My First Dewey 24-hour Readathon is Coming up

I've done my own personal readathons, variations on a 24-hour readathon but this weekend I am resolved to finally join in on the fun with the real deal,  my first Dewey 24-Hour Readathon.

The readathon is April 18th to the 19th, 8 am to 8 am. 

My goal is to spend the day catching up on reading the pile of library books and finishing those three or four books I have halfway completed:

• Finish Theo of Golden, an audiobook. I have about five hours of listening time left to go.
• Finish Little Alleluias: Poetry and Prose by Mary Oliver. I started this book in Hawaii on a recent vacation. I'm on page 167 of 229. 
• Why Fathers Cry at Night by Kwame Alexander. I just recently started this memoir of love poems, letters, and recipes.  I'm on page 49 of 229.
• Start the audiobook Things in Nature Merely Grow. It is only 5 hours long, so I might be able to complete it during the readathon.
• Other possible books from the library currently sitting in a pile:
• Goldenrod by Smith
• Women Without Shame by Cisneros
• Pilgrim Bell by Akbar
• This is Not About Us by Goodman
• Read at least 30 pages of Moby Dick -- My One Big Book Challenge of 2026.

See why I need to participate?

Join in by joining the Goodreads group here.

-Anne

Emergency 24-Hour Blog-n-Readathon

Eek! I have a reading emergency. Time to drop everything and take care of business. Today I start an emergency blog-n-readathon due to congestion and a book pile-up.

Goal: To read or blog for 24 hours in the next 72 hours. Starting now.

Books:

1.  Killers of a Certain Age by Raybourn -- Print. Currently completed 60%, 105 pages to go.
2.  Pride, Prejudice and Other Flavors by Dev -- Audio. Currently at 18 %, 12 hrs and 27 minutes to go.
3.  Somehow: Thoughts on Love by Lamott -- Print. Library book due August 24. 191 pages to go.
4.  A Bell for Adano by Hersey -- Print. Spin Book for Classics Club due Sept. 22. 269 pages to go.
5.  Reading Genesis by Robinson -- Print. Another library book due in three weeks. Renewal not possible without waiting in another long line for it.
6.   A Song for Achilles by Miller -- Audio. Currently completed 5%. 11 hours of listening left. Due in 13 days.

Past due blog reviews:

1.  The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters -- Finished reading July 30th.
2.  Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange -- finished reading August 8th.
3.  North Woods by Daniel Mason -- finished reading August 9th.

My progress: I will record my progress here at the end of each day until 24 hours of reading/blogging is finished or 72 hours have passed, whichever happens first.

On your mark. Get set. Go!

.........

1st Update...24 hours later

• Completed: Killers of a Certain Age by Raybourn -- 2 hours
• Progress: Pride, Prejudice and Other Flavors by Dev -- Audio. Currently at 48 %, 7 hrs and 56 minutes to go. -- 4 1/2 hours
• Started: Somehow: Thoughts on Love by Lamott -- 15 minutes
• Total hours: 6 hours, 45 minutes.

2nd Update...48 hours later

• Progress: Pride, Prejudice and Other Flavors by Dev -- Audio. Currently at 61 %, 5 hrs and 55 minutes to go. -- 2 hours
• Progress: Somehow: Thoughts on Love by Lamott -- reading and blogging about it at same time --33% complete, pg. 68. -- 2 1/2 hours
• Progress:  A Song for Achilles by Miller -- Audio. Currently completed 20%,  9 hours of listening left. -- 1 1/2 hours
• Blogging: Review for North Woods. -- 2 hours
• Total hours for the day: 8 hours. Total for the readathon so far: 14 hours, 45 minutes

3rd and final update...72 hours later

• Progress: Pride, Prejudice and Other Flavors by Dev -- Audio. Currently at 89 %, 1 hr and 39 minutes to go. -- 4 1/2 hours
• Progress: Somehow: Thoughts on Love by Lamott -- reading and blogging about it at same time --63% complete, pg. 129. -- 2  hours
• Progress:  A Song for Achilles by Miller -- Audio. Currently completed 24%,  8 1/2 hours of listening left. -- 1/2 hour
• Blogging: Review for The Berry Pickers -- 2 hours
• Blogging: Review for Killers of a Certain Age (scheduled for Thursday publication) -- 45 minutes
• Started: A Bell for Adano. 260 pages left to go. 
• Total Hours for the day: 9 hours, 45 minutes. Total for the readathon: 24 hours and 30 minutes

My thoughts/observations:

• I am so close to finishing Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors. (Approximately 50 pages left.) Whew. It has been a slog listening to what will be over 15 hours of the audiobook. A goodly amount of my time on this readathon was spent listening to it (13+ hours)
• Though I only completed one book, I made progress on four others. That makes me feel calmer since all of those books have been screaming for attention for weeks! Now they all know I will get to them and their turn is coming! 
• I completed three reviews. It is not the three I'd planned, but the best laid plans.
• I blogged as I was reading Anne Lamott's book, so I am halfway finished with that review.
• How I want to review Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors has come into focus. Look for that this coming week as I hope to finish the book today.
• A Song for Achilles is probably going to be the last book I finish because I am listening to it with my husband. We only listen when we are in the car together. I hope the library will allow a renewal.

Upcoming bookish goals/plans:

• Finish Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors today and write a review for it to be published by next weekend or before.
• Finish Somehow: Thoughts on Love. Polish and finish review by Friday. Return to the library by that date.
• Continue reading A Bell for Adano. Renew book, if needed.
• Plan what to carry with me on the plane to Wisconsin. Possible audiobook: Transcendent Kingdom.
• Start: Reading Genesis.

Three days later:

• I've finished Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors the book and blogpost.
• I've completed Somehow: Thoughts of Love, both the book and the blogpost.
• I've listened to more of A Song for Achilles. Completing 57%, only 4 1/2 hours left of listening time.
• I started Reading Genesis and decided it wasn't for me. I've already returned it to the library.
• I've made progress on A Bell for Adano, Gather, and Transcendent Kingdom. There is no standing still in the reading world. Onward!
• Tonight I hope to start my review of Wandering Stars which I will post sometime next week.
• I'm feeling good about my progress!

