Summer Wrap Up Read-A-Thon: Day 2 Update

The Summer Wrap Up Read-A-Thon is hosted by Jennifer at Some Like It Paranormal and Jude at In Between.

What I Read: Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
Number of Pages Read: 323
Pages Read Total: 645
Books Read Total: 2
Challenge: Wicked Summer Cover Challenge
Non Reading Activity: I spent most of the day solidly reading, but I did spend a lot of time in the morning catching up with other readathoners and bloggers I follow and I did the Cover Challenge which took up a good couple of hours hunting down all of the covers but was, although at times frustrating, really good fun! I felt so satisfied when I finally found them all!
Thoughts: I'm doing a lot better than I thought I was going to hitting my original target of a book a day which I set before I got sick. If I had to describe Hex Hall in one word it would be FUN! I'm a little bit in love with Sophie and want her as a friend. She's loyal, smart, but most of all HILARIOUS. For example early on in the book there’s a werewolf charging at her ready to rip her throat out, Sophie is a witch and could, you know, easily defend herself but in her panic what does this particular witch do? She shouts "BAD DOG!" people! *Snort* I stinkin’ love Soph already and can't wait to get around to the next book. The Hex Hall series would be the love child of JK Rowling and Louise Rennison for sure and I'm hoping to read the whole series during the readathon, but next up I think I'm going to take a little trip down contemporary lane...watch this space!

Summer Wrap Up Read-a-Thon: Wicked Summer Cover Challenge, I gots them all!

The Summer Wrap Up Read-A-Thon is hosted by Jennifer at Some Like It Paranormal and Jude at In Between.

The challenge is to find the following items in book covers...

 Sun 

A teeny bikni 

Beach umbrella 

Sandcastle 

Oceanscape or a beach scene 

Sunflower 

An American flag (4th of July) 

Lemonade/Iced Tea 

Sunset 

Sailboat 

Camping equipment (tent, sleeping bag, etc.) 

Sunglasses 

Swimming Pool 

Sun bather 

Picnic 

 I found them all!

Summer Nights by Allie Spencer for Sun, Oceanscape or a beach scene, Sailboat.

Tan Lines by J. J. Salem for A teeny bikni

The Beach Cafe by Lucy Diamond for Beach Umbrella and Sunglasses

Sandcastles: Part 1 by Robbie Snelgrove for Sandcastle

Remember Me by Sophie Kinsella for Sunflower

Pop Tart by Kira Coplin and Julianne Kaye for An American Flag

Recipe for Love by Katie Fforde for Lemonade/Iced Tea

When You Were Mine by Rebecca Serle for Sunset

Over You by Lucy Diamond for Camping equipment (tent, sleeping bag, etc.)

Swim the Fly by Don Calame for Swimming Pool

Sweet Little Lies by Alison Bond for Sun bather

To the Moon and Back by Jill Mansell for picnic

Summer Wrap Up Read-A-Thon: Day 1 Update

The Summer Wrap Up Read-A-Thon is hosted by Jennifer at Some Like It Paranormal and Jude at In Between.

What I Read: This Is Not A Test by Courtney Summers
Number of Pages Read: 322
Pages Read Total: 322
Books Read Total: 1
Challenge: Readathon TBR
Reading Snacks: None! With being ill I've completely lost my appetite and I'm not allowed anything yummy anyway which sucks as everybody knows one of the best things about a readathon is the snacks! My dad did cook me one of my favourites for dinner though, coconut curry! It was delicious and I'm hoping the spices will help blast away my cold!
Non Reading Activity: Today was spent pretty much in bed alternating between reading and sleeping, sounds perfect I know, but not so much when you have to stop every few minutes to cough a lung up! I did come down stairs for food though and I watched an episode of Lost over lunch. I've started to watch the DVD boxsets for the very first time and I'm hooked and currently on season 2 so you may be seeing a lot of Lost episode mentions in my none reading time. I also spent some time on twitter stalking other readathoners...naturally ;)

Thoughts: One book down already and it was a fantastic one at that! Definitely a 5 star and my favourite out of all of Courtney Summers' books yet. So far my reading is going well, now if only I could just kick this illness' ass and I could enjoy the mountain of yummy snacks I bought...

