Some things never change. The sun comes up. Fall turns to winter. The tulips bloom in the spring. And Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-A-Thon happens every April and October. Yesterday I joined hundreds of other readers to celebrate this event. Anyone who says reading is dead really needs to come out for the Read-a-Thon. Not only did more than 400 readers show up (and 69 cheerleaders), but hundreds of pages were turned and hundreds of books were read.

Many, many thanks to the folks who work hard to put on this event, and a special thanks to those who sign up as cheerleaders. Those positive comments really do help! Actually, thank you to EVERYONE who dropped by and left me a comment. Although I wasn’t responding to comments, for the most part, I really did appreciate your visits!

I had a goal to participate through hour 20 – and I managed to do that without too much difficulty (I went to bed at 1:00 am). Here are my end of event stats:

• Number of hours participated: 20
• Number of hours actually reading: 10.78  hours
• Number of hours blogging: 5.86 hours
• Number of hours visiting other bloggers: 1.92 hours
• Number of bloggers who I visited and left a comment: 38 (a record for me)
• Amount of time I spent eating, taking a shower, taking a walk, or just resting my eyes: 1.44 hours
• Total Number of Mini Challenges Completed: 13 (another personal record)
• Pages Read: 603

Books I completed:

• The Marriage Artist by Andrew Winer
• Love at First Bark by Julie Klam
• Solitaria by Genni Gunn (this was a book I had started prior to the read-a-thon and I finished it during the read-a-thon)

I will have reviews of all of these books up this week.

Here is the End of the Event Meme:

Which hour was most daunting for you?

Actually the first and second hours. My start time was 5:00 am and I was really struggling to get started.

Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?

Both The Marriage Artist and Love at First Bark (see above) were awesome books for the read-a-thon. Engaging, fast moving, and very well written.

Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?

I really don’t. I think you have a very well-oiled machine there!

What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?

I really liked how the mini-challenges were spaced this year. Giving readers at least 3 hours to complete each one is perfect (especially since I only update every 2 hours).

How many books did you read?

Two plus (see above).

What were the names of the books you read?

See above.

Which book did you enjoy most?

The Marriage Artist – one of the best I’ve read this year.

Which did you enjoy least?

Probably Solitaria – although I only read a little from that book.

If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?

N/A

How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?

Given that I almost never miss these – highly likely! I love being a reader.

Welcome to Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-A-Thon

This update is for hours 19 & 20 (11:00 PM to 1:00 AM PST) – This will be my last update. I have reached my goal to make it through 20 hours and I need to go to bed now! Good luck to those of you still hanging in there. MANY THANKS to my awesome cheerleaders – you ROCK!

How I am feeling at this point in the Event:

Done in. Happy that I managed to meet my goal for the event. Ready for bed!

What I am currently reading:

I’ve finished a second book – YAY!

I decided to pick up a book I was reading before the start of the Read-a-Thon which I had only 58 pages left in. Solitaria by Genni Gunn is a book I’m touring on October 28th and it is set in Italy. I managed to finish that one too.

I decided not to start another book because I have reached my goal of completing 20 hours of the Read-a-Thon and I am packing it in now!

What I have finished reading:

1. The Marriage Artist by Andrew Winer was finished during hour 15
2. Love at First Bark by Julie Klam was finished during hour 19
3. Solitaria by Genni Gunn (finished the last pages of this one during hour 20 – started before the Readathon)

What I have eaten during these hours:

No food, but I drank a HUGE glass of water.

Total Mini Challenges (the running total with links to hosting blog):

1. Introductory Meme – hosted by Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-a-thon site
2. Character Photo - hosted by At Home With Books
3. Share a Book – hosted by Just One More Thing
4. State Settings – hosted by The Avid Reader’s Musings
5. Top Five – hosted by Lisa’s World Of Books
6. A.K.A. – hosted by I’d Rather Be At the Beach
7. Book Sentence – hosted by Midnight Book Girl
8. Book Trailer – hosted by Quirky Girls Read
9. Hodge Podge Proposals – hosted by Erin Reads
10. Mid Event Survey on the Readathon site
11. Feed Me Seymour! – hosted by Fancy Terrible
12. Friendship – hosted by A World of Paper
13. Pet Love – hosted by A Buckeye Girl Reads

Mini Challenge(s) completed during this update period:

• Pet Love  (you know I couldn’t resist this one, right?) asks that we Leave a minimum of  two sentences and max of 2 paragraphs of  how your pets have helped or hindered your reading AND post a photo. So photo first because it supports my narrative (click to enlarge):

Do you see those fuzzy little faces? They are ALL on the couch, and you may not be able to make it out in this photo, but both cats are on my lap and Raven’s head is pressed against my thigh. Do you have any idea how hard it is to read, much less blog on a laptop with all these soft, densely cute animals draped over me? So this is how my pets hinder my reading (and blogging) – they simply treat me like a pillow (or mattress) and I am too much of a sucker and softee to throw them off!

