THANK YOU for 10 Amazing Years

Another readathon has closed, and this one was pretty special for a lot of reasons. For one, this event has been going on for 10 years, and that’s practically 100 in blogging and social media years.

Of course, we have to thank Dewey for her wonderful vision and skills for bringing the community together. I know she would be thrilled with this reading holiday that happens every six months.

Just as important, we have to thank you. The people who decide to take a crazy chance on 24 hours of reading every season. The people who put things on hold to help. All of you make this possible. 

Case in point, for the first time ever, I was REALLY out of commission for the first…oh…third? half? of readathon day. I struggle with anxiety, and it bit me right in the keister yesterday. I was down for the count. But you know what? The event went off without a hitch because of all the people involved who make this thing run like a well-oiled machine.

Thank you…

Heather, co-organizer and best bestie
Kathryn, Facebook and Goodreads empress, forever closing-hours co-host
Gabby, our newest Goodreads wrangler and help-any-way-she-canner
Kelly, Instagram guru
Liberty, Litsy rock star
Kendra, co-host and mini-challenge host
Elizabeth, co-host who saves me every time from one of the late shifts
Dana, co-host and prize wrangler
Cass, co-host and Twitter badass
Rachel Noel, co-host, Twitter wizard, mini-challenge maven, cheerleader, all-around selfless human
Julianne, co-host and mini-challenge pinch hitter

You all really have no idea who much you mean to this event, to me personally, and to all the people who take part.

I never have enough room to thank everyone: the many of you who donate prizes to make the readathon a little brighter for another reader, the ones of you who leap into hosting Twitter parties, those of you who are whipping the community into a reading lather on every imaginable social platform.

Y’all are just awesome. All of you. This event would be nothing without you.

Thank you, thank you, and we’re looking forward to many more years.

Oh, right. You want to know when the NEXT readathon will be!

April 28, 2018. We’ll see you there with our books at the ready!

Hour 24 – Years Nine and Ten

Hello Readathoners! This is Kate from Kate’s Book Nook.

I can’t believe that we are already at the last hour of our readathon. I’ve had so much fun talking and interacting with everyone. I want to take a moment and thank everyone who has participated in readathon and made this event a success. Thanks to Andi and Heather for all that you do. Thanks to Gabby who has helped me so much on the Goodreads site. Thanks to the volunteers and mini-challenge hosts. The co-hosts and co-moderators. And thanks to all the readers and tweeters. To the family and friends in the background who let us have this magical day. Thank you all! And I hope to see you in April 🙂

This year, in honor of the 10 year anniversary, I decided to do something different. We will be going into the time machine and looking at the top books from the past ten years. Now, I know, these types of lists can be controversial. So for this list, I will be referencing Goodreads Most Popular Books published by year. It takes all the books published in any given year and calculates how many people added that book. I will link each years list so that if you wish to see what else was popular that year, you can.

Year Nine- 2016:

 

The #1 best selling book from 2016 was Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling. I have to admit, I have not read this book. I borrowed it from a co-worker but haven’t even read it. And honestly, I don’t think it will. I heard about some of the things in here and honestly, I’d rather stick to my imagination about what happens outside the original 7 books in the Harry Potter series. What are your thoughts?

Year Ten – 2017:

The year is still on-going and there are so many books to choose from. So for 2017, rather than telling you which book was chosen as the #1 book, you’re going to tell me what you think the number 1 book from this year has been. Now, I am going to go out on a limb here and say that the best book of 2017 hasn’t been released yet. In my opinion, Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson (Book 3 in his Stormlight Archive series) is going to be the best book in 2017. But that could just be because I think Sanderson is a Fantasy genius. I cannot wait for its release next month.

Thank you so much for joining in on a review of the number one books over the last ten years. I hope to hear your feedback in the comment section. See you all in April!

Closing Survey! (add your link or comment below)
1. Which hour was most daunting for you?
2. Tell us ALLLLL the books you read!
3. Which books would you recommend to other Read-a-thoners?
4. What’s a really rad thing we could do during the next Read-a-thon that would make you smile?
5. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? Would you be interested in volunteering to help organize and prep?

If you are interested in helping us prep for the next Read-a-thon, fill this out!

 

Mini-Challenges

Closing Survey!

Last Day to Read for a Year

Hashtag Challenge

10 Years in 10 Books

Prize Winners

Kelly @ellarebee

One Literature Nut

travellingthruwords

If you see your name announced as an hourly prize winner, visit the PRIZES page to claim.

Enter your finished books into the DATABASE!

Hour 23 – Years Seven and Eight

Hello Readathoners! This is Kate from Kate’s Book Nook.

This year, in honor of the 10 year anniversary, I decided to do something different. We will be going into the time machine and looking at the top books from the past ten years. Now, I know, these types of lists can be controversial. So for this list, I will be referencing Goodreads Most Popular Books published by year. It takes all the books published in any given year and calculates how many people added that book. I will link each years list so that if you wish to see what else was popular that year, you can.

Year Seven – 2014:

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr was the #1 added book published in 2014. I have to say that I completely agree with this book. I listened to it on audio earlier this year and I’ve already checked it out from the library to listen to again. If you haven’t read this book, please consider doing so. The audio is fantastic if you listen to the audiobook. Particularly the radio portion.

Year Eight – 2015:

The #1 book for 2015 was The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. I just read this book for the first time last week. This was one of the rare instances where I watched the movie before reading the book. Maybe if I had read it when it was released and I didn’t know the ending in advance, I would have appreciated this book more.

Do you agree or disagree with these selections? See others in the list you think are more deserving? Let me know in the comments. Next up? 2016 and 2017. No sneak peeking 🙂

Mini-Challenges

Last Day to Read for a Year

Hashtag Challenge

10-Word Story

10 Years in 10 Books

Prize Winners

FreeFormLady

hturningpages

If you see your name announced as an hourly prize winner, visit the PRIZES page to claim.

Enter your finished books into the DATABASE!

Hour 22 – Years Five and Six

Hello Readathoners! This is Kate from Kate’s Book Nook.

This year, in honor of the 10 year anniversary, I decided to do something different. We will be going into the time machine and looking at the top books from the past ten years. Now, I know, these types of lists can be controversial. So for this list, I will be referencing Goodreads Most Popular Books published by year. It takes all the books published in any given year and calculates how many people added that book. I will link each years list so that if you wish to see what else was popular that year, you can.

Year Five – 2012:

The 2012 #1 book was The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. Now, I know this is probably going to get me stoned or something… but I honestly really disliked this book. I know, a lot of people cried over this book. For me, I could barely force myself to finish it. Its just not my cup of tea…. sorry.

Year Six – 2013:

 

The 2013 #1 book was Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell. I haven’t read this book so I can’t really offer any opinion on whether it is #1 worthy. I loved The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith that was from that year.

Do you agree or disagree with these selections? See others in the list you think are more deserving? Let me know in the comments. Next up? 2014 and 2015. No sneak peeking 🙂

Mini-Challenges

Hashtag Challenge

10-Word Story

Little Book Tower

10 Years in 10 Books

Prize Winners

Debi @ dastevensish

If you see your name announced as an hourly prize winner, visit the PRIZES page to claim.

Enter your finished books into the DATABASE!

Hour 21 – Years Three and Four

Hello Readathoners! This is Kate from Kate’s Book Nook.

This year, in honor of the 10 year anniversary, I decided to do something different. We will be going into the time machine and looking at the top books from the past ten years. Now, I know, these types of lists can be controversial. So for this list, I will be referencing Goodreads Most Popular Books published by year. It takes all the books published in any given year and calculates how many people added that book. I will link each years list so that if you wish to see what else was popular that year, you can.

Year 3 – 2010:

And in 2010, we round off the trilogy with Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins as the #1 book. This one was my least favorite one. But still, I appreciate a series that doesn’t drag out over years and years.

Year Four – 2011:

The #1 book in 2011 was Divergent by Veronica Roth. This is where I will admit I diverge (hahaha – get it) from the list. I wasn’t a huge fan of this series. I think my vote went to Rick Riordan’s Son of Neptune that year. I love the Percy Jackson books.

Do you agree or disagree with these selections? See others in the list you think are more deserving? Let me know in the comments. Next up? 2012 and 2013. No sneak peeking 🙂

Mini-Challenges

10-Word Story

Little Book Tower

10 Minute Closet Costume

10 Years in 10 Books

Prize Winners

Lindsey Stefan

If you see your name announced as an hourly prize winner, visit the PRIZES page to claim.

