[Top 10 Tuesday] Top Ten Words/Topics That Instantly Make Me Buy/Pick Up A Book

Top Ten Tuesday is a bookish weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Today's topic is: Top Ten Words/Topics That Instantly Make Me Buy/Pick Up A Book

Here are my trigger words and topics:

1) Murder always works because at the beginning of my reading career, there was Agatha Christie.

2) Teenage spies are also always a good choice because they're usually really, really exciting!

3) Mystery - who doesn't love a good mystery? And just like with murder, I'm a sucker!

4) Romance is also great, if it is done well!

5) Mental disorders!

6) Magic (like the Harry's - Potter and Dresden, I mean)

7) Steampunk because there is just not enough out there and I absolutely love the feel!

8) Nerds because I am one and they usually provide better (maybe more relateable?) stories than jocks.

That's it for me. What about you? What are your insta-buy words or topics?

[Bout of Books] Declaration for BoB 7.0

Dewey's 24 Hour Read-A-Thon is barely over and here I am, signing up for another reading event! But hey, I have to take every chance I get to read while I still can, right? (Also, can we have one more reading event before mid-July? Please?)

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 13th and runs through Sunday, May 19th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 7.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

I will hopefully be able to read 4 books during that week, that's all I'm planning for right now. Who knows what books I'll pick up.

[Dewey] Progress Report #6 - The End?

So, the 24 hours for Dewey's 24 Hour Read-A-Thon are over and I don't think I really want to stop reading. This always happens after the readathon. I'm so enthralled in the readathon and reading, that I wish it wouldn't end. And I have a feeling I will read some more today even.

Books read: 4 total (Volumes 28 through 30 of Case Closed by Gosho Aoyama and Out of Sight, Out of Time by Ally Carter) and about 100 pages of the German book I started the readathon with as well as about 100 pages of The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Pages read: 700 pages

Time spent reading: 17 hours and approximately 15 minutes

Other activities: I had lunch with my family (delicious green asparagus!) and made some more tea because the one from this morning was cold

Snacks/Food devoured: I ate a pork steak, green asparagus and potatoes for lunch and 3 more of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

And naturally, there's also an end of event meme:

1) The most daunting hour for me was Hour 13. My eyes hurt, my back hurt from too much time on the couch, and I kept yawning. Changing my reading place from the couch to the bed was a good idea.

2) Anything short-ish and entertaining can be a good choice for the readathon, especially in the later hours. Maybe a short story collection so you can take breaks in between. Pick something that keeps you engaged!

3) I love the readathon exactly as it is. There's not too much going on to distract me from reading for too long, and there's not too little so I could maybe feel bored. When I need a break, I always could swing on over to see what was going on and maybe participate in a mini challenge. At times, more cheerleaders would have been fun, but I believe it lies in the nature of things to have a smaller number of people sign up for that task than for the actual reading.

4) Everything?

5) I finished 4 books and read good chunks of 2 more books so far. I will continue reading for the rest of the day, though.

6) I mentioned the books I read above, so I will not repeat them here ;-)

7) I most enjoyed Ally Carter's Out of Sight, Out of Time. I absolutely love the series and it's always a winner for me.

8) The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky so far has not engaged and entertained me as much as I had hoped. I know many people love it, but for me something seems to be missing.

9) I was not a cheerleader.

10) I have participated in a number of readathons so far (with the exception of the April readathons that were on my birthday weekend), mostly as a participant, and once I helped out with the organization. I hope to participate again next time, however, kiddo may prevent that. I may instead offer to be a cheerleader for a few hours.

[Dewey] Progress Report #5 - 21 Hours Down, 3 More to Go

Junior here (my parents don't have a name for me yet). I made Mommy rest a bit earlier, weekends are my time after all. It's when I get to grow most obviously for everyone else ;-) But Mommy still got some reading done.

Books read: 4 : Case Closed Vol. 28 - 30 by Gosho Aoyama and Out of Sight, Out of Time by Ally Carter

Pages read: 1000 pages?!? Wow, Mommy!

Time spent reading: Approximately 14.5 hours

Other activities:Mommy slept a bit and had breakfast.

Snacks/Food devoured: We had 2 rolls with Nutella and some tea

[Dewey] Progress Report #4 - Halfway!

