Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon discussion

As a lifelong avid reader, I feel ashamed that I have only recently heard of this readathon. As soon as I discovered it, I knew I had to join in the fun. I'm so excited for my first (of hopefully many) readathon! Now to get my to-read list for that day in order. Decisions, decisions.... :)

Hey Sarah! This is my first read-a-thon as well. Like you, I'd never heard of this before this year and I'm on Goodreads quite frequently. I have yet to pick out what I'm planning to read, but I'll get there.

Every read-a-thon newbie must start somewhere, and this is the best place to start. This is only my 2nd Dewey's and I've been reading for almost my whole life! What took me so long?! Welcome and have fun!

My first as well Sarah! Let's have fun!!!!

My first time with this readathon as well! So happy to know I'm not the only one!

Well, this is my 14th readathon. But I wish it was my first! Seriously, the excitement and anticipation and planning. I mean, I still get that every time. But the first couple of times...

Anyway, I really hope you have a good time. Don't hesitate with any questions.

This is my first time too! I'm super excited :) it's going to be awesome.

5 minutes until start time! I've been looking forward to this for weeks! :)

And so it begins! I'm starting the day by trying to finish Undeniable by Bill Nye. I planned on having it done before today, but didn't have as much time to read this past week as I would have liked. I'm a little over halfway through.

Woo hoo on the newbie Sarah's ☺ We should have our own group! Hehe

Haha, agreed!

AAAHH, I almost missed the opening meme. Wasn't checking Dewey's site.

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
I am from a small town in the Northwest corner of Missouri in the USA

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
That's a tough one. I would say it's a tie between Welcome to Night Vale and Childhood's End

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
I don't really have anything special. One thing I will probably eat that I love is baby carrots dipped in warmed up peanut butter and honey

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!
Well, I love books of just about every genre (except romance, can't handle too much of that). I love reading and learning, and am actually getting ready to go back to school in the fall to start work on my PhD. I've been working as a registered dietitian for about 8 years now, and am hoping to get into the field of academia; teaching and doing research in a university setting.

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?
This is my first readathon, and so far I'm really loving the social aspect of this event. I really don't have any fellow bookworms in my life, so it's awesome to see so many people excited for and talking about books!

Well, only got about 10% (reading on my Kindle) or around 30 pages done during the first hour. I was so distracted by the social aspect, I didn't read as much as I could have. But hey, that's ok. This is a marathon, not a sprint, right?? :)

Hour 2: Childhood Book Memories

1. My mom actually started teaching me to read before I was old enough to form true memories. She started homeschooling me pretty much as soon as I started talking. Unfortunately, I don't remember reading any specific books with her (my life changed pretty drastically after my parents divorced when I was 5, and all of the good mothering went out the window after that), but I am proud to say that because of her, I was reading at a 5th grade level when I started kindergarten, so I actually joined the 1st graders during their reading classes, and then eventually got bumped up to 1st grade for good.

2. Getting so excited for the Scholastic book fairs at school

3. In elementary school, our library had an old claw foot bathtub for hanging out and reading in (don't worry, it wasn't hooked up to water or anything). Each day, a different student was allowed to read in the bathtub and bring a friend to join them. I don't know why, but we all loved that bathtub!

4. Choose Your Own Adventure books!!!

5. Being introduced to the Belgariad by David Eddings, my first true fantasy series by one of my teachers when I was in the 6th grade. They are still one of my favorite sets of books, and I continue to be mesmerized by epic fantasy worlds to this day.

Another hour and another 30 pages down. Making steady progress!

Just finished my first book of the day! Undeniable by Bill Nye was a really enjoyable read (if you are interested in science). Very thought-provoking, and left me with many ideas for science fiction short stories.

Just finished my audiobook . I had started it earlier this week. I tend to zone out easily when listening to audiobooks, but I really enjoyed this one. I don't know if it was the topic or just the fact that it was more like a book of short stories rather than a full length novel; either way, it held my attention.