Enter your finished books into the DATABASE!

Hour 20 – Years One and Two

Hello Readathoners! This is Kate from Kate’s Book Nook. Let me introduce myself quickly (and please, introduce yourself in the comments section). I’m 29 and I live in Northern California. I am an audiobook addiction and cross stitch fanatic (so I can do both at the same time). I’m currently addicted to Historical Fiction, especially that set in the Tudor era. Or the War of the Roses. I also love Fantasy… especially Brandon Sanderson. I’m a cheeseaholic and a red tea (rooibos) drinker. I also love soccer and am heartbroken that the USA isn’t going to the World Cup (so I’ll be rooting on Germany for a back to back win). I’m sure there’s many other things. If you want to know, just ask below.

I have been co-hosting these last few hours for so many readathons that I have honestly lost track. I used to have this tradition where I gave a few random facts of the hour. Then I changed to a book genre competition (which Fantasy won back to back readathons). This year, in honor of the 10 year anniversary, I decided to do something different. For these next five hours, we will be going into the time machine and looking at the top books from the past ten years. Now, I know, these types of lists can be controversial. So for this list, I will be referencing Goodreads Most Popular Books published by year. It takes all the books published in any given year and calculates how many people added that book. I will link each years list so that if you wish to see what else was popular that year, you can.

Year One – 2008:

The #1 book in 2008 was The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I have to say, I am a huge fan of this series and I completely agree with this book taking the spot. Its hard to believe its been 10 years since it came out.

Year 2 – 2009:

The #1 book in 2009 was Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. This is the sequel to the number 1 book from 2008. This book was my favorite in the series. The Help by Kathryn Stockett was a very close second place in 2009.

Do you agree or disagree with these selections? See others in the list you think are more deserving? Let me know in the comments. Next up? 2010 and 2011. No sneak peeking 🙂

Mini-Challenges

Little Book Tower

10 Minute Closet Costume

You’re Wearing That?

10 Years in 10 Books

Prize Winners

Kristin Davison

Mariiesen

If you see your name announced as an hourly prize winner, visit the PRIZES page to claim.

Enter your finished books into the DATABASE!

Hour 19 – Shaking It Up

Welcome back, everyone! This is your co-host Elizabeth from Earl Grey Editing. It’s my last hour here and then I’ll be handing over to Kate from Kate’s Book Nook. She’ll be co-hosting for the remainder of the read-a-thon and always writes the most amazing posts, so I hope you’ll stick around.

This is the toughest part of the read-a-thon. It’s the middle of the night for North and South America. The morning’s just getting started for most of Europe and Africa. So it’s up to Asia and the Pacific to hold down the fort. If that’s where you live, take a moment to cheer on our friends struggling through in other parts of the world. A special shout-out to Brona of Brona’s Books for heading up #teamANZ. She really knows how to rally us together!

Whatever your timezone, chances are you’ve been reading a fair while by now. So it’s a good time to shake up the format of what you’re reading. Some people swear by comics. I tend to shift to romance novels. What’s your strategy?

Novellas are also a great option.

Anyway, that’s it from me! A big thank you to Andi for inviting me on board this year. She works tirelessly to run this read-a-thon every six months and is just amazing all around.

Happy reading, everyone.

Mini-Challenges

10 Minute Closet Costume

You’re Wearing That?

Time Flies

10 Years in 10 Books

Prize Winners

Andie_Reads

If you see your name announced as an hourly prize winner, visit the PRIZES page to claim.

Enter your finished books into the DATABASE!

Hour 18 – The Long, Dark Teatime

Hi everyone! It’s Elizabeth here from Earl Grey Editing. I’ll be your co-host for the next two hours. Hour 18 is just getting underway, so there’s only another seven to go! It’s spring in Australia and there are still a good few hours of daylight left, but even I’m feeling a bit tired by this point. How many of you are still awake right now?

Feeling a little bit wilted?

It can be tempting to mainline caffeine at this point. Goodness knows, I’m a tea addict at the best of times (as you may have deduced from the photo… and my blog’s name). Instead of breaking out the coffee, the extra-strength tea, the hot chocolate or the soda, how about a quick dance party first?

