Dewey 24 hr Read-a-Thon

It's that time again, the Dewey 24 hour read-a-thon and a chance to forget the chores and indulge my love of reading.  For the next 24 hours, or as long as I can manage, I will spend my time reading and eating.

 

I'm starting with 'Never Saw It Coming' by Linwood Barclay, picking up from page 146. 

1pm - Introductory post

 

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?  Trowbridge, Wiltshire UK

 

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? I haven't decided on my books for the read-a-thon.  I'll just choose as I go along!

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? Chicken curry.

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!  I live alone, so have plenty of time to indulge in all my various hobbies.  I like reading all sorts but particularly crime and detective novels.

5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?  I'm going to listen to an audio book this time and may also read a short story on the Kindle.  Previously, I've only read actual books.

 

6:00pm - Update

 

It's now a quarter of the way through the read-a-thon and this is my first progress update:

• I've finished my first book - 'Never Saw It Coming' by Linwood Barclay (148 pages read today),
• started my second book - The Chess Men' by Peter May (163/383 pages read so far)
• I started at 1:00pm and in the six hours since I have been reading for about 5 hours and 10 minutes, the remainder of the time spent on comfort breaks, getting drinks and eats.

Sunday 27th April, 1:00am - Update

Half way through the read-a-thon and still going strong.  Since my last update:

• I've finished 'The Chess Men' by Peter May (220/383 pages)
• currently listening to an audiobook - 'Doctor Who, The Feast of the Drowned' (70 minutes running time so far)
• in the 6 hours since my last update I have been reading/listening for about 5 hours and 30 minutes.

Sunday 27th April, (9:00am - Update

Just got up and am eating my breakfast.  I slept for 2 hours longer than I intended but never mind!  Since my last update:

• finished listening to the audiobook - 'Doctor Who, The Feast of the Drowned' (approx. 65 minutes running time).  I don't know how many pages the full audiobook equates to.
• did a short blog hop around some other bloggers who are doing the read-a-thon
• went to bed at 2:30am
• in the 8 hours since my last update I have been reading/listening for 1 hour and 30 minutes
• Starting on 'West End Girls' by Jenny Colgan

Sunday 27th April, 1:00pm - End of Event Meme

Which hour was most daunting for you? Surprisingly it was 2:00pm on Saturday, right at the start of the read-a-thon.  I was really tired after a poor night's sleep the night before and I thought I wasn't going to be able to continue.

 

Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? I don't think any of the books I read count as 'high-interest'!

 

Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?  From my point of view, it all worked really well so I haven't any suggestions for improvement.

 

What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?  I liked the variety of mini challenges, the support of the cheerleaders was amazing, but the best thing was the information and advice provided in the lead up to the event.

 

How many books did you read?

• What were the names of the books you read?  'Never Saw It Coming' by Linwood Barclay (148/296 pages), 'The Chess Men' by Peter May (383 pages), 'Doctor Who, The Feast of the Drowned' (135 minutes, complete audiobook), 'West End Girls by Jenny Colgan (125/306 pages), 'Doctor Who, The Stone Rose' (40 minutes, part of an audiobook)
• Which book did you enjoy most? 'The Chess Men'.  It is set in the Isle of Lewis, has believable characters, a good plot, a mystery and a twist at the end.  I also enjoyed the audiobooks more than I thought I would so will be looking for some more in the future.
• Which did you enjoy least? 'Never Saw It Coming'. I didn't particularly like any of the characters so didn't really care too much what happened to them. 

If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? N/A

 

How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? Yes, I will definitely do this again, as a reader.