August 3rd-9th

Challenges:

1. Read a book with a blue cover.

2. Read a book by an author who shares the same first letter of your last name.

3. Read someone else's favorite book.

4. Read the last book you acquired.

5. Finish a book without letting go of it.

6. Read a book you really want to read.

7. Read seven books.

So I went into this planing to read at least 5 of the books on my list, but work got in the way. Even with fifteen hours of over time I managed to read three books, however. Not bad.

Books Read:

1. Look Me In the Eye by John Elder Robinson

2. Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman

3. Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void by Tim Lebbon

BookTube-A-Thon 2015 is over and I had a fantastic time! I love the BookTube community and I'm so grateful I got to take part. Although I had a busy week, I managed to get through a ton of reading and complete all of the challenges. I have to say I'm very proud of myself, although the books I read differed to what was originally on my TBR. You'll probably be seeing some full reviews soon. Here's the when, what & how I read over the 7 days.

DAY 1: 

The DUFF: Designated Ugly Fat Friend by Kody Keplinger

Challenge Completed: Read the last book you acquired

Pages read: 140

I actually started this the night before, and I found myself getting sucked in. This is not the kind of book I would usually read but I gave it a go and while I had a lot of problems with it, I actually enjoyed it. The writing flowed very nicely and the main character was a great narrator. The story was a bit underwhelming but I wouldn't expect much more from it. Overall I flew through it, and I would recommend if you like contemporary high school romances. (Although, If someone had said that to me, I never would have picked this up. I'm not really sure how to describe it. Perhaps I'll try to get my thoughts together for a full review.)

My Rating: 3.5 stars

Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor, Vol. 1 by Robbie Morrison, Dave Taylor, Alice X. Zhang

Challenge Completed: Read a book by an author who shares the same first letter of your last name

Pages Read: 128

I enjoyed the artwork, and I found they really captured Capaldi's Doctor quite well. However I found the two stories here to be somewhat underwhelming and unmemorable. Plus, the inclusion of Clara Oswald - who is my least favourite companion on the show, and I'm sorry but quite possibly one of my most disliked fictional characters of all time.

My Rating: 2.5 stars

DAY 2:

Variant by Robison Wells

Challenge Completed: Read a book with blue on the cover

Pages Read: 373

This was a reread for me, yet I found I didn't remember most of the details. I enjoyed it but I think if I had read this for the first time now, I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it as much. I realized how bland the characters, how unsatisfying the ending is. Still, I had a lot of fun reading it.

Rating: 4 stars

DAY 3:

Claymore, Vol. 11: Kindred of Paradise by Norihiro Yagi

Challenge Completed: nothing! oh well.

Pages Read: 200

On day 3 I got sick. It was awful, but I managed to get through this volume of Claymore, which was good, but I definitely would have liked it better if my head hadn't been spinning and my eyes blurring.

My Rating: 4 stars

DAY 4:

Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore, Brian Bolland, Tim Sale 

Challenge Completed: Finish a book without letting go of it

Pages Read: 48

The artwork in this was absolutely superb, so beautiful and captivating. I found the story lacking in substance however, which was very disappointing. I would definitely recommend this to any DC fan, even if only for the artwork.

Rating: 3 stars

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Challenge Completed: Read someone else's favourite book

Pages Read: 254

I read the first half of this novel months ago, but because I read an eBook on my phone, I read bits and pieces at different times. I never got into the story. And,f or some reason, I was very doubtful that I would like it. I think because of the hype - especially on BookTube - I was worried I wouldn't enjoy it. But Sarah J. Maas is a fantastic author, and she really proved that to me in A Court of Thorns and Roses. I was up reading until 4:30am! (Note: I actually had a lot of problems with this book, despite my love for it. But you can definitely expect a review of this coming soon.)

Rating: 5 stars

DAY 5:

Star Wars: Darth Bane: Rule of Two by Drew Karpyshyn

Challenge Completed: nope. 

Pages Read: 218

Listened on audio. This was not only a fantastic sequel, but a fantastic novel overall. I loved Zannah, and once again the narrator did an excellent job. The Star Wars music and sound effects just really add to it and make it feel very much like it's set in the Star Wars universe. Highly Recommend. 

My Rating: 4 stars

DAY 6:

Claymore, Vol. 12: The Souls of the Fallen by Norihiro Yagi

Challenge Completed: nothing.