Next up is

Book #3 is... in the books... lol. Pardon my terrible pun (if you can even call it that). After almost 14 hours of reading, my brain has turned to mush. My eyes are so tired, but I'm soldiering on! Just finished

I might take a 30 minute break or so before starting my next book.

Alright, back at it. Getting ready to start The Necrophiliac

Finished The Necrophiliac. That makes a total of 4 books so far - around 460 pages and a little over 2 hours of audiobook. Seems like it should be more than that, but oh well. I feel like I'm doing pretty good for my first readathon.

I think my next read will be the book I've been most excited about all day -

Saving the book I was most excited about until last did not have the effect I had hoped. I fell asleep only 40 pages in during hour 17. I had the intention of just taking a nap, but since it was almost midnight where I am (and I rarely stay awake later than 10), I didn't sleep much the night before, had been participating in the readathon all day, and had no naps, I had a feeling as soon as I closed my eyes that I would be done for the night. Aaand, I was. What started out as a nap on the couch ended up as going to bed for the night. Luckily I woke up in time to at least participate in the final hour!

For my first readathon, I completed 4 books (one being an audiobook) and started a 5th one. I read a total of around 550 pages (all ebooks), which seems surprisingly low to me. Considering I participated for 17 hours, I really thought I would have read more pages than that. But I did get pretty distracted with the online community. I really enjoyed the online community and the challenges. I never use Twitter, but I really liked it for this event.

I'm sad to see this event end, although I know my husband will be happy. I will definitely be participating again in October. Next time, I will (hopefully) get better sleep the night before. I will also probably try to find a way to participate online, but maybe limit my time so I can get more reading done.

Thanks, everyone for putting on this event, for participating, and for making it such a wonderful experience!

I'm getting so excited for my second readathon! I'm keeping my calendar clear, and I think this time is going to be even better than the first. I'm going to try to schedule some short naps in this time so hopefully I won't crash so soon.

Sarah wrote: "I'm getting so excited for my second readathon! I'm keeping my calendar clear, and I think this time is going to be even better than the first. I'm going to try to schedule some short naps in this ..."

Sounds like a smart plan. I think it is easier to go into a second readathon than a first because you know better what to expect. But still... nothing like the excitement of your first readathon.

Hope you have a great 2nd RAT! It's great fun, isn't it?

T- 2 minutes... I'm so excited to get started! My pile includes: , and a couple of audiobooks for when my eyes need a break and my body needs to get up and move! My goal is to finish at least 3 books, and read 1000 pages. Let's go!

Hour 1:

Read about 50 pages of (from 60-70% on my ebook, and it's listed as having 507 pgs). Hoping to pick up the pace this hour!

Hour 2:
Another 50 pages down. Starting to nod off already. I guess I'm too comfortable lying on my couch snuggled with my two cats. :)

Hour 3:
Managed to get about 55 pages done this hour. Still had some issues keeping my eyes open during the first half of the hour. I got up to walk around a bit and got a snack. That has helped to make me feel more refreshed. Almost finished with my book!

Hour 4:
Only read about 30 pages during this hour, but I finished my book. I always take time after reading a book to update any challenges that the book may fit and mark them off of my various organizational lists. Now at the top of hour 5, I'm starting fresh with a new book:

Hour 5:

Man these hours are flying by! I read 60 pages during this hour. Still finding myself closing my eyes a lot if I don't stay sitting up. I may have to give in and take a nap soon if I'm going to keep going strong through the evening.

Hour 6:
Read 57 pages. Should have this book finished during the next hour.

Hour 7:
Read 45 pages and finished my book. Decided that was a good time to take a break and grab some lunch. It's a gorgeous day outside (70 and sunny), so I think I will take my next book outside to read in the sunshine!

Hour 8:
Read 40 pages this hour. I didn't read the full hour. Spent some time visiting with my husband (who isn't a reader). Giving it my all this hour.

Hour 9:
Read 40 pages

Hour 10:
Read 60 pages.. just over half way done with this book.

