Today’s question:
If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look it up right away?

My answer:
It depends on the edition I am reading.  If I am reading from my Kindle and/or Sony, then yes, I will look up the definition right away.  If it is a print copy, I may look it up at a later time.  What I try to do is read the sentence/paragraph and try to figure out the meaning from the context.   Sometimes there isn’t the opportunity of having a dictionary at hand, for example if I am reading at a doctor’s office or waiting in the car waiting for my husband to “run in, I’ll only be a second” at one of his favorite stops like Home Depot/Lowe’s because I know that his second gives me at least 30 min of reading time.

May is being hosted by Martha’s Bookshelf

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia of A girl and her books and is now on tour.

According to Marcia, “Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.”

           Author (PICT)       Hachette Book Group    Author (PICT)

         

DAILY POSTINGS BELOW.

This is a STICKY POST  Progress Report for Bout of Books Read-A-Thon.  

Hosted by bout of books

My Goals:
Complete current read, Far and Away by Meg Mitchell Moore
Start and finish 2 other books not chosen as of yet

Books To Read:
Far and Away by Meg Mitchell Moore
The Lost Years by Mary Higgins Clark
Summerland by Elin Hilderbrand

Updates:
Monday  5/14
Today’s topic/question:
“What do you like best about readathons? Do you have any readathon traditions or rituals? If this is your first readathon, what do you like so far? Discuss away!”
Read-A-Thons give me the incentive to read more and not spend as much time at the computer, especially during the day.
Number of pages I’ve read today:  74 (RL had other plans for me and it wasn’t reading.
Book:  So Far Away by Meg Mitchell Moore

Tuesday  5/15
Today’s Challenge:
Physical book or eBook?  Print
Paperback or Hardcover?  Paperback  (TPB)
Reality or Make-believe?  Fiction
Adult or Young-Adult?  Adult
Dog ears or Bookmarks?  Bookmark
Breaking the spine or Barely open the book?  Barely opening the book
Tea or Coffee?  Coffee (both hot (am) and Iced (pm)
Reading in bed or On the couch?  Both
Series or Standalone?  Stand alone
Original or TV Adaptation?  Original
Defy motion sickness or Audiobooks?  ?
Author crushes or Who-was-that-guy-again?  Author crushes
Interview or Guest post?  Interview
Number of pages I’ve read today:  89  (another not so good day of reading due to not feeling well)
Book:  Finished So Far Away by Meg Mitchell Moore
Next Book:  The Lost Years by Mary Higgins Clark

Wednesday  5/16
Number of pages I’ve read today:  68 (unfortunately I can’t put in the time to read as I had planned to due to RL..Maybe Thursday will be different)
Book:   The Lost Years by Mary Higgins Clark

Thursday  5/17
Number of pages I’ve read today:  129 (a little better..RL really interfered this week)
Book:  The Lost Years by Mary Higgins Clark

Friday  5/18
Number of pages I’ve read today:  154
Book:  Finished The Lost Years by May Higgins Clark
              Started Summerland by Elin Hilderbrand

Saturday  5/19
Number of pages I’ve read today:  94
Book:  Summerland by Elin Hilderbrand

5/20
Number of pages I’ve read today:  74
Book:  Summerland by Elin Hilderbrand

WRAP UP:
Total number of pages read during Read-A-Thon:  682
Books:
Finished: So Far Away by Meg Mitchell Moore (review written)
Finished: The Lost Years by Mary Higgins Clark (review written)
1/2 Done: Summerland by Elin Hilderbrand
I didn’t make my goals but came close.  I was hoping to put in more reading time and to finish 3 books this week, but only read 2 1/2.  As usual, RL had other plans for me.  But I enjoyed participating as it did give me the incentive to get away from the computer and pick up my book.  I want to thank Bout of Books for hosting and am looking forward to the next Read-A-Thon.

Happy Mother’s Day !!  

Facebook link

Hello Sunday Saloners.  If this is your first time visiting, welcome!!  Glad you stopped by!!  I haven’t posted in 2 weeks due to my husband and I were on vacation in Aruba!!!  It is our favorite destination for many reasons but more of that later.  Let’s get started with the bookish news.

Reading:
I did get a bit of reading done.  Between the plane flights to and from and being on the beach every day, I managed to finish 3 books and start another one.

             PrePub Galley

The resort’s beach and pools were a book paradise!!  Everywhere you looked, people were reading print versions or reading from their Kindle, Kindle Fires and/or Ipads.  Being newsy as to what people were reading, I did start conversations on the beach with those who had palapas (huts) near us.  One thing I don’t like about the digital books is you can’t sneak a peek as to what someone is reading so I just asked.  I even invited some to check out the book blogging community.  I received quite a few books while away and will share those for Monday’s Mailbox.

