August Reads, Plans, Updates & BookTube-a-thon wrap up #2 | Hannah’s Reads

Hello fellow readers!

The BookTube-a-thon finished a couple of days, so I thought now was the time to share all the books that I had read throughout that week, and the challenges I was able to complete. This is going to be a brief wrap up as I will be writing full reviews on all these books.

BookTube-a-thon Wrap up

Day 1

butter_erin_langeRead a book by an author who shares the same first letter of your last name

I finished Butter by Erin Lange which I rated 3 stars out of 5 on Goodreads. It was an enjoyable read, but there were a few problems that I had with the story and characters.

the_tales_of_beedle_the_bard_j_k_rowlingRead a book with blue on the cover

This was another book that I finished on the first day. It was an interesting read about different tales from the wizarding world of Harry Potter, but it did not wow me as much as the Harry Potter books. I therefore considered this book a 3 star read out of 5.

Day 3

saga_volume_one_Brian_K_vaughanRead someone else’s favourite book

I took my time reading Saga volume 1 by Brain K. Vaughan, and I found it very entertaining (especially when I added my own voices to the characters). It has interested me enough to continue reading the series, but I think I will borrowing the remaining comics from the library. I rated the first comic 3 stars out of 5.

Day 4

family_j_california_cooperRead a book you really want to read

Day 4, I stayed up to the early hours and finished this read. It was fantastic. The story, characters, and writing. I rated this book 5 out of 5 stars. I definitely need to read more writings from J. California Cooper.

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These were all the books that I was able to finish during the readathon. I’m very pleased with myself as I don’t believe I have ever read 4 books within 1 week. I was not racing to complete them but was just focused on reading.

I’m also pleased with this number because I was away on a little vacation and could only read at night or early morning.

Completed reads

the_martian_andy_weirA day outside of the BookTube-a-thon I finished The Martian, which was for the challenge, to read the last book you acquired.

I did not enjoy this book as much as others did, however I can clearly understand why it has been receiving high reviews. The quality of the book is good.

My review will explain more of my thoughts towards this book very soon.

Current reads

This_boys_life_tobias_wolff

Right now I am on page 156 and I am really enjoying this story. This is a coming of age story about a boy, who travels with his mother to find a place for them to settle. However once they do, it is not always the best and what they hoped for.

Not a very good synopsis but I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but I’ll work on a better one for my review post for this book.

I absolutely love coming of age stories, and this one is ticking the boxes so far. I’ve seen the film, so I know what’s going to happen, but I don’t fully know as I’m sure we all know, the films can go in a different direction from the original books. I hope to finish this one today.

the_hobbit_j_r_r_tolkien

Yes that’s right, I am finally reading this book, after years of considering it. I’m listening to the audiobook with this one, as it’s nice to listen to a book during times when it’s not possible to always read.

So far I am on page 56, and have gone past the troll section (if you’ve read or seen the films). To be honest I was surprised that it was so soon.

I’m really enjoying this, and will be heading back to it, once I finish writing this blog post.

How was your reading experience during the BookTube-a- thon?

Happy Reading!

Hannah

August Reads, BookTube-a-thon day’s 2 & 3 | Hannah’s Reads

Hello fellow readers!

I hope you’re managing to get a lot of reading done for this BookTube- a-thon event. I’m really enjoying it so far.

This is going to be a quick update about what I’ve finished this week and what I’m reading.

Completed Reads

the_tales_of_beedle_the_bard_j_k_rowlingOn Tuesday I finished reading The Tales of Beedle the Bard. It was an interesting read, and I enjoyed some of the stories, although it didn’t beat the books in the Harry Potter series. Can anything?

saga_volume_one_Brian_K_vaughanWednesday, I finished Saga, which was interesting enough for me to continue on with the series. I can’t wait to write my review about this comic because there is a lot more I would like to say.

So far I have finished 3 books for the BookTube–a-thon, which I’m very pleased with.

