April 2020 Readathon Wrap-Up

Friends, I’m so happy-sad to write this post. This Readathon, the last for Heather and I as co-organizers, is bittersweet for sure. It’s been one of the greatest joys of my life to help run this thing for the last seven and a half years. It’s been an honor to pay tribute to Dewey, to read with you, to see you all come together, and it’s even more amazing because I’ve gotten to work with my best friend. Thank you, friends, for the time you’ve spent volunteering, cheering, posting, hashtagging, and definitely reading.

We love you a lot, and while we’re sad to step away, we are happy to remain Dewey’s Readathon readers.

It’s also a great, great pleasure to hand Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon to two people who love this event just as much as we do. If you’ve spent time in our Goodreads group, our Facebook group, or here on the website, you already know Kate and Gabby. They have been running at least half of this readathon for years already, and it’s my pleasure to hand over the reigns!

We love y’all, and happy reading! Take it away, Kate and Gabby!

Thank you so much, Andi and Heather, for all that you have done for us over the years! We cannot wait to see what you will spend your Readathon time reading 🙂

Gabby and I (this is Kate) have been working together for several years now. From the first moment Gabby volunteered for the Goodreads Group, it has been a seamless partnership. Gabby had so many creative ideas on things we could do to make the group more fun and interactive.

When Andi first made her announcement that she and Heather would be stepping back as organizers, I immediately contacted Andi and volunteered to takeover. Read-a-Thon has always been such a big part of my life and I knew I couldn’t let it disappear. When Andi agreed to hand the reigns over to me, I knew I needed my Goodreads Partner in Crime to be my partner over here as well.

Gabby and I wanted to do a quick little “Get to know me” segment so that you can better get to know each of us.

From Gabby: “Hello Everyone! My name is Gabby. I am an avid reader and have been participating in Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon for years! I started helping Kate a few years ago with co-moderating the Goodreads page and I’m excited to come on and continue with Dewey’s Readathon. I brought the new tradition of having a Bingo board during the readathon, which I am so happy everyone is loving. I have a YouTube channel called GabsAboutBooks where I review books, make reading vlogs, monthly wrap ups, book hauls, and other book related content! I am very excited to be cohosting with Kate and can’t wait to bring new ideas to the readathon!”

From Kate: “Hello! My name is Kate. These days, I am primarily an audiobook consumer, and 1.75 times speed is my jam 🙂 My favorite genres are Psychological Thrillers, Fantasy, and Historical Fiction. Brandon Sanderson is my all-time favorite author and if I had it my way, The Stormlight Archives would be mandatory reading 🙂 I got married just less than a year ago and we have since adopted two Maltipoo puppies that are the best part of my day (Gracie and Georgie). I love a good cup of tea and there is nothing better than a cold and rainy day spent cuddled up with a nice cup of tea and a good book! I used to book blog but I find it is hard to review audiobooks because I don’t have the actual book to flip through while writing reviews. I do, however, have a cross stitch related youtube channel if that kind of thing interests you… I am so excited for this next chapter of the readathon and the opportunity to bring some new features to an already amazing event!”

Gabby and I already have so many exciting ideas for the upcoming readathon and we hope that you will come back to join us in the fall. Below we have two Google Forms that we ask you take a moment to fill out. The first is in regards to what you would like to see in upcoming Readathons. The second is for if you would like to volunteer to help out in some way with the readathon. Without volunteers, we are limited in what we can make happen.

Thank you all for your continued support. We hope you had a wonderful April Readathon! Keep your eye on this space for the announcement of the next Readathon. We will also Tweet out the date.

~Kate and Gabby

Hour 24 – This One Was Hard to Write…

Hi Readathoners! This is Kate from Kate’s Book Nook here with the final hourly post of this readathon.

I’m not going to lie, this post has been hard to write. I have procrastinated in every way possible. I tried to hunt down the perfect song about Change (never found it). That then lead to a binge session listening to old Taylor Swift song. I even let my husband distract me with a Romance movie (and anyone who knows me knows that I don’t like romance movies). All of this was in a desperate effort to put off writing this post. Because when I wrote this post, it all would really be over. Heather and Andi will have moved on and someone else would be at the helm.

I know that it will be alright. I’ve participated long enough to know that sometimes change is necessary. But at the same time, Andi and Heather will be missed greatly. Please join me in leaving them one final goodbye message!

As a final housekeeping note, if you’ve participated for any amount of time, you will know that I always close out the final hour of the readathon with a victory song. Whether you read for 2 hours or 22 hours or managed to pull of the full 24 hours, you are a winner! You participated in an awesome community building event! Enjoy your victory song!

