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Readathon Hangover Wrap-Up
Another Read-a-Thon has come and gone- this one was the best ever for me. I didn’t read the most books by a long shot but it was a great well-rounded experience. I read, participated in a few mini challenges, checked in on social media, and most importantly had fun.
End of Event Meme – Dewey’s 24-hour Readathon
Which hour was most daunting for you?
I started nodding off at hour 19 but made it all the way to hour 21.
Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
I liked reading shorter books and novellas to give you that greater sense of accomplishment.
Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
No, you all are pros at this!
What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
This is the first time I joined in some mini-challenges and that made it extra fun. One thing I hadn’t considered is that they are so creative they help make you more alert so you can keep reading.
How many books did you read?
I read 4, and I have an audiobook in progress
What were the names of the books you read?
Fall of Night by Rachel Caine
Die for Her by Amy Plum
No Attachments by Tiffany King
Binding Agreement by Kyra Davis
The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer (Audiobook in progress)
Bonus: My daughter joined me for a few hours and finished reading Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Which book did you enjoy most?
Fall of Night by Rachel Caine, and I wished that I had The Interestings in print too so I could keep reading.
Which did you enjoy least?
I liked the diversity in my reading, and maybe it was the late hour but I wasn’t feeling passionate about the last two books I read (No Attachments & Binding Agreement)
If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
I wasn’t a cheerleader this year, but I loved getting the comments and encouragement! You all are awesome.
How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
Very likely to participate in this event in the fall! Definitely as a reader, and maybe as a cheerleader or mini-challenge host.
This read-a-thon is a wrap! Coffee and laundry await!
A Date with a Readathon
I don’t have the best track record with read-a-thons, but this year Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-a-thon comes at the perfect time! I have a big (virtual) stack of review books to read before May so I’m jazzed for this opportunity.
Timing
The readathon takes place on Saturday, April 27. In my time zone, the read-a-thon begins bright and early at 5AM. (Check here for the start time in your time zone) We have been woken up by a very persistent mockingbird early every morning so maybe it won’t be too hard to wake up!
Support
Mr. Movie Date Andrew is on board with the read-a-thon plan and is cheering me on. This year I’m also hoping to encourage my daughter to read with me. She has an AR reading goal to meet in the next week so hopefully she can get caught up. I’m even bribing her with junk food readathon snacks!
Speaking of Snacks
I am not too much of a snacker, but I’ll have Trader Joe’s Iced tea, diet coke, and clif bars on hand for energy. And I’ll have an audiobook ready when I need to cook.
Reading Goals
I think I’ve set myself up for failure in the past with readathons by posting a big stack of books I need to read, and then I get discouraged if I only finish one or two books. This year I’m going to take a more laid back approach, and mix in some novellas and shorter books to give me that sense of accomplishment throughout.
Community
Since there are over 400 of us signed up to read it’s a great chance to visit and encourage other blogs, and break up the reading with some mini challenges. I’ll do a little unofficial cheerleading so let me know if you’ll be participating so I can cheer you on! I’m terrible at twitter, but will try to post some updates there or on my FB page. Hashtags: #Readathon #Dewey #MiniChallenge #RahRahReadathon.
The Books
Most of the books I hope to read are on my kindle, but I’m including a picture of the book covers for a visual. Primarily these are books I’m featuring on upcoming blog tours, mixed in with some shorter books:
Fall of Night by Rachel Caine (in progress, 200 pages to go)
The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer (Audiobook in progress, I’m about half done) – I listened to a couple hours of this today.
No Attachments by Tiffany King (300 pages)
Game.Set.Match. by Jennifer Iacopelli
Binding Agreement by Kyra Davis (128 pages)
Die for Her by Amy Plum (Revenants novella- only 60 pages)
The Memes
Haiku – Hour 20
Keep your eyes open
Finish your book for Dewey
One more book tonight
Mid-Event Survey – Hour 12
1) How are you doing? Sleepy? Are your eyes tired? ZZZZzzzzz….what’s that you say? Why yes, I was starting to nod off a little bit.
2) What have you finished reading? Just finished my first book, Fall of Night- woohoo!
