My Brain On Books VIII

<-- click the pic to learn about the Read-a-thon

I am reading for Script Frenzy and NaNoWriMo today as I am currently participating in my third Script Frenzy and have done NaNo 7 times. I don't have a sponsor but I'm putting this plug at the top in hopes some who stop by will check out their site and see all the great things they do to foster love of reading and writing and story in kids. If you would like to sponsor me the link above takes you to the page that tells you how. My Script Frenzy username is joywrite



This post will be organized like a blog inside a blog with recent updates stacked atop previous ones.
I will post a notice at Twitter whenever I update this post. Or at least whenever I remember to. Be sure to scroll to bottom of this post for advice on how to ward off those scary nap attacks. You won't be sorry.

I'm going to be spending a good portion of time today reading scripts and books on screenwriting as compensation for taking the weekend off writing my Script Frenzy script. But I do have a pool of other books--NF, short stories, novels. Some in large print or audio to resort to when my eyes tire. I can also listen to audio books while I crochet on the silk shawl or work on the baby afghan fringe. Two time-sensitive projects I'm way behind on. later--urm well best laid plans and all that jazz

4:33AM -- This is the end of event meme and it will probably take to the end to get it posted so until next time all.

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?

--Hour 15. I got slammed by a 2 hour nap attack. But then I'd already been awake since 10PM Friday night. So for me that was hour 21 awake.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?

--I recently read Chris Bohjalian's The Double Bind and it was riveting. I nearly had my own private read-a-thon that day.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?

--no
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?

-- I liked the addition of fb to the mix
5. How many books did you read?

--One large print novel. My eyes were throwing tantrums.
6. What were the names of the books you read?

--Elizabeth Berg's The Last Time I Saw You
7. Which book did you enjoy most?

--see above
8. Which did you enjoy least?

--see above
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?

--very. Haven't missed one since my first and as you can see by the post title this was my 8th. I would be a reader again of course but I would like to cheer some again next time and maybe host another mini-challenge. This one snuck up on me and I was already so over-committed by the time I knew the date.

BTW I never started reading again after finishing Berg's novel a bit after midnight. I've been doing challenges and surfing blogs and ordering books off my local library.

Well what do you know, I have 15 minutes left. But I need to link this to the meme linky and also still need to add The Last Time I Saw You to the master list and that will probably be it. See ya all in October.

4AM -- This is for the hour 22 mini-challenge hosted by Quirky Girls Read which was to post a book trailer. I chose this one for Joy Preble's YA Dreaming Anastasia as watching it made me immediately head to the my library catalog to order it but alas it is not in the system.

2AM -- This is for the hour 21 mini-challenge which is to find a picture or pictures that relate to the book you are reading. Elizabeth Berg's The Last Time I Saw You. was about a 40 high school reunion. This picture was taken by Marko Georgiev/ For The Star Ledger
and is actually of a daughter and father at his reunion. But it reminds me a lot of the elderly Einer in Berg's novel who attended his neighbor, Mary Alice's 40th reunion because she was his relief caregiver and her reunion fell on the night his full time nurse had off. The woman in the picture though reminds me less of Mary Alice as described by Berg and more of Candy who had been the class beauty.

Tell you the truth I'm still reeling a bit from the story as I am only 5 years out from my own 40th high school graduation anniversary. Class of 1976. So of course, just like the reunions themselves, reading this story has put me in that frame of mind of memories of the warm glow and the shudder varieties, the asking of the what ifs, the wondering what's happened to this or that one, the old resentments, the old triumphs and face splats, the old crushes, the old friends and nemeses, the old slights, the old hopes and dreams never fullfilled.

Yeah, high school was a nightmare I've never quite woken from. As it was for some of the character's in the novel.

Ah. I think fatigue is messing with me.

Sunday 12:30 AM -- So. Best laid plans and all that. I just now finished the Elizabeth Berg novel, The Last Time I Saw You. Eyestrain, distractions on and off line (shoulda kept the lid closed on my netbook) and a two hour nap attack after dinner added up to many unintended breaks. I knew I shouldn't have laid down to read! It just seemed the most comfortable position for the stiff neck that developed around 3PM and got progressively worse.

Well at least the stiff neck is gone. And I can say I read a whole book in under 24 hours. A feat that used to unremarkable but is getting progressively rarer. If it had been a 300 page regular sized text book I'd probably not have made it halfway.

So what will I do next. Four hours some minutes to go. I would like to read at least one screenplay before 5 which shouldn't take more than a couple hours. But if my eyes pitch a fit I'm not going to force them. I might then resort to an audio book.

I'd also like to spend at least an hour of that visiting other reader's, doing a mini-challenge or two. The most fun I had today was those first three hours in which I did nothing but that and I think it would have been even more fun if I hadn't chiding myself every fifteen minutes to pick up a book already. I didn't start the novel until after 8AM over three hours in for me.

1PM -- Well I've only spent two hours reading so far. I was so busy doing mini-challenges and visiting blogs, twitter and fb I didn't start reading the novel until after 8am and then stopped at 11 to fix my lunch and after that did another mini-challenge. I've done the intro challenge, the Where in the world are you map, the collaborative fiction and just now I did Sheila's 'recommend a book worthy of a good book club discussion' at Book Journey.

I'm anxious to return to the Elizabeth Berg novel--I had reached page 122 in one sitting--but I'm also tempted to head back over to the hub to see what's been going on since hour 3.

5AM -- And we're off!

I think I'll start with Elizabeth Berg's The Last Time I Saw You. Which is a 320 page large print novel and even though my eyes are not yet pitching a fit I would like to go easy on them for awhile anyway and besides this library book has been sitting in my TBR pile for over six weeks ever since I checked it out when I signed up to do the March Wordshaker's book club at Book Journey. Yet another project/commitment I'm way past due on. This one I'm pretty sure I missed the deadline which I can't even recall at the moment--mid March sometime.

The intro questions:

1)Where are you reading from today?

Phoenix, OR USA
2)Three random facts about me…

• I love crochet and fine needlework.
• I'm an awful procrastinator ie since August I allowed my email inbox to back up to 3800+ and yesterday finally worked it down to 20 odd
• I'm also participating in Script Frenzy this month but am taking the weekend off for this.

3)How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours?

A large variety of fiction, NF, large print, audio and ebooks to choose from as the whim strikes

4)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 only goal is to enjoy. And in light of that to go with the flow.

5)If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, any advice for people doing this for the first time?

• don't forget to get up and move every once in awhile
• don't forget to eat and drink. dehydration plays havoc with vision and concentration
• have a variety of reading material to choose from in a variety of formats to accommodate moods and fatigue and eyestrain issues.

How to ward off those scary nap attacks: