This page contains enriched content visible when JavaScript is enabled or by clicking here. FolioFiles » readathon
 

readathon

...now browsing by category

 

Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon, Fall 2019

Saturday, October 26th, 2019

Well that’s one way to spend a chunk of readathon: tracking down and fixing a malicious redirect, wheeeee! Now, on to the intro post I started in Hour 1 :)

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? South Portland, Maine
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? I just picked up Markus Zusak’s latest, bridge of clay, and I’m certain it’s going to be exquisite.
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? I had a dozen oysters from my CSA delivered, so those will be a treat later today sometime.
4) Tell us a little something about yourself! I’m a Frances Perkins scholar, which is the program for non-traditional students at Mount Holyoke College, and I’m going to school full-time for the first time in my adult life. It’s pretty wild!
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to? I’m going to use the energy of readathon to hopefully propel me through a significant chunk of the 235 page book I need to have read by next week’s medical anthropology classes rather than solely indulging in pleasure reading, which is what I typically do.

Hope everyone’s reading is off to a great start!

Readathon October 2016, mid-point meme

Saturday, October 22nd, 2016

dewey day and night

As I anticipated, Readathon happening during midterms (besides the whole having two jobs thing) has meant less reading than I would like, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

1. What are you reading right now? The Invoice by Jonas Karlsson and listening to The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
2. How many books have you read so far? Completed one, Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? It’s probably between Nimona and The Illuminae.
4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? I’ve put in about 3.5 hours of work, half an hour of homework, and two hour-long naps. Due to aforementioned midterms, I got 2-4 hours of sleep each of Thursday and Friday nights, so I’m really asking a lot of my brain to stay engaged. But, my brain is obviously as excited as I am to read for fun, so we’re getting by.
5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? Despite the addition of Litsy to my RAT social media rotation, I’ve spent much less time checking out what others have shared than I have reading, probably for the first time. I think this too is related to the fact that I have been looking forward to this with so much anticipation since I can’t justify pleasure reading when there are things I really need to be doing instead.

That said, time to get back to work while attempting to continue my listen!

Wrap it up

Sunday, April 24th, 2016

dewey day and night

  1. Which hour was most daunting for you? The first one! I had an impromptu night out with a friend I’d not seen in far too long, and it turned into quite the revel. Oops.
  2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? I love a quick and fun middle reader/YA title to start things off, and also to give me a little boost toward the middle-end. A few I’ve been able to blaze through during RAT are From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler; The Little Prince; A Wrinkle in Time series; and anything by Jerry Spinelli.
  3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next season? I think the organizers do a great job, especially considering how much RAT grows each time around. It would be great if the internet would come up with some way of aggregating #readatahon posts across platforms, but that’s not on the readathon team :)
  4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? The facebook group was a huge hit! I also was glad of an opportunity to connect with more folks on Litsy.
  5. How many books did you read? I finished one I’d already been reading, listened to two (complete but short) audiobooks, finished two comic collections, and got 150 pages into another book.
  6. What were the names of the books you read? The Dream Thieves, The Horse and His Boy, The Magician’s Nephew, Saga Vol 1, Saga Vol 2, and Magnus Chase and the Sword of Summer.
  7. Which book did you enjoy most? I ran out at 10:30pm to purchase Saga vols 2-5 when I’d gotten 3/4 of the way through vol 1, so I’d say that wins.
  8. Which did you enjoy least? None of them, actually – it was a good bunch :)
  9. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? Oh I’ll participate for as long as it happens. I’ll be in school this fall so I’ll probably stick with just being a reader, but I do try to do a bit of unofficially cheering throughout the event.

Thank you to our organizers, co-hosts, mini-challenge hosts, and cheerleaders, and I hope our new folks had a wonderful experience and will join us again in October. Happy reading, all!