Bloggers I’ve visited (the running total with links):

1. Alyce @ At Home With Books
2. Alita @ Alita Reads
3. Trish @ Love, Laughter and a Touch of Insanity
4. Anna @ Her Stardust Soul
5. Vasilly @ 1330V
6. Darcy @ Reading Derby
7. Abigail @ The Story Factory
8. Judith @ Leeswammes’ Blog
9. Dana @ Deepening Years
10. Amanda @ Ramblings
11. Erin @ Erin Reads
12. Jessica @ Nisaba Be Praised
13. Crystal @ My Reading Room
14. Nise @ Under the Boardwalk
15. Kim @ Page After Page
16. Gina @ Book Dragon’s Lair
17. Carrie @ Nomadreader
18. Jules @ Jules’ Book Reviews
19. Christina @ Ardent Reader
20. Care @ Care’s Online Book Club
21. Pam @ I Write in Books
22. Darlene @ Peeking Between the Pages
23. Ryan @ A Damned Conjuror
24. Bonnie @ Bonnie’s Books
25. Lenore @ Presenting Lenore
26. Gwen @ Run Gwen Run
27. Alexa @ Alexa Loves Books
28. Valerie @ Valerie Joy Deveza
29. Beth @ The Crazy Life of A Bookaholic Mom
30. Colleen @ Books in the City
31. Anna @ Her Stardust Soul
32. Megan @ Leafing Through Life
33. Emily @ Books and Threads
34. Buried in Print
35. Gavin @ Page 247
36. Kate @ Midnight Book Girl
37. Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog
38. Courtney @ Stiletto Storytime

Welcome to Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-A-Thon

This update is for hours 17 & 18 (9:00 PM to 11:00 PM PST)

How I am feeling at this point in the Event:

Surprisingly good! I took a shower earlier and got in my jammies, had a snack and felt ready to go again. It probably helps that my current book is funny and light.

What I am currently reading:

I’m reading Love At First Bark by Julie Klam – funny and easy to read. I should finish this one in the next hour.

What I have finished reading:

The Marriage Artist by Andrew Winer was finished during hour 15.

What I have eaten during these hours:

• string cheese
• lemonade

Total Mini Challenges (the running total with links to hosting blog):

1. Introductory Meme – hosted by Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-a-thon site
2. Character Photo - hosted by At Home With Books
3. Share a Book – hosted by Just One More Thing
4. State Settings – hosted by The Avid Reader’s Musings
5. Top Five – hosted by Lisa’s World Of Books
6. A.K.A. – hosted by I’d Rather Be At the Beach
7. Book Sentence – hosted by Midnight Book Girl
8. Book Trailer – hosted by Quirky Girls Read
9. Hodge Podge Proposals – hosted by Erin Reads
10. Mid Event Survey on the Readathon site
11. Feed Me Seymour! – hosted by Fancy Terrible
12. Friendship – hosted by A World of Paper

Mini Challenge(s) completed during this update period:

None

Bloggers I’ve visited (the running total with links):

