Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon: August 2020 Reverse Readathon

Dewey’s 24-Hour Readathon: August 2020 Reverse Readathon

Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon is a readathon hosted over at 24hourreadathon.com, where readers challenge themselves to read for 24 hours. You can find out more info on their FAQ Page.

Hello everyone! I’m excited today to participate in my first-ever “reverse” readathon! I’ve participated in lots of other Dewey’s 24-Hour Readathons, plus a couple other readathons, but I’ve never done a “reverse” one before, as far as I can remember. I think what makes it “reverse” is that it starts 12 hours earlier than the usual Dewey’s readathons, and also I think it’s supposed to be more laid-back with less challenges and things. I’m excited about the starting 12 hours earlier thing, because I think it might allow me to actually read more! Fingers crossed!

I’ll be updating this post throughout the readathon.

My TBR Pile

My Main Pile
Attack on Titan Vol 30 by Hajime Isayama
Salvaged by Madeleine Roux
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

I’m getting close to finishing Gideon the Ninth, and I’ve also started Salvaged but haven’t gotten very far into it, so my main goals are to finish those two, and also to read Attack on Titan, Vol 30 during this readathon.

My Secondary Pile
The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg
My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness by Kabi Nagata, translated by Jocelyne Allen
Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley
Check, Please! Book 1: Hockey by Ngozi Ukazu
The Golden Compass Graphic Novel, Vol 1 by Philip Pullman, adapted by Stephane Melchior-Durand, illustrated by Clement Oubrerie
Blankets by Craig Thompson
To Kill a Mockingbird: A Graphic Novel by Harper Lee, adapted and illustrated by Fred Fordham
Illegal by Eoin Colfer, Andrew Donkin, Giovanni Rigano
November Vol 1: The Girl on the Roof by Matt Fraction, Elsa Charretier, and Matt Hollingsworth

Because I am such a slow reader, I really like to grab some graphic novels and/or manga from my library before a readathon so that I can at least get a couple books finished during the 24 hours! Some of these have been on my TBR list on Goodreads for a while, and some of them I just thought sounded interesting when I saw them at the library. I’m looking forward to all of them!

Opening Survey

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
I’m in Washington State, in the United States.

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

I’m definitely looking forward to finishing Gideon the Ninth, and also really looking forward to Attack on Titan, Vol 30. Plus so many of those graphic novels/manga on my secondary pile!

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

Once again, I have forgotten to stock up on snacks pre-readathon. But I think I have some ice cream, some cookies, some apples and peanut butter, and maybe a few other goodies in my kitchen to snack on!

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

I’ve done so many of these readathons that I don’t remember what I’ve answered for this question before, but I feel like I’ve told everyone the basics. Ummmm…I’m excited that the new season of Big Brother has started! It’s a guilty pleasure.

5) If you participated in the last readathon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first readathon, what are you most looking forward to?

I participated in the last regular readathon in April, but I signed up at the last minute and really didn’t have that much time to read. I’m really excited to try this reverse readathon out, and I’m hoping the different starting time will help me be able to read a lot more!

Updates

Hours 1-6

Titles of Books Read During This Period: Gideon the Ninth, Attack on Titan, Vol 30, and My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness
Thoughts on Current Read: I’m enjoying My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness!
Number of Books Read So Far: 2 finished
Pages Read During This Period: 257
Total Pages Read So Far: 257
Amount of Time Spent Reading During This Period: 2.5 hours
Total Amount of Time Spent Reading So Far: 2.5 hours
Notes: I think this may be the first readathon where I’ve been able to start in hour 1! Usually hour 1 is at 5am my time, so I’m not awake. So this has been nice! I still only read for about 2.25 hours during these first 6 hours of the readathon, but I finished 2 books and started another, so I’m happy with my progress.

Hours 7-12

Titles of Books Read During This Period: My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness
Thoughts on Current Read: I finished and enjoyed My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness!
Number of Books Read So Far: 3
Pages Read During This Period: 126
Total Pages Read So Far: 383
Amount of Time Spent Reading During This Period: 1 hour, 15 min
Total Amount of Time Spent Reading So Far: 3 hours, 45 min
Notes: I was getting super sleepy during these hours (hour 7 starts at 11 pm my time), but I was able to finish My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness. I went to bed at the start of hour 9.

