It's next weekend! The Read-a-Thon is next weekend!
I'm not the organizer and I'm just a baby Readathoner, but I loved it so much the three times I participated that I wanted to encourage you to try it, even if it's just to put your toe into the water.
Want to do that? To take a quick dip? Here's the way to do a Readathon Lite:
Readathon: The challenge is to try to read and blog for twenty-four straight hours.
Readathon Lite: Read and blog until you are tired. Go to sleep. Wake up. Read some more.
Readathon: Read continually. Eschew all invitations, including those of your loved ones for meals. Take a book with you into the bathtub. Avoid all human contact, including the cries of your offspring and pleads of your spouse. Be strong. Read.
Readathon Lite: Read. Take a break. Walk. Go eat with your family. Read some more. Take another break. Eat a few Hershey Kisses. Play with your dog. Read a little more.
Readathon: Read War and Peace. Have Moby Dick as backup. In case you finish W&P.
Readathon Lite: Have a nice stack of funny books, chick lit, ya fiction, a book of poetry, graphic novels, some magazines, even some children's picture books. Read in little bursts. Read whatever strikes your fancy. Stop when you want. Read something else.
Readathon: Visit every blogger that signed up for the readathon. Write long blog posts about the readathon. Enter every hourly competition. Spend so much time blogging that you do not actually read anything.
Readathon Lite: Update your blog. Visit a blog or two every hour and leave a comment. Enter a few competitions. JMHO, but these are the most fun part of the readathon.
Readathon: Stay up all twenty-four hours. Go to bed as soon as the readathon is over. Sleep all the next day and find you can't go to sleep that night. Wake for work on Monday cranky and irritable. Explain to everyone that you spent all weekend in a twenty-four hour readathon. Wait for appropriate responses of admiration and envy. Instead, hear comments like, "Why would anyone try to read for twenty-four hours? Who would do that?" accompanied by hoots of laughter.
Readathon Lite: Sleep when you need to. Wake up on Monday refreshed and happy. Tell your best reading buddy about the readathon and share your favorite reads with her.
So how do you signup for Readathon Lite? Same place as Readathon. Hope to see you there!
I'm ready!
My wonderful reading room is waiting.
I've read the tips for readers. Helpful.
I'm signed up.
I'm planning to read and review an enormous stack of nominees for the Cybil nonfiction picture book award. Here's what I've got ready: Redwoods; Bring Me Some Apples and I'll Make You a Pie; One Beetle Too Many; Faith; Pippo the Fool; Pharoah's Boat; Eleanor: Quiet No More; Unite or Die; Nic Bishop: Butterflies and Moths; Bubble Homes and Fish Farts; Keep On: The Story of Matthew Henson; The Day-Glo Brothers; Shining Star: The Anna May Wong Story; Mermaid Queen; What Darwin Saw; Jackson and Bud's Bumpy Ride. I have waiting for me: Wrestling ABCs; The Secret Life of Walter Anderson; You Are the First Kid on Mars; What Can You Do With an Old Red Shoe; and Camping With the President.
Whew! That should do it!
Ready to go!
Hilarious! If this great post does not encourage those on the fence to sign on, I don't know what will. I still have not participated, and as my family life is always action packed, I do not foresee a time when I will. But you really make me wish I could. You seem uber-prepared this go-round so I can't wait to see your posts. Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteI have been doing the readathon and love every moment of it. I read, read and read. And update every 2-3 hours. Works well for me. Good luck to you!
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I love this! This is my favorite readathon post! I'm a mixture of readathon and readathon lite.I'm going to try and stay up the whole 24 hours. Last readathon I made it to hour 21 before giving up.I plan on reading many of the Cybils nominees including Love, Aubrey and The Year the Swallows Came Early. Redwoods is a great book!
ReplyDeleteThis is my 2nd readathon and I learned a lot from the first one, including shorter books (especially the first book) and to actually participate in a couple of the mini-challenges and such. So funny about War and Peace.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck! I'll be an official cheerleader and maybe read a few books myself (but not officially...)