1. Alyce @ At Home With Books
2. Alita @ Alita Reads
3. Trish @ Love, Laughter and a Touch of Insanity
4. Anna @ Her Stardust Soul
5. Vasilly @ 1330V
6. Darcy @ Reading Derby
7. Abigail @ The Story Factory
8. Judith @ Leeswammes’ Blog
9. Dana @ Deepening Years
10. Amanda @ Ramblings
11. Erin @ Erin Reads
12. Jessica @ Nisaba Be Praised
13. Crystal @ My Reading Room
14. Nise @ Under the Boardwalk
15. Kim @ Page After Page
16. Gina @ Book Dragon’s Lair
17. Carrie @ Nomadreader
18. Jules @ Jules’ Book Reviews
19. Christina @ Ardent Reader
20. Care @ Care’s Online Book Club
21. Pam @ I Write in Books
22. Darlene @ Peeking Between the Pages
23. Ryan @ A Damned Conjuror
24. Bonnie @ Bonnie’s Books
25. Lenore @ Presenting Lenore
26. Gwen @ Run Gwen Run
27. Alexa @ Alexa Loves Books
28. Valerie @ Valerie Joy Deveza
29. Beth @ The Crazy Life of A Bookaholic Mom
30. Colleen @ Books in the City
31. Anna @ Her Stardust Soul
32. Megan @ Leafing Through Life
33. Emily @ Books and Threads
34. Buried in Print
35. Gavin @ Page 247
36. Kate @ Midnight Book Girl

Welcome to Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-A-Thon

This update is for hours 15 & 16 (7:00 PM to 9:00 PM PST)

How I am feeling at this point in the Event:

Muddled, tired, in need of an intellectual break. I am planning to take a 30 minute “down time” break in hour 17 just to try to revitalize.

What I am currently reading:

I am now reading Love At First Bark by Julie Klam which is a memoir released this month through Riverhead Books. So far it is quick, funny and easy to read – just what the Reading Gods ordered!

I FINISHED The Marriage Artist by Andrew Winer during hour 15. Yay!!! Watch for my review sometime after the Read-a-Thon is over (I want to make sure I give this one a cogent review because it was awesome…and my brain is now a bit fuzzy for writing cohesive reviews!). I will give you one last quote:

What else has evil taken from us but that which we value? – from The Marriage Artist, page 356 -

What I have eaten during these hours:

Mint chocolate chip ice cream – super yummy!

Total Mini Challenges (the running total with links to hosting blog):

1. Introductory Meme – hosted by Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-a-thon site
2. Character Photo - hosted by At Home With Books
3. Share a Book – hosted by Just One More Thing
4. State Settings – hosted by The Avid Reader’s Musings
5. Top Five – hosted by Lisa’s World Of Books
6. A.K.A. – hosted by I’d Rather Be At the Beach
7. Book Sentence – hosted by Midnight Book Girl
8. Book Trailer – hosted by Quirky Girls Read
9. Hodge Podge Proposals – hosted by Erin Reads
10. Mid Event Survey on the Readathon site
11. Feed Me Seymour! – hosted by Fancy Terrible
12. Friendship – hosted by A World of Paper

Mini Challenge(s) completed during this update period: 

• Feed Me Seymour! was an easy challenge – get something to eat and leave a comment about it. I ate mint chocolate chip ice cream!! Yum!
• Friendship challenge asked us to leave a comment about a favorite friendship from a book. This is what I wrote: “Well, the friendship I most remember as a kid was not between people, but between animals. Who can forget when Wilber the pig’s life is in danger and a beautiful spider named Charlotte saves him by writing words in her web “that pig” “terrific” “radiant”. A beautiful friendship indeed straight out of Charlotte’s Web!!!” And because I couldn’t resist, here is a little video for you:

Bloggers I’ve visited (the running total with links):

1. Alyce @ At Home With Books
2. Alita @ Alita Reads
3. Trish @ Love, Laughter and a Touch of Insanity
4. Anna @ Her Stardust Soul
5. Vasilly @ 1330V
6. Darcy @ Reading Derby
7. Abigail @ The Story Factory
8. Judith @ Leeswammes’ Blog
9. Dana @ Deepening Years
10. Amanda @ Ramblings
11. Erin @ Erin Reads
12. Jessica @ Nisaba Be Praised
13. Crystal @ My Reading Room
14. Nise @ Under the Boardwalk
15. Kim @ Page After Page
16. Gina @ Book Dragon’s Lair
17. Carrie @ Nomadreader
18. Jules @ Jules’ Book Reviews
19. Christina @ Ardent Reader
20. Care @ Care’s Online Book Club
21. Pam @ I Write in Books
22. Darlene @ Peeking Between the Pages
23. Ryan @ A Damned Conjuror
24. Bonnie @ Bonnie’s Books
25. Lenore @ Presenting Lenore
26. Gwen @ Run Gwen Run
27. Alexa @ Alexa Loves Books
28. Valerie @ Valerie Joy Deveza
29. Beth @ The Crazy Life of A Bookaholic Mom

Welcome to Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-A-Thon

This update is for hours 13 & 14 (5:00 PM to 7:00 PM PST)

How I am feeling at this point in the Event:

I had to get horizontal for awhile – but I’m still awake…still zipping along with my book (I should finish it SOON!)

