Author: Rachel

Rachel

July 2019 #24in48 Sign-Ups are Open!

It is hot. Really, really hot. Steamy, sweltering, and gross. Which means it’s the perfect season for staying inside in lovely air conditioning with a stack of books, a glass of lemonade, and no one to bother you. Or if you’re an outside cat, summer means hammocks, beaches, hiking, or even just sitting on a deck with your feet up. Either way, its time for another round of #24in48!

📚 Join us on July 20-21, 2019 📚

Navigate to: â“How does it work? đŸ†•New Merch! đŸ“Sign-up details

We had an amazing January readathon, with 2,700 readers joining us for two days of non-stop page turning and we are so excited about this summer’s event. We know summer’s endless activities make setting aside a whole weekend to read much more challenging but it also opens up some new opportunities to get the whole fam in on the fun.

A screenshot of an Audible library showing multiple audiobook titles.

Taking a road trip? Put on a audiobook everyone in the car can get into! Hitting the beach? Slather on the sunscreen and pack a stack of paperbacks. Spending your days shuttling kids between activities? Load up your phone or ereader with books or short story collections you can dip in and out of and rack up the page count. Even if you’re hitting the trails, a good audiobook narrator in your ears can make for a fantastic companion (just bring a spare power pack so you don’t end up with an empty phone battery in case of an emergency).

Don’t forget, the point of 24in48 is not just about hitting an hourly goal – it’s always been about spending a weekend reading, however you can make that happen. And for so many of you, you’re making that happen together. We saw that in January with the 40+% increase in participation – you’re all doing this weekend together, whether it’s renting hotel rooms or houses together to escape the day-to-day or organizing readalongs through your libraries or book clubs (online AND in person).

How does it work?

If you’re new to 24in48, this is the basic gist: beginning at 12:01am (official timezone is EDT) on Saturday morning and running through 11:59pm on Sunday night, participants read for 24 hours out of that 48-hour period.

You can split that up however you’d like: 20 hours on Saturday, four hours on Sunday; 12 hours each day; six four-hour sessions with four hour breaks in between. You can pause as much as you need, enjoy regularly scheduled weekend activities, nap, stop for dance breaks with your kids or pets or neighbors. Whatever works for you.

And that’s it. The format never changes but it’s always an adventure.

Have more questions? There’s an FAQ page for that. As always, we’re accepting donations to help us send more prizes out to international winners through the PayPal donate button on the sidebar (or you can go here). Every dollar helps. And if you’d like to donate prizes directly, send us an email at 24in48readathonofficial@gmail.com.

New Merch!

In January, we rolled out a bunch of swag in advance of the readathon and you guys snatched it ALLLLL up. To celebrate all the things we love about summer reading (and the July 24in48), we created a limited edition design. Pick it up now in time for next month’s event. Don’t worry – if you missed the originals the first time, you can always add some of those sweet, sweet readathon goods to your cart too.

Stay tuned for even more changes and make sure you subscribe to the blog to get notified whenever we announce a new and shiny thing. 

Sign-up details

Ready to join? Fill out the form below (or if you’re having trouble, click through here) and feel free to list any and all of the places you’ll be hanging out online during the ‘thon. After you sign up, check out who else is participating. If your entry doesn’t immediately pop in to the spreadsheet, give it a few minutes to populate. (It’s also worth noting that mobile phones can make things difficult, so if the form doesn’t work on your phone, try a computer!)

And you can follow the readathon in all the normal places. We’re on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Litsy and you can use the official hashtag #24in48 everywhere to keep up with your fellow readathon-ers.

See you soon!

Heyo, 24-Hour Prize Pack Winners!

Hey there, kids, sports fans, and readers! Is everyone recovering from the readathon last weekend? I know we promised this announcement sooner, but life (as it does) got in the way. But we’re here and I’ve got some winners to announce.

So many of you completed a full 24 hours of reading and we are super impressed with some of you who even went a bit beyond that. But even more significantly, we welcomed 2,700 readers. TWO THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED readers. That’s 800 more than our previous record!!! We are utterly blown away by the enthusiasm for this little readathon and we were thrilled to read along with each and every one of you. Thank you for making this edition of 24in48 such a resounding success.

