2021 Readathon Year Wrap-up

Huge thanks to all our behind-the-scenes team who made our readathons happen this year. The Spring 2021 readathon was fantastic, and I loved the board game pre-readathon challenge- pure genius. Our Reverse Readathon was a true adventure for me, since we were cobbling together a new administrative team, under my rather novice leadership. We gained a few new cool ideas from that readathon too, especially the super-cool participants map(look for it on Facebook in our Announcements section). By this recent Fall readathon we’ve started to sort out a system that doesn’t put too much work on any one person in out behind-the-scenes crew, and hopefully we can take what we’ve gained from this year and spin up an even better event for our next readathon, in Spring 2021.

Did you enjoy your Dewey’s readathon experiences this year? Will you be participating in any other readathons in 2012?

If you haven’t yet, be sure to wrap up your Fall 2021 readathon log on your social media, add your finished books to the database, and add your relevant books to the various challenges on our Goodreads site. I’ll still be around, tidying up Goodreads, maintaining the parts of our Goodreads and Facebook that stay active between events, and playing with making our Tumblr more active, but simce I probably won’t ‘see’ most of our participants again much before next spring, thanks to all of our reading community for making such great reading events possible.

– Jamie B, Dewey’s Readathon cohost.

Enter your finished books into the DATABASE here!

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Hour 24 – Celebration Time

We are in our very last hour of the last Dewey’s readathon of 2021. Of course, many of us continue to read after the readathon is officially over. Still, at the end of this hour we’ll have made it through another full year’s worth of these oddly-addictive reading events. Why do we do them? I am still not sure how to explain that part to folks who haven’t tried it. Do we read more because we do readathons? Do we enjoy reading differently? What do you think? Why do you do readathons?

Actually I do read more during readathon weekends, since I have an excuse to set aside chores and projects and just focus on reading for a full day. Even as an admin for the readathon, I get a lot of great focused reading time during these events (maybe even moreso, since I expect myself a a host of the readathon to stay awake and reading or doing admin stuff online for the whole event). I read a LOT, anyway, but on a readathon day I may actually finish several books all in one day, or make a huge dent in one of the long, heavy tomes I sometimes get bogged down in.

Do I enjoy reading differently as someone who does readathons? That often depends on which books I choose for my TBR. A lot of people find that if they don’t set aside time and really focus on reading, or if they let the book they are reading drag on for weeks, they don’t enjoy it as much. During readathons I focus on reading specific books for long enough to really pick up the momentum of each book. And at the end, I almost always have a small stack of books I actually finished reading. Having something to show for all those hours of reading sometimes boosts my enthusiasm for reading more after the readathon is over. Just finishing books, and enjoying that sense of accomplishment, helps me stay motivated to start the next book.

Well, I am sure many of us are far too exhausted to do much more than take a well-deserved nap right now, so if you are reading this before the end of Hour 24, stick with it just a little longer, give yourself a treat at the end, and maybe dance around the room a bit to reward yourself for finishing. If you have already done the nap bit and are reading this later, you may still dance and reward yourself with a treat of some sort for a job well done. Our next readathon will happen in April 2022, which gives our admin team a chance to work out the wrinkles and build an even better readathon event. In the meantime, read a lot, seek out book clubs and book groups online and in person that need your participation, build up your book blogs, and stay tuned for the next great Dewey’s reading adventure.

(Oh, yeah, and be sure to wrap up your readathon on your social media site or blog.)

Closing Survey

1. How would you assess your reading overall?
2. Did you have a strategy, and if so, did you stick to it?
3. What was your favorite snack?
4. Did you add any new books to your TBR/wishlist after seeing what everyone else is reading?
5. What was your favorite book or experience from this readathon?

Enter your finished books into the DATABASE here!

Cheer your fellow readers!

Join our Goodreads or Facebook or Reddit groups!

Watch for posts and stories on our Instagram!

Tag your posts with #Readathon on all your social channels 

Hour 23 – Final Stretch

Hey! Nikkie here again from Stars Books & Tea! We are in the final hour! Can you believe it? Did you do everything you were hoping to do? Remember that reading is reading! It doesn’t matter if you read a paragraph or fifty books. However, if you read 50 books in a day, I want our secret. Just saying! Do you have any tips or suggestions that you’d like to give to people just starting out readathons? 

Bonus Question: If you had the opportunity and unlimited funds, what is one book or series you’d love to see adapted to movie or television show? How would you do it?

Enter your finished books into the DATABASE here!

Cheer your fellow readers!

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Hour 22 – Readathon Mode

Hello and greetings from Finland! Cindarella here! Today is the day and I am really excited. I have been in a reading slump, they come and go. I can’t help it and envy people who can keep a routine of reading every day. Nonetheless I have been in a reading groove this year from time to time and I have finished 67 books so far. Yay! It is the most I have ever read in a year. Last year I finished 41 books. Everyone has their goals for reading and I used to not have one, then decided to try to read my age in books and last year I turned 40, so I exceeded my expectations last year. Audiobooks have helped me a lot. Sometimes when I am in a slump I reread old favorites. I am currently rereading several of my favorite series.  

My TBR for this readathon is not set, I will continue with books I am currently reading, including Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson and The girl with the dragon tattoo by Stieg Larsson. The girl with the dragon tattoo is a reread and I’m reading it in Swedish, which is my native tongue. I love Swedish crime and horror books, I own a lot of them but I haven’t yet read them all. 

The things I do when preparing for Dewey’s readathon are: I bring out my pepsi, try to find the best spot to sit/lie and read in my home (I really like my new reading chair that was designed in Denmark) and just put on either one of my reading music lists from spotify or decide which audiobook to listen to. I often listen to my reading music lists on spotify, they include a lot of movie soundtrack music and other instrumental music. I really love music, I don’t do anything without listening to music lol. 

Enter your finished books into the DATABASE here!

Cheer your fellow readers!

Join our Goodreads or Facebook or Reddit groups!

Watch for posts and stories on our Instagram!

Tag your posts with #Readathon on all your social channels 

Hour 21 – Time for the Comics!

As someone who has stayed up the full 24 hours of many a Readathon, I have learned the consequences of staying awake a FULL 24 HOURS. Right about this time many of you are likely feeling extra tired. Or, if you’re like me, you’re in the loopy part of being tired where everything is funny! How am I supposed to focus on reading when everything is making me laugh?!

My advice? Switch over to comics! Calvin & Hobbes, Superman, Fairy Tail, Thor, Princeless, Rat Queens, whatever! They’ll go with your loopy mood, be a heck of a lot easier for you to read and try to follow, and they’re fun. And if you don’t have any comics, no worries! There are a ton of great web comics out there. Questionable Content, Least I Could Do, TwoKinds, Stand Still Stay Silent, whatever genre you like, there’s a web comic for you.

Enter your finished books into the DATABASE here!

Cheer your fellow readers!

Join our Goodreads or Facebook or Reddit groups!

Watch for posts and stories on our Instagram!

Tag your posts with #Readathon on all your social channels 

Hour 20 – Snackies!

What is a Readathon if not an excuse to indulge in snacking? Forget fad diets, it’s Readathon day!

Of course, there can be repercussions from improper snack habits. As an experienced Readathoner, let me give you some advice on making sure you don’t go into a sugar coma and can’t read anymore.

• Drink plenty of water. It can’t all be coffee, alcohol, energy drinks, tea and the like.
• Try to balance out your sweet snacks with savory snacks or meals.
• Drink plenty of water.
• Pace yourself with what you’re eating. You don’t want to eat everything and make yourself sick!
• DRINK PLENTY OF WATER.

Is there any other advice you’d offer? I’m pretty sure these are basics, but I’m only human so I’m likely to have missed something.

Enter your finished books into the DATABASE here!

Cheer your fellow readers!

Join our Goodreads or Facebook or Reddit groups!

Watch for posts and stories on our Instagram!

Tag your posts with #Readathon on all your social channels 

Hour 19 – Feelin’ Fine in Hour Nine…Teen!

I’m back! It’s Andi. I have more art! This magical painting about adventures in reading is by the super-duper talented @Gulsah_Alcin_Ozek on Instagram. Looking at her work always makes me smile, and if you’re a lightweight like me when it comes to staying up late (or even lateish), then you may need the grin right about now. Or maybe you’ve woken up where you are and need to start your day off right. You’re welcome!