What I am currently reading:

The Marriage Artist by Andrew Winer -  and nearly finished. SUCH a great book!!

What I have eaten during these hours:

Not a thing – but I’m beginning to think about ice cream!

Total Mini Challenges (the running total with links to hosting blog):

1. Introductory Meme – hosted by Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-a-thon site
2. Character Photo - hosted by At Home With Books
3. Share a Book – hosted by Just One More Thing
4. State Settings – hosted by The Avid Reader’s Musings
5. Top Five – hosted by Lisa’s World Of Books
6. A.K.A. – hosted by I’d Rather Be At the Beach
7. Book Sentence – hosted by Midnight Book Girl
8. Book Trailer – hosted by Quirky Girls Read
9. Hodge Podge Proposals – hosted by Erin Reads
10. Mid Event Survey on the Readathon site

Mini Challenge(s) completed during this update period: 

Mid-Event Survey:
1. What are you reading right now? I am very, very close to finishing The Marriage Artist by Andrew Winer
2. How many books have you read so far? Just this one.
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? Love at First Bark by Julie Klam
4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day?  The only thing I did was make sure I had food prepped ahead of time.
5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? Not a one!
6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? I’ve done a lot of these … so not much surprised me anymore
7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? I love what you guys do – I have no suggestions…just keep doing the same thing!
8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year? Um, nothing
9. Are you getting tired yet? I’ve been tired all day!
10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered? I keep running totals on a writing tablet  and set up the outline of my updates ahead of time – it saves time and keeps me focused.

Bloggers I’ve visited (the running total with links):

1. Alyce @ At Home With Books
2. Alita @ Alita Reads
3. Trish @ Love, Laughter and a Touch of Insanity
4. Anna @ Her Stardust Soul
5. Vasilly @ 1330V
6. Darcy @ Reading Derby
7. Abigail @ The Story Factory
8. Judith @ Leeswammes’ Blog
9. Dana @ Deepening Years
10. Amanda @ Ramblings
11. Erin @ Erin Reads
12. Jessica @ Nisaba Be Praised
13. Crystal @ My Reading Room
14. Nise @ Under the Boardwalk
15. Kim @ Page After Page
16. Gina @ Book Dragon’s Lair
17. Carrie @ Nomadreader
18. Jules @ Jules’ Book Reviews
19. Christina @ Ardent Reader
20. Care @ Care’s Online Book Club
21. Pam @ I Write in Books
22. Darlene @ Peeking Between the Pages
23. Ryan @ A Damned Conjuror
24. Bonnie @ Bonnie’s Books
25. Lenore @ Presenting Lenore
26. Gwen @ Run Gwen Run
27. Alexa @ Alexa Loves Books
28. Valerie @ Valerie Joy Deveza
29. Beth @ The Crazy Life of A Bookaholic Mom

Welcome to Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-A-Thon

This update is for hours 11 & 12 (3:00 PM to 5:00 PM PST)

How I am feeling at this point in the Event:

Actually, pretty good. I had dinner. It really helps that I am so into my book, too, even though my pace has slowed a bit. I spent a little time in hour 11 visiting other bloggers.

What I am currently reading:

The Marriage Artist by Andrew Winer -  another quote for you:

[...] when we love we are not really looking to see something new, but rather our own ideas embodied in the other person – qualities that awaken echoes already resounding in us. – from The Marriage Artist, page 257 -

What I have eaten during these hours:

• A cup of steaming black spiced tea with honey
• Dinner: Pot roast with potatoes, carrots and onions slathered in gravy (cooked in the slow cooker), and gatorade

Total Mini Challenges (the running total with links to hosting blog):

1. Introductory Meme – hosted by Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-a-thon site
2. Character Photo - hosted by At Home With Books
3. Share a Book – hosted by Just One More Thing
4. State Settings – hosted by The Avid Reader’s Musings
5. Top Five – hosted by Lisa’s World Of Books
6. A.K.A. – hosted by I’d Rather Be At the Beach
7. Book Sentence – hosted by Midnight Book Girl
8. Book Trailer – hosted by Quirky Girls Read
9. Hodge Podge Proposals – hosted by Erin Reads