Now, down to the best part. Here are the winners of our prize packs:

Prize Pack #1

Megan (Megalinity)

Prize Pack #2

Daria Poe

Prize Pack #3

Brandy Smith

Prize Pack #4

Sarah Flourance

Prize Pack #5

Maggie Delancey

International Prize Pack #1

Kathy Trithardt

International Prize Pack #2

Susy @salsa_susy

Winners, expect to see an email from 24in48 shortly and congratulations to all of you, whether you hit 24 hours or 2 hours, and we’ll see everyone back here in July!

HOUR 48: Fin!

YOU DID IT!!!!! WE DID IT TOGETHER!!!!

It’s officially the end of this #24in48 and whew boy, what a great readathon it was. You guys did amazing and so many (SO. MANY.) of you finished a full 24 hours of reading. And literally everyone read some fantastic books this weekend. I’m sure there was some stellar naps and snacks happening too (I know there were, I saw your social media posts).

As always, we’ve got some business to finish before you all collapse into bed (except you still reading over there. Yes, you Liberty.)

Announcing the winners of the Hour 42 Swiss Army Rec Challenge:

Carrie Wilson

Lauren Duke

Sarah O’Leary

ShainaWyche

Jessica Dinan

Natalia Varela

Rebecca Anderson

Emileigh Latham

Maggie Burns

Kellyanne @ellarebee

Madison DeJulio

Thia @thia.reads.a.lot

If you won here, go to the Prize Page and pick out your top three choices. Don’t forget to go check previous posts to see if you won a door prize or challenge task!

Don’t forget to go add all the books you read during readathon to our tracker (and go check out Goodreads to see what your fellow readathon-ers were flipping through this weekend).

Next, mark your calendars. The next round of readathon will be held on…

July 20-21, 2019

Now we’d love to know how the readathon worked for you. We’d love to know what went well and what didn’t and how we might make it better. Your feedback helps us produce an event that’s as enjoyable for everyone as possible.

Lastly, if you managed to read a full 24 hours, you’re eligible to win a prize pack (announced here), courtesy of some of our fantastic donors. Fill out the form below to provide proof of your full 24 hours read BEFORE midnight ET on Tuesday, January 29th. We’ll announce the winners of those packs next week. (Don’t forget that you must include a link directly to the proof post, not to your profile or to a story that will disappear).

Once again, we are so thrilled you were able to join us this weekend and we hope you had an amazing couple of days full of great books, yummy snacks, and few interruptions. We’ll see you back here in July! Now we’re gonna go pass out for 12 hours.

 

HOUR 24: Meet Me Halfway

Guys, Day 1 of 24in48 is in the books! You’ve hit that mystical midway point, and by the official clock, it is midnight on Saturday night/Sunday morning. By now, you’re probably calculating how many hours you’ve read, how many you’ve got left to read on Day 2, and whether you’ll be able to go to sleep soon (psst, you totally can!).

Hopefully you’ve gotten a ton of reading done and you can cruise tomorrow. Even if you haven’t and are trying to figure out how to squeeze 20 hours of reading in, do yourself a favor and prep for your Sunday reading time, kick your feet up, and ready the coffeemaker for the morning. No matter what Day 1 looked like for you, Kristen, Kerry, and I are all so impressed with you and think you’re absolutely killing it.

Character from Two Broke Girls saying Nailed It

Before you crawl into bed for the night, we’ve got a few challenge winners to announce. First up, the Hour Zero Intro Survey Challenge post:

Kelleyn Hawley

Raghad Mahmoud

Melissa Crocker

Cristy Nelson

Kyra Felkins

Anthony Sanchez

Jenny Redlin

Kandecia Avery

Alanna Macron

Katie Salisbury

Terri Leonard

Kate Luistro

And winners from the Hour 18 WeNeedDiverseBooks Challenge:

Kristina Reid

Harry Brake

Brandy Cormier

Benni @LibraryBenni

Koozebane

Clara Luca

Day Saffran

Kristen Harvey

Laura Pamplona

Rebecca Haling

Stephanie Martinez

Nerea GonzĂĄlez Barral

If you won, make sure you go check out the prize page and enter your pick into the form. If you didn’t win here, don’t forget to go back to the posts from earlier today and check to see if you won a door prize or a challenge prize – you never know when your name might pop up!

We’re pumped for Day 2 and I hope you are too. Now go get some sleep!

Jon Bon Jovi singing at a microphone

(Like I could really write a halfway post without Bon Jovi. Yeah, right.)

Reminder: This 24in48, we’re trying to log every book read this weekend! Track your books as you finish them here, and follow along on Goodreads!

Hour Zero: Welcome to the January ’19 #24in48 Readathon!

