Once Upon a Read-a-Thon: Day 1 Update

Once Upon a Read-a-Thon is hosted by Lori at Pure Imagination, Angela at Reading Angel and Candace at Candace's Book Blog and you can find out more about it by clicking on the image. 

I originally planned to fill in an update before bed every night but I was so tired after finally putting my book down last night that it didn’t happen so here’s what I got up to yesterday! 

What I Read: Hunting Lila and 156 pages of Heist Society 

Number of Pages Read: 462 

Pages Read Total: 462 

Books Read Total: 1 

Challenge: The Cover Challenge 

Reading Snacks: Today’s snacks of choice were cookies and popcorn which were the perfect sugar high I needed when I started to feel sleepy in the afternoon.

Non Reading Activity: Updates on twitter and generally stalking other readathoners to see how their doing, Mondays mini challenge, searching on youtube for old readathon videos for inspiration and an episode of friends over lunch the one where Joey finds Rachel’s dirty book I found a bookish episode to be fitting for the occasion ;)

Thoughts: I wish I’d taken part in a readathon sooner! They always looked like so much fun and they really are! I’m at a really nice point at the minute where I don’t feel like I’m rushing through books or forcing myself to read I’m just sailing along and enjoying every minute! I’m doing much better than I predicted and should have my second book (reading two books being my overall goal) finished today, let’s just hope I can keep it up! But overall? We’re off to a good start people!

Once Upon a Read-a-Thon: Monday's Mini Challenge!

Seems as I'm currently in between reads (one book down, yay!) I decided I'd reward myself with some internet time whilst I'm absorbing my last read and then after dinner I'll be cracking on to book two! But seems as I'm online I thought I'd do todays mini challenge hosted over on http://ibbookblogging.net/

Question 1: What is your favorite cover that has been revealed this summer and why? Post a link or picture of the cover if you want.

Oh so many gorgeous covers! But I'd have to say my recent favourite is Everbound (Everneath #2) by Brodi Ashton. I just love everything about it! I have some serious hair envy going on with the model - such big, glossy, bouncy, curls! I love how her dress swirls off into a smoke-like mist and the dark smoke gathering around her gives this book such a dark and sultry feel. I loved the first book Everneath and I can't wait to see what happens next in Everbound!

Question 2: Do you rely on the cover to help you choose whether you want to read a book or not? A lot of factors go into me deciding on whether I want to read the book before the cover like reviews from blogger friends, online hype, whether it sounds like something I'd enjoy, the synopsis etc. But if I’m in a bookshop browsing does a pretty cover catch my eye? Certainly! If the covers a bit naff and the e-books way cheaper then I'll end up buying the e-book, if the covers gorgeous and will look amazing on my bookshelf then I'm willing to pay the extra money for it! 

Are you taking part in the Once Upon a Read-a-Thon? How’s it going so far? Stay tuned for more updates and bookish fun from me and if you’re not taking part but want to let me know what you think of the cover for Everbound or your favourite cover reveal so far this summer feel free to leave a comment!

Come Cheer Me On, For The Once Upon A Read A Thon!

Like what I did there? I'm such a poet! So some of you may know that I’ve signed up to take part in my first ever read a thon! Once Upon a Read-a-Thon is hosted by Lori at Pure Imagination, Angela at Reading Angel and Candace at Candace's Book Blog and you can find out more about it by clicking on the image.

The books I want to read over the three days are…

Hunting Lila and Losing Lila by Sarah Alderson
Heist Society and Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter
Kindle Books

Hunting Lila and Heist Society are both books that I *had* to have as soon as they came out but got pushed aside for review copies. Since I recently got both books sequels for review I wanted to take the read a thon as an opportunity to read these fab books! I’m a fairly average reader neither fast nor slow so I in no way think I’ll read all of these in three days. On an average week I’d probably read one book in three days so my goal is to read two books or more if I can manage it! I’ve added my Kindle as an option as I find reading on it less strenuous on my eyes and it may be ideal if the books I’ve chosen aren’t grabbing my attention as much as I need them to, or if my eyes get tired and I want to switch over to an e-book.

Ideally I’d like to do an update post every day on how much I’ve read, how I’m feeling, what I’ve been eating (because no read a thon is complete without snacks right?) and all that good stuff. And I’ll also be updating on Goodreads and Twitter so if you want more updates you know where I’ll be! There should be some fun challenges that I’d like to take part in as well!