Current Reads

the_martian_andy_weirI’m still listening to the audiobook of The Martian. I’m more into the book now as there is more to the story. I like how I can’t tell how this book will play out, which makes me always be at the end of my seat. So far I am 182 pages in, which isn’t bad progress.

family_j_california_cooperI’m reading family, which I am really enjoying. I’m glad that I’ve started this read because it is giving me so many emotions, which gives so much power to the book. This should’ve been a quick read and that was meant to be finished today, but I was super busy. I am 141 pages in and should be finished by tomorrow.

How many books have you read so far during this readathon?

Happy Reading!

Hannah

August Reads, Plans, Updates & BookTube-a-thon #1 | Hannah’s Reads

Hello fellow readers!

It is officially August and the first day of the BookTube-a-thon. Click here to read my post to find out more information about the readathon and the books I have planned to read throughout the week.

So far Monday hasn’t been a bad day for me, I did feel slightly ill earlier, so that hindered the amount I read, but overall I’m pleased with my progress so far. Although, from reflecting, I could’ve done a lot more reading.

Current Reads

the_tales_of_beedle_the_bard_j_k_rowlingSo far I am just under half way into reading these short stories by J.K. Rowling, they are very quick to flow through and interesting to read. I plan to finish the remainder tonight, so that I can move on to my next choice soon.

saga_volume_one_Brian_K_vaughanAt first I planned for this comic to be read throughout the week of the readathon, as I did not want to rush it. But since I’d been reading this on and off throughout today, I’ve made my way through it faster then I expected. It’s weird how that happened because I wasn’t at first, but then I decided to add character voices, as a way to make it more interesting. Which it did and boosted my reading experience a lot.

So far I am, I believe 70 something pages in, and for now it’s only been 3 stars read for me. I don’t think my star rating will be raised higher, because I’m nearly finished, but we’ll see.

the_martian_andy_weirThe Martian has been very interesting and not how I expected the book to be written. I’m listening to the audiobook, which has been very handy as it makes tasks I need to do a lot more interesting.

So far I am 92 pages in and looking forward to reading more.

Completed Reads

butter_erin_langeI am very happy to say that I finished reading Butter by Erin Lange, it was an enjoyable read, but comparing the book to Dead Ends by Erin Lange, I would say that that was a much more enjoyable read. There’s more I would like to say about Butter, so I’ll add that to the list of books that I’ll be reviewing soon.

the_hero_of_ages_mistborn_brandon_sanderson

I also finished the Hero of Ages (before the BookTube-a-thon started), which left me feeling incomplete. I still don’t know what to fully say about the final book to the trilogy, but I will try and gather words together to create a useful book review.

I hope I haven’t gone on for far too long as I wanted this post to be quick update.

How has your reading experinece been so far in the BookTube-a-thon?

Happy Reading!

Hannah

I’m joining in with the BookTube-a-thon event | FUN

Hello fellow readers!

At the beginning of August from the 3rd – 9th 2015, a BookTube-a-thon event will be taking place and I have decided that I will be joining in with the read along. This is an event where many readers will come together for a week, to read as much books as they can throughout that same week.

There are some book challenges that have been included by the organisers to keep the readathon interesting.

If you would like to find out more about what the event, and even more interesting information, daily challenges, and activities to take part in, click the link here to be directed to the YouTube page.

I know that I am going to be busy from next week, but I really want to have a go at this event this time as last year was a fail. I won’t be taking part in the daily challenges, but I will be doing daily updates when I can about my reading experiences throughout the week.

Below are the book challenges and the books that I have chosen to read, that fit with these requirements.

1) Read a book with blue on the cover

the_tales_of_beedle_the_bard_j_k_rowlingI don’t have many blue books, but when I saw The Tales of Beedle the Bard J.K. Rowling, which is a collection of short stories, I knew this to be a good choice.

This book is quite fun to read as it consists of short tales that the characters in the Harry Potter book are very familiar with. Allowing us readers to dive not only into the world of Harry Potter, but the tales that came from that world too. Fun!

