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Read-a-Thon #2- Wrap-up
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1. How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read?3 Graphic Novels, 955 pages
1 Picture Book, 56 pages
2 Books, 729 pages
2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions? I did! I guess TV was my biggest distraction.
3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts? I had a lot of fun! My favorite part were the games, the bingo and the battleship :P
4. What was your favorite read of the read-a-thon? I think it was One of Us Is Lying because it was a fast read and very enjoyable, the story was completely forgetable, but I enjoyed it :D
5. Do you have any suggestions for how to make the read-a-thon better for next time? What would you like to see more of in future read-a-thons? My suggestion is to give a little more instructions about how the short stories, poems or graphic novels can be counted in the tasks.
I want to see more games! :D I missed the scramble titles, although I enjoyed very much those we had. Thanks for all the effort!
6. Do you plan to participate in future group read-a-thons? I think so.
Mod
Finished 4 books (one of them I had most of it read before the Read-A-Thon started), for 1,098 pages!
2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions?
I'd say I met my goals... I wanted to finish March with 8 books, and I ended up with 7, but that's still pretty good for me. This week was awful at work, very busy, so that was a huge distraction for me.
3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts?
I enjoyed the games, and guessing for battleship was fun.
4. What was your favorite read of the read-a-thon?
As Bright as Heaven by Susan Meissner -- It was a unique historical fiction.
5. Do you have any suggestions for how to make the read-a-thon better for next time? What would you like to see more of in future read-a-thons?
I enjoyed that this game was more laid back than the last Read-A-Thon. I don't feel as burnt out, even though I finished about the same amount of books. I also enjoyed having two weekends.
The downside of Battleship was that we were constantly waiting for our mod to get back to us on if guesses were a hit or miss before we could guess again... it took a bit of the fun and discussion out. Also, it felt like we weren't really aiming for anything or having to strategize as a team, because every book fit into at least a genre or a rating or something. You basically earned a guess for every book, and then if it added up for the few lightening bolt prompts, it was an extra guess. I think the directions could have been simplified in that way.
I had fun, but I think I liked the bookshelf Read-A-Thon better overall. There was just a lot more discussion and teamwork in that one.
6. Do you plan to participate in future group read-a-thons?
Absolutely! I'm looking forward to it!
1. How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read? 75% of 1st Novel: 180 Pages
2 Novellas: 181 Pages
10 Novels: 2331
1/2 of my last novel: 128 Pages
Total Pages: 2,820 (give or take)
2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions?
I hoped to read 7 books and did that and then some. Plus I read 8 of my ATY prompts.
3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts?
I did have fun. I enjoyed finding books to read that would fit the prompts.
4. What was your favorite read of the read-a-thon?
Man...I had 3 that I really loved...Interpreter of Maladies, The Liar's Club, and Reader's Block. Several of the others were great, too.
5. Do you have any suggestions for how to make the read-a-thon better for next time? What would you like to see more of in future read-a-thons?
I think a simple bingo or A-Z challenge would have been easier to track as a team. I felt sorry for our team lead because she had so much work to do. I don't know how she managed to track it all. I think the battleship game actually discouraged team discussion because it was so hectic with all the grid guesses. I know I didn't want to gum up the thread with chit chat because it would make my mod's job harder.
6. Do you plan to participate in future group read-a-thons?
I will absolutely do it again. It was a lot of fun and I got to read so many good books!
1. How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read?Finished 3 books for 986 pages. That's a pretty typical week for me
2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions?
Yes, my main goal was not to get stressed and I didn't. Easter and family were a fun distraction.
3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts?
It was a lot of fun. I liked the Battleship best
4. What was your favorite read of the read-a-thon?
The Supernatural Enhancements
5. Do you have any suggestions for how to make the read-a-thon better for next time? What would you like to see more of in future read-a-thons?
I was a little confused by some of the rules, but it's only a game. It seemed a bit more flexible this time. Read a book, get a guess. I liked having two weekends
6. Do you plan to participate in future group read-a-thons?
Yes
1. How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read?Completed:
2 graphic novels
3 books (one started before the readathon)
1 short story
Also read more on another book started before the readathon.
Read 1506 pages or so
2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions?
I wanted to finish 2-3 books and contribute to the team goals. Mission accomplished! As a retired person, finding time to read is not an issue. I read more than I normally would... in part because I had to start new books for the readathon.
3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts?
Yes, it was fun. I liked the team aspect and the daily challenges.
4. What was your favorite read of the read-a-thon?
BRAZEN Rebel Ladies who Rocked the World. Learned a lot from the womens' stories and absolutely loved the illustrations that followed each story.
5. Do you have any suggestions for how to make the read-a-thon better for next time? What would you like to see more of in future read-a-thons?
