Happy #Readathon, bookworms!

Memes, Challenges & More

Hour 3.5 — Book #1 Complete!


This was a teeny-tiny collection of short stories about Arvid, a boy coming of age in Norway. Family dysfunction galore! I would say 3.5 to 4 stars.

Hour 7 — Readathon Goes Outside!



The weather was too pretty not to get outside after brunch and coffee. Those are cherry blossoms in the distance!

Hour 9.5-10.5 — Unexpected Readathon Nap

I definitely set an alarm for 20 minutes... and then promptly turned it off. Oh, and right after that, I made a doofus of myself in the Goodreads group. Clearly my finest Readathon hour!

Hour 12 — Mid-Event Survey

1. What are you reading right now? Right now I'm switching between The Complete Persepolis and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society!
2. How many books have you read so far? Just one—Ashes in My Mouth, Sand in My Shoes—but I have high hopes for the second half.
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? I'm not sure I'll end up starting more than what I've already begun, but I really would love to finish those up!
4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? No interruptions except those of my own making, which is better than last October—I had to work on Readathon Day! Taking an hour-long nap did put a damper on my reading... tough to do with your eyes shut.
5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? I had grand plans of getting way more reading done this time than I did last, and the Readathon gods are laughing at me! I think I might just be a slow reader.

Hour 13 — #FitReaders Mini-Challenge

Felicia at The Geek Blogger's Book Blog challenged Readathon participants to get up and move between Hours 13 and 17. I was starting to feel pretty sluggish, so I hopped on our elliptical for 25 minutes with The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. 

I feel so much better after getting my blood pumping, and I actually think my pages-per-minute rate was the best it's been all day!

EDIT: I won this one! Wahoo!

Hour 14 — Bookish Brews Mini-Challenge

Amanda at Fig and Thistle challenged us to post a picture of our current beverages and reads on our platform of choice. I posted about my delicious Foxon Park ginger ale on Twitter!

Hour 16 — Reading Story Mini-Challenge

The lovely blogger over at Fight Evil, Read Books challenged us to post our Dewey's Readathon story in six words. I tweeted some snark.

Hour 19 — Book #2 Complete!


I finally got a second book read! This one was an epistolary novel about a group of British friends who formed a literary society to weather the atrocities of World War II. Juliet Ashton, an author and columnist, gets in contact with them and soon becomes enamored of the charming, unlikely gaggle.

I really enjoyed this one at first—nothing better than epistolary for a quick-moving story!—but some of the characterization and the ending fell flat for me. This one is only about a 3 or 3.5-star read.

Hour 19.5-23.5 — Zzzzzz...




I think I stayed up for between 20 and 22 hours of the last Readathon, and I felt like such a traitor when I passed out at 2:30 AM. I have to be at work three hours early on Monday, so I forgave myself. Oh, and I met this goal, so it's all good!

Hour 23.5 — Back to Work on Book #3!



A graphic novel memoir of growing up in late twentieth-century Iran. This is GOOD, y'all.

Hour 24 — ALL DONE! Closing Survey

Which hour was most daunting for you? I would say Hour 19, when I really started to get sleepy.

Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? Definitely go short! I don't have any specific books in mind, but keep them compact. I would honestly say under 250 pages is key.

Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Not that I can think of! It was just as fun a romp as last October's. :)

What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? All the Twitter interaction! I didn't have a Twitter account last go around, and it worked wonders to keep me motivated and interactive.

How many books did you read? 2.5

What were the names of the books you read? See above! Read as: I'm too lazy to type it out and put links in again.

Which book did you enjoy most? The Complete Persepolis, though I didn't end up finishing it.

Which did you enjoy least? The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I enjoyed it a lot for 3/4 of the book, but toward the end I felt like some of the characters were a bit clichéd/not variable enough, and the ending was rushed and also too clichéd. Cute, but not great.

If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? I was! *\o/* It was just as challenging to balance between cheering/interacting and reading this go-around as it was my first time doing the Readathon, so I would say just know what you're getting yourself into! You definitely won't get as much reading done as a cheerleader, but, honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way. Engaging with other readers is the best part of the experience for me!

How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?

Read and cheer 'til I die!

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