-Anne

A personal read and blogathon -- updated

Every few months I just need to catch up. For this reason I set myself goals to read and blog for 24 hours in (this time) a four-day window of time. Starting right now I plan to spend at least six hours a day for four day straight reading and blogging. Here is my plan: update:

Audio:

• Finish -- Black Cake by Wilkinson. I am currently 56% done, with 3+ hours left. Completed and blog review written!
  
• Begin and make substantial progress -- Horse by Brooks. I have both the audiobook and the print version of this book at my avail at this moment. 65% complete.
  
• Possibly start -- Immortal King Rau by Vara. This just became available from the library. No.
  

Children's Books:

• Five children's books by Amy Krouse Rosenthal Completed and passed on to my grandchildren after writing a blog review.
  

Graphic novel/biography:

• Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds and Danica Novgorodoff  Completed.
  
• Change the Game by Colin Kaepernick Completed.
  

Poetry Books:

• Then the War: Selected Poems 2007-2020 by Cal Phillips Read about 15 pages and decided the poetry wasn't for me.
  
• Unshuttered: Poems by Patricia Smith Completed and blog review written.
  
• Obit by Chang (E-book) Complete.
  

Print:

• How to Be a Young Antiracist by Kendi and Stone No.
  
• Pray First by Hodges Read the first five chapters, which was the goal.
  
• Tell Me Why: Beatles Commentary by Riley Up to 33% from 15%.
  

Blog reviews:

• Four Seasons in Rome by Doerr No.
  
• When the Angels Left the Old Country by Lamb Yes.
  
• Adrift by Galloway No.
  
• Any books I finish during the readathon Yes, see above.
  

In total I read/blogged for over 22 hours. I did a pretty bad job of keep an exact record of time. I completed 10 book (5-children's books, two-graphic novels, two-poetry books, and one audiobook.) I wrote four reviews. In addition, I made progress on three other books. All in all it was a successful readathon.

I've been busy placing holds on books from the library. Do you know what that means?

This always happens. I sit down on my computer and start placing holds on library books, some print and others e-books or audiobooks. Then I wait. And voila! They all come in at once! It never fails. One would think I'd learned my lesson from past experiences with the same results. But, no. No, I haven't.

So now I have a batch of four audiobooks and seven print books that all need my immediate attention. There is no time to waste. It is time for my own personal 24-hour Blog-n-Readathon.

Since it is just me, I get to make the rules. They are:

• Complete 24 hours of reading/blog reviewing in four days. That is an average of six hours every day for the next four days. Doable.
• For every book I complete during that time period, I will write and publish a review. In the past I just read for 24 hours and then had a dickens of a time catching up on all my reviews afterwards. This time I am combining my efforts so I have a strong sense of accomplishment when the 24 hours is up.
• Keep track of my progress here on this post at the end of each of the four days. Also update my pages read on my Goodreads account.
  
• Listen to an hour+ of the audio version of The Count of Monte Cristo each day. An hour of listening is about 25 pages of this dense book, so that will mean I'll cover at least 100 pages of text during the readathon. I am currently on page 279.
  
• Possible other books:
• The Dictionary of Lost Words (audio) -- Currently 24% complete; a future book club selection
  
• The Opposite of Loneliness (print) -- Currently 5% complete
• The Book of Delights (print)
• Citizen Vince (print) -- another book club selection
• Also a Poet (print) -- a memoir 
• 10 Little Tractors (print) --- yes, I am counting a board book.
• When My Brother was an Aztec (print) --- poetry
• The Road (audio) --- part of my Pulitzer Project
• I Hope This Finds You Well (audio) --- Poetry
• The Marriage Portrait (audio) --- yet another book club selection.
  

Five of the books I hope to get to on this readathon.

 

Updates:

End of day #1, Thursday. My progress:

-Hours spend reading/writing reviews: 7 hours, 50 minutes

• Writing blog review of The Beekeeper of Aleppo --- 1 hr.
  
• Audiobook listening of I Hope This Finds You Well -- 50 minutes, finished.
• Audiobook listening of The Count of Monte Cristo -- 1 1/2 hours, up to page 310, 24% complete.
• Audiobook listening of The Dictionary of Lost Words -- 2 1/2 hours, up to page 161, 42% complete.
• Read The Opposite of Loneliness -- 1 hr., up to page 83, 40% complete
• Read When My Brother Was An Aztec -- 25 minutes, up to page 31, 30% complete
• Read 10 Little Tractors (Board book) -- 5 minutes, finished! (Reviewed on Goodreads)
• Read The Bible -- 30 minutes
  

End of day #2, Friday. My progress: 5 hours, 30 minutes

• Audiobook listening of The Count of Monte Cristo -- 1 1/2 hours, up to page 343, 27% complete.
• Audiobook listening of The Dictionary of Lost Words -- 2 1/2 hours, up to page 226, 59% complete.
• Read The Opposite of Loneliness -- 1 hr., up to page 111, 53% complete
• Read When My Brother Was An Aztec -- 30 minutes, up to page 73, 73% complete 

End of day #3, Saturday. My progress: 6 hours, 45 minutes

• Writing blog review for I Hope This Finds You Well -- 1 hour
• Writing blog review for The Opposite of Loneliness -- 45 minutes
• Audiobook listening of The Dictionary of Lost Words -- 45 minutes, up to page 250, 65% complete.
• Read The Opposite of Loneliness --1 hour and 15 minutes, finished.
• Read When My Brother Was An Aztec -- 15 minutes, finished.
• Read The Count of Monte Cristo -- 30 minutes, up to page 360, 28% complete.
• Read e-book of Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life (I added this to my reading list last night after a recommendation from Deb Nance at ReaderBuzz) -- 1.5 hours, up to the letter D, 33% complete.
• Read The Bible -- 45 minutes

End of day #4, Sunday: 3 1/2 hours.

• Audiobook listening of The Dictionary of Lost Words --  1 hour and 45 minutes, up to page 322, 84% complete.
• Read e-book of Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life -- 1.5 hours, up to the letter U, 87% complete.
• Read Citizen Vince -- 15 minutes, page 15, 5% complete.

