Allow me to introduce myself....

Hello, fellow readathoners!!
Time for introductions!
I'm Jenna - wife, stepmomma, reader, teacher, and Potterhead with an annoyingly inquisitive mind.

1. I'm reading from the great state of New York... in Binghamton, to be exact. I like it here. Today is looking beautiful with the sun shining on our stunning fall foliage with a nice crisp air. There's rumors though that we may see some snow showers soon!
2. The book I'm most looking forward to is Station Eleven.
3. I'm most excited for my SmartPop. It's always my favorite snack! I'm also really looking forward to dinner... Bear went fishing yesterday and brought home a gorgeous salmon. Can't wait to see what he cold up tonight!
4. I did more prep this year. I prepped my

log in a notebook to cut wasted time. I'm also not focusing on blog posts. I'll only do a few updates this time.

Well, that's all for me! Hope you're all having a fun day so far!


write to be understood, speak to be heard, read to grow

Readathon Stack!

Last night I decided to get my Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon stack together! It made me super excited... I cannot wait for Saturday!!

I'm currently reading The Martian by Andy Weir and hope to finish it tonight... it has been a crazy busy week so I have been falling asleep super early and not reading near as much as I'd like to... on the upside of that though is the hope that all this extra sleep this week will get me prepped to stay up for a full 24 hours on Saturday!

So, this is my stack for Saturday:

J by Howard Jacobson has been compared to Orwell's 1984 and Huxley's Brave New World, so obviously I need to read it- those are two of my all time favorite books. Literally, that is all I read about J - I picked it up solely based on those comparisons (so let's hope it lives up to those bold statements!)

Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel is on everyone's must read list right now. I have had it on the back burner for awhile now. I picked it up because I love stories that tell the tales of society's collapse. I've heard so many rave reviews, I thought it was time to bump it up on the TBR.

Asylum by Madeleine Roux is a book I originally got for my classroom and then snagged for myself. Boarding school meets psychiatric hospital full of dark, disturbing secrets? Hell yeah. Count me in.

Barry Trotter and the Unauthorized Parody was handed to me by one of my students. He found it in the library and of course thought of me! I have never read any of the Harry Potter parodies, so I figured it was about time I did- especially since a student gave it to me to read! I added it to my stack because I know I am going to need to a little humor to break things up.

Accomplice by Eireann Corrigan is a young adult novel I have had collecting dust for years. Figured it was time to bring it out. I thought this would be a nice addition because it sounds like a quick read - two friends plan a fake kidnapping scenario to gain national attention, but then they get way more than they bargained for.

Of course, I have my Kindle too. I've got it loaded up with a lot of short spooky stories to break my reading up throughout the day. I find that I always need little breaks throughout the day and short stories really help with that.

Now, for the fun part... getting my snack stack together! Haha. Variety is key and tomorrow will be shopping day to get lots of goodies to munch throughout the day. Also- GOOD coffee. I gotta grab some different flavors cappuccino for my Keurig, because again- variety is key to everything.

Hope you guys are having fun getting your reading and snacking stacks together!

write to be understood, speak to be heard, read to grow

It's almost readathon time!!

It's almost that very special time of the year - Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon!!! Who else is excited for Saturday?!?!

I LOVE Dewey's Readathon and participate as often as I can...

If you don't know- this is a semi-annual  readathon, where our big beautiful community of readers spend the day reading, chatting, blogging, and sharing our experiences. We do this in honor of Dewey, who started the readathon in 2007. Now hosted by Andi and Heather, the readathon continues to thrive and bring fun and community to readers in a great shared experience.

This time, I will be participating all day! Bear will be fishing in Pulaski so I'll just be hanging around the house... reading and snacking. Speaking of- if you've never done the readathon before, let me tell you that diverse snacks are as important as diverse books. I'm serious, trust me on this. Coffee is also necessary. Lots and lots.

So, the October readathon is always extra fun for me because it is my favorite time of year and coordinates well with RIPX .. and this year, a new surprise - Andi coordinated a little challenge: 15 in 31 (to read 15 books in the 31 days of October) and of course I am joining in on that! I need a reading boost.


So, all this comes together nicely and my hope is to put a big dent in my RIPX stack and get a bunch of books read for #15in31.

I plan to update the blog throughout the readathon this Saturday, but sometime it takes too much of my focus away, so I decided to sign up with my focus being on Instagram. I can update quicker on my IG page and still stay connected, so you will find me hanging out there the most. You can connect with me on Instagram (papajm25), Twitter (LittleBirdReads), and here on the blog.

I hope you'll be joining us!!


write to be understood, speak to be heard, read to grow

Jason and the Draconauts - the sequel!

Hey gang - who remembers when I encouraged you all to back the Kickstarter for my friend and his book, Jason and the Draconauts? Well, as you know- it got backed... and Paul's first book was published. It is great and Paul continued to write. Letting the series unfold, Paul has finished the sequel to Jason and the Draconauts and he needs your help to make the dream of a sequel become reality!!

Jason and the Draconauts: The Council of Ancients continues the story of Jason, the dragon Petros, and their allies. Your burning questions from the first novel are answered, but even more questions arise in this second installment. Once again, a great YA novel worthy of getting out there for young fans of fantasy, flight, and fun. I mean really- who doesn't love dragons?!! That is reason enough to back this project!!

So what are you doing? GO! Run and back the project!!


ps: If you haven't checked out Jason and the Draconauts, you can grab it here

write to be understood, speak to be heard, read to grow