Monday Maunder: July 16, 2012

ON READING

Today marks the first day of the High Summer Read-a-thon and I have decided to participate!!  I have participated in short-term read-a-thons before, but have never proven to be very successful.  This time, the read-a-thon lasts the entire week, so I am hoping for much better results!!  I'm not setting any lofty goals.  I am just hoping to get in as much reading as I possibly can because I am in need of getting caught up on reading for the year as well as just simply getting lost in some amazing worlds with some amazing characters!

I am currently in the middle of two books:  Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario and Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer.  I am not sure what may come next, but here is a list of possibilities for the week:

• Blackout by Mira Grant
• Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver
• Uglies by Scott Westerfield
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

I really could keep adding to this list, but I am going to stop there for now.  

I am going to post probably two updates -- one on Wednesday and one over the weekend -- to share with you the details of how things are going. My final wrap-up I will do in next week's Monday Maunder post just like I am doing for the kick-off.  I am keeping track of my numbers of pages read and number of books.  That will be it, so the updates will probably be short and sweet, which means more reading time for me!!

ON WRITING

Last week, I posted about my personal writing goals:  to write a minimum of five days a week for at least five minutes.  I can confirm that this week I hit pretty close to that mark with four days of writing!  I have a number of things that I need to write, so I will be continuing this goal despite that I am also participating in a read-a-thon this week.  In fact, I sat down over the weekend and wrote down a list of pieces and reviews that I need to do.  My list contains 11 items!!!!  I am not going to post them for you here, but I will give you an update next week on how many of these get written.  However, with the read-a-thon this week, the list may only get longer!!  Time will tell!!

ON LIFE

Three items to note here this week:

1. Did you see that I delivered the books from my book drive to Shriners Hospital for Children?  I shared all the details and some pictures, including one of myself (yikes!) this last week!!  Go on.  Click on over.
2. Be watching for a giveaway being posted tomorrow morning to FINALLY celebrate my 5 years of blogging!!
3. Be watching for a new feature on Friday, sharing some of my pictures with you!!  I will try to post a simple picture that I have taken every week that catches my eye for one reason or another!  Feel free to caption it, comment on it, admire it, or hate it!!  I would love to hear your feedback.

Tell Me:  Are you participating in the read-a-thon this week?  Any great goals, reading, writing, or otherwise that you would like to share?