My eyes! The yawning! Can you believe we're already halfway through this year's April edition of Dewey's 24 Hour Read-A-Thon? I'm having a hard time, but it's true. I'm so excited about this, yet sad. Since the last update, I had a few occasions when it was hard for me to keep my eyes open. I will post this update and then head on over to my bed to read some more there. If I fall asleep, I'd rather be comfortable so that I can wake up later being refreshed instead of being in pain ;-)

Books read: 2: Case Closed Vol.28 by Gosho Aoyama and Out of Sight, Out of Time by Ally Carter

Pages read: 600 pages - give or take.

Time spent reading: over 6 hours

Other activities: I spent some more time browsing the internet and I had to get some more water. When I get tired, I get thirsty.

Snacks/Food devoured: None since the last update.

For the halfway progress report, we have another few questions, so here you go:

1) Sleepy? Oh yes, my eyes are tired and I would turn to an audio book if I didn't know that I would fall asleep within minutes of starting it. And I am certainly starting to get sleepy (almost 2am and all that doesn't help...)
2) I have finished two books, as I mentioned above.
3) My favorite read so far was Out of Sight, Out of Time by Ally Carter. As much as I love the Case Closed manga series, the Gallagher Girls series is one of my favorite series ever!
4) My favorite snack so far were the 3 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Way too expensive here in Germany, but every now and then, they're a treat worth the money.
5) I haven't checked out any new blogs yet. I will do that after the readathon is over, when I had some rest and can actually take my time.

[Dewey] Progress Report #3 - Midnight Update

Whew, it's midnight here and time just flew by. But the readathon has been going on for 10 hours now. Also, I have been yawning for the better part of the last hour. But I have every intention of staying up some more. (It's not like kiddo hasn't been kicking like crazy for the past 15 minutes already, so I couldn't sleep anyway...)

Books read: 1

Pages read: 500?!? I'm losing track here!

Time spent reading: About 5 hours, so only about half the time, but that's still better than nothing.

Other activities: I browsed the net for a bit, searched for my phone charger because I use my phone for Instagram updates (check it out! I update my books there and the occasional snack).

Snacks/Food devoured: Another muffin! I have one more here with me and don't really want to eat more than those 3 tonight. Too many calories :P

[Dewey] Progress Report #2 - 7.5 Hours Later

We're already 7.5 hours into the readathon! Can you believe it? I have read quite a bit in the mean time, and I had dinner with my family. Naturally, helping cook and prepare everything for the Raclette took away some time, and the food itself takes time, so I didn't get as much reading done as I could have, had I stuck to finger food etc. But it was good! That counts for a whole lot, if you ask me.

Books read:1: Case Closed Vol.28 by Gosho Aoyama

Pages read:around 350 pages - maybe a few less because I had started Case Closed Vol.28 before the readathon

Time spent reading:around 3 hours only *sigh*

Other activities:cooking, reading some blogs, I participated in 2 mini challenges

Snacks/Food devoured:Raclette, 3 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

[Dewey] Quickie Challenge Participation: Retitle that Book!

I just finished the following book, so I will retitle that instead of the book I started a few seconds ago - there's no way I will retitle it after half a page...



My title would be: A Boy Detective's Adventures in Japan, Dealing with Age-Inappropriate Murders and Mysteries - If He Weren't Actually a Teen Turned Kid by a Dangerous Crime Organization Vol.28

[Dewey] Progress Report #1 - 2 Hours In

So, two hours after the beginning it is time for a progress report, right? With all we had going on this morning including the clothes shopping as I needed a few more items to accomodate my belly, I didn't get off to the start I would have liked. Nonetheless, I believe I am doing well so far.

Books read:None so far

Pages read:around 100 pages of Bastian Bielendorfer's Lehrerkind: Lebenslänglich Pausenhof, a memoir-style novel about the author's life as a teachers' kid and how he ended up being a teacher himself - very funny!

Time spent reading:approximately 1 hour

Other activities:I had a late lunch (after 2pm), which took up quite some time, and I prepared tea for the first few hours. Then I had to somehow carry all the things upstairs through a dusty floor which my parents and the mister are remodeling these days so that it eventually will look like our apartment (I don't get to help much, due to the pregnancy & everybody's "be careful" attitude). Lastly, I also prepared my post templates for the readathon with some delay. I wanted to do it earlier, but due to the accident, I couldn't

Snacks/Food devoured: a roll with Nutella for lunch, some tea

[Dewey] Thus the readathon begins...