Go Reader Go!!!! Hope you are enjoying all of your books.

Keep reading and have fun :)

Hours 11 and 12:
Read for two hours straight with no breaks, and managed to finish the remaining 156 pages of my book. That's 3 books down so far! Will probably take a break now before starting a new book.

Hour 13:
Took a break, had something to eat, and went for a walk

Hour 14:
Started and read 70 pages

Hours 15 and 16:
Finished the remaining 106 pages of my book, desperately fighting off sleep. We'll see how far I can get in my next book before giving in. Next up:

Hour 17:
Read 32 pages... and I think I'm going to give in and get some sleep. Every page has taken me twice as long as it normally would; because I can't keep my eyes open. Maybe I will wake up early enough to join in on the last hour or two. Goodnight all!

Well, I ended up sleeping past the final hour, but that's ok. I am still pretty happy with my readathon accomplishments. I managed to finish 4 books and 851 pages. A little bit short of my 1000 page goal, but I enjoyed the process, and that's what really matters. I hope everyone else had a great day. See you all in April!

Kicking my third Dewey's readathon off with finishing the last bit of then will move on to . Happy reading, everyone!

some nice book picks! I especially enjoyed the Nightvale one on audiobook because it's narrated my Cecil! Happy reading! ~Ashley

We are in hour 20, and it's after 2AM in my neck of the woods. I just finished a book, and think I'm going to go ahead and give into the persistent lure of sleep. Other than battling some drowsy periods and taking a break to wrangle and dismantle a renegade trampoline that came from my neighbor's yard (it was REALLY windy here today!), I think I did a pretty good job with the readathon. Here are my totals from the day:

Completed 4 books (2 of which had already been started before today)

583 pages read
4 hours listening to an audiobook

Looking forward to October!

T - 6 minutes! AAHHH so excited! I'm afraid sleepiness is going to be a problem today, but what better way to spend the day than alternating between reading and napping??

Starting out this morning with Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. I'm already about 40 pages in,

I haven't been too involved with the online part of the readathon today. And I've been reading pretty solidly today with minimal interruptions. One would think I would have actually made more progress in my number of pages read. I've never thought of myself as a particularly slow reader, but I feel like it on these days. Oh well, still enjoying it.

And it's over :(
I made it longer than I have in any of my previous readathons. I napped during hours 2, 18, 19, 23, and 24. But I read or listened to an audio book for pretty much all of my waking hours with minimal interruptions. I didn't really engage in any of the online activities/discussions this time around.

Final Tally
Finished Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (324 pages)
Listened to about 3 hours of the audiobook version of Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right by Jane Mayer
Finished Night by Elie Wiesel (81 pages)
Finished Adulthood Is a Myth by Sarah Andersen (109 pages)
Reading The Art and Craft of Poetry: Twenty Exercises Toward Mastery by Michael Collings (117 pages done)
Reading The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton (24 pages done)

Total pages read: 655 + 3 hours of audiobook

I think I read slower than ever during readathons. lol
But it's all about the fun anyway. The prep, the stacks, the snacks, the social media. ;)

Super excited for the next read-a-thon! I can't wait to start putting together my reading list!

Just a few minutes left! I'm going to be starting out with What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe. I'm just a bit over halfway done with it already.

Other books I will be reading today:
Big Mushy Happy Lump
No Is Not Enough: Resisting Trump’s Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need
Men Explain Things to Me
Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In (audiobook)

3 hours in and I have completed my first book for a total of 139 pages so far. I spent the past half hour or so logging my book and interacting on the boards here. Now diving into my second book of the day Men Explain Things to Me

Finished Men Explain Things to Me for another 130 pages. Now I'm going to give my eyes a break and listen to an audiobook: Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In by Bernie Sanders.

Finished No Is Not Enough: Resisting Trump’s Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need and Big Mushy Happy Lump

Total pages read so far: 667 pages and 3 hours of audiobook (~72 pages)