First Annual Do Nothing But Read Day

http://donothingbutreadday.blogspot.com/2009/12/introducing-first-ever-do-nothin...

Starts December 20th.

Sounds like I've a date with my armchair and my To Read stack on the 20th, then.

Yeah...Sunday's a pretty busy day for me. But aside from church and laundry, and my mom's choir's concert that day, and doing a crossword with my mom (because we always do) - sure, I can read all day.

I do it every once in a while. Actually, the hard part will be not spending half the day on the computer instead of reading!

I like this idea! My mother always visits on Sunday, so I shall tell her to bring books... Cat has been informed that her presence will be required.

Such a great idea. I may be able to get away with reading for half of the day but Sunday dinner takes most of the morning and I would imagine that my family will be caroling that evening.

I actually plan to take the 21st off...and I'll use any excuse to read all day.

*sigh* Wish I could. I work Sundays.

I do one of these every year, but I call it Home Sick With The Flu Day. :)

Could we make this an official LibraryThing event? How could we do that?

Maybe people could post what they're reading that day? On a dedicated thread?

Of course, there is that little problem that once I'm on LT I tend to be reading Talk instead of a book ...

There is already the 24-hour Readathon, which happens twice a year. It would be
pretty cool if LibraryThing got involved with that, Sonya!

http://24hourreadathon.com/

Why no sleepy dogs?

Dogs will wake up and be wanting walks. I suppose you could listen to an audio book while walking them.

Yeah, I've done the 24 hour read-a-thon twice now. I'd love to see LT involved.

I'm in!

I have no plausible excuse for not reading 24x7 anyway, but rarely put in more than a couple hours a week. My bad. I'm going to make an exception - No LT that day. (Sorry Tim...)

HA! So doing either Do Nothing but Read Day or 24-hour Readathon means no LibraryThing! That's OK.

So, we could definitely do dedicated threads, perhaps one for listing what you're planning on reading and discussing technique (book format, favorite reading spot, appropriate clothing), and a second once it's over, to talk about it.

If we all tagged the book(s) we'd be reading for that day with something unique, we could show a special page listing members who were participating and what they were reading. Fun stats could come out of that.

What else?

Also, we'll DEFINITELY need to do something for the 24-hour Readathon! I'm noting it, so we can start planning before April 10.

Sounds like a great idea. But how do I convince my husband that this is different from what I normally do all day?

LOL @ #18

>18 DaynaRT: Ditto for me. My family already accuses me of doing nothing but reading (I suppose the dishes get done, food gets made and the toilet cleans itself according to them).

18>That reminds me of a conversation with my husband when he came home from work the other day....

Him: "So, what did you guys do today?"

Me: "Well, got the girls up (they are 2yrs old and 4 months old), gave them both a bath, They got breakfast, we played, had a snack, played some more, they went down for a nap, I straightened up a bit, did some laundry, read a book, then got them up, had another snack, and then they played in the kitchen while I made dinner" (not to mention the multiple diaper changes and breastfeeding that occurred all day)

Him: "Must be nice to stay home and read all day."

Me: **sigh**

I am busy on Dec 20 but will be staying in downtown Chicago on Dec 19 with not much to do so I will be reading by the tree at the hotel on 12/19 instead.

Yeah, I'm busy on the 20th too, though I will sneak in a little reading, probably from A Thousand Miles Up the Nile. After Christmas I'll give myself a whole day to read. :-)

See, if I figure the day is meant for those of us who don't spend enough time reading. :P But as I think on it, I figure my kid brother will be home from university by then and our sister will also be home, and it might be nice to make a family event out of it - we can do some baking the day before and have some fancy coffees and teas and chocolate ready for drinking, and we can banish football to the converted garage. It'll be a nice, quiet, stay-at-home day for enjoying each others' company, since we'll either be crazy busy or in different places for the actual holidays this month.

>24 keristars: The picture you paint sounds fantastic. Perhaps we can work on a kit for the day – fancy tea, firewood, a bookmark for when you get up to make more tea...

Sonya-
The 24 hour read-a-thon has lots of good ideas on how to track your reading. But, since the "Do Nothing But Read Day" is new, I thought I would help support it. I guess reading on LT counts as reading?!

I'm in!

That's the first Sunday with no parties or plans, I can definitely settle into my recliner with my "fireplace DVD" running and read, read, read!

I was planning to anyway because I need to finish my 999X2 challenge and have 9 books to go.

>27 cyderry: yeah, i need to get some done for my 999 challenge, but it's still my first one and i've got 20 books to go......

and i had such high hopes!

I really want to do this, but it's the first day off I'll have after a monster week, so it may end up being "Do nothing but sleep day!"

