The 24 Hour Readathon

For the first time ever, I will be participating in Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon, which is basically what it says it is - reading for 24 hours straight.  Here's a brief history of the event taken from the blog:

"For 24 hours, we read books, post to our blogs about our reading, and visit other readers’ blogs. We also participate in mini-challenges throughout the day. It happens twice a year, in April and in October.

It was created by the beloved Dewey (her blog has since been taken down, so the link won’t work). The first one was held in October 2007. Dewey died in late 2008. We’re still saddened by her absence, but the show must go on. The read-a-thon was renamed to honor its founder in 2009.

Dewey’s 24-Hour Read-a-thon is hosted by Trish and Shesten, with help from volunteers."

I found out about the event through a whole slew of my Twitter friends who will be participating as well and thought I should join in the fun! It's going to be tough staying up and concentrating on reading for 24 hours, but I'm just as game as everyone else who signed up.

The challenge starts at 8AM EST for me, so I'm going to be up bright and early, munching on toast, sipping on tea and a good book in hand.  In fact, here's the list of books I have on hand for tomorrow:

Paperback/Hardback Books

1. Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life by James Patterson

2. The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards - p.375

3. The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

4. The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima

5. Donut Days by Lara Zielin

Ebooks

1. The Calling by Ashley Lynn Willis

2. With Good Behavior by Jennifer Lane

3. Super Zombie Juice Mega Bomb by MJA Ware

I'll be updating via this post, so expect to see this on your feed/reader all day.

Good luck to all my fellow participants!

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HOUR 1

1)Where are you reading from today? 

New Jersey, USA

2)Three random facts about me…

I love to travel. My dream vacation would be to spend months backpacking around Europe.

I like reading magazines from back to front.

I am probably one of the clumsiest people you'll ever meet, though I'm definitely more careful now.

3)How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours?

As you can see, I have 8 books on there, but mostly for variety.

4)Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)?

I want to comment on at least 25 blogs and read for at least 15 hours.

5)If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, any advice for people doing this for the first time?

I'm a newbie, so I'm pretty psyched!

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HOUR 5

I just joined the "Share a Book" mini challenge. Because I really liked the question - about how I share books with others - you can also read my answer here:

My favorite way to share books, apart from my book blog, is by taking my family and friends to bookstores and personally helping them find new books to read! I love being able to discuss what they want/like to read and finding a book that they end up enjoying :)


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HOUR 10


I joined the mini-challenge on Reading Romances that Nat has titled "My Perfect Anthology".
In order to enter the challenge, we had to say which authors we'd want to see together in an anthology and a give a theme for the book. Here's my answer:

Hmm, this is an interesting challenge! I'd choose the theme of mythology.  And my chosen authors would be Rick Riordan, Meg Cabot, Leigh Fallon, Aimee Carter and Colleen Houck.


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HOUR 11


I joined another mini-challenge, this time on Quirky Girls Read. The "Book Trailer Challenge" asked us to share our favorite book trailers, which was easy enough for me.  Mine is the trailer for Forever, by Maggie Stiefvater and you can see it here.

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HOUR 12


I can hardly believe I've it halfway! The readathon has been fun so far, and I love visiting other people's blogs to comment and cheer them on.

I joined another mini-challenge, this time on Erin Reads. "Hodge Podge Proposals" asked us to (1) choose a character's name from the book we were reading, (2) the name of a car we wanted to own and (3) an occupation that fascinated us in order to cobble together a book proposal for submission.  I had a lot of fun with this one, as you can see below:

Character name: David Miatta
Occupation: Gravedigger


It was bad enough that the traditional occupation of being a gravedigger had been passed down from one generation to the next in his family - which meant that someday, eventually, he would take his father's place. But to top it all off, they didn't bury just any old people - they buried crazy paranormal beings too.  A graveyard filled with zombies, vampires and more of their kind? Definitely not his cup of tea.


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HOUR 13


For this mini-challenge, we had to answer the mid-event survey and leave a link.
See my answers below.

1. What are you reading right now?
The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards


2. How many books have you read so far?
I've finished 2, and I'm almost done with the one I'm currently reading.


3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?
I can't wait to read The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin.


4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day?
Nope, not really. It just so happens I'm kind of sick (and should technically be resting).


5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?
Just one, when I had to join my uncle and aunt for lunch. I read while I was eating though.


6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?
I think it's how fast the hours are flying by.


7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
As of the moment, I can't come up with anything. The team behind the event is doing a fantastic job.


8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year?
I'd formally sign on as a cheerleader. I didn't do that this year, but I've been visiting many of my fellow readers' blogs and leaving a comment or two.  


9. Are you getting tired yet?
Not at all. I'm a bit of a night owl, so I'm only really waking up now.


10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders - something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered?
I've been taking ten minute catnaps here and there; I find it very refreshing.  I've also decided to not speed through my books and am finding that a tremendously joyous experience.  I love getting cheered on by my fellow Readers and Cheerleaders alike, so I'd definitely encourage that!


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HOURS 13-15


I kind of took an extended break to go to Walmart. I shopped for dog party dresses, ate some Mcdonald's and basically relaxed.  I loved taking a break - but I'm equally happy to be back in the game :)

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END OF READ-A-THON MEME


1. Which hour was most daunting for you?
Getting up to start at 8AM was definitely a challenge since I never usually get up early on Saturdays.


2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
The Hunger Games trilogy, The Heroes of Olympus series


3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
Off the top of my head, nothing. I think it was very well-organized!


4. What do you think worked really well in this year's Read-a-thon?
I liked the number of times we could add our links up so that we could hop on each other's blogs. It was fun to visit my fellow Readers and cheer them on.


5. How many books did you read?
I read 3 and started a fourth before I fell asleep.


6. What were the names of the books you read?
Donut Days by Lara Zielin
Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life by James Patterson
The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards


7. Which book did you enjoy most?
I loved Middle School - it was so entertaining and the illustrations were amazing.


8. Which do you enjoy least?
Though I loved the theme of The Memory Keeper's Daughter, it was definitely a tough one to read.


9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year's Cheerleaders?
I thought the Cheerleaders were fantastic! It made me want to be one.  Their enthusiasm and their encouragement were great.


10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
There's no doubt that I will be participating again in April. And I'd still be a Reader, but I'd sign up as a Cheerleader too.


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My first read-a-thon was incredibly fun! I thoroughly enjoyed my experience, even though I didn't make it to the 24 hour mark (I only managed until hour 19, which is even more than I hoped for).  I finished three books in total and started a fourth, commented on way more than 100 blogs (in fact, I probably hit 200) and just had a lot of fun.  I'm definitely going to be joining the next one!