#ThanksgivingReadathon Wrap Up

November 30, 2016

thanksgiving-readathon

Wow– Thanksgiving was quite a blur! So many things I wasn’t expecting happened, which kinda put a hiccup in my Read-a-Thon plans. But that’s okay- I still got some quality reading time in. What happened, you might ask? Why is this post the last day in November, even though the Read-a-Thon happened over Thanksgiving (11/22-11/27)? What on earth could have gotten me to wait this long to post my wrap-up?

Because I got engaged.

engagement-ring

My very very brave other half proposed at the Thanksgiving dinner table, and I knew from that moment onward my Thanksgiving Read-A-Thon was forfeit. I was in my hometown, with all my family, and this was my one opportunity to tell everyone in person. I wanted to tell people in person when I got home too, so today is the first day we are publically announcing our engagement. SO EXCITED!!! And you get to know amongst the first. Because I love my bookish community. 🙂

That said, despite a ton of additional social gatherings I had not expected, my Read-a-Thon wasn’t a complete flop! Here was my original goal:

  1. Complete at least one of my five outstanding yearly review challenges. 
  2. Listen to at least two audiobooks.
  3. Read a Newbery Award Winner
  4. Read two ARCs
  5. Read at least one non-fiction book
  6. Complete a book I have been reading for more than one month

Here is how I really did:

  1. Complete at least one of my five outstanding yearly review challenges. 
    • Check! I completed the PopSugar challenge by reading Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (a book becoming a movie this year) and Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship, and Dangerous Hobbies (a book with a protagonist who has your occupation- all three protagonists are at some point Hogwarts teachers) both by J. K. Rowling
  2. Listen to at least two audiobooks
    • Sorta check! I listened to Waking Up by Sam Harris and The Rest of us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness (that said, I still have to finish The Rest of us Just Live Here…)
  3. Read a Newbery Award Winner
    • Check! I read Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
  4. Read two ARCs
    • Nope! I completely whiffed on this one. Zero arcs were even touched. My NetGalley dashboard is grumpy at me, for sure.
  5. Read at least one non-fiction book
    • Check! I read Waking Up by Sam Harris. Double score!
  6. Complete a book I have been reading for more than one month
    • Check! Thanks, Waking Up for meeting the criteria for three of these.

So, in the end, I read 4.25 books:

short-stories-from-hogwarts-of-heroism-hardship-and-dangerous-hobbies fantastic-beasts-and-where-to-find-them the-rest-of-us-just-live-here inside-out-and-back-again waking-up

 

The quarter book is The Rest of Us Just Live Here, as we got distracted on the ride home and chatted about wedding things and listened to the Hamilton soundtrack and Christmas music instead of listening to the audiobooks. All in all, these weren’t long books. But I don’t think it matters. I honestly didn’t think I’d ever finish any of my yearly challenges, so that feels good!

In the end, it was a wonderful week and I couldn’t be happier with how it ended. I guess it’s time to start planning a wedding?

the-office


What do you think?

  • How was your Thanksgiving? Did you get to read any good books?
  • Any recommendations for how I can finish up my Yearly Challenges?
  • I’m almost afraid to ask… but, bookish wedding ideas?

25 Comments

  • LizScanlon November 30, 2016 at 9:23 am

    OMG! Congrats! 🙂 So happy for you! lots of love and all the best with planning a wedding…

    Not even gonna comment on the books, because engagement! 😀 Who cares about the books,yo?!! 😀

    • Jackie B December 2, 2016 at 5:15 pm

      !! I know, right?! Thanks, Liz!! I really wasn’t expecting it, either. 😀 Sooooo happy.

  • Drew @ TheTattooedBookGeek November 30, 2016 at 9:44 am

    Congratulations on your engagement, I wish you and your other half all the best. 🙂

    • Jackie B December 2, 2016 at 5:17 pm

      D’aw, thanks Drew. It will be an adventure for sure. He’s an aspiring writer, and as I am an avid reader I am also his harshest critic. Oops. 😉 But! He is writing an adult high fantasy novel. Who knows? Perhaps someday you’ll be reviewing his book on your blog…

  • koolkosherkitchen November 30, 2016 at 1:10 pm

    Most sincere congratulations on your engagement! Blessings and best wishes for many happy years together!

    • Jackie B December 2, 2016 at 5:18 pm

      Thanks, Dolly! I immediately thought of your blog when my mother started asking what sort of food to make for the engagement party– after all, the majority of my family keeps kosher. 😀

      • koolkosherkitchen December 3, 2016 at 8:19 pm

        Oh, Jackie, I am so flattered! Please feel free to ask for suggestions – I wish I were there to help!

