2014 Readathon finish line!

I made it! 24 hours minus six for sleeping (plus a few more for unscheduled naps during the day). Considering I had my kids the entire time, I'm very pleased with how much I got done. 

My goal was to read as many books as I could from my TBR pile from the library. Most of these were picture books; some were easy readers or graphic novels or short chapter books. I tweeted lots of them; I also posted every book on Goodreads, with a very brief review. I posted one long review here (Some Bugs). 

In 2011, I pretty much stopped reading. As in maybe five books total per year, down from 150 in previous years. Part of the reason for this is because I moved from the library to the classroom, but another big reason is that I started using all my free time to write. Since 2011, I've written almost three million published words. But a writer needs to be a reader, too, and I decided this was going to be the year I started reading again. This readathon was the opportunity I needed.

Sitting and reading a novel felt... really hard. I struggled to stay engaged. I skimmed, which is not the way I traditionally read.

End of Event Meme (from the Readathon web site):

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? The middle hours when I got sleepy, and the dinner hours when I was most distracted.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? Mine were short! I listed my favorites along the way during each check-in.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Nope! It was great!
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? The cheerleaders were super. I loved all the participation on Twitter.
5. How many books did you read? Still tallying, but I'm pretty sure it was over fifty.
6. What were the names of the books you read? All of them are on Goodreads.
7. Which book did you enjoy most? My favorite was Paul Meets Bernadette, but I had a lot of favorites.
8. Which did you enjoy least? I read a couple early chapter books I didn't care much for.
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? (I wasn't)
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? I'll definitely do it again!

Readathon Hour 23 check-in

I woke up at 6 to continue reading, after a pleasant sleep. I haven't done a final count yet, but my TBR pile is SERIOUSLY smaller. But I still have 15 minutes to make it even smaller than that, so... I'll be back in 15!

Readathon 16 hour check-in

I read 25 picture books in one hour! I have another stack to read, but I think I'll read another couple short chapter books first. Best: Paul Meets Bernadette, Three Bears in a Boat, Bad Bye Good Bye, Emily's Blue Period. Now to enter them into Goodreads. (If you're not following me on Goodreads yet, you can find me here. That's where I post most of my reviews.)

Dewey 24 Hour Read-A-Thon End of Event

It's over!  I went to bed at 4am and woke up (was awoken) at 7:15 by my son so I could keep reading a bit more.  


Here's the pile of books I read!

Here are the notes I took for reviews.

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?  Probably the ones where I really wanted to be reading but was interrupted by responsibilities.  It happens.  =)
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?  I think that really depends on what you like to read, but I was enthralled by Marching For Freedom and Almost Astronauts.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?  Fewer challenges... I was a bit overwhelmed.  Also I didn't have nearly as many cheerleaders this year, but it was OK.
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?  Having a plan in advance, breaking things up into hour-long chunks.  
5. How many books did you read?  39
6. What were the names of the books you read? see below
7. Which book did you enjoy most? Almost Astronauts and Marching for Freedom
8. Which did you enjoy least? Do I Need It? Or Want It? 
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? n/a
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? Absolutely yes, unless there is an unavoidable conflict, and even then I would do what I could.   I will stick with being a Reader for now.


Here's all 39 books!

Sweethearts of Rhythm	Nelson	48
Marching for Freedom	Partridge	72
Anne Frank Case	Rubin	40
Monarch's Progress	Harley	32
Stitchin' and Pullin'	McKissack	32
Jellaby	Soo	144
My Uncle Emily	Yolen	32
Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born	Curtis	32
Do I Need it? Or Want It?	Larson	30
Uncle Bobby's Wedding	Brannen	32
Home on the Range	Hopkinson	48
Minerva the Monster	Kirwin	32
Book of Beasts	Nesbit	64
Librarian of Basra	Winter	32
Back of the Bus	Reynolds	32
But who Will Bell the Cats?	von Buhler	32
Ashley Bryan's ABC of African-American Poetry	Bryan	32
Rabbits	Marsden	32
Odd Egg	Gravett	32
Boy Who Cried Fabulous	Newman	32
Crow Call	Lowry	32
Is There Really A Human Race?	Curtis	32
Molly's Family	Garden	32
I and I	Medina	32
Mermaids on Parads	Greenberg	32
Where Do Balloons Go?	Curtis	32
When I Was Little	Curtis	32
Today I Feel Silly	Curtis	32
Harry's Box	McAllister	32
White Swan Express	Okimoto	32
Silly Little Goose	Tafuri	32
King & King	de Haan	32
Tell Me A Dragon	Morris	32
Everywhere Babies	Meyers	32
Listeners	Whelan	40
Sisters	Caseley	32
Chair for Always	Williams	32
Yuki and the One Thousand Carriers	Whelan	32
Almost Astronauts	Stone	132
One Beetle Too Many	Lasky	48
	TOTAL pages	1626

I had so much fun.  Thanks to everyone who encouraged me and all the organizers for putting on a great event!

