(photo from @25infive instagram)

Hello fellow readers,

I wanted to write a blog post explaining the readathon that @25infive hosted over the weekend, which they call #8intwo. The idea is that in the two days, you read for 8 hours. But the thing I love about these readathons is that you do not have to read a full 8 hours! You just read as much as you can and you then feel a sense of community with fellow readers who are also participating in the readathon. The account also hosts their other readathon, #25infive, which is based off their name. This is where you read for 25 hours in 5 days, and this will be coming up later this month so be sure to check it out!

Ok so I thought for this post I would describe my experience with the readathon this past weekend. I was able to read over 8 hours, but this was only because I was on Spring Break that week so I had a ton of free time! Which is definitely helpful! The only time I have been able to actually complete the challenges in these readathons is if I am on break from work, because as many of you know, when you are working it is almost impossible to read for that long! Especially as when you come home you are probably too tired to read for 4-5 hours straight!

This time, I was able to read the following:

• finished up Educated by Tara Westover
• read Did I Mention I Love you by Estelle Maskame
• read Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

So definitely a successful readathon!

Now here are some tips on how to get the most out of your readathon:

1. Time yourself! It is amazing how much more you can read when you are timing yourself and you feel the exhilaration of the clock running!
2. Stay hydrated! And I don’t just mean water (which of course is very important) but I mean also tons of coffee or tea, juice, sparkling water if you are feeling bubbly! Keep drinks nearby!                               
3. Going off of point two, keep snacks handy! My personal favourite is fruit, such as raspberries or strawberries! And when you are feeling like some junk food, potato chips and fuzzy peach candy are my favourite reading snacks!
4. Change reading locations so you feel like you aren’t just stuck in one place all day! I like to read in bed in the morning, move to my reading chair later on in the morning, read at the table, and then I was luckily enough to read outside as the sun was shining bright this past weekend!
5. Choose books that you are going to want to read from start to finish, OR, read multiple books at the same time to keep your reading fresh!

Happy reading!