Bout of Books 14: Wrap-Up

The Bout of Books 14 Read-a-thon as come to a close, and in retrospect, I think I did quite well.

I had set the goal of reading 3 books: The One Thing, The Wrath and the Dawn and Shatter Me. I managed to read the first two and I’m 2/3 done with Shatter Me, which is not bad, right? Better yet, I loved the 2 first books and I’m really digging this one as well. So, 3 books (+/-) in a week, and all of them good, I’m happy about it!

I also managed to participate in 6 of the 7 challenges of this read-a-thon. SIX!!! 😀

• Day 1: Fictional World Travel Challenge

• Day 2: Book Scavenger Hunt

• Day 3: MASH

• Day 4: 4 Seasons Book Covers

• Day 6: Book Road Trip 

• Day 7: What to Read Next

      

And during the course of this read-a-thon, I published 26 posts on my blog. So I’m calling this a success, even though I didn’t finish my last book yet, and I’ll be participating in more of these in the future.

 

 

Bout of Books 14: What to Read Next Challenge

Here we are, for the last day of the Bout of Books 14 Read-a-thon.

Today’s challenge is hosted by Sarah Reads too Much and this is the challenge:

For this Challenge, you need to recommend 3 books (and only 3 books) that you have read this year that you think should be recognized as something great – something everyone should have on their TBR list for this fall.  If you can, say a short little something about why you recommend these books.

I’m going for 3 books that not only did I read this year, but that also came out this year, from 3 different genres.

Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

I can’t praise this book enough. Everyone should read it, because not only does it has diverse characters and deals with issues of homosexuality and acceptance, but does it in a fun and light way, so that’s impossible not to have a smile on your face and fall in love with the characters.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

This New Adult Fantasy novel is just amazing. It’s a retelling of Beauty and the Beast done in a most wonderful way. Sarah J. Maas is a master with her words and world building, and this book will leave you wanting for more. More story, more of the characters, more everything.

YOU’RE NEVER WEIRD ON THE INTERNET (ALMOST) by FELICIA DAY

This book, wow, all the love for this book. Felicia Day, the “Queen of the Geeks” pours her story, hard work and soul into this book, and the result is amazing. I loved to get to know her, I have a newfound respect for her and this is such an inspiring and acceptance driven book… you should read it.

Bout of Books 14: Road Trip Challenge

Hello! It’s day 6 of the Bout of Books 14 Read-a-thon, meaning, just one more day! Yesterday I didn’t participate in the challenge, because it involved shipping people from different books, and I find it so hard to do that, I’ve been putting off doing the Rip it or Ship it book tag because of it.  But that’s ok!

Today’s challenge is a bit more manageable, the Road Trip Challenge, hosted by Steph in Wonderland. “For this challenge, I’d like for you to come up with a list of the top 4-5 states/places you’d love to visit and find a book (you either read or want to read) that takes place in that state/place or a book by an author who lives or is from there. :]“

Because this felt somewhat similar to the challenge from day 1, I decided to use TBR books for this one, and mark a real possible road trip, starting from Barcelona, where I live… so, here it is.

I’ve also started my third book, Shatter Me, today! Finished The Wrath and the Dawn yesterday evening and I’m still a bit hungover by it, such a stunning book, such heartbreak 😦 …

Bout of Books 14: 4 Seasons Book Covers

Hiii! It’s day 4 of the Bout of Books read-a-thon and I’m super happy with my progress! So, I finished my first book and review it here on the blog, and yesterday morning I started my second book of my read-a-thon TBR, which is The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh, and I’m already 230 pages in, I didn’t want to stop reading last night, but my eyes betrayed me and I just had to stop =( – this book is incredible!!!!

But without further ado, today’s challenge is hosted by Kimberly Faye Reads and is the 4 Seasons Book Covers Challenge. “For this challenge, you need to convey the four seasons in book covers – through color, title, cover, etc. You can be literal or take a more creative approach. Anything goes! Just show me four seasons in book covers.”

Given that most of my books are in Portugal anyway, I decided to use covers from my childhood for this challenge. So, I chose 4 books by Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen, who writes children’s books and poetry, and whose books we portuguese children always read in primary school. They still read them, my youngest niece already has some. And they are gorgeous and amazing stories (that unfortunately I don’t remember), and the covers always reminded me of the 4 seasons somehow.

So, what do you think of these covers? 🙂

Bout of Books 14: MASH

Hello!!! Day 3 of the Bout of Books 14 Read-a-thon, and I’m quite happy with it! I’ve finished my first book last night, when I said I would, and I loved it (you can read the review here), and this is the third day I’ll be participating in the challenges. So all in all, good read-a-thon so far. Today’s challenge is hosted by Rocky Top Real Talk and the goal is to do a bookish MASH (yes, I had to google MASH because that’s not the name here…).

Here are my results:

So, I would live in a house with Lucien (ACOTAR) in London, with our 2 kids and Buckbeak, our Hippogriff pet! I would ride a horse (obviously) and go about my business as a Shadowhunter. To be honest, I quite like this MASH outcome, I wouldn’t mind it a bit!

The One Thing (Marci Lyn Curtis)

>>>>  Nº 5 on My 2015 Reading Challenge – A book with numbers in the title <<<<

Maggie Sanders might be blind, but she won’t invite anyone to her pity party. Ever since losing her sight six months ago, Maggie’s rebellious streak has taken on a life of its own, culminating with an elaborate school prank. Maggie called it genius. The judge called it illegal. 

Now Maggie has a probation officer. But she isn’t interested in rehabilitation, not when she’s still mourning the loss of her professional-soccer dreams, and furious at her so-called friends, who lost interest in her as soon as she could no longer lead the team to victory. 

