Hour 48 Check-In – The Finish Line!

OMG YOU GUYS, WE’RE DONE!!!! Now you don’t have to keep doing this head nod thing to stay awake.

You can actually go to bed and sleep. And what a glorious sleep it will be, knowing you shirked all responsibilities for the joy of reading all weekend (oh, just me with a filthy house then?) Even if you didn’t get your full 24 hours in (it’s okay if you didn’t – I didn’t), you did what the readathon what created to help you do: spend some solid time reading.

Before we get into the business of tallying up the totals, I have a giveaway winner to announce from Hour 36. And that winner is:

ADRIENNE!

Congrats to you (and expect an email from me tomorrow!)

If any of you are feeling up to it – now, tomorrow, in a week, whenever – I’d love to know what your final tally was: how many hours, how many books, how many pages, how many hours of audiobooks, etc. Leave me a comment – I might decide to just send people books if you do. WHO KNOWS? I’M TRICKY THAT WAY. If you’re curious we were 2 readers shy of hitting 200. Ah well, next time, right?

(Also, if you have suggestions or improvements for next time, please leave me a comment too. I want to make this as great as possible, each and every time.)

Now that we’re all good and read out (not hardly, right?), you’re all free to collapse into bed. Unless you live in like Australia and it’s in the middle of the day for you. Eh, you know what? You just read all weekend! You could probably use a nap!

This has been super fun – thanks for letting me be your host once again and thanks to Kristen and Kerry again for the help – and stay tuned here and to the @24in48readathon Twitter account for details of the next #24in48.

Happy Reading, Friends!

Hour 42 Check-In

Holy cats, batman, this weekend has flown by!

There are six hours left in the official 24-in-48 readathon timeline (though you know we like to keep things lax around here, so maybe there are more or less hours left in your version of this readathon).

With the end in sight, do you think you’ll hit 24 hours of reading? What’s the best book you’ve read so far? What’s the best snack you’ve eaten? TELL US EVERYTHING.

After a quick break to move around (impromptu dance party, anyone?) and get the blood flowing again, it’s time to double back down on the books. Six hours is a lot of time to catch up/keep up/hit your reading goals, but if it goes as quickly as the rest of this weekend has, you know midnight will be here before we know it!

Hour 36 Check-In + Prize Winner

Twelve hours left to go, and you guys are going strong!! Some of you in other timezones or on different schedules are already done and I’m so impressed with the bookishness that’s happening. You’re all amazing readers.

It’s lunch time here in NYC, and I’ve got a wonderful cold spicy peanut chicken soba salad to snack on. Perfect for this hot summer day.

You know what else is perfect for a hot summer day? MORE BOOKS! (Duh. What did you think I was going to say?) Lots of you posted your answers to my scary, freezer book question, and I thank you. Now I know which books to avoid ;). Without further ado, the winner of the Hour 24 giveaway is:

Kacie from Kacie’s Bookshelf!!

Keep an eye out for an email from me soon.

And just like last time, I’ve got another prize pack to give away!!

Gulp by Mary Roach
Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan
The Republic of Imagination by Azar Nafisi
The Last Bookaneer by Matthew Pearl
The Merman by Carl-Johan Vallgren

To win this pack, leave a comment and tell me the best book you’ve read during the readathon. I’ll select a winner at the finish line at Hour 48.

Happy reading!

Hour 30 Check-In

This is another guest post from Kristen.

It is day two, and we are back with another chipper 6AM check-in. Is our perkiness the worst, or the best? You get to decide…just don’t tell us unless it’s the good one.

How is everyone hanging in? More importantly, how are the books? Has anything blown your mind? Have you DNFed a few? This is exactly the sort of conversation we can/want to have over social media, so hop on over if you have things to say or leave your progress in the comments here. We’re listening, and so are almost 200 other people, which is just so dang awesome.

Think about all the people that are reading along with you! Think about how many thousands of pages we have read together, how many new ideas we’ve encountered, how many familiar passages we’ve savored. Think about the cups of coffee, the inevitable ice cream, the “shush, I’m reading” chorus happening across the miles as we read separately, but together.

It might be the lack of any sort of solid/normal sleep regimen getting to me, but I’m pulling the sap out to say: that’s my favorite part about this whole thing, and I’m glad you’re here at 6AM to share it with me.

Hour 24 Check-In – Halfway Mark!

