I’ve been promising a post exploring my thoughts on readathons for a while. I’m a serial readathon starter. If I find one, I’ll likely participate in it. If I finish it tough, that’s another story. But first, a brief explanation of what a readathon is for those who might not be familiar with this communal part of reading. A readathon (like the name suggests) is a reading marathon. The objective is to read as much as you can for a set time, for example, 24 or 48 hours, a week, a month, or a year. Usually, a readathon has a theme. It can be based on genre, diversity, age range, a book series or a single book.

Readathons became quite popular online since they are a collective effort. You can do one on your own, although it can be very motivating to do it with others. Suddenly, what is a solo activity becomes something shared. Due to the themes, it can push you to pick that dusty old book you have on the back of the shelf that you’ve been putting off for years. And it’s fun. People wouldn’t do readathons if they weren’t fun. There’s something exciting about the challenge, and the shared experience is very motivating. That’s why I do readathons and will continue to do them.

The expectations to succeed

My first “successful” readathon was back in June 2022 and inspired me to read my entire TBR. And by successful, I mean I completed all the prompts in the readathon. Obviously, a successful readathon can be whatever you want it to be. Maybe completing a book can count as a success. Or even just reading for just a few minutes. Most readathons will have prompts to check off. The reason why they become a challenge. But you can always make it your own. No one is going to police you. They can’t. So succeeding in a readathon depends on your objective with it.

When I take on a readathon, my objective is to fulfil as many prompts as I can. Most often, it leads to an unrealistic number of books, but I still go for it. Maybe I can surprise myself! And for at least once in my life, I did by reading 9 books in a month. Although my extremely optimistic and some could call it overachieving mentality leads me to countless “fails”. And that’s when the problems start.

There are readathons for every single taste. It’s just a matter of choice and finding them. Some readathons are a world of their own. It’s a game you play with books. And here is where my problem lies most of the time. I can enjoy the concept of a readathon and want to be part of it, although the prompts or themes might fall into genres I normally don’t read or don’t even have any books for. And that becomes frustrating. I want to participate, I want to play along, but I don’t have the books. And if it’s not fun, then what’s the purpose of taking part?

Nowadays, if the prompts are out of my reading habit, I put the readathon to the side even if I would love to participate. I know it won’t last long and will probably end in frustration. When I go into a readathon, I go to it all the way, and parting mid-way isn’t enough for me most of the time. It can be upsetting to want to do something, reach a goal, and fail because I don’t have a book to play the game.

In an era when book subscriptions exist, either to receive books on your doorstep or a digital one, where libraries are a good resource, and everyone seems to have a huge wallet to buy dozens of newly released books, it’s hard to complete readathons with your crusty old TBR. I don’t pay for book subscriptions, I can only count on my library for classics, and I only buy books when I get a good deal. Therefore, I complete a readathon with the books I already own, or I don’t complete it at all. And I know there are readathons focused on reading the TBR, but the heart wants what the heart wants. And sometimes it doesn’t want those readathons.

The Downfall of the Magical Readathon

Last year, I decided to tackle the Magical Readathon. It’s a big readathon that has been around for a few years. The gamifying aspect of it looks very fun to play. And last year, I was going to do it all. I did the Novice Path even though I didn’t complete all the prompts. I did the Gear Up. I was also doing the year-long version of Adventure in Aeldia for 2023 and 2024. I was going along just fine. Most prompts were broad enough to easily find a book for them. But that was until April arrived.

April is the first month-long part of this readathon, and when reading is more communal. Everyone participating is reading during this time. On theme, this is when you choose a topic you want to study in the magic school. So, I picked mine without looking at the prompts. How I like to do it. But I gave up without even starting.

If I remember correctly, I had to read around 5 books. A little more than I usually do, but it was doable. Although I could only use one or two books from my TBR to complete the prompts. Over 70 books in my TBR, and yet it wasn’t enough. If I wanted to complete all the prompts, I had to buy in some way new books that fitted the other prompts. But I didn’t want to do that. At that moment, I knew from the start I couldn’t finish the readathon. It was so frustrating. So, I gave up without even starting.

I was excited about this readathon. I was enjoying it. And even though it’s a fantasy readathon, the problem wasn’t even the genre. The prompts were too specific. And those can be fun when you have the books for it. But when you don’t, it’s just a pain in the A. Obviously, this isn’t a critique of the readathon or the creator. I just didn’t mash up well with the theme or had easy access to books outside of my own TBR. And that’s no one’s fault. While I do love some readathons, I need to be honest with myself and see if it’s doable for me or not. In the sense of the amount of books, but also in which books.