3) What is your favorite read so far? FoN is my only book so far, but it was a good one. Moving on to some shorter reads now.
4) What about your favorite snacks? Wasabi almonds & diet coke- yum.
5) Have you found any new blogs through the readathon? If so, give them some love! I have visited a few blogs through the mini challenges like Midnight Book Girl, Fake Steph, and Little Miss Reads-A-Lot. Looking forward to making the rounds a little bit more later.
Book Sentence – Hour 8
Ten renegade sisters in sanity crush the rivals.
Best and Worst Covers – Hour 7
My current read Fall of Night is a new release so it doesn’t have a paperback version to compare to. But, the UK edition does have a different cover. I do like them both and especially that the UK version ties into the story, but overall I prefer the US cover. The bat is a little overkill I think.
Book Puzzle – Hour 6
This book is a new release YA contemporary written by a male author, and should be an easy one to guess!
Re-Title Your Current Read – Hour 4
I’m reading Fall of Night, Morganville Vampires book 14, by Rachel Caine. I’d re-title this book “Escape from Morganville: I want to go back” or “Where can I buy some vampire bunny slippers in this town? I miss Myrnin and his spider Bob too”
Book Appetit! – Hour 3
The audiobook I’m listening to is The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer. It takes place in New York in the 1980s so it would be fun to have a themed cocktail party to pair with the book. Vodka and Tang were the drinks used to toast the new Interestings club, but wine and other kitschy cocktails would certainly be in the mix. There’s lots of great food opportunities for appetitzers from latkes to sushi to samosas.
Spine Poetry – Hour 2
Introductory Questionnaire- Hour 1
1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? I’m in sunny Burbank, California
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? It’s a pretty nice mix in my stack, and I’m liking Fall of Night and The Interestings!
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? Wasabi almonds and diet coke.
4) Tell us a little something about yourself! I woke up a little late but now I’m raring to go. There was an impromptu slumber party at my house last night so it may be harder to coax my daughter to join me to read today!
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to? The new thing for me is adding shorter books to the mix!
Happy Readathoning!
Dewey’s 24-Hour Read-a-Thon
2nd update - Hour 19 – I got super busy today and did not get too much time devoted to reading. In addition to housework, I watched the movie Scream with me daughter for some Halloween fun. But, since the last update I did read one more book, albeit a short novella. Daimon by Jennifer Armentrout is the prequel to Half-Blood, and it’s a very exciting lead-off to the series. Looking forward to diving into Half-Blood. Maybe tonight? I’m planning to stay up a while longer to read, and there’s always tomorrow.
1st update – Hour 10 – I woke up at 8am – hour 3 of the readathon. The day is really flying by! I finished one book that I had already started: How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr. Really wonderful read! Just spent an hour cheering and commenting on 25 blogs. Getting some laundry done, and getting ready to start my second book. Think I will choose a short book next to give me a bigger sense of accomplishment, possibly Daimon by Jennifer Armentrout. I haven’t had time to participate in any mini challenges yet, but I may as the day rolls on. Thanks so much for cheering me on today!
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I’m excited to be participating in Dewey’s 24-Hour Read-a-Thon for the second time. Last year was my first time ever participating in a read-a-thon and it was so much fun I’m back again! I’m also participating in NetGalley October so I’m planning to combine the two to get lots of e-reading done. When I’m pulled away by chores and other tasks throughout the day I’ll try to keep reading by listening to an audiobook.
The read-a-thon will start in my timezone at 5AM Saturday October 22. Check out the start time for your timezone here. It’s so dark and cold at that time of the morning that I will likely be sleeping then, but hopefully I’ll quickly make up the time.
This year I’m also participating as a read-a-thon cheerleader (Team Cookie Crisp) for the first time, and I’m looking forward to visiting blogs and cheering on other participants!
My reading strategy is to choose shorter books and sequels this year. Last year I think I managed to get through one book, so hopefully I can at least beat that. These are some of the books I have in my virtual reading pile that I’m considering, though I may completely change my mind. I’ll update my progress throughout the day here:
Fracture by Megan Miranda (272 pages)
Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver (320 pages)
Tempest by Julie Cross (352 pages)
Prized by Caragh O’Brien (368 pages)
The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa (386 pages)
Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder (400 pages)
Good luck to all the participants! Looking forward to seeing everyone’s progress during the read-a-thon.
