If you look back at some of my posts like Fin or #RiotGrams Challenge Complete and even the recent Sandwiches!,  I like the feeling of setting a goal and completing it.

Enter the readathon.

This 24-hour readathon site and initiative was established in 2007. Why I’ve only heard about this in 2018, I’m not sure, but I’m penciled in for the foreseeable future.

And since I was going all in, I set a stopwatch to track how much time I was actively reading. I knew I’d need to stop, but it wasn’t going to be for sleep if I could help it. In total, I read for 17 hours and 30 minutes, stopping for one 45 minute nap at 2am (quickly followed by tea to wake me back up) and another 20 minute nap at 2pm. The rest of stoppage time was for social media check-ins and family needs.

Here’s a list of how to prepare for your first (or fiftieth):

1. Buy something special like a set of pajamas to make the occasion special (I did!) and either stay in them for 24 hours, but if that’s impossible at least rock a bookish tshirt. Or, maybe it’s your favorite snack, a new throw, the most recent book by your favorite author.
2. Organize your book pile (or sync up your audio and e-books) with a variety of options to suit your mood and the time of day. There’s something to be said for mixing it up and keeping it interesting throughout the time.
3. Pick your poison. Like your book pile, what will sustain you? Regular meals, themed snacks, what are you going to drink? I bought my favorite candy for a late night snacks, drank a few pots of tea, but then ate meals with my family, celebrating with a bowl of ice cream in the last half an hour.
4. Make it a team effort or a group sport. The cheering section was loud on social media through the readathon outlets, but I also included my family. My two boys read with me for the first hour, randomly throughout the day, and the last half hour it was a full family affair. Meanwhile, the dog spent most of his time trying to figure out what I was doing, but he was the most faithful cheerleader.
5. Change your scenery. 24-hours is a long time and the sun sets and rises again, so mix up where you’re reading. I read outside, inside, on the couch, in the tub.
6. Cheer on others! This was my favorite part of checking in. I even created a public Instagram a few days prior so that I could share throughout the readathon and use it for new challenges and some amateur bookstagramming.
7. Set a realistic goal. I wanted to make my first one epic, so I knew I was going to try to read as much as possible and sleep as little as possible. But for some that’s improbable because of work, home, or life in between. So know your limits and have fun in between with whatever you contribute.
8. Read! Isn’t that the whole point? Of all of the books I read during that time, I was immersed in Holly Black’s faerie world in The Cruel Prince. Then there were some duds too, but that’s all in a 24-hour day’s work.

And as the readathon came to a close and thank yous were messaged and final page counts tallied, they announced the next one. October 20th. Who’s in?