It’s here! We made it! It’s time for another 24in48 readathon. If you’re joining us by the official clock, it’s 12:01am EST and we’ve got 48 glorious, book-filled hours ahead of us. If you’re joining us for the first time, welcome! We’re so happy to have you. To those of you who are chalking up another 24in48 on your tally board, we’re thrilled you’ve returned. As of right this minute, we’ve officially broken 2,500 readers for this ‘thon, which completely demolishes our previous record of just over 1,900. You’re all amazing and we can’t wait to get going!

bear waving hello

Your hosts (that’s me, Rachel, and Kristen and Kerry) have made a few changes (lookit that pretty new logo :insert heart eyes emoji:) for this readathon, but the basics are the same. The three of us will be posting throughout the weekend, here and all over social media. We’ll be taking turns on the official social handles — Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Litsy (@24in48) — and keeping track of the official hashtag #24in48.

We’re bringing back book tracking from our last ‘thon in July where you can log all the books you’ve read during the whole readathon weekend. As you finish a book, enter it HERE and we’ll be adding those to Goodreads throughout the readathon. (Please be patient if you don’t see your books on Goodreads immediately; it’s a manual process for your hosts.) You can also check out your hosts’ TBRs and recommendations.

Additionally, don’t forget about our PayPal Donate button to help cover the costs of international prizes, which allows us to include many more of your fellow global participants in the prize giving. We’ve gotten a few donations so far this year, but the more we get, the more prizes we can offer. Click on the button in the sidebar or go to this link to be taken to our donation page. 100% of your donations (minus PayPal’s fees) will go toward helping your fellow participants who are not US-based the chance to win prizes. As more donations come in throughout the weekend, we’ll add to the prize page so as many people as possible can win. Thank you to all of you that have already contributed. In July, we were able to offer dozens of prizes to international readers that we wouldn’t have been able to give away without your generosity.

lisa kudrow in friends saying thank you

Plus! If you haven’t gotten your #24in48 merch yet, what are you waiting for? We’ve got tons of swag, including coffee mugs, t-shirts, hoodies, totes and more. Pick up your 24in48 stuff HERE or click on the baseball tee in the sidebar (it’s on sale throughout the weekend). All commissions we make go right back into to the running of the readathon, including helping us ship prizes out to you lovely readers.

Okay! Now that we’ve covered the administrative shenanigans, let’s get into some readathon-ing. Starting now at midnight EST, we’ll be posting updates every three hours until we put this ship of fun to sleep on Sunday night at midnight. It’s not too late to sign up (and you still have plenty of time to drag your friends and family in as well), which you can do here. Even if you don’t think you’ll hit 24 hours of reading, you should still absolutely sign up. Only a tiny fraction of participants do a full 24 hours but everyone that signs up and participates is entered to win door prizes and can complete challenges throughout the weekend for additional prize entries. Don’t forget: the goal is not to hit a target time, but just to spend the weekend dedicated to reading. (Click the Follow button at the bottom of the screen to be emailed every time we post a new update here.)

Speaking of prizes, challenge entries need to be sent via Google forms linked in each challenge post. Entries only added in the comments will not count toward prize eligibility. (Speaking of prizes, have you seen the prize list?)

For more tips and instructions, check out our post on how to readathon and the FAQ page.

Now, let’s kick this thing off with our intro survey. Introduce yourself by fill out the form below to be entered to win, then check out your fellow readers’ answers in the spreadsheet below. Winners will be announced at the midway point, Hour 24.

January 2019 Prize Packs are Here!

We’re quickly approaching this weekend’s #24in48 readathon and your cohosts are furiously making last minute preparations. But we wanted to take the opportunity to tell you about the prize packs you’re eligible to win if you complete a full 24 hours of reading. These packs are only possible because of the generosity of our donors and we’re so excited to be able to offer some really great options this year.

In order to be eligible for one of these prize packs, you must:

  1. Sign up officially using your name, a valid email, and a URL/username for the platforms you’ll be updating during the ‘thon. (If you need to edit your response to include an actual link or username, you can do so by following the confirmation link you received when you signed up.)
  2. Be active on those platforms during the readathon.
  3. Use some method of tracking your time. This can include your phone’s stopwatch function or a digital stopwatch (preferred) or a written time tracker, but your 24 hours must be clearly recorded. (If you need a digital stopwatch, Google “stopwatch.”) *Pro-tip: take a screenshot of your stopwatch every time you pause it, just in case you accidentally reset it instead of restarting it.*
  4. In the post that goes up at the end of the readathon, you’ll be able to submit your info and proof of 24 hours of reading. You’ll also be asked to note whether you’re US-based or international.
    You’ll have until midnight ET on January 29th to submit this proof, after which the form will be closed.