Some of the stories you may be familiar with such as Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump, which Ron mentions, and The Tales of the Three Brothers.

This I know is going to be an exciting and quick read, which I plan to read first.

 

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

butter_erin_lange

For this challenge, I have chosen Butter by Erin Lange. I had recently read Dead Ends by the same author, and found the writing and plot to be genuine and real. This resulted in me wanting to read more by her. I have high hopes and expect this book to be just as great. I will be writing a review for Dead Ends very soon.

Butter I believe is about a person (I’m unsure of their gender), who wants to kill themselves by eating themselves to death.

The book is not that long and the text is big, and so I hope to be able to sit down and flow through this one easily.

3) Read someone else’s favourite book

saga_volume_one_Brian_K_vaughan

I have read so many reviews and watched many YouTube videos, of people claiming that this was an amazing comic to read, and therefore I unofficially concluded this to be many people’s favourite read. I have never read this and feel I should dive in to this story as soon as possible.

This is a recent buy and so I will not be racing to complete it quickly during the readathon. I will instead be reading it over the duration of the event and therefore I should be able to enjoy the story and details to the drawings without it feeling rushed. Plus this wasn’t cheap so I definitely won’t be finishing it within a matter of hours.

4) Read the last book you acquired

the_martian_andy_weirThe last book I acquired was The Martian by Andy Weir. I know a film is coming out about this book soon and because I want to watch it, I was very happy to find out that I could get this one much more sooner then I would have planned.

I’m trying to be as realistic as possible when it comes to this BookTube-a-thon, as I know with my lifestyle and my commitment, it is not possible for me to get through so many book in one week. Due to this I will be listening to the audiobook of this during times when I’m for example, driving, tidying up, etc. In that way I should be able to get through this book within the week.

This book is about an astronaut, who gets left behind on the planet Mars and he has to find a way to survive on his own.

5) Read a book without letting go of it

the_yellow_wall-paper_charlotte_perkins_gilmanThe Yellow Wall-Paper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is my choice for this challenge. This is an unrealistic challenge for me because I know that I will have to put the book down at some point, but I selected a book for this challenge because sometimes it’s the thought that counts.

This book’s apart of the Penguin Little Black Classics collection, and consists of a number of short stories. I’m hoping I can read this book very quickly without rushing, but if it is similar to Toni Morrison’s Sula, which was meant to be a short read but ended up taking me such a long time, due to the in-depth literature style of writing, then I will not be able to finish this book in time. Only time will tell.

6) Read a book you really want to read

family_j_california_cooperI’m super happy that I can get to Family by J. California Cooper. Like all my books I will not be rushing them as I don’t see a point to that, I like to fully understand what I am reading. After I finish Butter, The Martian, and Tales of Beedle the Bard, I hope to have enough time to read this and fully enjoy what it is all about.

I believe this book is about a generation of people living through slavery, the protagonists being a young girl, whose mother was also born into slavery. It’s hard for me to give a detailed synopsis, when I don’t fully know what the book is about, however I have read reviews about it and this was right up my street.

7) Read seven book 

you_me_and_other_people_fionnuala_kearneyThis will be my final read, it is a 422 page book and the text is average size. Although, been realistic I will either not get to this book or I will be in the middle of reading it by the time the weeks over. Either way I want to read this book after I have completed the other book. After that, I will continue on with the usual books I want to read throughout the month.

This book I believe to be about secrets between a married couple.

Phew! I’ve finally finished writing what I plan to read for next week. Writing this blog has made me even more excited about joining in with this event and also finding out what other people are reading and how their reading is managing.

I’m really going to give it my best try to read these books, but if life gets in the way, it can’t be helped.

hannah_loves_to_read_booktube_a_thon

Well that is it for me, please link your blogs below so I can also discover more blogs and what you plan to read for the BookTube-a-thon.

Happy reading!

Hannah.