Then Maggie’s whole world is turned upside down. Somehow, incredibly, she can see again. But only one person: Ben, a precocious ten-year-old unlike anyone she’s ever met. Ben’s life isn’t easy, but he doesn’t see limits, only possibilities. After awhile, Maggie starts to realize that losing her sight doesn’t have to mean losing everything she dreamed of. Even if what she’s currently dreaming of is Mason Milton, the magnetic lead singer of Maggie’s new favorite band, who just happens to be Ben’s brother. 

But when she learns the real reason she can see Ben, Maggie must find the courage to face a once-unimaginable future…before she loses everything she has grown to love.

Pub Date: Oct 1, 2015 by Disney Book Group

I received an eArc from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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HOLY CRAP!!! I was not quite expecting this! This book is SO GOOD!!!! This book has been on my TBR for over 3 months now, so when I saw it for request at Netgalley, I asked for it – obviously – and then I got approved (hurrrayyy!!!!!). Happy me. I picked up my Kindle while I was waiting for my computer do wake up or something, and I was just going to read the first page – you know, to get the feeling of the book – and when I realized I was two chapters in and laughing like crazy.

The writing is amazing, it flowed well between scenes and even when Maggie was remembering a past event, it only added to the understanding of a situation and never took away from the present moment. I loved how the scenes between “sighted Maggie” and “blind Maggie” differed, not wholly because it’s the same person, but the way she experiences things is different, and it was well reflected in the lines.

Maggie… oh wow! I love Maggie! Seriously, her sarcasm got me hooked on this book. She’s so strong, even when she’s just giving up (you’ll get it when you read it). I loved her character development, after all, this is what the book is about, how to find that you’re more than just one thing… Maggie is much much more. I also loved that she read like a “normal” teenager… I mean, between all the troubles and deep emotional problems, she still couldn’t say “penis” without laughing a little… come on!

Ben! WOW! Ben! Everytime he was talking, I was smiling… damn kid! I love him. I love how he’s not beat down by any of the various sh***y things that happen to him. I love that he smiles, that he sees the best in people. I love that he’s wise beyond his very little years. Ben also made me cry the most… oh the “Qs”!!!

Mason Milton, oh wow, I didn’t expect to like him so much at the beginning, when he was being so cold towards Maggie. But then, after knowing the why, my heart – much like Maggie’s – melted completely. By the time they finally exchange a few words, I was shipping them like crazy!

But better than each character on their own, are their relationships. Ben and Maggie’s friendship is the cutest thing ever. The Doritos and video games… how Ben taught Maggie to want to be her again… EPIC! Mason and Ben’s sibling relationship was equally great, Mason’s protectiveness of his little brother could be read in between the lines of every scene. And Mason and Maggie… oh well, see the GIF above!

I loved the plot, with it’s twist of “supernatural”, and it totally broke me when I realized the “why” Maggie could see Ben, and why she kept seeing him better and better each day that went by. It’s really how you deal with life when it throws you a curved ball…

I’m totally in love with this book! As soon as I finished it, I wanted to go back to the beginning and read it again – alas, I couldn’t because I’m in the middle of a read-a-thon and I want to get more books in. But I will read it again soon, and I will also get a physical finished copy of this book, because I love it so much! It’s on my Top 5 of books of this year! I highly recommend it!!

Also, Marci Lyn Curtis s so nice, she actually replied me twice to my tweets!!! Oh happy day!

Rating: 5 Stars

*** 1st book on the Bout of Books 14 Read-a-thon***

Bout of Books 14: Book Scavenger Hunt

The second challenge of the Bout of Books Read-a-thon is a Book Scavenger Hunt!

This day the challenge is hosted by The Book Monsters, and the goal is to fulfill the given 5 guidelines:

1. A Book that begins with “B”  (for Bout of Books!)

2. A book you’re planning to read/currently reading for Bout of Books

3. Blue Book(s)

4. Books from your favorite genre!

5. A book on your TBR shelf, or your full TBR shelves

  

So here it is:

Bout of Books 14: #FictionalWorldTravel

The first challenge of the Bout of Books Read-a-thon is the Fictional World Travel Challenge!

Basically is to show 3 to 6 books of fiction that take place in countries other than my own. I decided to go ahead and do it because it’s do damn easy – I can’t even remember a book that has action in either Portugal or Spain (not counting national authors).

1. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz –  El Paso,Texas, USA
2. More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera – Bronx, New York City, USA
3. Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare – Victorian London, UK
4. Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux – Paris, France
5. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden – Kyoto, Japan
6. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion – Melbourne, Australia

My first Read-a-thon: Bout of Books 14

For a few weeks now I’ve been seeing posts about this thing, Bout of Books 14, a read-a-thon. Now, I’ve been itching to participate in one, but generally the goals are a bit too high for my time availability. But this one has no set goals, I can make my own, so seriously, why the hell not?!

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, August 17th and runs through Sunday, August 23th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 14 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

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Reading Goals:

I’ll set my goals reasonably, because I don’t want to fail miserably on my first attempt at a Read-a-thon (and because I still need to get some actual work done during this week). So, I plan to read 3 books:

1. The One Thing by Marci Lyn Curtis – I started this one last night and I’m loving it so far. I’m having a really big problem putting it down, which again, is not convenient because I do need to work. This is an eARC and want to finish it tomorrow at most.

2. The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh – this one is in my August TBR and I have to finish it by August 22, because I want to participate on the August readalong hosted by BIBLIOPHILE GATHERING.

3. Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi – which is also in my August TBR, but I’ve been putting it off because I wanted to get a move on on some ARCs (to get my stats up on Netgalley). But I’ll wait no more, it will be done before next sunday.

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So this is it, let’s see how it goes. Ideally I would also be able to start a fourth book this week, but I’m not that optimistic considering my work load.