Mission: read six female-authored stories in five days.
Why: Because, of course, I’ve fallen behind on my annual Goodreads Reading Challenge.
By how many books, you ask?
By six books 🤦♀️.
The TBR: We’re just going to wing it this time. I’m a self-proclaimed mood reader anyways.
Wish me luck 😬:
March 26, 2019
12:06 P.M
Off to a late start today.
Right now I’m trying to figure out what book I should start with. I’m thinking something short and contemporary 🤔. Fingers crossed I can breeze through two books today since I have nowhere to be🤞.
12:57 P.M.
I decided to pick up On the Come Up by Angie Thomas. It’s not particularly short, but it is contemporary.
I loved Thomas’ book, The Hate U Give, and have been seeing this new release everywhere lately. From my understanding of the novel so far, it is about an African American teenage girl trying to jump-start her rapping career. The story takes place in the same town as The Hate U Give, about a year after the events of the previous book.
I’m looking forward to reading more about how the social climate of the town has changed (if there is any) and to see how this new plot plays out. I also vaguely remember reading somewhere that Thomas used to be a rapper, so I’m keen to see her hip-hop knowledge and experience come to life in the story.
7:01 P.M.
Hello 👋, checking in a little late here.
My eyes have been glued to On the Come Up for the past six hours (and my butt to the couch). I’m almost done with the story, except it’s hard to call it just a story when the problems the characters face are the everyday realities of countless African and Latinx Americans.
I’ll be posting reviews later for the books I completed in this read-a-thon, so watch out for those 🙂.
9:45 P.M.
I had some dinner after finishing the On the Come Up and then started another currently popular YA novel called Always Never Yours. It’s written by Emily Wibberly and her husband, Austin Siegmund-Broka, so it technically counts for this read-a-thon. It seemed like a light read, so I figured I could get through at least half of it tonight.
Always Never Yours is the story about Megan, a high school junior with a history of failed relationships. Every boy she has dated before has found the perfect girl for them after breaking up with Megan. In other words, she’s the girl before the one. Megan wants an end to the flings, so she sets out on a mission to find a boyfriend who will stick.
It’s a fun concept for a romance novel, so I’m ready to hunker down and get into it.
(ー_ー﹡; ) sleep is good for you.
(ー_ー﹡; ) try to get 7-9 hrs of sleep every night.
(ー_ー﹡; ) this is my bedtime cut-scene.
March 27, 2019
4:35 P.M.
Another very late start today 😳.
I didn’t get very far into Always Never Yours last night because I got distracted by a podcast featuring my favorite artist, Kina Grannis. We’re getting a little side-tracked from all the book talk, but seriously guys, 𝙨𝙝𝙚’𝙨 𝙢𝙮 𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙩 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣. If you’re curious as to why I’m so in love with her, you can listen to her delve into how she overcame her past traumas in the We Dive Deeper podcast.
Now, back to books 😅.
(ー_ー﹡; ) sleep is good for you.
(ー_ー﹡; ) try to get 7-9 hrs of sleep every night.
(ー_ー﹡; ) this is my bedtime cut-scene.
March 28, 2019
2:24 A.M.
This will probably be my earliest check-in for any day in this read-a-thon 😂.
I got busy during the day and didn’t get to pick up Always Never Yours again until about 10 p.m. I wasn’t planning on staying up this late, nor finishing the book considering the time, but I just couldn’t put it down. The writing, thoughtful characters, and plot kept me engrossed in the story—although I certainly have my qualms about the plot.
Again, more about that in my review later.
It’s late, so I’ll be heading to sleep now. I’ll sort out my next read tomorrow 😂.
I mean, today 😦?
Later 😬.
2:37 A.M.
I’m the worst at falling asleep.
Buuuut, I did choose my next book: Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott! This is another popular YA novel, plus it has a movie which trailer was just released.
I have to read books before watching their movies, a fact about me that I dedicated a whole blog post to once upon a time, so this novel felt like the right pick!
10:57 P.M.
I got halfway through Five Feet Apart this afternoon before taking a nap and running some errands when I woke up.
The story is about two teenagers with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) who are hospitalized with lung infections, a common complication of CF due to the high levels of respiratory system secretions produced. These secretions build up, creating an ideal environment for the growth and development of bacteria which wouldn’t usually cause problems for people without CF. As a result, people with CF must take special precautions as to not contract infections. In the case of the main characters, Stella and Will, they must always remain six feet apart to reduce the risk for cross-contamination.
I haven’t reached the part where the story reveals why the title of the book is Five Feet Apart instead of Six Feet Apart 🤔.
I’ve averaged a book a day so far in this read-a-thon, so I’m going to keep the streak going by hopefully finishing this story tonight 😄.
Wish me luck though. At some point, I’m going to have to double up (ie. read two books in one day).
(ー_ー﹡; ) sleep is good for you.
(ー_ー﹡; ) try to get 7-9 hrs of sleep every night.
(ー_ー﹡; ) this is my bedtime cut-scene.
March 29, 2018
12:40 A.M.
Ha! Will this be my earliest check-in for this read-a-thon?
I finished Five Feet Apart (I get the title now), and I was enjoying it… until I wasn’t.
But, I’ll save that for my book review.
After finishing the book, I finally watched the trailer for its movie. Apparently, the book was adapted from the movie’s screenplay, a fact which I probably skimmed over in reading past reviews for the book 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢.
Watching the movie trailer, I could already see that Lippincott stayed true to the film. The casting for the movie was very well done as the movie characters seemed like the book characters that I pictured while reading.
Anywho, it’s time for me to pick the next book. I’ve been slowly reading Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik for the last three months, so I think it’s time to finally get it out of the way.
1:00 P.M.
I’m confused.
There’s a lot of characters and world building in Spinning Silver, and with all the breaks in my read through the book, I’ve realized that I don’t completely understand what’s happening in the story 😅. Whatever I do understand is interesting, but I’d rather not be 60% confused while reading a novel right now 😂. So, I’ve reluctantly decided to pick up Wildcard by Marie Lu, the sequel to the science fiction, YA novel, Warcross.
In my review for Warcross, you can read about how I loved the book until the ˢᵀᵁᴾᴵᴰ plot twist at the end (it’s wasn’t stupid per se, just very upsetting 😭). Wildcard is undoubtedly about to wreck me, but then again, I’d rather feel bummed right now than ᶜᴼᴺᶠᵁˢᴱᴰ.
(ー_ー﹡; ) sleep is good for you.
(ー_ー﹡; ) try to get 7-9 hrs of sleep every night.
(ー_ー﹡; ) this is my bedtime cut-scene.
March 30, 2019
3:49 P.M.
You definitely have to read Warcross before Wildcard. I’m raking my mind to remember what happened in the first book because I’m still 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙛𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙙. There have been some tidbits about the previous story, but they weren’t detailed enough to paint a clear picture of Warcross’ events.
After finishing Warcross, I recommend reading Wildcard sooner than later so you’re not in the same boat as me.
Then again, maybe you have a better memory 😓.
11:45 P.M.
We’ve reached the end, folks.
I read a whopping total of three out of the six books I aimed for. Maybe I should have set my target to twelve books instead because this is my second read-a-thon in a row where I only completed half of my reading goal. Maybe.
No matter the result of this challenge, I’m glad that I pushed myself to get involved in Women’s History Month. There are so many brilliant women contributing their powerful thoughts for a more competent, diverse, and tolerant society—and there’s no place where it’s more apparent than YA bookshelves.
Belle Can Read 
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