1) Choose your dates. Choose any 5 consecutive days between August 2015 and August 2016 for your BYORAT that works for your schedule. This inaugural year I'm choosing Aug 25-28. Of course, with the nature of this -thon, you could do it multiple times during the year and have different challenges each time.
2) Choose your reading challenges. These are certainly not mandatory, but they make BYORAT more interesting. Choose up to 5, based on your reading habits. You can choose your favorites or, as I'm going to do, put them all in a hat and randomly choose 5.
- Read an entire book without putting it down
- Read a book that's been on your TBR for, like, forever
- Read a banned book (here's a list or two from the ALA)
- Read a book who's cover is your least favorite color
- Read a book with 400+ pages
- Read a book with your name on the cover (either actually there, like the author name, or made up from letters in the title and author's name)
- Read 5 books during the -thon
- Read a full trilogy or series
- Read a book you most recently acquired
- Read a book that everyone has read and talks about, but you haven't just read yet
- Socialize (aka make a video with another person: family, friend, whoever)
- The topic of this video is up to you, as long as it's bookish. Play a game, take a challenge, gush about a mutually loved book, or for the brave, debate your bookish differences (Peeta vs. Gale, anyone?). Whatever.
- Bookish MASH
- Remember that game MASH you played in junior high where you and JTT ended up with 8 kids living in a shack paid for by your job as a secret agent? Well throw some bookish facts in there to make your fictional life even better!
- Sequel Synopsis
- Share what you think should happen in the sequel of a book that doesn't actually have a sequel.
- Book Art
- Take those books off your shelf and make them into something pretty! Stack them to make a castle, lay them out in the shape of a puppy, build a book flower...Use your imagination to add a twist to the classic book tower.
- Cover Redesign
- That book with the cover that you HATE? Here's your chance to fix it.
- Fictional Character Interview
- Get creative and ask a character what you've always wanted to know. Why was Snape so horrible to Harry? Why can't America make up her mind in the Selection? Ask those tough questions and let us all know the answers.
- Foreign Review
- Give us a review of a book you read this week with an accent. I don't care if you can't do a recognizable accent to save your life (that's me, by the way), make something up. That will make it even better.
- Travel Advisor
- Give us a commercial for your favorite fictional destination letting travelers know why they should come there. Should I go to Mordor? How do I get there? What's the weather like in Forks this time of year?
- Love an Author
- This one might be my favorite. You're going to take a moment to really thank one of your favorite authors. Send them a nice email, or even an old school letter (bonus points!). Take the time to do something a little more than a nice tweet.
- Take it Outside!
- Film your update outside in the fresh air. Bonus points for actually reading outside, too.
4) Get started! Now that you've got your dates and challenges, get to it! Let me know when and where you're participating so I can follow along. Use the hashtag #BYORAT across all social media to find others building their own read-a-thons. I'm adding all this info to a tab at the top of my blog for easy reference. We've also got a GoodReads group started here!
I'm so excited about this and hope you'll join me in building your own read-a-thon. I think it's going to be a lot of fun!
LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'm super excited about it!
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