An honest account of surviving a 12-hour sunrise-to-sunset readathon. Tips, snacks, triumphs, and why I almost gave up at hour six. Your guide to reading marathons that actually work.
Let me tell you about the day I decided to read from sunrise to sunset, which sounds romantic until you realize it’s essentially volunteering for a 12-hour shift of sitting still and turning pages. The Instagram aesthetics didn’t prepare me for the existential crisis at hour six, or the fact that my eyes would stage a minor rebellion around lunch.
But here’s the thing: I finished three books, started four more, consumed an alarming amount of Korean lemon and ginger tea, and discovered exactly what my reading stamina looks like when pushed to its limits. Spoiler alert: it looks tired.
Why I Did This to Myself
FOMO, mostly. That particularly modern affliction where you see other people doing impressive things on social media and think, “But can I though?” I’d been watching bookish creators host reading retreats and 24-hour marathons, and while I’m too old and too fond of my bed to pull an all-nighter, 12 hours seemed like the kind of challenge you could frame as “self-care” instead of “mild self-punishment.”
Also, my physical TBR pile was reaching structurally unsound heights. Something had to be done.
The Rules I Set (And Mostly Followed)
The Reading Window: Sunrise to sunset. In my case, 6:46 AM to 6:49 PM. Yes, I checked the exact time the night before like I was planning a heist.
Multiple Books or One? Multiple. Because variety is the spice of life, and also because committing to one book for 12 hours felt like a recipe for resentment.
Breaks: Five to ten minutes every hour, plus one guilt-free nap. Bathroom breaks don’t count because we’re civilized humans, not monsters.
Phone Policy: Only for documenting. I set specific check-in times so I wouldn’t fall into the “let me just quickly check Instagram” trap that somehow eats 45 minutes.
The DNF Policy: If a book isn’t working, swap it. Life’s too short, and this challenge was already testing that theory.
Meals as Breaks: Thirty minutes for lunch, everything else kept light. This turned out to be crucial because food coma is real and will murder your reading momentum.
The Honor System: Be honest about actual reading time. Scrolling through Goodreads doesn’t count, no matter how book-adjacent it feels.
Pre-Game Preparation (Or: How I Nested)
The night before, I turned my living room into what can only be described as a reading fortress. Pillows everywhere. Throws. A granny square blanket that’s seen better days but feels like a hug. I’m not saying comfort is everything, but I am saying that 12 hours is essentially a work shift and you wouldn’t do that on a wooden chair.
I selected my books with the care of someone curating a museum exhibit: a mix of genres, lengths, and emotional registers. Some were library books with due dates glaring at me. Some were ARCs I’d been meaning to get to. One was a horror collection that I would later regret reading in broad daylight.
The creature comforts got assembled: hand lotion, lip balm, a pencil and ruler for annotating, a candle, and a claw clip because hair in your face for 12 hours is how villains are born.
I went to bed early. This turned out to be the most important decision of the entire day.
The Snack Situation
Let’s talk about fuel, because this matters more than you think. I needed food that wouldn’t make me crash, wouldn’t get my books greasy, and wouldn’t require actual cooking during reading time.
Morning: Yogurt granola with berries, Vietnamese coffee (the first of many), trail mix with almonds and green peas, Korean ginger and lemon tea.
Midday: Sardine toast (controversial but delicious), mango salad with enough spice to keep me alert, sour cream and onion chips, coconut calamansi juice.
Afternoon: Mini donuts, more tea, a trail mix situation involving caramel corn puffs and chips that I’m not proud of but won’t apologize for, iced Vietnamese coffee.
The sardine toast was the MVP. The mini donuts were a mistake at hour eight but a triumph at hour eleven.
Hour by Hour: The Good, The Sleepy, and The Slightly Unhinged
6:46 AM: Started with The Restaurant of Lost Recipes. Immediately began crying in the first chapter. This was either a beautiful emotional response or a sign that I wasn’t emotionally prepared for 12 hours of stories. Possibly both.
7:46 AM: One-third through the first book. Feeling sleepy, which seems early for exhaustion but here we are. Ate breakfast. Coffee was administered.
8:46 AM: Still sleepy. More nuts. More tea. Beginning to wonder if I’ve made a terrible mistake.
9:46 AM: Finished the first book. Made another cup of tea. Feeling accomplished and caffeinated in equal measure.
10:46 AM: Started A Sunny Place for Shady People, a horror collection that was immediately creepy. Very grateful to be reading this in daylight. Made a mental note never to read horror in a readathon again.
11:46 AM: Lunch break. Sardine toast, mango salad, chips, coconut calamansi juice. The spicy salad was strategic: wake up or die trying.
12:46 PM: Restarted Murder Among the Stacks (I’d started it before). The word puzzles at the end of each chapter were charming but momentum-breaking.
1:46 PM: Finished three books. Extremely pleased with myself. Also extremely tired. Very glad I’m not attempting 24 hours.
2:46 PM: Print fatigue is real and it is winning. Made another trail mix. Considered my life choices.
