Blogging Break

Hi everyone, this is just a quick little update post to let you know that I won't be around for a while. I'm going on holiday tomorrow and when I get back my puppy is getting spayed which will take her a little while to recover from so she'll be needing more care and attention than usual for a few days after the op. I'll be returning to the blog towards the end of September. I hope you enjoy the last days of summer and some of the exciting September releases while I'm gone. I can't wait to return refreshed and excited for Autumn.

Oh, hi there!

So to get straight to the point...

and god have I missed this! This blogging break has been so good for me in rekindling my love for blogging and I'm back now feeling fresh and bursting with enthusiasm to talk books again. I'm also feeling better mentally. My new counsellor is fantastic and although it's still early days it feels good to be addressing my problems head on. I'm also loving being a new puppy parent! Megan has settled in so well. She's so loving and obedient and loves nothing more than learning tricks, she's seriously so smart and is killing it at puppy school. Now we are finally getting some nice weather here in the UK I'm loving having days with her outside in the garden. Whilst I read she loves chasing her ball, splashing in the water and basking in the sun.

Megan

I'm in a better place now and have a lot to look forward to this summer. I'm going to be seeing Taylor Swift in concert with my best friend this month, and I'm also hugely looking forward to YALC in July. I hope that things have been good for you since we last talked and that there are people still here glad to have me back! Thank you for being so patient with me. I'm looking forward to talking books with you all again. I've been reading some great stuff and you can bet there will be reviews up soon!

Revisited: OCD, the Kindle and Me

Some of you may remember a post I did a little while ago called ‘OCD, The Kindle and Me’ where I talked about how my OCD affects the relationship I have with my Kindle and reading. I wanted to give you a bit of an update on this today and revisit the issue.

We’re currently in the process of decorating which is stressful at the best of times and for me a bit of a nightmare. A large part of my OCD is the need to have everything in its place and doing certain rituals and checking to prevent the high anxiety and worry that something bad will happen if these checks are not performed. A lot of the items I’d usually check have been put into storage meaning I can’t do my OCD reassurances.

The first few days I was a complete mess; hysterically crying and having several panic attacks. However over the last few days I haven’t felt so bad. It’s definitely gotten easier and it feels strangely liberating dealing with the panic head on and not burying it under false promises and unnecessary bargaining.

Another big change is that a lot of my books are now unavailable to me in storage. I actually can’t believe I’m about to type this but my Kindle has become my new best friend! I can’t keep rummaging through boxes of books looking for a specific title and so I’ve been reading more on my Kindle. I used to read one or two books a month on it if that but now the last four books I’ve read on the date that I’m writing this post have been on my Kindle. This is a huge deal for me as you’ll know if you’ve read my ‘OCD, The Kindle and Me’ post. I literally don’t know what I’d have done without my Kindle these past couple of weeks.

The stressful process of decorating has been a bit of a blessing in disguise forcing me to confront a few of my OCD related issues. I’ve definitely become more comfortable reading on my Kindle and only hope that I don’t revert back to my old ways once we’ve finished decorating. That’s not to say that I no longer love my physical books. I do still prefer them but now being able to read on my Kindle too is a welcome bonus. I’m so proud that I’ve reached my goals for project learning to love my Kindle. Although some may think overcoming an OCD related fear of Kindle reading is a bit strange and trivial it’s one step closer to overcoming all aspects of my OCD that have ultimately controlled my life for years and I couldn’t be happier!

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’m Back!

So even though I’m still not 100% I’m getting there! And today I spent the afternoon updating the blog getting it ready for the Autumn and Winter so I can start posting again and I’m so happy to be getting back into blogging! Because I’m not 100% better yet and I haven’t blogged or written a review properly in months I’m going to be dipping my toe into the blogging waters to start with and taking it slow and steady until I’m caught up. Luckily with my headaches I didn’t read a lot whilst I’ve been away so you guys haven’t been missing out on much. But now I’m getting back into reading I can’t wait to write some reviews again and let you guys know which books I’ve been loving. First things first though, I’m going to be making a couple of Youtube video’s over the weekend simply because they’re quicker and easier to do and me talking to a camera is not as harsh on my head as typing up a post. I’m planning on doing a Halloween TBR Pile video, a Letterbox Love, and possibly trying out a video review for the first time. I’ve also got a guest post with an author planned, some back logged reviews to catch up on and of course I’ll be doing my reading picks for Halloween as I do every year later on in the month.