The reason for a successful Whatever-a-thon

Looking back to the Whatever-a-thon, I was lucky. There were 4 bingo boards to choose from, and I took a hard look at which one would mash up better with my reading and my books. Then I made sure I actually had books for all the prompts or if I could have access to any others if I needed them. Two of the hardest ones were reading a host’s favourite book, which I could find on Spotify, and then a weapon on the cover that, luckily, I had on my TBR. It also helped a lot of the prompts were unrelated to the books themselves, like reading at night.

With the Whatever-a-thon, I still had limited options in some prompts. Although others allowed me a lot of freedom. And I think that’s what worked so well. The perfect mixture of specific with broad. It still directed me to choose a certain book while still having space for my mood to dictate what to read next. Also, it helped that the more I read and the more progress I made, the more excited I was to continue. It was a game, and I had all the pieces I needed to play. And that’s why it worked so well.

The future of HRCYED

And now comes the time to talk about the HRCYED. I can’t resist a readathon, and when you join someone like QWORDY, who has a fantastic and contagious energy, it’s hard to say no. And I’m glad I said yes. So far, this challenge has been the right excuse to finally read some Portuguese authors. And for the good experiences that have come out of this readathon, I’m forever grateful. There are some really hard prompts in this readathon, but I believe I could still complete them. That’s why I took on the challenge. However, after half a year, at the halfway point, it’s time to stop pursuing it. I’m not calling it quits! I’m just stopping outsourcing new books and using only my TBR.

In December, I read 5 books, yet I feel as if I read only one or two. That’s because I didn’t enjoy anything else I read. I read to fulfil a prompt. I read just for the sake of saying that I did it. And I want to read because of the books. I want to enjoy the books I pick up. And so I look at some prompts now and think “do I really want to read those books just to fulfil this prompt?” There’s one to read 5 non-finalists SPFBO, which are only fantasy books. I don’t read fantasy. And when I do, it’s just a glitch in the matrix. I’m very particular about what I enjoy in fantasy while still discovering it. So I can’t grab the most mainstream fantasy and have a good time. 9 out of 10 times I’ll hate it. And that also means I’m already going in with the wrong mindset, thinking I won’t enjoy it. I’ll have to force myself to read 5 books that I’m not that interested in, even if I spend hours searching for the ones that I’m most likely to enjoy. It’s not an organic interest. It’s not the book pulling me in. It’s me playing eeny, meeny, miney, moe with the least unappealing options.

And the same thing is happening with the new release prompt. I’m never on top of new books. I might know they exist, but if I want to read them, it will probably take me a year or two to get them. I’ve been reading ARCs to avoid buying new books every month. And even with those I’m choosing the least uninteresting options. Once again, I’m not reading because I’m truly interested in the book (there have been exceptions), I’m doing it to fulfil a prompt. And that’s not worth it.

Another thing I don’t like as much is having to buy more books. So far, the ones I purchased have been on my mind for quite some time, so the readathon was just a push to finally buy them. However, I can see from now on that whatever books I buy will be just to fulfil a prompt. And while it’s for a good cause and to support authors, I won’t be doing it for the right reasons. I will eventually support indie authors, but it has to be on my rhythm and on my terms, not because of a checklist.

My plans for future readathons

HRCYED is an extensive readathon fitting for people who read far more than I normally do, yet I still had a lot of fun and will continue to. But with some changes. If a readathon isn’t bringing me happiness, then what’s the point of doing it. From now on, my objective is to use my TBR to complete as many prompts as possible and see how that leaves me. I’ve already accomplished a lot, and even if I tapped out now, I wouldn’t be disappointed. It’s important to have fun, and I had, but now it’s turning into something not so fun, and that has to change.

I will forever be a readathon starter. Even as I’m writing this, I already know of two upcoming readathons I’m excited about. This rush of excitement is such a great reading motivator I don’t want to leave behind. So I’ll forever start readathons or at least want to start them. Some I might not even attempt, knowing they are not for me. And that’s what I learned with every readathon I took. Understanding my reading taste, how I read, what works for me as a challenge, and what doesn’t. Seeing from the start if it will work or not, makes my experience much more enjoyable.