Once Upon a Read-a-Thon: Wrap Up!

This Readathon is hosted by Angela and Loretta at Reading Angels, Candace at Candace’s Book Blog and Lori at Pure Imagination.

What I Read: 
A Cottage by the Sea by Carole Matthews
The Archived by Victoria Schwab
Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

Total Pages Read: 651

Challenges I Participated In: The Book BFF Challenge and The Genre Challenge

Favourite Book Read: Well The Archived is the only book I read from start to finish so probably that. The writing was beautiful blending grief and loss with a gothic and haunting paranormal story. The world building was excellent and I couldn't quite believe how original this "ghost story" was. Victoria Schwab took such an overused topic and made it completely unique and her own. I adored it. But then again I'm not quite finished with Eleanor and Park yet and that is wonderful in a totally different way. The characters are vibrant and bright and it feels like reading a real life account of a love story between two real people. I'm completely in love with it.

Final Thoughts: Well, I reached my goal of reading two books but this wasn't my best readathon. Simply because I know that I could have read more if it wasn't for the heat, my hayfever, my dog getting sick etc. Life kinda got in the way of this one but I'm still proud of what I accomplished in three days. I read some brilliant books and I'm looking forward to getting stuck back into Eleanor and Park later today.

 How did you do for the Readathon? What was your favourite read?

Once Upon a Read-a-Thon: Days 2 and 3

 

This Readathon is hosted by Angela and Loretta at Reading Angels, Candace at Candace’s Book Blog and Lori at Pure Imagination.

Day 2 Updates
What I Read: The Archived by Victoria Schwab
Number of Pages Read: 222
Pages Read Total: 447
Books Read Total: 2
Challenge: No
Reading Snack:

A bowl of fresh strawberries and a Graze favourite of mine - el picante which consists of jumbo salted corn, spicy chilli peanuts and mini paprika breadsticks.

Non Reading Activity: Finishing off Glee Season 3! I've been watching this show for the first time over the past few months and yesterday I finished Season 3 and was so upset and crying over the end. If it wasn't enough that the original cast were all saying goodbye and going off to reach for their dreams THAT unexpected ending happened and I was just a mess. Glee has quickly become an all time favourite show of mine and waiting for Season 4 to come out on DVD in September is going to be agony.

Thoughts: I hate hayfever! My hayfever meds are just not touching it this year. My eyes and nose were streaming and I had a headache so I couldn't concentrate on my book. I sat and passed a few hours watching the last few episodes of Glee. It was then night-time and my hayfever had settled down at that point so I got stuck back into my book. The Archived was incredible and had me completely gripped and before I knew it I had it finished just turned midnight! That means I've technically reached my goal of reading two books. It'd be nice to squeeze in another book today before the readathon is over but I guess we'll see!

Day 3 Updates 
What I Read: Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
Number of Pages Read: 204
Pages Read Total: 651
Books Read Total: 2
Challenge: Yes, hosted by Dizneeee's World of Books 

Favorite genre, favorite book within that genre, and your favorite character from the same genre.
This is a tough one! My favourite genre changes all the time! As of right now though I'd say YA Contemporary. I have so many favourite contemps but I'll go with one that always stands out in my mind and that is Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins. For favourite character I'll go with Cricket from the same book I absolutely love him! He's one of my favourite nerdy book guys!

Reading Snack: Graze's honeycomb and chocolate flapjack with a summer fruit smoothie.

Non Reading Activity: Catching up on the latest Skins episode and looking after my poorly dog. :(

Thoughts: Eleanor and Park is every bit as wonderful as you all have been telling me it is! I'm completely in love with it and I would have devoured it all today if life hadn't intervened. My dog Dylan was really sick today. He was shaking, panting, throwing up, wouldn't eat and I was such a worried Momma. We think he ate something he shouldn't have out on his walk and it upset his stomach, either that or the heat got to him (he's a black Labradoodle with a big fluffy black coat, weather like this must be horrible for him.) Thankfully he seems back to his normal self now but needless to say much of my reading time went to looking after him.

 Let me know which books you've been reading and how you've been doing! Follow my updates here, on Goodreads and Twitter!

Once Upon a Read-a-Thon: Goals, TBR and Day 1 Update

This Readathon is hosted by Angela and Loretta at Reading Angels, Candace at Candace’s Book Blog and Lori at Pure Imagination. I've just finished watching the Wimbledon men's final and I'm feeling all patriotic and proud of Andy Murray's win and now I'm getting ready to bust a gut at my own personal best sport - readathoning! :P For more information on this readathon check out my sign up post here.