I do have some shocking news to report, you may want to sit down lol.  I have mentioned that my husband is not a reader, matter of fact, in 31 years, I have never seen him get past the 1st page of a book.  Last year when we went to Aruba, I downloaded a book for him, about a local politician, that he had said “I wouldn’t mind reading that”.   Well…..a year later and the book has never been opened.  When we were getting ready for our flight home, I was going to pack the Kindle because I had started a print review copy but my husband said “don’t, I might want to read it on the plane.”  LOL  As soon as we reached altitude, he got up, grabbed the Kindle in our duffle bag above and started reading!!!  Not only did he read, he read for the entire flight (4 1/2 hours) and if I started talking to him, he was quite annoyed because I was interuptting him…Wellllll Excuse Me…lol.  I thought for sure our plane was doomed  lol.

Blogging:
My laptop did come with us but only for checking emails.  However, since we have been home, I have been trying to catch up with posts for showcases, giveaways and Partners In Crime Tours to-dos.  

Aruba:
Glorious!!  We had such a great and relaxing week.  The weather beautiful, except for one full day of rain, which is quite unusual for Aruba.  Temps in the low 90s with a tropical breeze.  Our room’s balcony overlooked the over sized resort and had an ocean view.  We were on the beach everyday around 9:30a, would have breakfast at an outside restaurant not far from our palapa and then have lunch around 2-3p right on the beach under our thatched hut, leaving the beach around 6pm and getting ready for dinner.  The first few days, I sampled different frozen drinks, pina coladas, banana or honeydew melon daiquiris, until I found the right one lol,  the frozen mudslide.  Let me tell you, they go down verrrry easy lol.

Saturday, which was when it rained all day, we were already on the beach.  Usually it will rain for 10-15 minutes, stop and then it is back to sunshine.  However, it was a bit scary.  Everyone stayed under their palapas waiting for it to pass, but then, there was a bolt of lightening right on the beach at the same time with thunder.  Everyone let out a gasp and the whole beach packed up and took cover.   It was quite scary because you actually could feel it, that’s how close it hit..  My husband did get to take a picture of the sky at that time:

This is what Aruba usually looks like.  Some of the following pictures were taken from the balcony of our room.

As with every vacation, the eight days flew by.  And since we decided last year, that now that are sons are are adults and on their own, it’s our time for us.  Life is too short,  goes by way too fast and we don’t know what tomorrow will bring, that we will be taking this trip every year.  We are already talking about when we will be going back!!

How was your week?  What bookish  and/or other news would you like to share.  Would love to hear.

I just saw this in my Google Reader and am signing up.  Want to join me?  Here are the details:

Hosted by bout of books

 Standard info:

• Bout of Books is a week long read-a-thon, run from 12:01am on Monday, May 14th through 11:59pm Sunday, May 20st in whatever time zone you are in.
• Bout of Books is low pressure, meaning participants are only asked to push themselves to read more than they normally would during any given week. There is no competition between readers.
• How much time a reader wants, and can commit, to read, tweet, or network with fellow bloggers is left to individual preference. All challenges and giveaways are optional.
• Networking with fellow bloggers is actively encouraged, though never required. Co-hosts are there to facilitate blog hopping and interaction between participants.
• Use Twitter to post updates throughout the read-a-thon. Everyone will be tweeting with the #boutofbooks hashtag.

My Goals are:
*Finish current read of Far and Away by Meg Mitchell Moore
*Start and hopefully finish 1-2 other books which I haven’t chosen yet

Progress (which will be a sticky post during time frame of Read-A-Thon:
*I will be tracking my progress of # of pages read daily
*List books finished
*Wrap Up post

Happy Saturday everyone !!  

Have you entered the giveaways?  Hope so and good luck if you did.    However, if you can’t wait to read one of the books that I am hosting as a giveaway, Oxford Messed Up by Andrea Kayne Kaufman, I wanted to share with you a notice I received from Rebecca at The Cadence Group.

“In celebration of love, life and hope, Andrea will be offering the Ebook edition for $ .99 on Amazon from May Day thru Cinco de Mayo – May 1-5.”

Have a great weekend!!!!

DISCLAIMER
I do not have any affiliation with Amazon.com,
Barnes & Noble and/or any other retail/wholesale
outlets either online and/or elsewhere.
I am providing this link solely for visitors
that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.
I do not receive any monetary compensation from any parties

http://24hourreadathon.com/

This is my first year participating in Dewey’s 24 Read-A-Thon so am not sure what to expect.  In the past, I have seen and read about this wonderful blogger, who is no longer with us but it is done in her memory (if I am right, she hosted and created  it when book blogs were just starting…if I am wrong..I apologize).  

