Dewey’s 24hr Readathon

~ This Reading Life

I believe that this is now my 6th or 7th Dewey’s 24 hr Readathon.

I love them to pieces.

A whole day devoted to reading as little or as much as you can, with a whole bunch of people all around the world who love reading as much as you do. It doesn’t get much better!

Life stuff usually gets in my way of devoting an entire 24hrs to reading, but I do as much as I can.

As per usual I have several half read books cluttering up my bedside table that I would really like to finish & I’m going to use this as my incentive to do it.

I’m also hoping to jump start AusReading month in November by starting a couple of Australian books early.

In an attempt to keep things simple, I will use this post for updates.

I will check into twitter, instagram and litsy (@Brona’s Books) as I can.

In fact, I will try to emulate the remarkably organised, and first time readathoner, Nancy @ipsofactodotme by having a 15 minute social media blitz each hour before returning to the books. (I cannot turn off the wi-fi in our house as the teenage booklet would totally freak out!)

Cirtnecce @Mockingbirds, Looking Glasses and Prejudices is also joining us for the first time after she spotted my readathon twitter flurry late last night. Please help to make her feel welcome.

Thanks to twitter I have pulled together a #TeamOz.

In previous years it has got very quiet on social media during the Australian Sunday afternoon period as those on the other side of the world grab a snooze. I thought it would be good for us folk Down Under to know who we all are, so we can cheer each other on.

Any New Zealand readathoner’s who’d like to be included please let me know & I will add you to our small (but growing every year) group.

Elizabeth @Earl Grey Editing is hosting a mini challenge for this year’s readathon in hour 17. If you only do one mini-challenge this readathon, make it the Aussie one!

Here’s the rest of #TeamOz so far – Rebecca, LyssEditor, Elanor, Heather, Gabby, Charlie, Jade, Dimitra, Nikks & hopefully Louise.

(If your page/account was private I haven’t included you, but if you’d like to be added, please let me know below with your preferred url).

New Zealand blogger Maree has now also joined our ranks. Perhaps we should be #TeamANZ ?

Starting Meme

Where Are You Reading?
I’m in Sydney, Australia.
My start time is 11pm on Saturday the 22nd October.
Therefore most of my readathon actually occurs on Sunday the 23rd October.
What Do You Hope To Read?
This is my current half-read bedside pile.
I know I wont finish some of the non-fiction chunksters, but I’d like to make some decent headway on them.
Finishing Hot Milk is the one priority before next week’s Booker Prize announcement.
Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
Children’s fiction, 214 pgs (I will be reading from pg 35)

Hot Milk by Deborah Levy
Fiction, 218 pgs (I will be reading from pg 82)

Eden’s Outcasts by John Matteson
Biography, 428 pgs (I will be reading from pg 260)

Edith Wharton by Hermoine Lee
Biography, 756 pgs (I will be reading from pf 158)
I have been reading this book for over two years.
The print is sooooooo tiny, I can only read a little at a time before my eyes start leaking!

The Boy Behind the Curtain by Tim Winton
Memoir/Short Stories, 296 pgs (I will be reading from pg 55)

The Middlepause by Marina Benjamin
Memoir, 205 pgs (I will be reading from pg 189)
I thought this book would be more scientific, with practical advice, but it’s not.
I’ve struggled to finish it.

Awakening the Buddha Within by Lama Surya Das
Mind, Body, Spirit, 395 pgs (I will be reading from pg 82)

If This is a Woman by Sarah Helm
Non-Fiction, Holocaust, 658 pgs (I will be reading from 179)

This is the easier to read, maybe I will/maybe I wont pile of possibilities.

The rest of the questions have been answered above.

What are your plans?
_____________________________________________________________________

Updates


Hour Zero
Ooops! Some premature reading occurred.
After checking out twitter and the opening meme, I accidentally picked up one of my books and accidentally started reading.
16 pgs of The Middlepause (book finished)
Now it’s time to make a cup of tea, get into my pyjama’s and count down to…
Hour One – 11pm Saturday 22nd October
30 pgs of Hot Milk
“the way imagination and reality tumble together and mess things up.”

