BookTube-A-Thon 2013 Results!

So needless to say I am very tired today as I was up most of the night finishing the BookTube-A-Thon! Now I know a lot of people started once it hit midnight on the Sunday, it technically being early Monday morning, but I decided to take my days as waking days. So I started once I woke up Monday and the end of the BookTube-A-Thon was when I went to sleep last night. Which was around 6am! Partly because I couldn’t sleep as it was so hot. And partly because I stayed up late trying to finish as many challenges as possible! I like to pretend I was running Californian time.

I’m not going to review books here, as I will do that in my July Reads post at the end of the month. In this post I’ll be writing about what I read each day and what challenges I completed.

Monday

I was trying to finish a book before starting any new ones, so I continued reading that book. Also started the audiobook

-Continued reading Do Not Pass Go by Tim Moore, from page 175-273

-Started The Enchanted Wood by Enid Blyton audiobook, as read by Kate Winslet

Tuesday

Finished one book and started one of my challenge books, Tess of D’Ubervilles by Thomas Hardy. Picked this one as it fell under several challenge categories for me, including one my personal Reading Resolutions!

-Finished Do Not Pass Go, page 274-340

-Listened to some of The Enchanted Wood

-Started Tess of the D’Ubervilles by Thomas Hardy, page 1-17

Wednesday

I struggled a bit getting into TotDU, I set out to read about 100 pages a day so I’d have it finished by Sunday. I also started another book to help break it up a bit. This book didn’t fall under any challenges but I needed to read it next from my library pile so I could return it!

-Tess of the D’Urbervilles, page 18-95

-Started Cinder by Marissa Meyer, page 1-30

Thursday

Not a bad reading day, kept to my TotDU daily goal as well as getting through quite a bit of Cinder

-Tess of the D’Ubervilles, page 96-197

-Cinder, page 31-181

Friday

Completely slacked on ol’ Tessy here, mainly because it was so friggin hot that I couldn’t concentrate on it. But also because I got pulled in by Cinder!

-Tess of the D’Ubervilles, page 231-237

-Finished Cinder, page 182-387

Saturday

Didn’t get a lot of reading done, for a number of reasons, but mainly because my mother’s birthday and then my cousin’s 21st birthday party! I did start another book while travelling to the party though, my last book to cover all the challenges.

-Tess of the D’Urbervilles, page 238-257

-Listened to The Enchanted Wood

- Started Reached by Ally Condie on Kindle app on iPhone, 6%

Sunday

Sunday was my main marathon day! I was determined to get these books finished! I mainly read Tess of the D’Ubervilles during the day, I had got to 50% completed the day before and the story started to pull me in more, so I managed to read it faster. In between breaks of Tess, I went on the computer but also listened to The Enchanted Wood. Once I had finished both, I read the rest of Reached pretty much non-stop. And after I even started a new book as I couldn’t get to sleep!

-Completed Tess of the D’Ubervilles, page 258-508

-Completed The Enchanted Wood (page count 185)

-Completed Reached (page count 512)

-Started Lost at Sea by Jon Ronson, page 1-22

Total Page Count

Do Not Pass Go- 165 pages

Cinder- 387 pages

The Enchanted Wood- 185 pages

Tess of the D’Urbervilles- 508 pages

Reached- 512 pages

Lost at Sea- 22 pages

Total 1779 pages

Overall, not bad. I didn’t hit 2100, the amount needed to get the 300 page average but not too far off! I finished Reached at 5.20 am, and then read the first chapter of Lost at Sea before finally dropping off. I really enjoyed the whole BookTube-A-Thon, and now for the rest of my challenges!

1. Read a book with over 500 pages- Both TotDU and Reached come under this

2. Finish a series- Reached was the final book in Matched trilogy

3. Read a classic- Tess of the D’Urbervilles

4. Reread a book- The Enchanted Wood

5. Listen to an audiobook- The Enchanted Wood

6. Read a book that’s been on your shelf the longest- Tess of the D’Urbervilles

If I had realised that Reached was over 500 pages, I probably would have picked a different, shorter classic to read other than TotDU. I had toyed with the idea of reading Emma by Jane Austen. But I’m kinda glad I did pick TotDU, as I’m not sure when I might actually ever have picked it up, I don’t think I would have picked it for the classic book in my Reading Resolutions challenge. Overall I’m glad I did this, it pushed me to read a bit more than I usually do and to try a book that probably would have gathered dust on my shelf forever if I hadn’t picked it! I definitely recommend not listening to the audiobook in one go, use it to break up things between reads, as well as listening to it while doing other things as that you are still being productive!

During this challenge, I followed the BookTube-A-Thon Twitter, as well as watching Ariel and Raeleen’s YouTube channels. I watched Katytastic’s YouTube videos too. I also had Nurse Fancy Pants reading along with me, you should totally check out her blog! I’m looking forward to see how she faired with this challenge.

Did you do BookTube-A-Thon? If so, how did you do? Let me know in the comments below!

New Year’s Resolutions

It's that time of year again, the time where we pledge to change something. I posted last year what my resolutions were, so before I go on to post this year’s, let’s take a look at how I did with last year.

1. Cook 12 new savoury/dinner dishes

Well, I made 8 new dishes, I just wasn’t motivated last year, mainly as I was still leaving at home and cooking for my family.

2. Make 12 new sweet dishes

I got 9, which is surprising as I love baking. I’ll definitely make up for it this year though!

