Sunday, June 29, 2008

Read-a-thon Complete!!!

Whew--24 hours. Sort of. :)

Minutes since last post: 175 (last four hours)
Pages since last post: 172
Books finished since last post: 1 - Al Capone Does my Shirts


TOTALS for the entire Read-a-Thon:

735 minutes (approx 12.25 hours--this could definitely improve next time with some time management!)
739 pages
3 books finished (The Translator, Stardust, and Al Capone Does my Shirts--165 pages read from Welcome to the World, Baby Girl!)
8 or so mini-challenges entered
0 prizes :(
Countless blogs visited (or so it seems!)

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Here are the post-event survey questions:

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?
I think the last two hours were the most difficult. I kept falling asleep while reading Welcome to the World and had to get up every 20 minutes or so to walk around. Well, and I had to take a little catnap from 2:45-5:00 this morning.

2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
Stardust was fantastic! And I think that it helped that I am familiar with the movie and so didn't have to think too much about the plot. Al Capone Does My Shirts was also a fun read and very light. I think lightness is the key to a successful read-a-thon (for me anyway)

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
I got SO confused about the mini-challenge deadlines that I missed a few of them. I finally made a spreadsheet with my time zone, the challenge time zone, and the hour numbers to help, but even still there were some discrepencies between Dewey's blog and the challenge blog (no one's fault!!).

4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
The Cheerleaders were freakin' awesome (especially my unofficial cheerleader, Laura)! Everyone's support was really fantastic and I know I couldn't have done it without y'all. I liked the minichallenges but I wish that I could depend on them being posted at a certain time each hour or every other hour so I didn't have to keep getting up to check for updates.

5. How many books did you read?
I finished 3 and a quarter books!! I had NO idea I would read over 700 pages--which is about 2 weeks worth of reading for me--at least! When the cover of each closed I felt such a sense of accomplishment.

6. What were the names of the books you read?
The Translator, Stardust, Al Capone Does My Shirts, and part of Welcome to the World, Baby Girl!

7. Which book did you enjoy most?
Stardust--hands down. It was funny and magical (and a page turner!)

8. Which did you enjoy least?
None. They were all very very different but all enjoyable in their ways. Next time, though, I'll think twice before picking up a 400+ page book. The shorter books worked better for me.

9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
I wasn't a cheerleader but I tried to cheer others on. Y'all did a great job!

10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
YES!!!! I had an amazing time. This experience was such a journey from start to finish and I loved every minute of it (even when I was doing the headbob on the couch). I'll still read next time but pay more attention to my posting. I tended to stick to the blogs in my google reader since it was quick and easy, but I'd like to reach out a little more next time.
Dewey, I can't thank you enough. I wasn't going to do this but yesterday morning I thought--what the hell. I am so glad for the experience and can't wait for the next one.

16 comments:

bethany (dreadlock girl) said...

yes, it was incredible!! it was so fun to do this all together!


Now you know what you need to do if you want to read 700 plus pages...read all day and all night. Let's do it again tomorrow!!! hahahaha.

This was a fun time. You were a super encourager....lovely. And see...you read A TON as well, and you thought you couldn't concentrate, I am so glad you joined!!!:)

Laura said...

Yahoo! You did it! I can't believe how many pages you read! I'm sad I missed out this time, but I enjoyed participating vicariously through you! I hope you can get some good rest, so you won't be too tired tomorrow at work!

gautami tripathy said...

Trish, you are a amazing person. You spread so much cheer.

Congrats for finishing the hallenge!

Eva said...

Congrats!! I'm glad you had fun!! And I totally feel the same way about countless blogs visited, lol. I get kinda sick looking at the list of participants right now.

Ana S. said...

Congratulations, Trish! I'm glad you had such a great time :)

twiga92 said...

GReat job! Congrats! Glad you had fun! This was a great experience.

Wendy said...

Great Job, Trish! Wow - 700 pages! That is so awesome. I know what you mean about the last hour or so...I've napped now (another 2 hours of sleep) and am feeling somewhat revived!

bethany (dreadlock girl) said...

i just have to tell you before you think I am baking today: those are not from today!!!!! (seriously!) The daring bakers is a challenge, and we all are to keep it a secret and post on the same day....hence posting today when I just want to nap!ahhh! I got 4 hours of sleep, and then got up, went to church, had a church picnic...and then needed to post!!! no sleep here:) Whatever tonight I will just pass out!!!!

have you napped???

alisonwonderland said...

congrats on finishing, and thanks so much for the visits!

i'd forgotten about Al Capone Does My Shirts - but i read Choldenko's If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period immediately following the October read-a-thon and wished i'd read it during the read-a-thon. i agree that short books are better than long ones (but i do hope you enjoy Welcome to the World, Baby Girl in the coming days).

Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanity said...

*EVERYONE - Thank you so much for your continual support and good cheer--I certainly could NOT do it without you. You are certainly amazing.

I was able to nap a little today (OK, it was a lotta nap), but hopefully by tomorrow I'll be as good as new! I hope everyone's Sunday is going great. :)

1morechapter said...

Great job! These are so much fun.

Anonymous said...

You did great, Trish! Deciding on such short notice, headbobbing, confusion about the times and all. You can be very proud of yourself!!

Anonymous said...

Congrats Trish! I hope I can do it next time, it sounds like a lot of fun!

Bookfool said...

You did great! I hope I'll be able to join in, next time. I loved Stardust, too.

Debi said...

Congratulations Trish! You did an amazing job! I'm with you...I need to improve my time management so I can up my actual reading time next go round. I'm really not sure how I ended up spending so much time on the computer and yet was still feeling so bad that I wasn't getting around to other readers to cheer them on enough. So glad you had fun and are planning on doing it again!

Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanity said...

*Debi - I was thinking about it and if I spent 15 minutes every hour blogging--that would add up to 6 hours right there! I didn't get on every hour, but sometimes I was on for 30 minutes doing my write-ups, the mini-challenges, and visiting other blogs to cheer--definitely adds up. I'm really looking forward to the next one and hope we can cheer each other on again--it was certainly fun!