My Favourite LGBT+ Books

Today is the start of the fab LGBTQIA Readathon hosted by my lovely friend Faye and the brilliant George Lester, this paired with the fact that Pride has officially begun here in the UK means that I wanted to share with you some of my favourite LGBT+ books for anyone looking for some recommendations on what to read.

You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour and David Levithan 

This is the perfect book to read during Pride given the fact that it takes place in San Francisco over Pride weekend following two LGBT main characters. Nina LaCour and David Levithan are two of my favourite writers and them writing together works incredibly well. This book had its sunshine and its showers which by the end created a rainbow of a finale. You Know Me Well features the largest LGBT+ cast that I've ever read about and coming in at 247 pages makes it the perfect little read that packs a powerful punch for this readathon.

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli 

What I loved about Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda is that despite being a LGBT book it doesn't feel like a LGBT book and what I mean by that is that this is simply a love story that just happens to be between two guys. There are so many fantastic books out there about coming out and what it's like to be a gay teenager that are so profound and moving and important but with this book the focus was on the romance and I loved the normality of it. This book felt like a turning point in LGBT fiction for me and I adored everything about it.

A Kiss in the Dark by Cat Clarke 

I read A Kiss in the Dark way back in 2014 and it's still one of my absolute favourite LGBT books. The book follows the love story of Alex and Kate but underneath their perfect relationship lies a secret so explosive that if discovered it will tear their relationship apart. This book explores themes such as identity and love being gender free. A Kiss in the Dark is so utterly consuming that once you start it you won't be able to put it down!

Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan 

As I mentioned before, David Levithan is one of my favourite authors especially when it comes to LGBT fiction and Two Boys Kissing is one of my favourite books by him. The book is based on a true story and follows ex's Craig and Harry as they attempt to break the world record for the longest kiss. What I loved about this book was its look at history and how far we've come in terms of LGBT rights and how much further we still have to go. It's a short, important, beautifully written book that is essential reading for everyone.

The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson 

My last recommendation is for the brilliant The Art of Being Normal this book follows David who has always identified as being a transgender girl whose life changes forever when he makes friends with Leo Denton the new boy at school. I loved David so much, Lisa Williamson is an incredible writer and I felt all of David's feelings and experiences as if they were my own. This was the first book I ever read from the perspective of a trans character and it really opened my eyes. The Art of Being Normal is a beautiful book about living your life unapologetically and being true to who you are.

 I'm so looking forward to getting stuck into some brilliant LGBTQIA books over the readathon and I hope these recommendations encourage you to pick up some of these wonderful books!

My Top Readathon Tips

Hello lovely people! Tomorrow is Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon and I'm very excited. Despite taking part in lots of readathons before (and even hosting one myself) the first time I took part in Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon was last year and I absolutely loved it! I'm so excited to be taking part again this year and thought what better time to share with you some of my top readathon tips. I've definitely learned some tricks that help me make the most out of a readathon over the years and so today I decided to share what I've learned with you in case there are any readathon newbies looking for advice or anyone who'd just like to be nosy about how I make the most out of a readathon.

Join us and sign up here!

• Be Organised – For me this is the most important tip because it usually insures that the readathon runs smoothly for me. The day before a readathon I like to go shopping for snacks, clean my reading area, put together a TBR pile and make sure my comfiest clothes are washed and ready for the next day. Being well prepared means that I’m saving myself precious time that I can put towards reading once the readathon has officially begun. 

• Choose Books Wisely- A readathon is not the time to be trying a new genre or a book you know is going to be a bit of a gamble. Also don’t be afraid to choose more books than you’re going to have time to read, that way you’ll have plenty of choice and if a book isn’t working out for you you’ll have a backup plan. I like to go for fast paced reads that I know are going to keep me turning those pages, I also like to put a few books on my TBR by some of my favourite authors who I know I can rely on for a great read. I find that it’s a good idea to read books on different formats, graphic novels or audiobooks are great for when you want to keep your reading progress going but are feeling bogged down from reading a physical book. 

