Camp Readaway 2021 Recap

On Sunday, my sweet baby readathon that I created out of thin air to take the place of my usual reading challenge came to a close. It - was - so - fun.

Was it nerdy? Yep. Was I winging it the whole time? Yep. Did I read a bunch of books? Yep. Were there only like 10 people participating? Yep. And it was amazing.

I knew going into it that I wouldn't be able to read as many books as I usually can during a readathon week because I'd be busy...ya know, running the thing. But I didn't do too shabby!

Here's my recap:

BOOKS READ: 6
CHALLENGES COMPLETED: All 7
PAGES READ: 1,397

FAVORITE BOOK OF CAMP READAWAY
Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon

HARDEST BOOK TO GET THROUGH
Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner

LONGEST BOOK
Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner


SHORTEST BOOK
Meet Samantha by Susan S Adler

THIS YEAR'S READING FUEL
It's always coffee and key lime la croix. Little bit-a tea at night.

FAVORITE CHALLENGE
Probably the book that reminds you of your childhood challenge - I read two for this one, and it was really fun to revisit books from years and years ago. I had always kind of wanted to go back and re-read them, but with all the new books that are constantly coming out and the ones I've wanted to read for so long, I probably never would have gotten to them.


FAVORITE PART OF CAMP READAWAY
Getting to know other Bookstagrammers and book lovers on IG, doing the reading sprints, and documenting my reading week on stories.

So the books I ended up getting around to are:

1. Kristy's Great Idea by Anna M Martin
2. Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen
3. Meet Samantha by Susan S Adler
4. Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon
5. Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner
6. Meet Me in Paradise by Libby Hubscher

It was such a fun week! So much so, that Alisha (my co-host) and I have decided to create another readathon for Fall, and to keep our summer Camp Readaway alive and bring her back next year. So, the nerding out continues!

If you care to see how my reading week went, check out my CR 2021! highlight on my Bookstagram.

Happy Weekend, dolls!

My Camp Readaway 2021 TBR

Yay, Camp Readaway starts TODAY!!! So excited.

We've got reading sprints on Instagram today in case you'd like to join us? I'm hosting at 1pm EST, and Alisha is hosting at 8pm EST (7 central). Stop in! :)

Meanwhile...I wanted to share my TBR with you! Things have been so busy and I've been trying to get the bits and pieces of this challenge ready to go for weeks, so I'm just now getting around to posting my stack! First, here's a reminder of the challenges I'm trying to complete:

1. Read a book that reminds you of your childhood
2. Read a book with flowers, a tree, or leaves on the cover
3. Read a book you've owned for more than 2 years
4. Read a book only when you're wearing pajamas
5. Read a book by an author that shares your name or initials
6. Read a book in the great outdoors or with a campy prop
7. Guess how many books you'll read this week & try to beat it

And here's what I chose:

The Babysitter's Club: Kristy's Great Idea

& American Girls Meet Samantha

For challenge #1, I chose two books. I've wanted to re-read these equally as bad, and figured that some short and sweet children's lit would be perfect for a readathon! I read both of these series (though maybe not in their entirety) when I was in grade school, so these definitely remind me of my childhood. I'll probably read Kristy's Great Idea while I wear my pj's for challenge #4.

Instructions for Dancing

& Meet Me in Paradise

For challenge #2, these two books with flowers on their covers are from my summer reading list. I've wanted to get to both of them pretty badly, so I'm excited to tackle them both next week! I know I'm setting a president here by picking two books for the first two challenges, haha - but I swear I'm just extra. Mostly because there are enough overlapping, non-specific challenges that I wanted to make sure I had enough picks to get me through the week!

Keeping the Moon

and possibly...

What to Say Next or
Through to You

Here I go picking even more books for one challenge, haha. For challenge #3 I chose Keeping the Moon, but the other two are my backup books if I end up with extra time when I finish the rest of the challenges. I've owned all of these for more than two years, so they all fit this challenge and it gives me a little flexibility.

Then Came You

For challenge #5, I felt like Jennifer Weiner was an obvious choice for me. I have like four of her books on hand (not sure why I haven't gotten to them?) and this one is the shortest. I normally don't pick books to read based on their length, but a readathon is a different story!

For the last two challenges, I'm not sure which one I'll read outside or with a camping item, yet. But for challenge #7 - my guess is that I'll read 5 books and I hope to read 6. I normally read more than that during a summer readathon, but since I'm running things this year I'm thinking I won't have as much time as normal.

I can't wait to get into this stack! If you're reading with us, share your TBR with me! And for all the other info related to Camp Readaway, visit my camp page here.

Camp Readaway 2021!

For the past three years, I've participated in a July reading challenge and it was one of my favorite weeks of the entire summer. I always said that it felt like going to Summer camp with a bunch of other bookish weirdos, and it was the most fun, nerdy thing I regularly participated in.

Without any sort of announcement, it seems as though my beloved reading challenge has ended.

They had some issues at the end of last year's challenge. Well, honestly, through the entire thing. I think it scared off the hosts, and while I think they needed to reflect and adjust it's really kind of a bummer. (Especially that they haven't said a word in a year and have continued to ignore questions about the challenge's fate?) I still had every intention of spending a week of my Summer reading for most hours of the day and talking books with anyone who would listen. And I for sure will miss the crap out of everyone's reading vlogs.

But, in that challenge's absence, I've birthed a new one! 

Welcome to Camp Readaway!

I presented the idea of hosting a readathon to a friend of mine who is also a bookish nerdy weirdo like yours truly, and she was in. So we've been chatting and planning and really building this thing bit by bit through the chaos of our busy lives (and the 6 kids between us).

It's not the same, and it's a tiny baby infant compared to its predecessor, but we're doing it!

We named our readathon after the "summer camp" feel of a silly, organized, summertime event and well... I've been running with it. Prepare yourself for all the camp comparisons!

Okay so first - the readathon runs from Monday, July 19th through Sunday, July 25th, and here are our reading challenges:

1. Read a book that reminds you of your childhood
2. Read a book with flowers, a tree, or leaves on the cover
3. Read a book you've owned for more than 2 years
4. Read a book only when you're wearing pajamas
5. Read a book by an author that shares your name or initials
6. Read a book in the great outdoors or with a campy prop
7. Guess how many books you'll read this week & try to beat it

I talked about/explained the challenges on my IG stories this week if you're looking for any sort of guidance or interpretation. Head HERE and tap on the Camp Readaway highlight bubble to see that!

While we work through these challenges and read our faces off all week, Alisha and I (my co-counselor...I told you, all the camp lingo) will be hosting reading sprints on our IG stories. It won't be the same as the interactive nature of sprinting on Twitter...but again, we're winging it here, and promise to do our best! Here's our sprint schedules:

 

Unfamiliar with sprints? Just hop on IG with your current book (and a drink and snack if you like) and watch our stories to be guided through the hour with reading motivation, little games and quizzes, and hopefully (hopefully!) some community. Sprints were always my favorite part of the previous reading challenge.

I'll also be collecting page and book counts from our campers so we can update daily with how much we've all worked through. You can find the form for that HERE, though it's also listed on my IG profile so you can find it easily each day if you join us to read.

And - there will be a daily photo challenge themed around both reading and camping that will hopefully allow us to find each other across Instagram and fill the #campreadaway2021 hashtag with nerdy, campy, booky images to enjoy.

SO - wanna join us? We'd love to have you!

Watch my Instagram this week for my reading TBR, camp "registration" and all the fun stuff leading up to Day 1. Hope you can make it!!