Wrap up:  

• I read or wrote review blogs for 23 hours and 35 minutes toward my goal of 24 hours. Not bad. Sunday was a challenge with church and then a play up in Seattle. I actually worked pretty hard to scrunch in 3 1/2 hours.
• I finished 4 books, but one of them was a board book. Ha! I wrote blog reviews for two of them, plus a blog review that was pending when the challenge started, plus two Goodread reviews, which are always shorted and less thought out than the ones I write on my blog.
• I am within striking distance on two other books, The Dictionary of Lost Words and Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life. I should finish both of these on Monday, no problem.
• I didn't achieve my 100 page goal of The Count of Monte Cristo, but did make progress and I have been super generous with myself with a a completion goal of December. So I am sure I'll get it done eventually.
• The books I finished:
• The Opposite of Loneliness (print)
  
• 10 Little Tractors (print) --- yes, a board book.
• When My Brother was an Aztec (print) --- poetry
• I Hope This Finds You Well (audio) --- Poetry
   
• The books I am still hoping to read soon:
• The Count of Monte Cristo (Audio and Print) -- Currently on page 360, 28% complete.
  
• The Dictionary of Lost Words (audio) -- Currently on page 322, 84% complete.
  
• The Book of Delights (print)
• Citizen Vince (print) -- Currently on page 15, 5% complete.
  
• Also a Poet (print) -- a memoir 
• The Road (audio) 
• The Marriage Portrait (audio) 
• Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life (e-book) -- on page 304 of 348, 87% complete
   
• As per usual after I complete one of these readathon thingys I am feeling good and more determined than ever to keep myself on track moving forward. But this feeling may be fleeting. I just received notice that I have two more books waiting for me at the library.
  

-Anne

Blog-n-readathon

Today I am embarking on a personal 24-hour read and blog event. My goal ultimately is to jar loose my reading slump and get me over the hump on several books which are dragging me down.

How I hope to accomplish this event:

• Complete 24 hours and reading and writing reviews in at least four days. That is an average of six hours a day, which is totally doable even for this pokey reader.
• Complete or make progress on all the books I am currently working on:
• The Heart of American Poetry. Print. Currently at 39%.
  
• The Grapes of Wrath. Print and Audio. Currently at 40%.
  
• Beach Reads. Print. Currently at 46%.
  
• The Girl In His Shadow. Audio. Currently at 58%
• Lessons in Chemistry. Audio. Currently at 13%
• Maus. Print. (I just got it from the library after being in the queue for almost 6 months.)
   
• Write reviews for the books I do complete and for the two books I've recently completed but have reviewed, yet.
• The Immortalists
• The Violin Conspiracy
   

I take my inspiration from my husband who decided to finish a book which he'd been working on all summer. He sat down yesterday and did it with almost blind determination. 

I will check back in here once a day with an update of daily progress.

Day 1, Thursday, August 4th update:

• Hours reading or blogging: 7 1/2 hours
• The Heart of American Poetry. Print. Currently at 55% (+16%).
  
• The Grapes of Wrath. Print and Audio. Currently at 44%. (+4%)
  
• Beach Reads. Print. Currently at 55% (+9%).
  
• The Girl In His Shadow. Audio. Currently at 67% (+9%)
  
• Lessons in Chemistry. Audio. Currently at 40% (+27%)
  
• Maus. Print. Currently at 25%. (+25%)
  
• Wrote and published a review for The Immortalists.
   

Day 2, Friday, August 5th update:

• Hours reading or blogging: 6 hours
• The Heart of American Poetry. Print. Currently at 62% (+7%).
  
• The Grapes of Wrath. Print and Audio. Currently at 52%. (+9%)
  
• Beach Reads. Print. Currently at 79% (+24%).
  
• The Girl In His Shadow. Audio. Currently at 75% (+9%)
  
• Lessons in Chemistry. Audio. Currently at 50% (+10%)
  
• Maus. Print. Currently at 45%. (+20%)
• In addition, I read the children's book which won the Caldecott Award in 2022: Watercress.
  

Day 3, Saturday, August 6th update:

• Hours reading or blogging: 4 1/2 hours ( I had some fairly serious commitments which impacted my inability to read as much as I wanted.)
  
• The Heart of American Poetry. Print. Currently at 72% (+10).
  
• The Grapes of Wrath. Print and Audio. Currently at 52%. (No progress)
  
• Beach Reads. Print. Currently at 79% (No progress).
  
• The Girl In His Shadow. Audio. Currently at 75% (No progress)
  
• Lessons in Chemistry. Audio. Currently at 73% (+23%)
  
• Maus. Print. Currently at 58%. (+13%)

 

Day 4, Sunday, August 7th update:

• Hours reading or blogging: 5 1/2 hours ( The sunny day called out to us and we spent the afternoon at the lake with our grandsons.)
  
• The Heart of American Poetry. Print. Currently at 79% (+7).
  
• The Grapes of Wrath. Print and Audio. Currently at 52%. (No progress today)
  
• Beach Reads. Print. Currently at 100% (Complete!).
  
• The Girl In His Shadow. Audio. Currently at 100% (Complete!)
  
• Lessons in Chemistry. Audio. Currently at 73% (No progress)
  
• Maus. Print. Currently at 80%. (+22%)

Finale:

• I read/blogged for 23 1/2 hours over a four day period of time. The weather and other commitments called out to me so I couldn't devote all my time to reading during each day.
• Of the seven books, I made progress on all and completed three:
• The Heart of American Poetry. Print. Currently at 79% (+40% total progress).
  
• The Grapes of Wrath. Print and Audio. Currently at 52%. (+12%  total progress)
  
• Beach Reads. Print. Currently at 100% (Complete, 54% of the book read during readathon).
  
• The Girl In His Shadow. Audio. Currently at 100% (Complete, 50% read during blogathon)
  
• Lessons in Chemistry. Audio. Currently at 73% (+60% total progress)
  
• Maus. Print. Currently at 80%. (+80% total progress)
• Watercress. Complete!
   