• Follow Fellow Readers- Before the readathon starts I like to go through social media and bookmark bloggers and booktubers who will be taking part in the readathon. I find following other people’s progress really encouraging when I’m struggling to keep reading. 

• Try NOT to Read Beforehand – The day before the readathon I like to not pick up anything to read. For me it’s almost like not eating anything all day because you’re going to an all you can eat buffet for dinner. I love the anticipation of waiting to dive into a pile of books and I like to spend the night before watching some TV because I know I won’t be doing much of that over the next 24 hours.

• Get a Good Night’s Sleep – Make sure you get an early night the night before the readathon - you’ll be grateful for it when you’re up late reading the next night. 

• Choose Snacks Wisely- A readathon is a great excuse to pig out on some delicious treats but also try to add some healthy foods in there too. Too much pizza, chocolate and crisps can make me feel tired and sluggish so I try to eat some fruit and drink plenty of water too. It also goes without saying that if you like to read and eat at the same time try to go for finger foods that aren’t going to leave your book messy. 

• Take Regular Breaks – Every couple of hours I like to take a 10-20 minute break to stretch, play with my dog or watch a sitcom. Taking breaks keeps your mind fresh and it’s so important to stretch those legs! 

• Time Your Internet Allowance- We all know how easy it is to get sucked down the internet rabbit hole when you’re supposed to be reading. I like to set a timer on my phone allowing myself half an hour to browse the internet and see how other readers are getting on. That way I’m not looking up from my laptop hours later and realising I’ve lost a large chunk of those precious 24 hours online. 

• Put Books You Aren’t Enjoying Down – This is something I find really difficult to do because I usually like to finish a book even if I’m not enjoying it all that much. The readathon is not the time to be slogging through a book you aren’t enjoying so if like me you like to finish a book, put it down just for the readathon. Telling myself that I can go back to it after the 24 hours are up really helps. 

• Sleep If You Need To – I’m an insomniac so staying up all night reading is not a good idea for me. I try not to feel guilty over the fact that I need to sleep. If you’re getting to the point where you’re reading the same sentence over and over again because you keep drifting off put the book down and get some sleep. You’re only wasting precious time making slow progress; you may as well catch some sleep and try again when you’re feeling fresh and alert. 

 Because the readathon is on for such a short amount of time I won't be posting updates on my blog but you can follow me on Twitter, Instagram and Goodreads to see how I'm getting along. Read lots and have fun!

YALC Readathon Guest Post: Katherine Woodfine talks YALC behind the scenes

Good morning readathoners! It's day one of the YALC Readathon and I hope that you're just as excited as I am to read some amazing books this week!

Throughout the readathon myself and my co-hosts Carly, Vicky and Michelle will be sharing guest posts from the YALC authors but today to kick the readathon off I have a very special guest post from Katherine Woodfine who works at Booktrust and is part of the team putting YALC together. She's here today to talk about how YALC came about and to give us an insiders look at what it takes to organize such a big book event. Without further ado it's over to Katherine.

YALC: the story so far by Katherine Woodfine

I’m lucky enough to manage the Children’s Laureate programme at Booktrust – which currently, of course, means working with the fabulous 2013-2015 Waterstones Children’s Laureate, Malorie Blackman.

But if that alone wasn’t enough of a treat, I’m also currently organising Malorie’s major Laureate project – the UK’s first Young Adult Literature Convention! Today I’m here to tell you the inside story of YALC, and how the event came about.

When Malorie was appointed as Laureate in June 2013, one of the key things she wanted to do was ‘make reading irresistible’ to young people. With research showing that only 3 in 10 young people read daily out of class, and a fifth of young people saying they’d be embarrassed if a friend saw them reading, she knew she wanted to change perceptions and get ‘more young people reading more’ – but how?

As it happened, the UK’s Young Adult publishers had already been talking about an exciting new idea to put a spotlight on books for young people. Inspired by events in the USA, they wanted to hold the UK’s first YA Lit Con, and had even had some conversations with Showmasters (the organisation behind London Film and Comic Con) about hosting it – but they were short of someone to take the project forward.

