The Reading Challenge Group discussion

This is our general discussion thread for the Summer Readathon. The readathon will run from 12:01 a.m. on July 6th until 11:59 p.m. on July 12th. Feel free to use this thread for discussions, motivation, questions, or anything else that you need for the Readathon. Happy reading!

So we are now officially on the first day of the Readathon. :)

Good luck everyone - hope you get a lot of reading done this week and enjoy it in the process.

Good luck everyone! I'm 11 hours in here but I've been at work all day so haven't been able to touch a book yet. How is everyone else doing? Having fun?

Hi everybody. Good luck on the readathon. I'm going to try with pages. My first few books that I'm working on are

415 pages 7/6 3*
195 pages 7/7 3*

It's hard to readathon with a full-time job but I'm making a stab at it.

Finished:
Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down (7-6)
Flipping the Switch...: Unleash the Power of Personal Accountability Using the QBQ! (7-8)
The Ultimate Weight Solution: The 7 Keys to Weight Loss Freedom (7-10)

Started:


In progress:
The Trials of Life: A Natural History of Animal Behavior (112/320 pages done)
Ready Player One (230/374 pages done)

At about 100 pages now for The Book of Speculation with some planned reading time tonight too.

Today didn't allow for much reading but I did start a booked called Gumption by Nick Offerman that is hilarious and educational all at the same time. I'm looking forward to seeing what else he has to say.

Okay, I've officially read about 200 pages, and finished my book. Yay readathon!

Great job everyone - it looks like people have made great progress as we wrap up day one!

I finished reading A.S. King's Please Ignore Vera Deitz and now I'm on to Glory O'Brien's History of the Future( 92 pages down).

I read about 100 pages today, but I'm
only counting about 30 of them towards the readathon (the other 70 came from a separate, personal challenge). As such, I haven't made much progress today, but I plan on plowing through the remaining 70 pages of The Alchemy of Happiness to round out readathon day 2.

Happy reading everyone! I wish you the best of luck in achieving your goals!

Finished One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Starting The Hunger Games this evening

So sorry I haven't been around recently guys. This gives me a perfect excuse to get back into reading!

I'm hoping to finish The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk this week! Already nearly half way through and its fascinating!

My first day was pathetic. I read one chapter of Armadale and about three pages of And The Band Played On.

I didn't get to dive in full force but got some reason done yesterday. During lunch break at work I finished most of Middlesex, like 20 pages to go. After my mother left last night at 10:00 pm I took a bath and finished the Harlequin I was reading.

Hope to finish Middlesex today and make big progress of the YA I have been reading for review.

A big box of books just arrived in the mail ~ Christmas in July ~ Maybe I should give the mailman some milk & cookies.

Let's go Readathon!!

That's so exciting Susan. Enjoy!

I just recommended Middlesex to my sister-in-law last night. Are you enjoying it?

Renee wrote: "I just recommended Middlesex to my sister-in-law last night. Are you enjoying it?"

It's well written but not a full cup of tea for me. Nothing personal it just follows some writing techniques that I don't usually enjoy - like shifts in time, narrative POVs, and a little distant for me. I'm going to likely rate it a 3, which isn't a bad rating at all, but not something I love.

I just got home and planning on delving into the rest of Glory O'Brien. I dropped most of the other books I had planned to read because I want to start reading Belzhar and maybe start reading Sara Benincasa's Great. Depending on if I finish those in the next few days, I may take a stab at other books on my TR list. I'm not sure what to read after; I'm kind of all over the place.

I am 50 percent done with Crocodile on the Sandbank.

Just finished Flowers for Algernon, so I'm at 157pgs since the start of the readathon. I hated how sad the ending was, but at the same time I loved how sad it was. I think the last 2 pages made the whole book worth reading.

I haven't been reading a lot today. But yesterday, I had a great reading day.

I started and am up to page 167 of Reconstructing Amelia.

Chase wrote: "I started and am up to page 167 of Reconstructing Amelia."

I tried to read that book but got stuck. How are you enjoying it?

It's alright, but by no means my favorite. I find the characters a bit unbelievable (a workaholic, pretty, smart, talented, single mother who works all hours every day and yet still manages to have scheduled time for her daughter every weekend?) and the plot is a bit predictable so far.

