It’s here! Readathon time! This is my first full-on participation in Dewey’s 24-hour Readathon in YEARS and I’m very excited to be here. I checked myself into a hotel for the weekend (woohoo!) and I’m soaking up glorious alone time filled with books, audiobooks, and my fellow bloggers! As usual, to avoid cluttering up your feed-readers, I’ll be adding all my RaT updates on this post. Note that most feed-readers don’t change with post-changes, so check back later in the day if you want updates! And now, my lovely booknerd friends, let the reading begin!

Updates

7:00 am – I’m up. I’m showered. I’m drinking coffee, because it’s early. And I’m starting my RaT with This is Where it Ends (already in progress, not pictured). Full pile of potential reads, excluding the phone loaded up with audiobooks, below:

9:00 am – Just finished my first book (This is Where it Ends). Starting RaT strong! Now it’s off to breakfast with an audiobook and The Trouble with Destiny. Maybe some short stories as well!

11:00 am – Finished a second book! Nine Magic Pea-Hens, a fascinating collection of folk tales. Perfect for reading while at my delicious breakfast (above), and to go along with a long walk and some audiobooking. Still going strong!

12:30 pm – Checking in a little earlier so I can get out of my hotel room before housekeeping arrives, ha! Having a lot of fun with The Trouble With Destiny at the moment. Fun books so far this RaT.

3:00 pm – Third book down! I have no idea why, but I love Lauren Morrill’s books so much. This was a perfect mid-day read! Switching my coffee to decaf now (heh) and going to get in some audio and exercise over the next couple hours. Hope y’all are all having fun!

5:00 pm – Finished off another collection of folk tales. These have really made lovely collections for RaT. I’ve also been devouring crackers and jerky, plus the little snacks this hotel leaves in the lobby, mmm (above picture features a blueberry oat bar). Found a negative to the hotel situation, though: listening to the next door neighbors discuss detailed bathroom rules. Dear hotel users: please note that hotel walls are very thin.

8:00 pm – Well, I had my first bust of RaT. Started a book that didn’t turn out to be a good selection for quick reading, and decided to set it aside after 40 pages. I’m a big chunk into The Selection now, and that may or may not end up being my last book of this ‘thon as I’m not sure how long my eyes will last tonight.

10:45 pm – Finished The Selection and now it’s definitely bedtime. I imagine I’m done for this particular RaT. It was a very satisfying experience. Beyond the obnoxious hotel neighbors that are all shouting away in the room next door…sigh. Maybe next time, I sent J and the boys all out of town and I get my house to myself all weekend, ha!

Running Stats

• Books: 5 (This is Where it Ends; Nine Magic Pea-Hens and other Serbian Folk Tales; The Trouble With Destiny, Alexander and the Golden Bird and other Danish Folk Tales, The Selection)
• Pages: 1123
• Audio: 60 mins
• Exercise: 45 mins
• Cups of Coffee: 6 (2 decaf)
• Mini-Challenges: 6 (pre-event survey, childhood bookish moments, share a quote, character road trip, mid-event survey, end survey)
• Prizes Won: 0

Mini-Challenges

Pre-Event Survey
1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
I’m currently drinking coffee and relaxing against the headboard of a king-sized bed in a lovely all-to-myself hotel room in San Antonio, TX!

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
Probably The Trouble with Destiny, though The Selection is a close second.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
S’mores. I’ll try not to make too many of them…

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!
I’m Amanda, a stay-at-home-mom and aspiring author with complicated and thorny health issues. I’m an agender, synesthetic, extroverted fitness-enthusiast who is highly passionate about many things. I just finished my most recent manuscript a week ago, so this RaT comes at the exact perfect moment!

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?
Last fall, I participated off and on all day despite also co-hosting an autumn party with my cousin, cooking for said party, hanging out with friends, dealing with my son’s band event, and drinking way too much wine. This year will be the total opposite: no family, no events, no chores, no cooking, no wine (or maybe just a glass, ha!). I am giving it my all this time!

Childhood Bookish Moments:
Love this! Growing up reading Goodnight Moon (1) over and over, then later Pokey Little Puppy and Tawny Scrawny Lion (2), moving into Judge Benjamin: the Superdog Rescue (ha!) (3), until by mid-childhood I was in love with The Egypt Game (4). Then sadly, not much in my teen years beyond Sweet Valley High and the Babysitter’s Club… (5)

Share a Quote
“You’re too late to save me now.” – This is Where it Ends

Character Road Trip
Roadtrip with Howl (Howell Jenkins) to so many magical places. We’ll stick to the UK since he’s from Wales, and we’ll go to Platform 9 3/4, the Scottish highlands, and Bath.

Mid-Event Survey
1. What are you reading right now?
The Selection

2. How many books have you read so far?
Four

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?
The Selection will likely be my only book in the second half.

4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?
I was very distracted at the restaurant through dinner…just got back to my hotel room asap!

5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?
That I’ve actually enjoyed going through this many books, including two story collections, which is unusual for me!

End of Event Survey
1. Which hour was most daunting for you?
Right around 9:30 pm and forward. That’s about when I turned into a pumpkin normally, so my eyes were all puffy and I kept getting distracted.

2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
Wink Poppy Midnight, This is Where it Ends, Humans of New York collections, story collections

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next season?
I kinda missed the cheering by comments. I never got notification of cheers via twitter and only found them after the fact.

4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
Pretty much everything! The hosts did an amazing job.

5. How many books did you read?
Five and a partial

6. What were the names of the books you read?
This is Where it Ends, Nine Magic Pea-Hens (and other Serbian folk tales), The Trouble With Destiny, Alexander and the Golden Bird (and other Danish folk tales), The Selection, and (partial) Everything I Never Told You

7. Which book did you enjoy most?
The Trouble With Destiny

8. Which did you enjoy least?
I gave up Everything I Never Told You about 40 pages in because I realized it was far too literary and slow for the Readathon. I didn’t dislike it, but for RaT purposes, it didn’t work for me.

9. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
October is always a bit difficult since the ‘thon often falls on my son’s birthday weekend. So we’ll see. If so, it’ll likely be as reader again!

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Last but not least: A huge thank you to the lovely hosts of this event. Y’all rock!