Are Your Reading Goals Off-Track? Try a Readathon

Goodreads: What's a readathon (for the uninitiated)?

Ariel Bissett and Raeleen Lemay: Basically, a readathon is an event where you spend an allotted amount of time reading as much as you possibly can. Some last a weekend, some a week, some even a month, but no matter how long the event is, the goal is always the same: READ.

GR: How can readers participate?

AB and RL: The only rules for a readathon are when it starts and when it ends. Within that timeframe, you read, read, and keep on reading!

One fun way to get involved is by joining in on the reading sprints that take place on Twitter: A bookish host leads everyone participating in a designated period of reading, involving mini-challenges (like taking a photo of your current read) and mini-games (write a haiku based on what you just read).

There are giveaways, fun challenges, and above all, thousands of people around the world all reading at the same time! On the other hand, if you prefer to take it a bit easier, participating can be as simple as just reading by yourself throughout the week.


GR: How did the both of you get started?

AB and RL: Hilariously, the first one we participated in was our own! We made the first Reading Rush (which was originally called the BookTubeAThon) back in 2013 and have been running and competing in them every year since.

When we first started, we were the only readathon on YouTube. Now it's grown to a point where you could be participating in readathons every week if you wanted to. We hope to keep running these as long as people will participate in them.


GR: Any accomplishments you're both proud of?

AB and RL: We're just so proud of how far the Reading Rush has come! When we started the two of us expected to be the only ones participating. We remember trying to convince our friends that this was going to be a fun idea. A couple years later, it's the largest readathon on YouTube with thousands of people joining us every year.

GR: What's your advice for a person who's never tried a readathon?

AB and RL: Take the opportunity to find one that fits your reading tastes. Maybe find a thriller-athon or a graphic novel-athon…whatever you're into, you can find a readathon full of passionate readers like you! It'll make it a lot more fun and it's a fantastic way to connect with other book lovers online and learn about new books to read.

GR: What are your top tips and tricks?

GR: What's been your biggest takeaway from doing readathons?

AB and RL: I think the biggest takeaway we've learned from running and participating in The Reading Rush is that book lovers are not the quiet solitary type that we're always depicted as. There is clearly a want for readers to come together, to celebrate reading, and it's so wonderful for us that we get to organize this event and give readers a week each year to go book crazy.

GR: What are some upcoming or yearly readathons that book lovers should know about?

AB and RL: There are so many to choose from! Some fun ones are the Koreadathon (this celebrates Korean literature), SmutAThon (exclusively romance books), #24in48 (you try and read for 24 hours out of a 48 hour weekend), and BuzzWordAThon (they give you a buzzword, and you read books that fit that word!).

Additionally, Catriona at LittleBookOwl has a very handy Readathon Calendar on her website so you can keep up with all of the readathons that are going on.


For inspiration, check out the Reading Rush's top readathon book picks: