One of my favorite days of the year is here! It’s time to get our read-a-thon on y’all, and I’m so excited I couldn’t sleep last night. Seriously, I think I was up until 2:00, which is bad form, but there it is. Let’s hope I can make it the long haul today. In my defense, I finally had the opportunity to watch the ONE Doctor Who episode I’ve never seen; A Christmas Carol. I knew I wouldn’t be able to watch it today, sooooo…. C’est la vie, mes amis.
Dewey’s read-a-thon has always been my favorite community building activity the lovely and amazing Dewey left us with. It’s so hard to believe this is the fifth year of this event! If you don’t know the history of this event, you should definitely check out the history page on Dewey’s Read-a-thon page. For some of us, this is as much as celebration of Dewey as it is reading. Thank you Dewey, for your amazing spirit. We love and miss you so much! I still hate that I was just getting to know you, when you left us.
So, you GUYS. This is my first year participating as a cheerleader too!
I am NOT a cheerleader sort at all. I’m lame at coming up with rhymes. But I have great enthusiasm for reading and blogging, so I thought what the hey. Those cheerers always look like they are having SO MUCH FUN. And that is something I love. So I’ll be reading and cheering. I’m on Team Lucky Charms and, well, you know Lucky Charms ARE the best. Come to think of it, I wish I had a box. Hm…
This will be my official Readathon post for the day. Any updates I have will pop up here. I’m starting the day out on Twitter, trying to rally the troops, then I’ll start reading at 8, with The Dead of Night by John Marsters. See you soon my dears!
Update 1 – 3:30 PM
WELL, things were going GREAT until my husband got up. He suddenly decided, and unfortunately he was right, that we needed to go to town to get the kids Halloween costumes. Sweetie that he is, he agreed to drive, so that I could read as much as possible. So now, we’re home, with a leopard and a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle costume (and some pumpkin doughnuts!) and I’m ready to get down to business.
Books read: The Dead of Night by John Marsden; 278 pages
Hours read: 4 hours
Snacks: 1 Pumpkin Doughnut
Time spent cheering: About an hour before start time, going to visit a few of my readers now.
Starting Shivers, Whiskers, and Wolves.
Update 2 – 9:00 PM
Y’all, I ain’t doin’ so great. I’ve only finished one book! It was an excellent book, but still! And here it is, 9:00! Eek! I have work to do. I’m going to go settle down in my reading chair with a bag of Cheese Doodles and some water and bang out another book, dang it.
Frustration brings out my Southern, so I do apologize. Bless my heart.
Here are my answers to the Mid Event Survey:
1. What are you reading right now?
Shivers, Wishes and Wolves, a graphic novel by Lemke. I have Hotey by Josephine Bailey on deck. If you are an audiobook listener, yes, it is THAT Josephine Bailey. o/
2. How many books have you read so far?
ONE! 
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?
FINISHING ANOTHER BOOK!
4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day?
Um, obviously I SHOULD HAVE.
5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?
Went with the flow. *sigh*
6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?
As always, how fast it goes!
7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
Heck no.
8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year?
I’d make sure my day was FREE. Dang it.
9. Are you getting tired yet?
Surprisingly no, since I was up until 2 last night.
10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered?
Nope, just keep plodding on! See you in the morning I expect. Have fun everyone!
Update 3 – 9:32 PM
I finished another book! Shivers, Wishes and Wolves was fantastic. On to something else!
Books read: 2
The Dead of Night by John Marsden
Shivers, Wishes and Wolves by Donald Lemke
Pages read: 453
Update 4 – 8:00 AM – Let’s close this baby down!
So, uh, hi there! I just woke up, like 30 minutes ago. This read-a-thon did not go at all like I expected, on the reading front, but boy howdy did I have fun cheering. Here’s my final questionnaire:
1. Which hour was most daunting for you?
Hour 2, when I lost the fight to go Halloween shopping. :/
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
I think YA, MG and graphic novels are the way to go. I read one YA and one GN. I read the GN in thirty minutes.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
Are you KIDDING? This baby is perfect!
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
Everything worked so well! The organization that goes into this astounds me. Dewey would be so proud. Well, I just thought of one thing. A separate post for winners, after the fact, might be nice, so we don’t have to scroll through 24 posts, scrutinizing for our name. Just a thought though…
5. How many books did you read?
2 and a piece.
6. What were the names of the books you read?
The Dead of Night by John Marsden
Shivers, Wishes and Wolves edited by Donald Lemke
and 36 pages of Hotey by Josephine Bailey
7. Which book did you enjoy most?
They were all so different, it would be hard to pick!
8. Which did you enjoy least?
Neither really. If I HAD to pick, it would be the Lemke. Even though it was pretty cool.
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
Don’t try to read and cheer. It’s too hard to do both. And I’m going to have a hard time picking between the two next year! I’m pretty sure if I don’t feel like I can read all day, I’ll be cheering. It is ever so much fun. And get your hands on plenty of sugar, protein, and/or caffeine.
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
Is this a trick question? Oh, I WILL BE THERE. If I am in a good reading place, I’ll probably read. If I’m like I was this year, and in somewhat of a slump, I’ll probably cheer. Or, heck, I may do both again. I may not have gotten a lot of reading in (and I’m not really that disappointed), I had SO MUCH FUN. Cheerleading for readers rocks!
