I finally got my computer back today, so I can tell all of you about how my first readathon went. I consider the overall experience to have been a success, but there were a few glitches on this end that made it, well, less than stellar.
The day started well, with a book, a cup of hot (white) chocolate, and three hot blueberry muffins. I sat on the couch, happy as a lark (how do we know larks are really happy?). In the first hour I read 70 pages. Not bad, I thought. Well on my way to my 1000 pages goal for the day.
By 12:00 noon, after 4 hours of reading, I had read 230 pages, almost 1/4 of my goal. Since I was planning on reading for 16 hours, I knew I was doing well.
Then things got a little crazy. The night before the readathon, my laptop, which runs faster on wireless internet, began acting really weird, showing me all kinds of warnings and pop-ups. I shut it down and went to bed. The next morning, it was still not functioning right. So, all day during the readathon, I was trying to keep up with the messages and mini-challenges on my desk top computer, which runs slow because of dial-up internet.
Because of all this, I was reading only about 30 pages an hour. Also, we had the computer guy here in our house for over two hours trying to fix my laptop, to no avail. Add in three children who were making various noises and involved in much activity all around me in a small home. Needless to say, I couldn't get much reading done.
So, at about 6:00, after the computer guy left (with my computer), I decided I had to get off the internet and just try to read all I could in the time I had remaining. Well, it seemed by then that my family wasn't going to tolerate my isolation or ignoring them any longer. As much as I tried, I only read about 80 pages between 6:00 and 10:00.
But I wasn't giving up. I sent the kids to bed, took my book to my room, and proceeded to read 110 more pages in the last two hours of my self-allotted time.
So, the final page count? 590. Much less than 1000. However, if I consider that I read one book completely, and two others partially, then I think I did okay. In fact, I'm glad that I had this opportunity to enjoy doing what I love to do. And next time, I'll know what to do differently: reserve a hotel room for the day (don't tell anyone where), and leave my cell phone at home! Yeah, that sounds like a plan.........
Here's the challenge from Midnight Book Girl: 
I will be participating in this event. I plan on reading as much as I possibly can for 16 out of the 24 hours. I will begin at 8:00 and I will stop at 12 midnight. My goal is to read 750 pages. That should give me enough time to update my status on my blog and take breaks for eating. 
The 24 hour readathon has begun! I will attempt to post updates of my progress on this page throughout the day. Please come visit me and, if you want, read some of my recent reviews. I'd also enjoy comments on my blog and/or the readathon. And, I will be on Twitter throughout the day @seizethebooknow. 
I have signed up to be a reader in Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon. It will be on Saturday, April 10th. This will be my first time to participate. I won't be able to read for 24 hours, but my goal is 18 hours. I'm really excited about this! It sounds like so much fun. 