Mini Challenge(s) completed during this update period: 

• The  Book Trailer challenge asks us to share a book trailer. It could be your favorite book trailer, it can be a trailer of your favorite book, or it can be a trailer for a book you want to read. Since I have The Night Circus waiting in the stacks (and I am very excited to read it), I thought I would share this fabulous trailer of the book:

• Hodge Podge Proposals is all about creating a pitch for a book (go to Erin’s post to learn the details).  Here is my silly imaginative proposal:

The year is 1990 and Hannah Suzuki, a renowned wildlife photographer, leaves her home in Boston and travels to Rwanda on an assignment for National Geographic. But her hopes of spending ten days in the wilderness shooting photos worthy of a Pulitzer prize are derailed by the onset of civil war. Caught up in the chaos, Hannah attaches herself to a journalist whose ties to the country and the political upheaval are deeper than they first appear. As the violence escalates, Hannah must unravel the mystery surrounding this man before time runs out.

Bloggers I’ve visited (the running total with links):

1. Alyce @ At Home With Books
2. Alita @ Alita Reads
3. Trish @ Love, Laughter and a Touch of Insanity
4. Anna @ Her Stardust Soul
5. Vasilly @ 1330V
6. Darcy @ Reading Derby
7. Abigail @ The Story Factory
8. Judith @ Leeswammes’ Blog
9. Dana @ Deepening Years
10. Amanda @ Ramblings
11. Erin @ Erin Reads
12. Jessica @ Nisaba Be Praised
13. Crystal @ My Reading Room
14. Nise @ Under the Boardwalk
15. Kim @ Page After Page
16. Gina @ Book Dragon’s Lair
17. Carrie @ Nomadreader
18. Jules @ Jules’ Book Reviews
19. Christina @ Ardent Reader
20. Care @ Care’s Online Book Club
21. Pam @ I Write in Books
22. Darlene @ Peeking Between the Pages
23. Ryan @ A Damned Conjuror
24. Bonnie @ Bonnie’s Books
25. Lenore @ Presenting Lenore
26. Gwen @ Run Gwen Run
27. Alexa @ Alexa Loves Books
28. Valerie @ Valerie Joy Deveza
29. Beth @ The Crazy Life of A Bookaholic Mom

Welcome to Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-A-Thon

This update is for hours 9 & 10 (1:00 PM to 3:00 PM PST)

How I am feeling at this point in the Event:

I had a good lunch and sat outside for awhile to read until the yellow jackets started buzzing around me and freaked me out. Now I’m back inside and fighting fatigue again. I think I’ll take a short walk in the neighborhood in hour 11 to get my blood moving.

What I am currently reading:

The Marriage Artist by Andrew Winer – Still cruising along with this book. If you have this one on the shelf, I would highly recommend it for this event. Another quote:

The officer examines her child’s documents first, meticulously transcribing HERMAN JOHANNES PICK in his notebook, along with the rest of the two-year-old’s particulars. As she watches the officer finish with a practiced flourish by setting down in bold ink a large letter “J” beside her son’s information (just like he did for the other Jews registered by his hand on the same page), she is stirred by everything that is annihilating about identification … the reek of human inventory, the chilling exactitude of a street address, the futurelessness of any single person’s name. – from The Marriage Artist, page 226 -

What I have eaten during these hours:

• Lunch: a roast beef and monteray  jack cheese sandwich on toasted sourdough, 2 dill pickles, half of an apple, string cheese, and lemonade
• A handful of Dove chocolates

Total Mini Challenges (the running total with links to hosting blog):

1. Introductory Meme – hosted by Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-a-thon site
2. Character Photo - hosted by At Home With Books
3. Share a Book – hosted by Just One More Thing
4. State Settings – hosted by The Avid Reader’s Musings
5. Top Five – hosted by Lisa’s World Of Books
6. A.K.A. – hosted by I’d Rather Be At the Beach
7. Book Sentence – hosted by Midnight Book Girl

Mini Challenge(s) completed during this update period: 

Book Sentence Challenge tasks us to make a complete sentence out of the book titles using the books we have in our home. I did two and here they are (click on photos to enlarge):

Every dog has a gift: the tapestry of love, the things that need doing, the art of comforting.

