Isn't it Time for a Genealogy Readathon?

Young Women's Christian Association Reading Room, 1894, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Courtesy Library and Archives Canada, . More about this YWCA building on Urbsite: Forgotten Ottawa, The YWCA Building.

Some days, nowadays, all I can think about is curling up with a new-to-me book or an old favourite and a cup of tea. Many will realize I've always read a lot, but this is not the same. Since mid-March, I've participated in a few 'readathons' and even when my time was tight, I've enjoyed every one. 

What is a READATHON? (Sometimes a read-a-thon, or a read-athon.)

It's not a book club. 

According to Lexico on-line, a readathon is "A protracted period of reading" and the word dates from the USA in the 1930s. I wonder if it's anything to do with 'the depression'? Hope not like the dance-till-you-fall-down marathons! 

Each Readathon is a little different, but basically someone picks a time period to read - maybe 24 hours or even a week, invites people to sign up or join in, and sets a few conditions, perhaps a broad book topic. 

I do seem to prefer the 'laid back' ones - very open to any topic or time you have to read. There are opportunities to check in with other Readathoners by sharing books read (or pages), perhaps on Twitter or Facebook, or posting photos of the stack of books you hope to read, or showing your cat or dog in cute reading poses. 

Take a look at Little Book Owl's Readathon Calendar - you will see most of the current readathons there. But really, for readers, could one or two more a year hurt?! 

Casting around for upcoming readathons, I noticed that there doesn't seem to be even one genealogy readathon, so I am thinking I will start or help start one. If I do, it would be very open - anything genealogy related - any mix of history, memoir, books about cemeteries, guides to genealogy in a specific place or on a specific topic, heritage cookbooks, even genealogy related mysteries! 

And we'd have ways to discuss your reading, if you wanted, or simply to check in before or after curling up somewhere appropriate. 

The next Readathons I'll be reading for will be  - The October 2020 Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon and then Bout of Books in January 2021. Join in if you like; you'll see how they work, log some quality reading time and maybe meet some new people. 

Let's talk about this. 

Do tell us in the comments here (or on Twitter or Facebook) what you think. Are you motivated to join a Readathon, and/or a Genea-Readathon, are you eager to assist, or even lukewarmly interested? I'd love to hear from you.