Hour Two – Midnight Sunday 23rd October

24 pgs of Eden’s Outcasts

Mr Books is a pretty avid reader too.
Tonight we had a mini-read in before bed.
He knocked over a chapter or two in his sci-fi chunkster, The Fireman by Sam Hill.
My #sixwordstoryRAT mini-challenge
‘Where roses bloom and pumpkins squat.’


Hours Three to Nine

Good Night #TeamOz

Hour Ten – 8am Sunday 23rd October

Good morning from Sydney.
What’s been happening while I slept?

Time for breakfast and a chapter of Hot Milk before the next hour rolls on by.

7pgs of Hot Milk

Buddha’s tears tea

Hour Eleven – 9am Sunday 23rd October

18 pgs of Hot Milk
“I have more of an ear for the language of symptoms and side effects, because that is  mu mother’s language. Perhaps it is my mother tongue.”

Hour Twelve – 10am

27 pgs of Hot Milk
“We were looking at each other with our various points of view.“

Skim flat white at my favourite cafe

Hour Thirteen – 11am

My brain was feeling fuzzy so I decided to take my book for a walk and a coffee.

17 pgs of Hot Milk

Hour Fourteen – midday

34 pgs of Hot Milk
Book finished!

Hour Fifteen – 1pm

The sun has come out.
I’m now sitting on our back porch, watching Mr Books clean the BBQ, after its winter hiatus.
B16 is studying for exams & I’m thinking that it could be snack time.

29 pgs of Danny the Champion of the World

Hour Sixteen – 2pm

Snacks – banana, chocolate & Buddha’s tears tea.
A quiet house now that Mr Books and B16 have gone to soccer trials.
The hard part will be to NOT snooze!
Snooze for too long, that is!

29 pgs of Danny the Champion of the World
1pg of Marie Claire’s, Kitchen.

Guess what we’re having with the BBQ skewers tonight?

Hour Seventeen – 3pm

31 pgs of Danny the Champion of the World

Unhealthy afternoon snack to boost my energy levels!
Shhhh don’t tell Mr Books or B16!

Hour Eighteen – 4pm

Oops! Fell asleep whilst reading on the bed!

Hour Nineteen – 5pm

42 pg of Danny the Champion of the World


Hour Twenty – 6pm

Some dinner preparation & a beer slowed me down a little this hour.

49 pgs of Danny the Champion of the World

Book finished!

Pear, fennel & rocket salad (tomato & rocket salad for B16)

Hour Twenty-One – 7pm
13 pgs of I Know My Love 
I read this book several times as a teenager.

Last time I visited my parents, I spotted it on their bookshelf. In a fit of nostalgia I decided to reread it for AusReading Month in Nov to see if it was as wonderful as I remembered.
My brain is starting to feel rather book befuddled, so I decided this might be a good, easy option to see out the end of the Readathon.



Hour Twenty-Two – 8pm

13 pgs of I Know My Love




Hour Twenty-Three – 9pm

Time for a bubble bath to get me through the final stages…
28 pgs of I Know My Love


Hour Twenty-Four – 10pm

8 pgs of I Know My Love


Thanks for a great readathon one and all, with a HUGE thanks to our extraordinary hosts for bringing us all together again. A BIG thank you also to all of #TeamOz for making this such a fun day.
Hope to see you all again in April.

Total pages read: 416
Total books finished: 3
Total hours asleep: 8
Walk: 1
Bubble bath: 1

Published by This Reading Life

29 thoughts on “Dewey’s 24hr Readathon”

  1. Thank you for the wonderfully kind words and the warm welcome and support! I am SUPER excited!! Thank heavens I spotted all your chatter on Twitter or I would have misses all the fun!!

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  2. Aren't readathons the best? I always try to keep Dewey's marked in my calendar.I love the idea of #TeamOz! It gets so unbearably quiet late in the afternoon. It would be great to have some people to party on with, so I'll definitely be keeping an eye on the tag.Looks like you've got some great books lined up! I didn't realise Richard Roxburgh was a writer. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on the book when you're done.