• Blogging reviews. One complete, one in the works.
• My thoughts: seven books is too many books to work on at once, even for me. That is especially true when three of them are audiobooks. I will finish up Lessons in Chemistry tomorrow as it is due so I'm in a race to complete it before it disappears off my device. I also bet I will finish Maus in a few days since I'm on a roll. That will leave me room and time to turn my attention on The Grapes of Wrath, my Classics Club spin book, and The Heart of American Poetry, which I can't read quickly since it is like reading a textbook. I've got momentum on my side, finally.
  

-Anne

Dewey 24-Hour Readathon Wrap-up

It almost doesn't count, me participating in scheduled/named readathons because I do not interact with other readers during the event. I just read. And I break the rules. I try to read for 24-hours and I keep reading until I hit that mark, even if it takes me days. I should call it the 'Anne Readathon.' I am almost done. I managed to read somewhere between 22-23 hours over the course of four days. Ha! Not as impressive as it sounds at first glance, huh? What is the daily average? 5.62-5.75 hours, which is a whole lot more reading per day than I usually do. 

Here is the down of what I accomplished.

Books I started before the readathon and completed during it:

1. Saving My Enemy: How Two WWII Soldiers Fought Against Each Other and Later Forged a Friendship That Saved Their Lives by Bob Welch. (Print)
• I had barely started the book before Friday starting from page10. Pages read during readathon: 370.
  
2. Dune by Frank Herbert (Audiobook)
• I'd been listening to the audiobook for a month and was somewhere around page 580 when I started the event. Equivalent pages read/listened to during the event: 310.
  
3. The Atlas of Happiness: The Global Secrets of How to Be Happy by Helen Russell. (Print)
•  I was on page 206 when the event started. Pages completed: 82.
• Total pages: 762

Books I read in entirety: 

1. Fred Rogers: The Last Interview and Other Conversations. (Print) Pages: 97.
   
2. His Day is Done: A Nelson Mandela Tribute by Maya Angelou (Print poetry) Pages: 43.
   
3. Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass by Lana Del Ray (Print poetry) Pages: 128.
   
4. Scribbled in the Dark by Charles Simic (Print poetry) Pages: 72.
   
5. I Can't Talk About the Trees Without the Blood by Tiana Clark (Print poetry) Pages: 112.
   
6. We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom, illustrated by Michaela Goade (Print children's book) Pages: 40.
• Total pages: 492
  

Books I started but didn't complete/progress made:

1. The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare. (Audiobook). I started the event at 9% now I'm at 52% on the audio settings. Page equivalency: from 33 to 192=159.
2. Postcolonial Love Poem by Natalie Diaz. (Print). Pages read: 34.
3. The Metamorphosis and Other Stories by Franz Kafka. Pages read: 10.
4. "Bonnie's Big Day", James Herriot's Treasury for Children (Print children's book). Pages read: 32.
• Total pages: 235
• Grand total: 1489
• That averages to 66 pages per hour, which doesn't sound like that much but listening to audiobooks is much slower than reading, usually around 32-25 pages per hour. (I was going to figure out the adjusted pages per hour if I back them out, but I can't figure out the math. Ha!)
  

I like to do these 'readathons' when I am feeling swamped by the number of books I have in a queue. Those books tend to call out to me and it can get pretty noisy when there are a lot of books waiting. Even though I finished nine books during the event, I still have five books waiting to be read/finished. Guess I should just keep going!😄

-Anne

April Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon

I've decided to participate in the April Dewey's 24-hour readathon this weekend, with modifications:

1. Instead of attempting to read for 24 hours in one day, which would involve staying up all night, I will attempt to read 24 hours during the weekend.

2. I will update my progress on this page, not create separate pages every time I post about my progress. Follow my progress below. I will attempt to update at 6-8 hour intervals.

3. My list of hopefuls:

• The Only Woman in the Room by Marie Benedict is for an upcoming book club. Print. Current progress 0%.
  
• The Girl with the Louding Voice by Dare is for another upcoming book club. Audio. Current progress 9%.
  
• Dune by Frank Herbert is my 2021 only reading goal. Audio and or e-book. Current progress 68%.
• Saving My Enemy by Bob Welch. He has asked me to preview his book. Print. Progress 5%.
• Metamorphosis and Other Stories by Kafka. My Classics Club spin book. Print. Progress 0%.
• The Atlas of Happiness by Russell. Progress 75%
• Fred Rogers: The Last Interview and Other Conversations. Progress 0%
  
• I've requested "Grab bag" poetry books from the library, allowing the librarian to surprise me with the selections. I hope to read one or more of these. Print. (See #5 below)
  

4. Want to join yourself? Here is the linkup spot: Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon  

5. I just got home from the public library. In addition to the books I requested I asked for a 'Grab bag' of poetry books for adults. These are the treasures that were sent home with me:

1. His Day is Done: A Nelson Mandela Tribute by Maya Angelou
2. The Ancient Mariner by David Jones
3. Postcolonial Love Poem by Natalie Diaz 
4. Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass by Lana Del Ray
5. Scribbled in the Dark by Charles Simic
6. I Can't Talk About the Trees Without the Blood by Tiana Clark

First Update: Saturday morning, 9 AM. 

• Yesterday (and this morning) I figure I read/listened for about six hours worth of reading. Finished: His Day is Done: a Nelson Mandela Tribute; Scribbled in the Dark; We Are Water Protectors; The Atlas of Happiness. Progress made on Dune; Saving My Enemy; Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass.
  

Second update: Saturday evening, 7 PM. 

• I had a few unexpected interruptions today, most of them pleasant, that kept me from reading as much as I had hoped. I figure that I managed another 5 hours worth of reading since my last update. Finished:  Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass, Fred Rogers: The Last Interview and Other Conversations, and Dune. Progress made: Saving My Enemy.
  

Third update: Sunday morning, 9 AM.

