Bout of Books 7.0 has officially ended. And how did I fare?
Books read:
Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers
Moonglass by Jessi Kirby
How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr
Unfortunately I was unable to read Jandy Nelson's The Sky is Everywhere this week, but I do plan on reading it within the upcoming few weeks.
I think my participation in Bout of Books 7.0 was more individual than anything else. I missed twitter chats and didn't participate in any of the mini-challenges. (I also feel a bit like I don't quite understand how everything works. I think I'll have to better research future read-a-thons so I can make sure I'm an active participant, as well as an active reader!)
My two biggest takeaways from this week:
1. Reading two books a week is completely doable, and there's no reason I shouldn't be able to read three books or more during less-busy weeks.
2. Contemporaries may be quicker reads, but I have to be better aware of the subject matter before deciding to read a number of contemporaries in a row. All three of the books I read dealt with protagonists coping with death and heavy situations. Based on my recent family situation, they were cathartic to a point, but then just started becoming a bit depressing. I could have switched up the books I was reading, but I became kind of invested in those choices. But perhaps knowing the subject matter of The Sky is Everywhere (death of a sister) made me reluctant to finish the other books quickly enough to start it. As I said, I will be reading The Sky is Everywhere eventually, but for now I'll be reading some decidedly non-contemporary books.
Be sure to keep a lookout for reviews of the above-mentioned books in June! And thanks to On a Book Bender and Reading the Paranormal for organizing the event! I promise I'll be a better participant next time!
It's great that you've learned 2 things this read-a-thon. I also didn't participate in the Twitter chats or mini-challenges :) I can't wait to see your reviews!
ReplyDeleteMel@thedailyprophecy.
Thanks! Those two realizations did make me quite happy. And I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who completely failed on the more social front!
DeleteThree books read sounds excellent to me! I've never participated in a read-a-thon and I'm not terribly sure how they work either. It's unfortunate that the books you chose to read had such similar themes, all heavy subjects. If I ever participate in a read-a-thon, I will try to remember to choose books that are mostly lighter reads because I imagine that would be quite draining indeed if all the books you read had heavy subject matter! And I imagine I could get through them quicker if they were lighter emotionally.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Aylee! That is definitely true and something I will keep in mind for future read-a-thons. At least I can say that I did enjoy the books overall, despite their darker subject matters.
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