Ahhh…yet another Thankfully Reading Weekend comes to a close, I’m truly thankful for the bookish community, specifically my partner-in-crime, Jennifer from The Literate Housewife. This annual event couldn’t happen without you all!

So….I didn’t get a lot of reading done yesterday. We did a bit to celebrate Small Business Saturday. Then this happened as we were leaving my favorite indie bookstore, One More Page Books in Arlington, VA.

Yep, that’s him. President Obama. His daughters joined him for a bit of early Christmas shopping at One More Page books, minutes after we left. While we weren’t in the store for his visit, we did get a chance to shake his hand. My boys and husband were with me and we were all star struck. Needless to say, the rest of the day was lost. After posting pictures on Facebook and Twitter, friends & family from all over started calling, asking about our encounter.

That said, Sunday is traditionally my day of rest so I intend on getting a substantial amount of reading accomplished. I’ve focused a great deal on cozy mysteries I plan on spotlighting for the Cozy Mystery feature I’ll be hosting in early December. So many good cozies, so little time.

As you wrap up your own reading, I do encourage you to do a wrap-up post of sorts, summarizing the books you read, etc. If you do happen to do such a post, please link it up below or summarize in the comments.

Since we still have quite a stack of giveaway books available, I will be picking random people who have participated via Twitter, here on the blog (via comments & link-ups). The list of winning books are below. Once the book has been spoken for, I will strike it from the list.

Also, Jennifer & I will be contacting the challenge winners directly to claim their prizes.  We’ll wait until early in the week to do so in the event that any late-comers still want to enter. Just as a reminder, the challenges are:

Day One: What is Your Reading Recipe (win a hand-crocheted eReader cover!)
Day Two: What Book Are You Most Thankful For? (win copies of Brain on Fire,  Man in the Blue Moon and The Trial of Fallen Angels)
Day Three: Share Your Favorite Bookish Tradition/Memory  (win a $25 gift certificate to Novel Places Books)

So, enjoy the last several hours of Thankfully Reading Weekend. Thank you once again to all who participated!

Book Prizes:

•  If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch (ARC)
• The Great Unexpected by Sharon Creech (finished hardcover)
• Do You See Me by Karen Rose (ARC)
• Force Out by Tim Green (ARC)
• Code: A Virals Novel by Kathy and Brendan Reichs (ARC)
• A Fatal Winter by G.M. Malliet (finished hardcover)
• Resurrection Express by Stephen Romano (finished hardcover)
• Riding the Bullet (original novella) by Stephen King. Includes screenplay written by Mick Garris. A must-have for any King fan! (finished hardcover)

Link up your wrap up posts here:

You’ve made it to day three! I truly hope you’ve enjoyed your experience thus far! Today’s challenge is about family memories, specifically those that relate to books. Thanksgiving is all about families and the bonds/traditions we form.  Do you have any special family memories/traditions involving books? It doesn’t necessarily have to revolve around the holidays.

I have oodles of bookish memories, mainly because my grandmother was a librarian. We would spend summers with my grandparents and I loved the time spent in that quiet, small town library. Now, I’m forging new traditions with my own children. We’re about to embark upon a read-along of The Hobbit to prepare for the movie release. While I’m hopeful my boys enjoy it as much as I did, I’ll be understanding if they don’t.

So..either in the comments below or a post on your blog, facebook page, etc, tell us about your favorite bookish memory/tradition. One winner will be selected and, in honor of Small Business Saturday, will win a $25 gift card to Novel Places Bookstore.  This giftcard can be used online (or buy calling the store directly) so don’t worry if you aren’t local to the bookstore.

Remember to take part in the other Thankfully Reading Weekend Challenges! These are open all weekend for those unable to participate earlier in the week:

• Thankfully Reading Recipe Challenge
• What Book Are You Most Thankful For?

It’s day two of Thankfully Reading Weekend!  How did everyone do yesterday? Full stomachs, plenty of reading time…sounds like bliss to me! I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to a day of reading at home, avoiding the retail madness!