As the first Laureate primarily known for writing for teens and young adults, Malorie was the perfect person to step in – and the Children’s Laureate team were on hand and ready to help make the event happen!

Our first job was to go along to LFCC and conduct some ‘research’. We went along for the day with Malorie and had a brilliant time – celebrity spotting in the Green Room, admiring the incredible outfits, and Malorie even had her photo taken in the Iron Throne. We all loved it and knew that LFCC would be the perfect home for the event, where books could sit alongside films, TV and comics.

So far, so good. But to get an event as ambitious of YALC off the ground, we knew we would need a lot of help. Enter the Young Adult publishers – as well as getting lots of advice from them, we also recruited a fantastic YALC Committee of publisher enthusiasts to help us with all the planning. Our brilliant Children’s Laureate PR agency Riot Communications came on board, and Laureate sponsors Waterstones confirmed they would be able to provide a bookshop for the event. We were also delighted to be able to secure additional support for YALC from Prudential Plc, as well as the Authors Licensing and Collecting Society.

We got the ball rolling by inviting all the UK’s YA publishers to suggest topics and authors, and then we started work with Malorie to put the programme together. This was the really hard part - there were so many brilliant ideas and fantastic authors put forward that we could easily have planned a whole week of events, never mind just a weekend!

We announced plans for YALC at the Winter 2013 LFCC, with a special event with Malorie and three other YA authors - Anthony McGowan, Lucy Christopher and Meg Rosoff. The event was great, but it was even more exciting to see the explosion of excitement about YALC from authors, bloggers and readers.

Several months, many meetings, and an insane number of emails and spreadsheets later, we’re now (whisper it…) just a few weeks away from YALC itself!

Our full schedule for the event has been revealed, including 50 amazing authors and a host of industry experts. We have panel events covering everything from fantasy to horror to how to get published; workshop sessions where you can get tips on writing, creating comics, and even pitch your work to agents; and of course, book signings with all our participating authors. There will be lots of books to buy in our YALC bookshop provided by Waterstones – and of course there will be all kinds of other fun book activities and surprise goings-on to enjoy throughout the weekend!

We hope that YALC will offer something for everyone, from the chance to meet megastar authors to the opportunity to hear from new voices and discover exciting debuts. We want the event to be an amazing experience for all those who love books – but also a great way to show those who might not currently be keen readers just how exciting and inspiring YA books can be!

All you need to come along to YALC and join the fun is a pass to LFCC – find out more here. But if you can’t make it, don’t despair – we’ll be photographing, filming and live-tweeting throughout the event, and sharing as much as we can online. Follow us on Twitter @yalc_uk for all the latest news.

Planning the event has been a real learning curve – but one that we hope will conclude with an amazingly fun and memorable event for everyone, which will help create a buzz around reading for young people, and shine a spotlight on YA books.

 Thank you so much for taking the time to be with us today Katherine! 

Only just heard about the readathon? No worries! There is still time to sign up here.

The YALC Readathon Sign Ups: Read the books before you meet the authors!

The YALC Readathon is a brand new readathon being hosted by myself, Vicky at Books, Biscuits and Tea, Carly at Writing from the Tub and Michelle at Fluttering Butterflies that will take place between the 23rd-29th June 2014 starting and ending at midnight in whichever time zone you’re in.
 

What is the YALC Readathon?
If you haven’t heard of YALC yet where have you been!? It’s the first Young Adult convention happening in the UK and in case you haven’t heard about it you can find out more here.

There are so many fantastic authors attending and I wanted to try to read as many of their books before I meet them at YALC. I noticed on Twitter that a lot of people felt the same way and so the idea of hosting a readathon was born.

The YALC Readathon is dedicating a week to reading as many books by YALC authors as possible. A list of the authors attending can be found here. We’re also planning plenty of fun stuff during that week and are collaborating with the authors and people behind YALC to bring you guest posts and a Twitter chat which will take place on Thursday 26th June at 7pm UK time.

