Dewey’s 24 hour Readathon was this past weekend. It happens twice a year. I was so excited to participate again this time (my second) because I learned about it far enough in advance to plan my reading and food and schedule. Ahh, the best laid plans and intentions…
From 8 a.m. until noon I was reading steadily. I started with The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco and the pace of this book was gratifyingly adventurous. In about three and a half hours I had more than half of the book read but I found that I couldn’t sit still anymore. I had consumed my maximum level of coffee and done some serious snacking and so I knew that I needed a break. I really wanted to enjoy this book and perhaps start a new one today so I had to keep going!
I tried everything but I couldn’t sit still anymore. Eventually I managed to enjoy Andre the Giant, a decent graphic novel about the larger than man that Andre was, but I couldn’t return to The Bone Witch.
As this was my second Readathon I thought I had a better handle on what to expect and how to be successful. But, as readers we are always growing and changing. And now I know that sitting down to consume a book in entirety has never really been something that I could force. After four hours I started to feel like I had a test approaching and instead of enjoying my reading time it because very stressful.
Dewey’s Readathons also provide a plethora of social media platforms in which to participate and socialize. While I loved reading through other people’s process I found trying to keep up with Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter and Instagram overwhelming.
The next Readathon is April 6, 2019. Now I know I need a variety of books to read and audiobooks to keep my momentum going. I should probably also cut back on the snacks…they caused a massive nap. Finally I plan to pick one or two social platforms instead of trying to follow along with every single one.
Read and learn I guess!
Tell me, please!
Have you participated in a readathon? What are your tips?
Silver Button Books 
I participated in the readathon as well. It was my 5th time. (I’ve only made it the full 24 hours once). I too have been trying to ask other participants how they deal with all the social media tasks and mini challenges. While those are fun things to do to take a break from reading, I find that I get a lot less reading in when I get sucked into posting on so many different outlets. I posted on Facebook, Goodreads, Instagram, Twitter, Litsy, and the readathon mini-challenges’ sites. I think I would have read a good amount more if I hadn’t done all the social media tasks. I’m still looking for a good balance.
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You give me hope! And, kudos to you for participating so many times AND successfully making it to 24 hours. I think if we add my two participation dates together I’m still only at about 12 hours.
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Well if sitting and reading for long periods starts to stress you out, I can understand why you have only been able to do 12 hours, which is still a good amount of reading time. Have you tried doing and audiobook walk or just listening to an audiobook while doing housework or something else?
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You know the worst thing about my timing this weekend? I managed to lose my library privileges! So, I could add to my audiobooks. It was liking finding out my car battery was dead. Next time I will definitely plan audiobooks to help me keep my momentum. Thanks!
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Oh noes! How did that happen??? 😦
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I returned a DVD without the DVD inside. Rookie mistake right? I’m cleared though now and already halfway through a delightful audiobook.
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LOL I worked at a library for a while, and that happened all the time.
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Hah! I always appreciate that my librarians call and say “check your DVD player, its probably in there.” They are so kind (and always right.)
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Yea for readathons! 24 in 48 is one of my favs because it’s a tiny bit more realistic, reading for 24 hours out of 48. Sleep, we haz it! 😉
Personally I ignore the mini challenges and limit my social media to Twitter and Instagram. I only tried to do the full 24 hours once – Dewey’s starts at 9 pm in my time zone which makes that really hard! It took a while to figure out what works for me, so I’m sure you’ll get it sooner rather than later. 🙂
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These are fantastic suggestions. I love a good concrete planning heading into a project. I will have to look and see when the next 24 in 48 is happening. I just love any excuse to prioritize reading over everything else. The social media part is hard but it is a good idea to just pick one or two mediums. Thanks again!
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