My overall plan of action is to read, read, read! But I also have some activities prepared for times when I need a pick me up. The first obvious choice is blogging, updating, and generally seeing how everybody else taking part is getting on. These will be the times when I need cheerleading so if you see me around the web a quick morale boost would be lovely! I also plan to break off from reading at meal times, to sleep (although I do plan to cut down my sleeping hours to fit in more reading!) and when I have to get on with y’know normal day to day stuff. And for times when I really need a break from books I have some short and fun Youtube videos to watch and Friends episodes which are usually only around 20 something minutes long and never fail to perk me up!

What I want to get out of this mainly is to read some fantastic books, find some lovely new bookish people to follow, and have loads of geeky awesome fun!

If you’re taking part good luck and have fun! And if you’re not then, well, I’ll see you on the other side…hopefully ;)

Letterbox Love (8)

Letterbox Love is a new meme hosted by Lynsey @ Narratively Speaking for UK based book bloggers to showcase the books that they’ve received each week.

 Review Books

The Charm Bracelet by Melissa Hill This book has such a pretty cover! I love how the light shines off the charms. I adore Melissa Hill she's probably my favourite chick-lit author so needless to say I'm really looking forward to this one!

On The Island by Tracey Garvis Graves (Proof Copy) I've already read this book and it was a total surprise for me, wasn't expecting to love it as much as I did but it was great! A review for this will be coming soon.

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry (Proof Copy) I've heard amazing things for this book and you guys know how I love my contemps so I should be reading and reviewing this sometime this summer.

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas This book has to be the highlight of the week for me, I've been looking forward to reading this one ever since I first heard about it a few months back, since then I've heard so many rave reviews, Cinderella, meets Fantasy, meets The Hunger Games? Er yes please! *Strokes book and mouths I can't wait to read you!* Oh, and this cover? Totally gets a fist pump from me *pumps!* 

Gift/Swap

The Secrets Between Us by Louise Douglas Last month I took part in Random Acts of Kindness and this was very kindly sent to me from Jenn Renee, I really enjoyed Louise Douglas' novel The Love of My Life and this sounds like a modern day Rebecca a book I really love so I've got high hopes for this one!

Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally Another gorgeous sounding contemp that I can't wait to get stuck into this summer, this was a fab swap I did with Michelle at Fluttering Butterflies, I really want to read this before Stealing Parker comes out in October so you can expect a review for this sometime before then!

 Bookmarks

If you've been following the blog for a while now you may know that I have quite the obsession with bookmarks and actually collect them! And so every so often as a treat the people in my life will pick me up some new editions. My best friend Rachel recently went on a trip to Paris and so brought me back these lovelies as a gift! Thanks Rach! Three beautiful new bookmarks to add to the stash!

So that was everything that I got over the past week, I was expecting a book I ordered from Amazon but Amazon failed and it is now officially late! *Le sigh* I'm looking forward to showing you what it is next time, I'm really excited for it, and there are some other books on my wishlist coming out so there may be another Amazon order placed soon, sorry Mr Postman! As always huge thank you's to the lovely people who I was lucky enough to get books and goodies from this week, and I hope you've found some new books to add to your wishlist I'll leave a link to each books Goodreads page in the book titles so all you have to do is click on the link for more info on the book that interests you! If you’ve read or are looking forward to any of the books I got feel free to let me know what you thought about them or request reviews and such in the comments. And if you decided to do a Letterbox Love, Book Haul, IMM, Showcase Sunday, Mailbox Monday or whatever else featuring the books you got this week leave me a link as I’d love to check out your books too! ^_^

 Happy reading till next time folks!

Interview with Bestselling Author Jodi Picoult and Her Daughter Samantha Van Leer on Their New Novel Between the Lines

Jodi Picoult, for many years now, has been my favourite author of adult fiction so to say that I was excited to hear that she was coming out with a new book, this time co-written with her teenage daughter Samantha, for Young Adults (which just so happens to be my favourite genre) would be a huge understatement. I was fortunate enough to read and review a copy of Between the Lines early and really enjoyed it so I was thrilled to have the chance to interview both Sammy and Jodi about the book and have some of my questions answered. In case Between the Lines isn’t on your radar yet here’s a little bit about what it’s about...

Synopsis 
Delilah knows it's weird, but she can't stop reading her favourite fairy tale. Other girls her age are dating and cheerleading. But then, other girls are popular.
She loves the comfort of the happy ending, and knowing there will be no surprises.
Until she gets the biggest surprise of all, when Prince Oliver looks out from the page and speaks to her.
Now Delilah must decide: will she do as Oliver asks, and help him to break out of the book? Or is this her chance to escape into happily ever after?
Read between the lines for total enchantment...