This was my first readathon and the rule about previously started books was a surprise. I usually read multiple books at a time and had barely started 4 books right ahead of the readathon. I ended up putting the book I most wanted to read on hold, since it was very long and would only have contributed to the team page count. I could easily have waited a day to start some of those books had I known to do so. The rule doesn't necessarily need to change, but a heads up ahead of time would have been great.
6. Do you plan to participate in future group read-a-thons?
Most likely.
KUDOS and thanks to the moderator.
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1. How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read?finished 1 novel already started
read 1 novella
read 1 children book
read 1 poem
356 pages total
2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions? i had hoped to read more, there were 3 books I wanted to read to get caught up with the ATY challenge but that didn't happen. I finished one. The usual distractions for me , life in general: work, the kids etc... and then some issues with my meds making it hard to stay awake long enough to read much. Also had several days of no reading at all because of migraines. And the holiday, but that actually worked out bc it gave me time to squeeze in that last book ;-)
3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts? I had fun when I was feeling well enough. There was one day in particular that I was able to get outside and read and do some of the easier tasks , so that was a good day for me. I enjoyed all of the games. And getting a hit on the battle ship board.
4. What was your favorite read of the read-a-thon? I really enjoyed the ghost story and all of the culture in Peony in Love. Always love to read Lisa See.
5. Do you have any suggestions for how to make the read-a-thon better for next time? What would you like to see more of in future read-a-thons? No suggestions, I like how we change it up. Last one was fun because of all of the strategizing we had to do to work as a team. This one was great bc there was less pressure and I felt like it was easier to contribute guesses with some easier tasks.
6. Do you plan to participate in future group read-a-thons?Of course !!
1. How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read?I think 5, 6 if you add the picture book. I stopped counting once I hit 600.
2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions? Most of my books I had already started so they really did not count towards the team goal.
3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts?
I like the candy question.
4. What was your favorite read of the read-a-thon?
Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood/Trevor Noah
5. Do you have any suggestions for how to make the read-a-thon better for next time? What would you like to see more of in future read-a-thons?
I was disappointed that we were only able to count one book started before the read-a-thon towards a team goal especially since in the last read-a-thon they counted. I tend to have between 5-9 books going at a time so this was problematic for me.
I think simpler rules would also help. I did like the addition of audio hours and page numbers counting.
6. Do you plan to participate in future group read-a-thons?
Maybe, depending on my schedule.
1. How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read? Finished 4 books (I was about halfway through one wen the read-a-thon began) and 1069 pages.2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions? I was one book shy of my goal but since Saturday was my birthday and Sunday was Easter, I expected the second weekend to be a bit of a bust, reading wise.
3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts? Yes! I liked the Battleship game.
4. What was your favorite read of the read-a-thon? I actually enjoyed all of the books I read but if I have to choose, then it's The Broken Girls I read this for the ghost story prompt, which I wasn't looking forward to, but this was terrific.
5. Do you have any suggestions for how to make the read-a-thon better for next time? What would you like to see more of in future read-a-thons? The mods did an excellent job but I think the rules were overly confusing this time. Every book basically got one guess so some of the categories were unnecessary and we could have just focused on the group categories. As someone else pointed out, there was less teamwork which is something I liked about the previous read-a-thon. I loved the Battleship part of the challenge but also felt sorry for the mods who must have felt pressure to keep track.
6. Do you plan to participate in future group read-a-thons? YES!
Mod
I do think we should handle previously started books differently next time.
I would suggest something like:
Less than 25% - count only pages read
26-74% - previously started
75% or more - counts as a regular book
I can see where we shouldn't count only a half-read book but I was frustrated that I read 75% of my book and couldn't count it for much.
I think I may be doing some hunting for a totally new team game for next time though :)
I finished one book started before the readathon.Poems in the Edgar Allan Poe anthology I wanted to read
A short story from the same Poe book.
An audio book
Five books
Total- over 1000 pages
Yes, I met my goals.
I got sick, so in one way it helped to get more pages done, but it was kind of distracting too!
Favorite read: The Broker by John Grisham.
Favorite game: I enjoy the team goals.
Yes, I will probably participate next time.
How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read?8 books 1252 pages
2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions?Yes biggest distraction was preparing for Easter
3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts? Yes it was all fun. I like the team challenges the most
4. What was your favorite read of the read-a-thon?
Ready Player Oneor Cannery Row
5. Do you have any suggestions for how to make the read-a-thon better for next time? What would you like to see more of in future read-a-thons?
I like the team challenge and maybe add more games to the mix.
6. Do you plan to participate in future group read-a-thons?
Yes
Laura wrote: "Jillian wrote: I do think we should handle previously started books differently next time.
