February Read-a-thon Wrapups
February was the shortest, longest month ever! Not only were there multiple read-a-thons happening simultaneously, the book community was on fire.
Nonetheless, as any good introvert I found a good book and a place to read because that's my peace. As I saw all the announcement videos I had to make decisions on how I could participate in as many of the read-a-thons as possible. Let's just say I didn't do as well as I thought I would, but I didn't do horribly.
Blackathon all of February hosted by @francinasimone, @novellush, and @bowtiesbooks had several challenges:
CHALLENGES:
1. FEEL THE LOVE Read a book (any genre) featuring romance between two black people (or one black person a person of color)
WAKANDA FOREVER Read a graphic novel/comic w/ a black or African MC
3. HEAR US ANY work by a black/african author
4. FEEL THE BEAT Spoken word: listen to these 4 poems. share your favorite on social media/with a friend. Discuss what it means to u & why it matters.
5. MORE THAN A COLOR. We house complexity within us. Read a book starring an intersectional black character (black & LGBT, black & neurodivergent, black & disabled, etc).
6. IN THIS TOGETHER✊? Read the group book, Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
FeministLitFebruary all of February hosted by @ItsJaneLindsey
CHALLENGES:
1) Read a book of feminist fiction.
2) Read a book of feminist nonfiction.
3) Read an #ownvoices book
4) Read a book written by a black woman, or someone who is black and non-binary/gender fluid.
5) Feminist freebie - engage with a form of media that is feminist (books, movies, TV shows, podcasts, music, etc!).
Contemporary-athon February 11-17 hosted by @chelseadolling, @according2jewls, @myreadingisodd, and @meltotheany
CHALLENGES:
1. Read the most recent contemporary book you purchased/acquired
2. Read book with blurple (blue or purple lol) on the cover
3. Read a diverse contemporary (keeping in mind that it is Black History Month!)
4. Read a dark/emotional/hard-hitting contemporary
5. Read a contemporary that you meant to read in 2018 but didn’t
6. Read a contemporary in a non-traditional format
7. Read a contemporary with some sort of picture on the spine
Read Soul Lit @browngirlreading all month long couldn't find the specifics listed.
What I actually read?
As I mentioned, I tried to be as strategic as possible in order to participate in as many read-athons. If there were opportunities to double up books for challenges I took that route. I'm not one who can typically read 10 books in a month, so multiple books even spread out over the month would be a feat. So, I relied on my primary reading goal of one book a weekend. That's my guide when I can't decide. So how did I do?
Stats: I DNF'd one book, didn't finish another by the end of the month, and completely didn't have a chance to get started on one. However, I read a grand total of 8 books (2 of which were graphic novels, so 6 books and 2 graphic novels). I would say, I had a great reading month. And, while I didn't get to all the challenges or read as much as I wanted to, I'm happy I supported content creators in the book community.