• The family gathered to watch another Academy Award nominated film, The Sound of Metal, last night so I got little reading done after my last update but I got up early and have managed another 2 1/2 -3 hours of reading. Progress made: Saving My Enemy; Postcolonial Love Poem; I Can't Talk About the Trees Without the Blood. I started The Metamorphosis and Other Stories by reading some of the introductory material but found myself not that interested in the minute details of Kafka's writing style so I skipped ahead and began reading the first short story in the collection, "Meditation." My eldest daughter and her young family are visiting us this afternoon so it seems unlikely I will accomplish my goal of reading for 24 hours over the course of three days so I may have to stretch out into Monday.😔

Fourth update: Monday morning, 9 AM.

• I got little reading done yesterday with a three-year-old and a baby in the house. The whole day I tried to tuck in a little reading here and there and managed to cobble together 3-3 1/2 hours during the last 24-hours. That brings my total reading hours from Friday until today to 17 hours. But I am determined to finish this task of reading for a full 24-hours, even though it is really just reading. Ha! Finished: I Can't Talk About the Trees Without the Blood. Progress made: Saving My Enemy and The Girl with the Louding Voice.

Fifth update: Monday evening, 9 PM.

• I spent the majority of the day either reading or listening and managed to scrunch in 5 1/2 hours of reading in between life. I will likely read for another 1/2 hour before going to bed, so let's say 6 hours since the last update. That means I managed to read/listen for 23-hours over the past four days. Finished: Saving My Enemy. Progress made: The Girl With the Louding Voice and Postcolonial Love Poem.
  

 I'll write a wrap-up post tomorrow.

-Anne

24in48 Social Distancing Readathon

It is a perfect time for another readathon. Join me and others in reading for 24 hours over the course of of the next five days. That is the way I am modifying this event: Starting now until midnight on March 22nd, I hope to read for a total of 24 hours, which averages to a little less than five hours a day.

Let's get started!

First: Sign up here: 24in48 The Social Distancing Edition

Second: List of books you hope to read. Here is my list:

• All the Songs: The Stories Behind Every Beatles Song (At 650+pages I doubt I'll finish. I'm currently on page 40.)
• I Am Half-Sick of Shadows (Audiobook, I'm midway through the second disc of six. Since I plan on walking the dog everyday of this challenge, I know I can complete this one.)
• Nanaville: Adventures in Grandparenting (I am already through 40% of this short book, with less than 100 pages to go.)
• Lonesome Dove (Another long book, over 850 pages, I just hope to make some good, solid progress on it.)
• A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (By the nature of this book, written by Mr. Rogers, it doesn't lend itself to long-reading sessions. I'm currently on page 35. I hope to at least double that page count.)
• The Testaments (Audiobook. I hope to start and make some progress on this library owned copy before it returns itself automatically.)
• Others? Who knows what I may be able to get to.

Third: Make a plan for reporting progress
---I will report and update right here on this post every night before going to bed. My report will include:

• Time spent reading throughout the day
•  Progress made on books
• Any funny anecdotes or quotes I want to remember

Easy peasy!

Wednesday progress:

• 4 hours and ten minutes
• All the Songs---1 1/2 hours; up to page 110
• I Am Half-Sick---1 1/2 hours; at the half-way point. the murder just happened
• Lonesome Dove---15 minutes, up to page 60
• Nanaville---15 minutes, up to page 79
• Embraced---10 minutes. This is one of several devotionals I am reading right now.
• I had to take the dog to see the vet today. He has two scratches on his eye. How did that happen?

Thursday progress:

• 5 hours and 20 minutes. Two day total: 9 1/2 hours
• All the Songs---1 hour; up to page 180
• I Am Half-Sick---3 hours, 40 minutes. Completed the audiobook.
• Lonesome Dove---30 minutes; up to page 82.
• Devotional---10 minutes
• I marked and listened to previews of all the Beatles Songs I didn't recognize by name that I was reading about. I did recognize them all once I heard them.

Friday progress:

• 4 hours and 47 minutes. Three day total: 14 hours and 17 minutes
• All the Songs---1 hour; up to page 270
• Lonesome Dove---45 minutes; up to page 110
• Devotionals---20 minutes
• A Beautiful Day---45 minutes; up to page 59, plus a reread of the article "Can You Say...Hero?"
• The Testaments---1 hour and 52 minutes
• I listened to the audiobook of The Testaments as I worked a jigsaw puzzle. Later we watched the movie about Mr. Rogers that was the basis for the article,  "Can You Say...Hero?"

Saturday progress:

• 4 hours and 52 minutes. Four day total: 19 hours and 9 minutes
• All the Songs---2 hours; up to page 377
• Devotionals---10 minutes
• A Beautiful Day---30 minutes
• Nanaville---30 minutes
• The Testaments---1 hours and 42 minutes, on the fourth disc
• We walked the dog to a nearby park and walked the whole exercise circuit. Quote from Nanaville: "There are only two commandments of Nanaville: love the grandchildren and hold your tongue." 

Sunday progress:

• 5 hours and 35 minutes; total for five days: 24 hours and 48 minutes
• The Testaments---3 hours and 10 minutes, on the seventh disc
• A Beautiful Day---15 minutes, got to page 70
• Nanaville---finished the book after reading for one hour
• All the Songs--- 1 hour, up to page 410
• Devotionals---10 minutes 

Wrap up:

• I finished two books: I'm Half-Sick of Shadows and Nanaville, as I predicted
• I doubled my pages on A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, which was my goal.
• The Beatles book, All the Songs, is a tome of a book and it sat on my island counter all weekend. I just finished reading about the creation of the songs for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, at page 410.
• This is the third time I've checked out The Testments from the library and I am so relieved to finally have a good start of it, over half-way. I know it will be finished before it automatically returns in a few days.
• My one disappointment of the readathon is I didn't really get a good chunk of Lonesome Dove read. It is a LONG book and I was hoping for at least 25% completion but I barely passed 10%. Alas, it kept getting shoved aside by the others.

Join me? 
-Anne

Blog-n-Readathon

Final Update on my Blog-n-readathon:

I attempted to read and blog for 24 hours over a 5 day period. I actually logged over 20 hours.