Anyway this is really just a quick update to let you guys know that you can be expecting some posts from me really soon, and that I’ve missed blogging and reading so much and am so happy to be back in the game. Thank you guys for being so patient whilst I was gone I hope you had a wonderful end to the summer and are looking forward to hearing about some excellent books to snuggle up with under a blanket with a mug of hot chocolate as the nights and the cold start drawing in!

Illness Update

I cannot tell you how frustrating it is to be ill for this amount of time. I’m coming up to two months now and I can’t tell you how much I wish I just felt normal! I had an excellent time on holiday and was starting to feel much better and so it was time to come off my pain medication and BAM! Medication withdrawal kicks in. Apparently this is perfectly normal and can last for a week or two and consists of splitting headaches, nausea and vomiting and other pleasantries. After having such a lovely holiday and seeing the light at the end of the tunnel only to then have it cruelly snatched away is just exasperating. And I’m really hoping it is just withdrawal from my meds and not another illness on top of everything else.

It’s got to the point where I’ve become really teary and depressed because I literally can’t do anything. Yesterday I slept the day away with 15 hours sleep, the blog is so behind, I have so much to catch up on and I’ve only read one book so far this month. I’m so bored and fed up of not being able to do anything remotely fun or productive that I can’t tell you how badly I just wish things where back to normal. I sat down today hoping to get the blog back up to speed and this headache is just not letting it happen, so it’s back to bed again for me as per usual.

I really want to thank you guys for hanging in there with me through this horrible time and for the lovely messages I’ve had. How understanding and patient you guys are being makes me feel like the luckiest blogger in the world and I really hope I feel better soon and can get back to blogging because you have no idea how much I’ve missed it!

Hopefully this is just a withdrawal thing and I’ll be back with you guys in a week or so, and I hope you’re getting in a lot more reading than I am!

Thank you for being so patient and wonderful,

Jess x

Update: A Post Full Of Plaguey-ness

So since my last post was 10 days ago I figured some of you might be starting to wonder where I’ve been and it’s taken me 10 days to summon the energy to write this one single update which might give you an idea of just how crappy I’ve been feeling. If you follow me on twitter you may know that I’ve been ill with several things back to back for a few week’s now from a cold to my asthma playing up to whooping cough to a current ear infection my body has been full of plague yuckyness lately and after three weeks of being ill I’m beginning to forget what normal feels like, seriously guys I can’t remember the last time I had a good night’s sleep with my cough and now my cough AND my earache keeping me awake at all hours.

I’m on a load of different medication and between antibiotics and only having a few hours’ sleep a night I couldn’t string together a coherent review if I tried. I’ve put off and put off doing this post as I was so sure I’d be better soon but it just seems to be one thing after another so I’ve decided to take a blogging break for a few week’s so I can rest and get my immune system back into shape. I go on holiday in 2 week’s so I definitely want to be feeling better for that and then I was going to take a blogging break whilst I was away anyway so hopefully when I return on the 15th September I’ll be feeling much better and can get back to normal.

You guys have no idea how sucky I’ve been feeling with all this illness (or you might if you’ve seen my Moaning Myrtle tweets!) and how frustrated I am to be having to take such a long break from the blog especially as I was supposed to be taking part in Review Copy Cleanup this month but after a lot of thought I thought it would be wise to use the next two weeks to rest up.

I’m going to wrap up there and stop rambling on so I can go back to sleep, I hope you guys understand that I need to look after me for a while and as much as I love blogging and see it as a fun hobby not a chore it does take up so much time and focus when what I need to be focusing on right now is getting better.

I hope you all enjoy those last few weeks of summer, stay well, and happy reading till next time guys! See you in a few weeks!

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!

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

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

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

 Sun 

A teeny bikni 

Beach umbrella 

Sandcastle 

Oceanscape or a beach scene 

Sunflower 

An American flag (4th of July) 

Lemonade/Iced Tea 

Sunset 

Sailboat 

Camping equipment (tent, sleeping bag, etc.) 

Sunglasses 

Swimming Pool 

Sun bather 

Picnic 

 I found them all!

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

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

The Beach Cafe by Lucy Diamond for Beach Umbrella and Sunglasses

Sandcastles: Part 1 by Robbie Snelgrove for Sandcastle

Remember Me by Sophie Kinsella for Sunflower

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

Recipe for Love by Katie Fforde for Lemonade/Iced Tea

When You Were Mine by Rebecca Serle for Sunset

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

Swim the Fly by Don Calame for Swimming Pool

Sweet Little Lies by Alison Bond for Sun bather

To the Moon and Back by Jill Mansell for picnic

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

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

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

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