I am soooooo IN!! I've really been slacking on my reading lately.... Only averaged one book a week this past two months. Bad Heather!

*looks at bookshelf full of short YA books* I have a feeling this is going to be FUN!

Sonya, a LT involved all day read would be great. Count me in!

The only days I can actually read all day are days when I'm sick. Not too sick to read but sick enough to be in bed. This doesn't happen very often - fortunate that I don't get really sick very often, but unfortunate for getting lots of reading done.

I'm in! Except it will be a sleepy dog, not a cat. December 20, picture me, pj's, dog, cup of coffee and books. Ahh, life is good.

I love the idea of a LT Read-All-Day-A-Thon, that sounds like perfect for the likes of us :-)

I think I'll need to leave my dog out of this. Otherwise I'll have a "clean up the torn-up books" day instead.

I'd love to join in this (sleepy dog at the ready) but it's a bit close to Xmas to take a whole day out. My 'do nothing but read' days tend to be in the middle of summer.

that's the whole point Booksloth. we're supposed to take that day to stop and calm down. the holidays get so hectic, sometimes we all need to be reminded to stop and read a book.

Great idea, but if I sat and read all day that close to Christmas, who else would get stuff ready?

>35 Booksloth: If I understood the blogpost right, the fact that it's the middle of the holiday season is part of the reason the 20th was chosen. It's meant to be a day to chuck the hectic, stressful stuff to the side and relax.

Of course, if you can't spare that time, then you can't, but maybe you could arrange a few cozy hours or something (and not just because it's Do Nothing But Read Day) :)

Oh don't worry - there hasn't been a day invented yet that I can't find some time to read! I should have read the OP proprely, of course, but I don't think I'll ever be organised enough to actually plan a free day at this time of year.

Was there a decision on tagging our books? It would be interesting to see what everybody's reading!

>40 VictoriaPL: an acronym would be easy – DNBRD2009

Any other suggestions on the tag?

I'm going to blog about it in the next day or two, and will definitely want to mention the tag we use, as well as this thread.

> 41

I like your suggestion, particularly as it implies that there will be a DNBRD2010 - which I fervently hope will be the case.

DNBRD2009 works for me, as long as i can manage not to mistype it...

I had a day of leisure planned for Saturday, with nothing planned except reading on that day.

Sadly, real life has a way of interfering and now I will be at my dearest friend's father's funeral on Saturday, instead.

>44 lindapanzo: Some things are more important than reading all the time. Supporting dear friends is a good one.

because of the talk of Saturday, just wanted to point out that the 20th is this Sunday...

>41 sonyagreen: DNBRD2009 works for me too.

#46, yes, but I knew my Sunday is quite busy so I was planning for Saturday.

My read whose father died told me she is looking forward to doing normal things again, like reading and going out to lunch so I plan to meet her for lunch, after putting together a package of books she might like.

Unfortunately, my last (and most major-relevant) final of the semester is on December 21, so unless physics exams count as books I will be unable to participate. (I'm actually an undergrad at UW-Madison, where the inventor is in library school, and the idea is being advocated to the entire student body, that the magical final-free day in the middle of finals week is not for studying, but in fact for reading. Because this is a logical plan.)

whoever thought of this does not have children-dream on if you do.

>50 silverbooks:
I've got one, and he'll be joining me.

Send the kids to a friend's house!

I need to start making my pile. What books do I want to read on Sunday? It's getting closer! I think I'll do one of each series I'm working on, and try to spread out genres (instead of reading all YA animal-related books, like usual).

Anyone else have their book-pile planned yet?

I think I shall attack the south face of Mt Tbr. I shall carry an EPIRB and avalanche cords. Send brandy carrying kitties if required.

I think this is such a fantastic idea that I am going to have a partial DNBRD today. There are a few things I must do, but I will split up my day with several reading sessions and catch up with several books I need to finish and review so I can go into the New Year an LT virgin. You know what I mean, so I can start my 50 book challenge with no hanger-ons? And all my ER books will be reviewed? I can't wait to get started...

#54 I think this is such a fantastic idea that I am going to have a partial DNBRD today.

DANBRD?

What a great idea. The main issue will be keeping "Doing Nothing but Reading" from turning into "Doing Nothing but Napping with short periods of Reading".

56: So true! So, so true.

I think it shall be "Do Almost Nothing But Read" day unless I can get a lot more than usual accomplished on Saturday, but I think that's a faint hope.

I have two ER books waiting that I could start that day, or I may pull a bunch of Christmas-themed favourites off the shelf and re-read those. Or combination. Decisions, decisions...

