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Archives > January 2023 Read-a-Thon: Wrap Up

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message 1: by Emily, Conterminous Mod (new)

Emily Bourque (emilyardoin) | 11288 comments Mod
I can't believe this week is over! Feel free to post this after you've finished reading today (Sunday). Hope this Read-a-Thon kicked off your year of reading in a great way!

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?


Don't forget to update your plans, Individual Tracking and Challenge, and the Community spreadsheet with your reads!


message 2: by LeahS (last edited Jan 29, 2023 05:59AM) (new)

LeahS | 1436 comments 1. How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read?
I finished nine books for the individual challenge word: TRANSFORM. I read 3,592pages.

2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions?
Yes, I completed the reading for my selected word. I had to visit my daughter to child-mind, but that did give me reading time on the train and in the hotel.

3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts?
Yes, I read some good books, and cleared most of the Christmas presents and borrowed books on my TBR list

4. What was your favorite book of the read-a-thon?
I didn't really have one. Fathoms: The World in the Whale and The House by the Lake were both fascinating non-fiction reads, and The Bullet That Missed was great fun. I read The Sun Is Also a Star for the PopSugar February discussion, knowing nothing about it, and thought it was delightful.

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?
A bit more notice of prompts for the individual challenge, if possible. Otherwise, it was very enjoyable.

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


message 3: by Bana AZ (new)

Bana AZ (anabana_a) | 836 comments 1. How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read?
I finished 2 books, read 756 pages and listened for 5.76 hours.

2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions?
I was one book short of my reading goals! The biggest hurdle was that the book I chose to fit a certain prompt was not that interesting. Instead of pivoting, I kind of stopped reading and watched Netflix instead.

3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts?
Yes! My favorite parts was finishing a category in the group challenge and adding the 2 bookmarks to completely finish it.

4. What was your favorite book of the read-a-thon?
Cytonic by Brandon Sanderson

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!


message 4: by Kathy (new)

Kathy E | 3359 comments 1. How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read?
I finished 9 books, 1,129 pages, and 52.3 hours of audio.

2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions?
I exceede my goal by 3 books.

3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts?
Yes, I had fun! I liked reading with Team Leden.

4. What was your favorite book of the read-a-thon?
The Bodies in the Library by Marty Wingate. Also Still Life by Sarah Winman.

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. It was great. Thanks, Mods!

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


message 5: by Kendra (new)

Kendra | 2132 comments 1. How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read?
I finished 10 books (1 of which was too short to count) and a total of 2 708 pages read.
A Killing Frost (October Daye, #14) by Seanan McGuire The Aunt Who Wouldn't Die by Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay The Stolen Heir (The Stolen Heir Duology, #1) by Holly Black Blurb Your Enthusiasm An A-Z of Literary Persuasion by Louise Willder A Light in the Dark A History of Movie Directors by David Thomson To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers Shakespeare Sonnets by William Shakespeare The Backup Plan (Sunrise Cove, #3) by Jill Shalvis About That Kiss (Heartbreaker Bay, #5) by Jill Shalvis The Sentence by Louise Erdrich

2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions?
I had some irritating computer issues, 2 funerals and then some bad news, so I ended up doing a bit more rereading to take my mind off of things. I did manage to read most of the books I'd really wanted to get done this week, and I got the word AWARE spelt out for the individual challenge.

3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts?
As I said, I had some not so nice things happen, and the read-a-thon gave me something else to think about. Plus my team was great. Big shout out to Amy for being such a great team leader. Go team Enero!

4. What was your favorite book of the read-a-thon?
(Not counting rereads)
Blurb Your Enthusiasm: An A-Z of Literary Persuasion

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?
If you do spell outs for the individual challenge, could you pick words that had more common letters, or open it up to using MC names or objects on cover?

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


message 6: by Chrissie (last edited Jan 30, 2023 01:46AM) (new)

Chrissie | 98 comments 1. How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read?. 7.5 books. 2849 pages

2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions?. Yes. Biggest distraction was work. and hockey on TV.

