24 Hour Read-A-Thon!

What better way to come back to blogging -after almost a whole year hiatus- than with a 24 hour read-a-thon. Yeah, I couldn't think of anything better either!

Better still? I am not doing it alone. I have two eager participants (my daughters) to read with! This is my first time joining the twice-a-year event and I am really excited. I remember reading about it last year in April and thinking, next time I will join. October came too fast and my procrastination reared...next time, next time. Now it's April again and as springtime often entices, I feel renewed and ready! We are a merry reading group of three! *cough book nerds we are cough*

The details:
We start reading April 10, 2010 at 5 A.M. PT and read as much as we can for 24 hours. I know for sure my girls will not be staying up to read the whole 24 hours because they need their sleep! I highly doubt I will stay up the whole 24 hours either because, as anyone who knows me can testify, it isn't pretty if I haven't slept! But I'm going to give it my best shot. Here are the books we picked out:

Sydney's Stack

A Fairy Called Hilary by Linda Leopold Strauss

Boy by Roald Dahl

Socks by Beverly Cleary

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis

The Witches of Worm by Zilpha Keattey Snyder

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More by Roald Dahl
A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw by Jeff Kinney
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Randi's Stack

Peter Pan by J.M Barrie

New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
Ice Fire by Chris D'Lacey
Eleven by Lauren Myracle
A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Ersatz Elevator by Lemony Snicket
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days by Jeff Kinney
Ramona The Brave by Beverly Cleary
Ramona and Her Father by Beverly Cleary
Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary
Ramona and Her Mother by Beverly Cleary
Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary
Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary
Pixie Tricks (The Whole Series) by Tracey West

My Stack

Wicked by Gregory Maguire
Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl
The Master Puppeteer by Katherine Paterson
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis
Pleasing the Ghost by Sharon Creech
The Wanderer by Sharon Creech
Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
Absolutely Normal Chaos by Sharon Creech
The Report Card by Andrew Clements
Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
What Color is Your Parachute by Richard Nelson Bolles



I know these lists are long, but I wanted to make sure that we each had variety to choose from so we wouldn't get bored. I don't plan on making it through my entire list, but I'd rather have an overabundance to choose from than not enough. Most of my choices are YA titles and I have one nonfiction self-help book for good measure. It's a book I've been wanting to read for a long time so we'll see how much I get through.
For my first read-a-thon I plan on making this as fun as possible which, to me, means flexibility. Here are my parameters, or lack thereof:

I will not force myself to read if I get tired. I will take breaks which include showers, meals, walks, trips to the library (to check out books for my daughter's upcoming historical figure report), naps, Facebook, etc. I will allow myself to flit from book to book if I become bored with one or another. I give myself permission to stop reading a book altogether if I cannot seem to get through. These parameters go for my girls too, as the whole purpose of this is to have fun and see how far we can make it!!

I plan on updating every chance I can during the next 24 hours to inform you of my progress. I can't wait to get started!

Cheers!