For today’s challenge, I invite you to write about the book you are most thankful for this year. Is it a book written by one of your favorite authors or one you just happened to come upon? Tell us about it!  Include a link to your post below (or if you don’t have a blog, tell us about the book in the comments.

The winner of this challenge will win three books I’ve been most thankful for recently. They include:

Man in the Blue Moon by Michael Morris
Brain on Fire by Susanna Cahalan (galley)
The Trial of Fallen Angels by James Kimmel (galley)

Don’t forget to check out Jennifer’s Thankfully Reading Recipe Challenge! Enter to win a hand-crocheted eReader cover!

It’s time!!

This is the official kick off post for Thankfully Reading 2012.  Feel free to link up your kick-off post below, as well as any update posts you have. Don’t have a blog? Not to worry; keep us updated on your progress via the comments. Haven’t signed up yet to participate? Not to worry! There is still plenty of time!

If you don’t know what to post, here are some ideas. But remember there are no rules; feel free to post as little/as much as you like!

• How did you celebrate Thanksgiving?
• What’s in your TBR pile for the weekend?
• How much time do you think you’ll have for reading?
• What book are you starting out with?
• Are you reading print, ebooks, or audio? Maybe a bit each?
• What books will you be sharing at Thanksgiving dinner? Be sure to keep track of any recommendations you receive and share when you have the time.If you don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, don’t worry, this is a weekend for everyone throughout the world.
• Pictures and/or vlogs are a great thing to add to your kick-off posts!

Throughout the weekend, feel free to post about your progress or even get some reviews up. Be sure to come back and link up your posts. Then take a break and check out everyone else’s posts. We’re looking forward to seeing how everyone else is celebrating Thankfully Reading Weekend.

Oh and don’t forget that some of your fellow readers will be on Twitter. You can search for Thankfully Reading Weekend tweets and hook up with others by using the hashtag #thankfulreading.

On Sunday afternoon, we’ll post another link-up for your wrap-up post. Tell us how your Thankfully Reading Weekend went. You could give mini-reviews of your books, tell us how many books and which books you read, number of pages, number of hours, and so on. This is a rule-free, contest-free event, so you can wrap up the weekend however you’d like.

On to the challenges!! Today’s (Thursday) challenge is hosted by Jennifer over at Literate Housewife:

WHAT IS YOUR PERFECT READING RECIPE?

What ingredients when combined together make for a perfect read for you? This could be any combination of time, place, book, or refreshments. Does this book and that meal make for sweet reader’s bliss? Or is it this room, that recliner with this type of book make you scheme for reading time to yourself?

To complete this challenge, visit Jennifer’s blog!

With that said, let’s get reading!! Be sure to include your kick-off post (or comments about your plans!) below!

Don’t shoot the messenger, but Thanksgiving is just a few weeks away. I’m pleased to announce that I will once again be hosting Thankfullly Reading Weekend, November 22-25! Want to avoid the crowds & shopping on Black Friday? Plan on spending a nice, quiet holiday at home? Join us!  This year, Jennifer from Literate Housewife is joining me as my partner in crime.

Just what is this Thankfully Reading Weekend I speak of?  Here are the details:

Once again this year, we will be doing some fun Thankfully Reading mini-challenges over the weekend.  Be sure to check back Thanksgiving weekend for more details!

If you are interested in hosting your own  Thankfully Reading mini-challenge or sponsoring a giveaway, please don’t hesitate to contact me at jennsbookshelfATgmailDOTcom.

Interested in participating? Sign up below.  More details to come.

While I didn’t get nearly as much reading done as I would have liked, I did read two books: Supernatural: Bobby Singer’s Guide to Hunting by David Reed and 11/22/63 by Stephen King. I started reading a third book, The Inside Ring by Mike Lawson, but only got about 100 pages in.

I really hope everyone enjoyed Thankfully Reading Weekend!  Be sure to take part in the following challenges!