Now, back to your regularly scheduled Readathon.

Enter your finished books into the DATABASE here!

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Hour 18 – Spooptacular!

Howdy readers! If you’re still here in hour 18, CHEERS TO YOU! Andi here from @estellasrevenge.

Admittedly, I haven’t read as much today as I’d planned or as much as I would’ve liked. Anxiety snuck up on me this morning. I know I’m probably not the only person in that boat, so if you find yourself in a similar situation, I hope you’re taking great care of yourself.

But on to the spoopy. Do I have something caught in my teeth you ask making me say spoopy rather than spooky? No. Spoopy means cute spooky. Comical. Silly. It’s my favorite kind of spooky. Need an example? You probably don’t, but I really want to share one.

This is a piece of art by the amazingly talented illustrator and designer, @TheJessieCarper on Instagram. I thought this was just the piece of artwork to perk us all up in Hour 18. Books? Check! Cute ghosts? Check! Jars of stars? Check! I mean, who could really ask for more?

I’m done yammering now. Go read.

Enter your finished books into the DATABASE here!

Cheer your fellow readers!

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Hour 17 – (Don’t) Give Up

Hi,

My name is Flavia and I am a reader from Germany. You can usually find me on twitter (and most places) @flaviaaalouise. I’ve been participating in the Dewey’s 24-hour readathon for over 5 years now.

The first time I participated it was quite last minute and I had no idea what I was doing, but a bunch on fun.

As I’ve participated more and more and have been more “successful” I started to put more pressure on myself. To accomplish more and be better.

But that is not always possible. You might not sleep well the night before the readathon. You might have had a stressful week and just not have the power to really read much this weekend. Your mental or physical health might not be as good as you had hoped. Maybe something came up. Maybe you just want to watch TV or spend time with your loved ones.

And if you are the type of person I am that might be frustrating. And to be honest I don’t have the patented recipe to deal with that frustration. But I do encourage you to change your perspective if you are in a situation like that. What can you do to feel better now?

And that might just be to give up and ditch this readathon! I swear it’s fine. This is supposed to be fun. If it doesn’t serve you just get rid of it.

To be honest I am still low-key considering that myself right now (I’m writing this in hour 9, 10 pm my time). As I wrote in the last hour’s post I am defending my Bachelor’s thesis on Monday, I also have quite a bit of cleaning to do and spend the evening at my partner’s parents house. So I have only finished an audiobook I wanted to have finished yesterday already. But let’s see what the night and tomorrow brings. 🙂

Another option is to just change your focus. Focus on self care, Focus on quality time with your partner/fam/animal, Focus on bingeing a book adaptation. Reread some (childhood) faves.

We are still low-key living through the apocalypse. Don’t beat yourself up and if you need someone to hype you up, comment here or join me on twitter for some sprints and fun 🙂

Enter your finished books into the DATABASE here!

Cheer your fellow readers!

Join our Goodreads or Facebook or Reddit groups!

Watch for posts and stories on our Instagram!

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Hour 16 – Inside Out

Hey readers,

Flavia here. You can find me over on twitter (and most places) @flaviaaalouise.

I hope you’re doing well. Are you still awake or have you taken a nap?

I will probably have had a good few hours of sleep by now since I actually have to defend my Bachelors thesis on Monday. (Anybody remember how I wrote that during the last round?)

Whichever way you have spend the last 15 hours…. It’s been a while.

How are you feeling? Remember to hydrate and eat. Have you gotten up in the last few hours? Moved your body a little bit?

I encourage you to check in with your body but also your surroundings? Is there still a cup of tea steeping you have forgotten about? What is happening outside? (Most likely darkness I guess)

Maybe open a window and breathe in some fresh air. If it’s an appropriate time wherever you are maybe even go outside. Another typ for when you are feeling the many hours in your bones is taking a shower. (Of course only if it’s possible without disturbing other people.)

I wish you a good hour and happy reading. ❤

Enter your finished books into the DATABASE here!

Cheer your fellow readers!

Join our Goodreads or Facebook or Reddit groups!

Watch for posts and stories on our Instagram!

Tag your posts with #Readathon on all your social channels