I don’t know what’s wrong with me – I get an idea in my head and I can’t let it go until it comes out as a real, living thing that people can experience. This is exactly what happened with #readingbingo.

What is #readingbingo? It’s a readathon, one that I have invented. It’s going to be low key. I’m saying that more to myself than as part of this announcement.

A little backstory: Probably at least a year ago, I had this idea that it would be fun to pick reading challenges off a bingo board. It gives the participant some agency in deciding what they read, but they’re still within the constraints of picking the challenges that make a bingo together. I also love that there are varying degrees of difficulty, depending on if the participant decides to make one bingo, two bingos, or go for a whole blackout. Bingo boards could also be reused by bringing in other types of bingos as well, like 4 corners or the L shape or whatever.

Essentially I couldn’t get this idea out of my head, so it’s happening. It’s happening the week before Camp NaNo July, which in hindsight wasn’t the best plan, but HERE WE GO ANYWAY!

So there you go! If you’d like to participate in the first ever #readingbingo, it’s happening from June 19-25. The best way to keep up is to follow the channel on Instagram. The bingo board of reading challenges is live now, and there will be daily Instagram challenges and other fun surprises over the course of the week. My intention for this readathon is for it to grow and change over time, so this first one is more of a test, and I’d love your feedback!

My intention for this readathon is for it to grow and evolve over time, so this first one is more of a test, and I’d love your feedback! Happy reading, and thanks for always being down to try out my crazy ideas. Let me know in the comments of this blog post or over on the Instagram account if you have any questions.

I have been excited for this ALL YEAR LONG and now it’s finally here… BOOKTUBEATHON!

Above is my TBR video. This is the video that explains the reading challenges and which books I’ve decided to read for each one. The overarching goal is to read 7 books over the course of the week, and due to my extremist tendencies (coughNaNoWriMocough) I obviously take this one the most seriously.

Here’s a photo of the books I’m reading. Aren’t they pretty? The phone represents the Jenny Han book, since I am audiobookin’ it:

Here’s my progress so far:

The Last Girlfriend on Earth by Simon Rich: 50% done
I Am Princess X by Cherie Priest: 50% done
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han: 15% done

I have successfully started 3 of my books (1 is an audiobook, 1 is a compilation of short stories and 1 is straight fiction, so I’ve been juggling all three pretty easily) and I’m feeling pretty good for my first day. At least on the reading front – as far as video and instagram challenges go, I’m failing miserably. I’ll start doing those tomorrow. Today I was too excited for the actual reading, and also having a day job AND a dentist appointment were not conducive to day one of a readathon the way it is.

I’m loving this week already. Stay tuned to my blog/twitter/youtube channel/instagram/basically everywhere for my reading updates. Also, don’t know what #BookTubeAThon is? Check out the YouTube channel!

Today’s blog post is going to be a little bit different, because today… I am hosting a challenge for Bout of Books 13! To find out more about this read-a-thon, check out their website and consider joining in! Because – good news! If you catch this blog post in the next 2 hours – there’s still time to sign up! But if it’s already Wednesday where you live… you’re probably too late. I’m sorry! 🙁

This challenge is only for participants, so if you’re feeling left out, you should consider doing it next time!

For those of you specifically here for the challenge, here it is: Write a haiku about whatever book you’re reading right now.

Here’s one I’ve written about Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, as an example/a bit of inspiration:

Boy Wizard. Harry.
His school is cooler than yours.
But no internet.

Feel free to tweet your haikus as well, to share them with the world!

And of course, it wouldn’t be a proper challenge without a prize, would it? The winner of this challenge may choose a book up to $15 from Book Depository and I will get it for you! 

If you’re participating in the read-a-thon, good luck! And if not… what are you doing?! Grab a book anyway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I don’t know if I’ll be writing blog posts about every single day of this readathon, but I will be updating here and there, especially if the challenge for the day makes sense to write a blog post!

I think today, the first day, is my busiest day of the readathon. Not the best way to hit the ground running, but I will manage. I had to work today (9-5) and have a writing workshop that begins in 45 minutes. I’m writing this from the cafe where we meet, before anyone else has gotten here. In the small breaks I’ve had today, this is what I’ve managed to accomplish:

The 100 by Kass Morgan: Listened to 1 hour out of 7
Attachments by Rainbow Rowell: Read 57 pages

I plan to go home and read a bit more of Attachments tonight, but I also have a video to edit, so I’m not sure how much more I’ll get done. I’m still feeling confident about the rest of the week, though!

Today’s challenge is by Writing My Own Fairytale – Bookish Survey.

1. How do you organize your shelves? There is very little rhyme or reason to my shelves right now. I have two – a big one and a smaller one. The smaller one has mostly my favorite books, organized mostly by author and whatever seems aesthetically pleasing. The bottom shelf of this one is entirely Harry Potter and its companion novels. The large shelf goes (from top to bottom) 2 shelves of books I haven’t read yet, arranged mostly by size and by hardback vs. paperback, then a single shelf of books I plan to read soon, then the next one down is comics and graphic novels, then the bottom is childhood books and older books in a state of disarray.
2. What is one of your favorite books that’s not in one of your favorite genres? Hmmm. Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix. I don’t read much horror but I really loved that book.
3. What is the last 5 star book you read? I believe it was Forgive Me Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick. That or Saga Vol. 4.
4. What book are you most excited to read during the read-a-thon? I am dying to read Vicious by V.E. Schwab. I’m purposefully reading it last, to use as motivation.
5. What book do you recommend the most? Recently? Probably either Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs or Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. I’m a pusher.

