Once Upon a Read-a-Thon Day 3 + Wrap Up

I'm participating in the Once Upon a Read-a-Thon hosted by the Reading Angels, Pure Imagination and Candace's Book Blog. This is Day 3, the last day of this readathon. 

Wrap Up:
What I Read: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, Breathe by Sarah Crossan and Starstruck by Lauren Conrad
Pages Read Total: 898
Books Read Total: 3

I'm pretty proud of myself for reading so much the last three days! It's way more than I'm used to lately. Hopefully I can keep this up and finally lower that ever-growing TBR pile. 

Today's mini-challenge is hosted by Dizneeee's World of Books:

Tell your favorite genre, favorite book within that genre, and your favorite character from the same genre.

Favorite genre: Dystopia
Favorite book: Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan. I love that it's a bit different from other dystopians and I never thought I would like a book about space so much!
Favorite character: Kenji from the Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi. He's fighting for the things he believes in and has a lovely sense of humor! I like that!

I really enjoyed participating in the Once Upon a Read-a-Thon! 
Happy reading!

Once Upun a Read-a-Thon Day 2

I'm participating in the Once Upon a Read-a-Thon hosted by the Reading Angels, Pure Imagination and Candace's Book Blog. This is Day 2! 

I finished The Fault in Our Stars by John Green yesterday. So that's one of my goals crossed off! It's been so long since I read a book in one day. It felt amazing! I stayed up late and cried like a baby girl, but it was so worth it!

This morning I started Breathe by Sarah Crossan. So far it's pretty good. I don't think I'll be finishing this one tonight though. But tomorrow is ok. 

So for today's mini-challenges:

1. Hosted by Better Read than Dead

"You're in a bookstore and you've just purchased 5 books you've been dying to read, when the apocalypse hits. (Zombie, Demons, Vampires, Dean Winchester vs. Sam Winchester (yes, I'm watching Supernatural reruns) I don't care what apocalypse). You've got one chance at survival, what 2 books do you take and what 3 other items do you take?"

This took some thinking, but I decided to take a survival book (any survival book) and Harry Potter. I know it's not very original, but it's the only book I can re-read forever. For the other three items I would take a sword (I know, classy right ;)), my phone and chocolate, lots of chocolate!

2. Hosted by IB Book Blogging

"Make your dream guy using characteristics, personalities, looks, and anything else you can think of from your favorite book boyfriends."

This one is though and easy at the same time!

Looks is easy: a combination of Lucas from Easy by Tammara Webber and Gabriel Merrick from the Elemental series by Brigid Kemmerer. Both very, very hot. He should have Augustus' personality, from The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (I know I only finished the book yesterday, but I kinda fell for him). I love his humor, but he can be serious when he needs to be and he's a bit mysterious. He just has it all! 

And now comes the though part. I'm just not the kind of girl who has a lot of fictional crushes. So I just don't know what other characters I would like to see mixed up in my dream guy. For now, I leave at this :). 

I'm going to read again! 

Happy reading!

Once Upon a Read-a-Thon: goals + first mini challenge

Hi guys!

I know it's been awhile since I posted anything. I've been so busy with working, finding a real job, actually getting it and then working two jobs for a couple of weeks. But I'm back again! So, hi!

And to get a good start I've decided to participate in the Once Upon a Read-a-Thon hosted by the Reading Angels, Pure Imagination and Candace's Book Blog. It starts at 12:01am July 8th and we'll read our last pages on July 10th at 11:59pm. Don't forget to attend the daily challenges and the Twitter party on Wednesday 9pm EST (which unfortunately I'll miss, because it's like 2am over here). 

My goals are:
1. Read more than usual on work days.
2. Finally read The Fault In Our Stars (I started this morning and already LOVE it!)
(3. Hopefully reading more books)

And for the first mini-challenge hosted by Cover2Cover Blog:

1. Which book are you most excited to read in the coming year? It can already be released or coming soon.

The first books that pops up is Red by Alyson Cherry. I've been excited for months already about this book and I can't wait to read it! Still a few more months until the release, but I'm confident it's worth the wait!

2. Which book would you re-read if you had the time and weren't so busy reading ALL of the other good things?

For a while now I've wanted to re-read Twilight. It was the first book I read after a long period of no reading and I absolutely loved it. I'm curious if I'll still love it as much. 

3. And lastly, If you could meet any fictional character who would it be and why?

This one isn't going to be original at all, but I have to go for Hermione from the Harry Potter books. She's my all time favorite character and I recognize so much of myself in her. It would be amazing just to talk to her for five minutes!

Happy reading!

Waiting on Wednesday (44)

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. This week I'm waiting on 

Five Summers by Una LaMarche

Four best friends, five summers of camp memories
 
The summer we were nine: Emma was branded “Skylar’s friend Emma” by the infamous Adam Loring . . . 
The summer we were ten: Maddie realized she was too far into her lies to think about telling the truth . . . 
The summer we were eleven : Johanna totally freaked out during her first game of Spin the Bottle . . . 
The summer we were twelve : Skylar’s love letters from her boyfriend back home were exciting to all of us—except Skylar . . . 
Our last summer together: Emma and Adam almost kissed. Jo found out Maddie’s secret. Skylar did something unthinkable . . . and whether we knew it then or not, five summers of friendship began to fall apart. 