Summer Wrap Up Read-A-Thon Day 1: My TBR

The Summer Wrap Up Read-A-Thon is hosted by Jennifer at Some Like It Paranormal and Jude at In Between. 
My Readathon To Be Read Pile

From Top to Bottom
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
The Hex Hall Series:
Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
Raising Demons by Rachel Hawkins
Spellbound by Rachel Hawkins
White Wedding by Milly Johnson
This Is Not A Test by Courtney Summers
Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally
Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
From What I Remember... by Stacy Kramer and Valerie Thomas

Nine days, nine books! Well at least that was the original plan… before I got sick. I have laryngitis, a cold, AND my asthma playing up and haven't done any reading for days because of it. But I'm still determined to at least take part and try my best with the readathon. Needless to say this will be a more relaxed readathon for me this time around. Whereas last time I really pushed myself this time I need to prioritize getting better over reading which means, no staying up late to finish a book! *Glares sternly at future self.* However I DO have the advantage of being ill and needing some peaceful resting time to read so we'll see how we get on!

I have a nice selection to choose from over the next few days from chick-lit, to paranormal, to dystopians, to contemporary. I've got some shorter quick reads, some medium sized, and a couple of bigger books but the one thing they all have in common is that I really wanted to read them this summer, so this readathon fits in perfectly!

I'll be updating on the blog, my goodreads, and twitter whenever I can and I've already kick started day 1 by making a start on This Is Not A Test in bed this morning (SO good so far!) I'd like to read as many of these books as I can before the readathon's over so wish me luck! :)

Review for Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry 
Publisher: Mira Ink
Release Date: 3rd August 2012
Genre: YA, Contemporary
Rating: 5/5 stars
Source: Received from the publisher for review

Amazon Summary:
"They say be a good girl, get good grades, be popular. They know nothing about me. I can't remember the night that changed my life. The night I went from popular to loner freak. And my family are determined to keep it that way. They said therapy was supposed to help. They didn't expect Noah. Noah is the dangerous boy my parents warned me about. But the only one who'll listen. The only one who'll help me find the truth. I know every kiss, every promise, every touch is forbidden. But what if finding your destiny means breaking all the rules? A brave and powerful novel about loss, change and growing up, but most of all love."

Review 
I was really looking forward to reading Pushing the Limits but for some reason despite the praise it’s received from amazing authors and bloggers I love, I wasn’t expecting to love it quite as much as I did. I went into this book expecting to enjoy it, but I wasn’t expecting it to make me cry or to capture my heart.

I think the reason I loved Pushing the Limits so much is that I could relate to both of our main characters. Off topic, but relevant to this review all the same, I have scars on my arm that I got from a partner in an abusive relationship. Although there are only two of them and are not all over my arms like Echo’s and although Echo got hers from her mother not an abusive boyfriend, I’ve still experienced some of what she goes through. From the judgmental stares of people jumping to conclusions and suspecting self-harm because of where they are, to those sweltering summers spent in long sleeved clothes to cover them up. I understood completely not only Echo’s body image issues with her scars, but the feeling of somebody who you love and trust intentionally hurting you and the changes you go through as a person when something like that happens to you.

As well as the book being narrated by Echo it’s also narrated by Noah in alternating chapters. Like Echo, Noah has a whole lot of issues that no young person should have to deal with but the most prominent to his story is being separated from his two little brothers who are in foster care. Although nothing like this has happened to me personally I have a family member who has and so I know how messy, emotional, and complicated that whole situation is for everybody involved. The scenes with Noah and his little brothers never failed to bring a tear to my eye and touch my heart.

Although my experiences are vastly different to the characters in this book the feelings behind them weren’t all that different at all and so I connected with Noah and Echo in a rare and special way. I understood them and had empathy for their situations and really wanted the best for them both. My emotions were totally invested in this book and so I really connected with it and can see it holding a special place in my heart for years to come.

The romance in Pushing the Limits is hot, hot, hot! I’m not surprised that this book is blurbed by Simone Elkeles - one of my favourite authors, because the writing style and relationship between Echo and Noah reminded me of the Perfect Chemistry series. Noah could very well be a secret fourth Fuentes brother! Don’t get me wrong though Pushing the Limits is in no way a copycat and is unique in its own right, but if you’re a fan of Simone Elkeles then you’re going to love Katie McGarry!

Pushing the Limits has a great cast of characters who I feel in love with. Noah is a bad boy with a soft side that is brought out by his love for his brothers and Echo. Echo is feisty, smart and I admired her courage, as the book goes on she gets stronger and stronger and I respected her for facing her fears head on. There are so many great secondary characters too like Mrs Collins, Noah’s foster siblings and his little brothers.

I adored everything about this book and think it’s an amazing debut. It’s definitely one of my favourite contemps of 2012 and I already can’t wait for Dare You To a companion novel to Pushing the Limits to come out! Highly recommend to fans of hard hitting, edgy, contemporary and to anyone who loves a smouldering, sexy, consuming love story to boot!