Sunday Salon, post-Readathon and just under the wire!

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24-Hour Readathon Final Report:

I clocked in for the 24-Hour Readathon just a few minutes after its official start on Saturday, which was 5 AM local time. I read for the better part of two hours, then had an almost five-hour time-out for breakfast with my sister and my Saturday-morning errands. I was back to reading by 12:30 PM, and finished the book I'd had in progress around mid-afternoon. I spent the next two hours cheerleading and commenting on other blogs - I signed up for just a one-hour shift as an official Readathon cheerleader, but enjoyed it so much I made some more visits on my own time. I got back to reading after that, starting two books. I then decided to see if I could make it all the way through the shorter one before I gave in, since I knew I wasn't going to last for the full 24 hours. I made it, and I posted my final update just around midnight.

Total hours reading (best estimate): 10, which isn't two bad considering the two hours of cheerleading and the five-hour time-out
Total pages read: 392
Books read, in whole or in part: 3

• In the Land of Believers: An Outsider's Extraordinary Journey into the Heart of the Evangelical Church by Gina Welch (180 pages - in progress when Readathon started, finished during it)
• Why Is My Mother Getting a Tattoo? And Other Questions I Wish I Never Had to Ask, by Jancee Dunn (208 pages - read start to finish)
• The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O'Connor McNees (44 pages - started and set aside to finish after Readathon)

Mini-challenges entered/completed: 0/0. I wanted to focus my time on the reading, and limited my online activity to brief blog updates, Twitter check-ins, and my cheering/commenting. I completely skipped the mini-challenges.
Total hours cheering/commenting: 2
Blogs visited to leave cheers/comments: 30

Many thanks to my husband for letting me ignore him for the day to do another Readathon - I had a great time! If I don't have a date conflict with the Fall Readathon, I hope to participate again in October - and if I do, I'll probably try to take a vacation day on the Friday before so I can avoid another lengthy time-out on Saturday morning.

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BOOKKEEPING: The Reading Status Report

Book reviews posted since last report:

Undercover and Nothing But Ghosts (dual review), both by Beth Kephart

Next reviews scheduled:
Get Lucky, by Katherine Center (TLC Book Tour, April 20)
The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O'Connor McNees (TLC Book Tour, April 26)
Why Is My Mother Getting a Tattoo? And Other Questions I Wish I Never Had to Ask, by Jancee Dunn
In the Land of Believers: An Outsider's Extraordinary Journey into the Heart of the Evangelical Church by Gina Welch

New additions to TBR Purgatory:
House Rules: A Novel, by Jodi Picoult (autographed copy won in a giveaway - thanks to Molly at My Cozy Book Nook)
Bite Me: A Love Story, by Christopher Moore (purchased at book signing, then autographed)
If I Stay, by Gayle Forman
The Heart Is Not a Size, by Beth Kephart
Last Night in Montreal, by Emily St. John Mandel

Moved to TBR from the Wishlist:

The Cradle: A Novel, by Patrick Somerville

New to the Wishlist:
Secret Daughter, by Shilpi Somaya Gowda (second recommendation)
Sisters in War, by Christina Asquith
Stranger in the House, by Julie Summers
A Voyage Long and Strange, by Tony Horwitz
Dreamers of the Day, by Mary Doria Russell
The Swimming Pool, by Holly LeCraw
Pearl of China, by Anchee Min
You Couldn't Ignore Me If You Tried: The Brat Pack, John Hughes, and Their Impact on a Generation, by Susannah Gora

Pre-publication:
The Cookbook Collector, by Allegra Goodman (I usually skip over "Waiting on Wednesday" posts, to be honest, but for some reason I clicked on this one, and discovered that one of my favorite writers has a new novel due out on July 6!)

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*** Would you be willing to share some of your blog statistics and thoughts on book pitches in an anonymous survey? The goal of this project is improving communications and working relationships between book bloggers and publishers. The survey is explained on The Book Lady's Blog - please read her post first, and then use the link there to go to the survey!

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BOOKMARKS: Reading-related Reading

A love for reading travels from one generation to the next

What makes for a successful reading challenge?

What makes book blogging worth the effort? Eva answers the question for herself. What makes for good author/blogger relations? Lenore recommends ways to respect proper boundaries

Authors of young-adult fiction respond to a perceived "parent problem" in YA fiction; a would-be memoirist gets some useful advice

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Have a great reading week!