2021 Read-ARRR-Thon #2: Wrap Up

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Happy Sunday! Our Read-a-Thon ends today, as you lay your head down to go to sleep. Let's have a look back at all we accomplished!

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 book 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?

[L Y N N]

Wow! What a reading week for me this was! Although I had to work and stuck to my workout schedule, I was still able to read so much!!

1. How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read?
A huge 10 books!! That is a record for me!! Ten in one week! I completed the Individual Challenge which was an immense goal for me! A total of 2,581 pages!!

2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions?
YES!! Although I had set myself what I considered to be unrealistic goals, I still managed to complete them!! YAY! Well, let's see...distractions...work, working out, and then sleep! Why must we humans sleep?!? I could complete so many more books in those hours each day/night. LOL 🤣

3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts?
You bet! I sure did! Completing challenge prompts. It felt great to fulfill a prompt for the team! (And the individual challenge!)

4. What was your favorite book of the read-a-thon?
I suck at selecting just one favorite...
I loved all 6 of these!
The Bookshop at Water's End
Amal Unbound
Artificial Condition
The Black Stallion
The Secret Garden
Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha

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 feel a bit frustrated when prompts are not assigned initially simply because I first select books I was planning to read anyway (for book club selections, buddy reads, etc.) and then others to fulfill certain prompts, but depending upon when I finish reading the books, there may be others who have already fulfilled those same prompts. I thnk it's a challenging situation for team captains as well as team members.

6. Do you plan to participate in future group read-a-thons?
Just try to keep me away! LOL 😁

[Sherri]

1. How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read? I finished 5 books & The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman. Page count: 1,363
2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions? I exceeded goals. I thought I would finish 3 books. My biggest distraction was Friday. I had family obligations.
3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts? I had fun. I loved the pirate theme,games & personal challenge. I loved checking in with my crew.
4. What was your favorite book of the read-a-thon? Blacktop Wasteland by S.A.Cosby
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. This was my favorite one as of now.
6. Do you plan to participate in future group read-a-thons? Yes

[Jackie, Solstitial Mod]

1. I finished 2 audiobooks and read a solid portion of a short story collection.
2. I did about as much as I expected; my big distractions were a busy week at work, and that we're currently moving.
3. I had a great time; I've been having some fun with the 'leagues' of pages.
4. I loved The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers! Definitely teared up a bit at the end.
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? <- personally I would like the universe to give me more time to read during the next readathon
6. Do you plan to participate in future group read-a-thons? lol what if I said no...

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Jackie, you have no say in the matter lol

1. How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read?
5 books, 1493 pages, 11.5 hours. WILD!

2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions?
I hoped to finish 5 books and I did. I didn't believe I would, especially during the week when I had very few pages read, but I pulled it out on the weekends.

3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts?
My team was excellent... so many ships built!

4. What was your favorite book of the read-a-thon?
Probably Dear Child or One Two Three. Completely different books but so good.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

1. How many books did you finish? 6
How many pages did you read? 1587 pages and 10 hours audio

2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions?
I did really well considering I was with family the first 3 days so read nothing till Monday night. I must admit I am also finishing a seasonal challenge for another group that ends May 31 so I pushed to get more books in.

3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts?
Yes, of course! I like the scavenger hunt aspect of finding books to match the prompts

4. What was your favorite book of the read-a-thon?
The Devil and the Dark Water was very weird, mixes several genres, but I liked that. An awfully long book for a readathon, though! There There was also very good, though on a serious topic.

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 improvements, I'm always impressed with the creativity of the mods and all the work it takes to organize these - loved the pirate theme!

6. Do you plan to participate in future group read-a-thons? Yes!

[Kendra]

1. How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read?
9 books, 3 graphic novels for a total of 2687 pages.

2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions?
I got 6 out of the 7 books I wanted to read this week done. I wanted to finish Dracula especially, but I REALLY wasn't enjoying it, so I ended up spending a bunch of time staring at nothing or doing things to avoid reading just because I wasn't enjoying it, which left my page count a little lower than I wanted.

