The 'Something New' Read-A-Thon (Mar 5 - 11)

[Daisy]

It's read-a-thon time once again! March means it's the start of Spring (at least in the Northern Hemisphere... sorry Southerners!), and that means it's the time of new beginnings. Baby animals being born, new flowers and leaves on the trees - you know the drill. In keeping with that theme, I thought I'd create a read-a-thon centred around refreshing our reading lives, and maybe trying some books outside of our comfort zones.

You can adapt this theme and apply it to your reading however you want, but here are some optional challenges which might inspire you:

1 ❀ A book written by author from a different continent to you

2 ❀ A book written in a century you've never read from before (e.g. 1700s)

3 ❀ A book from a genre you don't normally read

4 ❀ A book set somewhere very different to where you live

5 ❀ A book that was published in the last 6 months

6 ❀ A book in a format you don't usually read (e.g. novella, memoir, play, short story, illustrated book, poetry)

7 ❀ A book by an author you've been wanting to try out for ages

The read-a-thon will run from the start of 5th March 2018 to the end of 11th March 2018 in whatever time zone you're in - that's one week. If you fancy it, drop a comment below telling us which books you're planning to read or how you've done in the read-a-thon. I'd love to see how you interpret the theme and/or the challenges.

Most importantly of all, have fun and good luck!

[Sophie]

Yay a read-a-thon! I'll definitely give this one a try.

I just finished a book that was published last month, that's annoying! I don't think I'll be able to complete challenge number 6. And 2 will be hard, for me it would have to be something from the 1400s or earlier. Here is what I'm planning to read this week (I highly doubt I'll finish all of them but you never know!)

I believe this book is set in wartime France and Germany which is definitely different to where I live. Also Anthony Doerr is from North America, a different continent to me (very exotic I know, lol).
Young Adult Contemporary is a genre I don't normally read and Julie Anne Peters is also from North America.
I'm planning to read this one for challenge 7 which is sort of cheating seeing as I have read a few books and poems from Benjamin Zephaniah already. I've been wanting to read his poetry collections for years though so I'm counting it.
This is my challenge 6, I don't often read plays.

[Daisy]

Good luck, Sophie. I know you have it in you to finish all of those! :D

My plan for the read-a-thon is...

1. Wole Soyinka is from Nigeria, in Africa, and I'm from England, in Europe. Check for challenge 1!

2. ??? I'm currently studying for an Ancient History A level, so I'm hoping to read one of my (shorter) prescribed texts for this one. Will figure out which one later on.

4. This book is set on MARS which I think is preeetty different to where I live. Can you tell I'm extremely proud of myself for coming up with this one? :D I've been dying to read this literally ever since it came out. CANNOT WAIT TO START IT!!

6. As its title suggests, this is a book of pop songs translated into sonnets, of the style Shakespeare wrote. And since a sonnet is a type of poem, this is technically a book of poetry. I usually avoid poetry collections like the plague, but I'm looking forward to trying this one out.

7. I love this author's YouTube channel and have been really wanting to try her novels. It might also fit challenge 3 because I don't read YA fantasy very much.

That means the only challenge I'm not completing is 5 - a book published in the last 6 months. But I'll definitely be happy if I read 5 books in a week, and I think if I push myself I can do it. Feeling READY for it all to kick off tomorrow!

[[deleted user]]

I'm in. Will have to see how my books fit the challenges as I read them.

[Daisy]

Yay! That's awesome, Janessa. Looking forward to seeing your books!

[Sophie]

I've started 3 out of my 4 picks and have finished 1 so far: just before midnight on Tuesday. It was great, and I enjoyed reading some contemporary which, like I said, is a genre I've not explored much. That fits challenges 1 and 3.

[Daisy]

Nice! I've also finished one book so far: . Man, did I love this. I was utterly hooked all the way through and as a result didn't really dedicate much time to my other books. I have started and , but I'm not sure if I'll finish them before the read-a-thon ends. Will start soon, hopefully tonight. Keeping reading, everyone!

[Sophie]

My grand total of finished books this week is ... 1! I did get half way (265 pages) into which is amazing so far. And I read 3 acts of which I'm also enjoying. I didn't start my 4th pick. Overall not the best I could've done but not the worst either! How did you lot do?

[[deleted user]]

Today I finished
I'm adapting some of the challenges to make it fit.

1. The author Graham Moore is a new to me
2. The story takes place in a different time then my own
3. The story takes in a different part of the country from where I live
4. I read it in a different format (audiobook)

[Daisy]

Same as you guys, I finished one book during the read-a-thon. But I got about halfway through , which I'm really loving and trying to savour now. I also got three scenes (of five) through - will be finishing that very soon. Then I got about 10 pages into , and didn't manage to read any ancient history stuff... well done me for that. Still, I am SO happy I finally read The Martian and had an absolute ball with it. And this read-a-thon has encouraged me to prioritise some cool books, so I'm going to be finishing all of these in the coming weeks.