Two friends planting dandelions all over the map.

Bloggers I’ve visited (the running total with links):

1. Alyce @ At Home With Books
2. Alita @ Alita Reads
3. Trish @ Love, Laughter and a Touch of Insanity
4. Anna @ Her Stardust Soul
5. Vasilly @ 1330V
6. Darcy @ Reading Derby
7. Abigail @ The Story Factory
8. Judith @ Leeswammes’ Blog
9. Dana @ Deepening Years
10. Amanda @ Ramblings
11. Erin @ Erin Reads
12. Jessica @ Nisaba Be Praised
13. Crystal @ My Reading Room
14. Nise @ Under the Boardwalk
15. Kim @ Page After Page
16. Gina @ Book Dragon’s Lair
17. Carrie @ Nomadreader

I love autumn – the cold, crisp mornings and bright blue skies, the leaves swirling in the wind, and Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-a-thon – a great excuse to do nothing but read, blog, munch on snacks and burrow under a warm quilt. This weekend is the Read-a-thon and I am starting to stack up some books in anticipation.

Have you participated before? If not, I highly, highly recommend that you try it out sometime. Not only can you make a substantial dent in your TBR pile, but the socializing and connecting with other bloggers is wonderful.

Not into staying up all night? That’s okay – many readers (including myself) don’t make the full 24 hours. I usually try to pick a time goal that I think is reasonable and just go for that.  This year I will shoot for 20 hours which means I need to start at 5:00 am (PST) and stay awake until 1:00 am the following day. Very do-able! Unlike a lot of participants, I don’t take naps during the Read-a-thon because if I did, it would be all over. Want more information about the event? Check out the FAQ post.

I have many books to be read this month and I always try to have more in my Read-a-thon stack than I can reasonably read so that I have choices. What I have learned in the past is to choose books which are short and stimulating. Short stories are great. So are thrillers or women’s fiction. If I am going to read literary fiction, I try to do it early on when I am the most rested because by hour twelve or so, my brain starts to get befuddled.

So, are you curious which books I am considering? Here is the stack (so far):

Literary Fiction

• The Marriage Artist by Andrew Winer (I expect to be part-way into this one before the Read-a-thon begins)
• We the Animals by Justin Torres

Short Stories

• Men in the Making by Bruce Marchart (which JUST arrived and is a collection of short stories by an author I adore)
• Little America by Diane Simmons

Nonfiction

• Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout by Philip Connors
• Love at First Bark by Julie Klam

Genre Fiction

• The Lantern by Deborah Lawrenson (gothic fiction)
• Iron House by John Hart (suspense-thriller)
• Summer in the South by Cathy Holton (women’s fiction)
• Arctic Chill by Arnaldur Indridason (suspense-thriller)

This stack could change – but I like the diversity in it and most of the books are short which is essential during this event.

As in past years, I intend to only update my blog every two hours to allow myself longer stretches of reading time. Although I have usually sponsored a charity, I won’t be doing that this year although I hope to offer up some books for giveaway to participants through the official blog.

Let me know if you’ll be reading along this weekend so I can stop by and give you some encouragement!

Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-A-Thon is over for this Spring – and as usual it was an amazing and memorable event. It is probably one of the biggest blogging events happening consistently year after year…and for those dedicated readers who help with organization and running of the event, I am very thankful. I also cannot thank the cheerleaders enough – getting your comments hour after hour really helped!

I have done quite a few of Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-A-Thons now…and although I have a pretty good system, they never get any easier. I always start to struggle around hour 7 or 8, and never make it past hour 20…but I do make a dent in my ever increasing TBR pile! So how did I do this year?

• Number of hours participated: I read through hour nineteen, and finally packed it in at midnight here on the west coast.
• Number of hours actually reading: 11.31 hours
• Number of hours blogging: 4.6 hours
• Number of hours visiting other bloggers: 1.11 hours
• Number of bloggers who I visited and left a comment: 18
• Amount of time I spent eating, taking a shower, taking a walk, or just resting my eyes: 2.98 hours
• Total Number of Mini Challenges Completed: 9
• Pages Read: 607 (0.89 pages per minute OR 53.7 pages per hour)
• Money Raised for Charity:

I pledged $.05 per page (or $30.00 – whichever was greater) to the American Cancer Society, specifically for colorectal cancer, so the total I donated was $30.35. I asked other readers to join me, and three people made donations in support of my efforts (I’ll be picking one of those people randomly to win a book later today). If you would like to be involved, you can still do so (and be eligible for the book giveaway) by making a donation today before 5:00 pm PST and leaving me a comment that you did so. Go to this post for more information.

