Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-a-thon Master Post (April 2018)

Wrap Up

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?
   • Hour 13, when I woke up from a two hour nap and felt a bit disoriented ^^;
2.  Tell us ALLLLL the books you read!
   • Hoodoo by Ronald L. Smith
   • Thursdays with the Corwn by Jessica Day George
   • Orphan Island by Laurel Snyder
   • The Inquisitor’s Tale by Adam Gidwitz and Hatem Aly (partial)
   • Why Indigenous Literatures Matter by Daniel Heath Justice (partial)
3. Which books would you recommend to other Read-a-thoners?
   • In the past few Read-a-thons, I think I’ve really hit my stride when reading middle grade speculative fiction so I would recommend any of the shorter novels from that genre!  (ex. Spirit Hunters by Ellen Oh)
4. What’s a really rad thing we could do during the next Read-a-thon that would make you smile?
   • I know it’s not feasible to have cheerleaders anymore, but I wonder if we could, for example, sign up for groups where members support each other throughout the Read-a-thon.
5. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? Would you be interested in volunteering to help organize and prep?
   • It’s iffy whether I’ll be able to participate in the October Read-a-thon because that’ll be during school time, but I would definitely like to!

I read 809 pages in 7 hours. (This is just about spot on with my Read-a-thon reading last year!) I threw in the towel shortly after Hour 20 (midnight my time). I didn’t quite make my goal of 8 hours of reading, but I did a lot of online participation which I had wanted to do more of this year. How was your Read-a-thon?

Hour 16

We’re at the top of hour 16 and I thought it’s about time I give an update here! I haven’t done quite as much reading as I expected – I’m being pretty chill about the whole thing this year. Here’s some stats so far:

• 4 hours, 47 minutes spent reading at the library and at home on the couch
• 490  pages read
• 2 books completed: Thursdays with the Crown (210 pages) and Hoodoo (208 pages)
• 1 book partially read: Why Indigenous Literatures Matter (71 pages)
• 2 hours napping (oops…why do I always take such long naps on Read-a-thon days?!)

Next up: I’m going to grab some dinner and start Orphan Island by Laurel Snyder.

Hour 3

It’s just past 7:30AM here. I am awake and ready to go! Here’s my opening meme from Hour 1.

• What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
  • Vancouver, British Columbia
• Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
  • Thursdays with the Crown by Jessica Day George
• Which snack are you most looking forward to?
  • Fresh sundried tomato and herb bagel with cream cheese
• Tell us a little something about yourself!
  • I am halfway through an MLIS degree.
• If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? 
  • I last participated in April 2017. One thing I’ll do differently today is hopefully not nap as much! I also anticipate more social interaction.

Preparation

Good morning! Today is Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-a-thon. This is my eighth time participating. I will update this post a few times throughout the day, but I will be most active on Twitter. I have a story time to observe at the library this morning; otherwise, my day is free. After a week of brilliant warm and sunny weather, today is cloudy and rainy – perfect for a day of reading! I feel like I’ve been on holiday the past week. I move for a summer job next weekend, so today is kind of a last hurrah of reading before I become busy with work and mountains and such. In prepping my TBR for today, I kept in mind what I did last time (short middle grade and non-fiction). While I didn’t focus on short works this time, I do have a few non-fiction books on hand to mix it up if I get tired of middle grade.  Each of these books I found while browsing at two library branches; they’re all on my TBR.

• Thursdays with the Crown by Jessica Day-George (210 pages, middle grade fantasy) – I read the previous two volumes in this series during Read-a-thons, so I made sure to have one on hand for this year!
• The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Expuery (83 pages, middle grade speculative fiction) – Spotted this on the shelf at the library. I’ve never read it and it seems a good length for a Read-a-thon.
• Hoodoo by Ronald L. Smith (208 pages, middle grade speculative fiction) – A middle grade horror book that’s been on the TBR for a couple years!
• Orphan Island by Laurel Snyder (269 pages, middle grade speculative fiction) – A newer release that I’ve seen around the blogosphere. I’m not dying to read this one, but since I spotted it on the shelf, I picked it up in case I want some variety.
• The Inquisitor’s Tale by Adam Gidwitz (337, middle grade fantasy) – winner of the 2016 Cybils award for middle grade fiction

I may also read some of the novels I’ve had lying around for a few weeks  (Library of Fates, The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle, Furyborn), though they haven’t been striking my mood lately.  My goal for today is 8 hours of reading.  I will be using Bookly to track my reading, an app I found out about shortly after  I participated in my last Read-a-thon.

On the food front, I picked up hummus and chips as a special treat. I still have a good supply of Easter chocolate in the form of creme eggs and mini eggs. I also have my meals planned for the day.

The Read-a-thon starts at 5:00AM my time, but waking up early is something my body enthusiastically rejects, so I will be joining everyone a few hours late. Are you participating in the Read-a-thon? What books are you thinking of reading? Let’s have a great day!