If you’re attending YALC this is a great opportunity to read the books before you meet the authors and to discuss their books with other readers. However if you’re not attending YALC but would like to join in anyway then please do feel free to take part!

Sounds great, how do I join in? 
To sign up share your intention to join us along with our image on your blog, Twitter, Youtube, Facebook, Goodreads etc; then post the URL in the linky below.

If you have goals and a TBR in mind feel free to share them! This isn’t mandatory.

When talking about the readathon on social media please use the hashtag #YALCReadathon so we can all follow each other’s updates and progress.


That’s it! I hope that you’ll join us! If you have any questions feel free to ask me in the comments. In the meantime here is my own TBR, I doubt I’ll get around to all of these but I have an amazing pile to choose from and I’m looking forward to seeing how many I can read!

Bout of Books Wrap Up!

I'm so sad that Bout of Books has come to an end and I'm already looking forward to the next one! I'd like to try and take part in every Bout of Books hosted this year because I enjoy this readathon so much! I had so much fun this time around, I read when I felt like it and I felt no pressure or guilt when I wanted to give my eyes a break and watch a couple of episodes of Breaking Bad (I'm about to start Season 3 and am absolutely obsessed with this show!) Anyway lets take a look at how I did!

*** Walt and Jesse approve *** 

What I Read

  

Total Pages Read: 1371

Favourite Book Read: Side Effects May Vary! I absolutely loved this book and will have a review for it up soon. I also really loved The New Hunger and Where The Stars Still Shine. Never Fade was my only dud book. I think that it was a mistake to pick up such a long book for a readathon. I really loved the first book The Darkest Minds but Never Fade was very hit and miss for me and I came to the realisation that I'm actually really bored of YA Dystopia right now which makes me sad because it used to be my favourite genre. I think that me and this genre will be taking a break for a little while. There are some Dystopian books coming out later this year that I think sound really good so I'm hoping that they'll rekindle my love for the genre. I'm kind of tired of the corrupt government drama and I feel like every book I pick up is a repeat of the one I read before. I really want something new and unexpected to come along to blast the genre clean!

Final Thoughts: Bout of Books has given me a fantastic start to my reading year and I've now already read 5 books this year putting me two books ahead of my Goodreads challenge of reading 100 books in 2014. I hit my target of reading 3 or 4 books but mostly I just had a lot of fun reading when I felt like it, taking a break when I wanted to and following everybody else's reading progress!

If you took part in Bout of Books let me know how you did! Which book was your favourite?

Kicking Off 2014 With Bout of Books! Sign Up and Goals

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 6th and runs through Sunday, January 12th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 9.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

IT'S TIME TO GET MY READ ON!!!!

What better way to start a new year in reading than by taking part in a readathon? This is the perfect chance for me to dive into some shiny new 2014 titles, read some of the books I got for Christmas and eat some of the left over chocolates! It's also taking place a couple of weeks before my birthday so I'm looking at it as a pre-birthday treat!

I spent this morning putting together a TBR List which you can find here on Goodreads. I have 15 books to give me plenty of variety depending on my mood and I'd be happy to read three or four of these, any higher would be an added bonus! I'll be kicking off the readathon with Where The Stars Still Shine which I'm buddy reading along with Jasprit and I can't wait to get started!

I'm not sure if I'll be doing any updates on the blog or taking part in any challenges this time around. My dog's having chemo and will need a lot of extra love and attention so I don't want to make any commitments right now when I don't know how much free time I'll have. But I will be updating on Twitter and Goodreads and am going to be doing a wrap up post when the readathon is over.

Good luck if you're taking part! Which books on my TBR do you think that I should make a readathon priority?

It's Time For Another Readathon!

