At the last minute on Saturday I decided to take part in the 24 Hour Read-a-Thon. This was the first time I’d done this. Previously I’d thought there was no way I could read for 24 hours, but this time I realised that I didn’t have to – I could read for just as long as I liked! Which is what I did.

So I read all of Saturday afternoon, with just a short break for making dinner. Then, because I’m a creature of habit and I enjoy watching TV on Saturday evenings, I stopped reading long enough to watch Strictly Come Dancing and the X Factor, both entertaining programmes. Later on I fell asleep reading and started again about 6am. It was easier to read on Sunday morning than usual because we’ve been having internet connection problems and couldn’t get access until the afternoon. All in all I must have read for about 13 hours or so out of the 24.

I liked the experience of concentrated reading, spending most of the time on reading Exit Music by Ian Rankin. Usually I read in chunks rather than for hours and hours on end and it really helped to get into the plot. Often when I’ve been reading for a while I get a feeling that I should be doing something other than sitting reading but during those 24 hours it was as though I had nothing to do except read.

I finished Exit Music during Sunday morning and started Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman. That was quite strange, because that is pure fantasy; it was surreal moving from the world of crime with Rebus to that of magic with the strange, witchy Owens sisters and their family. I read about half of Practical Magic before the end of the Read-a-Thon. More about both books to follow.

I’m not sure I’ll take part again, but I enjoyed it this time.