My Official 2015 October Readathon Post.

Saturday Night (11:31 pm):

This is officially my last post of the night. My eyes and body are tired, so I'm heading to bed for whatever sleep I can get.

I had a very successful and relaxing day. In addition to just relaxing here at home, I spent the whole day with Matt, watched a fabulous football game, and read...a lot. It was what I needed to feel a bit like myself again, if even just for a day.

But I'm pooped now, and while I want to continue reading, I know I need the sleep more because this week is going to be busy and draining.

I ended up reading 5 full books today, and count 6 as being finished. Huzzah for that. I'm catching back up for my #15in31 challenge, and with more volumes of Fables sitting on my shelves, I might be able to complete the challenge.

Anyway, here are my final stats for the night. Let me know how you did.

Stats:

Number of Pages Read: 1,476 (that's a pretty awesome number, even though 400 or so of those pages are from graphic novels).
Books Finished: 6 (I read 180 pages last night in Teacher Man to finish it, and read Everything Everything, Volumes 15, 16, and 17 in Fables, and The Impossible Knife of Memory today)
Cups of Tea: 5 (English Breakfast, Chai, and a couple glasses of iced green tea)
Instagram posts: 4? 5? I lost track. 
Snacks: We didn't really eat a formal dinner, but Matt made a big batch of nachos to snack on while we finished watching the game, and peanut butter cookies to end the evening. :)
Cat Snuggles: 6
Husband Distractions: Oh, too many to count. I took a long break this evening to watch the game (MSU WON), and he tried to get me  to clean or watch a movie, but my book was just too good.

Saturday Afternoon (5:25 pm):

I really didn't intend to be away that long! But here I am! After a late breakfast, I ended up falling asleep on the couch for a little while. I didn't sleep long, and while I would love to go back and sleep some more, I know I need to keep myself awake to get a good night's sleep tonight.

I did get some reading done-2 more volumes of Fables. I'm enjoying the series so much! I think I'm going to read one more volume while the game is on (MSU v. Michigan), and then switch over to an actual novel to end my evening. I'd be perfectly happy with reading a total of 5 books today, even if 3 of them are graphic novels. :)

Anyway, I want to get settled back in to the couch since the game just came back on. I hope your reading is going well. I know that I'm enjoying this quieter participation this time around.

Stats:

Number of Pages Read: 916
Books Finished: 4 (Everything Everything, Teacher Man, and Volumes 15 and 16 of Fables)
Cups of Tea: 3 (English Breakfast, Chai, and now a class of iced green tea, which will probably be my drink for the rest of the night)
Instagram posts: 3 so far. I'm going to post again in a moment with my 4th book of the day. :)
Snacks: We ate breakfast at around noon...so brunch. ;) I also made some mini-hot dogs as a game-day snack, and we stuffed ourselves on those. I'm not in a snacking mood today.
Cat Snuggles: 4-mostly Sparty. I'm snuggled under an afghan my grandmother made me, and he happens to like the blanket. I'll take it
Husband Distractions: 3. Making a list for the grocery store, making him a snack, and then the game. But I'm not complaining. He's gotten me a couple drink refills. :)

Saturday Morning (11:21 am):

Hi guys. I just finished reading Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon. Just as I suspected, it was the perfect book to start with for a readathon. :) I love engrossing YA books on days like this. I can fly through them and get in the mood for a lot of reading.

I think I'm going to settle in with a few volumes of Fables next, as Matt is now awake and making me a very late breakfast/brunch. Something short is just what I need to get through the afternoon.

I haven't entered any mini-challenges, and I don't think I'm going to. Honestly, my body is so exhausted from this week and all the Lupus flaring that's been going on that I am perfectly content to have a quiet kind of readathon. :) I'm sure I'll update in a few hours. Happy reading.

Stats:

Number of Pages Read: 500 (All of Everything Everything and the 180 pages I read in Teacher Man last night. That totally counts)
Books Finished: 2 (Everything Everything and Teacher Man)
Cups of Tea: 1 (English Breakfast, my favorite)
Instagram posts: 2 so far. I'm about to make my third. But I posted my reading stack last night and a pic of my reading this morning
Snacks: None so far
Cat Snuggles: 2 (Sparty and Lily both snuggled with me this morning as I read)
Husband Distractions: 1. I had to make him a grocery list this morning so he could go buy snacks, etc for the day. :) He's amazing

Saturday Morning (8:53 am):

Good morning! I'm finally up and ready to read. I actually woke up at 5:30 this morning, but forced myself to go back to sleep because of how absolutely exhausted I knew I'd be without a few more hours of sleep. I'm glad I did so. But I'm finally ready to start reading and joining in on all the fun.