Mid-readathon check-in

Saturday, April 23rd, 2016

dewey day and night

1. What are you reading right now? Listening to The Magician’s Nephew and reading Saga Vol 1
2. How many books have you read so far? 1 full book finished, one partial book completed
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? Nimona still!
4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? Not really, since I listen to audiobooks when I can’t read
5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? Nothing really, pretty standard (awesome) readathon day here!

Haven’t been following social media too terribly much, not sure why? but am enjoying the reading and general quiet of the day.

Opening meme: April 2016 Readathon

Saturday, April 23rd, 2016

introductionmeme

I’m late to the party because I’ve been listening to an audiobook all morning and only just came to the computer for the first time today, but here we go catching up on mini-challenges and such.

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? Portland, Maine
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? I can never answer this! Maybe Nimona?
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? I made fresh pico last night and that smelled divine when I opened the fridge just now, so that’s top of the list
4) Tell us a little something about yourself! I just found out this week that I’ve been selected to receive a scholarship from a local LGBT business association: I’m going back to school in the Fall!
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to? Today I will… not blog until hour 6? That wasn’t on purpose, though…

Almost through my first book, The Horse and His Boy on audio. After that, I think I’ll probably finish The Dream Thieves. Happy reading, all!

That’s a readathon wrap.

Sunday, April 26th, 2015

dreamstime_readathong

End of Event Meme:

Which hour was most daunting for you?
It isn’t so much a particular hour on the clock, but a number of hours awake: it seems that 20 is my witching number.
Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
Texts from Jane Eyre. Where’d You Go, Bernadette. Any Jerry Spinelli. I wish I’d had something like one of these on the list this year, but I enjoyed what I did read.
Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
Nope, the organizers just keep making it better and better. Y’all rock.
What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
Similarly, it all seemed to work, nothing stood out one way or another.
How many books did you read?
1.8, with the rest of 2 finished in the hour after waking up :)
What were the names of the books you read?
Marvel’s graphic novel adaptation of Northanger Abbey, and Dorothy Must Die.
Which book did you enjoy most?
I really enjoyed Dorothy Must Die, more and more the further into it I got. The sequels and supplemental books are already on the wishlist for immediate retrieval from the local bookseller.
Which did you enjoy least?
I didn’t care for the illustrator’s style in Northanger Abbey, but the satire of the adapted text made up for it.
If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
N/A
How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
I will absolutely take part, and while I’ll still just be a reader, I plan to (a) have an in-person reading date with local friends who are also readathon-ers, and (b) arrange for a wee-hours reading buddy, or maybe a group of us, so we can keep each other going in the final stretch. It gets harder to keep the energy going when it’s just the poor hosts and whoever drew the cheerleading short straw trying to keep everyone pumped after 4am.

All in all, another satisfying readathon weekend. And I think I have the fodder for a blog post that will help jump-start my writing again, which was a goal I didn’t realize I had until the opening meme. So, here’s to the magic of books and reading!

Mid-readathon check-in

Saturday, April 25th, 2015

dewey day and nightMid-Event Survey:
1. What are you reading right now?
I’m on p120 of Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige
2. How many books have you read so far?
I’ve finished one
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?
Still going with The Ables, though I may save that one for a more leisurely read – in which case, I’m most curious about Sentinel, the first in a series the second book of which is currently up on NetGalley.
4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?
Nope, nothing unplanned. I mean, you kinda have to expect felis interruptus when reading, right?
5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?
Nothing’s got me yet this time around. Usually it’s how hungry I get just sitting around, or how little reading I’ve gotten done by this point, but I’ve not really eaten many of my special readathon foods yet and I’m used to the low page count by now. Maybe something will come to me in the wee hours :)

Back to Oz!

Let the Readathon begin! Opening Meme:

Saturday, April 25th, 2015

girlreadingHere we go!