3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts?. Yes! Seeing what other people were reading

4. What was your favorite book of the read-a-thon? I read a lot of mystery/thriller type books and really enjoyed
Desolation Canyon

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. As it was my first, it took me a while to figure out the spreadsheet but I got there!

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


message 7: by Sherri (new)

Sherri Harris | 1503 comments 1. How many books did you finish? 8 How many pages did you read
1,705
2. Did you meet your reading goals? I met my goal of 5-6 books. What were your biggest distractions? I really didn't have any this week.
3. Did you have fun? I did have fun. What were your favorite parts? Completing resolutions. Working with team Janvier.
4. What was your favorite book of the read-a-thon? Lessons in Chemistry.
5. Do you have any suggestions for how to make the read-a-thon better for next time? No. What would you like to see more of in future read-a-thons? I thought everything was good.
6. Do you plan to participate in future group read-a-thons? Yes. I look forward to them.


message 8: by Sheena (new)

Sheena Davis (sheenad) | 571 comments 1. How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read? 9 during the readathon, plus two with 100+ pages left

2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions? Yes (yay!!)I originally planned 7 books, then increased to 9 to complete individual challenge. I finished TRANSFORM and our team completed all the resolutions X2+.

3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts?
So much fun!! Thanks Mods!! I love both challenges but my team is always the best part. I love working together to check off prompts and getting more of an opportunity to chat with team mates. This group is awesome.

4. What was your favorite book of the read-a-thon?
No five stars, but several I really enjoyed: maybe A Hard Day for a Hangover or The Overnight Guest??

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?
Individual - the acrostic was fun, but more variety in letters and word length would be appreciated (i.e all the shorter words had "W" and ideally there would have been more variety in # of letters/books.
Group was great! Prompts had a good variety of easier and harder to fill. I really like the page count(bookmark/cornucopia) element as it adds another layer of strategy and lessens the urge to only pick short books.


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


message 9: by °~Amy~° (last edited Jan 30, 2023 06:26AM) (new)

°~Amy~° (amybooksit) 1. How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read?

I finished 19 books (2 graphic novels, 1 play, 1 full length novel and 15 short books/novellas) for a total of 1209 pages and 41.25 hours of audio

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

I went far above and beyond the 8 books I had hoped to read because I had absolutely no real distractions this week.

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

Yes, I had fun. My favorite part was the reading. One thing I love about finding all these short books and novellas to read during a readathon is finding new authors that I want to read more from. I found quite a few this week!

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

Probably, Me: Moth, a book in prose with a surprising ending

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 don't really, if I were nitpicking I might say some of the prompts were a bit too specific this time around, but we managed to complete 2 full rounds so I guess they weren't THAT hard after all!

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

Absolutely


message 10: by Nancy (new)

Nancy (fancynancyt) | 1842 comments 1. How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read? 8 books. 1044 pages. 32.75 hours.
2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions? Yes, I read more than my goal. Biggest distraction was the boob tube.
3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts? Yes! I liked the team challenge as always. And I love trying to find books that fit the team and individual challenge, as well as the winter reading challenge.
4. What was your favorite book of the read-a-thon? One True Loves for sure.
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 didn't finish the individual challenge for the first time, the letters in the shorter words weren't common and I didn't read enough books to finish the long word. I'd like to see letter challenges include more options like genre, character name, or location, or at least more common letters.
6. Do you plan to participate in future group read-a-thons? Absolutely.


message 11: by Laurel (new)

Laurel Kristick | 874 comments 1. How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read? 4 books, 1119 pages & 1 hour of audiobook
2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions? Met but did not exceed my goals. Knew I would be distracted by helping my sister with her milestone birthday party, but didn’t realize my mom’s need for conversation (I’m staying with her) would keep me from listening to more than an hour of the audiobook I had.
3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts? Always have fun with the team challenge. Was smart enough not to attempt the individual challenge this time.
4. What was your favorite book of the read-a-thon? Pieces of Me. Won the ARC in a Goodreads Giveaway - it has an April release date and is a YA novel about a young woman with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) from childhood trauma.
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? Definitely!


message 12: by Amy (Other Amy) (new)

Amy (Other Amy) | 756 comments 1. How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read?
I ended up with three books and a short story.