Closing Survey

1. How would you assess your reading overall?
2. Did you have a stategy, and if so, did you stick to it?
3. What was your favorite snack?
4. Wanna volunteer for our next event? Stay tuned for the recap post!

Link up below or leave a comment!

Enter your finished books into the DATABASE here!

Check out the mini-challenges ANY TIME YOU WANT! 

Cheer your fellow readers!

Join our Goodreads or Facebook groups!

Watch for posts and stories on our Instagram!

Tag your posts with #readathon on all your social channels

Hour 23 – What motivates you to read?

Hi Everyone! My name is Gabby! I’ve been helping Kate co-moderate the Dewey’s Goodreads page for the past few years. You can find me on my youtube channel. I’m also on twitter and instagram.

With only two hours left of Dewey’s I’m sure we’ve all lost motivation to read. It’s been a long 22 hours and many of us are sleeping at this time. With 2 hours left, let’s try to muster the energy and pick up a book. What motivates you to read?

If I’m reading for leisure, I make sure to read something I know will grab my attention. Harry Potter is always a great choice. I have a tradition that I always read Harry Potter Illustrated Editions during Dewey’s. It gives me that push to start the readathon at 7am or helps me if I’m starting to feel a reading slump coming on. I also make sure to read something that excites me. I’m currently reading Crescent City by Sarah J. Maas and I’m finding it hard to set the book down. Knowing that I get to pick up a book that is action packed, fast paced, and with a great plot always motivates me to read more.

On the other hand, if I’m reading something less exciting for work (or when I was in school haha) I always have something comforting to drink while I read. Usually, a fancy iced coffee or tea. Plus I make sure to have different colored highlighters to annotate important information.

Share what motivates you to read with only 2 hours left of Dewey’s!

Enter your finished books into the DATABASE here!

Check out the mini-challenges ANY TIME YOU WANT! 

Cheer your fellow readers!

Join our Goodreads or Facebook groups!

Watch for posts and stories on our Instagram!

Tag your posts with #readathon on all your social channels

Hour 22 – The Many Friends Made Around the World!

Hello Readathon Friends, this is Kate from Kate’s Book Nook. We are in our final three hours…

Continuing from where I left off in recollecting… Since that first readathon so many things have changed! April 2012 marks the first time I volunteered to co-host. I was assigned to the final 3 hours of the readathon and I have been co-hosting them ever since then (17 readathons). Back then it was Ashley and Lu hosting the event. That seems forever ago!!! The next readathon was the first one I received an email from Andi and discovered the amazing woman she is! October 2014 is the first readathon where we had the Goodreads Group. In April 2016, I received a request to have a facebook group and Andi and Heather gave the go ahead to start that group. In October 2017, Gabby joined in Moderating the Goodreads Group and she has been bring her fun and creativity to the group ever since. Gabby volunteered to help me out with one of these posts so you get to meet her next hour!

One of the other highlights of this event has been meeting so many amazing readers. Over on the Goodreads Group, there is Leni, who always involves her whole family, and the two other Kate’s I met earlier this week who also read and knit. On Facebook there are readers filled with ideas for Bullet Journal Spreads and suggestions for book. I’ve met so many wonderful people that have made this event so memorable. I know that in the coming years, I will get a chance to meet many more.

What are your best Readathon memories? Have you met any other reader you’ve just clicked with?

Enter your finished books into the DATABASE here!

Check out the mini-challenges ANY TIME YOU WANT! 

Cheer your fellow readers!

Join our Goodreads or Facebook groups!

Watch for posts and stories on our Instagram!

Tag your posts with #readathon on all your social channels

Hour 21 – Twenty-two Readathons Ago…

Hello Readathon Friends, this is Kate from Kate’s Book Nook. And I am here to finish this readathon out with you all.

Like many of you, I was blown away with Andi and Heather announced that this was to be their last readathon. Readathon has defined my adult life and this announcement flooded me with memories. I immediately visited my old book blog that hasn’t been updated since November 2017… the whole reason I even created a book blog was to participate in the 24 hour Readathon. I’ve seen a lot of people talk about being able to make it the whole 24 hours a couple times, so what I am about to say will hopefully comfort those who feel like they have failed… my very first readathon, I took a 16 hour “nap”. I only read for a total of 7 hours. You can read about that disaster here if you want. Later readathon memories next hour…

Heather and Andi – Thank you so much for 7.5 years of amazing Readathons to participate in. It has been such a pleasure getting to work with you and getting to know you. I hope you enjoy your time on the other side of this event. You will certainly be missed on the organizational side 🙂

Do you remember your first Readathon?