That’s it for today! How are your readathons going? Remember you can still participate in Bout of Books 13 if you sign up by Tuesday night (at midnight, I think).

I am participating in not one but TWO readathons this week, and I wanted to let you know what they are in case you want to join in!

The first one is called Bout of Books, which runs from Monday the 11th to Sunday the 17th. This one has pretty loose rules; you basically set your own goal and then can participate in the challenges along the way if you so choose. I’m actually hosting Wednesday’s challenge here on my blog, so make sure to stop back and see what it is!

Then on Friday the 15th – Sunday the 17th (it overlaps, which is actually kind of nice – double motivation!) I’ll also be participating in #CrushYourTBR, which is also a pretty casual TBR meant to encourage people to get through the books on their shelves at a quicker rate than normal. It’s great.

I’ve got a pretty over-ambitious TBR for the week, but I plan to start bringing a book to work and reading on my lunch break, which will help. I might not get through all of these, but by george I’m going to try.

I’ll likely be tweeting about the readathon experience over the course of the week, so make sure you’re following me on Twitter if you want to see my updates. It should be a lot of fun, and I’m dying to start. There are some books in that stack I’ve been meaning to read for months, so it should be great.

Let me know if you’re participating, and what you’re hoping to accomplish. Happy reading!

I participated in Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon yesterday, April 25th. I cheated a little, starting Friday night, but I had the evening to myself so I wanted to get reading early. Technically I was supposed to start at 5am my time, but I started around 7pm the night before because I knew I’d be sleeping through many of the pivotal reading hours.

Basically I just made my personal 24 hours of reading a little more convenient to keeping a regular sleeping schedule.

My goal for the readathon, as I stated in a previous blog post, included a stack of a two books I was halfway through and a couple graphic novels I’d been meaning to read. As I got closer to the actual event, I revised my goal to include one more short novel and to read at least 500 pages over the course of the day.

Here’s how I did:

Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson: I read the 275 pages I had left. 5 hours.
Saga Vol. 3 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples: I read all 144 pages. 1 hour.
Sex Criminals Vol. 2 by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky: I read all 128 pages. 1 hour.
Doll Bones by Holly Black: I read 133 pages, making it about halfway. 2.5 hours.

Total pages read: 680 pages
Total books completed: 3 books
Total hours read: 9.5 hours

I didn’t do quite as well as I was hoping, but I had a fantastic time and I knocked a few books off my TBR, which really was the ultimate goal. I still haven’t finished Sorcerer’s Stone and now I’m always halfway through Doll Bones as well, but.. I’ll finish those soon. I’m looking forward to getting really serious about my TBR after this, because I have to start whittling it down. I have to.

I believe the next readathon I’ll be doing is Bout of Books, and I am very much looking forward to it. I might also host a readathon this summer for my book club, if anyone is interested. Happy reading!

Okay. We’re officially halfway through Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon and I’ve officially done a terrible job thus far. I’ve only read about 60 pages of a book, I overslept, my head hurts so I spent even more time napping, and I haven’t even gotten to do any of the challenges! This is a very good example of “life getting in the way” of a readathon I was super excited to take part in. Sigh.

However! We’re only halfway through, so there’s still time to turn it around. I’m grabbing some water, a blanket, and I’m gonna power through my book. And I’m gonna start getting back on board by filling out the “Mid-Event Survey”.

Mid-Event Survey:
1. What are you reading right now? I am 60 pages into Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book, which is something I’ve had on my shelf for years but never picked up.
2. How many books have you read so far? Eh… this is still my first book of the day.
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? Well, if my some miracle I can both finish The Graveyard Book and start another, the next on my list is Landline by Rainbow Rowell.
4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? I guess I shouldn’t have started this blog post with a preface, since I seem to have answered many of the questions already, indirectly. I have had ALL the distractions, most of which being this stupid headache. So far I have dealt with them by letting them win, but I am GONNA READ THIS BOOK NOW. OR ELSE.
5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? It’s hard! But I’ve been enjoying seeing everyone taking part in it and doing the challenges, and I hope my next foray with this readathon is better than this one.

How are you doing? How much have you read? Have you read either of these books?

Hello, lovely blog readers!

Today’s blog post is going to be a little bit different, because I am actually hosting a challenge for Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon! To find out more about this read-a-thon, check out their website and consider joining in! Because – good news! It’s only currently Hour 3 of this 24 hour event, so you’ve got plenty of time to grab a book and dive right in.

For those of you specifically here for the challenge, here it is:

Take a picture of yourself in the weirdest reading position you can think of.

Whether that’s standing on your head, hanging upside down off your bed, or with seventeen things stacked on top of you — I wanna see pictures! Here’s mine, if you need some inspiration:

Leave a comment on this blog post with your photo entry as well as your twitter username so I can contact you directly if you win.

And of course, it wouldn’t be a proper challenge without a prize, would it? The winner of this challenge may choose a prize from this site! I’ll be announcing the winner on my blog later today, so check back to see if you’ve won!

If you’re participating in the read-a-thon, good luck! And if not… what are you doing?! Grab a book!