Amber @ Books of Amber is hosting a fun and informal readathon this week running from tomorrow to the 1st of December. There are no rules, no challenges, you don't even have to officially sign up. I have a lot going on next week with it being my Aunties funeral and this relaxed readathon sounds like exactly what I need to keep myself distracted without taking on a lot of commitment.

I reached my 100th book read yesterday so that's my challenge for the year completed so I'm not really looking to read loads but rather to use the readathon as an excuse to relax with a book, eat all the things, and stalk all of the bloggers and what they're reading. The more the merrier so if you fancy a week dedicated purely to reading you can find out more about it on Amber's blog here.

Because I want this to be low pressure I won't be doing daily updates on the blog but I will be updating on Goodreads and Twitter so you can follow my progress on there. I've also made a TBR on my Goodreads here and I'm hoping to tackle a book from my Christmas TBR pile as well.

If you're taking part let me know in the comments so I can follow your progress and let me know if there's anything on my TBR that I should make a priority - I have a lot of books that I'm excited about on there which is going to make choosing hard!

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!

Debutathon Update Day 4 and Wrap Up!

The Debutathon is hosted by the wonderful Amber from Books of Amber. Check out my Day 1 Update here and Day's 2 and 3 here.

Day 4 Updates
What I Read: Altered by Jennifer Rush and The Summer I Became a Nerd by Leah Rae Miller
Number of Pages Read: 331
Pages Read Total: 1293
Books Read Total: 4
Challenge: No
Reading Snack: No snack today! Not after a big Sunday Roast!
Non Reading Activity: Watching The White Queen - anybody else addicted to that show?
Thoughts: Today was the last day of the readathon and I was determind to meet my goal of 3 books so I picked up and finished Altered pretty early. I was still in the mood to read and since it was still the Debutathon I decided to pick up The Summer I Became a Nerd and it was such a quick fun read that I ended up finishing that too!

Wrap Up! 
What I Read: 
Pivot Point by Kasie West
If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch
Altered by Jennifer Rush
The Summer I Became a Nerd by Leah Rae Miller
Total Pages Read: 1293
Challenges I Participated In: Unscramble That Debut and Poemify That Debut
Favourite Book Read: This is hard because I enjoyed all of the books I read! But If You Find Me was an outstanding debut so probably that one!
Final Thoughts: I'm so happy that I not only met but surpassed my goal for the Debutathon! And I'm really glad I picked the books I did because I enjoyed every one of them and they were perfect readathon material. The challenges were awesome and I had so much fun! I'm really happy I managed to knock four debut's off my TBR pile but I still have some more to go so I'm hoping for a Debutathon Round 2 later on this year! ;)

How did you do for the Debutathon? What was your favourite Debut?

Debutathon Updates: Day 2 and 3

The Debutathon is hosted by the wonderful Amber from Books of Amber. Check out my Day 1 Update here.

Day 2 Updates
What I Read: If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch
Number of Pages Read: 296
Pages Read Total: 639
Books Read Total: 2
Challenge: No
Reading Snack:

Today I tried the Graze healthy popcorn in slightly sweet. I tried their salted version a few weeks back and it was okay...it left me with a very dry mouth and tasted like cardboard after a while. But popcorn is my favourite go to snack especially for readathon's so I decided to try the sweet version and I'm so glad I did because it was perfection! I only really like cinema popcorn as other brands can be over sweet and sickly but this version by Graze was perfect, I think because it is only slightly sweet. I'll definitely be having this again!

Non Reading Activity: I watched an episode of The Big Bang Theory and another couple of Youtube video's but once again I was going pretty strong with my book so didn't want to dip out of it too often!

Thoughts: Another day, another book tackled, and it was another brilliant one! I'm going strong so my goal of reading 3 books should be reachable. I wasn't off to the best start today as I was having one of those days where nothing will go right and then my huge pile of books by my bed finally fell down (I saw it coming for a while) so I had to sort through them and make the hard decision of which books to get rid of and that took a couple of hours of my time up. But luckily I had another brilliant book on hand so that reading was a breeze and somehow I managed to finish it - hurray! BTW if any of you have If You Find Me on your TBR for this readathon you need to read it! It's one of the best debut's I have ever read! It's haunting, beautiful, heartbreaking...but if you pick it up be prepared to have your heart stomped all over! I'm still picking my feels up off the floor this morning.