3. Read 25 books

2010 I pledged 50 books and failed epically, so I went for a lower target in 2011. And read 31 books overall!

4. Watch 50 films I’ve never seen before

Got to 36. Again, I wasn’t hugely motivated but I’ll give it a go this year.

5. Eat more fruit and veg

Yes and no. My veg intake is better but I’m just not a huge fan of fruit. I want to like it more though.

6. Lose weight and exercise more

*tumbleweeds*

7. Write more on the blog

Ya, didn’t do so great really but hopefully I can improve this year.

8. Get a job

I got two in fact but as of 31st Dec, I’m unemployed again. So this is another one.

I also listed that I wanted to learn a new skill and in April’s update last year, I revealed I was learning how to sew. I’m still working on that but I want to learn another skill this year.

My resolutions for 2011 will be much the same. They are

1. Be more healthy and exercise more (I really need to lose weight too but I think if I concentrate more on being healthy instead of obsessing over losing weight, I’ll succeed better)

2. Get a job

3. Cook 12 new savoury/dinner dishes

4. Make 12 new sweet dishes

5. Finish reading all the books I’ve started (There’s about 20-30 of them).

6. Watch 50 films I’ve never seen (while completing the A-Z list I started last year)

7. Learn a new skill (as of yet I have not decided)

I’d also like to travel more but realize this will probably have to wait a bit longer (or unless I win the lotto). And I want to be a bit more organized and more frugal too.

So wish me luck! What are your New Year’s Resolutions?

2nd New Year’s Resolution Update!

I figured since 6 months has passed, I’d do another update on my New Year’s Resolutions. Here’s my original post and here’s the 1st update I made in April.
1. Cook 12 savoury/dinner dishes
I’ve made two more dishes to join the Asian Chicken Noodle Broth and a fish pie. Vodka pasta and turkey spinach burgers. So four out of twelve dishes made. I need to pick up the pace here!
2. Make 12 new sweet dishes
I’m doing a little bit better in the sweet department. Up to April, I had made chocolate mousse and green velvet cupcakes. Since then I’ve made Oreo Cupcakes, Rocky Road and Chocolate Marmalade Cake. So five out of twelve. Sheesh, I really need to get in the kitchen more!
3. Read 25 books
I can safely say I’ve made the most progress with this resolution. Out of 25 books, I have read 24!! Woo! I have several more on the go at the moment and I will keep going throughout the year. I’m really enjoying reading again, which is great!
4. Watch 50 films I’ve never seen before
I’ve doubled the amount I’ve seen since April. I’ve now watched 20 films. Mainly DVDs and TV films with 6 trips to the cinema, 5 DVDs rented from the library (and another one currently ordered) and 2 documentaries.
5. Eat more fruit and veg
I always forget this is a resolution, I need to cut it out and put it on the fridge
6. Lose weight and exercise more
See point 5 for details
7. Write more on the blog
I’m trying!
8. Get a job
Check! Need to start my search again!
In the last post, I mentioned how I had done a sewing course. I had finished it just as I started work, so I’ve had no time to do any more sewing, so hopefully now I’ll be able to knuckle down and finish that bag strap!

Update

Put simply, May wasn’t my month. It started off well, with my boyfriend’s return from Oz but quickly went downhill. I was involved in an accident. Something I luckily managed to walk out of pretty much unharmed. It could have been a hell of a lot worse though. So it’s because of that I haven’t been inspired to post anything here. I have a list of things as long as my arm to write about but zero motivation for the moment.

Besides the above, here are some other things I’ve been up!

-Finishing up work, just a few more weeks left before it’s all over. I really need to start thinking about my next move!

-Reading. Lots of reading. Just finished the new book from Dave Gorman called ‘Dave Gorman vs. The Rest  of the World’. Makes me want to play Connect 4 or something.

-Using things up. It’s something I meant to write about before but never got around to it. I don’t have any particular loyalty to beauty brands, when something new comes out I want to try it. That leaves me with loads of unfinished bottles of shampoo and shower gel. It all gets used up in the end but it sure takes up a lot of room. For the month of June I’m going to try use up as much odds and ends as I can. And also not buy anything new unless it’s all gone and I need it. So far so good!

-Pinning. It’s addictive

That’s about it really. Boring right? May turned me into a hermit. I have lots of other stuff to write up, I’m hoping this will help get the creative juices flowing again. I also have so many blogs to catch up on too! I’ll hopefully get around to that by the end of the week.

Update!

Hello! I’m still alive. I haven’t posted in ages despite really wanting to. I’ve just become so busy in the past few weeks. Since being unemployed since the end of 2009, I’ve finally got a job! Yay! At the moment I’m being trained in and if they decide to keep me on, I’ll be covering sick days and holidays. It’s not huge but it’s in the area of work I studied for in college and there is a possibility I get more work so I’m excited. I’ve finished 3 weeks out of 4 of training and I like it so far.
I’ve also got my first car! My Mum bought it for me and I’ll be paying her back, instead of getting a loan out, so I’m very lucky in that sense. It’s a Toyota Corolla and I’ve been driving it every day to work. The amount of independence having your own car brings is unreal. I wish I had realised it years ago, so I would have been more focused on getting my license.
The last thing really is that I’ve been sick for the past week, which is when I really wanted to buckle down and get some posts published. It’s always the way! And it’s typical that I start work and get sick, so upset by that but there’s nothing you can do about it!
Oh ya, I just remembered! I went to get my eyes checked a month ago and was told I no longer need glasses! My eyes got better all by themselves! Super eyes