October 2021 Readathon

 

Oct. 24, 11:13 a.m.

Now that I've gotten something approaching a full night's sleep, I can look back on this readathon and reflect on how successful I was.  Fortunately, Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon has a closing survey that I can use to assess my readathon: 

1. How would you assess your reading overall?  Honestly, this was one of the better readathons that I have done.  I had two major goals and two minor goals.  My major goals were to finish Dune and Collected Poems, Prose, and Plays by Robert Frost and I accomplished both of those goals.  I also had minor goals of starting to read The Making of Asian America by Erika Lee and Vagabonds by Hao Jingfang and I did start reading those, though I didn't get as far as I thought I would.  I even almost made it the full 24 hours, only bowing out at the end of hour 23.  In short, I read somewhere between 600 and 700 pages during this readathon, which is the most I have read for a readathon in a long time.
2. Did you have a strategy, and if so, did you stick to it?  Since I was reading Dune as an ebook and I didn't want to strain my eyes too much, my strategy was to flip between my books every 50 pages or so.  So, I would read about 50 pages of Dune, then I would read 50 pages of Robert Frost, then back to Dune, and so on.  I did largely stick to this and I think that was part of my success.  Rather than just power through a single book, flipping between books helped me to not get bored with one or the other, instead working towards an achievable goal before moving towards another book.  I also made it a point not to be so doctrinaire about sticking only to reading during the readathon as I went and did a few errands in the afternoon either by myself or with my wife.  This helped me to back off a little bit from time to time, give my eyes a little break, and get me some fresh air every now and then.
3. What was your favorite snack? Definitely the cheese, salami, and wheat crackers plate that I made, although the fruit plate my wife made with strawberries, blueberries, and pineapples was a very close second.
4. Did you add any new books to your TBR/wishlist after seeing what everyone else is reading?  Honestly, I was so focused on my own reading that I didn't engage with anyone else's reading on Dewey's website, or on social media.  Heck, I didn't even engage with my blog as much as I wanted to during the readathon.  I think I will need to rethink how I engage my blog and social media for the next readathon.
5. What was your favorite book or experience from this readathon?  Definitely finishing Dune.  I had just watched the new film adaptation with my wife the day before and I had started the book roughly where the movie ends (the movie out now only covers the first half of the book), so it was like finishing the movie in my head.  I have some mixed feelings about the book that I will have to work out in my review, but it was certainly the best of the reading I did for the readathon.

Oct. 24, 3:41 a.m.

I've now gotten a little reading doe for both The Making of Asian America by Erika Lee and Vagabonds by Hao Jingfang, but my body is beginning to betray me.  Though there is only about an hour left in this readathon, I think I am going to call it a night.  After I get some sleep, I'll write a postmortem for this readathon.  Good night everyone!

Oct. 24, 1:08 a.m.

With all of the distraction I had this afternoon, it took me longer than expected to complete the other major goal I had set out for myself with this readathon.  But, I have finally finished Dune by Frank Herbert.  Absolutely fascinating, but I started this book a little distracted.  I also feel like there is so much that happened between parts 2 and 3 of this book that I wouldn't have minded a little bit more.  No official biography for this book yet, but my preliminary rating is a 3.5 out of 5 stars.  Now, with the few hours I have left, I am going to try to achieve some minor goals I had set for myself at the start of this readathon.

Oct. 23, 11:40 p.m.

I haven't been updating this page as much as I had hoped as I have had to run a few errands that not only distracted me from updating this page, but also distracted me from my reading.  Fortunately, I have completed one of my major reading goals for this readathon.  That goal was to finish reading the collected poems, prose, and plays of Robert Frost from the Library of America (the green book in the picture).  This was tough as the portion I was reading was his prose and, let's be frank, his poetry is WAY more interesting than his plays or prose section.  Still, I can't deny that his poetry is quite beautiful and I can see how it has had a hold on folks for a long time.  So, while I won't have an official review out for awhile, I'm going to give this a preliminary 3.5 out of 5 stars.  Now, on to completing Dune by Frank Herbert and starting The Making of Asian America by Erika Lee.

Oct. 23, 9:51 a.m.

I am nearly five hours into this readathon.  How's it going so far?  Well, I've read about 100 pages of Robert Frost and 10% of Dune.  So, I am going a little slower than expected, but I am making good progress nonetheless.  I think I shall take a sort break to eat some breakfast, but I will continue to read Dune while I am eating.

Oct. 23 5:00 a.m.

It looks like it's time for another 24 Hour Readathon.  This one is being sponsored by Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon.  For this readathon, my goals are rather modest in comparison to previous readathons: finish Dune by Frank Herbert and Colleceted Poems, Prose, and Plays by Robert Frost.  After that, my goal is to try to get started on Vagabonds by Hao Jing Fang and The Making of Asian America by Erika Lee.  Wish me luck!