Books read:
A. Mother Daughter Me: completed, e-book
B. Akata Witch: completed, audiobook
C. The 13 Clocks: start to finish complete, print
D. Ask Again, Yes: completed, audiobook
E. Inland: started, audiobook, 20%
F. Brave Face: started, print, less than 10%
G. Called: read two chapters, print and e-book

Blog posts written:
-The 13 Clocks
-Ask Again, Yes
-Akata Witch (incomplete and not posted yet)

I averaged 9628 steps each of the days (I walked over 10,000 steps four of the five days.)

I didn't get a blackout on the BINGO game but did pretty well. (Letters correspond to book letters above.)

Overall, I did what I set out to do...get my reading and blogging groove back!

My Own Readathon/Blogathon

I  missed the Dewey 24-Hour Read-a-thon last week-end so I've decided to make my own. 

Here is what I plan to do:

1. Read and blog for 24-hours over the next five days. Keep a log of the hours.

2. Walk or exercise for at least 10,000 steps each of these days, too. (Which will mean a lot of audiobook hours logged.)

3. Attempt to get a blackout on the Dewey BINGO form (See below)

4. For each book completed, write a blog review for it. Even if very short.

Possible books:

Yes Again, Yes (audiobook)

Inland (audiobook)

Mother Daughter Me (e-book)

Called (e-book)

Brave Face

The Thirteen Clocks

Christie

Stay Tuned!

24 in 48

24in48.com

Q: How does 24 in 48 work? Do I have to read 24 books in 48 hours? 

A: 24 is for the number of hours, not the number of books! Over the course of 48 hours, you challenge yourself to read for 24 of those hours. This can mean reading 12 hours each day, 20 hours one day and 4 hours the next, or 24 hours straight. However the scheduling works best for you! 

Q: When is the next readathon?

A: Mark your calendar for January  26-27, 2019! [I'm in!]

Q: How can I participate? 

A: Make sure you’ve signed up for the next readathon on the sign-up post, and include your main participation location and email. That location can be your own blog, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Litsy, etc. but you also don’t have to have an internet presence to participate. You can just sign up and that’s it! You’re participating.

But if you’d like to do more, you can use the hashtag #24in48 on all of those social media outlets to keep up with fellow readathon-ers, as well as check in to this blog as well as Twitter, Instagram, and Litsy during the ‘thon to take part in challenges, answer questions, and maybe win some stuff. [I am pretty bad about using any social media other than Facebook and this blog. Expect to see my updates here on Head Full of Books.]

Q: Do I have to read for a full 24 hours? 

A: This is the goal, but many people don’t quite make it. Which is fine! The point of the 24in48 readathon is to dedicate a weekend to reading (while still allowing time for sleep and/or brunch and/or exercising and/or whatever else you might have going on in a normal weekend). You’re free to customize the readathon to best fit your life, and we encourage you to sign up if you plan to participate in any way, even if you know you won’t be able to fit in a full 24 hours! (You aren’t eligible for prizes if you don’t sign up.) [I will be tweaking my participation to include 4 hours on Friday because I have already scheduled a four-hour event on Saturday and I don't think I will be able to finish otherwise, since I am a person who needs to actually sleep.]

Q: Do ebooks or audiobooks count?

A: Absolutely! It doesn’t matter what format you consume your books, just the hours you spend doing so. [Good. I will be driving part of the time of the readathon, so I will listen to an audiobook as I drive.]

Q: What do I hope to read?

• Finish audiobook: Becoming by Michelle Obama. (I have about 8 hours left to go.)
• Start audiobook: Where Crawdads Sing by Delia Owen
• Finish: The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah [print] (I have about 125 pages left to finish up.)
• Finish: Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys [print] (I just started this book last night , so essentially have the whole book to read.)
• Continue reading: Fear by Bob Woodward [e-book] (I abandoned this book so many months ago I can't remember where I am in it.)
• Continue reading: She Walks in Beauty by Caroline Kennedy [print] (Poetry. I will aim for just reading some of it.)
• If time allows, start: Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah [print] or
• We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Blog-n-Readathon, the wrap up

Today I spent 12 hours reading and blogging on my own personal Blog-n-Readathon. I set myself some pretty lofty goals. How did I do? The red ink is today's progress. I feel pretty great about the day. See what you think.

What I hope to read (all or some):

• Facing Frederick: The Life of Frederick Douglass by Tonya Bolden...I am currently 60% finished with the book and hope to complete it. Completed this book.
• Devotions by Mary Oliver...This is a tome of a poetry book. I will be happy to read a few more pages. I am currently at 32% and would be happy if I get to 40% or so. I read quite a few poems and am now at 44% in the book.
• Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan...I just started this audiobook yesterday and I have over 14 hours of listening ahead of me on this one. I will listen to this while I exercise and my goal is to complete at least an hour of it. I went for a long walk, getting more than 4000 steps on my fitbit, and listened to over an hour of the book bringing me to 25%.
• Chasing King's Killer: The Hunt for Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Assassin by James Swanson...this week marks the fiftieth anniversary of the assassination of MLK. Tomorrow I hope to read the whole thing. I did it! I finished it.
• The Land of Permanent Goodbyes  by Atia Abawi...another library book I have in my possession which I haven't started. Will I have time to start it tomorrow? No, though I hope to read the first chapter before bed tonight.
• Russian Roulette: The Inside Story of Putin's War on America and the Election of Donald Trump by Michael Isikoff and David Corn... I'll pick the book up today and hope to at least peek at it tomorrow, but I have to pick it up from the library first. I did get the book picked up from the library and read the first chapter.
• The Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula LeGuin...I hope to at least get this one downloaded to my Kindle. Whether I start it is doubtful looking at the list of books ahead of it. I did download it onto the Kindle and then read the first chapter. In the future I will have to read this during the day while my hubby is at work, since he has hijacked my Kindle at night to read a book that I purchased.