Excellent idea! Is it bad that I intend to enter fully and completely into the spirit of the day? Barring unforeseen interruptions (and they will tend to occur won't they), I have no problem with staying in and reading alllllll day Sunday. People should do this more often IMHO.

I have 33 books from the library and more are on the way.

I MIGHT have enough to read. We'll see...

I just got a reminder of why I don't "talk books" with my parents. I was so excited while picking out my books for Sunday that I tried to explain to my parents about this whole thing. Their response: "Isn't that what you do all the time anyways?"

This, despite the fact that I haven't sat down and read for more then 20 minutes at a time in *months*.

*rolls eyes* Parents!

So when will the official LT thread start?

According to the blog post, the thread we're on seems to be the official LT thread.

So how do I look at all books tagged with DNBRD2009. I did a search but it only gave me who has tagged and the most current. I want to see ALL books tagged with it.

Oh, I so very wish I had my weekends still! I work in our bookshop all weekend - busy tourist town, see - and I DO read there behind the counter, but it's just not the same as a 'PJs/popcorn/mugs of tea/duvet' kinda reading day like I used to love!

Tell you what, I'll set aside an honorary Do Nothing But Read Day while I'm off over Christmas...

64: You are bringing up an issue I've had with the individual tag pages forever. I know of no simple way to see ALL books tagged with a certain tag. I'm not sure there even is a way, simple or not.

*is reminded to go tag* I finally picked out my books. Most are YA, but there are different series/topics.

Elliep. That sounds like a plan. I guess it would be wonderful to recognize the day in any way that you can. It sounds to me like a day from heaven

A horrible head cold, 20" of snow, temps below zero...COUNT ME IN!!! I actually do this often but love the idea of it being a group thing. I've selected five books to work on. My "day" will begin at noon on Saturday and go til dinner time on Sunday.

An idea for another time:

Sonya, I know I'd never be able to read all day, but sometime could we have a 24-hour international readathon? We could all sign up for 1/2 hour slots and post the title/author of the book we intend to read. If I only had to commit to 30 minutes on one particular day, I could do it!

Once, when I was manager of a website, our members did a 24 hour chat. It was great fun. Since we don't have a chat room here on LT, perhaps we could get on a thread and talk about what we are going to read and, after doing our 30 minute reading slot, come back and talk about what we read.

LT could do a 24-hour downtime called Do Nothing & Force People to Read Day.

>70 ExVivre:

LOL!

ah, I thought it was on Saturday... I think I'll read as much of The Diamond Age as I can... I'm going to cheat a bit since the family will most likely want to play Monopoly at some point...

Oooh, it's serendipity that I found out about this just in the nick of time! I had been planning on reading a December Dozen anyway and I've only got four down. The plan is to read short books from here on in, and I will be indulging tomorrow. I am hoping I can snag a copy of Wally Lamb's Wishin' and Hopin' from the Express shelf at a branch of the public library. It seems so perfectly appropriate for the afternoon part of the occasion. I will find other likely candidates tonight -- Books that are short, easy to get into and pleasurable to read. What fun, what fun!

I got all my chores done tonight, nothing at all to do tomorrow except read! .... Well, and feed myself and the puppy, but yeah. Read!

I've bought all my Christmas presents and they're all wrapped so I am mostly reading today and tomorrow. About 3/4 of the way through a cozy mystery.

It's nice to just kick back and read.

I'm starting in about another 25 minutes - midnight, local time. Pinch me!

I started early! I've reading/dozing all night - my favourite way to read. And its been snowing here (rare before January in the UK) and I'm all cozy at home while everyone else slithers about in the cold, panicking about Friday... Ha!

I actually finished my main DNBR book on Friday, so have moved on to Blood Lure which is the next on my list by Nevada Barr. This is a great series, about different National Parks in the USA, and allows me to feel as if I have been exercising hard even though I haven't.

So far, the only action I have taken that is not reading has been to switch on the computer to come here. My nice lodger fed the cat earlier, and when he heard me getting up, put on the coffee too.

Back to bed now...

Reading Small Favor by Jim Butcher

Finishing up Invented Knowledge: False History, Fake Science and Pseudo-religions by Ronald H. Fritze.

Currently reading Nothin' but Good Times Ahead by Molly Ivins.

Reading Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell

As predicted, I didn't have time to join in but hope you're all having a wonderful day - preferably beside a big log fire and with snow in the garden.

Well, the 8-12 inches of snow we got has ensured that I won't be able to celebrate Do Nothing But Read Day. I did get a good bit of Halfway to the Grave read this morning while I was waiting for the snow to lighten up. Just came in from shoveling out my car. Now I have to wait for the plow to come by to plow my parking spot. After that it will be back into my jammies to read some more. Anyone else only able to read in bed?