Obviously, your proof is on the honor system and, while we’re thrilled to be able to offer these prize packages, please don’t abuse it.

Also, please don’t forget your internationally-based brethren and donate if you can.

Now for the fun part:

For U.S.-Based Readers:

Package #1:
Harry Potter Illustrated Collection: Books 1-3
Yellow Library Card Mug from Out of Print

Package #2:
Litographs Gift Card, Good for One Blanket of your Choice
Bookshelf Mug from Out of Print
To Be Read Enamel Pin from Out of Print

Package #3:
Three-month subscription to the Feminist Book Club Box
Book Nerd Enamel Pin from Out of Print
Natural Library Card Pouch from Out of Print

Package #4:
One month of Nonfiction Call Number Box
Langston Hughes print from Obvious State
Yellow Library Card Mug from Out of Print
To Be Read Enamel Pin from Out of Print
Library Card and Stamp Enamel Pin Sets from Out of Print

Package #5:
One month of Fiction Call Number Box
Agatha Christie print from Obvious State
Bookshelf Mug from Out of Print
Library Card and Stamp Enamel Pin Set from Out of Print
Book Nerd Enamel Pin from Out of Print

For International Readers:

International Prize Pack #1:
Go Away, I’m Reading mug
Set of Bookish Pencils
Book Stack socks
Borges Library tote bag
Too Lit to Quit badge set
Book Crush bookmark

International Prize Pack #2:
$50 Amazon, Wordery, or Book Depository Gift Card (depending on your country/shipping options)

But you can’t win if you don’t sign up! So scurry over and get on that, people! And we’ll see you right back here for readathon-ing this weekend.

24-Hour Prize Pack Winners Announced

It’s been just over a week since we wrapped up the July 24in48 readathon, and we’re still all heart-eyes emoji over the incredible weekend you guys took part in and helped to make wonderful.

We topped out with just over 1,900 readers, making this our most successful readathon to date (and summer ‘thons are notoriously less popular). We also started tracking the books you guys read during the readathon; you logged 2,476 books and 1,887 unique titles. Readers came from literally all over the world: we had participants from 6 continents (and now my goal is to find a reader in Antarctica to participate), with nearly 78% in North America. And nearly 44% of you were first-timers!

We got (almost) nothing but positive feedback on our push for diversity and we thank you for supporting this effort. Of the books you logged, 30% were by authors of color and more than 60% were by women. We still have work to do though; for more than 60% of logged books, participants noted that they weren’t sure about the author’s race, sexuality, neurodiversity, or disability status.

That’s all to say thanks for making this most recent readathon a resounding success.

Now for the best part! Announcing our SEVEN prize pack winners. (Here’s one more stat: 227 readers sent in proof that they’d completed a full 24 hours of reading!)

Prize Pack #1

Miriam W.

Prize Pack #2

Kelly Brady

Prize Pack #3

Erin Feinstein

Prize Pack #4

Emily Blaeser

Prize Pack #5

Devin (@devinfeyded)

International Prize Packs

Samuelle Boyer
Melanie Taddeo

Winners, expect an email from us shortly! Congrats and great job everyone, whether you finished a full 24 hours or just two and we’ll see you all back here in January.

Hour 48: That’s a Wrap!

YOU GUYS! You did it! We’ve hit the end of another fantastic 24in48 readathon. I don’t know about you but we are thoroughly exhausted and full of books. Everyone gather round for a big ole group hug. Yes, even you in the back!

Okay, fine. I respect personal boundaries. But I request the highest of fives instead:

But before we can wrap this up, we’ve got a few last pieces of business to take care of. Starting with the winners for the Hour 42 Bookends challenge:

Christina Hickey

Brittany Radomski

Amanda Salas

Meg L @megabooks

Tori Markwalder

Melissa Daunt

Shaina Wyche

Cassia Lima

Cherry (@_forevermint)

Stephanie Dawson

Angela Boersma

Carol Ellison

Bree Dumont

If you won here, go to the Prize Page and pick out your top three choices. Don’t forget to go check previous posts to see if you won a door prize or challenge task!