Three years after the fateful last night of camp, the four of us are coming back to camp for reunion weekend—and for a second chance. Bittersweet, funny, and achingly honest, Five Summers is a story of friendship, love, and growing up that is perfect for fans of Anne Brashares and Judy Blume's Summer Sisters. 
Will be published on: May 16th, 2013 (Razorbill)

I loved The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and Five Summers sounds a bit like that series and that's exactly the reason why I can't wait to read this story! Friends, secrets and summer: the perfect combination!

What are you waiting on?

Top Ten Words/Topics That Instantly Make Me Buy/Pick Up A Book

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created by The Broke and the Bookish. Every Tuesday has another topic and different bloggers give their top ten. I love making lists, so here's mine for this week!

This week's topic is 

Top Ten Words/Topics That Instantly Make Me Buy/Pick Up A Book

It took some thinking before I came up with this list! I'd never really thought about what words/topics make me pick up or buy a book instantly. These ten came up!

Young Adult / New Adult

Obvious maybe, but I do pick up a book when I know it's young or new adult.

Magic / powers

I love reading about magic and/or powers! Harry Potter, The Elemental series, the Winter trilogy, I love them!

 Fairytale re-tellings

When I was young I loved reading fairytales and now I read the re-tellings!

Romance

What's a story without a little romance?

Dance

There are way too few books that include dancing!

Mythical creatures

Vampires, werewolves, mermaids, fae, you name it: YES!

Time traveling

Books with time traveling really need some thinking! Sometimes they even give me a headache! But I love them. 

Dystopia

One of my favorite genres!

Mythology

It's a bit the same as with the fairytales. I love re-tellings and learning more about the original stories this way!

Contemporary

I discovered contemporary as a genre only last year and I absolutely love it! Most of my favorite books right now are contemporaries. 

What words/topics make you pick up/buy a book?

Top Ten Books I Thought I'd Like More/Less Than I Did

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created by The Broke and the Bookish. Every Tuesday has another topic and different bloggers give their top ten. I love making lists, so here's mine for this week!

This week's topic is 

Top Ten Books I Thought I'd Like More/Less Than I Did

I always try to start reading a book with a open mind, but in the end I always have some idea of what I hope it will be. So, it's not a surprise that I like some books more or less than I expected. 

So, for this week there are two lists: one with books I liked less and one with books I liked more. 

Books I Thought I Would Like Less

 1  Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Pushing the Limits was one of the first contemporaries I ever read and I didn't really know what to expect. I was in a bit of a reading slump and someone said I really had to read this one. So, I did and absolutely loved it! (And it got me out of my reading slump!)

 2  Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan

I procrastinated reading this one for a long time. I don't even know why exactly. Probably because I don't read that much science fiction. I ended up loving it! Glow that is, I'm still a bit hesitant if it comes to sf.

 3  Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Everyone was raving about this one about how amazing it is. This always gets my guard up, because I'm afraid I won't like it. But with this one I shouldn't have been afraid at all!

 4  Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

I had to get used to the writing style, but after that Shatter Me was absolutely amazing. 

 5  Glitch by Heather Anastasiu

Sometimes you just love a book more than you expected. It sounds a bit mean, but everyone has certain expectations. Sometimes they add up, sometimes they don't and sometimes the book ends up being a lot better than you thought it would!

Books I Thought I Would Like More

 1  What's New, Pussycat by Alexandra Potter

No YA, but an other genre I like to read: Chick Lit. I loved Alexandra Potter's books, until this one. Her other books are unique and cliche free, but this one was full of them. I didn't like it. 

 2  Book of Shadows by Cate Tiernan

So many people recommended this book to me, but when I read it I just didn't like it. I don't know exactly what it was, but I won't be reading another book in this series.

 3  Switched by Amanda Hocking

I had this book on my wish list for months and couldn't wait to read it. I knew how the story would go before I finished the first chapter. Never a good sign. 

 4  Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood

I love books about witches, but I had a hard time getting into the story. I liked it, but just not as much as I thought I would. 

 5  Slated by Teri Terry

I thought I would love this one, but I didn't in the end. It just wasn't my cup of tea, I guess. Well, we can't love all the books we read!

What books did you like more or less than you thought you would?

Waiting on Wednesday (43)

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. This week I'm waiting on 

Shutdown (Glitch #3) by Heather Anastasiu

The battle is all but over, and hope seems to be lost. Zoe and her fellow Resistance fighters are on the run, having lost their home, their protection, and their leader. They are outnumbered and outmatched by the powerful corporation that controls the world, and the cruel Chancellor is inches away from completing a scheme that would kill most of humanity. Zoe's only remaining option is to chase the impossible dream of upending the Link system, freeing the world from the hardware that controls their thoughts and emotions, and hope it will trigger a revolution. 

The plot requires a nearly impossible mission to infiltrate the dangerous Community, and it is a task that Zoe must unfortunately complete alone. With challenges and surprises at every turn, nothing goes according to plan. Adrien's visions of the future now show two possible outcomes: one in which they succeed, and one in which humanity falls. It all lies in Zoe's hands. 

Will be published on: July 2nd, 2013 (St. Martin's Griffin)

I have to admit that I still need to read the second book in the series, but I thought the first book was amazing! I'll probably wait until the last book in the series is released (a.k.a. this one) and then read the series in a reading marathon! 

What are you waiting on?