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!

Thankfully Reading Weekend 2011: The Wrap Up is a post from: Jenn's Bookshelves. Reproduction of this content is forbidden unless approved through prior written consent.

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!

Thankfully Reading Weekend 2011: Day Three is a post from: Jenn's Bookshelves. Reproduction of this content is forbidden unless approved through prior written consent.

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!

Thankfully Reading Weekend 2011: Day Two! is a post from: Jenn's Bookshelves. Reproduction of this content is forbidden unless approved through prior written consent.

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!

Thankfully Reading Weekend 2011: What Book Are You Thankful For? is a post from: Jenn's Bookshelves. Reproduction of this content is forbidden unless approved through prior written consent.

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!!

Thankfully Reading Weekend 2011: The Kickoff is a post from: Jenn's Bookshelves. Reproduction of this content is forbidden unless approved through prior written consent.

Last Thursday, Matthew Norman, author of Domestic Violets, paid yet another visit to my local indie bookstore, One More Page Books.  This was Matt’s second visit; he stopped by the store before his book published to speak to a group of local bloggers & book lovers.

My boys joined me for the event, they played quietly in a corner while the event took place. They were so occupied, they tuned out to the events going on in the rest of the store.

This is probably a good thing, as Matthew read from my favorite part of the book, the “bravest” part of the book, the first 30 pages in which the character, Tom Violet, desperately attempts to “prepare” himself for an evening of lovemaking with his wife.

It was a pretty great event, overall!

Yesterday, I announced the third annual Thankfully Reading Weekend!  If you’d rather skip the Black Friday shopping and instead curl up with a book, join us!

Overall, it was a pretty calm week and relaxed week on the blog. Here’s what took place:

Frightful Friday: Monsters in the Movies by John Landis
Off Topic: Kobo, I’m Breaking Up With You
Review: The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa
Review: The Strangers on Montagu Street by Karen White

Another action-packed week coming up. Jennifer Close, a author of Girls in White Dresses will be at One More Page this week. Really looking forward to that event. Now, if I can only remember who I lent my copy of the book…

TSS: Matthew Norman at One More Page is a post from: Jenn's Bookshelves. Reproduction of this content is forbidden unless approved through prior written consent.

In just two weeks, the third annual Thankfully Reading Weekend will commence!  Just what is this weekend I speak of?!

Two years ago,  with the help of Candace from Beth FishReads and Jen from Devourer of Books , Thankfully Reading was born! An excuse to do an obscene amount of reading over the long Thanksgiving weekend!

Here are the details:

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.

So, if you are interested in participating, please sign up with the Mr. Linky below!

Thankfully Reading Weekend, 2011 Edition! is a post from: Jenn's Bookshelves. Reproduction of this content is forbidden unless approved through prior written consent.

Before we get on to today’s mini-challenge, don’t forget to visit the other two challenges that took place this weekend. There’s still time to take part in them:

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

Mini Challenge #2: Photograph Your TBR!

Today’s Mini-Challenge is hosted by Jen from Devourer of Books:

So what I want to know, is what reading community are you thankful for, and why? Are you thankful for book bloggers? The book community on Twitter? Your spouse or family that lets you ramble on and on about what you’re reading and doesn’t complain (at least not too much) about the myriad of books flowing into the house?

So be sure to stop by Jen’s blog today to complete this mini-challenge.

Later today 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!

Thankfully Reading Weekend: Day Three is a post from: Jenn's Bookshelves. Reproduction of this content is forbidden unless approved through prior written consent.

Today, Candace from Beth Fish Reads hosts the second challenge of Thankfully Reading Weekend:

Today’s mini-challenge is to share a photograph of your TBR pile or at least one bookshelf. I know some of you already posted some photos of the books you hope to read this weekend, but I’d like to see more books. You can show older books, your kids’ books, or new books. You can show a boring old bookcase (like I did) or you can photograph something fun. If you want, feel free to vlog. Either way, Show Me the Books!

I attempted to do a vlog of my bookshelves.  Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on who you are!) my husband is currently watching college football. He was doing a bit of yelling in the background, not using the most appropriate of words!  So instead, I share with you photographs of the majority of my bookshelves!

The first is my horror bookshelf.  My husband isn’t very happy that it’s set up in our living room, but now at least it’s behind the chaise part of our couch and not as obvious as it used to be!

The next is my mix-mash shelf, also in our living room.  It started off as a bookshelf to hold my leather-bound classics & some of my favorite books as a child (including the Little House on the Prairie series!).  Then I added my YA books and my “vampire books” (Anne Rice, Sookie Stackhouse, Vampire Diaries” were also added.  So, it doesn’t make much sense anymore.

Finally, we have the largest shelf I own, one we purchased from Ikea over the summer.  Another mix-mash of books. The top two rows of shelves have some of my favorite crime fiction, fiction, & YA books.  The bottom two contain ARCs and other upcoming books on my TBR shelves.

Oh, I’d be remiss not to add a picture of Jack, one of my reading buddies.  Now that I have a chaise to sit in while reading, he lays at the bottom of my feet and sleeps while I read.

So there you have it! Not nearly as exciting as a vlog but fun nonetheless!

Thankfully Reading Weekend Mini-Challege #2: Photograph Your TBR Shelves is a post from: Jenn's Bookshelves. Reproduction of this content is forbidden unless approved through prior written consent.

Today presents the same problem.  We’re off to get our Christmas pictures taken.  I’ll have my book in tow, but I really don’t feel like dealing with the mall crowd today!

Check back later today for more information on today’s mini-challenge.  Keep reading, keep relaxing.  Hopefully I’ll be joining you this afternoon!

Edited: Day Two’s Mini-Challenge is now up at Beth Fish Reads. All you have to do is post a picture of your TBR or of one of your bookshelves. Easy peasy!

Thankfully Reading Weekend: Day Two! is a post from: Jenn's Bookshelves. Reproduction of this content is forbidden unless approved through prior written consent.