This Redhead Reads

First off, I’d very much like to thank Dewey for hosting this. I had an absolute BLAST. I’d also like to take a minute to say thank you to everybody who stopped by and commented… those comments helped me to keep going. I’d like to reply to every one of them, but I don’t know that I’ll have the time to.  Special thanks to all the cheerleaders for being so awesome. And thank you to all of the people holding mini-challenges.

There are a couple of questions I’ve been asked a few times that I’d like to answer right here:

• May I use your button? Yes, of course. Please do.
• How did you stay awake for the whole time? A few things… cold showers, tasty food that had mostly been prepared ahead of time, chocolate, being somewhat used to sleep small amounts, a husband who probably would have teased me – in a lighthearted manner – about going to bed, the same husband telling me I could do it, caffeine at proper intervals, getting up right before the read-a-thon started, and just plain sheer determination.

Here are my final stats:

• Time spent awake: 24+ hours
• Books read: 5 finished, 1 unfinished
• Pages read: 1468 (At one point, my reading speed really slowed… I was having major problems coherently reading. The problem was solved – I got more energy again – but I’m ticked that it cut down on my numbers like this.)
• Time spent reading: This is a guesstimate. I’d probably say right around 18 hours, maybe as high as twenty. Most of the rest of the time was spent blogging. And that short trip outside for the mini-challenge.
• Mini-challenges done: 9

Post-event survey:

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? Definitely the five o’clock our. That would have been hour 21, I suppose.

2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? Before Green Gables, Comfort Food, Un Lun Dun, The Garden, and A Curse Dark as Gold. Some of these were read during the read-a-thon, some not. I don’t think longer books are really best for this kind of thing… you need to mix things up. Most of these have been reviewed at my blog. You can find a list here.

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? I got really frustrated with the whole “Hour X” thing because sometimes, it didn’t seem my numbers added up to theirs. Maybe “Hour X, Time Y”. Also, with the mini-challenges, “this challenge will say open for x number of hours” didn’t work out great for me as sometimes it seemed they were posted in the middle of an hour and I had to try to keep track.

4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? Mini-challenges were GREAT. I also liked seeing what challenges were still open. That was very helpful.

5. How many books did you read? 5 finished, 1 unfinished

6. What were the names of the books you read? Before Green Gables, The Sugar Queen, Skinny Bitch, Talk to the Hand, and Comfort Food. The one I didn’t finish? Gluten-Free Girl. There just wasn’t enough time.

7. Which book did you enjoy most? Before Green Gables, with Comfort Food a close second.

8. Which did you enjoy least? Skinny Bitch – I hated that book.

9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? n/a

10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? Absolutely! I’d like to be a Reader, still, but I’d love to host a mini-challenge.