This article is from Book Riot, by Danika Ellis. We are not having an official CMLE 24 hour readathon this April – but we would love to hear from you about the books you are reading!
In Minnesota, this event starts Saturday at 7:00am; so as you read books this weekend, use #readathon to connect with the larger community around the world, and #CMLEreadathon to connect with us! Sign up at the official website, and let’s read!
“(If you’d like to follow my journey through these 12 stages, I’ll be live tweeting @DanikaEllis!)”
“Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon is–well, self-explanatory for the most part. It takes place every April and October, and it is a huge internet book party! I love it! (Unsurprisingly, because I’ve written about it a bunch.) There is a misconception about the readathon I’d like to address, though. For some reason–who knows why!–people seem to think you have to read 24 hours during the 24 hour readathon. You can, of course! But you can also just read as much as you want to. I’ve stayed up the full 24 hours before, though I did take breaks during a few of the hours. I usually regret it, though. Here is my experience of reading for 24 hours:
1) I Wake up exhausted
And promptly have Tegan and Sara stuck in my head. The readathon in my time zone starts at 5 am, which is perfect, I think. 5 am is still a “morning” time to wake up at, and going to sleep at 5 am feels like just a very late night. I don’t know how the readathoners who end up with afternoon to afternoon readathons do it. But despite how excited I am the night before, I can be excited about nothing at 5 am, and I instantly begin to grumble about having to be awake while reaching for my book.
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3) I revel in snacking
After the uncomfortably early part of the morning has passed, it’s time to really dig into the snack supply. I get to rediscover all the tasty treats I’ve squirreled away for the day!
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6) I participate in the giant book party happening online!
Whenever I start to feel like I’m slowing down on the reading front, I throw myself into the online component of the readathon! It’s so fun to see a celebration of reading happening all over the internet! I like to cheer people on, both on twitter and tumblr, and follow some blogs that are participating. Everyone shares pictures of their snacks and books, and we all compare notes on our book choices! So much fun!
7) I get nauseated
My snacking enthusiasm always get out of hand eventually. Pair that with any combination of: sleep deprivation, too much caffeine, and failure to eat an actual meal between snacks, and I start to feel pretty sick getting into the 3 quarter mark of the readathon. I can usually stave this off with some bland food and or a snack break, but it’s at this point that the sleepiness catches up with me.”
Click on the article to read the rest of this adventure – and think about how to incorporate more reading into your weekend!