Hmmm . . . maybe I can read a graphic novel on the couch while I'm waiting.

I am reading Soulless by Gail Carriger. Yay for DNBR 2009!!!

The snow has given me all the more reason for staying in with a good book. I'm also taking the idea of gathering some shorter books for another marathon reading day. I am in the middle of several lengthy books now so I can't stop them but in anticipation and preparation I will gather some short stories or smaller books for another day of reading. Hope everybody is enjoying their day. My book is "The Tenderness of Wolves" very appropriate considering the weather, and the fact the book takes place in Canada. I'm feeling the cold but enjoying the fire!MB

Reading Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold

86> one of my favourite books!

Sadly, DNBRD for me has turned into DALOTBR (do a lot of things besides reading) although I do hope that there will be more reading involved at some point. So far have read the newspaper.

Tardis, I am also celebrating DALOFTBRD, but I've gotten some reading in (The Eye of Love by Margery Sharp) and hope to do more reading later on in between child and ailing parent activities.

Just as I feared, today turned into a "sleep most of the day, reading in between naps" day. *sigh*

I re-read one of my favorite Sweet Valley Kids books, The Twins go to The Hospital, and I'm now in the middle of a collection of Nancy Drew ghost stories.

#85-I too am having to take a raincheck on DNBRD but i have a stack of books @ the ready. Maybe next Sunday will work for me!
#87-I have also read the newspaper!
8^)

Sweet Valley Kids! That is awesome.

I'm working my way through Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. There have also been naps, however.

So far, I've finished three books that I had previously begun:
Keeping House: A Novel in Recipes, by Clara Sereni (next project: copying and trying some of those recipes!)
The little guide to vintage shopping : insider tips, helpful hints, hip shops, by Melody Fortier
J.M.W. Turner, by Peter Ackroyd

I started and finished:
The dot and the line: a romance in lower mathematics, by Norton Juster (which takes about five minutes to read!)
D.V., by Diana Vreeland

I am in the midst of The classic ten : the true story of the little black dress and nine other fashion favorites, by Nancy MacDonell Smith

You may notice a theme here, and you'd be right!

I've been decorating the Christmas tree, too; every time I go to the kitchen, I pass it and stick another ornament or two on it!

I've just taken a break to fix dinner and pop in to see what's up here.

Reading Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson

Had to cook and clean, then napped after lunch ( too much alcohol with the midday meal). Anyway was still able to finish Death and the Dancing Footman by Ngaio Marsh this afternoon. Very lovely rainy weather we had, which made for cosy reading in bed.

rutabaga

I finished Severance Package, 20th Century Ghosts, Crow Lake and The 10th Kingdom. I know there were at least three naps. The other half took such good care of me. I feel very spoiled.

Add to the above: Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, by Alison Bechdel

Sadly, DNBRD for me has turned into DALOTBR (do a lot of things besides reading)

yeah, DNBRD turned into DNBHCAFFD (do nothing but herd cattle and fix fences day) for me. a lovely giant tree decided to take out a large portion of one of my fences and the cows went walkabout... at least it didn't rain, too.

i'm christening Tuesday my own private DNBRD, cows and fences be damned!

I'm working my way through Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver.

that's what i'm currently reading, too! it's quite good and really getting my in the mood for spring planting. how much longer til March again?

99: I think I want your life. Being distracted by cows and fences sounds a million times more interesting then mine.

Heather19, where do you live and are you legally allowed to work in the United States? ;)

i agree, it's pretty idealic when your day of reading is interrupted by the call of your livestock. it is less idealic when the cops wake you up at 4 am to inform you that your cows are blocking the road and you have 1 hour to remedy that problem.

do you know just how hard it is to round up cows in the dark? let's just say, the front end of my farm truck appears to be a very nice target for angry bulls...

Well, I had the best of intentions, but life did get in the way a bit. Still I managed to finish An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon and then go on to read Coventry by Helen Humphreys, 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff, and finish off tonight with some Christmas short stories from A Treasury of Old Fashioned Christmas Stories.

What a lovely day :-)

Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhh! Fourteen hours of solid reading! I stopped only for meals and a shower. Being the pathetically slow reader that I am, I spent the entire time reading The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown, and finished it perhaps fifteen minutes ago. What a wonderful new pre-holiday tradition!

I have just emerged myself. The main book I read all day was a borrowed book so it won't show up in my catalog (bah). But I also finished a book I'd had half-finished since the semester got crazy, and read a novella also.

All in all, a success!

