Hour 42: Your Favorite One Challenge

Do you hear the people sing, singing the song of happy readers, it is the music of a group who is sad the last challenge is here, but ready to rock this thing… (I don’t know, Les Mis just felt right, I’m running low on coffee).

We’ve got one last challenge for you, 24in48ers, and this one is brought to you by our partners at Flatiron Books and Algonquin.

For this summer’s final challenge, we want you to look back on the books you’ve read this weekend and tell us what your favorite one was, and why.

Be sure to tag your post using our hashtag (#24in48) so that other readers can find you and, you know, add to that ever-growing mountain we call our TBRs.

Submit your challenge entry here or through the embedded form below, and you’ll be entered into our random drawing to win a copy of one of the following titles:

📘 The Lightest Object in The Universe, 📕 The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone, 📗 The Darwin Affair, 📚 Dominicana, 📙 American Dirt

For our international participants, you’ll be entered to win a $15 gift card to your choice of Amazon, Book Depository, or Wordery.

You have until Hour 48 to enter this challenge.

Before you get back to the books, help us congratulate our winners from our Hour 36 Literary Loot Challenge! If you see your name below, keep an eye out for an email from us to claim your prize!

Meg Bee	RE Sawyer
Naomi Wilson	Steph Firby
Kristi Larson	Sabella Dunne
Kristen Harvey	Valerie Tincher
Brooke Scegiel	Kimberly Amico
Audra Russell	Tiffany Loveland
Yuchen dou	Alicia Pender

Don’t forget to log any books you finish here, and to interact with your fellow readers using the hashtag #24in48.

Hour 30: YA & Middle Grade Challenge

It’s early morning on the East Coast, my dogs are snoring, and the coffee is brewing as I take in the magic of my favorite day of the ‘thon.

Whether it’s Winter 24in48 or Summer 24in48, day two always feels a bit cozier in that perfect reading way, where the world is quiet and soft around the edges and you sink into your books with the knowledge that somewhere out there, a whole bunch of other readers are doing the same.

Image from iOS.jpg — A pile of children’s and YA books

The flip side of day two, though, is always the sleepies, depending on how the first day went for you. To ward that off, we always recommend switching things up, taking a walk, hydrating, and—above all else—mixing in some quick, easy reads. One fantastic way to do that? Diving into those middle grade, young adult, and new adult books in your stack.

For this challenge—brought to you by Simon & Schuster’s Children’s division—we want to hear about your favorite MG/YA novels and series. Do you have old, battered copies of books from your childhood that got you into reading? Maybe you’re a parent teaching your kid(s) to read, or have recently done that reading rite-of-passage where you read them your favorites as a bedtime story. Post about it, and don’t forget to use the hashtag #24in48 so other readers can find you.

You can submit your challenge entry here or in the embedded form below, and you’ll be entered into our random drawing to win a copy of one of the following titles:

📘 Sorcery of Thorns, 📕 Honeybees and Frenemies, 📗 The Class, 📙 Bunnicula Anniversary Edition, Charlie Thorne and the Last Equation, Fighting For the Forest

For our international participants, you’ll be entered to win a $15 gift card to your choice of Amazon, Book Depository, or Wordery.

Don’t forget to log any books you finish here, and to interact with your fellow readers using the hashtag #24in48.

Hour 12: Audiobooks Challenge

Oh hi there, readers. Have you stretched recently? Hydrated? Stepped outside to enjoy the (hopefully) summer sunshine?

Around this time, we’re doing a changing of the guard at 24in48 HQ, since Kerry and Kristen are in EST and Rachel is a few hours ahead! It’s the perfect time, because we’re one-fourth of the way through this thing.

We’re back to ring the challenge bell, interrupt your reading, and generally remind you that you’re doing THE GREATEST JOB and we’re SO HAPPY YOU’RE HERE WITH US.

This hour’s challenge is brought to you by our partner Hachette Audio, and we’re SO ready to talk audiobooks. Rachel is a longtime audiobook champion, Kerry is no slouch in that department, and both of them

conspired to turn nonfiction-on-audio-only Kristen into a fully fledged fiction audiobook reader.

For this challenge, we want to hear (see what we did there 🎧) about your audio reading life. Do you get your books from Audible, or Libro.fm? What does your audiobook library look like? Are there any audiobooks you’ve listened to over and over again? What’s your favorite audiobook?