If you’re on the East Coast (though many of you aren’t), it is midnight and the halfway point! Hooray! Exciting! WHEEE!!! Are you getting sleepy yet?

Keep going, you can do it! Maybe a prize announcement will help keep you awake? The winner (randomly chosen) is…

Sarah!!

(Of Veggie Bolognese Fame. You’ll get an email from me later today when I’m awake and have had coffee.)

Know what’s even better? ANOTHER PRIZE PACK! This time a set of mystery and thriller galleys of these titles:

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter
And Sometimes I Wonder About You by Walter Mosley
The Winter Family by Clifford Jackman
Descent by Tim Johnson
Written in the Blood by Stephen Lloyd Jones

So to win this pack, leave a comment, tell me how many books you’ve read so far and then tell me what’s the most recent book you’ve read that’s made you want to put it in the freezer. I wish I had a pick to add to this but I’m a complete wimp about scary books. But give me yours and I’ll draw a winner in 12 hours at noon today.

You guys are doing great, it’s been so wonderful to talk to everyone on Twitter and Instagram. Keep going! Yew kan dew eet!

Okay, just kidding. You can sleep. See you guys at 6am for another update.

Hour 18 Check-In

This is a guest post from Kerry, who is taking the dinner shift.

Whoop! You are 18 hours into the first 24-hour stretch of the 48-hour ‘thon. (That’s more math than my typical language-driven brain can really handle.)

How’s it feel? How much reading have you done? Do you feel like you’re on track to reach the goals you may have set for yourself?

Tell us your highs and your lows, and I promise I will get Justin Timberlake to cheer for you.

(See? I always keep my promises.)

It’s coming towards the end of what for many has been a very long day, so I highly recommend standing up and stretching those legs a bit. If you’re on East Coast time, maybe think about dinner (otherwise, think about snacks, because what kind of ‘thon is a ‘thon without snacks?). Go for a walk. Do some jumping jacks.

Then hop back into the books–and happy reading!

Don’t forget you have 6 more hours to enter for a prize pack of books on the Hour 12 post!

Hour 12 Check-In + Prize Time

The thing I love about this readathon is that jumping into the hashtag on Twitter, means that you find people who’ve been reading for 2 hours or 12 hours or 15 hours, just depending on their lives and their schedules. It’s never – in its history – been anything but laid back. Just a bunch of people getting together to read a bunch of books over a weekend.

So, with that in mind, thanks to the ~~190~~ ~~191~~ 192 of you who have signed up so far. Nothing makes #24in48 better than a whole lot of people doing it together. Good food during the ‘thon takes a close 2nd though. We’re officially 12 hours in, and pretty soon I’m going to take a break to make a Grilled Margherita Sandwich (I’m adding prosciutto to my version) which I’m super excited about.

Leave a comment with the meal or snack you’re most excited about the comments, and at midnight (12 hours from now) I’ll choose a winner, who will receive a prize pack of these books:

Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy by Karen Abbott
Island of a Thousand Mirrors by Nayomi Munaweera
Under the Wide and Starry Sky by Nancy Horan
The Last Kind Words Saloon by Larry McMurtry
The Wonder of All Things by Jason Mott

Let me have it. What are you most excited to eat this weekend?

Hour Six Check-In

This is a guest post from Kristen, who is covering early morning duty.

Welcome to 6AM on a Saturday! The best thing about this first check-in is that there isn’t much math involved. I don’t have to take a significant amount of time to count how long it’s been, how many pages I’ve read, or how may bowls of snacks I’ve gone through because we are just getting started!

If you’re just waking up, Hi! Welcome! You get a gold star for being here! If you’re off to take a nap, don’t sleep for too long…and you also get a gold star for starting right at midnight and lasting this long (the Red Bull kept you going, didn’t it? The first one is always the best.).

Now seems like a good time, whatever your status, to take a break. Walk the dog, make a fresh pot of coffee, steep those tea bags, and take some deep breaths to get your brain juices flowing. We have SO much reading to do, friends! As you finish and start to settle back in with your next read, consider popping over to your social media / blog /vlog platform of choice and checking in! Search the hashtag and do some catching up, maybe give out a few comments and favorites to wake your fellow readers up before you dive back into your own pages. Remember to turn them quietly, though, so you don’t wake up everyone else around you. The rest of the world remains asleep (lame) while we valiant readers carry on.