  • Novels And Nonfiction November 30, 2016 at 1:19 pm

    Congratulations! Best reason ever to forfeit a read-a-thon but you definitely didn’t even come close to forfeiting! That’s quite the impressive result 🙂 I only got through 3.5 books myself, even though I was hoping for 5… I loved all of them and spent quality time with family and friends so not bad 🙂 Thanks for hosting this read-a-thon with me. We should do it again next year and maybe we can announce it more in advance this time lol

    • Jackie B December 8, 2016 at 1:16 pm

      Thank you!!! I honestly had no idea. I wasn’t expecting this *at all*! I managed to get some more reading in as I often had too much adrenaline and I couldn’t sleep. So much happened Thanksgiving week.
      I would love to continue this read-a-thon as a tradition. We should chat; perhaps we can come up with some Thanksgiving themed prompts to help people choose books? I have so many ideas. 🙂

  • Birdie November 30, 2016 at 2:25 pm

    How is the audio of The Rest of Us Just Live Here?

    • Jackie B November 30, 2016 at 6:52 pm

      It’s okay? It took me a while to get used to the narrator’s voice, but I like his inflection. James Fouhey narrates, but I hadn’t heard of him before now. I think I’d rather be reading the book, honestly.

      • Birdie November 30, 2016 at 7:13 pm

        Oh, okay. Well then I won’t mess with that audio then. 🙂

        • Jackie B December 8, 2016 at 1:14 pm

          Okay– I’ve finished it and I think I figured out what bothers me about the audio: James Fouhey does a great job separating the voices of all the men, but all the women sound the same. Also, all the women have the same inflection: Henna, Dr. Luther, Mom– EVERYONE. It is really confusing considering what different characters they are. He makes them all sound a bit bored, a bit elitist, and really airy. I bothered me.
          But the male voices were well done!

  • Laila@BigReadingLife November 30, 2016 at 3:29 pm

    Congratulations!

    • Jackie B December 8, 2016 at 1:18 pm

      Thank you, Laila! I couldn’t be more excited.

  • Cassiopeia's Moon November 30, 2016 at 11:07 pm

    Congratulations on the engagement!

    We don’t celebrate Thanksgiving where I am from, so I had a normal weekend. As for bookish wedding ideas, when one of my friend got married, they had made the seating order so that you sat at a table named after a world in book/movie/tv-series. I sat at Hogwarts^^ This you could do with just books and it doesn’t require a lot of work 🙂

    • Jackie B December 8, 2016 at 1:19 pm

      Thank you!!! I love that idea for table themes. David and I have very different loves in literature, so that would be very interesting. Hogwarts is obviously one of the best tables to belong to; I love it!

  • Diana December 1, 2016 at 11:01 am

    Congratulations on your engagement.I’m so happy for you.All the best 🙂

    • Jackie B December 8, 2016 at 1:18 pm

      Thanks, Diana! I know we were just talking about societal pressure around relationships; it looks like I just stepped into a completely new set of pressures. EVERYONE is asking me questions about when, what, how, where, etc. It’s new and still exciting– but I wonder how much longer this will last? 😉

  • Books, Vertigo and Tea December 1, 2016 at 11:20 am

    Okay, so you know, I honestly admit that when I read the engagement part, I did not care about the rest of this post haha <3 <3 <3

    I cannot believe I missed this news! Doing a huge happy dance and mad at my bronchitis self for missing the post. Sending much love. *excited squeals*

    • Jackie B December 8, 2016 at 1:24 pm

      Hahaha– That’s one of the reasons I appreciate you so much, Danielle. 🙂 I am super excited! I honestly didn’t know if we were ever going to get married, and he completely surprised me. I am certain there will be updates as we begin planning. Particularly if we are doing some bookish wedding ideas.

      I hope you are feeling better!!! Bronchitis is the WORST.

  • Amanda @Cover2CoverMom December 1, 2016 at 9:23 pm

    OMG!!!! I am so excited for you Jackie! Congrats to you and your significant other. I do hope you will have a bookish wedding theme lol

    • Jackie B December 8, 2016 at 1:13 pm

      Thank you!!! I obviously want a bookish wedding, but we will see what I am willing to put the effort into and what David will want to do. We are a good team, so I know I’ll have to negotiate many things.

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