Image from iOS — Kristen’s Audible library

Post an audiobook-related photo that gives us insight into your audio reading life, and tell us all about it. You can submit your challenge entry here or in the embedded form below; you have until Hour 18 to enter this challenge.

You’ll be entered into our random drawing to win a copy of one of the following audio titles:

📘 Interment, 📕 Once & Future, 📗 Teeth in the Mist, 📙 Dear Evan Hansen

For our international participants, you’ll be entered to win a $15 gift card to your choice of Amazon, Book Depository, or Wordery.

Before you get back to the books, help us congratulate our winners from our Hour 6 Challenge!

If you see your name below, keep an eye out for an email from us to claim your prize!

Barbara Bates	Steff Pasciuti	Kristin Seed
Susanna Palomäki	Kaci Lund	Dwayna Paplow
Christina @ You Book Me All Night Long	Rachel Finn-Lohmann	Brittany Paloma Fiedler
Shai Villanueva	Chantel McCray	JoAnna Becker
Vì Figueroa	Ryan A Franklin	Rebecca MacLean
Maíra Protasio	Laura Myers

Don’t forget to log any books you finish here, and to interact with your fellow readers using the hashtag #24in48.

Hour 6: SFF Challenge

Good morning, good morning, good morning you glorious bookworms and reading unicorns!

It’s Hour 6, and the seasoned 24in48-ers among us know that that means it’s time for our very first challenge of this July 2019 readathon. This year, we’re running challenge prizes a bit differently, so if you’ve joined us in the past be sure to give this post a thorough read!

Tor.com Publishing’s Logo

This hour’s challenge is brought to you by our amazing, fantastical partner Tor.com Publishing, “an imprint for science fiction and fantasy novellas and novels.”

Thanks to fabulous donations from our pals at Tor, we want to hear about all your weird, fantastical, magical, technological, cyber, crypto, robotic books.

Basically: Show us that SFF, y’all. Post a photo of yourself with a favorite SFF novel that you’ve loved in the past, a magical tale that’s on your #TBR for this weekend, your SFF-inspired tattoos, that Harry Potter Funko

Host Kristen’s Deathly Hallows Ink

collection on your bookshelves … whatever gorgeously amazingly weird beautiful fantastical stories that transport you, speak to you, or that you’re discovering for the first time.

Submit your challenge entry here or through the embedded form below, and you’ll be entered into our random drawing to win a copy of one of the following titles:

📘 Gideon the Ninth, 📕 Sisters of the Vast Black, 📗 The Monster of Elendhaven,

📚 Silver in the Wood, 📙 Miranda in Milan

For our international participants, you’ll be entered to win a $15 gift card to your choice of Amazon, Book Depository, or Wordery.

You have until Hour 12 to enter this challenge.

Don’t forget to log any books you finish here, and to interact with your fellow readers using the hashtag #24in48.

Now, get back to it, and we’ll see you in a few hours!

PS: Don’t forget that we’re going live on Instagram at Hour 10 (10am EST!)

HOUR 42: What’s your swiss army book rec? [Challenge]

It’s Hour 42, and if you’ve been here before you know that that means: It’s time for our last challenge, and for some Kristen feelings.

Hour 42 means you’ve done the damn thing all the way through, and that this is my last post, and that we’re wrapping up another round of my favorite weekend on the internet until six months from now.

janet crying I have a lot of feelings around this hour of the ‘thon, because I never want it to end AND I am exhausted AND maybe I’ve cried a bit because you’re all so wonderful AND Kerry and Rachel are the best AND other very important complicated reasons. I CONTAIN MULTITUDES.

Mostly, though, I’m glad you’re here. I’m glad you joined us. I’m eternally grateful for this event, my cohosts, and every single one of you readers the world over.

Whether you’re cramming through those last few hours to hit your goal, finish that book, or just generally see this thing through to the end, we know you’ve got some gifs of celebration/applause to share with the winners of our Hour 36 challenge (head over to the prize page to stake your claim, winners!):

Jamie E.

Jules Q @phreneticmind

Becca Scott

Ariel Kirst

Erin Feinstein

Cecilia Grip

Angela N

Chelsea Stephens

Jackie Edwards

Sarah Flourance

Taylor Worley

To round out this shindig, we want you to tell us about your favorite swiss army pick. If you’re not familiar with the lingo, all that means is tell us The Book That You Recommend To Everyone, no matter their book preferences or whether or not they’re generally “a reader”.