Pages Read: 200

Another strong volume.

My Rating: 4 stars

Claymore, Vol. 13: The Defiant Ones by Norihiro Yagi

Challenge Completed: nah

Pages Read: 192

This series is going really well. 

My Rating: 4 stars

DAY 7:

Check Mate by Malorie Blackman

Challenge Completed: Read a book you really want to read

Pages Read: 528

This is the third book in the Noughts & Crosses series and it continues to be fantastic, although my least favourite so far. The only thing is, how did I ever think it was a good idea to read 500 page book on the last day! *face palm* At least I succeeded! 

My Rating: 4 stars

So, in total, I read 10 books. 10 BOOKS!!! And now to add up the pages I read...

2,281 total pages

Hey, that's pretty good considering how short most of the books were! I had the best experience, and I'd like to say a big thank you to everyone who made it happen, and to everyone who participated alongside me. I can't wait to see what next year will bring!

Happy reading!

You might remember that I was participating a challenge aka BookTube-A-Thon whereupon I was supposed to read seven books in seven days. Did I succeed?

Maybe... maybe not o.O.

So, from my BookTube-A-Thon List:

1. Venetia by Georgette Heyer || Goodreads

Did I finish this? Well, I DNFed at 35%.

This is written in a style similar to how Jane Austen writes, but for me it didn't have the same social satire element. Similarly, the author was clearly poking fun at the other two romantic interests Venetia has - the same way Austen shows you that Mr. Collins in Pride & Prejudice is an absurd character - but in a romance novel, I want to know more about the main character's relationship. Not these misogynistic douches. And instead of the hate turned love of Pride and Prejudice, the main character falls into an easy friendship with the main romantic interest and... there's not much tension. I read a lot of Regency and historical romance novels. This shows me how much things have changed in the writing styles and general outlook. This book, everything has been pretty chaste and doesn't have the same tension of other Regency romances (published nowadays) since the styles are so different. So essentially this makes me think: this book is not for me. There's nothing bad about it, but my expectations have been changed based off what I've read. If I'm reading a Jane Austen like style, I want more of her work; if I'm reading a Regency romance, I want something more similar to what I've already read. The amount of literary references though is really impressive.

If you want a Jane Austen styled romance, Georgette Heyer is your author.

2. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews || Goodreads

Did I finish this? YES!

A funny, frank book about death (though if you get easily offended, perhaps this book's humor is not for you). Wasn't sure that a comedic book about death was possible, and for so long the MC tells you that the book is about nothing, but then there's the gut punch and realizations and oooh, I want to see this movie. Also, I usually dislike when the main characters break the "fourth wall" and essentially tell you that they're writing the book you're reading because it makes me too aware that I'm reading the book and gets me all analytical and bleh. But I actually really enjoyed how Jesse Andrews used that technique in this book.

The Fault in Our Stars is a pretty comparison title in terms of plot, but the voice in Me and Earl and The Dying Girl is very distinctive, and I would suggest you read an excerpt if you're uncertain.

3. Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne || Goodreads

Did I finish this? YES!

I have conflicting thoughts about this.

First: cool concept. I mean, c'mon, who doesn't want to have enough money to travel around the world? And traveling around the world in 80 days or less! Talk about temporal tension in the story... I like the idea of a cool, reserved Englishman who puts this bet about being able to travel around the world in a limited time frame just for honor's sake. I like the writing style. And I like the epic adventure aspect of the book.

This is sort of a book I would fully like if I could dissociate it from its... context. All the racism (greedy Americans, pillaging Sioux, Indians who are in the middle of performing human sacrifice, etc.), the sexism (the only female character of note gets very few lines and is essentially the damsel in distress who'd been rescued by the cool, reserved Englishman and now felt "gratitude" (or more) to him), the colonial superiority (this review discusses that). If I could forget all that existed, maybe I'd have liked this more.

I would SO be down for a retelling, though, that wasn't racist/sexist/colonially superior.

4. Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon || Goodreads

Did I finish this? YES!

Maddy and Olly are so cute together. This is a book written with heart and written in an easy to read style. A page-turner of adorable proportions; and I particularly loved how the illustrations and other formats (e.g. vignettes, the short reviews since Maddy has a book review tumblr) were incorporated. In the above video, I discussed / showed one of the illustrations of Maddy in outer space while Olly was on Earth. Everything, everything is going to be a big fall title. It already has 2,000+ ratings on Goodreads. What are you waiting for?