Welcome to #24in48 – July 2015 Edition! It Begins!

Hello, you gorgeous readers out there in #24in48 land!

This is the official start of the readathon, as it is 12:00am ET on Saturday, July 11. Just a reminder that you can still sign up here and you can do so throughout the weekend.

Keep your eyes on this blog every six hours or so for an update, with possible prize packs available and check-ins to do. You should also follow the official Twitter handle at @24in48readathon and the official hashtag #24in48 where most of the convo is happening. I may even be doing a couple of sprints from that account, depending on how the weekend is going. You can also follow my personal Instagram account if you’re on IG this weekend.

Shoutout to both Kristen and Kerry who helped write some of the check in posts for the weekend (they’ll be marked appropriately), and who are both just generally the best moral support a readathon creator can have.

Those are the nitty gritty details. Have a great readathon weekend, everyone!! I have faith that you – YES, YOU – can hit your readathon goals. (Excuse to use Meryl gif.)

9 Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your 24in48 Readathon

Because 24in48 is both longer than and shorter than a lot of ‘thons out there, it can feel a little daunting to plan your weekend, and to make sure you’re optimizing your reading time without getting overwhelmed or without feeling rushed at the very end.

So here are 9 tips to help you prep for and execute your best readathon:

Decide on a loose schedule. You certainly don’t have to stick by it to the letter, but its helpful to structure your weekend in advance. If you have set plans already – like a child’s soccer game or brunch – figure out how many hours you’ll need to read each day to hit your goal. And don’t forget to account for breaks; I like to set an hourly goal – like reading for two hours – and then allowing myself a ten or 15 minute break for Twitter or stretching my legs, among other things.
Fill your readathon TBR with short books. This is not the moment to start reading the 720-page monster, A Little Life. I’ve set aside probably 10-15 books that are no more than 300 pages, and most are well under that. I find that I’m much more productive during my ‘thon if I can get through a couple books in short order, even if I do decide to read from a doorstopper at some point during the weekend.
Don’t be afraid to DNF. Even if you’re an avid opponent of DNFing (stands for “Did Not Finish) in your normal, non-readathoning life, you absolutely should embrace it during a ‘thon. Sometimes a book just isn’t working for you in that moment, and if you feel pressure to keep going with it, the wrong book will derail your entire ‘thon. You’re not DNFing forever – just for the weekend.
Mix it up. Try a variety of genres or topics or plots during readathon; it’s the very best way to keep your interest high. I like to switch around between non-fiction – like memoirs or pop sociology – and fiction – like YA, literary, mystery, and sci-fi – to not get bored with what I’m reading.
Formats are your friends. Because this readathon takes place over a full weekend, you are probably going to have to leave your couch at some point. This is where audiobooks are tremendously helpful. I love being able to get up, go for a walk or a run, or even just doing some yoga poses in my apartment while still putting a book in my head. (If you’ve never tried audiobooks before, check out this recent Book Riot post about ones we love). Similarly, switching between print and ebooks can save your eyes a bit of strain.
Stock up. If you can, go shopping for and prepare food in advance. During the winter 24in48, I’m a big fan of throwing something in a slow cooker and letting it get yummy without me having to touch it. But for the summer, I’ll be prepping fresh stuff for easy access: cutting up cucumber and red pepper slices or making a big bowl of berries that I can snack out of. And if you do feel like you need to move around, a trip to the grocery store – audiobook in hand – is a good distraction for an hour or so.
Sleep. This is not a sprint. This is a readathon for people who like to sleep, so take a nap if you want. Get a full night’s sleep on Friday, and wake up when you want on Saturday to get started. Getting plenty of sleep with allow you to power through when you’re pushing for your goals.
Set goals. Yeah sure, reading for 24 hours is a goal, but setting personal goals is great for personal motivation. It could be something as simple as setting a page goal or a book goal, or to cross three books off your #ReadHarder Challenge, or to meet a monetary goal if you’re reading for charity. You can also simultaneously participate in the #Cramathon, which is a ‘thon also happening this weekend, which all about finishing short books.
Keep a parachute handy. This is the “Emergency Exit” book, a book that will reset your reading system no matter what funk your previous read has put you in. That can mean an indulgent kind of book – like romance – or a well-loved reread or a book that you know you’re going to love because of the genre or author or topic or whatever. This is your parachute when nothing seems to be clicking.