Blogging goals:

• There are six books I haven't reviewed that I still hope/want to. 
• Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng---we just had our book club discussion on this book on Wednesday and I want to review it before my thoughts fade. This is my prime blogging objective tomorrow. No.
• Ready Player One by Ernest Cline---I just finished re-listening to this audiobook. I want to dig up my original review and add a few notes based on my current thoughts and republish it. Yes and it is posted already.
• Emma: A Modern Retelling and Pride and Prejudice: a Modern Retelling---both books were part of the Austen Project, written by modern authors. I think I'd like to explore the project's goals and plans and write about that, while including a few notes of review about the two books I have read from it. Yes and this will post on Wednesday.
• Dear Fahrenheit 451: Love and Heartbreak in the Stacks by Annie Spence---I listened to this audiobook and decided I needed to wait to get my hands on the print edition before I could write my review. I am currently 25th in line at the library. Don't expect anything about this book from my efforts tomorrow. I still don't have the book, so no.
• Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks---I have fairly complicated feelings about this book and find myself at a loss for where I would start on a review of it. With enough time, perhaps tomorrow will give me a chance to start the process of putting those thoughts down in words. I read three different reviews by the NYT, NPR, and The Washington Post. I am ready to start my own review.
• I actually got some additional blogging done and have several posts started, though not completed.

What I will and won't do tomorrow:

• I will read and blog. ✔
• I won't update you on my progress throughout the day. ✔, in fact I mostly avoided the Internet all day unless I was updating my progress on Goodreads, doing research for my blog or this post.
• I will do a final blog post which highlights my progress on my goals. ✔
• I won't feel guilty if I don't get as much done as I have outlined here. I recognize I have an impossibly high list of goals to accomplish. ✔, I actually feel very satisfied. I got a lot done and feel unstuck on my blogging.
• I will congratulate myself on what I do get done. ✔, the irony, of course, with reading and blogging days is the more one reads then more one has to blog. Now I'm behind again.  Ha!
• In addition, during the day I paid attention to my physical needs and would spend at least ten minutes of every hour doing some sort of physical activity whether it was doing WiiFit activities, dancing around the room to oldies, dusting, making the bed, whatever it was I just wanted movement. AND I got my 10,000 steps for the day! Bonus.

Want to do your own Blog-n-readathon?

• Want to spend a day reading and blogging for yourself, no one else?
• It's easy. Pick a day, any day. Make an original blog post, like mine. Let me know the date you pick by leaving a note in the comments below and I will hop over and give you a word of encouragement.

Blog-n-Readathon...April 3. Get ready.

Tomorrow I am conducting my very own Blog-n-Readathon. I plan to spend the whole day either reading or catching up on my blogging goals.

What I hope to read (all or some):

• Facing Frederick: The Life of Frederick Douglass by Tonya Bolden...I am currently 60% finished with the book and hope to complete it.
• Devotions by Mary Oliver...This is a tome of a poetry book. I will be happy to read a few more pages. I am currently at 32% and would be happy if I get to 40% or so. One needn't read a poetry book fast. I want to relish the poems I do read. So no hurry on this one.
• Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan...I just started this audiobook yesterday and I have over 14 hours of listening ahead of me on this one. I will listen to this while I exercise and my goal is to complete at least an hour of it.
• Chasing King's Killer: The Hunt for Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Assassin by James Swanson...this week marks the fiftieth anniversary of the assassination of MLK. I've had this book checked out from the library for the past three weeks and I haven't cracked it open. Tomorrow I hope to read the whole thing.
• The Land of Permanent Goodbyes  by Atia Abawi...another library book I have in my possession which I haven't started. Will I have time to start it tomorrow?
• Russian Roulette: The Inside Story of Putin's War on America and the Election of Donald Trump by Michael Isikoff and David Corn...I put myself in line to get this book from the library as soon as it was published a few weeks ago. The library just notified me that it is my turn. I'll pick the book up today and hope to at least peek at it tomorrow, but I have to pick it up from the library first.
• The Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula LeGuin...When this famous author died two months ago I determined that I should read something by her. I placed a hold on the first book in one of her leading series, The Earthsea Cycle, and I was just notified the the e-book has been checked out to me automatically. I hope to at least get this one downloaded to my Kindle. Whether I start it is doubtful looking at the list of books ahead of it.

Blogging goals:

• I just looked over the list of books I've read so far in 2018. There are six books I haven't reviewed that I still hope/want to. 
• Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng---we just had our book club discussion on this book on Wednesday and I want to review it before my thoughts fade. This is my prime blogging objective tomorrow.
• Ready Player One by Ernest Cline---I just finished re-listening to this audiobook. I want to dig up my original review and add a few notes based on my current thoughts and republish it.
• Emma: A Modern Retelling and Pride and Prejudice: a Modern Retelling---both books were part of the Austen Project, written by modern authors. I think I'd like to explore the project's goals and plans and write about that, while including a few notes of review about the two books I have read from it.
• Dear Fahrenheit 451: Love and Heartbreak in the Stacks by Annie Spence---I listened to this audiobook and decided I needed to wait to get my hands on the print edition before I could write my review. I am currently 25th in line at the library. Don't expect anything about this book from my efforts tomorrow.
• Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks---I have fairly complicated feelings about this book and find myself at a loss for where I would start on a review of it. With enough time, perhaps tomorrow will give me a chance to start the process of putting those thoughts down in words. Unlikely you will see any of them soon, however.

What I will and won't do tomorrow:

• I will read and blog.
• I won't update you on my progress throughout the day.
• I will do a final blog post which highlights my progress on my goals.
• I won't feel guilty if I don't get as much done as I have outlined here. I recognize I have an impossibly high list of goals to accomplish.
• I will congratulate myself on what I do get done.

Join me?

• Want to spend a day reading and blogging for yourself, no one else?
• It's easy. Pick a day. Make an original blog post, like mine. Let me know the date you pick by leaving a note in the comments below and I will hop over and give you a word of encouragement.

 

Modified Blog-n-Readathon

Today I am home sick from school again. I have an ear infection which causes me to be dizzy and amplifies sounds in my head. If I am sitting around I am fine, as long as there is no loud sounds, so I decided to spend the day reading and blogging. I am so far behind on my book reviews, it is ridiculous. Plus, I have several books I need to return to the library. I want to finish them before they are due. So I am challenging myself to a twelve-hour blog-n-readathon.