You know what we mean, the book you can give your grandma to read and your best friend and your partner and that coworker who stops by your desk and says “So, you read a lot, right? What should I read?”…and no other information.

Here are ours:

: Rachel: The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street

: Kerry: Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed

: Kristen: Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay

If you’re posting a photo of your entry on social media, don’t forget to use the official hashtag #24in48 so other readers can find you, and tag us so we can see!

For this challenge entry, like the others, post your entry on social media/your blog and drop the link in the form. Don’t forget to identify yourself and jot down where we can find you this weekend to validate your entry. We’ll post the winners of this challenge in six hours (Hour 48), so make sure you check back after you entered to see if you won!

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 36: What’s Your Favorite Food-related Book? [Challenge]

OK, y’all. It’s the final countdown. We’re 3/4 of the way through this thing, and are amazed by every single one of you. Whether you’ve read for two hours or 20 so far, you’re a champion in our eyes, and we love hanging out with you. If you haven’t been, be sure to drop in on the hashtag (#24in48) every once in a while to see what your fellow readers are up to and cheer them on!

Before we continue, it’s time to announce the winners of our Hour 30 challenge! Give your best gif celebration to these readers, and if you see your name below head over to the prize page to stake your claim:

Gretchen Larson

Rachel Purtteman

Allison (@technoblueberry)

Thea Fransen

Susy (@salsa_susy)

Jennifer Edwards

Lynne Kramer

Erin Coughlin

Chessa Hickox

Amanda Leff

Kara Middleton

Brianna Flores

Now is the point of the ‘thon where my brain gets consumed by all the snacks I’ve eaten thus far, and whatever meal is coming next. This year, I’m hanging out in Kerry’s house in the woods, which is always the best because her partner spends the whole weekend leaving us alone to read while making us gads of food.

It usually looks something like this (and yes, that bread is also homemade. I mean, c’mon):

A screenshot of an instagram post of a charcuterie board

Since I’m thinking about food already, for today’s recommendation challenge I want to hear about your favorite, most loved, best ever food-related book.

This can be a food memoir, a collection of food writings, the cookbook that is so food-splattered and stained and falling apart but you’ll never replace it and can’t live without it, the cocktail recipe book that lives on your bar (and that you actually use). Here are a few of ours:

food posts

If you’re posting a photo of your entry on social media, don’t forget to use the official hashtag #24in48 so other readers can find you and add your series to their TBR, and tag us so we can see!

For this challenge entry, like the others, post your entry on social media/your blog and drop the link in the form. Don’t forget to identify yourself and jot down where we can find you this weekend to validate your entry. We’ll post the winners of this challenge in six hours (Hour 42), so make sure you check back after you entered to see if you won!

Don’t forget to check past posts to see if you’ve won, and visit the prize page if you have!

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 30: Your Favorite Series [Challenge]

Hello, hello, hello, readers! I hope you can hear me over the sound of the coffee percolating, or the kettle boiling, or whatever other morning ritual you’re in the middle of.

A cat leaning against a counter with a cup of coffee

By the official timeclock, it’s 6AM on day two, my favorite day of the readathon. Day two feels a bit cozier, as we all hunker down and try to hit 24 hours (or whatever our personal goals are). Currently, Kerry and I are hunkered on a couch in her house in the woods, buried under blankets and dogs and cats and consuming all the coffee.

Like I said last year, over the years, your three hosts have progressively retreated from everyone who isn’t ‘thonning on 24in48 weekend…and I’m not mad about it. This community and these weekends are our favorites; reading for the sake of reading with readers the world over is the most important aspect of this weekend. You’re here because you want to read and connect, and that’s a beautiful win, no matter how many hours you read or don’t.

Janet from The Good Place clapping

Janet from The Good Place giving a thumbs up

All smooshy feelings aside, it’s time to kick off our day two challenges! Today, we’re gonna follow a bit of a theme: book recommendations.

First up, we want to hear about your favorite series. YA, SFF, Mystery, Kidlit, it doesn’t matter. We want to see and hear about your favorite series, and what makes it so wonderful.

Cohost Kristen’s challenge entry: NK Jemisin’s Broken Earth Trilogy

If you’re posting a photo of your entry on social media, don’t forget to use the official hashtag #24in48 so other readers can find you and add your series to their TBR, and tag us so we can see!

For this challenge entry, like the others, post your entry on social media/your blog and drop the link in the form. Don’t forget to identify yourself and jot down where we can find you this weekend to validate your entry.

