We made it! This was a 24-hour period we won’t forget for quite some time. We all feel this could become a tradition we repeat on a regular basis. We managed to make it a real party with music, food and games in addition to reading an assortment of books. We had fun doing it together.
Except for a little bit of soup and a couple of deviled eggs, we ate all the food. Making it ahead of time was the best solution.
The contests and prizes worked well. We had the usual ‘most pages read’, ‘most books read’. The one contest that was the most fun was this: We had a small bucket that held about 15 pieces of paper with various numbers on them. The numbers ranged from 2 up to 298. Periodically a timer would be set. When the timer went off, everyone stopped and at looked at the page number where they were reading. Then a number was pulled from the small bucket. Whoever was reading on a page number closest to the number drawn, won a prize. 
Our prizes included fancy pencils, suckers, bookmarks, gift cards (Barnes & Noble, Borders, and Target) and Godiva chocolates.
What were our final numbers?
- TOTAL Joyfully Retired Team’s pages: 4,291
- Cerrin: 1608 pages
- Q: 1357 pages
- Margot: 495 pages
- Jay: 436 pages
- Mark: 285 pages
- Candice: 110 pages
- Lou: “Read” approximately 35 books
What did we read?
- Death Dealer by Heather Graham
- Dark Magic by Christine Feehan
- Simply Sinful by Carly Phillips
- Simply Scandalous by Carly Phillips
- Hot Property by Carly Phillips
- Under the Boardwalk by Carly Phillips
- Heaven Looks a Lot Like the Mall by Wendy Mass
- Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer
- The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
- The Western Trail by Ralph Compton
- Land of the Post Rock
- Thanksgiving at the Inn by Tim Whitney
- The Christmas Clock by Kat Martin.
- The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
- Mythologies’ by Roland Barthes
- 2666 by Roberto Bolano
Reading has always been a part of our lives but in setting aside this special day we said – “We aren’t going to do anything else today except read. It’s that much fun and it’s that important to us.” We hope it’s a legacy that will last.
We sure hope you had a great Read-A-Thon too. What’s next? Sleep!!! See you on Monday.
You all did so great. I love the idea of a bunch of people in the same house doing it together, and the prizes, and the teams. That would be so fun. Even I might be able to participate under such circumstances! Congratulations on a day well spent!
It sounds really wonderful and I love that you are trying to make this into an event where you’ll all participate. Loved your in-between-reading games! Sleep well.
Sounds like so much fun!!!!!! And yes, do plan on the spring event.
I was so excited to read this final post! Your reading party sounded like such fun. I am wondering if I can do something like this – on a modified scale – for a school fundraiser.
Anyway, 4,300 pages is an AMAZING feat — and the family bonding time was priceless.
I hope you get some good sleep today.
A bunch of people doing it together would be so much fun! I wished you lived near me
It sounds like you had a wonderful family day! I wish we had done something like this when our son was young!
Sounds like you guys had lots of fun and enjoyed reading all about it. Congratulations – you all read an amazing amount.
This was a lot of fun!! I felt more of a cheerleader or pit-crew/support person during the day (which I truly like doing), but once the girls were asleep, it was great fun to sit and read. Tips for those with pre/early- readers: find books with the accompanied tape/CD. Little Lou loved these. She could follow along with the story because it told her when to turn the page! Our library has tons, both in English & Spanish. Also, I made cards for the girls to stamp for each book they completed or for every 25 pages or so. Kids love to keep track and see their progress. Plus, they got prizes for every 5 stamps on their card. It kept them busy. We will be joining again next year! Thanks, mom for the great Saturday.
I love that your whole family got into this!! How great is that??
Thank you for the updates. I read all of them today! Love this idea so much. And Candice (and Grandma) I really miss having someone Lou’s age around. Reading to kids that age is so much fun. I love how you guys included everybody.
Margot, it sounds like you had such fun! I love that you’re planning to make this a family tradition!
I have to say that the day of reading only was so much fun. BUT the last 4 hours were really tough for me. Being alone in my house with just my cats was really difficult. I actualy read standing up for abouit an hour because I kept falling asleep lol.
I even tried reading outside in the cold for about 20 minutes. That didnt work. so I just kept moving about. And having a group would have been better because I would have had the group working together.
Looks like you had a great read-a-thon! Wish I had a few friends around here willing to do it. I will say that Jason did read to me for a bit and he did get up at hour 23 to make sure I made it to the end
It looks like someone had quite a Carly Phillips Fest! And I love the game idea. I’ll have to find a way to use that.
In this day and age when ipods and video games capture the attention of so many people, it is so refreshing to see a family sharing their love of reading and family values. What an awesome tradition.
Tim
I love that you made this a family event. What a wonderful idea! And how lucky that you have family who want to read-a-thon with you. Great job!!
I love love love your approach to this event … and the games you played! Can I come and join your family for the next Read-A-Thon? : )