3:46 PM: Surrendered to the nap. No regrets.
4:46 PM: Woke up with a second wind. Briefly considered extending to 18 hours. Remembered I’m not insane.
5:46 PM: Craving something spicy. This is apparently how my brain signals exhaustion.
6:49 PM: End of challenge. Packed up even though I wanted to keep reading, which means I quit while ahead.
What I Actually Read
Completed:
- The Restaurant of Lost Recipes (224 pages): Heartwarming and hunger-inducing
- A Sunny Place for Shady People (158 pages into it): Creepy and grotesque. This is my horror quota for the year
- Murder Among the Stacks (72 pages into it): Fun cozy mystery with word puzzles
Started:
- The Baby Dragon Bakery (41 pages): Too YA, too frustrating, had to bail
- There’s No Such Thing as An Easy Job (65 pages): Delightful, will continue
- To The Moon (24 pages): Started this so I can watch the K-drama guilt-free
- The House of Doors (128 pages): Captivating prose, halfway through
Didn’t Touch:
- Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth: Ran out of time and honestly, energy
The Final Tally:
- Reading time: 12 hours
- Books completed: 3
- Books started: 4
- Total pages: 712
- Coffees and teas: 7
- Naps taken: 1
- Best snack: Sardine toast
- Biggest surprise: I could actually do this
What Surprised Me (And What Nearly Broke Me)
I crushed the first two hours. Finished an entire book from scratch and felt invincible. I calculated I could maybe finish five books in six hours, which was adorably optimistic and completely wrong.
The fatigue hit before lunch, which felt early but also, I’d been reading for five hours straight. It persisted through lunch and into the afternoon, manifesting as an urgent need to stretch, make tea, reorganize my blankets, and generally do anything except read.Print fatigue is a real thing that nobody warned me about. Not eye strain exactly, but a weariness from the weight of stories flashing before your eyes. A mental exhaustion that’s different from physical tiredness.
But finishing three books before 2 PM felt like a genuine achievement. The nap was a game changer. The second wind was real. The decision to have multiple books on rotation saved me from boredom and gave me permission to bail on things that weren’t working.
Ten Things I Wish I’d Known
1. Start Slower Than Feels Natural Warm up with something easy. Your brain needs to settle into reading mode before you throw dense literary fiction at it.
2. Rotate Formats to Save Your Eyes
Mix physical books with audiobooks if you can. It keeps you from burning out and maintains momentum without the eye strain.
3. Your Reading Nest Matters More Than You Think Pillows, blankets, back support, good lighting. Twelve hours is a work shift. Treat your body accordingly.
4. Strategic Snacking Is Not Optional Keep water and bite-sized snacks nearby. Go for things that energize without crashing you. Save heavy meals for your longest break.
5. Micro-Breaks Save Your Stamina Every hour, get up. Stretch your shoulders, walk around, loosen your neck. Five minutes won’t break your flow but it will save your body.
6. Mix Genres and Book Lengths Throw in novellas, graphic novels, lighter reads. Finishing books keeps morale high when the hours drag.
7. Protect Your Neck and Posture Alternate between sitting, lying down, and standing. Even professional readers feel the pain of staying locked in one position.
8. The Doom Zone Is Real (Hours 5 to 7) This is where people get sleepy, bored, or both. Queue up your most engaging book for this exact moment.
9. Stay Off Your Phone Do Not Disturb mode is your friend. That “quick check” can eat 30 minutes before you notice, and suddenly you’re watching bookshelf organization videos instead of reading.
10. End with a Comfort Read Save something you genuinely enjoy for the final stretch. Ending strong makes the whole day feel satisfying instead of like you’ve survived something.
Things to Actively Avoid
Don’t Skip Sleep the Night Before: I cannot stress this enough. You need focus and stamina, and you won’t have either if you’re already tired.
Don’t Choose All Heavy Books: Emotional devastation is exhausting. Mix in some lighter fare or you’ll be crying into your trail mix by hour four.
Don’t Forget to Eat: Food coma is real, but so is the crash from not eating. Find the balance or suffer the consequences.
Don’t Force a Book That’s Not Working: The DNF policy exists for a reason. Life’s too short, and so is this challenge.
Don’t Announce on Social Media That You’re Doing This Unless You Want Interruptions: People will text you. They will want to talk. They will break your concentration. Silence your phone.
Would I Recommend This?
Honestly? Yes. If you want to discover your reading stamina, if you have books you need to clear for reading goals, if you need a day that’s just for you and stories and nothing else.
It’s also oddly relaxing to set aside dedicated reading time. No guilt about other tasks. No feeling like you should be doing something more productive. This is the productive thing.
But go in with realistic expectations. You probably won’t finish as many books as you think. You will get tired. You might need a nap, and that’s fine. The point isn’t to punish yourself; it’s to see what you’re capable of when you give yourself permission to just read.
I’m already planning my next one, except this time I’m starting with an audiobook walk in the park. Build that reading stamina before sitting down for the long haul.
And maybe I’ll skip the horror collection.
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