Mid-Event Survey

***I was asleep during the actual middle of the readathon, so I’m deciding to answer these questions 3/4 of the way through, in hour 19***

1. What are you reading right now?
I’m getting close to the end of Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley. I’m enjoying it!

2. How many books have you read so far?
I have finished 3 and almost finished another.

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Readathon?
I’m not sure! I definitely want to try to read a bit of Salvaged, but I also want to read all the graphic novels/manga on my secondary pile!

4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?
My wife has interrupted me a couple times, and I’ve had to take breaks for meals and then I also slept for several hours. I am also feeling pretty sleepy again right now, so I may need a protein-filled snack! But my interruptions have been pretty minimal.

5. What surprises you most about the Readathon, so far?
Well I’ve done tons of readathons so I’m not sure if I really get surprised by things anymore. But it’s my first Reverse Readathon so I guess what’s most surprising about that is that I had a pretty good night’s sleep in the middle of the readathon but I’m still super tired in hour 19.

More Updates

Hours 13-18

Titles of Books Read During This Period: Relish: My Life in the Kitchen
Thoughts on Current Read: I’m enjoying Relish! But it makes me hungry and makes me miss NYC!
Number of Books Read So Far: 3 finished
Pages Read During This Period: 117
Total Pages Read So Far: 500
Amount of Time Spent Reading During This Period: 1.5 hours
Total Amount of Time Spent Reading So Far: 5 hours, 15 min
Notes: I woke up in hour 16, and started reading Relish pretty soon. I also had breakfast and spent a little time with my wife. I was hoping to finish Relish before the end of hour 18 but it didn’t happen. But I’m sure I’ll finish it soon!

Hours 19-24

Titles of Books Read During This Period: Relish: My Life in the Kitchen, Illegal, and The Golden Compass Graphic Novel Vol 1
Thoughts on Current Read: I enjoyed all 3 books I read during these last hours!
Number of Books Read So Far: 6
Pages Read During This Period: 265
Total Pages Read: 765
Amount of Time Spent Reading During This Period: 2 hours
Total Amount of Time Spent Reading: 7 hours, 15 min
Notes: I have really been super sleepy ever since I woke up this morning (which was in hour 16), so I’m really proud of what I accomplished. I’m also really glad that I was able to read quite a bit last night in hours 1-8. I’m really curious to look back at my hours and pages and books read in previous readathons to see how this reverse readathon compares.

Mini Challenges

Opening Survey (see above)
Mid-Event Survey (see above)
Vague Recollections (This one was really fun!)

Bingo

This was a lot of fun too! I should have looked at it more closely before we started, but I think I did pretty well!

Other Participants I’ve Visited

I haven’t been to any other blogs so far but I’ve cheered on some other participants on Twitter and liked some photos on Instagram.

Closing Survey

1. How would you assess your reading overall?
I think I did pretty well! Almost all of the books I read were graphic novels/manga, because I’m a slow reader and never could finish a whole regular, normal-sized book during this readathon. But I think next time I might challenge myself to read a little less graphic novels/manga, and try to read a bit more of a regular book.

2. Did you have a strategy, and if so, did you stick to it?
My strategy was just to read a lot of graphic novels/manga, so that I could get a lot of pages and books finished in. And I think that worked! However, I did have a goal of finishing all the books on my definite pile and I only finished two of those, so I kind of wished I had at least read a little bit of Salvaged.

3. What was your favorite snack?
The only “snack” I had was some leftover spaghetti, and it was good! I think I’m going to reward myself with some ice cream here in a bit, though, and I’m looking forward to that!

4. Wanna volunteer for our next event?
I would love to volunteer sometime but unfortunately the next readathon falls on a weekend when I have my kids, and since I only have them every other week, I like to spend as much time with them as I can, especially on weekends. So I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to even read for the next readathon. But I hope to volunteer sometime in the future!

Well that was fun, as always! How did you all do? I hope you were able to at least escape the world outside for a little while during the readathon! I know we can all use it right now!