Whew, the Read-a-Thon is over! My gosh, that was a long haul. And I definitely fell asleep around hour 20 as well. I had big plans to wake up and cheer everyone one for the last hour, but... er, I didn't :-) However, it looks like a LOT of cheerleading went on in the wee hours, which is wonderful. Here is my end-of-event meme:1. Which hour was most daunting for you?
Well, I set my alarm clock for 6am to see through the last hour, and then couldn't get myself out of bed. So probably hour 23, but that, I think, is only because I weakly chose to sleep.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
I am not sure if my book choices are the same ones that would interest others. But I would stick to genres you like and are comfortable with, rather than trying new ones.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
Nope, I thought it was great! Though maybe make comment verification turn-offs a HIGH HIGH priority! Also, not sure how feasible this is, but it might be cool if everyone participating was encouraged to read one book or one particular author, and then discuss that. Might be hard to coordinate, though.
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
I think Eva did a fantastic job of leading the cheer squads! But really, everything was SO well organized by everyone. So many mini-challenges, so many tweets, so much enthusiasm!
5. How many books did you read?
Two
6. What were the names of the books you read?
I, Coriander and The Lantern Bearers
7. Which book did you enjoy most?
Well, there were only two...
8. Which did you enjoy least?
See above
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
Try not to get stressed out by the amount of people there are to visit. It's tough going, but each person you visit really appreciates it, so hitting up one blog makes a difference!
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
Very likely, and I'll be a cheerleader again :-)
I think what overwhelmed me most about the read-a-thon was the sense of community that fostered through it. It was really amazing to see everyone online, chatting, commenting and Tweeting at the same time. And there was no competitive spirit between people- just a love of reading. I Twittered with people I had never interacted with before (is that a taboo? I kind of feel like it is, but whatever), and left comments on SO MANY BLOGS and even got some reading in. It was really nice, and I'm so glad that we have the opportunity twice a year to do such a thing. I think over the next few days, I am going to visit everyone's end-of-event memes and add people to my Google Reader. There were some blogs I really enjoyed (well, I enjoyed ALL of them) but just was too frazzled to subscribe at the time.
Thanks to the organizers! You all were amazing! Great work, everyone :-)
LOL I am as weak as you: I've slept! But I wasn't having fun otherwise.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the community aspect was overwhelming: it was what made it fun participating, but also what made it hard to accomplish those targets!
I don't think it's at all weak that you slept! Thanks for your comments, you were a great cheerleader. I agree with you about word verfication!
ReplyDeleteI really don't know many of the heroines from your list, but you have my favorite heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, there, which is great! :)
ReplyDeleteCongrats on making it through the Readathon, and thanks for your cheerleading! I totally agree that the community part is time-consuming (and I ended up not doing much of it), but it's a huge part of what makes it so much fun.
ReplyDeleteGreat cheering advice - from a very special cheerleader! And you got some book reading in too - good for you :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Aarti! :) Y'all were so much fun!
ReplyDeleteYou did great! I, Coridander seems like an interesting pick. I loved your review. I hope you had a fun time w/ the Read-a-thon!
ReplyDeleteCongrats! I can't believe you finished books and managed to Tweet and comment on tons of blogs. I distanced myself from the computer for much of the day (I participated in a couple of mini-challenges and wrote a wrap-up post) and I didn't even finish my one book. LOL
ReplyDelete--Anna
Diary of an Eccentric
Thanks, guys, for your comments! I will definitely be in the read-a-thon in April (unless other stuff comes up that is unavoidable), and I hope you all are, too!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for being a cheerleader. You guys were so great. I'm going to have to cheer some of the time in the spring.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations for being a part of the Read-A-Thon! I really wanted to participate this year, but was unable to. I am definitely going to be doing the one in April though!
ReplyDeleteJust stopping by to say a big THANK YOU for cheerleading and coming by my blog. Cheerleaders really make a difference.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for stopping by and cheering me on during the read-a-thon. As a first-timer, I really appreciated the support.
ReplyDeleteGreat wrap-up post! I was swinging by to thank you for stopping by to cheer me on. And I totally agree with you about the wonderful sense of community. It was just so cool to think of everyone reading and cheering and being excited about books all at the same time. I hope to do it again -- perhaps as as cheerleader next time!
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