to get back to reading. Thanks to everyone who dropped by to encourage me - it really means a lot! I'll be coming to visit all of you soon...

Happy reading!

24-Hour Read-a-Thon: Hour One Wrap-Up..Again

Title of book(s) read since last update: Pretties, Scott Westerfeld
Number of books read since you started: part of 1
Pages read since last update: 92
Running total of pages read since you started: 172
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 40 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 85 minutes
Mini-challenges completed: Does the meme below count? If so, 1 by the end of this post. :)
Other participants you’ve visited: Fyrefly, Michelle, Sally and Amy, Nymeth, gautami tripathy
Prize you’ve won: none (yet!)

I've worked out a system - I saved a template that includes the above list, my running page count, and running reading time. Now I can just copy and paste every time I do an update! Apparently, I started an hour early. Oops. I guess this just means I'll have to finish an hour early tomorrow. Oh, well. Dewey has posted a meme for us complete for this "first" hour:

Where are you reading from today? My apartment. Mostly the daybed in my living room that serves as a couch. My roommate doesn't know it, but I commandeered her Fuzzy Poodle Blanket to keep me warm while I'm reading.

3 facts about me …
1. I can say a completely useless phrase ("I am a big duck.") in 10 different languages. It started as a joke in high school, and sort of mutated from there... [UPDATE: Deb asked which languages. They are: English (obvs), Spanish, French, German, Russian, Latin, Italian, Hindi, Cambodian, and Japanese. If anyone else knows another language not on that list and would like to teach me how to say "I'm a big duck" in that language, please do!]
2. I have read three different versions of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone: American, British, and Spanish
3. Even though I have lived in Georgia all my life, I cannot stand the taste of sweet tea. Apparently this makes me an anomaly.

How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours? 6 books, 2 graphic novels, 3 comic books, and 2 magazines, in addition to various audiobooks

Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)? My goals are to stay up for as long as possible and read as much as possible. I'd like to read at least 3 of my books, both of the graphic novels, and all three of the comics. We'll see. I'd also like to visit new blogs and make some new friends.

If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, any advice for people doing this for the first time? I was a cheerleader last year, so I wouldn't exactly call myself a veteran. As a Literature teacher, however, my best advice would be to have fun. Which reading always is, right? :)