That’s a wrap on this round of Dewey’s! I had so much fun participating in the readathon after a pretty stressful week, and I felt myself relaxing more and more throughout the day, which was honestly the best part. Sometimes you just need to take a chill day and be bookish!

I started out the readathon at a decent hour–it starts at 8:00 a.m. my time but I never wake up right at the start time, as I always catch up a bit on sleeping during the weekends. I did wake up around 9:00, though, and started reading almost immediately, which was pretty good for me. I started off the readathon with Obsidio, the third and final book in the Illuminae Files trilogy, which I actually pre-ordered and received in March but have been waiting for the readathon to actually pick up. I knew that it would take me a decent amount of time to finish, but since it was what I was most looking forward to, that’s what I wanted to use to kick off the readathon.

I actually read all of Obsidio with only one short break to post on Litsy and eat a delicious salad for lunch, which is very unusual for me! It was definitely an enjoyable read, but I didn’t like it as much as the first two books in the trilogy as it didn’t get nearly as in-depth with any of the characters. After Obsidio, I took a break to go to the gym and shower, and then started in on Penance by Kanae Minato after reading the first page of all 3 of the shortest books on my TBR and deciding that one appealed to me the most. I took a break partway through Penance to order dinner (I got takeout! Turkey burger and sweet potato fries, because that was just what I was in the mood for and didn’t feel like cooking during a readathon) and watched an episode of Life Sentence. After that, I finished up Penance fairly quickly. It’s a short book (only 225 pages) and divided into 5 parts, one from each perspective of the women impacted by the murder of a child.

After I finished Penance, I took a long social media break to catch up with Instagram and Litsy, and found that I was not really in the mood to try to start and finish another book during the readathon, even though I did have two shorter books on my TBR that I could have probably finished if I’d really tried. I just didn’t feel like I would have been able to focus on the book enough to really get everything out of it that I normally could, so instead I went with a humorous YA fantasy, In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan, which fit my mood and level of alertness much better. Because I was getting tired, I only got through about 50 pages (with frequent breaks) before I was ready to fall asleep around 2:00 a.m. Throughout the day, I also listened to just a bit of The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer; I just wasn’t really in an audio mood. Overall, it was a great, relaxing, and productive readathon!

Dewey’s Closing Survey!

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?

There was an hour in the middle of the afternoon when I got really off-track because I was trying to find tickets to see Avengers: Infinity War on short notice with a large group of people. All of the nearby theaters were full and so much texting was happening and it took me awhile, but I did end up getting tickets and getting back to reading.

2. Tell us ALLLLL the books you read!

I finished 2 books, Obsidio by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman (615 pages) and Penance by Kanae Minato (225 pages), and read from 2 others, The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer (24 pages) and In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan (50 pages). In total, I read 914 pages!

3. Which books would you recommend to other Read-a-thoners?

These would all make good readathon reads! Especially Penance, as it’s very short and fast-paced.

4. What’s a really rad thing we could do during the next Read-a-thon that would make you smile?

This year the mini-challenges were all given at once, as opposed to other years when they come out one hour at a time and last for only a few hours. I think I preferred the hourly mini-challenges.

5. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? Would you be interested in volunteering to help organize and prep?

Very likely! I will definitely be participating in the next round of Dewey’s on October 20th, and I like the idea of getting more involved by hosting a mini-challenge or donating a prize next time!

If you participated, how was your readathon??

It’s that wonderful time of year again–time for another round of Dewey’s 24-hour readathon!

If you aren’t familiar, Dewey’s is a readathon that takes place over 24 hours, and the way to “win” is to read the entire time. Many people, myself included, never read for the full 24 hours and that is also OK–you can participate as much or as little as you want. It’s a low-pressure and very social readathon that tends to get a lot of participation across many countries and platforms. If you’ve never participated, I highly recommend it–it’s a lot of fun! If you want more information or to sign up, check out the Dewey’s site here.