Dewey 24 Hour Read-A-Thon check-in

3:30am: I made it through my big stack of picture books.  I can't believe it!  I kept ten or a dozen newer books so Ivy has something to read (although the child does not lack for reading material!).

I started to drift off while reading Carver, so I sat forward in my chair.

I have remaining in the stack for this readathon: two nonfiction, three graphic novels, two short chapter books and three poetic novels.  I hope to finish a few more of them before 9am, but this will depend on when I wake up.  For now, I will read another graphic novel and then see how I'm feeling.

Dewey 24 Hour Read-A-Thon Minichallenge: Go Indie

My favorite indie bookstore is Nicola's Books in Ann Arbor.  Nicola, the proprietor, can be found giving sage literary advice behind the counter most days.  It's full of excellent children's literature.  My school had very nice fundraiser with Nicola's in December.

Dewey 24 Hour Read-A-Thon Minichallenge: Early Favorites

My very favorite book of all time is Watership Down.  I read it for the first time in fourth grade.  I think I've read it about six or seven times in entirety.  It's about time for me to read it again.

Reading an epic of that length was never a problem for me.  I was completely hooked by Adams' style.  The rabbits were witty, ferocious and occasionally laugh-out-loud funny, but it was subtle.  The blend of adventure and mythology was captivating to me.  Adams also mixed in facts about rabbits that made the whole story more believable.

Following Watership Down, I became a sincere devotee of anthropomorphic animal fantasy and tracked down bibliographies and books from all corners of the earth.  Ratha's Creature, Tailchaser's Song and Silverwing all took on the mantle of Adams' genius.  Even lesser works like The Sight and Firebringer, and the recent series by Lasky (Guardians of Ga'Hoole) and the very mediocre Warriors series, help bring new children to Watership Down every year.  I am pleased every time I see a student walk out of the library with it in his or her hands.

Dewey 24 Hour Read-A-Thon Minichallenge: Get the Heck Out of Here

1. What steps did you take to ensure you’d be able to read as much as possible today?  Sadly, not very many.  I told my husband on Friday I was doing this.  He looked at me like I was crazy.  I reassured him that many of the books could be read with our kids.  As it happened, they were mostly busy doing other things, so I did almost all my reading alone.
2. Of those steps,  which proved to be the most beneficial to your day? Well, reading with my kids was really fun.  Also, doing the minichallenge was great fun and helped me stay involved.  Having a plan about what to read, and some goals, were helpful as well.
3. Is there anything you might do differently next time?  I will plan in advance to have a sitter or to have Tom take the kids elsewhere for part of the day.  I will have pre-prepared food on hand.  

Dewey 24 Hour Read-A-Thon check-in

1am: Spent the last two hours reading three very intense nonfiction books (The Anne Frank Case, Sweethearts of Rhythm and Marching For Freedom).  Wiping my eyes and moving on.  I've been taking notes on each book and will be writing reviews, but I want to keep going while I can.

If you are new to this blog, let me just say I've been participating in the Clear Away the Clutter Readathon all week, which happens to be spring break for me.  I must say, after a whole week of reading, I feel remarkably rested and willing to go back to work with a fresh heart.  I am going to do this every spring break from now on, readathon or not.

Next: another swath of picture books, then some poetry.  The chai latte is holding strong.

Dewey 24 Hour Read-A-Thon check-in

11pm: Kids are in bed.  Husband playing pinochle.  I finished a whole book (Jellaby) without one interruption.  The piles on my floor are shifting.  It's all good!  Must now consume some caffeine to get me through the next hour or two.  I'm not sure if I'll go to sleep early and get up to read, or stay up as long as I can and take catnaps through 9am?

Now for a few nonfiction books in a row before I start to lose a little steam.

Dewey 24 Hour Read-A-Thon Mid-Event Meme

Mid-Event Survey:

1. What are you reading right now? I just finished My Uncle Emily.

2. How many books have you read so far? Sixteen, but mostly picture books.

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? Hard to say... there are some fun graphic novels and a couple nonfiction titles I've been waiting to read.  Marching for Freedom, the winner of the Battle of the Kids' Books, is on my pile.  

4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day?  "Honey, would you watch the kids all day?"  Um, no.  

5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?  "Mommy, make me lunch! Mommy, let's play ball!  Mommy, let's play Pokemon!" etc.  

6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?  How fast my house gets messy when I'm not picking up.

7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?  Fewer challenges -- it was too distracting!  One per hour would be fine.

8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year?  Plan for more food on hand, and get someone to take my kids out.

