I’m halfway through the readathon, so here’s the Dewey’s 24-hour readathon mid-event survey!

• What are you reading right now?

I’m 2 stories into Of This New World by Allegra Hyde, a short story collection focused on different kinds of utopias. I’ve also been intermittently dipping into my re-read of Boyfriend Material via audiobook that I started prior to the readathon, which I’m almost finished with.

• How many books have you read so far?

So far, I’ve finished 3 books: The Past is Red by Catherynne M. Valente (science fiction novella, 160 pages); Only a Monster by Vanessa Len (YA fantasy, 416 pages); and Heartstopper: Volume 1 by Alice Oseman (YA contemporary graphic novel, 263 pages).

• What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the readathon?

I’ve been debating what to pick up next, because all of the books on my TBR are very appealing, but I think I’m most drawn to trying Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher. It’s a dark fairy tale, and it’s a shorter novel, so I’m hoping that could mean that I could both start and finish it before I get too tired later tonight. And I’d still like to read the Kate Baer poetry collection, as well as finish the short story collection I started. The thing is, my productivity and energy levels tend to take a serious dip during the second half of the readathon, so it’s hard to predict what I’ll actually be able to accomplish.

• Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?

Luckily, not much! I was really in need of some hardcore bookish hermit time, so I’ve been able to devote my Saturday to readathoning so far.

• What surprises you most about the readathon, so far?

I’ve read more than I thought I would have at this point in the readathon! I think having shorter books and different genres/formats to choose from was really key.

That’s a wrap on another round of Dewey’s, which came at a perfect time this year with some much-needed reading and bookish community. I wasn’t really sure how productive my readathon would be this year, because with everything going on in the world my ability to focus hasn’t been quite up to par, but I’m really glad that I decided to participate regardless. It wasn’t my most productive readathon, but I still really enjoyed challenging myself to read more than I normally would, and checking in on social media throughout the day to see what other readers were doing.

I woke up earlier than usual for the readathon (around 7:30 a.m.) so that I actually started reading right on time when the readathon started for me at 8 a.m. I read the entirety of a horror novella (The Murders of Molly Southbourne) in bed, then attempted to start a new book but was having trouble with indecisiveness. I read the first few pages of several books, then got started reading a YA Gothic fantasy book (Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan) but soon felt that I needed a bit of a break, so I  got up, had a bagel, and did some social media stuff, like checking the Dewey’s blog and posting my TBR and reading plans on my blog. Then, because for the first time in what feels like forever it was supposed to be 55-60 degrees and sunny out, I headed out for a long walk by the waterfront (staying as far away from others as possible, of course!).

Because it was earlier in the day, things weren’t as crowded at first, and it felt so good just to be out in the sun by the water. I took a few book photos, and then started noticing more and more people around, so I walked in a weird loop by some closed restaurants and banquet halls by the water and noticed that one restaurant had some tables and chairs out that were completely empty, since it was sort of off the normal walking trails. Since no one was around, I found it to be a perfect reading spot, and started reading Beach Read by Emily Henry, while unbeknownst to me becoming gradually more and more sunburned. I wandered a bit more through emptier parts of the city before heading back to my apartment in the late afternoon.

After snacking on some delicious tabbouleh that I had made the day before, I again started to feel indecisive about what I wanted to read. Even though I was liking both of the books I’d started earlier (Beach Read more so than Unspoken), I wasn’t quite in the mood for either one. Instead, I decided to make it my goal to finish The City We Became, a book I’d started earlier in April and wanted to finish before the end of the month, and I hunkered down with that book for several hours.

And then indecisiveness hit again after I finished The City We Became, and I picked up The Prisoner of Azkaban for a nice easy re-read (I’m currently in a book club via Zoom with several friends from high school, and we’re re-reading the Harry Potter books in order) only to discover that my extremely old copy was missing about 100 pages from the middle of the book. (I still have no idea where they went.) Slightly discouraged and getting tired, I ended up reading a bit more of Unspoken before I finally went to bed.

Closing Survey:

1. How would you assess your reading overall?

During the readathon, I managed to finish reading 2 books:

I started and finished The Murders of Molly Southborne by Tade Thompson (117 pages) and finished reading The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin, which I’d started reading earlier in the month (262 pages).

I also started reading 2 others:

Unspoken: The Lynburn Legacy Book 1 by Sarah Rees Brennan (70 pages) and Beach Read by Emily Henry (30 pages).

In total, I read 479 pages during the readathon, which is less than I normally tend to read, but still very respectable!

2. Did you have a strategy, and if so, did you stick to it?

My strategy was to get some sunshine and to read as much as I wanted, so I’d say that was pretty successful.