Don’t forget to go add all the books you read during readathon to our tracker (and go check out Goodreads to see what your fellow readathon-ers were flipping through this weekend).

Next, mark your calendars. The next round of readathon will be held on…

January 26-27, 2019

Now we’d love to know how the readathon worked for you. We added a few new elements this time, including asking you to let us know what books you read and where you’re reading from, and we’d love to know what went well and what didn’t. Your feedback helps us produce an event that’s as enjoyable for everyone as possible.

Lastly, if you managed to read a full 24 hours, you’re eligible to win a prize pack, courtesy of some of our fantastic donors. Fill out the form below to provide proof of your full 24 hours read BEFORE midnight ET on Tuesday, July 24th. We’ll announce the winners of those packs next week.

Once again, we are so thrilled you were able to join us this weekend and we hope you had an amazing couple of days full of great books, yummy snacks, and few interruptions. We’ll see you back here in January!

Hour 24: Whoa-oh-oh, We’re Halfway There

Jon Bon Jovi in 80s big hair glory spinning with a microphone

Listen, I know I’ve been making the same Bon Jovi joke for years at Hour 24. But honestly, is there any better way to mark the halfway point in the ‘thon? I think not.

How’s everyone doing now that we’re halfway through this shindig? It’s midnight on Saturday night/Sunday morning, and you are probably trying to figure out how many hours you’ve got left to hit tomorrow or you’re feeling confident about your numbers from today and thinking you can take it easy Sunday. No matter where you are, just know that Kerry, Kristen, and I are really proud of you guys and you’ve absolutely killed Day One of readathon. 

We’ve got a few challenge winners to announce before we jump into another day packed with reading! First up, the Hour Zero Intro Survey winners:

Daria

Melissa Ormond

Hallie Fields

Sarah Yarbrough

Jessica Kern

Jessica R Pies

Maggie Dodge

Naomi wilson

Zara P.

Fabulous Book Fiend

Shekenah Keith

Mary Partain

Kimberly Sherman

Next up, our challenge winners from Hour 18’s What’s on Your Nightstand? challenge:

Daniela Filipa Pereira Rosas

Cynthia DesgagnĂŠ

Jill  L

Caroline Ward-Nesbit

JACQUE STENGEL

Kelly Brady

Hallie Szott

Vi Figueroa

Inge van der Heijden

Jennifer Singh

Karin Shank

Erin Coughlin

Robyn West

If you won, go check out the prize page and make your picks. If you didn’t win here, don’t forget to go back to the posts from earlier today and check to see if you won a door prize or a challenge prize – you never know when your name might pop up!

Also just a reminder to let us know where you’re reading from here and to enter your books into the tracker as you finish them here.

Happy reading!

Hour 3: Never Too Late

We’re a short three hours into this thing and if you’re just discovering that readathon exists (um, HELLO, where have you been?), you might be wondering if it’s too late to sign up. The answer is definitely not, no way, it’s definitely not too late. In fact you can sign up and start reading pretty much all weekend and you’ll be eligible for prizes and goodies and why would you want to miss out on that? (Hint: you wouldn’t.) Sign up HERE.

Most of your U.S.-based readers are probably asleep but if you’re global (like me!), what are you starting your readathon with? What’s your readathon strategy? Personally, I like to start with a brand new book and preferably something that’s either super short or super fast so I get at least one book done quickly and I get to feel like I’ve had a productive readathon. Speaking of finishing books, don’t forget that we’re asking you to tell us what books you’re reading all weekend and where you’re reading from. We’ll be updating our shiny new Goodreads profile with all your books this weekend if you want to track what your fellow readathon-ers’ are reading. 

We’ll have your first challenge up in 3 hours at Hour 6, but if you haven’t yet done the intro survey, don’t forget to head over to the Hour Zero post and fill that out.

But I wouldn’t leave you without at least a few door prize winners to kick things off right.

Kaleah
Kimberly Eisner
Erin Abernathy
Jess P
Michael C. Steffens
Cynthia Jacobs
Elizabeth @elizabetheadams
Amy Batkins

If you won, go make your pick on the prize page, and if you didn’t, stay tuned all weekend for more winners. We’ll be drawing random names all readathon and hosting challenges so you’ll have lots of chances to win.

Okay, I think that’s it. I’ll be popping in on all the social media and bouncing up and down, waiting for Kristen and Kerry to wake up and get our readathon squee on together.

(We are not collectively that coordinated, I promise.)