Dewey's 24 hour readathon, April 2016 - Report

MY PROGRESS TRACKER IN MY BOOKISH BULLET JOURNAL

Before

All the snacks have been prepared and the cookies are now OUT of the oven! Can't wait to start reading! 15 minutes to go. 

Opening meme
1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
Denmark! 

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
I think my TBR is quite exciting so I can't choose one book but The Girl from Everywhere, The School for Good and Evil and Carry On are definitely on the top! 

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
My chocolate chip cookies and strawberries! 

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!
I usually fail miserably when it comes to this readathon - let's change that today! 

5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?
Well, I've prepared all the snacks ahead of time and I sent my boyfriend to his friends instead of letting him stay home - he always interrupts me! I also have a ton of snacks and I've made a great TBR! 

After 
So, the readathon ended 3 hours ago and I'm now doing my wrap up post! I feel a bit behind..
Nevertheless. I had quite a relaxing readathon! I stayed away from all social media - which unfortunately means that I forgot to make updates - so I didn't feel pressured and I just read. 

I began with The School for Good and Evil because I've been wanting to read it for a while! A magic school and fairy tales - that's basically everything I want in a book. Unfortunately I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I'd hoped to and even though it is a middle grade it was tough to get through. I'm still debating whether I should write a review or not!

I then picked up Black Box in the final hours before midnight (the 10-11 hour) and I was surprised! It was so intriguing and hard to put down! It's written in second person and it's some sort of spy log. Definitely a great read for a readathon.

I then went to bed and I picked up The Girl from Everywhere the moment my eyes opened. I also found this one hard to put down! It's so different from anything else I've ever read and I just love it! Nix can navigate through time using maps! LOVED IT!

That adds up to a total of 933 pages and I also listened to half an hour - 45 minutes of Flawed as an audiobook!

How did your readathon go?

Dewey's 24 hour readathon, April 2016

Dewey's 24 hour read-a-thon happens twice a year; in April and October. Read more about Deweys and participate here. 

I love readathons and my favorite is definitely Dewey's! I love the fact that it takes place over 24 hours instead of a weekend or a week. I'm much more focused and, even though I haven't been awake for the complete 24 hours yet, I prepare snacks, books, even clothes - I definitely make it a big occasion! I want this one to be the best one yet! 

My reading stack

I'm really looking forward to the books in my pile! I have 5 books and 2 novellas;

• My 2 novellas are Kindred Spirits by Rainbow Rowell - which I've saved for this occasion - and Black Box by Jennifer Egan! 
• The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani is definitely at the top of my pile - it might be the first one I pick up! I love fairy tales and a fast paced middle grade should do the trick for a readathon! 
• The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig arrived on Thursday and I immediately put it on my TBR for Dewey's! I didn't expect it to arrive already but, since it did, I can read it NOW! 
• Blue Diary by Alice Hoffman. I found this in a second hand bookshop a few weeks ago and I knew it would be a perfect read for a readathon! It's a thriller about a guy who've brutally raped and murdered a young girl, he then gets married and 13 years later new evidence surfaces and he's in the search light. I find it intriguing! 
• Carry On by Rainbow Rowell (yes, I love Rowell!) is my boyfriend's pick for the month of April and I think it will be great! 
• The last one is an untranslated Danish book called Skyggeporten by Lene Kaaberbøl! It's the last book of hers that I own and have yet to read! I've read all the others this year actually! 

So, that's my reading stack! I'm also planning on listening to Flawed since I have about 4 hours left and it's perfect for when I have to do chores or need to rest my eyes! I of course have some back up books like The Book Thief and Violets & Violence. 

The snacks and beverages

I told you I liked to prepare snacks - well, I basically prepare everything when it comes to food and beverages! 

• For fruit I have raspberries, bananas and green grapes! 
• For biscuits and crackers I have chocolate chip cookies ready to be baked!And I have something called crystal cookies which is a meringue on top of a cracker - delicious.  
• Chips are green pringles and 'cannonballs' which is like cheese shrimps but with cheddar and in balls! 
• I also have chocolate! I love munching on chocolate while reading but I don't always feel like it.
• Lastly I have some pretzels, walnuts, raisins and almonds! 

