Saturday 26 April 2014

24 hour Read - a - thon

This is the first year I am participating in the 24 hour read - a - thon and I am super excited about it! I found out about it through Vicky on Twitter and I am so glad I did! I have a huge TBR pile and I am hoping to be able to get through some of the books on the list. Whether I am going to be able to stay up for the whole 24 hours is another matter but I will give it a go! 

So here in the U.K the start time for the read-a-thon is 1pm 

These are the tips for readers taken from 24hourreadathon.com which are really going to help me. 

1. Pick shortish books. When you’re reading for such a long time, you might get really sick of the same book for hours on end. 2007 Readers recommended that you start with a short book so that you have a feeling of accomplishment when you finish it early in the read-a-thon.

2. Choose something light (children’s books, humorous books, graphic novels, books you already know well) and save those for the end when you’re tired and sick of reading.

3. Try not to pick really dense nonfiction unless you have the most enormous attention span ever.

4. If you’re going to use this time to catch up on other challenges, try to have a big variety available. You don’t know what will hold your attention, so don’t assign yourself specific books without alternates.

5. Give yourself permission to put a book aside and try something else if it’s not holding your attention.

6. Careful with caffeine! If you drink more coffee than you’re used to, you’ll be jittery at first and then crash later. Drinking something lightly caffeinated (green tea?) throughout the day seems to work better.

7. Don’t sit in the same spot/position all day! This could make your back hurt. Instead, move to different places in the house every hour or two.

8. In general, don’t be a masochist. This is supposed to be fun! And if anything about the challenge makes you start picturing us with little devil horns and wanting to strangle us, please stop and change it so that it works for you. Or, you know, go ahead and scream TO HELL WITH THIS CHALLENGE and go to sleep. We don’t want sleep deprivation making you hate your friendly read-a-thon organizers.

If you have any suggestions of the books I should be reading for the readathon leave me a comment below and I will try to source it if I don't already have it! I would love to know if you have participated before and how it went. 


Please help cheer me and other readers on by using #readathon


9 comments:

  1. Hi Samantha,

    Welcome to Dewey's Read-a-thon. Without promising too much, I can say that you are going to have an amazing time! I was a reader for the very first time back in October and now I’m reading again, but also cheering as captain and hosting a mini-challenge. Dewey’s Read-a-thon is one of the best book events I know and I love that I was able to come back again this time.

    I hope you have a fantastic first Read-a-thon and I promise I will cheer for you all the way through! #TeamMarquez

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  2. Hi,

    Thank you so much, I am quite excited about it! Can't wait to get started. Thanks so much for cheering for me - I may need it lol!! X

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  3. Hello!

    I think it's going to be so much fun! I will cheer for you along with Katja.
    This is also my first read-a-thon, and I've chosen short-ish books, as I think it will be good to really see some progress while reading!

    Best of luck :)

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  4. Hi Sabrina,

    I have got a few books with me, away from home at the mo. Going to start with Life Drawing by Robin Black. It's got 240 pages so not too long. Hopefully I'll finish it quite quickly and it will motive me good luck too!

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  5. Hi!
    I'm very excited because it's my first readathon and I've read carefully every advice in order to do it right. I have my books prepared, I've backed my own snaks (sweet and salty) and I'm super ready!
    Here in Spain we start at 2pm, which is our lunch time, but I even have an audiobook ready for listeting to while eating :PPP
    Good luck and have fun!

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  6. Hey! I don't have any snacks 😳 but hoping to power through with coffee! Just like you, this is my first readathon, not sure yet how to participate in mini challenges - I hope I find out as these sound fun! Good luck x

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  7. Hope you're enjoying the readathon so far! These are really good tips, especially reading short/light books. Have fun!

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  8. Is the sweet love lost?
    Does every freedom have a cost?
    Is the dragon freed?
    To find out you have to read read read.

    Hi there,
    We are on the 9th hour of this read-a-thon and I really hope what you are having a great time and enjoying everything.

    I’ve just finished my first Read-a-thon book myself: Starters by Lissa Price. It was so great I would recommend it to everyone out there. <3

    Hang in there and keep reading, we’re cheering for you all the way through!
    #TeamMarquez

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  9. Hey!!! Thanks for cheering me up! I needed it! Struggling to get though my first book, only 50 pages to go and it's a real drag. I hope to finish it this hour!

    Congrats on finishing your first book!!!

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