T'was the day after Readathon, and all through the street, not a reader was stirring, not even to tweet...

Another Readathon has come and gone. So, how did I do this year? Pretty well, if I do say so myself! I finished two in-progress books, Neurotribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity by Steve Silberman and Some Possible Solutions by Helen Phillips. I also took a chunk out of At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being and Apricot Cocktails by Sarah Bakewell and got through nearly half of the audio of In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. All told, I read 82 pages and listened to eight hours of audio, but I've got more on my mind than specific stats today.

I remember when I first found out about the Readathon back in October 2014. In an effort to fill my life with more great reading suggestions and bookish folk, I'd joined a subreddit dedicated to people trying to read 52 books per year. Some wonderful human posted a link to the Readathon website, encouraging people to participate, and I was instantly intrigued. I had nothing going on that weekend—my boyfriend was out of the country for his work, and I was still in the process of cobbling together a social group in Connecticut after moving a little more than a year before. Besides, a whole day devoted to reading? Nothing sounded better. I stocked up on some munchies, built a stack and dove in headfirst.

It's hard to believe that was just a year and a half ago. Just eighteen months ago, I didn't have a book blog. I didn't tweet about my reading and I didn't post book covers on Instagram. I hadn't experienced the joy of being approved for my very first review copy, nor had I experienced the stress of having too many books to review. I also didn't know anything about the book blogging community and hadn't met any of the lovely people whom I'm so happy to count among my friends today.

And the people, man. That's what Readathon is really all about. Having dedicated reading time is wonderful, and I am a huge proponent of snack planning and eating. Unexpectedly scoring a prize is a joy. But really, at the end of it all, I'm just so grateful for the people whom I know are just a tweet or text away on Readathon day, ready to talk books, the universe and everything. I'm even more grateful for the people who stick around the other 363 days of the year.

So here's to you all. Thank you for being such an important part of my life, one I never could have imagined when I signed up for my first Readathon all those months ago. Let the countdown to October—and my fifth Readathon—begin!