9. Are you getting tired yet?  I'm just getting revved up, but then, I didn't start until 1pm (4 hours late).

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?  Have lots of variety on hand.

Sign the linky below with a link to your post with your answers.  There will be 4 winners: 1st gets 1 prize packs of books, along with chocolate coins, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th get three books of their choice.  This is only open until the beginning of Hour 14.

Dewey 24 Hour Read-A-Thon Minichallenge: If the Cover Fits

I've been working my way through a whole stack of picture books.  Here's a break for a minichallenge.

Disturbing

Vibrant

Beautiful

Scary

Moving

Dewey's 24 Hour Read-A-Thon check-in #2

Um.  What?  3pm already and I've read practically nothing. =(  I did feed my children and finish Almost Astronauts (WOW WOW WOW).  Next will read some board books to my son -- can I count those? -- and put him down for his nap, and read the remainder of my goal books from earlier this week.  Good plan.  Hope I can carry it out.

Dewey's 24 Hour Read-A-Thon minichallenge: Feed Me, Seymour!

This one was so creative and wonderful!

Luckily the very first book I read was all about eating... well, musical instruments.  So I enlisted the help of my co-blogger Ivy to illustrate this book as best as we could:

I know a shy fellow who swallowed a cello/I don't know why he swallowed a cello/Perhaps he'll bellow!

(Sorry, we didn't have a cello on hand, but Dexter's little pink guitar was good enough, I thought.)

Dewey's 24 Hour Read-A-Thon minichallenge: Title Sentence

I love this idea for a minichallenge.  I've seen a lot of book title poetry going around the blogosphere, so this is like dipping my toe into the water.

My Abuelita: "Hush, little baby."  No such thing in our mothers' house!

Dewey's 24 Hour Read-A-Thon check-in #1

I'm home from my workshop and ready to begin the Readathon!!  I'm pumped, ready to read read read.  I'll refer back to my goals for those of you who care about such things.

I started by listening to Inkdeath on my way home.  Upon walking in the door, Dexter (21 months) handed me his current favorite book, I Know A Shy Fellow Who Swallowed A Cello.  He's fascinated with all books that have musical instruments in them.

I suspect we will mix old favorites with new books today.

Thanks to the cheerleaders who have stopped by to wish me a good beginning!

Dewey 24 Hour Read-A-Thon Minichallenge: Lights, Camera, Read!

WINNERS!  Thank you to all four of you for submitting your fabulous Animoto videos.  By random drawing, the winner of the Amazon gift certificate is...


Icedream!


The Ivy's Choice award of a signed copy of THE POLAR EXPRESS goes to... 


Readerbuzz!


And the Maggi's Choice award of a signed copy of WOODS RUNNER goes to...


Wendy!

Welcome, new visitors and old friends!  Those of you who are participating in the Spring 2010 Dewey 24-Hour Read-A-Thon, I have a minichallenge for you.

Minichallenge: Lights, Camera, Read!

In addition to each participant automatically being entered into a drawing for a $25 Amazon gift card, there will be two prizes (see below) and they are JUICY.  Here's how to play:

While you are reading and posting this day, acquire some pictures of yourself reading.  This is a good way to get a friend or partner, or even your kids, involved (and possibly get them interested in participating in the 'Thon next fall!).  If you are squeamish about yourself on camera, you can just use pictures of covers of books you are reading.   

When you have a few (six is a good minimum), assemble them into a slideshow using Animoto or your favorite slide-show-creating web site.  iPhoto and YouTube is fine, or anything else you want to use.  It must include music.  (If you can't think of good music, I recommend Patty Larkin's The Book I'm Not Reading.) 

When you're done (any time before 5pm EST), come back here and post a link to your Animoto or other digital creation in the comments section.  Make sure you also include a link to your blog and an email address so I can contact you.

The drawing for the Amazon gift card will be done exactly at 6pm EST.  You get +1 entry by posting your digital creation in the comments section.  Additional entries may be gained in the following way:
+1 entry for Twittering this minichallenge (before it's over, please)
+1 entry for posting on Facebook
+1 entry for posting about this minichallenge on your blog, if you have one
Please let me know you've done these things in a comment here.

Prizes!  I will give two prizes for creativity, one to be awarded by me and one by my co-blogger, Ivy.  We will review all entries and post the winners on Sunday, April 11.

Prize 1: a SIGNED copy of Gary Paulsen's brand new book Woods Runner!
Prize 2: a SIGNED copy of the 20th anniversary edition of Chris Van Allsberg's Caldecott winner The Polar Express (with audio CD and Christmas ornament)!

(You are fortunate that I just happen to be seeing both these authors this week!)

While you're here, browse the blog.  I hope you enjoy what you see, and come back again.  In the meantime, have a productive Readathon, and I'll see you in your comments sections!  =)

-Maggi (Mama Librarian)