Mini read-a-thon progress...

Sometimes plans are made with the best intentions. You set a goal and you try to reach it, but sometimes the plans can go awry. On Thursday I intended to read from 8p.m.-3a.m. Wishful thinking on my part. I figured I would be done with dinner by then and could make a dent in my review. Just one problem....I should have decided what I wanted for dinner before attempting a read-a-thon.

At 7:15 I was staring inside the refrigerator, wondering what I wanted to eat. I settled on grilled lamb and salad, but this meal required a trip to the grocery store, which I had just been in 20 MINUTES BEFORE. Sometimes I just can't make up my mind. I didn't start cooking until 7:44, so there goes trying to start reading at 8. I made the mistake of eating my dinner and catching up on some shows on the DVR. I intended to watch just one episode of Law & Order: LA, but ended up watching both. My rationale, "I can start reading at 10 and I'm also off Friday." That's still time to read a good chunk right?

Only 10 p.m. comes around, and my mouth is craving this....

I bought some at the grocery store. I can't read and eat chocolate chocolate chip because the ice cream demands my attention! So when does the reading begin? I opened the pages of There is No Year by Blake Butler at 10:27 p.m. Only two hours and 27 minutes late!! Thirty minutes later my mind starts to wander. Do I need to turn the heat on? It was getting a little chilly in my room. At some point my eyelids flutter, and I'm down for the count until 11:25. I don't know how some of you do it. In hindsight, you really need to rest up for a read-a-thon.

I was certainly refreshed by my little cat nap. So refreshed I took the time to check my e-mail, blog, Facebook and Twitter accounts. Boy, I can get easily distracted. Fast forward to Friday and into the early hours of today, and I got more reading done from more than one book.

The Good: I read a 100+ pages of There is No Year. I'm more than halfway through, and should have a review up by the end of next week. I read 60+ pages of Girls Like Us by Rachel Lloyd, finally cracking page 100. Some of the descriptions in that book are truly sad. I'm thankful I grew up differently than the girls in this book.

The Bad: I read about 15 pages of Heart of Deception by M.L. Malcolm. I say bad because I hoped to be further along. But I have until April 28 to finish. I'll make it. More of the bad, I didn't crack the pages of Night Road by Kristin Hannah. That one has kind of taken a backseat because it's from my personal and not my review reading pile. Sorry Kristin, I will finish eventually but review books take priority.

In the future, I'm going to plan plan plan plan. I think that's the only way a read-a-thon can work. So many things can get in the way.

How about everyone else? Any good read-a-thon stories out there?