Wednesday 26 June 2013

Debutathon: Goals, TBR and Day 1 Update


I’m a ball of nerdy excitement because when the clock hits midnight tonight I’ll be starting my first readathon of this summer the Debutathon hosted by the wonderful Amber from Books of Amber! Over the past few days I’ve been running around getting all of my jobs done for this week so I’m free to read, ordering some healthy snacks in (more on that later) and searching through my TBR pile for 2013 Debuts. If you’d like to find out more about the Debutathon and what it entails I’d recommend having a read of Amber’s post here.

Things are a little intense at home right now, as some of you may know I’ve recently lost my grandad so this readathon will be a welcome distraction but at the same time I don’t want to give myself too many goals in case I feel like spending a night with my family or get a bit upset or something. Basically I want to keep this fun which is why I’m aiming to read 3 books. On average I’d read about 2 books in 4 days so this is boosting that number up but at the same time it’s manageable. I might read more - I guess we’ll see how I’m doing and how I’m feeling as the readathon goes on.

I’m still not entirely sure what I want to read but I have a list of all the debuts I own up on Goodreads here. I’m a mood reader and I have a mix of different books to read so I guess I’ll be choosing what seems most appealing at the time but if you have any recommendations from this list feel free to leave them in the comments!

During readathons I like to snack and share pictures with you guys. I signed up to Graze a few weeks ago as I’m trying to eat better and I am loving their snack boxes! They are healthy but so delicious as well with a lot of variety and different foods to try. I’m at that stage where I’m still going through different foods and trying them out so you guys will get to explore that with me. I also have a free code for anyone who wants to claim a free one off box to try them out which is pretty great. You’ll get a free box full of yummy snacks delivered to your door and there is no commitment if it’s not something you’d want to subscribe to regularly. If you’ve never heard of Graze before my friend Ellie has a wonderful post explaining what it is and how it works here. You can claim your free box with the code Y5N9T9N.

I already did a sign up post here so I’ll be using this post for Day 1’s updates so if you’re reading this before the readathon be sure to pop back to see how my first day went! I’ll probably stick to what I usually do and do a separate post each day so they don’t get too long.

Now there’s nothing left to do but get some dinner and pass the time until I can start reading!

Day 1 Updates 
What I Read: Pivot Point by Kasie West
Number of Pages Read: 343
Pages Read Total: 343
Books Read Total: 1
Challenge: Yes

Unscramble that Debut! 
Titles: 
1. IIDFEOFYUNM (4 words) 
2. TAREDEL (1 word) 
3. TPNPOOITIV (2 words) 
4. HCITAGRL (1 word) 
5. NPOSIO (1 word) 
6. TSIPDENLER (1 word) 
7. ITSEHTELE (2 words) 

My Answers 
Scroll over to highlight my answers! This is to avoid spoiling anybody who hasn't done today's challenge yet!

 1. If You Find Me 
2. Altered 
3. Pivot Point  
4. Arclight 
5. Poison 
6. Splintered 
7. The Elites  

 I had to search some debut lists on goodreads to help find 4 and 7! The rest were on my radar and I figured  them out after a lot of staring! This was a really fun challenge. 

Reading Snack:


Today's Graze snack was their Cookies and Cream mix which includes mini chocolate cookies, roasted hazelnuts, white chocolate buttons and sunflower seeds washed down with an ice cold coke. Ellie was telling me how good this was down in the comments and seems as I had one to try in this weeks box I thought I'd make it today's snack! They got the name spot on with this mixture - it was so yummy! What I love about Graze is it mixes a bit of a treat in with good for you foods so you still get the taste and it feels like a treat but at the same time you're eating a healthy snack. Every packet is portion controlled as well so scoffing a whole pack of cookies in one go is now a thing of the past!

Non Reading Activity: You know what? I enjoyed reading Pivot Point so much that I read pretty solidly! Other than doing today's challenge, chatting on Twitter and reading everyone else's updates I was too engrossed in my book to part with it!

Thoughts: I finished my first book of the Debutathon! I decided to make Pivot Point my first read mainly because - shamefully - I picked this as one of my most anticipated books of 2013, pre-ordered it, received it early from The Book Depository and then promptly...never read it. So yeah, this was a book I was determined to get to and I'm so glad that I did because it was amazing! The ending broke my heart a little bit and has left me desperate for the sequel! Overall today was a very successful first day (mainly because Pivot Point totally gripped me!) and now I'm going to see how everybody else is getting on and decide what I want to pick up next!

How was your first day of the Debutathon? What have you been reading?