3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts?
Yep! The pirate theme was fun, and I liked building boats.

4. What was your favorite book of the read-a-thon?
The Witch's Heart. I loved this, it is my favourite read of the month, and will definitely be in the running for best of the year.

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 really liked the building boats part -> Some prompts are harder than others (Like the 500+ page one) and this way, there wasn't as much pressure and we could mix and match which boats we went for (While still feeling like we'd earned something). Also a shout out to Jackie for the awesome journey under the sea!😁👍👍

6. Do you plan to participate in future group read-a-thons?
Yep.

[Roxana]

1. How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read? 12 books, 2963 pages.
2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions? More than met, thanks to some fast, short rereads of nostalgic old faves. But I also got read the longer/denser books I wanted to read, and loved most of the books I read this week!
3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts? I liked the pirate theme a lot, as well as the flexibility in how to approach the prompts - going for a lot of one kind of ship vs fewer but bigger ships, etc.
4. What was your favorite book of the read-a-thon? The Kingdoms, I adored it! Also loved The Luzhin Defense, a book I've been meaning to read foreeeever.
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? Not an improvement on this one, but just emphasizing again what I liked about this one - the flexibility in approaches to the prompts list - is something I'd enjoy in future ones as well!
6. Do you plan to participate in future group read-a-thons? For sure :)

[°~Amy~°]

1. How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read?

I completed 8 books and started 2 others for a total of 1887 pages

2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions?

I wanted to finish 10 books to complete the longest leg of the Individual challenge but I fell a bit shy. My biggest distraction from reading print books was losing my elderly kitty on Monday. On the flip side I found the audiobooks were a very good distraction from getting overwhelmed thinking about the cat so I guess the readathon happened at a good time for me.

3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts?


4. What was your favorite book of the read-a-thon?

I had two 5 star reads this week, Kindred and Horrorstör

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?

Yes, in the individual challenges

[Samantha]

1. How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read? 5 books, 744 pages, 48 audio hours.
2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions? I would have like to have had more pages read. I am reading a book that just isn't doing it for me. I should have started something else but kept thinking oh this is short I will be done in no time but never finished.
3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts? I always enjoy the reading, the team work and the games.
4. What was your favorite book of the read-a-thon? I picked up Nimona because it worked for a few lessor read prompts and was worried I might not like it. It was adorable and I loved it.
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? Not at this time.
6. Do you plan to participate in future group read-a-thons? Yes

[Nancy]

1. How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read? 4 books, 691 pages, 23.9 hours
2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions? My goals were low this time because of my biggest distraction, my son's high school graduation and weekend of parties.
3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts? Yes, this has been my favorite read-a-thon so far. I loved the pirate theme and the format of building the boats. I think the one boat per tab format worked really well.
4. What was your favorite book of the read-a-thon? I loved all 4 books I read and can't pick a favorite!
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? Nothing, this one was perfect.
6. Do you plan to participate in future group read-a-thons? Absolutely.

[Kathy]

1. How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read?
I finished 10 books and 2,647 pages!

2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions?
I exceeded my reading goals mainly because I didn't have many distraction during the week. I was home alone for three days and could read as much as I wanted!

3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts?
Lots of fun. I loved the pirate theme and building those boats!

4. What was your favorite book of the read-a-thon?
The Salt Path by Raynor Winn.

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 really enjoyed this format. The mods do a great job in coming up with fresh ideas.

6. Do you plan to participate in future group read-a-thons?
Yes.

[Joan]

1. How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read? I only finished one and started another. Only 452 pages
2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions? No, I didn't meet my goals. My friend passed away.
3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts? I did have fun for what I participated in. I thought the boat building was a good idea.
4. What was your favorite book of the read-a-thon? I didn't finish it yet but Between Shades of Gray is really good.
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
6. Do you plan to participate in future group read-a-thons? yes