12 HOUR MINIATHONS – Every Saturday

Hello everyone!

I’m hoping you are here because you are interested in doing some reading over the next few weeks, now that we are stuck inside, and hopefully you also want to make some friends, get involved and just enjoy yourself!

Throughout the weekend just gone, I took part in my first 24 hour readathon! Usually I am too busy with university work or I’m at my job. Now that I appear to have a lot more free time, and in my attempt at staying in touch with the outside world and doing more things that I love, I jumped at the chance to get involved. The readathon was all thanks to Rylanne at @escaping.through.novels! Those involved were all added into a group chat on instagram and then, starting at 10am EST (so 2pm for me) we began our reads. My plan was to finish an audiobook of Sadie that I had been listening to, though I only had an hour left, and then I was to listen to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo whilst doing a bunch of tidying and reorganising. I did fall asleep around 3am so I didn’t do the full 24 hours but I still had a lot of fun getting to know everyone, sharing bookish thoughts, and I loved hearing about what everyone else was reading! I came out of the readathon feeling like I had a whole new bunch of friends who will continue to support each other on bookstagram!

Big shoutout to everyone who was involved! @addiction_2fiction, @alilartbookworm, @aryyytenoid, @autumn.thebookmatchmaker, @bettereads, @bookishandcool, @booksofesined, @booksorcats, @chilean_reader, @ellelewis5, @fleursbookgetaway, @janeandbooks, @journal.reads.photography, @mannymemories, @marigoldart._, @nsauxo, @passionfor.reading, @reading.by.myself, @rvz_71, @spilltheread, @thebookofsyd, @thegryffindors_, @whatstiffreading, @yourstrulyreads

The whole readathon got me thinking…

I couldn’t do 24 hour readathons every week because I can’t stay awake that long but I did enjoy getting to know everyone and the whole taking part thing. So, since we are indoors more, with nothing better to do it seems, I have decided I’ am going to set up a series of “Miniathons” that are 12 hour readathons happening every Saturday. These will continue through the month of April, and at least until we find out more about our lockdowns.

Here is every thing you need to know to get involved:

12 HOUR MINIATHONS

Let’s start with the basics:

WHO? Everyone and anyone can get involved! Simply use the hashtag #miniathon when you share updates!

WHAT? It is a readathon for 12 hours, nothing more than that! No stress about having to stay awake for extra hours and mess up your sleeping schedule. Each week there will be a different topic/genre which you can follow as a prompt and then we read! You can read physical copies or ebooks, or listen to audiobooks. The books could be graphic novels, full chunky marathon books, or collections of short, or shorter stories. It is all completely up to you! A group chat will be made each week for those who want to be involved to share updates, posts, stories, motivation etc. If you do not wish to be added to a group chat then you are free to just take part using the hashtag!

WHERE? Primarily this will be on instagram but I will be posting updates on twitter too via a twitter thread that people can post their updates on or simply use the hashtag once again!

WHEN? Every Saturday between 12pm and 12am BST. You are welcome to start at 12pm in your own time if this is easier for you! I believe 12pm BST is 7am EDT so this may seem a little early. Feel free to start later! Either way, choose 12 hours on the Saturday and send up some updates!

WHY? Well, why not? “Reading is fun kids” right? As I mentioned earlier in regards to the readathon I’ve just done, it is a nice way to get a bunch of people together, enjoying something that we love and making friends whilst we do so! Spread some love and positivity for a shared passion during these crazy times!

HOW? Use the hashtag #miniathon in your stories and posts on twitter and instagram. Feel free to tag me (@kcbookshelf on both) and other people who get involved! If you wish to be added to the group chat just let me know! Otherwise, if you’re only on twitter then you can comment your updates on my pinned thread or make your own thread that I will share! You can get involved however you wish to really!

Make sure you’re following me on instagram and twitter!

Onto the topics/genres of each week…

Each Monday I will film a little video of me pulling two possible prompt choices out of a hat and then I will make a poll on twitter and instagram giving you the choice. On Wednesday I will announce which has come out on top so you can start to get together your TBRs. On Thursday I will share some of my own suggestions for each topic. On Friday the group chat and twitter thread will be made. A new one will be made each week so that everyone has the option take part on some weeks and not other if they wish. Then, of course, on Saturday, we read!

MONDAY – POLL OF TOPIC/GENRE CHOICES

WEDNESDAY – ANNOUNCEMENT OF PROMPT CHOICE

THURSDAY – SHARING SUGGESTIONS BASED ON THE PROMPT

FRIDAY – GROUP CHAT AND TWITTER THREAD WILL BE MADE

SATURDAY – WE READ!

What will the topics/genres be?

I am awful for always picking up the same genres and never really branching out, even if I know I like others. I have a whole stack of classics sitting around on my shelves that have not been touched! I want to make sure these topics are random. Like, completely random, and perhaps something you might not usually choose.

So far here is a selection that have been suggested:

• Books from your childhood
• Plays
• Fantasy involving a prince and princess
• Stories that are a retelling of a fairy tale
• Contemporary romance
• Stories involving Greek myths
• Thrillers
• Involves some sort of mythical creature
• Horror
• Stories with magic
• Mystery books
• Book with ___ in the title (word chosen by asking for three numbers – first number is book on the shelf, second number being a page number, and third number being the number of the word on the page)

Etc.

If you have any suggestions, feel free to send them over and I will add them to the list!

My plan is to choose some smaller books based on the prompt though that might not always be possible. We shall see how it goes! The “rules” are pretty flexible. If you don’t fancy sticking to the prompt but still want to get involved then that is absolutely fine or if you want to take part every week, every other week, for just some weeks, or just one week then that is absolutely fine too!

If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments of this post, or mention/message me on twitter or instagram and I will do my best to answer! This is a completely new idea so things may gradually change/develop over time.

Until, then…

I look forward to reading with you all!