Read-a-Thon wrap-up
1. Which hour was most daunting for you? Hour 21 – 1AM. I read until 2AM when I could not keep my eyes open any longer.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? Short YA books would work great.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Nope- it was great!
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? The Cheerleaders, mini challenges, and twitter #readathon updates.
5. How many books did you read? 2
6. What were the names of the books you read? Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler, and Afterlife by Claudia Gray
7. Which book did you enjoy most? Both are really good! For the readathon Hunger is more appropriate at only 180 pages
8. Which did you enjoy least? Liked them both
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? The Cheerleaders were very encouraging – thank you!
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? Sure, I’ll do it again. Reader for sure, and possibly a cheerleader.
Pages read:
Hunger – 90 pages
Afterlife – 260 pages
Total – 350 pages
Will try it again next year!
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From 1AM PST:
Falling asleep with my book, not sure how much longer I can read!
Books read: Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler (finished the last 90 pages)
Reading now: Afterlife by Claudia Gray (Kindle read 61% / approx. 225 pages)
Total read: 315 pages
Trying to squeeze in a little more reading before I call it a night. Did not get to read as much as I’d hoped. Life got in the way, but I had a great time!
Read-A-thon mini challenge: Title word challenge
Dinner’s in the oven and I’m taking a break from reading to participate in the Sherry’s Place Title word challenge. I had a lot of fun unscrambling the titles. Thanks Sheery!
Some of these were hard! Especially 1, 16, and 17.
Here are my answers:
1. Firefly Lane
2. East of Eden
3. Water for Elephants
4. To Kill a Mockingbird
5. The Great Gatsby
6. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
7. The Art of Racing in the Rain
8. The Time Travelers Wife
9. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
10. Diary of a Wimpy Kid
11. A Wrinkle in Time
12. The Polar Express
13. Love Walked In
14. Where the Wild Things are
15. The Shining
16. Goodnight Moon
17. Interview with a Vampire
18. The Secret Life of Bees
19. The Search
20. The Help
October 9 Read-a-thon Update #1
Here in Los Angeles, my Read-a-thon start time was scheduled for 5AM. That was a little too early for me on a Saturday morning- but I did manage to get up at 8AM and started reading.
Finished my first book at 10AM – Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler. (I was already halfway through.) I liked the book a lot, very original and engrossing. Recommended for the Read-a-thon since it is a page turner and only 180 pages.
Now I’m reading Afterlife by Claudia Gray. This one is 368 pages – I’m reading on my kindle and have read about 10% so far.
If I get through Afterlife, I’ll start a shorter book such as The DUFF by Kody Keplinger or Paranormalcy by Kiersten White.
There are some distractions keeping me from reading all the time, such as cooking and laundry, but I’m having fun reading what I can!
I have enjoyed reading everyone’s #readathon updates on twitter. Looking forward to visiting some more blogs and following your progress.
Happy reading!
October Read-a-thon planning
Better late than never, I’ve decided to sign up for the Read-a-Thon that’s starting tomorrow.
I have not participated in this Read-a-Thon before and have not done much in the way of planning. Hopefully I can get through at least a couple books. Not sure of my reading schedule yet, but I’m excited to get started!
My plan is to do all of my reading on the kindle. I just received a few great titles from NetGalley this week that I’m excited to read.
Need to finish:
Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler (I’m halfway through)
Starting:
Afterlife by Claudia Gray (368 pages)
Delirium by Lauren Oliver (440 pages)
Alternates:
Paranormalcy by Kiersten White (335 pages)
The DUFF by Kody Keplinger (288 pages)
Killer (Pretty Little Liars #6) (320 pages)
Heartless (Pretty Little Liars #7) (320 pages)
Wanted (Pretty Little Liars #8) (261 pages)
Hopefully I can get my daughter to read with me as well!
I’m going to try to get through housework and meal planning today to clear the way for reading tomorrow.
I will post at least a couple times tomorrow with updates. Looking forward to seeing what everyone else is reading, checking out the mini challenges, and following along!