<p align="justify">I already posted a oic of my first read for the readathon on Instagram. We were running late getting home from this morning's shopping spree (pics will follow) due to a car accident (not too serious, only damaged cars) on the road. Luckily, I always carry a book,  so I started reading already.  <br><br>

The introductory questionaire is always fun, so here you go,  this is me and my plans for the readathon:<br><br>

1) I am reading in Germany & it's raining and the sky is grey. Perfect weather to stay in and read...<br>
2) I'm looking forward to all the books on my short stack even though I know I won't be able to get to them all within the next 24 hours. I picked them for that particular reason. <br>
3) My favorite snacks during the readathon will be the white Reece's Peanut Butter Cups and the muffins. <br>
4) I'm a 29 year old student and this will be my last chance at a readathon without kiddo. I'm 6 months pregnant and we can't wait for kiddo to be born. We both love to read,  so he better be a reader too or else he might have been swapped at the hospital ;-) <br>
5) I hopr I will be able to stay away from the internet and stay up longer this time around. That has usually been my problem with the readathon. I just want t I visit si many people and read blog posts that I don't have enough time to read. Also, I have to take more breaks! </p>

[Dewey] Countdown & Preparation

Shesh, only a few hours until Dewey's 24 Hour Read-A-Thon begins and I just finished organizing the majority of my reading and my snacks for tomorrow.

I have posted my tentative stack of books on my Instagram account, but unfortunately, I have not yet figured out how to post my Instagram pictures here. (If you know, please tell me! Adding the link only didn't work.) So I only have a list for you:

Stung by Bethany Wiggins
Loss by Jackie Morse Kessler
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Millicent Min, Girl Genius by Lisa Yee
Out of Sight, Out of Time by Ally Carter (finally!)
Scarlett Fever by Maureen Johnson (finally!)
The Inimitable Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (again, finally!)
Case Closed Volumes 28 through 30 by Gosho Aoyama

I also posted a picture of my snacks on Instagram, but again, I have no clue whatsoever, why I cannot post the pictures on my blog as well *sigh* I have two packages that contain 3 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups each, one package with two White Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and some dried dattes. Also, I did bake some muffins, but they're still in the kitchen cooling off. I have yet to try them and I'm curious because I once again changed one of grandma's recipes. I love doing that, and so far it always worked out well, but you never know. I'll post a picture tomorrow.

For regular food choices, I am lucky. Mom decided we're having Raclette tomorrow night, so I don't have to worry about too much. For breakfast we have rolls for both Saturday and Sunday morning, and last I checked we had some cottage cheese with herbs left so I might have that with some potatoes for lunch. I think I'm all set!

Will you participate in Dewey's 24 Hour Read-A-Thon? Leave me a note so I can swing by your blog / Twitter / Instagram if you decide to do so!

[Dewey] Dewey's 24 Hour Read-A-Thon is coming up!

So, once again, about half a year has passed and we have Dewey's 24 Hour Read-A-Thon coming - and it's tomorrow already!



Now, I haven't really thought about what I will read yet, but I will post about that later today. I just wanted to let you know that I'm joining in for sure! For now, I will get ready for the day to head out with the mister so we can hang out some more with friends before I head on to my parents' (my read-a-thon central like in recent read-a-thons). Admittedly, one of the reasons I usually read at my parents is because I have most of my unread books there and I don't feel like lugging them home and then back (I also store my read books at Mom & Dad's). So, I hope to see you all around for the read-a-thon tomorrow!

Claiming my blog finally...

Due to the upcoming demise of Google Reader (I'm not really sad here as the apps available for it sucked quite a bit), I had to look into other options and so far I'm undecided between Feedly and Bloglovin. What I like about Feedly is that I can simply swipe my way through my unread blogs on my phone & iTouch, but Bloglovin creates some traffic, which I think is only fair... Follow my blog with Bloglovin

[Random Acts of Kindness] April 2013 - my birthday month!

I am again participating in the Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) hosted by the Book Soulmates! It's a fun and nice way to interact with other book lovers and a chance to maybe fulfill a wish of theirs. You can find the rules on their website (the basics: have a wishlist or create one, sign up and send off books - and get some in return).

This month, it's actually my birthday month, so I hope you will have a great month!

You can find my wishlist on Amazon: It's the 2013 wishlist, which I am keeping up to date.

If you would like to offer me one of these books, simply send me an e-mail at kathrin.p AT gmail DOT com and I will send you my mailing address.