Prepping for Dewey’s 24-Hour Readathon

Dewey’s 24-Hour Readathon is happening this Saturday, April 29! Will you be reading?

First things first…

What’s a READATHON?!

Answer: A reading challenge! It’s like a marathon for readers. Dewey’s is a 24-hour challenge, which means you can drop in during the 24-hour time period, or try to read for 24 hours straight through. With naps, of course. And snack breaks. And lots and lots of coffee.

Here’s the FAQ page to help you figure it all out.

I’ve never done any real readathons before – at least not since my school days with the Book It program (which, amazingly, is still around!) – so I’m excited about this. I’ve printed out a bookmark to keep track of my reading, and the list of prompts from the Instagram mini-challenge. So now all that’s left is to make up a reading list.

Here’s what I’ve got…

From My TBR Pile:

[author_list style=”heart”]

• Stolen Sharpie Revolution by Alex Wrekk (a fun DIY re-read to start the day at the early hour of 5 AM!)
• The Gangster We Are All Looking For by Lê Thi Diem Thúy (a used bookstore score and a slim volume, to keep the momentum going)
• Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (a California author whose only work I’ve read so far, amazingly, is The Pearl)
• The Cunning Linguist by Richard Lederer (a San Diego author, who’s also an honorary member of the San Diego Writers & Editors Guild!)
• The Guilded Pen, 5th Edition (an anthology published by the SDW/EG, and which I have embarrassingly still not had time to dip into!)
• Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner (the title seemed appropriate, as I’ll likely be in bed for much of this challenge…)
• Holy Cow by David Duchovny (I bought this and his X-Files co-star Gillian Anderson’s book together, in order to do a comparison of their literary abilities)
• A Vision of Fire by Gillian Anderson and Jeff Rovin (as mentioned, it might be fun to read these back to back, since they’re such different types of books)
• From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg (a re-read that I seem to recall enjoying in my youth)
• The Pirate Next Door by Jennifer Ashley (PIRATES!)
• The Sweet Life in Paris by David Lebovitz (PARIS!)
• The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George (ALSO PARIS & BOOKSTORES!)
• Steal Like An Artist and Show Your Work by Austin Kleon (two more re-reads that always inspire me)

[/author_list]

From the Library:

[author_list style=”star”]

• The Art of Travel by Alain de Botton (in keeping with my globe-trotting theme…)
• Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes (because you should always say yes!)
• Glitter by Aprilynne Pike (if you’ve noticed a Parisian theme… yes, it’s true, I’m obsessed)
• Blood, Bones & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton (highly recommended by my husband, and I recently saw her “Mind of a Chef” episodes, so I’m intrigued)
• The Song Machine by John Seabrook (because who doesn’t want to know the real behind-the-music stories?)
• California Celebrity Vineyards (mostly for the pix, because I’m sure I’ll be exhausted at some point and incapable of absorbing more words)
• Chinese Calligraphy Made Easy by Rebecca Yue (to break things up, I hope to try some new writing techniques throughout the day)
• Brush Lettering Step By Step by Jim Gray and Bobbie Gray, CDA (the cover also touts “includes over 300 charming sayings” so I will share them on my Instagram feed)
• Creative Lettering and Beyond by Gabri Joy Kirkendall, Laura Lavender, Julie Manwaring and Shauna Lynn Panczyszyn (more pictures!)
• Ghana Must Go by Taiye Selasi (a novel I grabbed on a whim from the shelf)
• The Nix by Nathan Hill (a Rooster contender this year, and a huge volume, so I’m not sure if I will actually dig into this one or not)

[/author_list]

That’s 25 titles, one for every hour of the challenge, plus one for good luck.

So… what will you be reading this weekend?