The 24-Hour Read-a-Thon: Leggiamo Alcuni Libri! (Let's Read Some Books!)

Another readathon for the books. I had so much fun, reading, visiting blogs, and doing mini-challenges. So. Much. Fun.

And I won a Mini-Challenge! Woo hoo! It was serendipitous, because the challenge asked me to randomly shuffle through my music and Smile by Jimmy Durante came up. Crazy because the first book I read was 1,033 Reasons to Smile. I'll be receiving a copy of Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor. Thank you, Leah and 26 Letters!

HOURS 24

I woke up in time to enjoy some yogurt and a banana and a cup of coffee and to see readathon winding down. I'll do some reviews and sum up the wonderful day that is readathon, I think.

Closing Survey!

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?

As is usual for me, the hours after nine pm are daunting. So daunting that I had to cave.

2. Tell us ALLLLL the books you read!

1,033 Reasons to Smile by Elizabeth Dutton (160 pages)
Roland the Minstrel Pig by William Steig (32 pages)
Ed Emberly's Drawing Book by Ed Emberley (32 pages)
A to Z by Sandra Boynton (16 pages)
Dave's Down-to-Earth Rock Shop by Stuart J. Murphy (32 pages)
Amazing Bone by William Steig (32 pages)
Tadpole's Promise by Jeanne Willis (32 pages)
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson (64 pages)
One Happy Tiger by Catherine Rayner (20 pages)
Napping House by Audrey Wood (32 pages)
The Wanderer's Guide to Lucca by Brian R. Lindquist (369 pages)
The Poetry of Impermanence, Mindfulness, and Joy edited by John Brehm (179 pages)
Italy for the Gourmet Traveler by Fred Plotkin (723 pages)
The Castle by Franz Kafka (audiobook; 318 pages)

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

1,033 Reasons to Smile was perfect. As were the travel books, children's books, poetry books, and audiobooks.

I'm a Readathon Expert.

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

It was so much fun to have the Mini-Challenges open all 24-hours. I did them all.

I loved trying to read a cumulative 1,000,000 pages. 

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

I will participate. To my death.

HOURS 16-23

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

HOUR 15

For the in-between times, I had The Castle on audiobook. I finished it before I fell asleep, so let's add in another 318 pages.

HOUR 14

Another book finished. It's The Poetry of Impermanence, Mindfulness, and Joy. That makes thirteen books, with a total of 1,454 pages.

HOUR 13

Another Mini-Challenge, Bookish Playlist, is complete. That's my ninth. The challenge was to randomly select a song from one's playlist and pair it with a book. Smile by Jimmy Durante was my random song, and, good grief, guess what my first read was during the readathon? Yep, it was 1,033 Reasons to Smile. Crazy.

And yet another, Readathon Stop Drop and Post, is complete.

Readathon Workout is posted. I chose Yoga for Book Lovers.

And finally, for the win, the twelfth and last Mini-Challenge, Vague Recollections. Any librarian knows this one. You post some vague thoughts about the book you are currently reading and see if anyone can figure it out. Fun.




HOUR 12

I've finished another book, The Wanderer's Guide to Lucca. It adds another 369 pages to my total so far.

It's the midpoint and it's time for another survey.

Mid-Event Survey

1. What are you reading right now? The Poetry of Impermanence, Mindfulness, and Joy
2. How many books have you read so far? 12
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? This one.
4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? I forgot to wake up early. I forged on.
5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? It surprises me how many books I've read.

And my eighth Mini-Challenge, Perfect Pairings, is completed.

And my ninth Mini-Challenge, #CoverFromMemory:

What do you think? Pretty close?


HOUR 10

I've finished my sixth and seventh Mini-Challenges, the Pen Pal Mini-Challenge and Bookish Scribbles.

I chose one of my favorite characters, Anne of Green Gables, as my pen pal. Wouldn't she be delightful? Such a wild imagination and so positive.

Here's my bookish scribble for my current read, 1001 Photographs You Must See in Your Lifetime. #readathonscribbles

HOUR 9

My fifth Mini-Challenge, Reading Alphabet, led me to read nine books this hour. Wow!