18 comments :

  1. I'm so sorry to hear about your grandad *hugs* I lost my nanny a few years ago and it is one of the worst things I have ever been through. Yay for distractions in the form of books, though!

    I'll be back tomorrow to see how you got on XD I'm aiming for two books myself!

    Oh, I've never heard of Graze until now, but I'm about to go and read up on it! It might come in handy for when I do eventually decide to improve my eating habits :D

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    1. *Hugs back* Thanks, Amber. The Debutathon couldn't have come at a better time!

      I hope you reach your target! Graze is brilliant I'm a bit addicted to their snacks!

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  2. Hope the readathon works as a distraction and I hope you manage three books! :) Good luck. And I loooove Graze boxes, they are delicious! The apples and toffee sauce, mmm...

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    1. Thanks, Liz! So far it's proving a wonderful distraction. Oooh, I've had my eye on those! Really hope Graze sends me one soon!

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  3. Was so sad to hear about your Grandad, Jess. *hugs* The readathon sounds like lots of fun (love your choice of snack!) and I'll be looking forward to reading your updates. Happy reading!

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    1. *Hugs* thanks lovely! I'm really enjoying myself so far.

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  4. Good luck honeybun! Books are always my distraction of choice (along with sitcom box sets, obviously) so I hope they work their magic for you this week. And I'm so glad you're loving the Graze boxes! I'm due to get my next one today, and it's always a tiny thrill to cut the plastic wraps off and see what I've got! I had a 'cookies and cream' one yesterday - mini cookies, white chocolate buttons, hazelnuts and pumpkin seeds - and it was absolutely divine. :)

    I'll be back to see how you're getting on... x

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    1. Thanks shug! So far the readathon has been a welcome distraction from the funeral planning. Thanks for the tip! I had a Cookies and Cream waiting for me in my box so I tried it today and it was YUM! Oh, I get that thrill as well! Does that make us terribly sad? I don't think it'd be as fun if you picked your own food every week!

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    2. Exactly! I like not knowing what's coming every week, and I only OCCASIONALLY hit the 'send soon' button on something if I've been really fancying it. I tried the black pepper popcorn yesterday. It was SO NICE, but with them being quite big bags the flavour was a bit much without something sweet alongside it so I think I'll stick to their slightly sweet version for a while. AND because I sometimes miss snacks at the moment because I'm not always that hungry, I now have two boxes on the go at once so I've got even more to choose from when I want something to nibble! :)

      I'm glad you had such a good day of reading and got really immersed in your book. I've been reading a kind of Greek-island-set farcical comedy called Skios, and the GORGEOUS A Lion Called Christian, about two guys who bought a lion cub from Harrods in the 60s, lived with him for a year in London, then took him to Kenya to be rehabilitated into the wild again. It's so lovely! xx

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    3. :O great minds think alike! Well...sort of! I had the sweet popcorn yesterday which was really good. I wasn't too sure about the black pepper version but if you say its good I'll give it a try! I think I need to be more adventurous like you. I always hit 'send soon' on all of my loves but then I might miss out on something really good that way. It's all so good though! I feel like I could have my favourites week after week and not get bored because they are YUM!

      I'm taking full advantage of the readathon "do you want to talk about the funeral?" "nope, sorry, can't, I'm doing a readathon!" Yeah...maybe not entirely healthy but I'm enjoying the denial stage and escaping into books while it lasts before next week comes around and I have to say goodbye and face up to things. I'm glad you're enjoying your reads too! A Lion Called Christian sounds especially lovely. :)

      I hope you're doing okay, honeybunch. In the meantime let's do a Dory "Just keep swimmin', just keep swimmin', just keep swimmin'." :D

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  5. Good luck with your reading goals Jess! There are so many great debut books to tackle I just don't know where to start, I'll be on the lookout for your updates! :)

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    1. I'm the same way! I need another 2 or 3 Debutathon's to tackle all of the ones I want to read! I'll be following your progress too :)

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  6. Sorry to hear about your granddad. I hope you enjoy the Debut-a-thon. I'm aiming for 4 books read and have 8 picked out to choose from.

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    1. Thanks, Dana. I hope you enjoy your reads and rech your goal!

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  7. I'm sorry about your granddad :(

    Your snack looks jummy :D!

    Mel@thedailyprophecy.

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  8. I'm sorry to hear about your granddad. It's always hard to lose someone. Congratulations on unscrambling all the titles (I failed at that) and finishing your first book! Pivot Point sounds very interesting.

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    1. Thanks, Kim! Pivot Point was ace. Happy reading!

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