 What I'll Be Reading

A Cottage by the Sea by Carole Matthews 

 Shipwrecked by Siobhan Curham 

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell 

The Archived by Victoria Schwab 

The weather is gorgeous right now in the UK and is set to continue over the week, so I've chosen two summer reads. A Cottage by the Sea which is my current read and a fun, beachy, chick-lit. And Shipwrecked which is a thriller set on an Island and is being pitched as Lost meets Gossip Girl. I've also chosen two books that I've been wanting to read all year but for some reason haven't gotten around to The Archived and Eleanor and Park - I've heard incredible things for both of these books and am looking forward to finally (hopefully!) getting to them! 

My Goal 

I want to definitely read at least two books but it would be amazing to read all of these! With the gorgeous weather it will go one of two ways: I'll either be soaking up the sun getting lots of reading done or I'll be too hot and hayfeverery fanning myself with a book rather than reading it! I guess we'll see! 

I'm going to be recording my day one updates here and will make a separate post for days two and three. Once Upon a Read-a-Thon was the first ever readathon that I took part in last year. I did really well and had so much fun so I'm looking forward to round two! Bring it on! *Flexes reading muscles.* 

Day 1 Updates 
What I Read: A Cottage by the Sea by Carole Matthews and The Archived by Victoria Schwab
Number of Pages Read: 225
Pages Read Total: 225
Books Read Total: 1
Challenge: Yes, The Book BFF Challenge.
Reading Snack: None! It's the day before my Graze box arrives so I'm all out of snacks - rubbish timing for a readathon! I'm looking forward to it arriving tomorrow so I can indulge in some yummy, healthy, goodies whilst reading.
Non Reading Activity: Falling asleep in the sunshine, reading everybody's goals and watching the first episode of The Legend of Korra. I'm so happy that it's finally showing in the UK! I'm a big anime fan and Avatar: The Last Airbender is my absolute favourite! Legend of Korra is the spin off show and so far, so good!
Thoughts: One day down, one book finished! Although I haven't done as well as it sounds as I only had 126 pages of my book left to read today. I think next I'm going to pick up The Archived I'm hoping to squeeze in a hundred pages before bed. I've been really looking forward to this one, I'm just hoping I can deal with it at the minute. I recently lost two family members and this book (from the sounds of it) is primarily about the dead. There is already a snippet of the poem from my Grandad's funeral at the start. I think it'll either be a massive hit and something I can really relate to right now, or it'll be too much for my emotions and I'll have to put it aside for another time. It shouldn't be too heavy going though so I'm hoping I'll be fine.

 How has your first day been? Follow my updates here, on Goodreads and Twitter!

I'll Be Readathoning This Summer!

You guys know how much I love a good readathon and I'm committing myself to two of my favourites this summer. I'm hoping to participate in maybe another one or two later on but I'm not sure about dates yet so I may sign up nearer the time. The two that I'm signing up for today really caught my attention so I've made them a priority!
The first readathon I'm taking part in this summer will be the Debut-a-Thon which is being hosted by one of my favourite bloggers Books of Amber. This readathon will be running from June 27th to June 30th and in case you hadn't guessed already will be focusing on 2013 debuts of any genre. I believe this is the readathon's debut as well which is kind of cool. There are so many 2013 debut's calling to me from my bookshelves so I thought this would be an ideal opportunity to tackle some of them. Goals I'll decide on closer to the time and I've made a list of the 2013 debuts I own on Goodreads here, I'd love your help choosing which books I should read so feel free to leave your recommendations from this list in the comments! I'm pretty sure these are all debuts but I'm not 100% certain on a few of them so if you know any that aren't please let me know so I can take them off the list - I'd hate to be half way through a book during the readathon to find out it doesn't count!

The second readathon I'll be taking part in is an old favourite Once Upon a Read-a-Thon. This is its fourth run, I took part last year for the first time and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's hosted by Angela and Loretta at Reading Angels, Candace at Candace’s Book Blog and Lori at Pure Imagination (Fun Fact: Lori designed my blog!) this will run from July 8th to July 10th. I'm not entirely sure what I'll be reading for this yet but I think I'd like to take a break from the review books and catch up on some of the ones I've bought. Again goals and the books I'll be reading will go up closer to the date.