I chose children's books, so I'd have time to read front to back, the requirement of the challenge. Fortunately, I have a huge collection of children's books.

Roland the Minstrel Pig by William Steig
Ed Emberly's Drawing Book by Ed Emberley
A to Z by Sandra Boynton
Dave's Down-to-Earth Rock Shop by Stuart J. Murphy
Amazing Bone by William Steig
Tadpole's Promise by Jeanne Willis
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
One Happy Tiger by Catherine Rayner
Napping House by Audrey Wood




HOUR 8

My fourth Mini-Challenge is Artful Covers, in which we are asked to create a new cover for our current read. Here is mine:

I'm currently reading Christ Stopped at Eboli by Carlo Levi. It's about Levi's time as a political prisoner in the poor southern part of Italy. This is a copyright-free photo of the area in which Levi stayed.




HOUR 7

Another book complete. God Save Texas by Lawrence Wright. Wonderful read. Texas, I never knew ya.

My third Mini-Challenge: Tell Me a Story. Some of my favorite reads have been short story collections, including all of Bradbury and Dubliners. #tellmeastory




HOUR 6

Oh my! I had to share this. How have I missed this?



I've finished Mini-Challenge 2: Anthology of Interest.

I'm almost finished with God Save Texas.

Onward and upward.

HOUR 5

I've finished my first book. It's 1,033 Reasons to Smile, and it comes in at 160 pages. Smile.

HOUR 4

I am set to do some Mini-Challenges (love the idea of having them open all day, btw) and some visiting of blogs (I'm aiming at five every hour), and, of course, reading.

Here's my first Mini-Challenge: A Book and a Snack: #RATbooksnack.

HOUR 2

I just woke up, so I'm off to a late start, but oh well! If there is anything I have learned in my sixty-one years on this planet it is that we do the best we can, but we don't beat ourselves up...there are plenty of other people out there who will happily do that for us.

So, it's all good. I'm ready to jump in and read all the hours I can today. Let me start by playing catch up.

Pre-Event Survey

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

I'm here in Alvin, Texas in the USA.

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

I'm reading Italy today in prep for our trip there in three weeks. I have about fifteen books set in Italy ready, and I have two audiobooks in case I need a break.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

I bought healthy snacks, including bananas, grapes, strawberries, yogurt, and lots of water and coffee. My husband also oh-so-sweetly gave me a bag of Hershey's Kisses. Just in case.

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

I'm a school librarian (at least for three more weeks, until I retire). My husband and I will celebrate our 40th anniversary in Italy. We have two grown sons, both married to wonderful wives, and one beautiful granddaughter.

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

I decided not to take on any extra roles this time, and just enjoy reading and blogging.

Let's see. 

Dressed in book shirt and pencil leggings? Check. 

Stack of books ready? Check.

Snacks? Check.

I think it's time to jump in. Readathon time.


How about you? Did you readathon-ize this time? Did you enjoy it? If you didn't get to participate, I'm sad for you. But there is always next October.

What are you reading today? 

What is the Sunday Salon? Imagine some university library's vast reading room. It's filled with people--students and faculty and strangers who've wandered in. They're seated at great oaken desks, books piled all around them,and they're all feverishly reading and jotting notes in their leather-bound journals as they go. Later they'll mill around the open dictionaries and compare their thoughts on the afternoon's literary intake....That's what happens at the Sunday Salon, except it's all virtual. Every Sunday the bloggers participating in that week's Salon get together--at their separate desks, in their own particular time zones--and read. And blog about their reading. And comment on one another's blogs. Think of it as an informal, weekly, mini read-a-thon, an excuse to put aside one's earthly responsibilities and fall into a good book. Click here to join the Salon.

The Sunday Post is a meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It's a chance to share news and recap the past week.

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at The Printed Page. We share books that we found in our mailboxes last week. 

 It is now being hosted here.

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews in which you can share the books you've acquired.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is where we share what we read this past week, what we hope to read this week…. and anything in between!  This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from! I love being a part of this and I hope you do too! It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is now being hosted at The Book Date.