2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions?
Apparently my brain feels weekends are not the time to read; I did not read a thing this last weekend.

3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts?
Yes I did. I finished a book that has been on my nope stack for six months, so that was great.

4. What was your favorite book of the read-a-thon?
Lost in the Moment and Found

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 don't really have any complaints. If we do acrostics though (individual challenge), I would like some way to get around particular letters (buy a letter with a wild card maybe?), or a broader range of ways to fill the prompt (character names, or just a scavenger hunt item).

6. Do you plan to participate in future group read-a-thons?
Yes definitely. I am having a reading slump at the moment, so I just did the individual challenge, but normally I really enjoy the team read-a-thons. (I do appreciate that you always offer an individual option, so I can still participate even when I can't guarantee I'll be able to read.)


message 13: by Jennifer W (new)

Jennifer W | 695 comments 1. How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read?
I finished 1 book and read a total of 285 pages (small potatoes compared to many of you super readers!)

2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions? I finished the book I wanted to finish this week and I kept track of my pages read. The usual- life, browsing the internet.


3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts? I did. I hadn't ever kept track of how many pages I read in a day before.

4. What was your favorite book of the read-a-thon? When Christ and His Saints Slept has been very good so far. Secrets of the Nile is also off to a promising start.

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 one. Other than cramming in a bunch of reading and having fun, is there a purpose to these? IE: does someone "win"? How often do you have read-a-thons?

6. Do you plan to participate in future group read-a-thons? Sure! I'll try to beat my "score" from this time!


message 14: by Misty (last edited Jan 30, 2023 02:46PM) (new)

Misty | 1537 comments 1. How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read?
I finished three books and read 685 pages.

2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions?
I didn't have a specific goal, but I thought I would finish four books. My daughter just bought her first house recently, and the first weekend we were helping her buy and build furniture plus spent time with friends, which was all very nice. I just didn't have time to read that weekend. Then I am starting another job this week - tomorrow - so, I spent a lot of time at my other two jobs making sure everything was caught up and organized. I teach a college class, and I was making sure everything was ready for the whole semester. It was kind of an exhausting week, so instead of reading more, I binged-watched That 90s Show with my 13 year old and my husband! No regrets.

3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts?
Reading is ALWAYS fun! :) I liked keeping track of the page count. I'm a nerd, and that was fun for me. Knowing there were lots of other nerds like me doing the same thing I was doing was fun.

4. What was your favorite book of the read-a-thon?
Broad Strokes: 15 Women Who Made Art and Made History by Bridget Quinn. This book is fabulous.

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?
Nope - no idea. Like Amy (Other Amy) - I really like that you always have options. I didn't even do the word thing, but I could still participate with individual tracking.

6. Do you plan to participate in future group read-a-thons?
Sure. At some point, I would like to join a team, but this was not the right time for it.


message 15: by Robin P, Orbicular Mod (new)

Robin P | 4052 comments Mod
1. How many books did you finish? I surprised myself by finishing 10! How many pages did you read? 1976 & 12 hours audio
2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions? I did get several short books read, which I wanted to do. I didn't have a lot of distractions this week.
3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts? I always enjoy the teams and trying to figure out where books fit best in the challenges.
4. What was your favorite book of the read-a-thon?The Red Notebook is a short and charming 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? I hadn't thought about it, but I agree that the acrostics turned out to be harder than usual.
6. Do you plan to participate in future group read-a-thons? Of course!


message 16: by Erica (new)

Erica | 366 comments 1. How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read?
I read five books and another three that were too short to count for prompts totally 2,183 pages and audio time.

2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions?
I expected to read four or more books so I met that goal. Biggest distractions were gorgeous weather for January.

3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts?
Yes I had fun. This pushed me to read some short books that I enjoyed and might have left alone.

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

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 self-help book prompts please. Could you have a permanent thread about basic read-a-thon rules in the read-a-thon section not just that FAQ thread for the specific read-a-thon.

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


message 17: by Rachel (new)

Rachel A. (abyssallibrarian) | 3287 comments 1. How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read?
This was probably one of my most successful readathons overall! I finished a total of 6 books (+ about 40% of another), for a total of 1316 pages + 8 hours audio.

