Sorry I didn’t post this on Saturday, or even Sunday. My weekend didn’t quite go as planned. Neither did my first readathon attempt. Reading for 24 hours was not exactly what I expected. And there were things that I did not expect. Let me tell you about it.
Planning my First Readathon Attempt
So, needless to say I had much higher expectations for this readathon. I had watched other people do this on YouTube and thought this is a great way to get through a bunch of books. Especially as someone who is behind on their reading goal for the year. So, I went to the library with the mindset that I needed to find as many books as possible that were going to get me through this challenge. That meant finding books I would enjoy reading. So, I grabbed the next book in the Orphan X series, the next two books in the Dexter series, and found two murder mystery books. I added these to the two books I still had out from the last time – A Ted Dekker thriller and a fantasy book. And I was set.
Starting the Readathon
So, if I ever do this again, I will change the day I plan it. Mainly, I will not start on the day after a night shift. I slept the morning away and only got up around 2 in the afternoon. After a quick meal I looked at my stack and bumped into my next problem. Which book was I going to read? After taking some suggestions I went with the second book in the Dexter series. I’ll admit, this was a good choice. Because I really enjoy reading these books. There were times I had to take a break from reading, the longest stretch being when I went out for supper with friends. But, I made it through the first book of my readathon shortly after midnight. I was proud of myself and went back to my stack to pick the next book. This time I decided that I would pick the fantasy novel. After all, I had it longer than the others, except for the Ted Dekker book. I read the first chapter and then called it another break time and went to bed.
I Know I Said I Wouldn’t
Saturday I woke up and hit my first problem. I didn’t want to read anymore. At this point I was 7 hours into my challenge. If you remember, I was doing the timer method. I do enjoy reading, but I was hit with the reality that this is harder than I thought. My mind wanted to think up its own stories, not follow along with someone else’s story. However, I picked up the fantasy novel and dove in. Well, I tried anyway. After 4 chapters I was bored, confused, and not enjoying the book at all. Now I had a dilemma. This was the second book in my reading challenge and I still had a lot of hours of reading left. But, I was reading a book that was basically putting me to sleep. I know I said I was not going to DNF a book, but this one I had to. So, I DNF’d my first book of the year.
Will I Go Back to It?
No. I did look at some reviews on GoodReads and there were people who made it through the book, much to their own dismay. Based on the reviews everything I was struggling with in the first few chapters carries on throughout the remainder of the book. I am not subjecting myself to that because it will not help my challenge if I’m trying to push through a book that I just can’t stand. So, unfortunately I had to DNF it and move on. For the sake of the 24 hour challenge and my overall 50 books this year challenge.
The Let Down
So, feeling a bit bummed that this book was such a let down I looked at my other books. One of the murder mystery books stood out to me for one reason. It was small and short. To me this meant that it would be a quick read and that would get me back on track. Well, that didn’t quite work out the way I wanted either. I got to a few pages into chapter 3 and then decided that I wanted to take a nap before my night shift. After my nap, I glared at my timer. There was still 14 hours of reading time left. And Saturday was almost over. After thinking it over I made the tough decision. I was giving up on my readathon.
Ending the Readathon
I’m not proud to say that I couldn’t finish the challenge. And I still believe that this is a challenge that I can actually complete. The biggest hurdle that I faced, I believe, was the night shift schedule. Starting late in the day, and then losing a few hours because of a dinner, and then thinking forward to my night shift on Saturday cost me. Sleep was my priority. Yes, there were moments where I sat there glaring at the timer for not going faster and not wanting to read. But these, I could push past. It was a quick pep talk and then back to the book. Sleep was not as easily dismissed. And I didn’t want to extend the challenge into Sunday because I knew I was not going to do any reading on Sunday because of my work schedule. So, I had to call it and end my readathon.
Will I Try Again?
Honestly, I might. I am really curious to find out how many books I can get through in 24 hours. But, I’ll do a much better job of planning it. And maybe only pick books that I know I will enjoy, instead of trying out new series during the challenge. I do plan to try again before this year is up. Perhaps in the winter when it’s cold. Then snuggling up with a book and a hot drink is the best. Now, I could call this experience a failure, but I’m not. Instead I’m going to look at this as a learning experience. Do not do an intense reading challenge at the same time as night shifts. Normally I have weekends off of night shifts, but the weekend girl had plans so we had traded night shifts. But, I know better for next time. And there will be a next time.
Catching Up Time
So, because I didn’t pound through 5 books like I planned, I have a lot of catching up to do. After all, I’m still way behind on my reading goal. My app says if I read one and a half books every week for the rest of the year I’ll meet my goal. I guess that means I should get through my books. After all, I still plan on making my goal for next year to be 100 books. Might have to get creative with that. I think because I was out of the reading game for so long, and only started getting into reading again this year, I’m behind. I don’t know which series are worth reading, or which authors are the most popular. And because I’m so particular with the books I read, I don’t jump on the books that the BookTubers I follow are reading. Mainly because most of those books are romances and I don’t do romance. But I’ll keep exploring and finding what works for me. After all, anything can happen if I keep looking and reading.