Before you head back to your reading, I’d love for you to chime in with what you’re drinking right now (and whether you’re a fan of Vienna Teng or Yuri!!! On Ice).

Good luck, everyone!

Mini-Challenges

You’re Wearing That?

Time Flies

10 Years in 10 Books

Prize Winners

Alliereads

If you see your name announced as an hourly prize winner, visit the PRIZES page to claim.

Enter your finished books into the DATABASE!

Hour 17 – In Translation

Julianne again and it’s Hour 17! My last one with you sweet angels before I will probably fall asleep. Thank you so much for having me and for hanging out with me on the official Readathon Twitter! We’ve got another hour left together, so let’s make the most of it!!

Anyway, back to Having It All^TM, another thing that I personally struggle with during Readathon is the oppressive guilt I feel when I don’t do things I feel like I “should” be doing. Most people are able to let go for special occasions like Readathon at the very least, but that’s something my therapist and I are still working on!!

A post shared by Julianne :: Outlandish Lit (@_ulianne) on Aug 12, 2016 at 9:05am PDT

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SO I’m here to talk to you about a way that I have fun mixing it up during Readathon and feeling productive while doing so: reading books in a different language. I’ve been studying Japanese for a while now and after going to Japan I only want to get better at it. I take time to do flash cards, study kanji, and watch/listen to/read Japanese at least for a little every day. So, of course, I’d like to continue that if at all possible. I find it incredibly fun to read a book in a different language (if you’re not fluent in that language especially) because it is a completely different experience from normal reading. It’s a lot more like solving a puzzle and there is some SERIOUSLY STIMULATING brain rewardage going on when you figure out difficult sentences. And, let’s be honest, after this many hours of reading we could use some stimulation.

Don’t know any other languages and not interested in checking out some kids books to learn at the moment? So fair. I do highly suggest you check out some books in translation, though! It can be stimulating to read something unlike what you normally read if you generally just check out books from your home country or other countries that speak the same language as you.

What are your favorite books in translation? Are you using books to learn another language? Now that I think of it, I guess reading a textbook would count too, but as long as you are ACTUALLY HAVING FUN. Again, that’s the point (I’ve heard).

If you want to be friends, don’t be afraid to reach out! I blog at Outlandish Lit and you can find me on Instagram and Twitter as well. Thanks again!

Mini-Challenges

Time Flies

Books and Pets

10 Years in 10 Books

Prize Winners

Erin J

Anita Loves Books

If you see your name announced as an hourly prize winner, visit the PRIZES page to claim.

Enter your finished books into the DATABASE!

Hour 16 – Your Podcast Fix In Book Form

Julianne again! Good job hitting Hour 16, readers! I think part of what can make Readathon challenging is giving up parts of your daily routine that you really enjoy. Truly my series of co-hosting posts could be sub-subtitled “Having It All,” because that’s what I’m trying to achieve in my reading so I don’t get burnt out. And you can too!!

Something I really enjoy is listening to a good, old-fashioned true crime podcast. My Favorite Murder, Serial, Last Podcast on the Left, WHATEVER. But guess what. There are books about true crime, too! I know, the world is a wild place. I think I’m going to check out The Fact of a Body by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich when I’m feeling like I need a break from fiction. If you’ve been enjoying watching MindHunter on Netflix, you might want to check out the book it was based on: MindHunter by John E. Douglas.

Murderino or not, this technique can be applied to all sorts of podcasts. Comedy podcast? Read a memoir by your favorite comedian (Phoebe Robinson, anybody?). Into tech news? There are plenty of popular science books that are super readable! And so on and so forth. If reading is still getting you down, don’t forget that you can find most things in audiobook form so it won’t be like you’re not listening to a podcast at all!! Man, I’m just full of good news tonight.

Do you have any favorite podcasts that you can easily translate into book form? Let us know yours in the comments to help out your fellow podcast addicts!

Mini-Challenges

Books and Pets

Decades of Reading

10 Years in 10 Books

Prize Winners

Myriam C. Daoust

If you see your name announced as an hourly prize winner, visit the PRIZES page to claim.

Enter your finished books into the DATABASE!