Day 3 Updates 
What I Read: Altered by Jennifer Rush
Number of Pages Read: 250
Pages Read Total: 889
Books Read Total: 2
Challenge: Yes

Poemify That Debut!

I loved this challenge something fierce! I think I might be too late to enter the giveaway for this one but I wanted to join in anyway because this is the kind of thing I love! 

Reading Snack: 

Today's snack was a little disappointing. I had the sweet goan curry crackers from Graze but honestly they just tasted like a sweet cereal to me! I'm a big lover of spices the spicier the better! I was expecting an underlining kick with this one but they just tasted sweet to me. They were okay but not a favourite from Graze!

Non Reading Activity: I watched one of my favourite movies We Bought a Zoo, wrote today's challenge, and hung out with my family.

Thoughts: Today wasn't as productive a reading day as the last two days mostly because everyone was home so I kept getting distracted! I'm still on track for finishing three books though so I'm still on target and I'm enjoying Altered. I really hope I get some answers at the end of this book because I have so many questions! In other news I won one of the Debutathon giveaway's and have £10 to spend at The Book Depository! Now I just need to decide what to choose so I can get back to Amber...

Debutathon: Goals, TBR and Day 1 Update

I’m a ball of nerdy excitement because when the clock hits midnight tonight I’ll be starting my first readathon of this summer the Debutathon hosted by the wonderful Amber from Books of Amber! Over the past few days I’ve been running around getting all of my jobs done for this week so I’m free to read, ordering some healthy snacks in (more on that later) and searching through my TBR pile for 2013 Debuts. If you’d like to find out more about the Debutathon and what it entails I’d recommend having a read of Amber’s post here.

Things are a little intense at home right now, as some of you may know I’ve recently lost my grandad so this readathon will be a welcome distraction but at the same time I don’t want to give myself too many goals in case I feel like spending a night with my family or get a bit upset or something. Basically I want to keep this fun which is why I’m aiming to read 3 books. On average I’d read about 2 books in 4 days so this is boosting that number up but at the same time it’s manageable. I might read more - I guess we’ll see how I’m doing and how I’m feeling as the readathon goes on.

I’m still not entirely sure what I want to read but I have a list of all the debuts I own up on Goodreads here. I’m a mood reader and I have a mix of different books to read so I guess I’ll be choosing what seems most appealing at the time but if you have any recommendations from this list feel free to leave them in the comments!

During readathons I like to snack and share pictures with you guys. I signed up to Graze a few weeks ago as I’m trying to eat better and I am loving their snack boxes! They are healthy but so delicious as well with a lot of variety and different foods to try. I’m at that stage where I’m still going through different foods and trying them out so you guys will get to explore that with me. I also have a free code for anyone who wants to claim a free one off box to try them out which is pretty great. You’ll get a free box full of yummy snacks delivered to your door and there is no commitment if it’s not something you’d want to subscribe to regularly. If you’ve never heard of Graze before my friend Ellie has a wonderful post explaining what it is and how it works here. You can claim your free box with the code Y5N9T9N.

I already did a sign up post here so I’ll be using this post for Day 1’s updates so if you’re reading this before the readathon be sure to pop back to see how my first day went! I’ll probably stick to what I usually do and do a separate post each day so they don’t get too long.

Now there’s nothing left to do but get some dinner and pass the time until I can start reading!

Day 1 Updates 
What I Read: Pivot Point by Kasie West
Number of Pages Read: 343
Pages Read Total: 343
Books Read Total: 1
Challenge: Yes

Unscramble that Debut! 