3. What was your favorite snack?

I had some delicious tabbouleh I’d made for snacking, and I also had a chai latte.

Did anyone else participate in Dewey’s this round?

Normally I really look forward to Dewey’s 24-hour readathon as a great way to take a break from the busyness of work and obligations, but it feels a little bit different this time around. With social distancing still in effect, I’ve been reading much more than I normally do, and the concept of staying inside and reading all day doesn’t have quite the same allure that it normally does. I was weighing participating at all, but came to the conclusion that I still really do want to partake in Dewey’s this round, but that it might look a little different for me than it normally does: I’d love to spend a lot of time outside if possible; I want to focus on the social aspect of the readathon, encouraging and chatting with other readers; and my actual reading during the readathon may take a hit if I decide I need a bit more social interaction via Facetime.

My TBR for this round of Dewey’s is a little all over the place; I have no idea what I’m in the mood to read or how much reading I’ll be getting done, but these are some possibilities, including current reads I’d like to make progress on and new books to start:

Opening survey:

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?

Buffalo, NY!

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

I’m intrigued by Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth, and I’m hoping to possibly finish The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

Last night, I made tabbouleh in preparation for the readathon!

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

I love the community feel of the readathon, and I think it’s something we could all use right now.

5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today?

Read outside! Normally I’m a bit of a hermit during the readathon, but I’m in desperate need of some sunshine.

It’s that time of year again! October means colder, rainier, more reading-friendly weather, candles, my famous pumpkin chili, spookiness and all things Halloween, and another round of Dewey’s 24-hour readathon.

If you’re a fellow bookish person and you’ve never heard of Dewey’s, check out the site here. It’s a twice-yearly readathon where the purported goal is to read for a full 24 hours–but don’t worry, most of us don’t make it to nearly that much. Essentially, it’s a day of reading as much as you can while connecting with fellow book lovers. You can post as much as you want on social media, enter a bunch of challenges, or just be a hermit all day and devote  yourself to books. Either way, it’s super fun and a great way to treat yourself on a Saturday. Dewey’s takes place this Saturday, October 20th, and it starts at a different time depending on what time zone you’re in; on the East Coast of the U.S., where I am, the readathon starts at 8 a.m. (although I almost never actually start reading that early).

One of my favorite parts of Dewey’s is, oddly, the planning. I like to think about what books to read in advance, because if you’re going to spend a day binge-reading, you’ll burn out fast if you try to read books that are too slow or complex (or at least I do!). I find that what works best for me are books with alternative formats (books that have text interspersed with images, interviews, documents, etc; think Illuminae or Night Film), short books (I like Tor.com novellas in particular), YA (you’re looking for a book that’s absorbing without being too strenuous to read, especially later in the day when you’re getting tired), and thrillers (because they’re gripping and fast-paced; I recommend Kanae Minato‘s books for the readathon). Keeping those things in mind, here’s my readathon TBR!

For YA books this time, I’ve come up with two: Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl and The Rules and Regulations for Mediating Myths and Magic by F.T. Lukens. Neverworld Wake is one that’s been highly recommended but I don’t know too much about–and I’d kind of like to keep it that way, since it’s a strange concept that I think involves time travel and purgatory and a murder investigation. Rules and Regulations is one that I picked up at BookCon; I think it’s a contemporary fantasy. And then I have the audiobook of Sawkill Girls by Clarie Legrand, because it’s good to have an audiobook option to give your eyes a break.

In terms of shorter books, I think I’ve found a few that will work for the readathon. I love Jeff Vandermeer, and I’m hoping to pick up his novella The Strange Bird, which is a companion to his novel Borne (which is fantastic, btw) when I’m in the mood for a shorter read during the readathon. Vandermeer writes weird fiction, and I’m interested to see an alternate perspective on Borne’s story, since the world he created in that book is so rich with detail and opportunity for further exploration. I also have on deck Megan Hunter’s The End We Start From, which is a short, sparsely written apocalyptic novel set while its main characters are fleeing a flooded London; A Portable Shelter by Kirsty Logan, which I believe also has short stories, and A Man Came Out of a Door in the Mountain by Adrianne Harun, which is sort of a creepy fantastical mystery.

To mix things up, I also have a choose-your-own-adventure style book, My Lady’s Choosing by Kitty Curran and Larissa Zageris, that I think might be fun to pick up when I’m feeling sleepy or distracted; it’s not a book that you read straight through, but you can play around with different storylines. It’s sort of an interactive romance novel that also parodies historical romances. And then to round out my stack, I have an ARC of Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri that I got at BookCon, because it’s a book that I need to read before its release date in November.

Are any of you participating in Dewey’s? If so, I hope you enjoy the readathon!