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  3. Up early trying to get last minute things done. I start at 2pm CET (your 11 pm start). Thanks so much for shout out! 15 min bilitz social media is perfect. I wonder how much I can check on 15 min limit! First book on 'my readathon shelf' (see my Goodreads shelves or link via blogpost)…Nevil Shute 'Trustee from the Toolroom'! Aussie, Aussie, Aussie. Good luck #TeamOz

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  5. Roxburgh's book is for the 8-10 yr old readership and was only published this month – his first foray into children's books. I thought it might be a good choice when I flag a bit about 5pm tomorrow!

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  8. Hey 🙂 I left a comment on my blog, but you might be more likely to see this – lol. Yes please, add me to your list for #TeamOz (or #TeamANZ) 😀

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  14. I love that you created a twitter group to keep the conversation going when the rest of us fall asleep on this side of the world! I'll be cheering you guys on in my dreams! I try to do the same thing as Nancy and just get on the computer once an hour for a quick update and a few cheers. Happy reading today!

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  15. I'm here! Although a little late and underprepared…. I love the idea of #Team OZ (my first time representing Australia!), and looking forward to meeting my other team mates. I also love that you did some premature reading. And I'm totally jealous that you have Artie and the Crime Wave in your stacks. I meant to find it this week, but well, it didn't happen. Although it's not as if I don't have enough to go on with… I'm just home from work, and want to get my post up, and my first book read before I go to bed.

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  17. I have just discovered that the read a thon was today, clearly too late to sign up officially. But, I will dabble around the blogosphere and see what all of you are up to whilst I read a bit myself. My husband's very favorite Roald Dahl book was Danny, The Champion of the World, and my copy is ancient as it's hard to find in print now. At least in Illinois. That and Hot Milk should keep you well satisfied! Won't it be fun to see what wins the Man Booker on October 24? What if it is Hot Milk?! Have a lovely day reading, Brona. xo

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  20. Discovering readathon too late was my thing for quite a few years. I spent several readathons only reading for the last 5 hrs or so. Glad you found us in time though.I'm not sure I would like Hot Milk to win the Booker at this stage. I much preferred His Bloody Project (entertaining!) and I adored Do Not Say We Have Nothing (but I love Chinese literature and big epic historical fictions).It's overcast and cool here today – perfect reading weather.

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  23. Great 'running commentary' per hour!Stats are looking good! I have to gather my thoughts and pg numbers etc.Have a good night, thanks for gathering members for #TeamOz and #TeamANZ …thanks for your support!

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  24. I tried 5 min…..but it always turned out to be 8-10 min. I needed to write a few thoughts per hour, page stats and sweep twitter, FB and Goodreads. The timer….did keep me focused and I avoided slipping into news sites, You Tube or wikipedia!

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  27. Check in post #readathon. Finally awake after major ZZzzzMy cats thought I left town….where is she?It took all my energy to write 1 book review yesterday (afraid I'd lose my thoughts!)Now settling into normal life: hum of dishwasher, drip-drip-drip coffee machine, glow of laptop and internet!Thanks for all your work pulling #TeamOz together. I'm trying to get some USA FB friends interested for the #readathon….Americans watch alot of TV (netflix)…and seem to forget how rewarding books can be! we'll see! #NeedCoffee

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  28. I really enjoyed the #TeamOz spirit too and I would love to see you pull together a group of your friends too for the next one.I think the personal touch makes a big difference to something like that.I've been pretty tired all day – fortunately Monday is my short work day & I was able to do a quiet job in the office for most of it :-)Brain feels too fuzzy to write any of the three reviews I now need to do…or write up any AusReading Month posts to help me get though Nov…of well, tomorrow is another day as Scarlet so sagely reminds us!

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  29. It is 830 pm and my eyes are heavy, thoughts befuddeled.I wrote my STATS today….had to get the out of the way.Sigh, time for some hot milk, get the cats into their 'sleeping'quarters in the kitchen….I'll listen to David Copperfield audio book…until sleep overcomes me.Hope to 'up and running' at normal speed tomorrow.

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