HP Readalong ~ Deathly Hallows 11-19

We creep ever closer to the end of this readalong and it is a sad, sad thing.  I'm not sure how I'm going to avoid doing whatever I'm supposed to do on Fridays and Saturdays without it.  I suppose I'll think of something (I see more readalongs in my future).  As for this week, my post is relatively short and uninvolved because I listened to the whole section on audiobook and the actual book is currently on the back of a truck somewhere, as I am mid-move and writing this post seems like the first chance I've had to sit down in days.  I'm also scheduling this post because I have a 7:10 a.m. flight on Friday (eek!) and I assure you, I will not be waking up even earlier to post about Harry Potter.  Sorry, guys.  Happy Harry Potter Day!

Giveaway Winners

Thanks to a random number generator, I've chosen the winners for my blogiversary giveaway!

Angela won Interpreter of Maladies and Allie from What Red Read won The Namesake!  That officially makes Allie the winner of 2 out of the 3 books I've ever given away on this blog.  Those are some good odds.  Congratulations, ladies!  I'll be e-mailing you both for your mailing addresses.

HP Readalong ~ Deathly Hallows 1-10

So I've spent most of the day thus far listening to Deathly Hallows on audiobook to catch up because I was so distracted by the wonder of being DONE with graduate school and being able to read whatever I wanted whenever I wanted that I got totally distracted by Kindred and completely forgot about Harry Potter until yesterday.  And then I got distracted again and listened straight through Chapter 11.  Oops.  Anyway, we're up to the seventh book, which means that we're almost done and that is sad.  Though I'm not going to lie, I'm a little excited to not have my blog totally dominated by Harry Potter for much longer because I do read other stuff, like books by Juhmpa Lahiri that I just so happen to be giving away AND I've extended the giveaway to tomorrow because, well, I just didn't get around to it today (how'd you like that transition?).  So go enter!  Happy Harry Potter Day!

Three Year Wrap-Up

Obligatory reminder for you to enter my giveaway - I'm picking the winner tomorrow!

Whenever people put up their monthly reading stats, I'm always so impressed that they actually remember to do that every month and I always tell myself to start and then never do.  Until last year, for my two year blogiversary, when I decided to calculate my reading stats for the previous two years (based on what I actually blogged about, at least).  Now that it's been three years, I think it's time for an update, don't you?  That's what I thought.

The Thirteenth Tale ~ Diane Setterfield

Don't forget to enter my giveaway!  I'll be announcing the winner on Friday!

Operation: catch up on blog posts commences.  The Thirteenth Tale is one of those books that I vaguely intended to read for years, mostly because I see it all the time in bookstores and, well, exposure advertising - it's effective.  I finally got around to it this semester when I was desperate for audiobooks to keep me conscious on the drive to my internship three times per week.  It did the job - I didn't fall asleep at the wheel once - and I enjoyed most of it.  In the end, though, I didn't love it nearly as much as my constant exposure to it suggested that I should.