Michael from The Good Place saying “Here We Go”

We’ll post the winners of this challenge in six hours (Hour 36), so make sure you check back after you entered to see if you won!

Hit us with those recommendations, and get back to the books!

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 18: #WeNeedDiverseBooks…on your shelves [Challenge]

READERS! It’s time for another challenge already! I hope the time is flying for you the way it is for us; don’t forget to stretch those page-turning fingers every once in a while, and to hydrate!

A frenchie stretching on a yoga mat

A cat rolling over and stretching

This is a perfect time to take a stretch break while we share the winners of our Hour 12 challenge and I tell you about our final day one challenge. If you see your name below, head over to the prize page to stake your claim!

Chris Myers

Amy Goldsmith

(Maggie @MDodge)

Erin Klinar

Samantha Marshall

Vanessa J (@twistedreads)

Meghan Griffin

Amanda Rodriguez

Jailynn G

Kayla Gallup

Heather Padgett

Rita Cunha

If you joined us this past July, you (hopefully) remember that we talked about 24in48 with intention, and bringing the same personal attention and intention we (as three white, cis women) apply to our personal reading lives to the ‘thon. (For a refresh, check out this post.) In keeping with that goal, we wanted to highlight a grassroots organization that is near and dear to our hearts: We Need Diverse Books.

Screen Shot 2018-12-30 at 12.58.23 PM.png

In a nutshell: WNDB is a nonprofit organization birthed out of a Twitter conversation about the lack of diversity in kidlit between Ellen Oh and Malindo Lo. Things exploded from there, and what started as a hashtag campaign is now an organization that partners with authors, bookstores, and libraries, providing resources and amplifying marginalized voices, all with the aim of:

“Putting more books featuring diverse characters into the hands of all children,” to bring about “A world in which all children can see themselves in the pages of a book.”

It’s hard to distill these efforts down into a challenge for our small event, but worthwhile. For the next six hours that this challenge is open, we want to see and hear about the diverse books you love, and the ways you work to diversify your bookshelves.

If you’re looking for a definition of diversity, WNDB offers a great one:

“We recognize all diverse experiences, including (but not limited to) LGBTQIA, Native, people of color, gender diversity, people with disabilities*, and ethnic, cultural, and religious minorities.

*We subscribe to a broad definition of disability, which includes but is not limited to physical, sensory, cognitive, intellectual, or developmental disabilities, chronic conditions, and mental illnesses (this may also include addiction). Furthermore, we subscribe to a social model of disability, which presents disability as created by barriers in the social environment, due to lack of equal access, stereotyping, and other forms of marginalization.”

Since this challenge is a bit open ended, we came up with some ideas to get you started (this is not an exhaustive or fully representative list of possible entries; you can interpret this challenge however you wish):

Do you have a book on your shelves that expanded your understanding of a social justice issue? Show us, and tell us how/why it did so.
Do you have a specific title that opened you up to ideas, persons, struggles, settings, etc., in a new way (read our blurbs from the last ‘thon if you want an example)? We want to see/hear about it.
Share a story of encountering a book by a certain author that blew your mind wide open to the importance and impact of #ownvoices representations of life experiences.

We’ll share some of our favorite entries on social media to draw attention to the diverse, representative titles recommended by your fellow readers.

If you’re posting a photo of your entry on social media, don’t forget to use the official hashtag #24in48 so other readers can find you, and tag us so we can see! We’ll post the winners of this challenge in six hours (Hour 24), so make sure you check back after you entered to see if you won! You’ve also got until then to enter the Intro Survey!

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 6: What Your Book Starts With [Challenge]

Y’ALL. It’s time to yell about the fact that we’re six hours into this thing (if you’re following the official readathon timeclock it’s 6AM ET)!

The winter 24in48 always feels so cozy, and makes that first, early morning, steaming cup of coffee taste more delicious. Whether you’re just waking up continuing your streak after starting at midnight/Hour 0, we’re so thrilled to have you that we are celebrating with OUR FIRST CHALLENGE.

A gif of Karamo Brown, Jonathan Van Ness, and Tan France from Netflix’s Queer Eye celebrating gleefully on a couch

🚨 One quick note before I give you the deets: you must be officially signed up to be eligible for door prizes and challenge prizes, and you have until the end of day one to do so. You can search the participant list here to make sure you’re signed up, or if you know that you aren’t, go right to the sign-up form. 🚨

This year, I wanted to kick our challenges off by having you turn to the beginning of whatever book you’re reading now—or any book in your 24in48 stack. Flip through those opening pages, and read over any dedications, epigraphs (a short quotation or saying at the beginning of a book or chapter), and opening lines you find.

