Hey guys! As most of you will probably know by now, I organised a 24 hour readathon with some friends and fellow bloggers/YouTubers to raise money for the Rays of Sunshine children's charity. I did a 24 hour readathon for charity last year - which you can see here - and after staying how tired it made me and how difficult it was... I decided to do it again. Silly idea, right? But all for a great cause.
Here's how I got on...
00:00 A Change Is Gonna Come ★★★★☆
I decided to start with this one because it has been sat on my bookshelf for months and I've been wanting to read it for so long, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity. It's a collection of short stories and poems so it wasn't a difficult book to start with. It also matched my Rays of Sunshine t-shirt. I really enjoyed this book, especially to stories Marionette Girl and We Who? All of the stories and poems were very thought-provoking and had a meaningful message. I definitely recommend this.
03:04 The Crucible ★★★★☆
I've been wanting to reread this book for a while now. I first read this back in high school and I really enjoyed studying it. I've also wanted to read more plays this year so I can tick that off of the list too. I liked reading this script just as much as I did the first time I read it. This time period fascinates me and the witch trials are so interesting to read about, even if it it pretty terrifying. It was also kind of nice to reread it as an adult and see what else I could get from it that I might not have got when I was in high school.
04:48 Sam & Isla's Last Hurrah ★★☆☆☆
This was probably the book I was most excited to read on my TBR pile. It's short, it's by authors whose work I have previously enjoyed and after reading the synopsis I was incredibly interested in seeing what happened with these characters. I'm almost devastated to write that I didn't like this book. It might be because I had really started to feel tired at this point (I made a coffee straight after finishing this book to wake me up again) but I just didn't enjoy this story and it didn't hold my interest.
07:10 Orbiting Jupiter ★★★★☆
This was another reread for me but I only read this for the first time last year when it was included in the WHSmith Zoella & Friends Book Club. It was an emotional read but I also really enjoyed it. This is a really short book too, with less than 200 pages, so I picked this because I knew I could up my book count in less time. It was good to read this again, I actually think I enjoyed the writing more this time around too. It's such an easy flowing book that I think everyone should read.
08:45 The Hundred and One Dalmatians ★★★★☆
Although this one looks like a long hardback book at first glance, the font inside it is actually pretty big and spaced out so I knew it wasn't going to take much time for me to get through. There are also some beautiful illustrations throughout this book which made it feel extra special. This was also a lovely break after the previous emotional book. This was fun, child-friendly and made me want to watch the animated Disney film again.
11:30 Cruel Heart Broken ★★★★☆
Again, this book has been sat on my bookshelf for so long and I just didn't get around to reading it until now. The readathon really did give me a chance to finally read some books that I have had for way too long. I was sent this book by the publishers after winning a competition so I didn't know too much about it other than it being set in Brighton. This book was brilliant. It covered so much on friendships, family and relationships. It was very hard-hitting at times and there were a lot of twists and turns, but I really enjoyed Emma's writing and will definitely be picking up her other books in the future.
14:43 Your Turn To Die ★★★★☆
I really liked Lying About Last Summer by Sue Wallman, which I read last year, so I really wanted to read her other books. Again, I bought them and then had them sitting amongst other unread books for a while, so I had to include one of the in this readathon. I love Sue's writing, I always find myself getting hooked in and trying to work out what's going on and what is going to happen next. Another great book that kept me wondering and thinking about possible outcomes.
17:02 The Last Piece of My Heart ★★★★★
This book was the lengthiest one on my TBR pile at 400 pages but I was determined to include and complete a longer book as part of the readathon because so many of the books I tend to choose for readathons are quick reads. I still end up reading a similar amount of words and pages but the amount of books is obviously higher with shorter books. Again, I'm sure it comes as no surprise by now, but this is yet another book that I've had on my shelf for so long. I've actually had this one for well over a year as I can remember getting it for my birthday last year. Anyway, I really enjoyed this, it was yet another five-star book for me. I love Paige Toon and I'm now on a mission to read all of her books.
22:34 A Court of Frost and Starlight ★★★★★
The final book that I started, but unfortunately wasn't able to finish, was this novella. It's a favourite of mine, which you will probably already know if you know my reading habits or my favourite books. I try to reread these when I can because I adore this series so much, it's my absolute favourite. I got to page 29 because the font is a lot smaller and I knew I was never going to finish it before midnight so I slowed myself down. I was also feeling incredibly tired and tearful because I was so sleep-deprived, so I didn't push myself too hard at the end here. I still got onto my ninth book and I finished with a favourite, so that was a nice ending. I also went on to finish the rest of this book the following day when I had slept for an extended amount of time!
Don't forget to check out some of my friends' experiences with the 24 hour readathon too:
Emily (readathon vlog)
Kelly (blog post)
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