Tag: Reverse Readathon

My Dewey’s August 2019 24 Hour Reverse Readathon

Starting tonight at 8 p.m., Friday, Aug. 2, until tomorrow, Aug. 3 at 8 p.m., I am participating in Dewey’s 24 Hour Reverse Readathon. It’s called “reverse” because instead of starting at 8 a.m. on Saturday, as Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon usually does, it’s starting on Friday at 8 p.m. to include more international participants. I participated last year, reading one short book and four graphic novels in five hours. My goal this year is going to be double that: with 10 hours because unlike last year when I started with an interruption, a classical music concert at a local festival, this year I’m not starting with any interruption. I’ll be starting fresh.

The Stack

Also unlike the last readathon in which I participated, the July 24in48 Readathon, I’m starting with a list of shorter books, although with some of the same books:

  • The Dark Vineyard, the second Bruno mystery, by Martin Walker: I read the first one during last month’s readathon. I already started this second one earlier in the week and was thinking I’d finish this before starting the readathon, and would be reading the third one for the readathon. That didn’t happen, so now I hope to finish this second one tonight.
  • Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck: This one was on the list from the readathon last month.
  • Meditations by Marcus Aurelius: This one also was on the list from last month’s readathon.
  • On The Come Up by Angie Thomas: I loved The Hate U Give by Thomas, so I had to get this one when I saw it at our library.
  • Binti by Nnedi Okorafor: I bought this novella at the end of June on a whim. I haven’t had good luck with science fiction in recent years, but I will keep trying.
  • Unsettling America: An Anthology of Contemporary Multicultural Poetry, edited by Maria Mazziotti Gillan and Jennifer Gillan: I included poetry in July’s readathon with a collection of haiku that I finished so I thought why not include it again? This time, though, I don’t think I’ll finish the collection, but probably just will dip into it from time to time.

As with every readathon, I know I won’t finish all of them, and will consider myself lucky if I finish half of these, but hey, I’m still reading. I’ll take it.

Friday afternoon

A clarification and an explanation before I start: 1.) Travels with Charley is a reread. It is a favorite. 2.) Why is it called Reverse Readathon? “Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon normally starts at noon GMT, which is first thing in the morning for North and South Americans but an awkward time of night for readers on the other side of the international date line. The Reverse Readathon’s start time is more convenient for them.”

Friday Night

After finishing The Dark Vineyard, I distracted myself from reading for a while by visiting other participants’ posts on Instagram and on Goodreads. Then I picked up the Unsettling America collection of poetry…but then put it back down as I went on a whim, a book I snagged from the donations at our library: Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay. I’m glad I did. I’m already halfway through, but stopped because I want to finish tomorrow when I’ve had a little rest. I might read, though, a little of the poetry before I go to bed. I’ll let you know with tomorrow morning’s update.

Saturday Morning

I woke later than I wanted, but I’ve still managed to finish my second book before noon (11 a.m here as I write this) and it was an excellent one. I won’t say more about it: 1.) lest my thoughts be misconstrued, and 2.) I’m still trying to collect my thoughts about it, but know that is a “must-read,” and I’m glad I read.

Now I’m off to visit a few blogs, a few Instagram posts, the Goodreads group…but first to call my mother on her 75th birthday today…and then back to the reading…

Saturday Afternoon

Then I took a nap..and at 6:50 p.m., I called it. I didn’t finish either of the above two books, but I am halfway through my reread of Travels with Charley, and I’ll finish it tomorrow. I was going to try to push through to finish by 8 p.m., the end of the readathon, but then I decided I didn’t want to rush it. I want to savor it and so I shall.

Conclusions

  • I didn’t make my goal of reading for 10 hours. I probably read for about half of that, and even though I didn’t finish half of my potentials, I read one very good one, Hunger, not on my pile. I also started a reread of Travels with Charley and am beginning to remember why I loved it the first time (and maybe more times than that) I read it.
  • I don’t do well with humidity, which makes it hard for me to concentrate to read. Even though we have a window air conditioner for our small house, it’s still humid – even as I have the windows open after a rain. The cool air isn’t really reaching in here. Ugh.
  • I need to plan out my readathons better. This one and the July 24in48 Readathon, I just did on a whim, which in one way is okay, but in another way, it would have been nice if I had planned better.

So did you participate in this weekend’s readathon? If so, what did you read? How did it go for you? If not, what are you reading that’s good? Watching anything good? Listening to anything good? Let me know in the comments.

My Dewey’s Reverse Summer Readathon 2018

julyreadaton1.jpg Last Saturday and Sunday, I participated in the 24 in 48 readathon. Tonight, starting at 8 p.m., to tomorrow night at 8 p.m., I’ll be participating in the reverse Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon and will be posting updates here and on Instagram throughout the night and day. My initial intention was to read diversely for both readathons, but this past Monday, I looked at books I have checked out or on hold and decided that I’m going to read crime fiction instead. I do have the genders represented almost equally: male, six books; female, eight books.

The List

My new potential list (in alphabetical order) is:

  1. Bluebird, Bluebird: A Novel by Attica Locke
  2. Crocodile on the Sandbank: An Amelia Peabody Mystery by Elizabeth Peters
  3. The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny
  4. Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon
  5. Lady Cop Makes Trouble by Amy Stewart
  6. Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew Sullivan
  7. Miss Kopp’s Midnight Confessions by Amy Stewart
  8. Queenpin: A Novel by Megan Abbott
  9. Richard Stark’s Parker: The Hunter by Darwyn Cooke (author/illustrator), Richard Stark (source)
  10. Richard Stark’s Parker: The Outfit by Darwyn Cooke (author/illustrator), Richard Stark (source)
  11. Richard Stark’s Parker: The Score by Darwyn Cooke (author/illustrator), Richard Stark (source)
  12. Richard Stark’s Parker: Slayground by Darwyn Cooke (author/illustrator), Richard Stark (source)
  13. She Rides Shotgun by Jordan Harper
  14. Wonder Valley by Ivy Pochoda

I won’t read all of these, of course. I just would be happy to read half, and considering four are graphic novels, I think I should be able to attain that number. Likewise, I don’t plan to read for the full 24 hours; again, I just will be happy if I can read half the time. To that end, I have broken down the 24 hours into a schedule. Initially, I was planning to start at 8 p.m., but then I was given a free ticket to a classical music concert that is part of a local music festival tonight and I couldn’t pass that up. So now I plan to start at 11 p.m.

