Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon discussion

Do you have any strategy that you follow during the Readathon?
Have tips and tricks for your fellow readathoners?
Or do you want to ask for some readathon tips?
This is the place!

Can´t answer the first question as I never done a Reverse readathon.

But for the October Readathon I usually get a mix of my favourite snacks, drinks and food. And also add a mix of audiobooks and graphic novels to my regular reading just to rest my eyes. And an audiobook is really good, if you need to go out and stretch your legs. Getting some fresh air is good for your reading.

My first readathon I did for like 22 hours, but these days I take naps when I need to.
I try to treat the readathon as a book celebration or event. Just make it fun with good food and snacks.

Plan ahead--with a littke flexibility, more if parent or caretaker.

* Mix up the media. I mostly read audio and paper books. Ebooks I am cautious about--eye reading omly shorter works or using as backup to audiobooks. The mixed media means my eyes and ears last longer.

* Read shorter books or already started books for completion success.

* Eat lightly. Nibble more. Better yet, eat fewer carbs.

* Drink better. Drink water. Drink weak or less caffiene. Caffiene over load is as bad as carb overload.

* Sleep. Sleep in or tap out early, or both. Take a long nap or a series of short naps.

* Exercise, even if it is just your eyes and ears--There's yoga for those too!-- or to brush the cats and to feed them before letting them out.

* Write a comparison list of readathon hours and local hours.

I also like to plan what types of check ins I want to do.
If I want to check in on every hourly or just quarterly. I think one time I just checked in at.the half way and then at the end.

I personally like the hourly check ins and the sprints, when I know i have the whole time to read. When I don't have much time, I need to use it foe reading.

I also sleep now during the read a thon. I didn't used to plan for that, but now I do.

I like the idea of writing down the hours and local time. It surprises me how I am always double checking what hour it is. Lol

I like to make it a self-care weekend and make it something fun to look forward to. Cozy reading means to me picking fun books and nothing arduous or too long. Series are great to me for this weekend.

I try to do fun things I look forward to when reading such as a nice bath, facial, audio with a video game, audio with a walk, audio with a book nook puzzle, etc. Also set up ambience somehow - youtube rain vids, fireplace, candles or wax tarts, etc, when reading physically and cozy

I agree to set up some movements and exercises to keep the blood flowing and give the eyes and ears a break. Take a nap if tired. I wish I could take short naps throughout but my body usually fights this or it makes me worse. Will see this time if feel nappy and can do it early or not.

Have a small paper or journal nearby to jot notes on times and stuff you want to track. If you keep taking a break all the time to hop on the computer or phone sometimes that gets too distracting. I like to do bulk updates in increments and during breaks.

I call it my reading retreat. I am at a stage in life where staying up 24 hours is going to ruin me when I have to go to work on Monday, so I usually end up reading until about midnight or 1, but I also read for a bit on Friday night and Sunday morning. I like to switch up my locations: coffeeshop, library, park if it's nice, along with an audiowalk. My other favorite thing to do is audiobook while doing a puzzle. I like to read middle-grade reads that are "scary" (I'm a wimp), so I feel like I'm making a lot of progress when I finish them quickly. I feel like I always am too ambitious on the food front, so I still need to figure that out after doing this for over 10 years, lol.

Rebecka wrote: "I try to treat the readathon as a book celebration or event. Just make it fun with good food and snacks...."

Agreed 100%! This is how I approach the read-a-thons as well!