2017 High Summer Readathon Wrap Up!

It is officially the end of my second readathon this year and I think I did pretty well! This event was hosted by Seasons of Reading and I would definitely be interested in participating their future events.

In total, I finished 7 books for a grand total of 2394 pages:
1. Caraval by Stephanie Garber
2. Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari
3. When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon
4. Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
5. Into the Water by Paula Hawkins
6. The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
7. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling

Even though these books deviated from what I originally planned in my TBR, I still think that I've done a fairly good job of consistently reading every single day.

Let me know if any of you guys have read the books I have posted here and what you thought of them. Also, please let me know if you can think up of future readathons that I can participate in!

Review: Into the Water

Into the Water by Paula Hawkins
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

First of all, I really liked this book, but I didn't enjoy it as much as The Girl on the Train. I really enjoyed the mystery aspect of the story and the creepy small-town setting, but there were SO MANY characters and different perspectives to keep track of. I think it was really fortunate that I happened to be reading this book for a readathon (so I had to finish it in one sitting) because I couldn't remember the difference between Sean and Patrick until I was 50% done. But I really enjoyed how all the different characters pieced together at the end, even if the dramatic build up was anticlimactic and ended in like 2 pages.

Regardless, I still really enjoyed reading this book. Honestly, I feel like I'm probably going to end up reading everything Paula Hawkins writes.

Overall rating: 3.25 stars

View all my reviews

24in48 Readathon: FINAL WRAP UP!!!

Woooooooooo!!! I have just finished my first readathon and I think it went pretty well. Over 1,300 people participated in this readathon, and sadly to say, I did not win any of the random prize drawings. But it doesn't matter because I read A TON, which was my goal for this weekend. 

1. How many books did you read? How many pages did you read? 

I read a little over 4 books this weekend, 3 of them from my original TBR post:

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon - 4.5 Stars

Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee - 3 Stars

Into the Water by Paula Hawkins - 3.25 Stars

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain - 3 Stars

=1,358 Pages (this doesn't include the beginning of the fifth book that I started)

2. How many hours did you read?

I read a total of 24 hours and 26 minutes! This is probably the most I have ever read!

Day #1 Times:

Day #2 Times:

3. What do you think worked well in this readathon?

I love the community support and seeing some other people's posts. I particularly liked recommendation challenges like your favorite #ownvoices books and snacks to eat while you are reading. 

4. What do you think could be done to improve the readathon next time?

I am not a huge fan of the photo challenges. This is just because I don't have an elaborate bookshelf that I want to take a picture and share with people. I think photo challenges severely discourages people from going to their local libraries to check out books. I think it would be good to post optional photos. 

5. Would you participate in future 24in48 readathon?

Yes - even though I am completely burnt out on reading right now, I think I definitely might to do this again if the timing is right for me in January (I can even try to beat my time)!

BONUS: TIPS FOR SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETING THIS READATHON

• planning ahead (most important)
• creating and following a TBR
• have snacks available at all times
• block out the weekend for reading
• setting aside a really good reread book that you are familiar with the plot - this way you can still keep reading even if you feel burnt out
• have one or two audiobooks ready at all times - this is just so you can rest your eyes as you transition from one book to another
• genre recommendation: YA contemporary, thriller - honestly, I don't think I can do something that focuses extensively on setting rather than the plot. Like, if I had to read 3 pages of how Frodo hikes through the Middle Earth, I might fall asleep

Do you have additional tips for me? How much did you guy read? Any good recommendations?