24 Hour Read-A-Thon
AKA my attempt at decreasing my screen time
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It’s happening… I’m doing my first ever 24 hour read-a-thon!! This past semester I spent a lot of time looking at screens and cramming legal concepts into my head, my sleep schedule is all kinds of messed up and I haven’t had much time for any hobbies. I think this is going to be the perfect reset. I get to spend time off of the screen while doing something that brings me a lot of joy… reading. I’ve never done one of these before so I’m leaning on some of my favorite book creators to know what to do.
So here are my rules:
Must read for 24 hours → I will be setting an alarm
Must stay hydrated!!
All books must be physical → no Libby or Kindle
TBR
I’m pretty limited on my selection since I only brought a handful of books to my dorm. I’m going to place all the titles into a spinner wheel and choose 4 books (4 is my lucky number). It’s been a while since I’ve finished a book so I don’t think I’ll get through all of them (plus I’m a slow reader) but this is going to be the baseline.
13 Little Blue Envelopes
Fable | Goodreads | The StoryGraph
Written by: Maureen Johnson
Genre: Contemporary | Young Adult | Romance
Pages: 320 (started on 88)
My rating: 4 stars!
“Sometimes, life leaves you without directions, without guideposts or signs. When this happens, you just have to pick a direction and run like hell.”
I decided to start with this one since I started reading it earlier in the year. There was a moment when I considered restarting it because I didn’t remember what I read but I kinda enjoyed figuring out the parts I already read. This book reads a lot younger than the main character actually is but it definitely carried a very adventurous spirit. It’s very quirky and weird and silly and I had so much fun reading it. I think if I read this when it was popular back in the early 2000s, I would’ve loved this story even more but there was a level of connection I was missing.
I loved the letters sprinkled throughout the story (it’s actually one of my favorite elements in books), I just wish they were a bit longer and told us more about Aunt Peg’s adventures and all the people she met along the way. We got a glimpse into her life but there were some letters where we learned absolutely nothing about her. I also really loved when Ginny met the Australians and the little adventure they went on together. I wished we could’ve seen more of them. Overall, this was a fun way to start off the read-a-thon and I felt like I was traveling throughout Europe with Ginny.
Here’s the ambiance video I played while reading:
Eclipse
Fable | Goodreads | The StoryGraph
Written by: Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Fantasy | Young Adult | Romance
Pages: 513
My rating: 5 stars!!
“You held out your hand, and I took it without stopping to make sense of what I was doing. For the first time in almost a century, I felt hope.”
This took forever to read because I kept stopping to annotate, kick my feet and laugh. No matter how crazy this entire saga is, it brings me so much joy. Eclipse has always been my favorite but it wasn’t until I finally picked up the book that I realized why. Around page 238 I realized that Eclipse really brings you into the lives of all the characters. It’s not just a story about Bella’s obsession with becoming a vampire (I have a whole theory where she’s more in love with that than Edward) … it’s about grief, resilience, found family, and the power of unity. This is probably the book where both Bella and Jacob are the most insufferable, but the side characters really turn this book around. If I could change anything in this book it would be the whole imprinting nonsense — why was this ever a thing??
I also watched this and this while reading Eclipse.
Pack Up The Moon
Fable | Goodreads | The StoryGraph
Written by: Kristan Higgins
Genre: Contemporary | Romance
Pages: 448 (DNF at 42)
Unfortunately I had to DNF this book on page 42. I always have a hard time reading third person stories and as I was reading this I could feel myself falling into a slump. I don’t necessarily think what I read was bad, I was just having a hard time connecting with the characters/story. Maybe this is one of those books where I’ll love it at a later time, but for right now, I had to put it away.
Illuminae
Fable | Goodreads | The StoryGraph
Written by: Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
Genre: Science Fiction | Young Adult
Pages: 599 (Stopped at 303)
“I had no idea how safe I was, because I’d never been unsafe.”
This book really intrigues me. While prepping the paperback I noticed that it’s not a typical book at all. It’s a collection of emails, IMs, reports, and so much more beyond the typical structure of paragraphs and chapters. As I write this I’m on page 468, just a bit more to go before I reach the end and I already know it’s going to be a 5 star read. I’m enamored by the characters and their desperation for survival. It’s actually insane how much this story feels like it could be real. The whole concept of artificial intelligence taking over and destroying humanity under the guise of protecting it is actually so scary to think about.
Science fiction is out of my comfort zone, I usually read thrillers and romances but I am loving this!! I can’t wait to read the rest of the series this summer.
Thank you Will for gifting this to me way back when!
Stats
TBR: 4 books
Total books completed: 2
Total hours read: 24
Total pages read: 1,090
DNFs: 1
Overall average: 4.5 stars
Although I didn’t stay awake for a full day and actually took several days to get through these 24 hours, it was the best decision I’ve made all year. I feel like I gave my brain and nervous system the time it needed to decompress after finals by enjoying something that always brings a smile to my face. It was also such a great way to ease back into reading for fun after months of reading case law. I think I’m going to do this again the next time I have a long weekend but this time I’ll challenge myself to stay up for a full day!!
With love & a cup of coffee,
ICYMI:
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AHHHHH i am so glad that you’ve enjoyed Illuminae. it was such an amazing read. i still think about it often haha.