My First Readathon! | READATHIN

I decided rather last minute (read: two days in advance) that I was going to have a go at participating in read-a-thin in August.

The rules are simple: it lasts for the month of August, and the goal is to reduce your TBR pile, so the aim is to read books you already own. There’s also some optional challenges to complete, an instagram photo-a-day style challenge, and a template for recording your progress available from the hosts! The announcement post, for more details, is here, and I can’t wait to participate!

I only found out about read-a-thin on twitter about two days before it was due to start, so I’m very new to the community but I’m excited by the freedom this challenge offers. I’ve seen a lot of other readathons talked about on twitter, but none of them have seemed to quite fit the kind of thing I’d really enjoy participating in, but I’ve been wanting to give it a go. I’m making this post mostly to try to hold myself accountable (though that hasn’t really gone well in the past — looking at you, 2019 blog goals post!) but also to give myself an idea of what I want to achieve during the month.

I’ve decided I’d like to give the challenges a go as well, seeing as they’re quite broad and I think I have books in my TBR pile that can fit into them nicely.

1. Read a thin book: Mr Salary – Sally Rooney
2. Read a book in a series: One of Us is Lying – Karen McManus
3. Read a book that’s been on your shelves for two years: It’s Kind of a Funny Story – Ned Vizzini
4. Read a book with a bright coloured cover: Milkman – Anna Burns
5. Read a book recommended by a friend: Normal People – Sally Rooney

Given that Mr Salary really is a thin thin book, I feel like I might manage a few more books, and I’d like to be optimistic, and make the goal ten.

6. Conversations with Friends – Sally Rooney (to complete the set)
7. Melmoth – Sarah Perry
8. Men Without Women – Haruki Murakami
9. What is Not Yours is Not Yours – Helen Oyeyemi
10. The Clocks in this House All Tell a Different Time – Xan Brooks

An ambitious goal, but I’ve tried to pick some of the less chunky books I have sitting on my TBR to make it a little easier. I also have three train journeys in August, two of them over three hours, so that offers a nice chance to get a few hours of reading in.

I’ll be updating my progress on here, but I’ll be posting more regularly on my twitter, @elliesophie_, and I’ll also be having a go at the photo challenges on my bookstagram, @ells.library.

Please let me know if you’re joining in, and what books you’re hoping to get read in August!