Tag: ReadAThon

Quick Thoughts: Read-a-Thon Books

~ Jennifer @ The Relentless Reader ~ 26 Comments

I read 5.5 books for Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-a-Thon on Saturday/Sunday. Here are my quick thoughts about 5 of them:

How Reading Changed My Life by Anna Quindlen

  • I felt as if I was reading my own story.
  • You could quote from this book all day long.
  • A tiny gem of a book full of bookish tidbits.

 Push by Sapphire

  • Powerful, disturbing, hopeful, devastating.
  • I wanted to bring Precious home with me and treat her right!
  • I’m so glad I finally got around to reading this. Next? The movie.
  • Was I the last person in the world to read this? 
  • Do I think everyone in the world should read this? Yup.
  • Teenagers can be total asshats.

 The Violin of Auschwitz by Maria Angels Anglada

  • Short, sad and lovely
  • Good for Read-a-Thon because it’s short. Bad for Read-a-Thon because holy cats what a downer!
  • I love reading about this period in history and this was no exception.
  • My very first graphic novel, yay me!
  • Wintry, sweet, sad, honest, Wisconsiny, yay me!
  • One of the best first-love stories I’ve ever read. (Yay me again!)
I hope you all enjoyed your Read-a-Thon books as much as I enjoyed mine. And hey, do you have any good graphic novel recommendations? I’d love to hear about them! 

Read-a-Thon Wrap Up

~ Jennifer @ The Relentless Reader ~ 18 Comments

I’m a wee bit tired and headachey this morning. But I made it to hour 23 and I have to say that I’m quite proud of myself. I updated my blog periodically with my progress yesterday. You can see by the end that I was half out of my mind!

End of Event Meme

  1. Which hour was most daunting for you? I was all good until the very wee hours of the morning. Hours 20 and 21 just about slayed me.
  2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? I think short is the way to go. If I had read one long book right away I think I would have been discourage. Next time around I’m definitely going for more graphic novels. Blankets kinda saved me.
  3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Nothing comes to mind, it was rad. (Haven’t used that particular word in a decade or two, ha) Personally? I might invest in a few energy drinks and a bigger variety of snacks.
  4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? The cheerleading and support on Twitter was fantastic! The hourly updates on the site really kept my mojo up as well.
  5. How many books did you read? Almost 6, yay!
  6. What were the names of the books you read? How Reading Changed my Life, Push, The Chocolate War, Blankets, The Violin of Auschwitz and 3/4 of The Empty Family
  7. Which book did you enjoy most? Oh wow, honestly I don’t know if I can pick. The Chocolate War and Push were both crazy good. Blankets was ultra beautiful!
  8. Which did you enjoy least? The Violin of Auschwitz. It’s a lovely book, but didn’t fit into my Read-a-Thon happiness!
  9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? Maybe more blog comments? Especially in the later hours. 
  10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? Oh dude, I am so in. I really enjoyed being a reader but I wouldn’t mind hosting a mini-challenge. I was kinda late to the party, but next time I’d like to donate a prize or two as well. 
Thank you to the hosts, the mini-challenge hosts, the cheerleaders and the readers. What a fantabulous event! 
Now I’m off to explore some of the blogs I discovered yesterday and to answer comments and all of the stuff that makes the book blogging world go ’round. 
Have a great day. Get some sleep for pete’s sake!