Boy, these open-ended categories are hard! I didn't know how to fill in the blank for Characters Who _____, until I visited my library. Then it hit me - what better thing is there in a book than a character who loves books? So I decided to go with that. Feel free to add any you think of in the comments. I'm sure I missed a bunch!

Sarah Grimke from The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd (She is devastated when her father bars her from the library.)
Daniel Sempere from The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Only someone who loves books would be that determined to find the author of a good book.)
Cassandra Mortmain from I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith (And she uses her book-loving skills to great use in keeping her journal!)
Thursday Next from The Eyre Affair (and others) by Jasper Fforde (Thursday loves books in a whole different way - by protecting them behind the scenes!)

Emily Starr from Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery (Writing a novel is her highest ambition.)
Catherine Morland from Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen  (Reading too many Gothic novels can lead you to the wrong conclusions. . .)
Jo March from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (Jo scribbling away in her attic is an image I have always loved.)
Matilda Wormwood from Matilda by Roald Dahl (Anyone who needs to cart home library books in a wagon is a definite bibliophile!)
Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling (This list would not be complete without Hermione. Her love of books is legendary - and possibly annoying. :))

Dewey's 24-hour Read-a-thon was this past weekend, and it was so much fun! A day spent reading and checking out others' blogs is such a luxury. I made it until 3:30 a.m. I was hoping to go the whole night, but I decided to be wise. Now I've just got to get caught up on my sleep somehow this week. Did any of you join in the fun of the read-a-thon this year?

The Guardians by Ana Castillo
Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes (I haven't read this book since middle school. It was fun to revisit it during the wee hours of the read-a-thon.)
The Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer (This book was based on the same concept as F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" - a man starts out old and grows younger with time. It was an interesting and occasionally convoluted read.)

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd (This is our book club book for this month, and I am absolutely loving it. Now I just need to finish it by our meeting on Friday. . .)
Rococo by Adriana Trigiani (The perfect book for a read-a-thon! I was just only able to get halfway through before I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore.)

The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis (By the time I finish those two books, it will be May. And that means it'll be time for my next Narnia reread!)

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
The lovely state of Michigan, where last Friday was sunny and 75 degrees - and then it snowed on Tuesday.
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
Probably Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes. I last read it in middle school, and I remember that I absolutely loved it, although I can't remember why. Today I get to rediscover that!
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
Supper tonight is going to be this delicious Chicken Tortilla Stack. I've made it a couple of times before, and it is rapidly becoming a favorite in my household!
4) Tell us a little something about yourself!
I'm a teacher, and I stayed up until nearly midnight last night grading papers so that I would have my full Saturday to devote to reading! Also, I recently brought home an entire case of cranberry sauce (you know, the kind you eat only at Thanksgiving) because I love it! Now I get to eat it all year round!
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today?
I am considering taking an occasional nap so that I can stay up later tonight. In October, I finally had to give in and go to bed around Hour 18. Let's see if I can get past that this time!

Time spent reading: One hour and 15 minutes
Number of pages read so far: 70
Book I'm reading from: The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

Time spent reading: Two hours and 57 minutes
Number of pages read so far: 169
Book I'm reading from: The Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer
Weirdest reading moment: Beginning to read The Confessions of Max Tivoli and discovering that the story started on April 25, 1930. Hey, it's April 25 today!

This challenge is hosted by Boghunden. You needed to find covers that had a tree, snow, and a weapon on them.

Time spent reading: Five hours and 34 minutes
Number of pages read so far: 310
Books I'm reading from: The Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer; The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
Cutest reading moment (courtesy of Pevensie):

Time spent reading: Six hours and 36 minutes
Number of pages read so far: 379
Books I'm reading from: The Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer; Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
First book completed!!: The Confessions of Max Tivioli by Andrew Sean Greer

1. What are you reading right now?
I just started Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes.
2. How many books have you read so far?
One complete book, and bits and pieces of two others.
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?
Well, I've been waiting to get to Johnny Tremain, so I'm excited that I've finally started that one. Once it gets later though, I think I'm going to ditch my planned TBR list and pick up an Adriana Trigiani book. Just for fun!
4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?
The main interruption has been doing laundry. Taking fifteen minutes of each hour to fold laundry was getting rather annoying. Good thing all the laundry is done now! Next time, I'll have an audiobook ready to go for those moments.
5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?
That my husband decided to spend some time reading with me this evening. Reading is even more fun when you can cuddle up next to someone on the couch and read together!

Time spent reading: Nine hours and 9 minutes
Number of pages read so far: 525
Book read from: Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
Time my husband spent reading with me: Two hours and 48 minutes (And he finished a book!)

Time spent reading: Eleven hours and 8 minutes
Number of pages read so far: 660
Books read from: Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes; Rococo by Adriana Trigiani
Books finished: Two!
Snacking on: Fritos and sharp cheddar cheese with a glass of chocolate milk

Time spent reading: Twelve hours and 15 minutes
Number of pages read: 737
Books finished: Two (The Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer & Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
Books halfway finished: The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd & Rococo by Adriana Trigiani

I had an amazing time, as always. But after nodding off over my book for the third time, I think I'm going to call it a night. I am quite content with the reading I accomplished during this read-a-thon. And I had a blast! Now I just need to start counting down the days to the next 24-hour read-a-thon. . .

If you want a book about Trollope's personal life, this isn't really the one. Sure, it gives us the basics of his early life. We learn that he had a passion for hunting. He worked for the Post Office for many years as his day job. But we don't learn much beyond that, especially about his family. In fact, my favorite line was on page 96 - "While we were living at Clonmel two sons had been born, who certainly were important enough to have been mentioned sooner." And yet he doesn't mention them again for nearly 250 more pages!

