Well, hello there!

I've been a little MIA since the readathon, but I havent forgotten about you all here! 

I just finished the first creative writing course that I've taken in years, and I have  mixed feelings about it. It didn't really help with my motivation when it comes to writing, which was why I looked into taking a class. It was nice to get some feedback on my writing again though. I wish the topics had focused more closely on novel writing rather than short form writing. I'm debating whether to take a class in the winter session or maybe just doing the odd workshop. 

I do have one short story that I'm quite happy with from the class, so maybe you'll see it here sometime soon. 

I've started rewriting a novel I wrote in high school, so I think that is going to be my next focus. 

Bear with me as I find my way here on this blog. Having moved on from my 1001 things in 101 days blog, I'm looking to expand my voice with this blog, discussing all of the hot topics that interest me. And they'll probably include Karaoke & Cabernet! ;)

 

Readathon - Final Post

Well...we made it!
Not that we all were awake for 24 hours - pretty sure we all got a solid 6 hours of sleep :)
I managed to finish enough books to make me happy about it :)
The Readathon "challenges" were OK - if they took about 5 minutes to do I enjoyed them. Some of them seemed like they would take much longer to do and didn't really interest me - if I'm reading for 24 hours then I want to read!!

Here is my end of readathon survey:

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? The most daunting hours for me were within the first 6 - mostly because I was so tired after a week of being sick. 
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? I really enjoyed "Not a Drop to Drink" - teen fiction is definitely a good readathon choice because it's easy to read and, for me, a quick read.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? - I really don't get the whole community thing - aside from a few tweets I didn't really feel connected to the contest. I guess something to improve that - otherwise I might as well just pick my own day to read for 34 hours. Also - it's Thanksgiving weekend in Canada and not the most ideal time for the event here.
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? - Personally, just hanging out with my friends here reading together - it was fun to catch up and chill for 24 hours :)
5. How many books did you read? - I read 3 1/2 books
6. What were the names of the books you read? - the last half of Orange is the New Black, Behind the Bell, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry & Not a Drop to Drink
7. Which book did you enjoy most? - I think I enjoyed the last 2 the most - Fiction is always my favourite, even though I branch out now to non-fiction more than enough
8. Which did you enjoy least? - Behind the Bell - it was just kind of silly, not the drama-filled expose I hoped for
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? - N/A
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? -  I can see my friends and I doing a readathon again, but not sure about the official one - we'll see! 

Thanks for following along here (if you did)! 

Thank you to Janey Canuck & kidAmy for the fun times, multitude of treats and lots of laughs :)

Readathon Mini Challenge: Best of Your Reading Year

This Mini Challenge is one of my favourite things to do - browse through my Pinterest Board ( http://www.pinterest.com/katykaraoke/50-book-pledge-2013/ ) to check out what I have read this year! Thanks to the blog "Lisa's World of Books" for the challenge!

Here are my faves of 2013 so far:

Best Book of Your Reading Year - Life After Life by Kate Atkinson - pick this up!!!!

Best Romance Book of Your Reading Year - Blackberry Winter by Sarah Jio

Best YA Book of Your Reading Year - Paper Towns by John Green 

Best Fantasy Book of Your Reading Year - A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Best Non-Fiction Book of Your Reading Year - The Soul of it All by Michael Bolton

Best Fiction Book of Your Reading Year - The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes

Best Author of Your Reading Year - I discovered both Sarah Jio & Jojo Moyes this year and recommend them often!

Best Cover of Your Reading Year - 

(Sorry, couldn't help myself) ;)

- See more at: http://www.lisasworldofbooks.net/2013/read-thon-mini-challenge-hour-13-best-reading-year#sthash.tTBcJriY.dpuf

Welcome & Readathon

Welcome to my new blog!

Today is all about the Readathon. 

It's my first time, so be gentle ;)

Readathon - Mid-Event Survey (A little late...)

Sorry everyone, I've been wrapped up in reading "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry" - anyone else feel exhausted after reading about all of that walking ;)

1) How are you doing? Sleepy? Are your eyes tired?
I have had 2 naps so far today, so I'm OK at the moment - but between of week of bad sleeping & a head cold, I'll probably tap out by Midnight for most of the night.

2) What have you finished reading?
I finished the last half of "Orange is the New Black", then I read "Behind the Bell" by Dustin "Screech" Diamond, and just finished "Harold Fry" as I mentioned before.

3) What is your favorite read so far?
Well, OITNB was quite tame after the TV show...Bell was, well, a pretty lame vendetta that wasn't nearly as shocking as I hoped, so probably "Harold Fry" - it wasn't as amazing as I had hoped it would be, but I didn't enjoy it & would recommend it.

4) What about your favorite snacks?
We have been gorging on candy and chocolate all day, so dinner was a nice healthy treat ;)

5) Have you found any new blogs through the readathon?
I have found a few, haven't explored them at all though, since I want to be reading books, but maybe I'll check them out again once the readathon is done...

Readathon Poetry

I'm feeling refreshed after a nice little nap - which you can see a picture of on @kidamy's twitter - thanks :P

Anyway... Here is my poetry for Capricious Reader's spine poetry challenge ( thanks for the loaner books that sum up most relationships, Janey Canuck):

Readathon Intro

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?

Guelph, ON with my 2 peeps

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

Behind the Bell by Dustin "Screech" Diamond

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

All of them lol 

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

I'm looking forward to chilling and reading with friends because it's been a tough week!

5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?

My 50 book pledge count continuing to go up!