2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions?
I actually didn't have very specific goals, so I guess technically I did since my goal was just to read as much as I could! I wanted to finish at least 3 books, and I doubled that, although to be fair, 1 was an audiobook, 1 was a children's book, and 1 was a graphic novel. I didn't have too many distractions this week, luckily!

3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts?
Yes! The team challenge was fun although I always have a hard time keeping up with the spreadsheet. I also liked that this week gave me a bit of an extra push to read, which got the year off to a great start.

4. What was your favorite book of the read-a-thon?
Technically, it's the one that I started right at the end that I'm only 40% of the way through! I started A Flicker in the Dark yesterday and I'm loving it so far. Of the books that I completed during the week, my favourite would have to be Crazy Stupid Bromance

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 this one was pretty well-balanced overall. I ended up completely ignoring the individual challenge this time around, unfortunately. I glanced at it quickly toward the beginning, realized it was unrealistic for me, and didn't bother with it the rest of the time.

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


message 18: by Sophia (new)

Sophia (jonquilles) | 192 comments 1. How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read? I ended up staying up to finish my 6th book which is the upper end of what I'd hoped for, for a total of 2208 pages and one half-hour of audiobook.
2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions? I hoped to read 3-5 and I managed 6 so I'm pretty happy that I exceeded my modest goals! I find fiction audiobooks very hit or miss for me and unfortunately this one was a miss but I'm hoping I can get a library copy soon instead.
3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts? My main goal was to try and overlap readathon goals with winter challenge/ATY weekly goals so that was a fun little bonus game for me.
4. What was your favorite book of the read-a-thon? Small Game: A Novel was really great (although I did stay up on a Sunday night to finish The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo so that was a good one 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 love these themed goals, they're always so surprising and fun. I don't know what to improve but the individual challenge was way too intimidating, so maybe some simpler options in the future?
6. Do you plan to participate in future group read-a-thons? Always!


message 19: by Trish, Annular Mod (last edited Jan 31, 2023 12:29AM) (new)

Trish (trishhartuk) | 1249 comments Mod
1. How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read?

One Poison Pie (Kitchen Witch Mysteries, #1) by Lynn Cahoon , The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson , Lysistrata by Aristophanes , Read and Buried (Lighthouse Library Mystery, #6) by Eva Gates , Before the Coffee Gets Cold (Before the Coffee Gets Cold, #1) by Toshikazu Kawaguchi , The Treasure Hunt by Andrea Camilleri , The Whitstable Pearl Mystery by Julie Wassmer , The Curveball (Wild Pitches, #1) by Megan Cousins

I was a bit surprised at my count: c.2,000pg!!

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

The biggest distraction was having to work! :-) I read more than I expected though, so I was pleased.

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

I enjoy the group spirit in the teams.

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

Before the Coffee Gets Cold - my first five-star read of 2023.

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?

Hard to say. I admire the way you guys work out all the prompts. It can't be easy.

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

Yes, as long as I see they're happening in time.


message 20: by L Y N N (new)

L Y N N (book_music_lvr) 1. How many books did you finish? How many pages did you read?
I finished 11 books and read 3,057 pages!

2. Did you meet your reading goals? What were your biggest distractions?
Not really. I wanted to finish reading The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story, but I just wasn't in the mood for nonfiction! Biggest distraction was working out! :)

3. Did you have fun? What were your favorite parts?
YES! Always fun to have a further motivation to concentrate on reading!

4. What was your favorite book of the read-a-thon?
Ugh. I find it nearly impossible to select only ONE book... The first five listed below tie for first place! :)
Patina (Track #2) by Jason Reynolds
Legends & Lattes (Legends & Lattes #1) by Travis Baldree
The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
The Women in Black by Madeleine St. John
The Four Agreements by Miguel Ruiz
Blackbird House by Alice Hoffman
Paddington Marches on (Paddington #6) by Michael Bond

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?
You all run an excellent readathon! I just can't imagine it being any better! LOL

6. Do you plan to participate in future group read-a-thons?
As long as I'm alive and breathing! :)


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