My Top Readathon Tips

Hello lovely people! Tomorrow is Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon and I'm very excited. Despite taking part in lots of readathons before (and even hosting one myself) the first time I took part in Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon was last year and I absolutely loved it! I'm so excited to be taking part again this year and thought what better time to share with you some of my top readathon tips. I've definitely learned some tricks that help me make the most out of a readathon over the years and so today I decided to share what I've learned with you in case there are any readathon newbies looking for advice or anyone who'd just like to be nosy about how I make the most out of a readathon.

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• Be Organised – For me this is the most important tip because it usually insures that the readathon runs smoothly for me. The day before a readathon I like to go shopping for snacks, clean my reading area, put together a TBR pile and make sure my comfiest clothes are washed and ready for the next day. Being well prepared means that I’m saving myself precious time that I can put towards reading once the readathon has officially begun. 

• Choose Books Wisely- A readathon is not the time to be trying a new genre or a book you know is going to be a bit of a gamble. Also don’t be afraid to choose more books than you’re going to have time to read, that way you’ll have plenty of choice and if a book isn’t working out for you you’ll have a backup plan. I like to go for fast paced reads that I know are going to keep me turning those pages, I also like to put a few books on my TBR by some of my favourite authors who I know I can rely on for a great read. I find that it’s a good idea to read books on different formats, graphic novels or audiobooks are great for when you want to keep your reading progress going but are feeling bogged down from reading a physical book. 

• Follow Fellow Readers- Before the readathon starts I like to go through social media and bookmark bloggers and booktubers who will be taking part in the readathon. I find following other people’s progress really encouraging when I’m struggling to keep reading. 

• Try NOT to Read Beforehand – The day before the readathon I like to not pick up anything to read. For me it’s almost like not eating anything all day because you’re going to an all you can eat buffet for dinner. I love the anticipation of waiting to dive into a pile of books and I like to spend the night before watching some TV because I know I won’t be doing much of that over the next 24 hours.

• Get a Good Night’s Sleep – Make sure you get an early night the night before the readathon - you’ll be grateful for it when you’re up late reading the next night. 

• Choose Snacks Wisely- A readathon is a great excuse to pig out on some delicious treats but also try to add some healthy foods in there too. Too much pizza, chocolate and crisps can make me feel tired and sluggish so I try to eat some fruit and drink plenty of water too. It also goes without saying that if you like to read and eat at the same time try to go for finger foods that aren’t going to leave your book messy. 

• Take Regular Breaks – Every couple of hours I like to take a 10-20 minute break to stretch, play with my dog or watch a sitcom. Taking breaks keeps your mind fresh and it’s so important to stretch those legs! 

• Time Your Internet Allowance- We all know how easy it is to get sucked down the internet rabbit hole when you’re supposed to be reading. I like to set a timer on my phone allowing myself half an hour to browse the internet and see how other readers are getting on. That way I’m not looking up from my laptop hours later and realising I’ve lost a large chunk of those precious 24 hours online. 

• Put Books You Aren’t Enjoying Down – This is something I find really difficult to do because I usually like to finish a book even if I’m not enjoying it all that much. The readathon is not the time to be slogging through a book you aren’t enjoying so if like me you like to finish a book, put it down just for the readathon. Telling myself that I can go back to it after the 24 hours are up really helps. 

• Sleep If You Need To – I’m an insomniac so staying up all night reading is not a good idea for me. I try not to feel guilty over the fact that I need to sleep. If you’re getting to the point where you’re reading the same sentence over and over again because you keep drifting off put the book down and get some sleep. You’re only wasting precious time making slow progress; you may as well catch some sleep and try again when you’re feeling fresh and alert. 

 Because the readathon is on for such a short amount of time I won't be posting updates on my blog but you can follow me on Twitter, Instagram and Goodreads to see how I'm getting along. Read lots and have fun!

My Latest Obsession…

So today I wanted to do something a little different and share with you guys something I have been loving lately. It is book related so I figured it suited the blog and with so many people starting Uni and are back at school now I thought this might be helpful to some of you. So you may know that I am OBSESSED with bookmarks and actually collect them, and you may also know that I was quite ill recently. And so my lovely friend and fellow blogger Ellie at Musings of a Bookshop Girl actually introduced me to this obsession when she gifted me some mini magnetic travel bookmarks as a get well soon gift! I absolutely loved the idea of having instead of one big bookmark lots of little ones especially as being a book blogger I like to mark off several pages for quotes I want to use in reviews or references that kind of thing and because I found them so useful I went straight on to Amazon and bought some more.

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You can get cute different designs but what I found really useful were the emotion, punctuation and word mini i-clips. I’d never come across this kind of bookmark before and immediately thought how useful they would be. Marking off a sad face with something I didn’t like about the book, a question mark for a word I needed to look up, an @ sign for something I needed to look up about the book online, they are so, so, handy for marking a quick quote or word in a book, selecting why your marking it off instead of actually having to write a note to yourself explaining and ending up having lots of bits of paper that tend to fall out and bulk up the book. And best of all, on the back of each clip is an arrow so you can point exactly to the sentence you’re referring to instead of having to read the whole page again to find the quote you bookmarked.