My goal for today is just to relax, so I'm going to try and pop on whenever I finish reading or just need a break. Again, let me know if you're participating so I can come cheer you on!

Since I finished Teacher Man last night (I read about 180 pages!), I'm going to dive into one of the YA titles in my stack-Everything Everything. I saved it specifically for today, so I'm excited to read it.

I'm also including my beginning of event survey here-HAPPY READING! I'll check back in later!

Intro Survey:
1. Where are you reading from today?
I'm reading from the lovely Rochester, Michigan (35-40 minutes north of Detroit). It's pretty cold outside today, so I'll be snuggled up on our couch.

2. Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
All of them? I think I have a great stack of books (seen below), so I'm craving a bit of everything. I am excited to read a few volumes of the Fables series, but Rowell's new book is also a big contender.

3. Which snack are you most looking forward to?
Today is also the big MSU v. Michigan football game, so my husband has a lot of game-day snacks in the house for us to munch on while we cheer for the Spartans (GO GREEN!). Out of those...probably our chips and salsa. YUM.

4. Tell us a little about yourself!
I'm a 30 year-old English and History teacher. I'm married to my high school sweetheart and we have three cats, and all 4 of them will likely bother me today while I'm reading. :) I love reading the classics, which is why I started my blog in the first place, but I'm a big YA reader as well.

5. If you participated in the last readathon, what's one thing you'll do differently today?
This is probably my 8th or 9th readathon, so I consider myself a pro at this point. My main goal is to read. I might do a couple mini-challenges here or there, but I really just want to relax and enjoy some books that have been sitting on my shelves.

Friday Evening:

Hi everyone! It's Friday, October 16, and I am settling in for a night of relaxation before the readathon tomorrow. Truthfully, I was really excited for this readathon when they announced the date, as I knew it was a weekend when I had nothing going on. And then life happened and while I'm not going anywhere tomorrow, my mind is definitely in a different place. I'm also in the midst of a pretty bad Lupus flare-I haven't had one in months, but I've been so stressed and overwhelmed by everything for the last month, I know that I triggered it myself.

Anyway, I'm still planning on reading a ton tonight and tomorrow, so I thought I would pop in and post my stack for tomorrow, as well as my plans.

I'm hoping I an get through a couple of things, not only to get caught up on my #15in31 challenge, but also to relax. I'm so in need of some relaxation.

My stack:

• Fables Volumes 15-22 by Bill Willingham: I just purchased the rest of the series last week because I really want to finish it by the end of the year. In some ways, I feel like I'm cheating by reading these for #15in31, but I know they'll make great readathon material. I can generally fly through them in an hour or so. And I have 8 volumes left. That sounds like an epic readathon.
• Teacher Man by Frank McCourt: I'm just under halfway through this one, and I really want to finish it. Truthfully, I'm pretty sure this book is why I stalled in my #15in31. I like it, but it isn't something I want to race through to find out what happens, if that makes sense. I already told myself I can ignore it for the weekend if something else grabs me.
• Carry On by Rainbow Rowell: I've loved all of Rowell's books thus far, so I was really excited to snatch this one up at the bookstore the other day. I'm pretty sure I'll dig into this one soon, but we'll see what kind of mood I'm in tomorrow!
• The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson: I was on a BIG Anderson kick earlier in the year and read a good chunk of her work, but missed this one. And since a student is reading it, I thought I would give it a try. 
• Alexander's Bridge by Willa Cather: I've been craving more Cather, and while I read this one not that long ago (2013), I kind of want to reread it. So...that might happen. It's also a short little book!
• Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon: This is one of those books everyone's been talking about and I saved it specifically for the readathon. I know it'll be a fast read and pretty engrossing, so perhaps I'll get to it tomorrow night. 
• The Marbury Lens by Andrew Smith: I have two Smith titles on my #15in31 challenge list, but this one shouted out to me when I was pulling books. I'm not sure if I'll end up reading it because there are some others I want to read more, but it's a contender. Smith's books always grab me.
• Where Angels Fear to Tread by E.M. Forster: I thought I needed another classic option, and this was another title on my #15in31 challenge list. I loved the other Forster book I read, and like the Cather title, this one is short-perfectly doable in readathon time.
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte: I've been savoring this one slowly over the last month, so I imagine I'll read a little bit of it tomorrow. I'm loving this reread of it, so I'm not in any hurry to finish it.

Super ambitious, right? Yep. But I know that plans always change and I inevitably grab a different book off the shelf anyway. I don't know why I even bother. I just like stacking books. ;)

I'm going to update this post throughout the day tomorrow, and I will also be super active on Instagram (alliedanielson) and on twitter (@alliedanielson). I would love to cheer you on, so if you're participating, please let me know!

In any case, I'm starting a little early and diving into Teacher Man. Happy Reading tomorrow!