The Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-a-thon begins now. To see my reading plans, check out My Plans for the 24 Hour Read-a-thon post.
Kickoff Meme
What fine part of the world are you reading from today? I’m hailing from North Queensland, Australia (it’s 10pm on Saturday so this begins with nice cool dark weather).
Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? I’m excited to read Shovel Ready by Adam Sternbergh and The Fever by Megan Abbott.
Which snack are you most looking forward to? I have a packet of potato chips, stuffed olives and some cereal. Also I have some tea, it’s going to be a good twenty four hours.
Tell us a little something about yourself! I’m only a recent book nerd, I only started reading in 2009 and book blogging in 2012.
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? This is my first read-a-thon, I’m not sure if I over prepared but I can’t wait to see if I last the full twenty-four hours.
Hour Three Update
I’ve finished my first book Shovel Ready by Adam Sternbergh and have moved onto The Fever by Megan Abbott.
Stats:
- Completed 288 pages
- Currently reading 96 pages per hour
Note to self: Next time pick physical books, ebooks make for boring pictures.
Hour Six Update
It’s 4am and I’m only 70% done with The Fever by Megan Abbott, next up will be Summer House with Swimming Pool by Herman Koch.
Stats:
- Completed 481 pages
- Currently reading 80 pages per hour
Mini Challenge – Best of Your Reading Year
I thought I should participate in some mini challenges, even if I don’t care if I win a prize or not. Here is The Best of Your Reading Year from Lisa’s World of Books. I may have gone overboard and picked more than three.
- Best Book of Your Reading Year – The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- Best Mystery Book of Your Reading Year – The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham
- Best Non-Fiction Book of Your Reading Year – The Dark Path by David Schickler
- Best Sci-Fi Book of Your Reading Year – Shovel Ready by Adam Sternbergh (Read in this Read-a-thon)
- Best Fantasy Book of Your Reading Year – Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson
- Best Fiction Book of Your Reading Year – Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
Hour Nine Update
It’s 7am and I made it through the night, is it over yet I need a nap. I’ve finished The Fever by Megan Abbott which took a little longer than I planned and have moved onto Summer House with Swimming Pool by Herman Koch. Not sure if I can compare it to The Dinner but I’m enjoying it so far.
Stats:
- Completed 621 pages
- Currently reading 69 pages per hour
Mini Challenge – Shelfie
The morning is playing havoc with the lighting, so these shelfies all uneven. Also these shelves need a tidying up but I’m running out of room too fast.
Hour Twelve Update
I’m battling between trying to read and trying to stay awake. This really is messing with my reading speeds (I think).
Stats:
- Completed 806 pages
- Currently reading 67 pages per hour
Mid-Event Survey
- What are you reading right now? Summer House with Swimming Pool by Herman Koch
- How many books have you read so far? About to finish my third
- What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? My Salinger Year (up next)
- Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day? I did cancel everything to read the whole day
- Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? Twitter is not an interruption, it’s an enhancer
- What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? How fast I read some books, compared to others
- Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Nap breaks would be nice
- What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year? Not force myself to do the whole 24 hours
- Are you getting tired yet? So very tired, it’s 10am now I’ve been up all night
- Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered? Cheerleaders rock, I hope they get a chance to read too
Hour Fifteen Update
1pm – Fading fast, I believe I must admit defeat and have a nap.
Hour Eighteen Update
I’m back and I’m currently reading My Salinger Year by Joanna Rakoff, I needed a little non-fiction in this read-a-thon.
Stats:
- Completed 934 pages
- Currently reading 67 pages per hour
Hour Twenty One Update
With only three hours to go I’m looking forward to giving my eyes a rest. I now have so many reviews to write. I’m currently reading The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. by Adelle Waldman but I’m not sure if I’ll complete it before the read-a-thon ends.