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On top of being quick and easy to use the little magnets stay put and are nice and secure. They are so tiny that they look really discreet in your book and don’t make it too bulky. I like to store mine in the little plastic holders they come in using one for useful symbols and the other for the cute ones that are just for fun. I usually keep them on my desk so I can quickly grab one when I need it but they’re small enough to carry on the go as well. The i-clip bookmarks featured in this post are by Peter Pauper Press and can be found on Amazon for a mere £2.99 for eight. These little bookmarks really are a book bloggers best friend and have already been so useful to me so I really wanted to share a little post about them with you guys in case you’re a fellow book blogger, if you’re at school or uni and could use them for text books or required reading, or if you simply just love the idea and find them super cute and dinky! I have fallen in love with these little babies and have found them super useful when writing my book reviews, hopefully after reading this post some of you will try them out and fall in love with them too!

Random Ramblings 4: How To Read More

Being the big reader in my family and group of friends I always get asked how I find the time to read so many books. I used to think I read a lot until I found the book blogging community and discovered people who read literally hundreds of books a year. I myself have yet to reach that big 100 books in a year but constantly try to work towards it. Regardless I suppose compared to most people I do read a lot and so I’ve been doing some research on tips on how to read more also with some of my own tips that I give to family and friends. Most book lovers are always trying to read more and more books and find the time to read so I decided to share with you my top tips on how to squeeze more reading into your day to day life.

1.) I think the main problem is the majority of people see reading as a treat something to do for an hour before bedtime but try to look at reading as a lifestyle choice. Readings not just for bed and you’d be surprised with how much you can get read when you choose to read at any spare moment whether that’s on lunch breaks, on the bus or train going to work, waiting for appointments. There are so many small opportunities where you could catch a couple of pages during the day instead of staring into space or playing on your phone. Use them, after all every little counts.

2.) This goes hand in hand with the first tip but carry a book with you everywhere you’d be surprised when you find a quick 5 minutes to read.

3.) Use your TV’s catch up system. Most TV’s have some kind of catch up or recording system these days where you can watch your shows at a time to suit you. Not only is being able to watch them whenever great but you can also skip the commercials. Did you know that the average 1 hour show will have 15 to 20 minutes of advertising? If you watch a one hour TV show every day and skip the adverts then over a week you’ll have gained a spare 1 hour and 45 minutes that can be used for reading.

4.) Cut down the amount of TV you watch. It’s common knowledge that the average person spends too much time watching TV. Whittle it down to those shows you really don’t want to miss as opposed to those you just watch to pass the time and use that time for reading.

5.) Use Audio books and E-readers. Most people don’t read because they don’t have time to but with audio books you really don’t have an excuse you can listen to them whilst doing house work, driving, even whilst showering or taking a bath. On the Kindle there’s also the text to speech option so if you have to stop reading to get some chores done switch to speech and you can carry on with your book whilst being productive.

6.) Set yourself a goal of how much you want to read per day whether that’s in pages or chapters and stick to it (unless you get so absorbed in what you’re reading that you end up reading more!)

7.) Give up on books that you’re not enjoying. The fact that you’re not enjoying the book means that you’re less likely to pick it up slowing down your reading. Give yourself up to 50 pages and if you’re still not enjoying it don’t be afraid to say it’s not right for you and give up. Or sometimes a book is simply just not what you’re looking to read right now but maybe something you would enjoy at a later date if that’s the case mark where you’ve left off, pick up something new and come back to it.

8.) Keep a pile of books that you really want to read on your bedside table or somewhere in sight seeing all those fantastic books that are waiting for you to read them will encourage you to hurry up and finish what your reading. Keeping a wish list is also a good idea.

9.) Set a reading goal of how many books you want to read this year. As you go along and write down each book you read there’s something very satisfying about looking back on all the books you’ve read so far.

10.) Enthusiasm is contagious. Join a local book club, goodreads, librarything or follow book bloggers and youtubers. Let the people who love books rub off on you and it’s also great for recommendations.

11.) Train yourself to read like a speed readers taking in a few words at a time rather than reading word for word like you’re taught as a child. It’s been proven that you actually take in just as much by taking in a whole sentence as you do when you read word for word. Start by taking in two words then three then four. Let your eyes zoom out like a camera and take in bigger portions of writing.

12.) On days off find the time to read in the morning. This is a no brainer but when you read in the morning you’re more awake and alert than you are in the evening and therefore can read faster.

13.) Find a place in your house that you can be comfortable and read distraction free.

14.) Join swap websites, libraries, invest in an e-reader or get a membership reward card from your local bookshop. A lot of people find books too expensive but these are all great ways to save some money so that you can buy and therefore read more books.

I hope you’ve found these tips helpful. How do you make time to read? If you have any tips or suggestions I’ve left out feel free to share them in the comments!