During the week leading up to Dewey’s, I usually spend a fair amount of time agonizing over my TBR. Dewey’s can be tricky to plan for since you don’t know what reading mood you’ll be in and you tend to need shorter, faster-paced books to carry you through. I actually made a stack of recommendations of books that I’ve loved that I think would make great picks for Dewey’s on my Instagram account (linked on the sidebar).

This time around, I don’t have any novellas or graphic novels on my TBR since I’m not in the mood for graphic works and I don’t currently own any unread novellas. It’s possible that this will cut into the amount that I’m able to finish, since those are typically what I use to keep myself motivated and break up the day. That being said, I’ve put together a pretty awesome TBR stack that I’m very excited to dig into. As always, I definitely don’t plan on reading all of these books, but I like to have options as I’m very much a mood reader. I’ve got a variety of genres: fantasy, both space-related and post-apocalyptic science fiction, realistic fiction, mystery/thriller, and a collection of horror fairytale retellings. These are all fairly new books; I’ve been making an effort to read from my backlist TBR shelf lately, but for the readathon I’m in the mood to treat myself to some newer things.

So, here’s my Dewey’s TBR!

I would normally rank these in order of most to least likely to pick up during the readathon, but this time around I’m almost equally excited for all of them. The exception to this is Obsidio by Jay Kristoff and Amy Kaufman, which I pre-ordered before its March release yet fully intended on saving it for Dewey’s. The Illuminae Files series is perfect for a readathon; the books are chunky yet there’s not much text on each page due to their alternative formatting, and they’re extremely fast-paced so that you’re motivated for binge-reading. I’m planning to use this book to kick the readathon off and figure out the rest of my TBR after I finish it.

As far as longer YA books go, I have 2 other options on hand: I just won an ARC of Furyborn by Claire Legrand in a Litsy giveaway, and for awhile I’ve really been looking forward to picking up In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan. I’m more likely to pick these up after I finish both Obsidio and one of my shorter books (I think?) but I like the idea of starting a longer book during Dewey’s that I won’t necessarily finish during the readathon, but that I can carry on reading into May.

I have both the audio and the physical copy of Meg Wolitzer’s The Female Persuasion, which is the only book in this stack that I’ve already started. I’ve listened to about an hour of the audiobook so far and really love it; I’ll probably use the audiobook to help break up the day, or if the weather forecast magically changes and I want to go for a walk.

And in terms of shorter books, I have 2 novels and a collection to potentially pull from. I’m liking the idea of picking up either Penance by Kanae Minato or Bannerless by Carrie Vaughn after I finish Obsidio; both are less than 300 pages long and seem like they would be fast-paced as well as good. I feel like there’s a high likelihood of me reading at least one of them. And then I also have The Merry Spinster, a collection of fairytale retellings with a horror twist by Mallory Ortberg (who recently announced a transition to Daniel Ortberg but is listed as Mallory on the book). I think that even if I don’t read the entire collection, I might read a story or two in between longer books and then finish it later on.

Goals-wise, I’d like to finish 2 of these books and start a third. I think that’s pretty reasonable. I’d also like to keep up with posting updates throughout the day as well as checking in to see how everyone else is doing with their reading on Bookstagram/Litsy/blogs. Ideally I’ll take a reading break partway through the day to go to the gym; I would have loved to go on an audiobook walk or do some reading outside, but as of now my weather app says it’s supposed to be chilly and rainy, so it’ll likely be an indoor reading day unless I need a change of scenery and go to a coffee shop or something. I’d like to read for many hours (I have no idea how many, but “many” sounds good). And that’s it!

Are you participating in Dewey’s? What’s on your TBR?