• Books Completed:

The Raising by Laura Kasischke – Great book. Watch for my review soon! 
For Sale by Owner by Kelcey Parker – Very interesting collection. Watch for my review on April 15th.

• Books Partially Completed:

Rose in a Storm by Jon Katz – finished 130 pages out of 217
Being With Animals: Why We Are Obsessed with the Furry, Scaly, Feathered Creatures Who Populate Our World by Barbara J. King – finished 134 pages out of 228

Now, finally, here are my answers to the end of the event survey:

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? I really began to struggle around hours 7 and 8 – I wanted to take a nap! But I powered through, took a walk (was nearly gored by a bunch of deer) and had a resurgence of my energy.

2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? I had some good books to read this year. I would highly recommend The Raising by Laura Kasischke and Rose in a Storm by Jon Katz as they are easy, engaging reads.

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? I would love if the dedicated blog would have a page for prize announcements – a sort of running list of who won a prize each hour. As I got tired, I had a hard time keeping track of the mini challenges and who won, and which ones had been announced. I would have loved a page I could just go to and quickly see what was happening with giveaways.

4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? I loved having Facebook to post updates to (although it did not look like a lot of people were using that). I always love the hourly updates…and of course, the people who cheerleaded and those hosting mini-challenges did an awesome job.

5. How many books did you read? I finished two and read more than half way through two others (see above)

6. What were the names of the books you read? The Raising by Laura Kasischke, For Sale by Owner by Kelcey Parker, Rose in a Storm by Jon Katz, and Being With Animals: Why We Are Obsessed with the Furry, Scaly, Feathered Creatures Who Populate Our World by Barbara J. King

7. Which book did you enjoy most? Hmmmm, toss up between Kasischke’s novel and Rose in a Storm (which I didn’t finish but wanted to!)

8. Which did you enjoy least? I think it was hard to read non fiction (the first time I’ve tried this during the read-a-thon) because it requires more attention. So although Being With Animals is really a great book, I wouldn’t recommend it for a read-a-thon.

9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? I wasn’t a cheerleader.

10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? Oh, I’ll be back again! And as a reader.

Did YOU participate in the Read-A-Thon this weekend? How did you do!?

How I am feeling at this point in the Event:

Well, I’m done. I wanted to finish my last book, but my eyes keep closing. I made it through hour nineteen which is an hour longer than my goal…and I reached my goal of 600 pages. Many thanks to all the cheerleaders and hosts…as always, this was a great event. I’ll be back some time tomorrow to do the end of the event survey.

Books I partially Completed:

• Rose in a Storm by Jon Katz – finished 130 pages out of 217
• Being With Animals: Why We Are Obsessed with the Furry, Scaly, Feathered Creatures Who Populate Our World by Barbara J. King – finished 134 pages out of 228

Books I Completed:

• The Raising by Laura Kasischke – great book! Watch for my review sometime after the read-a-thon is finished.
• For Sale by Owner by Kelcey Parker – very interesting collection. Watch for my review on April 15th.

Total Mini Challenges Completed (the running total with links to hosting blog):

1. Introduction post
2. Where in The World Are You?
3. Collaborative Fiction Challenge
4. The Oldies But Goodies
5. Book Club Recommendations
6. Re-create The Cover
7. Mid-Event Survey
8. Book Habits
9. Book Sentence

Bloggers I visited (the running total with links):

1. Vasilly
2. Diagonally Parked
3. Books In the City
4. The Story Factory Reading Zone
5. Love, Laughter and A Touch of Insanity
6. Presenting Lenore
7. Amused by  Books
8. Ardent Reader
9. Love Laughter and A Touch of Insanity
10. Medieval Bookworm
11. Life in the Thumb
12. The Scarlet Letter
13. True Book Addict
14. Alita Reads
15. Sophisticated Dorkiness
16. Betty and Boo Chronicles
17. Leafing Through Life
18. Bonjour Cass

THE STATS:

Help me raise money for the American Cancer Society during this event