When it comes to beverages I have;

• Water! Either basic with ice cubes or with lemon and lime infusion! 
• I also have bubbly water with a taste of blueberry - yes, this year I try being more healthy with my options! 
• Since I have a sore throat hot cocoa with marshmallows and chocolate drizzle is a must! 
• I of course have an extensive collection of tea but I'm thinking strawberry tea, my green/white pomegranate tea and earl grey. 
• I always have some faxe kondi on hand which gives a great energy boost and since I've been craving apple cider for a while - I have apple cider! 

I always buy a ton and never eat everything but most of it can keep so it's not so bad! The fruit is always eaten so at least I'm no too unhealthy! 

And lastly

When it comes to prepping I try to buy everything a few days in advance and the fruit the day before! I prepped the dough for my cookies some hours ago and I'm doing a test run right now! Looking forward to tasting them! Since I have to sing in our church tomorrow I only have 2 hours before the readathon starts - since it begins at 2 pm here in Denmark. I'm planning on making my infused water after church and getting the snacks in different bowls so I don't have to worry about that! 

Lunch tomorrow is probably going to be a sandwich and dinner is tomato soup! So it doesn't take too long and it tastes great! 

I don't plan on updating too much on here since it takes a lot of time from reading. I'm primarily going to do updates on instagram and they always go up on twitter! I might update on here in stages though instead of small updates at a time. I'll do an 'in reflection' post on Sunday or Monday! 

I can't wait to read with you guys!

Dewey's 24-hour read-a-thon: Progress and in conclusion

15.18: Oficially beginning. Had to talk to a couple about a babysitting job and just got home. Going to start with All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven from page 134

18.00: Just finished reading All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven. Number of pages read so far: 244. Going to start reading The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith

19.47: Currently reading The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith. About halfway through. Number of pages read so far: 382









22.03: Just finished reading The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith. Number of pages read so far: 581. Going to start reading The Cuckoo's Calling (Cormoran Strike #1) by Robert Galbraith






23.17: Taking a break and resting my eyes for a bit

8.50: Ended up sleeping for 10 hours.. Oops. Now back to reading The Cuckoo's Calling

14.00: Turns out I couldn't get back into reading so I just stopped for a couple of hours.



In conclussion

• I ended up finishing 2 books: All the Bright Places and  The Geography of You and Me 
• I read a total of 665 pages
• I read for about 9-10 hours in total

My TBR for Dewey's 24-hour read-a-thon

So I've participated in Dewey's 24-hour read-a-thon 3 times so far and I've failed miserably the last two.. The first time I participated it was great, I read a bunch of books and a couple of graphic novels and I was awake for the majority of the 24 hours. The last time I participated I was sick and therefore fell asleep after an hour. Quite a contrast between those two, don't you think?

I decided, like yesterday, that I would give it a go this time. I don't have any assignments, I don't have to think about work and I really don't have that much homework at the moment so it couldn't be more perfect!

Since I've participated a few times I know that a couple of 'regular'-sized books are the way to go for me - and probably an audiobook when my eyes need a break. I've tried big books, short books, regular-sized books, anthologies and graphic novels - and I've read both physical and digital books.

My physical TBR for the read-a-thon is;

• Fifty Shades Freed (Fifty Shades #3) by E.L. James
• Siege and Storm (Grisha #2) by Leigh Bardugo
• Confessions of a Shopaholic (Shopaholic #1) by Sophie Kinsella
• The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith
• Rush (Breathless #1) by Maya Banks
• The Cuckoo's Calling (Cormoran Strike #1) by Robert Galbraith
• All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

I also have some other books I can read if I'm not in the mood for any of these;

• After We Fall by Emma Kavanagh
• Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn - as an audiobook
• We Are All Made of Stars by Rowan Coleman
• Uprooted by Naomi Novik

I know it's quite a big TBR but I have difficulty choosing a book when I'm done so this is just a bunch of books I want to read and then I can choose to read whatever I want from the pile.