And...

5. The Golden Specific by S.E. Grove || Goodreads

6.  More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera || Goodreads

7.  Court of Fives by Kate Elliott || Goodreads or The Accident Season by Moira Fowley-Doyle || Goodreads

Did I finish these? Nope!

My excuse?

 

I was annotating a copy of A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas as a gift for a friend's birthday. That, I finished. So that was a reread + annotation. REALLY THAT SHOULD COUNT AS TWO BOOKS. Do you know how LONG it takes to annotate a book? But annotated books are so much fun to read! It's like your friend is right beside you as you're reading. It reminds me of when I was reading the seventh Harry Potter book with my friend in our hotel lobby, and she was about twenty pages behind me, and so whenever she made a noise, I was like did you get to X part yet? Oh, yeah, Fred's joke was so great.

ANYWAY, even if you don't count that as 2 books, it's still either 5/7 or 6/7 which is a GOOD RESULT. *pats self on the back*. As for those other books, okay, so they'll get pushed off onto my August TBR. Court of Fives and The Accident Season are actually being released in August, so it's my goal to review them before their release date! Hopefully. As for The Golden Specific, well, that one is OUT, my friends. If I have somehow interested you in the awesomeness that is The Glass Sentence and its sequel, you may purchase these at a bookstore of your choosing.

Currently Reading:

I am currently reading Alanna: The First Adventure (Song of the Lioness #1) by Tamora Pierce with Nicole of the Quiet Concert!

When I was in high school, people recommended Tamora Pierce, specifically the Alanna quartet, to me, along with something by Amy Tan. I didn't follow either rec. Some years later, I read the first 20 pages in a used bookstore. I still didn't buy it (I thought it was MG, actually!) until I was in the Strand last year. Man, I wish I had followed this recommendation earlier. High school me would've eaten this up! Alanna's struggles to be taken seriously and treated as an equal in a male-dominated world, while she is training to be a knight and thus dressing as a boy -- totally my thing then. Also my thing now, though I'm more comfortable with myself now haha. I'm loving seeing how other YA fantasy authors have been inspired by Tamora Pierce and I'm looking forward to being enveloped in the Tamora Pierce fandom.

For August:

I have a couple more books to add to my August TBR. Namely, MG books that are being released this month and that you should be excited for too!

1. George by Alex Gino || Goodreads

2. The Wild Ones by C. Alexander London || Goodreads

3. A Curious Tale of the In-Between by Lauren DeStefano || Goodreads

A non-MG title that I purchased and that I'm hoping to read is Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older. Do I think that I'll be able to read ALL these books in August? Uh, well, probably not. But then they'll roll into September.... and so it goes.

What did you read last week? Did you participate in BookTube-A-Thon and how successful were you? What are you planing on reading this month? Have you read any of the above books? Let me know :).

Even though I didn't complete seven books, I think I did not bad overall.

I was kind of still in a readers slump so I didn't want to rush read anything and just take my time. Plus a lot of adult responsibility and a new baby coming soon, there wasn't a lot of time to read.

So without further ado I'll let you know what books I've read and what challenges I completed.

Cinderella by Elizabeth Rudnick

Finish A Book Without Letting Go Of It

Practically Perfect by Katie Fforde

A Book By An Author Who Shares The Same First Letter Of Your Last Name

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

A Book With Blue On The Cover

Overall I read three books with a total of 949 pages.

Why is it that every book I pick up that contains a vampire, their main characteristic trait is over protectiveness of a female character, that it becomes borderline stalker/possessive?

I'm half way through, and even though this is the second time I'm reading it, I'm still annoyed by authors who think it's okay to cast your females love interest as an over bearing vampire. Who thinks because she is a woman she not only needs a man in her life to save her, but a strong vampire is just a bonus. 

I mean, he's lived for hundreds of years, he has an abundance of life experience. Obviously not when it comes to the modern woman. 

For once I would love to read a male vampire character who doesn't think that the female needs him 24/7, but instead actually ask her if she needs help. I'm sure she is more than capable on putting on her shoes....just saying.

At the moment Diana is showing her independent side, not letting Matthew take over her life. But like every other vampire novel I've read (except Dracula by Bram Stoker), it will probably all change soon and she'll be yet another weak female character.

Other than that, I'm actually enjoying the book. Being a history nerd this book is definitely up my alley.