Sunday, October 10, 2010

Read-A-Thon Wrap-up.

Well, I really tried to get back up this morning after going to bed at 3:30. In fact, when my alarm went off at 6:30, I jerked right awake. But then I sat there and realized that if I did get up, read until 8, write my post, I would be incredibly tired this afternoon at work. I have an 8 hour shift to work, and well....sleep won out. :)

I feel better now after getting about 6 hours of sleep as opposed to 3, and while I slept through the end of the read-a-thon, I'm happy with my decision. I did read more before falling asleep last night, so I'll add those to my end results.

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? Probably near the end of the night (around hours 19 and 20). I was really tired and felt frustrated from not reading earlier in the day. Next time, I think I am going to make it clear to certain people that this is something I really want to do. Or I just need to hide at the library or other locations so I am not bothered.

2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? I really liked everything I read this year. When I posted my list, people thought I was bonkers for sticking with my classics, but I really thought about what would hold my attention when I grabbed a bunch of things off the shelf. Finishing Lolita was a great idea. And Brave New World was the perfect length and topic to get me out of my slump after my unwanted 7 hour break.

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? I thought that the posts on the site were a little wonky. I didn't always see results or links, which was frustrating. Also, some of the links we were sent to were off. There was also a "reader" to comment on that had word verification, which resulted in a delay for announcing winners.

4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? I really liked the challenges. I participated in a few and felt that they were fun! I remember some of the challenges from the previous read-a-thon and remembered a few were too lengthy.

5. How many books did you read? I finished 4: Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, "The Waste Land" by T.S. Eliot, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, and The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery. I also started A Separate Peace by John Knowles and made decent progress.

6. What were the names of the books you read? See above?

7. Which book did you enjoy most? Brave New World for sure!

8. Which did you enjoy least? I enjoyed everything I read!

9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? I wasn't, but I was grateful to those cheerleaders who came to see me. :)

10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? I will definitely participate. I have some personal things to work out to make sure that I can focus on doing my reading. I also need to make sure that I visit more readers. I really didn't comment on anyone else's blog and I should have. Next time I will have a better system!



I want to add my own stats here.

Books read: 4
Total pages read: 667


Woot for that. :)

10 comments:

  1. Even with interruptions you did incredible Allie! I think four books in a 24 hour time period is outstanding. Also, I can't wait to read your review on Lolita

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  2. You did awesome and I'm so sorry you had that interruption. That must have been so frustrating!

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  3. I hadn't even planned to join, but I started at 8a, and it was so fun! I only lasted about eleven hours, but to be fair, I had the flu.

    I'll have to see when the April one is before I can say I'll be joining. (I can't do 24 hours on a school night.) But I DEFINITELY want to go the whole 24, if I can.

    Glad you had fun!!

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  4. Very impressive! I hope next time you'll be able to have the whole day clear. Ah, but it's so hard for non-readers to understand readers!

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  5. Well done, and your Spartans won! You read some meaty stuff too. Good work! I hope work goes well; and then you can rest a bit more! Cheers! Chris

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  6. You rocked Readathon! Usually I do think it's easier to get through readathon with short books, but I think it's more important to read books that will capture your interest- which worked so well for you. Of course I read a bunch of graphic novels and kids books, so I'm very impressed with your list! :)

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  7. Great job! I love Brave New World too.

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  8. great job, I'm always hard on myself during readathons but any time reading is good.

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  9. Congrats on getting so much reading in and having so much fun. I gave in and went to bed early too and was quite happy with that decision!

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  10. Way to go! I think you are right about classics being fine -- as long as you follow your whims. There are plenty of classics that I just cannot put down.

    I wanted to get up for an hour in the morning too and that just didn't happen :)

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