ReplyDeleteLOL, I think most of us are a mix of the two. I'm going to try to read for 24-hours straight but don't really plan on entering any mini-challenges. I'm still getting my pile together - gonna be mostly essays and short stories.
ReplyDeleteI might sign up to be a cheerleader but I have commitments that day that can't be avoided so can't play along fully. I might just cheerlead unofficially too. Imagine me sitting here in my still yet to be determined Halloween costume cheerfully typing in encouraging comments before heading out to the neighborhood party of the year. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI've had troubles every time I tried to readathon-ize. Last time was the worst.
ReplyDeleteI had to go to a bridal shower during the Readathon. Our town was flooded during the shower (ironic, right?) and it took my dad's big Texas truck to get me home.
The time before that I had to go to a librarian conference. You'd think they'd give us time to READ at a librarian conference, wouldn't you? Nope, didn't get a word in.
So I nixed going to that conference next weekend and I'm skipping any showers, bridal or otherwise, too. Let's hope for no interruptions this time.
Kristen, I love the idea of you being a cheerleader for the Readathon. Pardon me while I laugh my head off. Sorry, but I just cannot reconcile the idea of little cleverly snarky you with that of a cheerleader.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see your Cybils reviews! I'll be readathon lite this year, I feel sure!
ReplyDeleteFabulous post! I guess I'm mostly a readathon-er - except for my choices of books. I've been sorting through a bunch of YA and graphic novels to decide what I'm going to attack first. I'm definitely trying for all 24 hours, and I've eschewed all other possible commitments (including meals with my family) - but I may have to sleep a little. I have to testify in court on Monday, so I may want to be a bit coherent. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I am definitely more towards the Readathon Lite end of the spectrum, even though I have some thick books on my stack. No way I can stay up all night anymore!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to hear your thoughts on the Cybil nonfiction nominees. Have a good week!
I love this post!! I was so scared my first read-a-thon and originally didn't even want to participate. I joined that morning! I thought--if I only read for a few hours, great, but I accomplished so much more than I thought.
ReplyDeleteGlad you'll be joining!!
I'm doing the Read-a-thon for the first time, and I think the approach I have in mind for it is pretty darn close to "Readathon Lite." Thanks for giving it a name :-)!
ReplyDeletesounds like great fun and completely worthy pursuit! And i really enjoyed this entry. Made me LOL when telling fellow employees about it and they would laugh and question it. Oh, how true that would be where I work! Considering signing up, thanks to this post, though. But may have to run it by my own rules due to a commitment that weekend.
ReplyDeleteOh my, you've already participated THREE times! You're an oldtimer! ;) This is my first. And I'm definitely going on a Lite tour -- hugely looking forward to it! :))
ReplyDeleteI think the hardest part will be not to spend too much time behind the computering reading other thonners' blogs and writing update posts... :\
This sounds like a great idea! I'm participating for my first time this year, as a cheerleader, but I hope to find some time for reading myself and maybe partcipate in that end of things in a readathon-lite kind of way :)
ReplyDeleteI love it! I would try to do even the lite version, but unfortunately keeping interruptions to even that much of a minimum seems impossible. Whenever my husband sees me reading, he thinks it's time to ask me if I want to "do" something. ;) I don't think I could take 24 hours of that!
ReplyDeleteWhat a marvelous post! You wrote such a creative explanation which totally simmers me down about the whole thing; I am a newbie, although long time wanna-be, to the 24 Hour Thon. I'm linking this to my much sorrier post. ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm in! I've never done this before, but you and Bellezza have convinced me that it will be great fun. I think I'll aiming for the Readathon Lite challenge. I hate Moby Dick. ;)
ReplyDeleteLoved this post!!
I may have to start my pile of nonfiction picture books as well -- I love the idea of a "lite" readathon. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI'm in too! Looking forward to it!
ReplyDeleteI'm just imagining what it would be like to read War and Peace during the Read-a-thon...sure, Tolstoy is one of my favorite authors, but I don't think I could do it!
ReplyDeleteI won't be able to do the read a thon this time around. I didn't even know there was a lite version of it! I'll join next time then, if there's another lite one :)
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