Chase wrote: "It's alright, but by no means my favorite. I find the characters a bit unbelievable (a workaholic, pretty, smart, talented, single mother who works all hours every day and yet still manages to hav..."

Yes, I completely agree and that is part of the reason I could not finish it. The premise is what caught me, but the follow through wasn't as great.

Well, finished that one today. Yeah, I can only say that book was just ridiculous.

I finished reading Glory O'Brien today. I thought it was just ok.

I finished Intervention and started This Side of Heaven

Andrew - thank you for the update on Glory O'Brien! I may give that one a shove down my TBR pile now.

Finished Armadale! Wilkie Collins is such a good time!

I finally finished Alchemy of Happiness. It was so incredibly hard to get through. Won't be recommending that book to anyone. I've decided to add Death Note, Vol. 2: Confluence to my readathon as a reward for finishing Ghazali. I expected to be so much further by Day 4, haha.

I'll start The Elegant Universe during my break at work tomorrow, so that just leaves The Black Poets, which I'll probably read over the course of either tomorrow and Friday or Friday and Saturday. I'll probably start Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art when I've finished Death Note, vol 2, just to keep the momentum. I started the book for class but never finished it, haha. I guess better late than never!

It's great to see so many people finishing off a book or two already. Great job everyone!

Monday I finished the Harlequin I was reading, Mended Engagement, good for Harlequin standards

Tuesday I read and finished another Harlequin, Set The Stars On Fire (was in the mood for them for some weird reason, first time this year) and finished Middlesex, which I rated 3 stars and also read as part of a group challenge for the group 50 Books to Read Before you Die

Wednesday I finished Trouble is a Friend of Mine, which I rated 3.5 stars and received for review from Penguin

Today I want to read a children's book I received for review, A Curious Tale of the In-Between, and start the comic book collection Batman: The Long Halloween

Started and finished a small novel, Castle Rackrent, for the Decades challenge.

I started slow, please to say I managed to finish one book Staying Human, an incredible book, war time not normally my type of reading. Individual strength & courage is.

I got through 40 pages of The Night Circus and decided it could wait for another time. Time to start something new.

I just finished Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane. This was my first book by Gaiman and I loved it. Now I'm reading Stanislaw Lem's The Futurological Congress.

Well change of plans for yesterday. I read two parts of the graphic novel but didn't start the Childrens book at all because I forgot to upload it. Then when I went home found out half of the bookshelves were complete that we've been building, so spent hours putting up books and watching TV while doing it.

No time today to read - still never got to upload the kid's book, never got to the computer. And today working, then right after going to friends house for a girl's night out. When I get home have to finish sorting house, which will be after 11 pm

But sometime again this weekend, I swear!

I didn't do as much reading as I wanted to yesterday, although I did manage to at least start the elegant universe.

I've had to rearrange my reading a bit, but I only have about 100 pages left of The Black Poets. I'm hoping to finish it tonight so I can backtrack and finish reading a previously unfinished novel. There are only two days left! I feel so behind.

I read started reading Belzhar last night and I'm continuing to read it tonight. Once I finish that, I will start reading Sara Benincasa's Great.

Last night, I started reading Belzhar and going to finish it today. I am then going to start on Sara Benincasa's Great.

Susan wrote: "A big box of books just arrived in the mail ~ Christmas in July ~ Maybe I should give the mailman some milk & cookies.

Let's go Readathon!!"

That is an exciting day when a box of new books arrives in the mail! I received a box from Book Outlet yesterday, and I savored each one as I took it out of the box.

Oh those are such good days

I didn't have much time for reading today but I'm almost done with Odd Thomas and I'm hoping to have some time tonight to finish it. Real life has been crazy and having a problem with my internet wasn't helpful either. I hope everyone has a great weekend and happy reading

Finished two books: Reflection and Mercy.

To date I have:
- Finished Armadale by Wilkie Collins
- Finished Crocodile on the Sandbank
- Skimmed and reviewed Volumes 1-9 of the manga series, Vampire Knight

I think I still have about 48 hours, but I'm not sure yet what I'll end up reading. I just have so many things I want to get to. :0

There has been a lot more going on this week for me than I had anticipated, so my reading time has been rather limited. However, I have started and finished Gumption: Relighting the Torch of Freedom with America's Gutsiest Troublemakers - a very enjoyable read. 48 hours left, time to pick a new book.