Enter your finished books into the DATABASE here!

Check out the mini-challenges ANY TIME YOU WANT! 

Cheer your fellow readers!

Join our Goodreads or Facebook groups!

Watch for posts and stories on our Instagram!

Tag your posts with #readathon on all your social channels

Hour 20 – why do you show up?

Hi there,

This is Juli from ich lese once more.

Last hour we chatted about the weird spots we’ve spent our past readathons. This hour I thought we could talk about what inspires us each year, or even twice a year, to participate in this 24 hour readathon.

I wrote a post for Dewey’s readathon’s 10 year anniversary and I really think that sums it up nicely: reading often makes me feel nostalgic and reminds me of simpler times when I was a child and books were my (often only) friends. But on top of this, and probably more importantly, I’m deeply inspired during every readathon on how people truly show up. We have some who can barely make time to pick up a book any other day but will do so for the readathon. We have some who make it a family affair, some who read for charity, some who break personal records, some who will read the entire 24 hours, and some whose main purpose is to cheer on the readers. This community is incredible. It gives people like me a home. And honestly, not just twice a year but really all 365 days. Both the Facebook and the Goodreads groups are super active throughout the year. After each readathon, I compile long lists of books to be added to my TBR based on what fellow readers suggest here and when I finally get to one of those books I am reminded of you guys. I personally have taken up reading for various charities in the past based on what I’ve seen people do during the readathons. I stay motivated throughout the 24 hours because I know that there are millions (let me believe this number is true) reading at the same time. I can feel the energy even though I am physically removed from everyone else. And thus, every readathon I show up for this! This community. This collective. This energy.

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What motivates you? What inspires you to be here? Leave your reply or any memories you’d like to share in the comments.

Happy reading!

Enter your finished books into the DATABASE here!

Check out the mini-challenges ANY TIME YOU WANT! 

Cheer your fellow readers!

Join our Goodreads or Facebook groups!

Watch for posts and stories on our Instagram!

Tag your posts with #readathon on all your social channels

Hour 19 – oh the places you’ll go …

Hi guys,

Juli here from ich lese. How is everyone doing? Hour 19 has just begun and in my neck of the woods it is now the middle of the night, which to be honest, is my favorite time to read. The house is so quiet. The pets are settled down and snuggled up to me. I don’t have to make any excuses why I’m having my fifth cup of coffee and why my fingers are now Cheeto-orange ;). I am now officially super-duper mood reading meaning I’ll read a chapter in this book and then another in that book. I might start listening to an audiobook or pick up a graphic novel. There are NO RULES in the middle of the night. Who knows, maybe I’ll start talking to myself out loud. No one will know!

With this readathon’s theme of walking down memory lane and my current mood of anything goes, I thought I might start a discussion about the crazy, weird, unusual, odd, and surprising places you might’ve read during a past readathon.

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Clearly, the strange is strong in me in the middle of the night, but amazingly enough, my weird reading spots were all places I visited during the day. And (kinda sadly) they aren’t all that bizarre anyway. I’d say the most unique readathon I’ve done was one October day where I just had to visit a certain fiber fest but also read at the same time (because, you know, the readathon was happening). My friends and I packed into a car early in the morning, money ready to be spent on yarn and other knitting goodies, full of caffeine and drove an hour or so into the countryside to visit the local fair grounds and ogle over a bunch of goods in neat little booths hosted by indie dyers, alpaca farms, spinning wheel manufacturers, and weaving loom guilts. That day, I also had my favorite childhood book, Momo by Michael Ende, tugged into my totes my goats canvas bag. I read the entire way there and back, obvi, but I also read while sitting with other knitters or alone by the pond. I read while waiting on my friends buying their weight in yarn, and I even read while walking in between buildings. The only break from reading I gave myself was to look at actual yarn (and of course buying a ton). If I remember correctly, I broke a personal page number record that readathon. So whose to say we can’t multitask or combine hobbies? 😉

Leave your favorite weird reading spots in the comments below. Or really, just share any readathon-related memory.

I hope to hear from you guys during the next hour here on the blog as well. I’ll be hosting again!

Enter your finished books into the DATABASE here!

Check out the mini-challenges ANY TIME YOU WANT! 

Cheer your fellow readers!

Join our Goodreads or Facebook groups!

Watch for posts and stories on our Instagram!

Tag your posts with #readathon on all your social channels