What Book Are You Thankful For? 
What Are Your Thankfully Reading Leftovers?

The winners will be contacted early next week & will have the opportunity to chose from a great selection of prices that have been donated, including:

• A signed copy of STANDING STILL by Kelly Simmons (author of The Bird House)
• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
• The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
• Little Gale Gumbo by Erika Marks
•  30 Lessons for Living: Tried and True Advice from the Wisest Americans by Karl Pillemer, Ph.D
• A HEART FOR FREEDOM by Chai Ling (audiobook)
• THE BLESSING OF A B- by Wendy Mogel (audiobook)
• ARC of These Girls: A Novel by Sarah Pekkanen
• The Bungalow: A Novel by Sarah Jio

If you happen to do a wrap-up post for your weekend of thankfully reading, be sure to link it up below!

You’ve made it! It’s day three of the Thankfully Reading Weekend!  I hope you’ve enjoyed the event!

I’ll be spending the day in the car, driving back home from a visit to my parents’ house. Well, I should say my husband will be driving, I’ll be reading

Don’t forget to take part in the challenges! Have chance to win some pretty fun prizes! Here is a list of the challenges so far:

Mini Challenge #1: What book are you most thankful for?

If you are hosting a Thankfully Reading Weekend challenge or giveaway on your own, be sure to send me the link so I can add it to the list!

Late this evening/early tomorrow I’ll be posting the wrap-up post.  Feel free to continue reading as long as you like; there is no “end time” to this event.

Have fun & I hope you have another wonderful reading day!

Day two of Thankfully Reading Weekend is here! How did everyone fare yesterday?  I admit; I didn’t get nearly as much reading done as I would have liked. I’m visiting family and we actually went out to brave Black Friday crowds. Not too early, we didn’t head out til the afternoon. Today we’re doing a little shopping then I hope to curl up with a book before more family arrives.

Keep reading, keep relaxing.  Hopefully I’ll be joining you this afternoon!

Thanksgiving is all about being thankful for the things we have. So, for the first Thankfully Reading Weekend challenge, write a post about the book you are most thankful for.  This could be a book released this year or twenty years ago.  Your post should include why you are thankful for that book.

One random participant will win a book of their choice from the book prize list (scheduled to post later today).  The only rule: you must sign up to participate in Thankfully Reading Weekend in order to participate!

It’s time!!  Rather than facing the crowds & going shopping on this Black Friday, what are we doing? READING!!

This is the official kick off post for Thankfully Reading 2011.  Feel free to link up your kick-off post to the Mr. Linky below, as well as any update posts you have.

If you don’t know what to post, here are some ideas. But remember there are no rules; you do not need to post during the weekend!

• How did you celebrate Thanksgiving?
• What’s in your TBR pile for the weekend?
• How much time do you think you’ll have for reading?
• What book are you starting out with?
• Are you reading print, ebooks, or audio? Maybe a bit each?
• What books did you discuss at Thanksgiving? Did you get any recommendations you can share?
• If you don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, don’t worry, this is a weekend for everyone throughout the world.

Pictures and/or vlogs are a great thing to add to your kick-off posts!

Throughout the weekend, feel free to post about your progress or even get some reviews up. Be sure to come back and link up your posts. Then take a break and check out everyone else’s posts. We’re looking forward to seeing how everyone else is celebrating Thankfully Reading Weekend.

Oh and don’t forget that some of your fellow readers will be on Twitter. You can search for Thankfully Reading Weekend tweets and hook up with others by using the hashtag #thankfulreading.

On Sunday afternoon, we’ll post another Mr. Linky for your wrap-up post. Tell us how your Thankfully Reading Weekend went. You could give mini-reviews of your books, tell us how many books and which books you read, number of pages, number of hours, and so on. This is a rule-free, contest-free event, so you can wrap up the weekend however you’d like.

Check back later today for information about the mini-challenges taking place over the course of the weekend!

With that said, let’s get reading!!