With that said, here is my plan---I will divide my time between blogging and reading. I figure I have about 11 hours today that should be uninterrupted time. Don has an afternoon meeting and a dinner to attend afterwards. By the time he gets home I hope to have finished two books: The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly and This Is How It Always Is. If I finish those books I will start Wolf by Wolf, which has been on my TBR pile all school year. In terms of blogging, I have at least six, probably more, books I want to review which I have read recently but just not had the time to review.  That should fill up my day nicely!

I'm off to read and blog.Talk to you later!

Update:
I finished two books: The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly and This Is How It Always Is.
I started another audiobook: We Are Okay by LaCour
I wrote three blog post reviews: Lab Girl, The Hate U Give, and Undefeated.
Better yet, I have broken though my stubbornness at not wanting to write reviews. Yay!

The 24-hour-Blog-n-Readathon Finale

The 24-Hour Blog-n-Readathon results.

How I spent my time over the past three days, reading and blogging:

Time                                 Hours/Running total	Activity
4:00-6:30 PM Thursday                         2.5/2.5	Finished In the Shadow of the Banyan
6:30-8:30                                                   2/4.5	Started Little Women Audiobook, listened for over an hour before realizing it had skipped to chapter four at the start, so went back and read the first four chapters.
10:30-11:00 PM                                        .5/5	Read Little Women before turning off the lights
8:15-10:15 AM  Friday                               2/7	Read MARCH 3
11:00-11:15 AM                                     .25/7.25	Listened to Songs of Willow Frost by Jamie Ford. I had intended to continue listening to Little Women but for some reason it is not on my iPod as I had thought.
11:45-12:15 PM                                       .5/7.75	Finished MARCH 3
12:15-1:00                                              .75/8.5	Wrote blog review of Lucy and Linh, linked here
1:15-2:15                                                   1/9.5	Listened to Little Women
2:15-3:00                                               .75/10.25	Wrote blog review for Still Life with Tornado, scheduled it for Saturday publication. Linked Here
3:20-3:50                                                 .5/10.75	Listened to Little Women
4:00-4:15; 6:15-6:30                               .5/11.25	Listened to Songs of Willow Frost as I was driving.
5:45-6:15                                                 .5/11.75	Started Vassa in the Night while eating dinner at Taco Del Mar (fish tacos, oh yum)
6:45-7:15                                                 .5/12.25	Listened to Little Women (up to page 140)
7:15-8:15                                                  1/13.25	Wrote blog review of The Reader, scheduled it for publication on Sunday. Linked here.
8:15-9:00                                                  .75/14	Read Vassa in the Night. Not sure I will continue, very strange.
10:00-11:30                                             1.5/15.5	Listened to Little Women (pg 180)
8:15-8:30 AM Saturday                        .25/15.75	Listened to Songs of Willow Frost while driving
9:00-11:00                                                2/17.75	Read Vassa in the Night (pg 101); Listened to Little Women (pg 220)
11:00-11:45                                            .75/18.5	Wrote blog review of Railhead, scheduled it for publication on Monday.
4:30-5:30 PM                                             1/19.5	Read Vassa in the Night, getting stranger but I will likely finish it. (pg 162)
6:15-7:15                                                   1/20.5	Wrote blog review of Flannery, scheduled for Tuesday publication.
10:00-10:30                                                .5/21	Started blog review, several short reviews combined into one, but decided I needed to go to bed. Only three hours left. I will finish tomorrow.
8:00-9:30 Sunday AM                            1.5/22.5	Read Vassa in the Night (pg. 253)
10:15-10:30                                           .25/22.75	Listened to Songs of Willow Frost (I was driving again!)
12:00-1:00 PM                                         1/23.75	Listened to Little Women. Got to the end of Part 1, pg 246. Listened to the end of disc one of Song of Willow Frost (pg. 36)
1:40-1:55                                              .25/24!!!!	Finished writing blog reviews of three books: The Girl in the Blue Coat, The Last Boy and Girl in the World, On the Edge of Gone, ready for publication on Wednesday.

To summarize, in case you don't want to read my 24 hour blow by blow:

Books read:

• In the Shadow of the Banyan by V. Rattney. I completed this book which I had started before the weekend event. 
• MARCH 3 by John Lewis. A graphic biography of the famous Civil Rights Leader. This is the third and last book in the series.
• Little Women by L.M. Alcott. I read half the book (mostly listened to the audiobook) and got to the end of Part One. The book was originally published in two parts. 
• Songs of Willow Frost by Jamie Ford. An upcoming book club selection. I hadn't thought I'd listen to any of this book this weekend but I couldn't get Little Women transferred on to my iPod, so I started it. Progress: 11%
• Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter. A weird YA novel which is a retelling of the Russian Fairy Tale Vassilissa the Beautiful, which I am not familiar. The first 50 100 pages are so strange it is a wonder I read on. I hope to finish it this afternoon. Progress: 85%.

Blog Reviews written (some aren't published yet, to spread them out):

• Lucy and Linh by Alice Pung
• Still Life With Tornado by A.S. King
• The Reader by Traci Chee
• Railhead by Philip Reeve
• Flannery by Lisa Moore
• Three in one: The Last Boy and Girl in the World by S. Vivian; The Girl with the Blue Coat by M. Hesse; On the Edge of Gone by C. Duyvis

If momentum is in my favor, I hope to get these done in the next few days:

• Write a blog review of the first half of Little Women and continue reading it with the goal of finishing it by December 1st.
• Write a blog review of MARCH 3
• Finish reading Vassa in the Night and complete a blog review of it immediately afterwards. I hope to accomplish this by the end of today.

Lest you think I did nothing but read and blog all weekend, I also

• Went shopping twice, once for new clothes, and once for groceries
• Went to church
• Hung out with my daughter, made cookies, and watched Sense and Sensibility together
• Watched UO Football game and when it got really lopsided in the score, watched the WSU game instead.
• Took the dog to the Vet.
• Went out to eat. OK, so it was only fish tacos at Taco del Mar, but still it was away from home.
• Attempted to get some lab work done but realized I didn't have the correct paperwork with me. I'll try again next weekend.
• Scheduled appointments
• Tidied the house

All-in-all I accomplished what I set out to do and I am pleased with the weekend.