Titles: 

1. IIDFEOFYUNM (4 words) 

2. TAREDEL (1 word) 

3. TPNPOOITIV (2 words) 

4. HCITAGRL (1 word) 

5. NPOSIO (1 word) 

6. TSIPDENLER (1 word) 

7. ITSEHTELE (2 words) 

My Answers 

Scroll over to highlight my answers! This is to avoid spoiling anybody who hasn't done today's challenge yet!

 1. If You Find Me 

2. Altered 

3. Pivot Point  

4. Arclight 

5. Poison 

6. Splintered 

7. The Elites  

 I had to search some debut lists on goodreads to help find 4 and 7! The rest were on my radar and I figured  them out after a lot of staring! This was a really fun challenge. 

Reading Snack:

Today's Graze snack was their Cookies and Cream mix which includes mini chocolate cookies, roasted hazelnuts, white chocolate buttons and sunflower seeds washed down with an ice cold coke. Ellie was telling me how good this was down in the comments and seems as I had one to try in this weeks box I thought I'd make it today's snack! They got the name spot on with this mixture - it was so yummy! What I love about Graze is it mixes a bit of a treat in with good for you foods so you still get the taste and it feels like a treat but at the same time you're eating a healthy snack. Every packet is portion controlled as well so scoffing a whole pack of cookies in one go is now a thing of the past!

Non Reading Activity: You know what? I enjoyed reading Pivot Point so much that I read pretty solidly! Other than doing today's challenge, chatting on Twitter and reading everyone else's updates I was too engrossed in my book to part with it!

Thoughts: I finished my first book of the Debutathon! I decided to make Pivot Point my first read mainly because - shamefully - I picked this as one of my most anticipated books of 2013, pre-ordered it, received it early from The Book Depository and then promptly...never read it. So yeah, this was a book I was determined to get to and I'm so glad that I did because it was amazing! The ending broke my heart a little bit and has left me desperate for the sequel! Overall today was a very successful first day (mainly because Pivot Point totally gripped me!) and now I'm going to see how everybody else is getting on and decide what I want to pick up next!

How was your first day of the Debutathon? What have you been reading?

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!

Summer Wrap Up Read-A-Thon: Final 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 (5*)
Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins (4*)
From What I Remember... by Stacy Kramer and Valerie Thomas (3.5*)
Raising Demons by Rachel Hawkins (4.5*)
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (4*)
Spellbound by Rachel Hawkins (4*)
Total Pages Read: 2024
Challenges I Participated In: Wicked Summer Cover Challenge
Favourite Book Read: Hands down This Is Not A Test it was absolutely fantastic!
Final Thoughts: 6 out of 9 aint half bad especially because I was really poorly towards the start of the readathon and didn't really feel like reading at all! I am a bit disapointed that I didn't get around to Shatter Me though as that's one I was so sure I was going to read, but never mind, maybe next time!

 Lastly I'm going to leave you with the places and spaces I read during the readathon, enjoy!

Because I was ill my bed was definitely my prime location for this readathon!

Later on in the week as I was feeling better I took to my armchair with reading snacks.

And on one rare sunny day I even got to sit outside on our bench for an hour!

Thanks for all the fantastic support during the readathon guys! If you took part I'd love to know how you got on as well!

Summer Wrap Up Read-A-Thon: Days 6 and 7 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: The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky & Spellbound by Rachel Hawkins
Number of Pages Read: 406
Pages Read Total: 1872
Books Read Total: 5
Challenge: No
Reading Snacks: I haven't had any chocolate for 2 weeks now because with my asthma it tends to aggravate it but since I'm feeling better I treated myself to one GIANT triple chocolate chip muffin and it was delicious! I'm a real chocolate lover so it was so good to eat something chocolaty again and it was only after I finished it that I realised I didn't get a snack picture...ooops! Guess I just couldn't wait to eat it!
Non Reading Activity: So yesterday I didn't do an update because I fully intended to get out in the sunshine with my book but then it clouded over and it just didn't happen so instead I spent a big chunk of yesterday watching Pretty Little Liars and Lost but I still managed to fit in a good chunk of Spellbound before bed too so overall although it may not have been the best reading day it was a good day.
Thoughts: 5 books down! I really enjoyed Perks and I'm excited to hopefully tackle the rest of Spellbound today and see how this series ends! It would be great if after Spellbound I could squeeze in one more book before the ‘thon’s over but we'll see how we go...