Recon,
Add the book in a collection called: Read but unowned
or something like that.

I've got a few collections like that -- one for books that come from my public library, another for books that friends give me to read.

>69 SqueakyChu: That's effing brilliant. I'm aboard. Starting a new thread here:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/79785

>101 leahbird: I'm an Iowa farmgirl. I've learned (many years ago) that the worst is finding Angus (black) cows at night – unless it's snowed. Oh, farmlogic.

I ended up spending Saturday with a friend in Labor and Delivery (turns out it was false labor), so like many others, Sunday was a catch-up day as well as a reading day. I really wanted to start Snow Angels, which simply did not happen. I read the middle 30% of Let the Great World Spin. Since I'm interviewing the author for the January State of the Thing, I really need to finish it!

That was fun... Though the day was interrupted by snow removal, and a nap!

Didn't read the books I was planning on, instead started on The Thirty Years War: Europe's Tragedy which the UPS man was nice enough to leave at my front door the other day.

Grew up next to a dairy farm, very familiar with cows and fences!

It was DABRD for me - do anything but read. I did manage to read (most of) the paper. Did laundry, fixed computers, went to a concert, cross-stitched (at the concert), shopped online, did a crossword (and a crypto and an acrostic), baked - didn't touch a single book (well, aside from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day, but I was only looking at two recipes in it. I read it the other day.

>108 jjmcgaffey: How do you cross-stitch at a concert?

I read a total of 20 pages yesterday... a flu makes reading a big hard...

It's relatively large - 14-ct - though on dark blue cloth. The concert was in a church and they didn't turn any lights off (though it wasn't very bright). It worked, but it was a bit of a strain. Knitting's better, I don't have to look at that, but I didn't have a knitting project ready to go.

OK... On a 14ct it might work but still... depends on the project of course but I seem to always carrying a tone of schemas with me....:)

Nooooo! Argh, discovered this thread too late. And Sunday would have been possible too!

Please can we have it again sometime? I wanna play!

> 112

I think the originator is planning to make it an annual event.

>105 WholeHouseLibrary: WHL,
I'm too lazy to make collections, but when you call me Recon it makes me think of "retcon" which is awesome! (-:,

Now I feel all sci-fi powerful.

Bleh, my day was a total bust. My siblings bailed out on a quiet day in to do heaven knows what (I think one was apartment hunting and the other was ... visiting our other sister an hour away, maybe?), and I spent all day Saturday working on a painting (a Giftmas present) and thus my eyes were too tired Sunday to do much reading at all. Well, no, I did read some manga last night before bed, which then kept me up way too late because it was more engrossing than I'd expected and I couldn't bear to put it down until I found out what happened next...and next...and next... and then it was three am and I'd finished all five volumes.

I did make an effort to read one of my SantaThing books (Stardust), but kept falling asleep over it (I didn't get past the first page, mind, and then I had a weird dream thanks to the John Donne poem in the epigraph - I've read and enjoyed the book before, though, so it's not that it was too boring to keep my attention or anything). Alas.

Maybe I'll try again for my own personal DNBRD09 next weekend.

111> It's actually a Dimensions (I think) kit - I made my own thread-holder (by cutting a strip from a Cheerios box and punching holes). But it's big enough that I was working in one color for the whole hour and a half. It also helped that I'm working a frame that's reflected around the sides, and I'd already finished one quarter - so although I had a (copied, portion of the) chart with me, mostly I looked at the previous stitches to see what I needed to stitch next.

This should be the sunday AFTER xmas I was too busy cleaning my house for all the company I'm getting .I didn't have time to sit down and read.Although I was listening to Outlander by, Diana Gabaldon on audio while I was cleaning.Does that count?

I'm with you keristarts I am having a DNBRD09 next sunday I want to dig into my santathing books~

I didn't see this until after the event, but I expect my wife would have said this is what I do all the time anyway "you're reading your life away", she sometimes says. ;)

I had the opportunity this Sunday, as it had snowed the night before and I had nowhere to go. Sadly I also had the flu, which rendered me fuzzy. I read a little bit, but it was mostly Do Nothing But Hack in Front of the TV Day for me.

>112 joannasephine: joannasephine - Don't panic, I missed it too (though for work, not for want of trying!), so I think I'm going to try to do it on Christmas Eve, my first day off! Me and my pyjamas have a date with a good chunk of reading (provided I've finished wrapping Christmas presents, obviously)...

P.S. I'm so glad that I'm not the only one who needs to keep having little naps in a marathon read! When I was at uni trying to finish some of my Victorian Lit books I had to keep cat napping or I'd never have made it through, my eyes were so tired!