Wednesday, July 13, 2011

DAY THREE: OU Read-a-Thon



Once Upon a Read-a-Thon


Hi you guys, it's Ash and I'm just checking in to give you my third and final update of the read-a-thon. I didn't get nearly as much read as I had hoped to...and only one of the books that I read was even in the stack of books that I had PLANNED on reading. But can you blame me? Linger and Forever by Maggie Stiefvater hadn't even arrived yet and I wasn't sure they were going to so it would have been silly to put them on the list. But they did show and I have no willpower so they were read and I LOVE them both.

And in case you were curious choosing to read the final book in a series you absolutely love is no good for a read-a-thon. At least it wasn't for me. Not because the book wasn't amazing, because it was but because it's the LAST book. I would enjoy a chapter, maybe a few of them, then slowly close the book and just stare at the cover for a few minutes because I knew that once I closed it for good it was all over. So of course I started dragging it out longer and longer. I'd read a chapter here and another there. I didn't want my time with these characters to end. [On that note, I was about sixty pages short of having finished Forever when midnight hit on the east coast...But I did finish before midnight on the WEST coast where I actually live] So there's another lesson learned, next read-a-thon I participate in I will not read the final book in any series for it is has proven itself to being deadly with wanting to get a lot of reading done in a short amount of time.

Books Read:
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
Linger by Maggie Stiefvater 
Forever by Maggie Stiefvater 

I'm Currently Reading:
Nothing

Pages Read:
1136

MINI-CHALLENGES

Let's Play Matchmaker:
Another tough challenge because I've never thought about it before; typically characters stick to their own books in my head so to mix-and-match feels weird. But if I had to...
I would put together Tally from Scott Westerfeld's Uglies Quartet and Gale from The Hunger Games trilogy. They are both such dynamic characters that I think they would do well together. It's really hard to explain why I think they belong together, but when I looked up and saw both series above my head on the shelf they just seemed to click.


Book Recommendations:
The first is any book of your choice. Pick any book you want and tell me and the world why it should be read and loved.
I would like to recommend The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson. I just recently read this book, within the last couple of weeks I'd say, and I loved it. I'd even go as far to say it's in my top three favorite dystopian-esque books. What I loved about it is not only does it cause you to question issues our world is already facing in regards to the medical field; it cause you to question what the choices we make now will lead to. What I love the most about it is that the main character, having lost her memories, is able to look at the issues from a variety of stand points AND talk to the other characters around her to give you the reader [and her as the main character] a more well-rounded view of the situation. I absolutely loved this book and I would love it if more people would pick it up. Mary E. Pearson's an awesome writer and I can't wait for the sequel.

The second is what you would pick as your favorite of the read-a-thon. You can chose to answer this question now, during the third day, or I'll give you one extra day to give that book just waiting to be picked up a chance. :)
My favorite book of the read-a-thon would probably be Forever by Maggie Stiefvater. I loved this book just as much as I loved the first two in the series [which you should really read before picking up this book]. Maggie Stiefvater has a way of writing that is just pure magic. I read Linger and Forever for the read-a-thon, and Shiver not too long before, and I can honestly say it's become one of my favorite series. These books are amazing.

4 comments:

  1. haha nice! you read alot !

    i did the reading but only 2 mini challenges lol :D

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  2. Not nearly as much as I had wanted to, I totally overestimated myself. Lol. Thank you though!

    The mini challenges were cute and I wanted to win the books but I wanted to read more. I only did the challenges when I couldn't read because of a headache or something.

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  3. You did a great job with the readathon! Three books is a lot, especially since none of them are all that short.

    Thanks for participating in the matchmaker mini challenge too! I've never read the Uglies series, but I'm not a Gale fan, so pairing him with anyone but Katniss works for me :)

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  4. Thank you! Seeing how many pages makes me feel better about how I did than the number of books.

    I'm not a Gale fan either. And I adore Tally but something about their mutual desire for survival despite the adversaries they face seems to work.

    The challenge was fun. It made me think of the characters in ways I hadn't before. :]

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