I'd love for some of you guys to join in if you can! And I'll be updating here on the blog, on Goodreads, and on Twitter if you want to follow my progress! Once again I'd love for you to check out my 2013 Debut List on Goodreads and suggest what I should read for the Debut-a-Thon! I can't wait to get started!

Once Upon a Read-a-Thon: Day 3 Update & Wrap Up

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.

Wednesday’s Updates 

What I Read: Losing Lila by Sarah Alderson 

Number of Pages Read: 343 

Pages Read Total: 1283 

Books Read Total: 4 

Challenge: None 

Reading Snacks: None, it was back to normal for me on Wednesday so no yummy snacks! :| 

Non Reading Activity: Again no fun activities! When I wasn't busy I was cramming in as much reading time as possible on this last day. 

Thoughts: Read, read and read! 

 That's a Wrap!

What I Read: (In order) Hunting Lila, Heist Society, Uncommon Criminals and Losing Lila
Total Pages Read: 1283
Challenges I Participated In: The Cover Challenge and Bookish Fight
Favourite Book Read: Probably Losing Lila it was so gripping!
Final Thoughts: With this being my first readathon I wasn't sure what to expect, or how much I'd get read, so I was really happy to reach my overall goal of two books when I was only half way through the readathon and even happier when I upped my target to 4 books and finished my fourth book two hours before midnight on the final day! I'm so happy that I not only surpassed my goal but reached the new one I set myself as well. I've certainly been bitten by the readathon bug and have already signed up for another one in August! I had so much fun, probably more than I even thought I was going to, and I can't wait to do it all again with the Summer Wrap Up Read-A-Thon next month. But for now? It's over and out! *goes and lies down for a little nap*

I just wanted to take the chance to thank Lori, Angela and Candace for hosting this readathon and for all the bloggers who hosted the wonderful mini challenges, it's been a blast!

Once Upon a Read-a-Thon: Day 2 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.

What I Read: Heist Society and Uncommon Criminals 

Number of Pages Read: 478 

Pages Read Total: 940 

Books Read Total: 3 

Challenge: Bookish Fight! 

Reading Snacks: This time I went for a "mood food" snack, I was reading Uncommon Criminals so I matched it up with some mini muffins seems as they’re teen heists, smarties as all of the characters are incredibly witty and bright and a caffeine fix - hey! Even the *best* criminals need a pick me up now and then! - In my “I Solemnly Swear That I'm Up To No Good” Harry Potter mug. I think Fred and George would get along very nicely with these mischievous teens ;) AND it was yummy!

Non Reading Activity: Day two was pretty much a solid day of reading, after reaching my 2 book target already I started to get competitive with myself and thought "okay how about now we aim for FOUR books, double the stakes." So I really pushed myself yesterday. I did have a break over lunch though and caught up with the latest episode of Once Upon a Time again totally fitting for the readathon but this time it wasn't intentional - I watch this show every week! And I also updated on Twitter and took part in a mini challenge before finally crashing for a few hours of sleep!

Thoughts: The readathon is catching up with me now and today I'm feeling a little headachey, icky and tired PLUS I have a busy day ahead of me for day three. I can be quite self-competitive though and I'm determined to squeeze in one more book before it's all over or at least get a good chunk read, wish me luck! I feel like today I need that “you can do it!” boost!

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

Kindle Fever Asks... 

Once upon a time there was a bookish fight… 

As the story teller, I now want you to tell me which two characters are fighting and WHY! If you want to, you’re also more than welcome to guess the outcome. ;) 

My Answer 

Once upon a time there was a bookish fight between Alex (Hunting Lila) and Hale (Heist Society) Jess could not decide which book boy in the two series she was reading for the readathon was hotter and whilst she was sleeping, as the books sat next to each other on her desk, they argued it out… 

Alex: So I ride a motorbike 

Hale: *snort* I'm a billionaire I have a freakin’ boat! 

Alex: I am a bad ass lieutenant 

Hale: I'm one of the best criminals in the world 

Alex: My girl has cool supernatural powers 

Hale: My girl has pulled off some crazy heists 

 *Jess wakes up for the next leg of the readathon* 

Alex: You might be winning now Hale but it's MY turn for story time next, we'll see who comes out on top after the readathon! *evil cackles* 

*Alex and Hale puff out chests and shake hands* 

END 

I'm looking forward to seeing who comes out on top after the readathon! Have you read either or both series? Who would win in YOUR fight?

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 ;)