Dewey’s 24-Hour Readathon – April 2021: Opening Survey

Another April and another Dewey’s 24-Hour Readathon – this makes me happy 😊

I’m a big fan of this biannual event and while I’ve not taken part every time since I first came across it some eight or so years ago, I do try to take part if I can – even if it’s just for a little while. 

Here’s my opening survey! 😎

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1. What fine part of the world are you reading from today?

I’m in Derbyshire, UK.  Readathon for me starts at 13:00, and so it’s early afternoon here and reasonably warm so I’m starting my reading outside.    

2. Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

This is always a difficult question.  I usually pick a theme for readathon which gives me a shortlist of books, but I’ve not done that this year.  Like most readers, I have plenty of options available to me, and there’s no risk of running out of reading material, but I’m just going to see how the mood takes me as I finish one book and move on to the next.  

So, rather than which one I’m most looking forward to, I’ll just tell you which one I’m starting with – Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. 

3. Which snack are you most looking forward to?

For snacks, I like to keep it simple with things such as salted popcorn and ice cream.  I’ve got a wonderful little selection of Häagen Dazs miniatures, so plenty of options, and they’re tiny, so I can justify having more than one on readathon weekend! 😉

4. Tell us a little something about yourself!

I’m Jo, and I’ve always loved reading.  I’m that person that takes a book with me everywhere I go, even if I’m just nipping to the supermarket – you never know when you might be able to squeeze in a few pages, after all! 

I like a wide range of books, but particularly dystopian and post-apocalyptic fiction.  My favourite novels include Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood and Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell.

5. If you participated in the last readathon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today?  If this is your first readathon, what are you most looking forward to?

I didn’t take part in the last readathon, but nor is it my first.  I’m taking a slightly different approach in not choosing a theme or planning my reading in advance – I’m just going to see how the mood takes me. 

Apart from that, readathon tends to pan out in the same way for me – I read until around 23:00 (ten hours into the event) and then go to bed, getting up relatively early the next morning to continue.  That’s not ten hours of constant reading, by the way – I make sure I get up, move around, switch rooms, and perhaps most importantly take some time out to eat during that time! 

Whether I plan to do it this way or not – and there have been years when I’ve tried to do the whole 24 hours and just couldn’t get through the night without sleeping – this is what tends to happen, and so I now tend to go with it and sleep when I need to and read when I can.  I think that’s the best thing about this event – there’s no pressure to do more than you can or to read for a set amount of time. It’s a stress-free excuse to read and interact with other likeminded individuals from around the world, and that’s never a bad thing.