Stats:
- Completed 1152 pages
- Currently reading 64 pages per hour
End of Event Meme
- Which hour was most daunting for you? It was about 1pm (Hour 15)
- Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? I don’t think I can keep a book for that long
- Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Sleep breaks
- What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? The Cheerleaders were great
- How many books did you read? I managed 4.5 books, see next post for stats
- What were the names of the books you read? Shovel Ready, The Fever, Summer House with Swimming Pool, My Salinger Year
- Which book did you enjoy most? The Fever was the highlight for me
- Which did you enjoy least? I enjoyed all the books but My Salinger Year was the hardest to read
- If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? I wasn’t a cheerleader but I hope they found time to read too
- How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? I’m sure I will participate next time but will sleep as well, I’d like to try my hand at cheering too.
Looks like you have some great plans there! I hope you have a blast! Happy Readathon!
Thank you, I hope you enjoy the readathon as well
I’m a little jealous of you Aussies that you get to start late at night. I’d much prefer that to trying to struggle through the final hours here. Really glad you decided to join in this time! I would have stopped by anyway, but I’m on you’re cheering team (#TeamHughes!), so I’ll be back to make sure you’re holding up!
I’m glad to have someone on my bloglist in my cheer team. Maybe next time I’ll join in on cheering but this is my first. I will be stoping by to check all my favourite bloggers anyway.
*cheer cheer cheer*
Thank you
Good luck and have fun! Looking forward to your updates 😉
Thanks, I’m really enjoying myself so far.
Count me as another one of the jealous ones who wishes she was in your time zone for the start of Readathon!
Have a great Readathon! #TeamHughes
It is good to have a late night start but Monday morning is going to be a killer
I hope you enjoyed Shovel Ready! I’ve been really curious about that one.
It was a lot of fun, would make a good Sci-Fi/Action movie
I could never try to keep track of pages read per hour. I know I’m a slow reader. Kudos to you for doing so, then again, you’re pretty quick ^^
It depends on the book, sometimes I average 30 pages per hour (if I’m taking time and savouring every moment) but sometimes it can be easy to power through a book like Shovel Ready (102 pages an hour)
Awesome job making it through the wee hours of the morning. Really curious what you’ll end up thinking about the new Koch – I was in the camp that loved The Dinner, so I’ve been looking forward to it. Hang in there!
About to start that now. I loved The Dinner too, those who didn’t are wrong.
I loved Middlesex too, such a great book! I’m visiting Australia for the first time in September and I’m so excited!
It was a great book but I preferred his other two books. I hope you enjoy Australia.
Wowsers, you’re doing great! I’m impressed so much. I haven’t read anything because of a crazy busy day and cheering on other readers but I will get to book #1 soon!
Dana
Team Hughes
Hope you get to do some reading soon
Congrats on your first read a thon! You are going to be hooked! Cheering you on from Michigan!
I’m hooked but so tired
Great job! Love your idea of an adult breakfast. I also really loved The Fever. Hope you enjoy it. Happy reading! #TeamHughes
The Fever was fantastic, Megan Abbott is such an awesome writer. Highlight of the readathon so far
We read it for book club last month and we were thinking that this might be her best yet. She does bring so much into her writing and it was interesting to see her integrate a couple of male perspectives this time around.
I need to read everything she writes, I’ve only read The Fever and Dare Me, so I can’t tell you what is her best yet. I will read The End of Everything before trying her old-school noir stuff.
Hi there! I’m cheering you on with #TeamHughes. Hope you are having fun and still feel motivated. You’ve made it this far and you’re doing great. Really interested in some of the books you’ve read and look forward to your reviews. Very impressed with your chart too!
I haven’t even started to process what I’m going to do with the reviews, that will be a job for future Michael
Nice spread sheet. I love keeping geeky stats like that. And yes, I’m calling you a geek. Looks like you are doing really well. Are many Australians participating? Good luck.
I’m happy to be known as a geek, it’s a badge of honour. I only know of one other Australian that partially competed in the readathon which is a shame.