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

I’m reading from the East Coast of the U.S., where it’s supposed to be gloomy out all day. Perfect reading weather, although it does mess with my plans to read outside for a bit.
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

Probably Replica by Lauren Oliver – I’m really in the mood for a new YA book, and the fact that this one is dystopian with a nontraditional format just makes it sound even more enticing.
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

I’m looking forward to making a chai latte this morning, and also to some Thai food later in the day 🙂
4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

I absolutely love making TBRs, but I rarely stick to them. I’m really curious if I’ll stay with my TBR for Dewey’s or if I’ll end up going rogue.
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?

Hm…the last readathon in October was actually pretty great for me–I got a ton of reading done and really enjoyed almost everything I read. I’m actually hoping to keep this round pretty similar, with as much reading as possible, checking in on bookish social media, and taking a break to work out later in the day to mix things up. Hopefully I’ll end up participating until pretty late tonight, although I never end up reading for the full 24 hours.

How is everyone’s readathon going so far???

I always look forward to the next installment of Dewey’s 24-Hour Readathon; it’s such a fun, positive day of reading and bookish interactions. The last few weeks have been really crazy for me, so I’m really looking forward to having a nice, relaxing, reading-filled day on Saturday. I’m also really looking forward to picking up these books! I tend to save certain books for readathons that I think will be good picks; I have a few graphic novels, a few YA novels, an audiobook, a short story collection, and a novella to choose from. I picked out a few yummy snacks and am probably planning to order takeout, since readathons allow you to be lazy, and if it’s nice out I’m hoping to read outside on my roof or maybe walk down to read by the river. I’ll be posting updates here on my blog every so often, and also will be posting a lot on Instagram and Litsy (I’m @beachesnbooks on both of those).

And here’s my TBR! Ranked from most likely to read/finish during the readathon to least likely.

The Grownup by Gillian Flynn – I got this short story in one of my Book of the Month Club boxes and have been saving it for a readathon because it’s so tiny and will be a perfect fast-paced read. I think it involves ghosts, maybe? Or else it’s just a thriller, but either way I’m thinking it will be a good way to kick off the readathon Saturday morning.

Saga, Volume 7 by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples – this next volume of Saga came out just in time for Dewey’s. I don’t exactly remember where the previous volume left off, but I always enjoy this series.

Replica by Lauren Oliver – I’m thinking this may be my main YA read during the Readathon, but I’ve never read a Lauren Oliver book before so I don’t really know if I’m going to like it (thus having lots of backup options). It’s a science fiction novel told in dual perspectives that you can read any way you want–alternating chapters between the two characters, or reading first one perspective and then the other; I think this nontraditional format will help my reading flow during the readathon.

Difficult Women by Roxane Gay – I haven’t yet read a short story collection in April, so I’m going to have to finish this one before the end of the month. I got a bit behind on my reading during the Tome Topple Readathon, so I’m hoping to read some of this collection before the readathon and try to finish it during Dewey’s.

Windwitch by Susan Dennard – I couldn’t resist picking up a copy of Windwitch immediately after finishing Truthwitch earlier this month, but I’ve been saving it in case I’m in the mood for this YA fantasy during the Readathon. I’ve heard that the majority of people didn’t like this as much as Truthwitch, but I’ve got a good feeling as it seems like we’ll be getting more of Iseult and Aeduon in this one.

Perfect Little World by Kevin Wilson – I’m listening to this “utopian” novel on audiobook; it’s always a good idea to have an audiobook option during the readathon so that you can keep your reading up if you have to go drive somewhere. If it’s nice out, I may also take a walk while listening to this.

Something New by Lucy Knisley – I read Relish, Lucy Knisley’s food-related memoir, for a previous readathon, and thought it was really cute and well-illustrated. This graphic memoir focuses on Knisley’s engagement and planning her wedding; since I was in four weddings over the past year, I think it should be pretty entertaining.

Diplacement: A Travelogue by Lucy Knisley – I picked this up at the library when I was grabbing Saga and Something New; it’s another graphic memoir by Lucy Knisley that focuses on her relationship with her grandparents when she goes on a cruise with them.

Is anyone else participating in Dewey’s??? What’s on your TBR? Let me know!