Pay attention to which ones stir something in you, whether it’s a short laugh, a deep breath, an extra heartbeat. That, right there, is what we want you to share with us.

The dedication to SAWKILL GIRLS by Claire Legrand

For this challenge entry, you can either post a photo of your chosen book-opening text or first line on social media/your blog and drop the link in the form, or type up the text itself and submit it that way.

No matter which way you choose, don’t forget to identify yourself and jot down where we can find you this weekend to validate your entry.

If you’re posting a photo of your entry on social media, don’t forget to use the official hashtag #24in48 so other readers can find you, and tag us so we can see! We’ll post the winners of this challenge in six hours (Hour 12), so make sure you check back after you entered to see if you won! You’ve also got until Hour 24 to enter the Intro Survey!

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 12: A Whole New World (Challenge)

IT’S HOUR 12, Y’ALL. We’re a quarter of the way through this thing, and you 👏 are 👏killing 👏 it. 👏

This is a perfect opportunity to do some stretching, refill your snacks or-—you know—eat an actual meal if you’re into that, and drink some water while you crack those page-turning knuckles and get ready for our second challenge!

Before we dive in, here are the winners from the Hour 6 challenge:

Cassandra Wifert

Lindsay Knutson

Maria Angelis Rojas

Christina (christinastephaniereads)

Carla (simoes)

Chelsie Schadt

Simona

ingeveldkamp @leeskipje

Audrey Mattevi

Jana Eichhorn

Laura Cerone

Donia K

Kennedy Gelinas

Head on over to the prize page to stake your claim! And now, the second challenge:

One of the best things about reading, in general, is that it takes us outside of our own lives. Whether that’s through a cozy mystery, a fantastical adventure, or quiet poetry that reminds us of the beauty in the world, all those books on your shelves can help you do just about anything.

More specifically, we here at 24in48 HQ love books that open us up to the diverse experiences of humans the world over. Reading opens us up to truths, ways of thinking, and worldviews that we’d never have otherwise (particularly as three cisgender white ladies). And we’re always looking for more books to do just that.

For this challenge, share a book that has expanded your worldview or changed the way you look at something, whether it’s another culture, gender, race, a new concept, social justice issues…the possibilities are endless.

Here are ours:

Rachel: Homegoing by Yaa Ghasi wasn’t my first foray into “diverse” literature by any means. I’d been intentionally and consciously trying to expand my reading to find

Cover of Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

books and authors that didn’t look or sound or think like me for a while. But it was the first book I read that took my perception of the “American” experience and turned it on its head. It’s one thing to know academically about slavery and its impact on Black Americans; it’s something else entirely to be shown how generation after generation is damaged and scarred by the brutality forced upon vast swaths of people. It is also something else entirely to be reminded that America has never dealt with its abuse of slaves and its ongoing abuse of their descendants. The impact of Ghasi’s generational saga has never left me, and I am reminded of the story every time another abuse of Black Americans is in the news.

Cover of Salvage The Bones by Jesmyn Ward

Kerry: “It’s so hard to pick just one, but I’m going with Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward. I’d read news coverage and nonfiction works about Katrina and many ways the system failed communities of color specifically in its aftermath, but Ward’s fiction brought the very human, very individualized world of the families most impacted by the storm’s path to light in ways that have stayed with me years after my initial read of the book.”

Cover of Evicted by Matthew Desmond

Kristen: “I remember gasping, crying, and sitting in heartbroken sickness at various moments as Matthew Desmond shared stories of poverty-stricken Americans stuck in a system stacked against them in Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City. It blew my understanding of poverty, the housing crisis, and welfare benefits wide open. Since reading it, I haven’t stopped thinking about what home means to people who are—over and over again—prevented from maintaining one.”

If you’re posting a photo of your entry on social media, don’t forget to use the official hashtag #24in48 so other readers can find you, and tag us so we can see! We’ll post the winners of this challenge in six hours (Hour 18), so make sure you check back to see if you won! You’ve also got 12 more hours to enter the Intro Survey!

Reminder: This 24in48, we’re trying something new to get a geographic snapshot of all participants and log every book read over the weekend! Let us know where you’re reading from here, and track your books as you finish them here!