April 23, 2016 / 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.

I will only be participating part of the day. I’ll be taking a break mid-day to attend a family birthday party but other than those four or five hours, I intend to read or listen to audiobooks as much as I can.

The Readathon began for me at 7 a.m. Chicago time, and this is my ninth Readathon. I have yet to make a full 24 hours and unfortunately won’t this time either.

I will be updating this post throughout the Readathon.

Rather than fill my feed with posts that 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.

——————————–

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?

In print I’m starting with The Atomic Weight of Love by Elizabeth J. Church.

In audio I’ll be listening to The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night at a Time by Arianna Huffington. Sleep is one of those things I never seem to get enough of even when I’m not deliberately trying to stay awake for a readathon.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

I try to be healthy with my snacks. During the day it’s usually things like fruit, nuts, granola bars, and cereal. For this evening I am looking forward to devouring a box of Crunch ‘n Munch, a favorite snack of mine. Once the box is opened, I finish it all!

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

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. I volunteer as a wildlife monitor and at a bird rescue and shelter for pet birds in need of new homes.

If you’ve visited here before, you already know I have a passion for birds. I share my photographs and stories in my Weekend Birding posts.

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

Once again, I would like to read Read More! I say it every time but it’s true; I get easily distracted by the challenges and visiting other blogs.

——————————–

Hour 3 Mini-Challenge: Five Word Story

Make a five word story on the theme of books . . .

“Audio books make me happy.”

——————————–

Mid-Event Survey

1. What are you reading right now?

I’m listening to The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night at a Time by Arianna Huffington.

2. How many books have you read so far?

This is my first book. I’m a little over halfway through it and still listening.

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?

In an hour or so I’m going to settle in for the evening and read The Atomic Weight of Love by Elizabeth J. Church in print. I’ll switch to audio for eye breaks.

4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?

Most of the afternoon was an interruption! I was at a niece’s birthday party, but I listened to audio in the morning and on the drive there and back.

5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?

It’s evolution. This is my ninth readathon and things have changed a lot in the way we communicate with the introduction of social media.

——————————–

Wrap-up — The Next Morning

Closing Survey

Which hour was most daunting for you?
Hour 17 when I fell asleep on the couch. Reading a print book put me to sleep after only a few chapters. When I woke up an hour or so later I tried to “reboot” by walking around and having some tea, but my body was having none of that and was requesting sleep.

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

What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
I liked having multiple places readers could gather and post.

How many books did you read?
Just one. Plus a few chapters in a second book.

What were the names of the books you read?
The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night at a Time by Arianna Huffington

How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
I would definitely participate again as a reader and am thinking about offering to host a mini-challenge.