The Dusty Bookshelf discussion

I was wondering, would anybody be up for a read-a-thon? We pick a weekend that's convenient, set aside all distractions, and just dedicate it to giving those dusty books some much-needed love. :)

Hayley suggested conducting this every month, or every other month, so people that can't make it can always take part in the next one.

For the first one, I was thinking - maybe the third/last week of August? Also, does anybody have suggestions on how you want to do this? Would you prefer doing this on blogs or Goodreads, or is there another platform you prefer that is more convenient?

If the August one falls after Friday 23rd I'd possibly be good for this now that I've thought of it :)

Would it maybe be an idea for a quick pop on to here (or specific date related read-a-thon thread) to let people know when you're starting (due to different time-zones the 'weekends' will fall at different points) and what you're reading? Or if people taking part have twitter too? Then just occasionally pop on to share updates and reply to comments etc?

I dunno, I'm easy with all of this, as long as there's a relaxing weekend of reading I'm good ;D

Let's do that, then? Either the 24th, or the weekend after that? Jimi-carol said she'd need two weeks to finish college, so that's kind of perfect anyway. :)

I'm fine with however you and Jessica want to do this. We'd have to iron out the timezone thing, and have one place where everyone's links are put up, right? I'm not on Twitter, but that seems like a sensible thing to do, actually. And those that have blogs can put up a goals and a wrap-up post, if they feel like?
Starting a date-related thread makes things simple - it'd be a mess if we had to hop from profile to profile, reading updates. :\

Same with me. As long as there's lots of reading and book-talk happening, I'm happy. :)

Damn I'm working every weekend this month :( I think making this a semi regular thing would be a great idea!

Okay, before I head out for the day I think it may be an idea, for organisation's sake, to have a Read-A-Thon section (like we do with the theme reads) if they're going to become regular (which is great, as already shown by Stefani).

I'll create the section then if you'd like Tanya, you can put up the first Read-A-Thon thread with the date that's being gone for?

I love this idea :D

Ooo, have we decided on a date?

Hayley, you can go ahead and create a thread, as well. That's okay. :)

I can't do it for probably a couple of months yet, but I'll join the first one I'm able to. I kind of did that this morning, but had to get up and do something useful eventually :)

Should we make the first date the weekend starting the 24th August? It's a bank holiday weekend over here but I think maybe for those we don't count Bank Holiday Mondays as that's just unfair to others (and gives me time to do my normal weekend duties on the Monday) ;D

Then we can go from there - maybe an end of month thing if they do occur? I really don't know how often they shoudl happen, I've never participated in one before :S

Ok so are we doing the weekend of the 24th with a thread for who is participating and what they will be reading?? Cause I'm so in!

24th is great, count me in. :)

How about the third weekend of every month, or something like that? Shifting them around too much would mean that some of them happen too close to the previous one, right? A slightly flexible end-of-the-month thing sounds good. :)

I like moving it around, because if some people have things going on the same time every month, they will always not be able to do it. Plus, others may get tired of doing it every month.

Although keeping a set weekend makes it easier to remember I have to agree with the fact that doing that would limit it to the same people being able to participate. I think it might even be a good idea to plan a couple a month so that way those who can't join one can join another.

Okay, as this a group and we like everyone to be able to ahev a sday and participate I am going to move this thread to the Read-A-Thon folder.
Then if someone has a date they can manage a r-a-t they can post on here asking if anyone else would like to start one then and then if enough people are able to they can post a new thread for that weekend - does that sound fair to everyone?

I think that's a fab approach Hayley.

Oh, yeah. I didn't think about that. :|

That's a great idea! Spontaneous read-a-thons, I like it. :)