I would suggest something like:
Less than 25% - count only pages read
26-74% - previously started
..."
That sounds like a good idea.
1. How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read?I only finishes one book for 261 pages.
2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions?
No, I didn't reach my goals:( A really busy work week was my biggest distraction, as it left me little time for reading.
3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts?
I did have fun. I enjoyed the team challenge and seeing those sunken ships.
4. What was your favorite read of the read-a-thon?
I love the games and working with everyone.
5. Do you have any suggestions for how to make the read-a-thon better for next time? What would you like to see more of in future read-a-thons?
Keep up the good work! I really enjoy them, especially the games.
6. Do you plan to participate in future group read-a-thons?
Yes, I do and hopefully I will be able to help my team more .
1. How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read? I only completed the one I already had started but I got most of the way through Six of Crows and halfway through The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women. I seem to have slowed down from the beginning of the year.2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions? No I didn't meet my reading goals. My biggest distraction was that someone that works for me quit. Also my son's soccer games played a bigger factor than I thought they would.
3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts? I liked all of it. I just wish I could have participated more.
4. What was your favorite read of the read-a-thon? I like Six of Crows. It's different from other books I've read. Also The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women is kind of fascinating.
5. Do you have any suggestions for how to make the read-a-thon better for next time? What would you like to see more of in future read-a-thons? No suggestions - I think this one was pretty awesome. I liked the two full weekends that it included.
6. Do you plan to participate in future group read-a-thons? Yes absolutely
1. How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read?I finished 4 (and 2/3) books for my reading challenges, plus two extra picture books. In total, I read 1433 pages (just realized I had the wrong number in the other thread).
2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions?
I never set too firm of a goal for read-a-thons. My goal is always to just read as much as possible, and I definitely think I did that. My main distraction was the holiday weekend which involved having guests over 2 nights in a row, plus I had a work commitment that I have ever other weekend that takes up a good chunk of my day.
3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts?
I liked the Battleship challenge because it was fun without too much pressure (although possibly a little too easy. My team was done finding our ships halfway through the week). I also really liked the Bingo card, even though I never manage to get a full line.
4. What was your favorite read of the read-a-thon?
They were all very good, but if I had to pick one, I'd pick Dumplin'.
5. Do you have any suggestions for how to make the read-a-thon better for next time? What would you like to see more of in future read-a-thons?
I agree with some of the comments above about how easy it was to get guesses individually, without much coordination with the team. I also sometimes find rules about which categories (ie. in the Bingo game) can and can't overlap a little confusing. I also felt like the Scrabble game was started and then abandoned, although I'm not a fan of the Scrabble one in general.
This is probably more my problem than an issue with the read-a-thon itself, but I found it hard to keep track of what had already been guessed and there was a lot of waiting around for the mods to get on and tell us whether we hit or missed. Obviously no one expects the mods to be on the board all the time, but it sometimes meant waiting quite a while. Again, my choice since I wanted to wait to see the results of previous guesses before making own since that seemed to make the most sense strategically. I guess in a sense, I didn't really feel like this challenge required that much actual teamwork. We shared a board and our guesses all worked toward a common goal, but otherwise, we were working completely individually. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it wasn't quite what I expected.
I also had a few times where I guessed squares that had already been picked since I did not have a chance to read the thread thoroughly. Again, that's probably my fault for only really checking in at the end of the day when I didn't have much time, so I don't really have any suggestions to improve it.
6. Do you plan to participate in future group read-a-thons?
Yes, I generally have fun with them.
I am really coming back to comment because I hadn't had a chance to thank the mods for all the hard work they put into this. I really appreciate it!1. How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read?
4
2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions?
I was going to try to fit in one more book but the week was busier than I had expected
3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts?
I like the challenges and games
4. What was your favorite read of the read-a-thon?
The push to read more and all the games
5. Do you have any suggestions for how to make the read-a-thon better for next time? What would you like to see more of in future read-a-thons?
I enjoyed the battleship but think I prefer the bingo
6. Do you plan to participate in future group read-a-thons?
Yes
Around the Year in 52 Books
Books mentioned in this topic
Dumplin' (other topics)The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women (other topics)
Six of Crows (other topics)
Ready Player One (other topics)
Cannery Row (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Trevor Noah (other topics)Susan Meissner (other topics)
Here are a few questions to wrap everything up:
1. How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read?
2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions?
3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts?
4. What was your favorite read of the read-a-thon?
5. Do you have any suggestions for how to make the read-a-thon better for next time? What would you like to see more of in future read-a-thons?
6. Do you plan to participate in future group read-a-thons?
You're welcome to go back and do any of the challenges/games you're interested in that you may have missed!