#84 🛩 A jet engine for our reader brains
Read-a-thon '25 Recap!
The 2025 Sisterly Summer Read-a-thon became an electric jolt I hadn’t anticipated.
Fun and friendly? Yes. Checking some books off our TBRs? Yes. But the much-needed jolt to our reading brains? Unexpected. As it turns out, I’m not the only one whose 2025 reading has been a little “under the weather,” so to speak. And who can blame us with quite literally the entire world on fire.
Between my wedding, honeymoon, and recent move (see pic below!) my reading has definitely felt slow and sluggish. My concentration is low, I’m too tired or busy to read the way I like to. And from our conversations during the THON I found several other readers felt the same.
The best part of this year’s THON was hearing how it helped to revive and jumpstart other readers’ reading vibes. That’s exactly how we want the THON to function! Setting aside time to be still and engage in a hobby is so important, it’s literally an act of self-care, hopefully without the eye roll that using the term “self-care” can sometimes induce.
It should be no surprise that taking time to do something you love with other people would give you a boost, but it does feel surprising! I think in years past, when my reading year was going better, the THON just felt like a fun way to hang out with friends. Yet this year, I wasn’t the only reader who needed the revitalization it offered.
I encourage RONAREADers who couldn’t make it to the THON this year but resonate with the need for a little jolt to set aside time for a little solo read-a-thon. Maybe you don’t need to do 24 hours, but set aside a full day or afternoon for reading and stick to it. Half the battle is choosing the day, since it’s so easy to assume you don’t have time for a full day of sitting still. But you do! So pick one and do it and let that day of stillness and reading fill you up and do what reading is supposed to do: heal us a little.
Here’s how this year’s THON shook out…
Who? 7 people over five states.
When? Each of us read for an average of around 15 hours, give or take. When you consider sleep, that’s pretty solid.
How many pages? Approximately 3,093 pages! That’s more than last year!
The books we read: See below! Books with a * were finished during the read-a-thon.
Fun fact: Bookshop.org’s “Anti-Prime Day” means no shipping on all purchases this week. See their site for details.
Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith*
The Witches of El Paso by Luis Jaramillo
Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten*
When the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi*
Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin*
The Northern by Jacob McArthur Mooney
What Moves the Dead by T Kingfisher*
The Passion by Jeanette Winterson
The Rules Do Not Apply by Ariel Levy*
We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter*
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid*
Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune*
Such a Quiet Place by Megan Miranda*
Washington Black by Esi Edugyan*
2 audiobooks, 1 memoir, the rest hardcopy novels! And as always, lots of library books.
…Reflecting on strategy
Since the read-a-thon OGs shared their strategies beforehand, I’ve summarized our thoughts on how each strategy worked and how we felt during the THON:
Kelly: Kelly really enjoyed the Ina memoir, and in our debrief, all three of us reflected on how authentic and genuine Ina’s voice was despite some public criticism that she’s too much of a 1%er. COFFEE was a book club pick Kelly read during the THON and enjoyed that one also. She felt less burnt out at the end of this year’s THON, which likely had to do with how much she enjoyed both books and the pacing she achieved with shorter reads. Finishing both books during the THON is a strong endorsement for strategy and fun, IMHO.
Alison: Alison switched up her reading order a bit to keep up with the pacing, but she otherwise enjoyed her reads, too. Similarly to the rest of us, reading shorter books that were all very different helped keep things feeling fresh and moving forward. During our debrief, we all agreed that we struggle with audiobooks (more on my experience below) and felt rejuvenated by the THON. Though choosing shorter reads may have been unintentional at first, it felt like a reflection of our collective reading moods. Alison enjoyed Ariel Levy’s memoir and felt like T Kingfisher’s HOUSE OF USHER reimaginging had surprisingly funny dialogue. Despite rave reviews from fellow readers, she wasn’t a big fan of the Jeanette Winterson novel, but because it was a shorter read didn’t feel bogged down by it.
Me (Wynne): I’d forgotten that STRANGERS was on my THON list last year, I had pivoted to avoid getting too wrapped up in page count. It took me another year, but I finally read it! This was my first THON where I read exactly what I predicted, and my second THON reading an audiobook. I can firmly say audiobooks just aren’t my preferred form of reading. I can read so much faster than I can listen, and I don’t like multitasking when I read. It sort of defeats the point of reading for me. I’ve been working from home since the pandemic, and I think if I commuted again, I would love listening to audiobooks. Listening to a book on the subway (where I last commuted!) sounds amazing, but as far as being home listening to an audiobook, I think I’m good, lol. That being said, I loved how different both books I read were! That helped me keep momentum and feel refreshed on both days. I didn’t feel as burned out at the end of the THON as I did last year. Maybe because I didn’t read as much? IDK…
..the other ultimate relaxation
Other than reading, I think there’s truly nothing more relaxing than watching a cooking show. Since all three of us sisters have now read (and loved!) Ina Garten’s memoir, I recommend a rewatch of all her series. They’re streaming on HBO Max and Discovery (Food Network) and they’re the absolute best. I love walking on my walking pad and watching an episode of Ina while Fez tries to resist biting the pad.
But to get a taste of Ina’s memoir and how conversational and honest she can be, here she is on 60 Minutes during the memoir’s promotional tour. Having just shat on audiobooks, I’m wondering now if this would’ve been a great audiobook listen…
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Very inspiring. I used to have a small book of photos by the photographer Andre Kertesz called On Reading. Over many years he took photos simply of people reading in varying situations and places. They were unaware he was taking their picture. It’s a very human thing to read and he celebrated this in his photos and so does your read-a-thon.