Interview with Sammy and Jodi 

Sammy 

First of all how did it feel to write with your mom a world-wide bestselling author? Was there any pressure to appeal to her fans?
To me, she’s not famous – she’s just my mom. So the challenge was really in staying focused, and doing the work. I wasn’t thinking about her fans, really; just THIS book. It was REALLY hard to sit for hours at a computer and just WRITE. I sometimes wanted to get up and burst through the window – and I’m sure there were times she wanted to kill me because I got distracted. But then there were times it was really amazing to work together. Sometimes we tripped over each other’s sentences just to get to the next line – it was sort of like we were having the same dream and seeing exactly the same images in our heads, so that when we were writing we were telepathic.


Between the Lines was originally your idea, how did you come up with the story?
I was daydreaming in French class (I know, I should have been focusing…) when I started to wonder what happens when a book is closed. What’s it like for the characters? Can they see us? What does it feel like for them, when we read? Through the rest of that period, I tossed around the idea of what would become our book. When I went home I called my mom, who was on book tour, and told her I had an idea for a story. She was intrigued and started adding her opinions – and suggested we write the book together.


How does it feel to be a published author so young? How did you find the time to write on top of school and everything else? 
We wrote during school vacations, on weekends, over the summer. It was really hard to find the time. But it turns out it’s even harder to find time to do the interviews leading up to the publication of the book, because I’m a junior now and taking lots of standardized tests to get into college, and also playing varsity softball. So the publisher has to set up phone calls with newspapers and magazines for me at 8PM! As for being a published author – it doesn’t feel “real” yet. I’m more worried about getting a good grade in Chemistry class!


Is writing full time a career path you want to go down? And can we expect any more books from you any time soon? 
I love to write, and I write poetry all the time, but I don’t know if I’ll be a full-time writer. I feel like I have a really good sense of how hard that career path is after writing this book, but there’s a lot more I want to explore too – like psychology. I’ll be pretty busy at college so I don’t know when I’ll have time to write another book! 


Lastly did your mom give you any good writing tips? Did you learn anything from her during this experience? 
I learned to respect my mom’s profession. It’s hard work! And I also learned how similar we can be, when we’re writing.

Jodi 

Between the Lines is very different to your other books, how did it feel to write a YA novel? 
It wasn’t that different to write, really. The characters still have to ring true – even if one of them is a fairytale prince. Plus, the themes in BTL – like to whom does a story really belong – are very adult concepts. Add to this the general unease Delilah and Oliver feel about not fitting in and frankly, it’s very similar to the things I address in my adult books. The difference was the humor. Although I write humor into my grownup novels, it isn’t as broad as some of the jokes in here, and I rarely have characters like Socks, whose job is purely to lighten the mood. 


How did you find co-writing with Sammy instead of alone? Was it a big adjustment? 
I have collaborated before – when I wrote Wonder Woman for DC Comics. But this was very different because there were times I felt like Sammy and I were two halves of the same brain. We’d be writing together and we’d finish each others sentences, as if we were both seeing the same image of what was supposed to be on the page. I’ve never had that sort of experience before –and it wasn’t an adjustment; it was really a pleasure! 


Between the Lines began as Sammy's idea, did anything significantly change or develop as you wrote the book together? 
Yes. We had a few arguments, some of which she won and some of which I won! She was insistent that the fairytale bits sound like a traditional gothic fairytale; I wanted it to be tongue-in-cheek. She fought me and she was ultimately right. I wanted Oliver to be dark-haired; she wanted him blond…I won that one. We also made some significant edits to the book in subsequent drafts. Delilah’s friend Jules didn’t exist in the first version; neither did Frump’s backstory. I think they’re both incredibly important additions to the story. One thing that DIDN’T change – the last line. Sammy came up with that very early in the writing process, and we put it at the bottom of the Word document, and just kept writing toward it. 


Is writing for Young Adults or any other genre for that matter something you might explore again in the future? 
I think a lot of my grownup novels are appealing to YA because I often include a narrator from that age group. I will probably continue to explore some major themes of growing up through those characters in my adult novels. Then again, it was great fun writing this book with my daughter and I’d love to do another one with her! 


What's been your favourite part of creating this book with your daughter? 
How many moms get to spend hours with a daughter, creating something that lets you feel incredibly proud of her intellect, her creativity, and her determination? I couldn’t be more proud of Sammy for tackling this and for putting her heart and soul into the writing of the story. And I am SO looking forward to touring with her in the US, UK and Australia. There will be some major shopping, I’m sure!

END 

Between the Lines is published by Hodder & Stoughton and is released today! For more information on Between the Lines you can visit my review here, add this book to your goodreads wishlist, or buy the book from Amazon. 

Many thanks to Kerry at Hodder for arranging this interview and to Jodi and Sammy for taking the time out of their busy schedules to be on the blog today!