My planned schedule is as follows:

8 p.m. to 11 p.m. – Concert
11 p.m. to 2 a.m. – Read
2 a.m. to 8 a.m. – Sleep
8 a.m. to 9 a.m. – Breakfast/Online for readathon
9 a.m. to noon – Read
Noon to 1 p.m. – Lunch/Online for readathon
1 p.m. to 5 p.m. – Read
5 p.m. to 6 p.m. – Dinner/Online for readathon
6 p.m. to 8 p.m. – Read

That will allow for 12 hours of reading, which seems doable, considering for last weekend’s 24 in 48 Readathon, I read 12 and a half hours.

Opening Survey

  1.  What fine part of the world are you reading from today? Pennsylvania. Northcentral Pennsylvania.
  2. Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? Queenpin. I love myself some good noir.
  3. Which snack are you most looking forward to? Utz’s Crab Cheese Balls. Photo later.
  4. Tell us a little something about yourself! I listen to what my wife likes to call “machine music.” Samples later.
  5.  This is our VERY first Reverse Readathon! How does it feel in your time zone? Humid, but that’s only because I just got back from a concert, but the windows are open and it should be cooling down here soon as I start up my readathon at 11 p.m. on the East Coast of the U.S.

3 a.m. Check In

It’s 3 a.m. and just under two hours of reading in. As noted earlier, I wanted to have three hours of reading in, but it’s doubtful I’ll be able to stay up another hour, plus I’m cutting into sleep (and reading) time. Oh, well, it’s not like it’s a contest. I just want to have fun reading, so probably will check in after a bit of shuteye.

(A Bit Past) Mid-Event Survey

  1. What are you reading right now? I have only been about half an hour here. It’s almost 9 a.m. and I haven’t had my coffee yet, but I plan on continuing with the Parker graphic novels with the last one in that series Slayground. I enjoyed the first two, and the third was okay (I took a star off for the excessive use of the color yellow, no, really), so now I’m heading on to the fourth one.
  2. How many books have you read so far? Three.
  3.  What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? Still Queenpin.
  4.  Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? The main interruption was sleep. I dealt with it by sleeping through it.
  5.  What surprises you most about the Reverse Readathon so far? Nothing. I knew I wouldn’t keep to my schedule and I haven’t. So no shock there. However, that’s okay as I still have a whole day before 8 p.m. and plenty of time to read (not catch up, but still read and have fun doing it! Yay? Yes, yay!

giphy

 Noonish

It’s actually 12:30 as I start to type this and I’ve now finished four books: the Parker graphic novels and am midway through my fifth book, Queenpin by Megan Abbott. I’m enjoying it thus far. I was going to take a nap but couldn’t sleep so I’m going to grab some lunch and then go visit a friend who has a 1965 Mustang at a car show in our town. I’m not sure how long I’ll be, but I’ll post photos from there too.

By now I had planned on getting six hours of reading in, but actually I’m at about 3 hours and 19 minutes, minus about four seconds. The last readathon I did back in April, I finished just under 7 hours at 6 hours and 48 minutes. I’m thinking maybe now I can equal that, but I’m not really worried about it. I’m still having fun and have visited some bloggs and Instagram accounts, so it’s all good. To me, it’s not about the numbers, but just that I’m reading, period. Factoring in last weekend’s 24 in 48 readathon, I’ll still have read more books this month than I’ve probably read in one month all year.

4:30 p.m.

I’m done, but I’m going to cheer on a few more folks that are still “in the game.” I’ll have my own post-game analysis later tonight or tomorrow morning…not at all what I planned, but sometimes the best laid plans…

Closing Survey!

  1. Which hour was most daunting for you? 3 a.m. because I should have stuck to my initial schedule and gone to bed at 2 a.m. instead of pushing on and trying to play catchup when a little bit behind.
  2. Tell us ALLLLL the books you read! Queenpin: A Novel by Megan Abbott and Richard Stark’s Parker: The Hunter; Richard Stark’s Parker: The Outfit; Richard Stark’s Parker: The Score; Richard Stark’s Parker: Slayground by Daqrwyn Cooke (author/illustrator), Richard Stark (source).
  3. Which books would you recommend to other Read-a-thoners? Queenpin.
  4. How did you feel about this first-ever Reverse Readathon? Should we do it again? I’ll be honest I prefer the regular readathon because at least I can get sleep the night before to start it. However, I know that’s because the “regular” readathons are geared toward those of us on the East Coast of the U.S. Personally, I think with two readathons a year usually (one in April and one in October), one should be geared toward international readers; the other towards those in the U.S., but still invite everyone to participate, maybe have one group cheer on the other?
  5. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? Would you be interested in volunteering to help organize and prep in October? I will be participating again, probably in October if I’m not working that weekend. I would be interested in volunteering to help organize and prep. Just let me know, ladies.

I do have other thoughts on readathons in general, but I’ll save that for another post sometime.  For now, I’ll just finish this post…

So for those of you who did participate in the readathon? How did you do? What was your favorite book? For those who didn’t, read anything good this past week? Share in the comments.