Post Dewey Read-a-Thon thoughts & survey!

Hey people! So I have officially completed my first read-a-thon! Technically, this post is way late because the actual event ended at 8 a.m. my time (it's currently 2:48 p.m.). I had to get a few hours of sleep in though, because I marathoner the last part of it after sleeping in until about 1 and not getting started actually reading until a little after 2 p.m. yesterday. However, despite my late start, and multiple breaks (some lasting up to 2 hours, I believe), I somehow managed to read way more than my goal of 419 pages, and ended with a total of 674 pages read. I'm so happy, and it was such a fun time. I have to admit, it got pretty hard after I finished The Catcher in the Rye, because I got kind of depressed after reading part of it (but I absolutely LOVED the book overall, and only one part weirded me out, but after thinking about it I'm no longer weirded out. Maybe I'll post a review of it and the other books I read. Maybe.)

I also read Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", and now want to read "Through the Looking Glass", of course. I started reading "A Deodorizer of Dead Dogs" by Ambrose Bierce, edited by Carl Japikse (I still can't pronounce that guy's name…) and let me tell you, it's as weird as the title sounds. I only made it through about 3 stories of that (it's a compilation of short stories by Mr. Bierce), which came out to be about 35 pages. That book's definitely an acquired taste that I don't quite have yet.

The last book I started reading was Divergent. I was really anti-this-series at first, but I'm jumping on the band wagon and have become a fan of the dystopic Chicago centered book. I'm about 70 pages from the end (I got about 340 pages in by the time the read-a-thon ended… yeah I whipped through that baby) and can't put it down. Ok, maybe that's an exaggeration. I mean, I can put it down long enough to type out this blog post, do some mini challenges (I'll explain more in a sec), and go to the bathroom. But that's  about it. Oh, and take the dog out =P

Onto the mini challenges. I thought these were really fun and creative. I posted my entries to my Instagram, and then entered them on the various blog posts that the hosts made. Mini challenges included (but are definitely not limited to): the #shelfie challenge, the #uncomfy challenge, the spell your name challenge, and the book balancing challenge. Check out my Instagram if you want to see my entries! The read-a-thon was a trending topic on Twitter as well, which I think is really cool.

Ok now enough of that. I'm going to do the hour 24 survey (which is another one of the challenges).

Here it goes:

End of Event Meme:

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? Hours 8-9 (after finishing a book and having major book hangover)
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? I know a lot of people have already read it, but Divergent was definitely a good choice that kept me interested and wanting to read more.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? I don't know if this is possible, but maybe send the hourly challenges out by email so it makes it easier to find them and know what's going on.
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? I loved the challenges!
5. How many books did you read? I finished one, read part of 2, and read one complete book.
6. What were the names of the books you read? The Catcher in the Rye (finished), A Deodorizer of Dead Dogs & Divergent (read part of), and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (complete book)- 674 pages total! =]
7. Which book did you enjoy most? The Catcher in the Rye & Divergent, but Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was not far behind.
8. Which did you enjoy least? A Deodorizer of Dead Dogs. Such a weird book!
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? I can't wait for the next one! I'll definitely be a reader and possibly a cheerleader.