Summer Wrap Up Read-A-Thon: Day 5 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: Raising Demons by Rachel Hawkins
Number of Pages Read: 359
Pages Read Total: 1466
Books Read Total: 4
Challenge: No

Reading Snacks: Today's snack of choice may seem a bit of an odd combination to some people but I swear it's good! Peanut M&M's mixed in with Sweet Cinema Style Popcorn. A friend of mine introduced me to this combination and they work so well together! It works with any flavour of popcorn really but I think it works best with either sweet or salted. Seriously, if you like Peanut M&M's and popcorn you should give it a try!
Non Reading Activity: I read solidly throughout the day so was finished with my book around 9pm so I watched a few more episodes of Lost before bed, yay!
Thoughts: Today was a most excellent day, I sailed through my book without even trying, it was an awesome book (4.5 star rating!) so reading it was effortless and I also hit my highest page count for this readathon so far in 359 pages. We're due some nice weather over the next few days in the UK so I'm hoping to fit in some reading in the garden if it's nice enough. I have a busier day ahead on day 6 with having to tackle the housework and jobs I've been putting off in favour of reading so I'm going with my shortest read next The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I've heard amazing things for this book and after reading my friend Ellie's review I'm even more excited to finally be picking it up!

Summer Wrap Up Read-A-Thon: Day 4 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: From What I Remember... by Stacy Kramer and Valerie Thomas
Number of Pages Read: 146
Pages Read Total: 1107
Books Read Total: 3
Challenge: No
Reading Snacks: American Style Salted Pretzels yum yum!

Non Reading Activity: When I finished my 3rd book I decided my eyes and brain needed a little break so spent the rest of the evening watching the Olympics, on twitter, watching New Girl and then watching Youtube video's before bed, now I feel re-charged and am hoping to tackle an entire book on day 5.
Thoughts: I'm starting to feel much better now, my coughs settled down so that means I've been getting a better night’s sleep giving my body chance to fight my cold, my appetite is back, and I'm ready to start getting back to normal, wooh! However I might milk this snuggling up in bed all day reading thing for one more day, I was too poorly to take advantage of it before, and you guys won't tell anyone I'm starting to feel better right? ;)

 When reading in bed for a long time, does anybody else have this problem? 

Summer Wrap Up Read-A-Thon: Day 3 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: From What I Remember... by Stacy Kramer and Valerie Thomas
Number of Pages Read: 316
Pages Read Total: 961
Books Read Total: 2
Challenge: No
Reading Snacks: I finally has a snacky picture to show you! My cough is finally starting to settle down which means I can start to introduce some dairy again so I went for some mini muffins which only have the tiniest amount of chocolate in with them being y'know mini and all! They're mainly really fluffy sweet muffiny goodness and are perfect bite sized snacks for a readathon! I also had a bowl of my favourite crisps Walkers Sensations Thai Sweet Chilli which are sweet and spicy bites of deliciousness. Yay! For having my appetite back and finally being able to break into the readathon snacks!

Non Reading Activity: As well as currently watching Lost I also started to watch Pretty Little Liars when I got sick, mainly because I'm not allowed to watch Lost without my brother as he's addicted to it too and I have to wait for him! I'm not as addicted to Pretty Little Liars as I am to Lost its kinda cheese and far-fetched at times but the whole mystery to who A is is pretty addictive! I watched a couple of episodes of this when I felt like taking a reading break and I only have a few episodes of season 1 left to go!

Thoughts: So I didn't manage to finish a book today but From What I Remember is a pretty big book so I wasn't expecting to anyway. It's good so far but I have to admit not as good as I was expecting it's really fun though and I am enjoying it and looking forward to seeing how it ends as I take it into day 4.

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!