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
I’m in Portland, Maine, USA.
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
This is a tough one (always!) but probably The Ables by Jeremy Scott. My brother introduced me to CinemaSins, Jeremy’s film-related YouTube channel, several years ago, and we’re both excited for this debut novel, a superhero story with a twist.
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
I’ve recently become enamored of using my waffle iron for everything, and was even talked into starting a tumblr for Things I Have Waffled. So, probably something starting with croissant dough – maybe a turkey and cheese pocket with spicy ranch dipping sauce. Mmmmm, getting hungry…
4) Tell us a little something about yourself!
I’m a queer femme living with my 17-year old brother, who has been in my custody since he was 13: he will probably interrupt my reading with a few hilarious videos during the course of Readathon, which I welcome. I have a wonderful Person in my life who will probably join me at some point today, and if I know her, she’ll show up with something delicious to eat (my money is on a bacon cheddar donut from The Holy Donut). Also present are my spoiled felines, Xander, a tuxedo boy, and Iliena, a silvery Russian Blue-y baby. They love Readathon because mom stays awake and home for most of a solid 24 hours.
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?
Only thing I’m doing differently is setting a donation amount instead of fundraising because math. I’m most looking forward to hopefully using this as a jumping off place for returning to blogging on a semi-regular basis, with a feed reader full of awesome bookish types.

Okay, time to get started on my first pick, Marvel’s Northanger Abbey, and some coffee and cantaloupe to kick off the Readathon caffeine-and-feeding frenzy. Happy reading, all!

Ready for Readathon!

Friday, April 24th, 2015

dewey day and nightThe time has come once again for readers around the globe to dedicate 24 hours to whittling down their ever-growing piles of books. After the first time I participated in October of 2009, Dewey’s 24 hour readathon quickly became one of my favorite events, and unlike holidays, we get to do it TWICE a year! Pretty awesome.

The last two readathons, I have used comments and pages read and time not reading to tally up a donation to The Jimmy Fund in memory of my grandmother, an avid Red Sox fan. I’m doing two things differently this time around.

One, the amounts of the last two were so close, and the amount of time I spent encouraging engagement and tallying numbers so great, that instead of doing all of that I’m going to donate a flat amount of $125, the rounded-up total from each of the last two.

And two, this April’s donation will be given in memory of a patient from one of the practices where I have worked, who passed earlier this year. For privacy reasons I can’t disclose more than that, but the organization was one for which she volunteered for many years.

I have an overly-ambitious stack of physical books and an even more ridiculous number of ebook pages lined up for tomorrow’s festivities. Before I sleep I’ll pick out three top contenders for first read, which I like to be something I can breeze through to get that sense of accomplishment early on. Other than that, I just need to set the coffeemaker and get a few food items cut/portioned so they’re easy to grab ‘n’ go. Looking forward to connecting with the usual suspects, and meeting some new bookish friends. Happy readathon, everyone!

Readathon Wrap

Sunday, October 19th, 2014

Another readathon has come and gone, and I’m excited to tally up the totals. I know it’s going to be lower than April, mostly because I posted less frequently and so had fewer opportunities out there for folks to comment or respond. But, let’s see how we did:

Pages read:

The Blood of Olympus: 502

Maddy Kettle Book 1: The Adventures of the Thimblewitch: 90

Coraline: 162

The Paying Guests: 173 (partial)

Total pages: 927 x $0.05 = $46.35

Hours Listened: rounding up to 1; didn’t get to much of The Vacationers: $5.00

Hours not reading: 4 x$5 = $20

Comments received:

Twitter: 14

Facebook: 25

Instagram: 5

Blog: 2

Total comments: $46

GRAND TOTAL: $117.35

So, not too far shy of April’s total, which was about $123. Thanks to everyone who commented and cheered me on; it was a great readathon, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Off to — you guessed it — finish two of the books I didn’t complete yesterday/this morning. Thanks again, and the kids from The Jimmy Fund thank you, and my Mamau thanks you, for helping me do this.

Watching the Sox with my Mamau

Watching the Sox with my Mamau