April 2016 Readathon: Finish Line!
Dewey’s 24-Hour Read-A-Thon is a bi-annual readathon, hosted at 24hourreadathon.com, where readers and bloggers get together and read for 24 hours, sharing their experience with others.
Well, guys, how did everyone do? I really wish I had spent more time reading during the day, because I really don’t feel like I accomplished much. Oh, well. There’s always next time!
Here are my answers to the End of Event Meme:
1. Which hour was most daunting for you?
Basically all day. I really didn’t get into the groove of reading except for a few hours. But I guess the hardest hours were 16-20. I was tired during all of those, and really, really tired during the last couple. It was hard to focus, much less read and retain it.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
Graphic novels are always good if you’re a slow reader like me.
Graphic novels are always good if you’re a slow reader like me.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
In April 2015, the last readathon I did before this one, there was a readathon book, The Yellow Wallpaper, that many people read. And I remember that there wasn’t really any discussion about it. But I would have liked to see one of those again, with some kind of discussion afterwards.
This was my first year to cheer, and I have to say it was more time-consuming than I thought it would be. But I’m sure using Twitter to cheer is much less time-consuming than commenting on individual blogs. However, I was kind of sad because I only had one comment on my Starting Line post, and none on my Updates post. I understand that not all participants have blogs, but now it feels like maybe I’m wasting my time by posting all these updates on my blog? Because entering in data and things like that does take time away from reading, too. I don’t know. I am a blogger and I enjoy posting these kinds of things on my blog, but if the readathon is going to become more of a social media thing, then maybe I won’t post all this stuff on my blog anymore.
Also, maybe make sure the people hosting mini-challenges aren’t doing the same kinds of challenges? I saw two road-trip challenges and two quote challenges this year. I did one road-trip challenge, and decided not to do the other, because I had already done the first one.
This was my first year to cheer, and I have to say it was more time-consuming than I thought it would be. But I’m sure using Twitter to cheer is much less time-consuming than commenting on individual blogs. However, I was kind of sad because I only had one comment on my Starting Line post, and none on my Updates post. I understand that not all participants have blogs, but now it feels like maybe I’m wasting my time by posting all these updates on my blog? Because entering in data and things like that does take time away from reading, too. I don’t know. I am a blogger and I enjoy posting these kinds of things on my blog, but if the readathon is going to become more of a social media thing, then maybe I won’t post all this stuff on my blog anymore.
Also, maybe make sure the people hosting mini-challenges aren’t doing the same kinds of challenges? I saw two road-trip challenges and two quote challenges this year. I did one road-trip challenge, and decided not to do the other, because I had already done the first one.
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
I think the cheering on Twitter was probably a lot easier and more efficient than cheering used to be (although I missed having comments on my blog posts, like I stated above). But when I went to look at the list of blogs that supposedly didn’t have cheerleaders, that weren’t signed up for Twitter cheers or something, my name was on the list. I feel like that list was inaccurate so I decided not to cheer for some people on that list, as I wasn’t sure who really didn’t have cheerleaders.
5. How many books did you read?
Just 2, unfortunately. I really wanted to get more read, but it just didn’t happen.
Just 2, unfortunately. I really wanted to get more read, but it just didn’t happen.
6. What were the names of the books you read?
The Walking Dead, Compendium Two by Robert Kirkman, et al.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz graphic novel by L. Frank Baum, Eric Shanower, and Skottie Young
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz graphic novel by L. Frank Baum, Eric Shanower, and Skottie Young
7. Which book did you enjoy most?
The Walking Dead, Compendium Two
8. Which did you enjoy least?
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz graphic novel. I enjoyed it, but I felt too familiar with the story so I got a little bored at times. And I was falling asleep as I was trying to read it, so that made it not as much fun.
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
This was my first time cheering. I think just be prepared for it to take a lot of time, especially if you want to try to cheer for everyone on your team. I think I was only able to get to about 1/3 of my team, and that makes me sad.
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 be participating any time that I can. I think next time I might have to get a hotel room or something so that I can have less distractions.
Thanks again to all the organizers and volunteers! You guys rock! And great job to all the readers!
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Angie F
April 24, 2016 at 4:45 pmI was bummed about getting no comments on my blog this time too! Having the cheerleaders on Twitter probably is more efficient, but I still felt uncheered for. I got one tweet all day, and no blog interactions. :(
Kate Midnight Book Girl
April 28, 2016 at 10:55 amI do think Readathon is evolving to more of a social media platform out of necessity. It used to be an event for book bloggers, but now so many of the participants don't have blogs (and yes, blogs were SUPER time consuming- half of the cheering time was spent navigating blogs that weren't active, had CAPTCHA, and when Tumblr became a thing it was a NIGHTMARE). However, not everyone tweets either. If more people signed up to cheer this wouldn't be a problem, but out of all the people who signed up to Readathon, only like 72 of us were cheerleaders, which is crazy! The numbers have been skewed like this for a long time. Not sure what the solution is. I liked that the Goodreads and Facebook page was so active, which really drummed up excitement. Because I had my nieces over for their first Readathon, I didn't participate as much as I wanted to (and I skipped all the challenges other than the beginning and end survey), but I did like cheering just on Twitter- so much easier than blogs.
fakesteph
May 11, 2016 at 10:51 pmI'm so sad I missed participating!