Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon October 2020
So excited it is time for Dewey’s Readathon again! There are over 640 people signed up so far! I am excited to read, eat and have an enjoyable Saturday/Sunday. I specifically blocked off this weekend months ago just so I wouldn’t plan anything else. HA HA HA just kidding we are in the middle of a pandemic and I am going only to work and home. Work and home. Work and home. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh.
What exactly is a 24 hour readathon you ask? Well basically I (because I am in the Eastern time zone) start reading at 8 am Saturday morning and finish at 8 am Sunday morning. You don’t actually have to read all 24 hours. You just read as much as you can. This is (I think) my ninth time participating in Dewey’s Readathon. To view all my other posts just click on the Dewey’s tag at the bottom of my post.
My goal during the readathon is to read as many hours as possible. I have a hard time staying up past 10 these days so it should be interesting. I have a ton of digital ARCs to read. I will probably have one print book, one Kindle book, and one audiobook going. This is such a stressful time right before the election. I have been spending my weekends text banking for Joe Biden so it was a real decision to make whether to give this time to Readathon. But I decided I needed it for self care.
So it’s the night before Readathon and I finally have my TBR picked out. Usually my TBR is ridiculously big and I pick and choose stuff in the moment. But it’s always too much. So this year I just picked a few different books and hope to finish at least one. The physical books are Dairy Queen, Anxious People, and Plain Bad Heroines. I am excited for all three books as they have been highly anticipated reads. I will be listening to The Ten Thousand Doors of January audiobook and my Kindle book is The Searcher. Hopefully all those will keep me occupied.
I also got all my yummy snacks. I bought way too much per the usual but it’s nice to have options the day of! I am going to listen to some podcasts and then go to bed early. Talk to you all tomorrow!!
7:50 a.m.
Almost time! I can’t wait! I am going to start off reading with Anxious People.
Opening Survey!
1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? The Dirty South!
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? Dairy Queen. It’s an older book but I have heard so many good things about it so I have been anticipating reading it for months.
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? Really all of them but the garlic stuffed olives are really good!
4) Tell us a little something about yourself! I am a librarian, photographer and I live with my husband, cats and dogs in a very red part of the South which has been super difficult this year.
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 am planning on attempting to stay up all 24 hours this year. Usually I try to go for at least 21 but this year I will try for the whole thing.
I am also going to do the bingo board this year which I have never done before. Let’s go!
11:30 a.m.
It’s been a good morning so far! I am little tired because I had a restless nights sleep and had weird nightmares.
So I am reading Anxious People by Fredrick Backman first. I am loving it so far. It’s funny, moving and I am enjoying all the different points of view and connecting threads.
I made my traditional cinnamon rolls this morning. They were quite delicious even though I cooked them a little too long.
I am also listening to the audiobook of Thousand Doors of January. This is an absolutely gorgeous book. The cover is stunning. When I am making breakfast and doing laundry I switch from my physical book to the audiobook so I can keep reading.
I am currently reading in my cozy chair in our media room. It had the best lighting this morning. And I was so happy when my cat, Gherig came in and sat in my lap. He so very rarely sits in my lap anymore so it was a really special treat. It’s a little cool here today so I am just snuggled in my blanket reading. Very cozy!
All right it’s time for lunch! I will check in later.
Total reading time: 3 hours 30 minutes
Pages read: 159
Audiobook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Books finished: 0
4:00 p.m.
My husband surprised me with sushi and cake for lunch! It was so delicious! I am reading The Searcher by Tana French. I love, love her books. I am enjoying this one so far.
I finally finished my first book. Anxious People was so good! It was so beautifully written and a nice mesmerizing story.
Are you able to read and listen to music at the same time? I have started doing that over the past seven months. I didn’t used to be able to do so. Today’s music is Eliot Bronson’s record, Empty Spaces.
I am already deviating from my planned TBR. I have decided to read On the Come Up by Angie Thomas. I have had this book on my TBR pile for ages and I am already completely sucked in less than 100 pages in. I also am enjoying these amazing chocolate blueberries. They are so good!
My little Trixie cat decided to join me for this portion of the readathon. She was being super cute so it was hard to concentrate on reading.
Rawlings also wanted to get in some mommy time today. He doesn’t like readathons much because he really likes attention.
Total reading time: 8 hours 0 minutes
Total pages read: 461
Total audiobook Time: 2 hours 54 minutes
Books finished: 1
8:00 p.m.
Mid-Event Survey: 1. What are you reading right now? Listening to The Ten Thousand Doors of January, reading The Searcher and On the Come Up. 2. How many books have you read so far? 1. Anxious People. 3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? Dairy Queen 4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? No, my husband knows not to bother me today. He is watching movies while I read. 5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? Not really anything.
10:00 p.m.
Well I am past the halfway point and still going strong. This is my normal bedtime so it may get rough soon but I have had three Cokes today :-)
Still reading the same three books. On the Come Up is so enraging, I am fired up. It’s so good but also making me mad and frustrated. I am eating some Andes candies which are the perfect refreshing candy.
I am almost at Bingo! I am realizing if you want to do the Bingo board you really have to plan out ahead of time. I guess I will have to find a non fiction book to read.
Total reading time: 14 hours 0 minutes
Total pages read: 858
Total audiobook Time: 5 hours 32 minutes
Books finished: 1
12:30 p.m.
I finished my second book, On the Come Up. Wow this is a must read book. Angie Thomas is such an amazing author and she always tugs at the heartstrings. Well, I am afraid that I am not going to be able to make it all 24 hours. I am so tired so I think I am going to have to go to bed/take a nap. Next Readathon I will take Monday off and then be able to stay up all 24 hours. Good night all!
Total reading time: 16 hours 30 minutes
Total pages read: 1,014
Total audiobook Time: 6 hours 31 minutes
Books finished: 2
6:20 a.m.
I had a wonderful nap/sleep from 12:30-4:00 a.m. I just couldn’t stay up all night and still enjoy my Sunday. All part of self care!
I did take a long and relaxing lavender bath when I got up. I always enjoy my Readathon bath. It’s nice to soak after reading for hours. It helps keep away the stiffness. This readathon I tried to made sure I moved around a lot. I started Dairy Queen, which I have been looking forward to. I am having a little bit of trouble getting into it but with less than two hours left in Readathon looks like I won’t finish another book so I may start Plain Bad Heroines.
Off to read some more. I will check in after Readathon ends. Happy reading!
Total reading time: 18 hours 57 minutes
Total pages read: 1,140
Total audiobook Time: 7 hours 20 minutes
Books finished: 2
Wrap-Up
Well I didn’t quite make it to 24 hours but I am happy with my time and amount of reading and now my Sunday won’t be spent sleeping.
I didn’t finish another book but I did start reading Plan Bad Heroines. It is so good and I can’t wait to read more of it.
I didn’t complete my Bingo Card but almost.
All in all it was a great Pandemic Dewey’s 24-Hour Readathon. Probably the best part about it was being surrounded by bookish people on social media. I loved seeing other stuff getting pushed off for just one day. Now back to it!
Total reading time: 20 hours 37 minutes
Total pages read: 1,241
Total audiobook Time: 7 hours 39 minutes
Books finished: 2