What Trollope does give us is an intimate look into the writing of his novels and his philosophy of work. He was a very meticulous worker, regularly writing 250 words every 15 minutes until he had two or three thousand a day. Every single day, pretty much without exception. He viewed writing as a job just as any other job you would work at. Why wait for inspiration to strike? Just pick up your pen! He also gives his opinion on every book he has written, sometimes in a brutally honest way. If he didn't think the book was any good, he will say so. But if he did think the work had merit, even if it wasn't popular, he will defend it.

He also shares his opinion of fellow writers of the day, such as Thackeray and Wilkie Collins and George Elliot, many of whom he was friends with. And he speaks to many literary issues that still affect us today, like author and critic interaction.

Anthony Trollope was an insightful man - insightful about his own work and the times in which he lived. If you're looking for a strong opinion or a behind-the-scenes look at his work, then you couldn't do any better than to read The Autobiography of Anthony Trollope.

Find it on: Goodreads  |  Amazon  |  Better World Books

Hmm, my all-time favorite authors. This is actually a harder topic than I expected. I mean, I definitely have favorite authors, and several jump to mind. But ten? I have more than ten authors whose books I enjoy reading. But I guess to me a favorite author means that I want to own and read and reread every book they have ever written. Not as many of those authors come to mind. After scouring my shelves, here are the ten I came up with:

Jane Austen (Obviously.)
C.S. Lewis (I've lost track of how many times I've read the Chronicles of Narnia. And I'm working on another reread right now.)
L.M. Montgomery (I have always wanted red hair, and I can directly trace that wish back to discovering Anne of Green Gables.)
Georgette Heyer (Because I love Regency romances, and Jane Austen only wrote 6 books.)
Jasper Fforde (There aren't many authors out there who have a bigger imagination than Jasper Fforde.)

Sarah Addison Allen (My introduction to the amazing genre of magical realism)
Adriana Trigiani (I was determined to own all of her books after reading just one of them. Haven't regretted the growing pile yet!)
Bill Bryson (Hilarious and educational!)
Lori Wick (She was my favorite author all throughout middle school and high school. I have an entire shelf dedicated to her books. I really need to read more uplifting Christian fiction.)
J.K. Rowling (I honestly hesitated about putting Rowling on this list. I love her for Harry Potter, of course, which I have reread innumerable times. But I have to admit that I hated A Casual Vacancy. I haven't read any of her Robert Galbraith books, though, so I won't remove her from my list yet.)

This upcoming week is a pretty busy one, but at the end of it all is Dewey's 24 hour read-a-thon! This will be the third one I participate, and I am very much looking forward to it. Is anyone else planning to read-a-thon their Saturday away?

Autobiography of Anthony Trollope by Anthony Trollope (This was a good read, even if you haven't read any of his novels.)

The Guardians by Ana Castillo (I'm really enjoying this one so far.)

It's always hard to tell what I'll be in the mood for, but as of right now, this is my stack for the read-a-thon on Saturday:
The Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer
On the Water: Discovering America in a Rowboat by Nathaniel Stone
Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes

My husband and I recently had the chance to go to Chicago for the weekend. We crammed a lot into two days. And what better touristy thing to do than to go to the top of the Sears (Willis) Tower? I am terrified of heights, so this was not my favorite activity of our trip. But the views were spectacular. I even gathered enough courage to go out onto the glass boxes that let you look straight down. Yikes!

I buy way too many books.

So I set myself a goal this year of only buying an average of 5 books a month (still a lot, I know, but that cuts in half what I bought last year). I've been doing great so far - just 3 books (total!) in January, February, and March.

And then came April. It was spring break last week, which meant that I had the chance to go to a large used book sale and my favorite bookstore. So I acquired a few books (still below my average, however!). Here are the goodies that came home with me last week:

Pat of Silver Bush by L.M. Montgomery (I actually bought this one online earlier this year, but this one matches the rest of my Montgomery collection, so I had to buy it!)
The Phoenix and the Carpet by E. Nesbit (Because I always need to read more books by E. Nesbit.)
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart (Just because it looked fun.)
The People of Sparks by Jeanne DuPrau (I enjoyed The City of Ember, so I thought I'd check out the sequel.)
Island of the Aunts by Eva Ibbotson (Another one I picked up because it looked fun.)
The Summer of the Great-Grandmother by Madeleine L'Engle (Did you know that Madeleine L'Engle kept journals? And that those journals have been published? I just recently found that out, so I had to snatch this one up when I saw it.)
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (I just read Love in the Time of Cholera, and I hear this one is even better.)
River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze by Peter Hessler (Because I am woefully ignorant about China.)
The Invention of Sarah Cummings by Olivia Newport (I love a good Christian fiction novel.)
The West End Horror by Nicholas Meyer (The "posthumous memoir" of Dr. Watson - as in Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. How could anyone resist this book?)
The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht (Because I don't read enough books set in Eastern Europe.)

A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett (Believe or not, I didn't own a copy of this book yet - and it's such a pretty purple!)
The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby (Another book that I recently discovered the existence of.)
The Tale of Hill Top Farm by Susan Wittig Albert (The first book in a series that I just decided I loved enough to start collecting.)
Treasure-House of the Language: The Living OED by Charlotte Brewer (I have a strange obsession with the Oxford English Dictionary. . .)

I know that I have read lots of inspiring quotes in my life. Unfortunately, I'm not one of those people who writes them down or highlights them in the book. So instead, I thought I would share ten of my favorite quotes about books. Let them inspire you to read more. :)