Not sure how well I am going to do, and probably shouldn’t have entered because of  RL issues that need to be done this weekend, but didn’t want to miss our on another year.    Because of that, I am going to track my progress by the number of pages/% on Kindle (wish it had page numbers) on this post and update when my I need a short break from reading.

Good Luck to all that are participating!!!

My Plan:
*Getting up at my usual time (5-6 am)
*Try to complete my daily computer tasks before 8am, which when it starts here in New England.
*Have plenty of coffee on hand with maybe some toothpicks to keep the eyes opened lol.
*Read-I will be starting with my current read, an ARC from The Story Plant–Spread The Word Initiative,  Betty’s (Little Basement) Garden by Laurel Dewey (450 pages).

Updates:
06 am:  Murphy’s Law–Never fails..I sign up for a read-a-thon and RL interferes.  Woke up 30 min late and with one of those annoyng situations where an eyelash is stuck inside your eyelid causing pain and interference with reading.  Hopefully it will work it’s way out with the  application of eye drops.  Plus my spin cycle on washing machine is not working so have reapirman coming at 11am.

10:30am:  Still haven’t been able to start reading due to an above.  Have been putting in drops to flush it out and can’t.   HELP!!   Any suggestions?

2pm:  WooHoo…finally started reading at 11am.  Straining, still painful and a little blurry but I AM reading!!!  Had to get up and do something so I wouldn’t doze off.   Hubby is running errands so he is on a Dunkin Donuts Iced Coffee run for me!!  Making progress with the book I am reading, slower than usual due to the eye, but making progress.  Starting point was 36% (Kindle…why can’t they have made page numbers?).  Since I have time to make up…going back to the recliner to read.  TTYS!!   GL all.

5:30pm:  Still at it.  Had to take a couple of walks around the house though.  The eyes are getting heavy, but then they didn’t start off that great.  Plus the weather seems to be changing here in New England, well at least that is what my back is telling me.  So the past 1/2 hour or so, am having trouble getting comfortable due to pain.  Been munching on grapes. pretzels, grapefruit fruit cup and a few twizzlers.  Still reading Betty’s (Little Basment) Garden.  Not sure what page (Kindle) but am at 72%.   I am determined to finish this!!!  I just hope my eyes heard that  lol.

9pm:  Had to take an hour breather.  On phone, taking care of some Partners In Crime Tours business but am headed back to read.  Ohhhhh…how I remember those all nighters while in college, the problem is, that was a long, long time ago  lol.  Not sure when age is going to kick in tonight lol.

Thank you to those that have stopped by and left encouraging comments and being cheerleaders!!

3:00am:  Finished reading or should I say had to stop.   Fell asleep. Almost, but not quite made it.  However did finish reading Betty’s (Little Basement) Garden by Laurel Dewey and started Permanence by Vincent Zandri.

7:30am:  Wrap Up Post
**Which hour was most daunting for you?
My tough periods were around 4-5pm yesterday and then around 2:am.

**Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
Since I only completed 1 book, I will have to say the one I finished.  I am sure there were bloggers that finished multiple books, but I only finished one.  Either due to that I am a slow reader, it was a large book, or the eye incident slowed me down.

**Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
Since this was my first time participating in this Read-A-Thon, I have nothing to compare it to for improvements.  Personally,  I will need to start on time, plan better for snacking, stadegy and being able to do the mini challenges.  I only did one since I didn’t know the procedure. 

**What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
Nothing to compare to so will say everything.  I really appreciated those that stopped by with encouraging comments.  Thanks for cheering me on!!!!

**How many books did you read?
Finished one and began another.

**What were the names of the books you read?
Betty’s (Little Basement) Garden by Laurel Dewey and Permanence by Vincent Zandri (started)

**Which book did you enjoy most?
Since I only finished one, it would have to be that one.

**How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
100%.  Sign me up!!  Since this was was my first time participating, I do have a question.  Is this a Read-A-Thon annually or biannually?  It was fun knowing that so many people were reading all over the world at the same time in an organized manner.  Awesome!!  

Great job from the hosts and cheerleaders!!  Thank you for all your hard work!!

Happy Easter from our house to your’s.

 I hope you all have a very Blessed Easter!!

Today’s Sunday Salon will be taking a hiatus due to the holiday.   

I just received Michelle from The True Book Addict’s newletter.  One of the items was about this Staples App that determines how fast you read.  She also mentioned how some people feel that they read faster with EReaders than with print versions.  I am one of those people, at least it seems to me that I finish an EBook quicker.  According to the little tool I read 291 words per minute.  However, that was with no distractions.  I am quite sure it would be a lot less when I am actually reading a book.

Link:   Staples eReader Department

Click on the link to see your averages.  And if you would like to share, come on back and tell us how you did.  Good Luck!!!