October 18, 2014 / Leslie

Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon

Let the Reading Begin

Many of you are familiar with the Readathon, a twice yearly event which begins today at midnight GMT and continues for 24 hours.

Hundreds of readers are participating and posting on their blogs, twitter, Facebook and Goodreads. There are lots of fun events, mini-challenges and prizes throughout the day and night.

It’s 7 a.m. here in Chicagoland and I’m still waking up, having my coffee and reading through some of the opening posts. This is be my sixth Readathon and I have yet to make a full 24 hours, but it’s always been a great time.

I will be updating this post throughout the Readathon.

Rather than fill my feed with posts that a some of you may not be interested in, I will use this one post for my updates and mini-challenges throughout the day and on twitter at #readathon.

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Hour 1 – Introduction

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?

I live in the USA in a suburb of Chicago.

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix. This is one of my RIP IX picks and it’s a perfect choice for the Readathon: Only 240 pages, large print, and occasional pages taken up by drawings.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

I’m usually pretty healthy with my snacks and nibble on fruits, veggies, cheese and cereal, but I also have stashed away a bag of Chicago Mix popcorn (a combo of cheese and caramel corn), a Chunky bar and my one remaining Godiva chocolate.

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

I love birds! If you’ve been here before, you already know this from my Saturday Weekend Birding posts on birds and nature.

I’ve been blogging for about 10 years and have had a book blog since 2009. I’m an eclectic reader, gardener, bird watcher, amateur photographer and all around nature lover.

5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today?

Same goal as last year: Read More! I get easily distracted by all the challenges and visiting other blogs.

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Hour 2 – Mini Challenge: Coffee or Tea?

Take a picture of your preferred beverage and share on your platform of choice.
[Hosted by Fig and Thistle.]

Coffee wins! I switch to tea in the afternoon and evenings, but for breakfast, coffee rules. #TeamTrollope

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Hour 3 – Mini Challenge: Shelfie

Take a picture aka Shelfie of your shelves.

[Hosted by the book monsters]

I have bookshelves scattered around the house and most of them are neat and organized. This one is in my office and yeah, it exploded!

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Hour 4 – Mini Challenge: Quotable Quotes

Comment with a quotation from one of today’s reads.
[Hosted by Bibliophibian Inc.]

This morning I have been listening to You by Carolyn Kepnes. Another one of my RIP IX books it’s a creepy, twisted story narrated by a stalker. The guy works at a bookstore and goes into an hysterical rant about the readers of the new Stephen King book, Doctor Sleep, on release day. It goes on for a few minutes but here’s a sample:

6:08 and the next dude in line is buying the new King and The Shining just to be bold — he calls The Shining a prequel and I want to cut his face — and what an awful world it is out there, Beck. What a miracle that you came in here, so happy, when most of the people who come in are so miserable, everyone except for you and me and Curtis, who holds the door for Mr. Shining and starts with his bullshit.

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Hour 5 – Mini Challenge: Book Staging

Stage your book with either something that is on the cover or with something that goes with the book. [Hosted by On the Wings of Books]

For those unfamiliar with Horrorstör, the book design is a parody of an IKEA Catalog.

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Hour 8 – Mini Challenge: Show It Off

Take a picture of a book/books from your library you really want to show off – just whatever is special to you! [Hosted by deadbookdarling]

Charlotte’s Web, my first real book. I received it as a birthday gift many years ago. It is now yellowed with age but still has a prominent position on my bookshelf.

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Midday Snack

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Hour 12 – Mini Challenge: Books and Leaves

Choose some picture books (for kids or adults) from your own home and take a picture.
[Hosted by Stacy’s Books]

Can I Come Too?

Hug Machine

How to Behave at a Tea Party

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Hour 16 – Mini Challenge: Pet Parade

Share a photo of your pet. [Hosted by Estella’s Revenge]

This is Charlie the Lovebird. She’s my reading and blogging buddy. Usually she sits on my shoulder but here she decided to take a nap on the keyboard.

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Hour 21

That’s it for me. Time for a few hours sleep and I’ll be back in the morning with a wrap-up post.

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End of Event Meme

Which hour was most daunting for you?
Sometime around 11pm – about Hour 17 – I dozed off. The couch was a bit too comfy. A cup of black tea and a croissant provided some energy and I made it to Hour 21.

Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
I don’t think I could generalize because everyone’s tastes are so different. I choose creepy books from my RIP IX pile and no trouble staying engaged. I never read as much as I would like because I enjoy spending time on the challenges!

Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
Nope, nothing I can think of right now. The organizers and everyone involved did a fantastic job.

What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
The mini-challenges were fun and creative. Although I didn’t get to spend time on the Goodreads group – I kept forgetting it was there – I liked having multiple places readers could gather and post.

How many books did you read?
Three. I finished one and am still reading the other two.

What were the names of the books you read?
You by Carolyn Kepnes
Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix
In the Blood by Lisa Unger

Which book did you enjoy most?
I liked all of them but if I must choose – Horrorstör.

Which did you enjoy least?
I liked all of them.

If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
I wasn’t a cheerleader but I do want to send thanks to the awesome folks that did stop by and cheer me on.

How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
This was my sixth Read-a-thon. I would definitely participate again as a reader and possibly as a mini-challenge host.