Wicked Valentine's Read-a-Thon: Wrap Up (#WWReadathon)

I've had a great time this week with the read-a-thon! All in all I read 3 full books with a total of 1328 pages which is pretty good. I also took part in some of the challenges, but I sadly missed both twitter chats :(

The books I read were:

Wicked Valentine's Read-a-Thon: Tuesday (#WWReadathon)

Whenever I do a read-a-thon, I like to post daily updates which end up forming a kind of journal for that time. I'm keeping this tradition with the Wicked Valentine's Read-a-Thon. Each update will include something about my day and what I've been up to along with my thoughts on the books I've been reading and any challenge entries.

My Day

I'm beginning to think this read-a-thon is cursed. I had set aside most of today and tomorrow to curl up and read but when I went to wash my hair this morning, I found that the electricians have somehow broken the shower casing leaving a big hole right into the electrics. So now today was spent rearranging things and tomorrow is going to be spent getting workmen to fix the mess they've made :(

The Books

I finished reading The Golden Lily and I absolutely loved it! The forbidden romance between Sydney and Adrian pulling her away from the Alchemists. Her struggle between following their rules and being with her friends is heartwrenching, and I love the depth and development of the magic storylines. I definitely prefer Bloodlines to Vampire Academy, and I'm so happy Eddie's story is being continued (hopefully to a happy ending!).

As soon as I finished, I jumped straight into The Indigo Spell. Man am I glad I had this on hand! I've barely stopped reading since I picked it up, and I think I'm setting a record for the number of evil glares at anything that dare disturb me :o Either way I'm only stopping now so I can update here and then I'm straight back into it. I need to know how this all ends up!!! This has all the feels so I have a sinking feeling I'm going to be desperate for book 4 as soon as I close the cover.

Total pages read: 596

The Challenges

Today's challenge is hosted by Alicia @ Book a World and all you need to do to take part is figure out which 2013 YA releases are shown in the snippets and then enter by email. The challenge is open to 9am tomorrow, and you can see the images here.

Wicked Valentine's Read-a-Thon: Monday (#WWReadathon)

Whenever I do a read-a-thon, I like to post daily updates which end up forming a kind of journal for that time. I'm keeping this tradition with the Wicked Valentine's Read-a-Thon. Each update will include something about my day and what I've been up to along with my thoughts on the books I've been reading and any challenge entries.

My Day

I swear it feels like I'm not getting any reading done during this read-a-thon! We had electricians in this morning to do a safety check which meant lots of making coffee, showing them plug sockets and trying not to go insane from the beeping of the testing machines. I also had to pop to the doctors and it snowed! Only a centimetre or so but enough to look pretty this morning...and then be slushy this afternoon when I was walking about.

The Books

I made the decision after posting yesterday to restart The Golden Lily. I'd read the first three chapters before, but I wanted to start over and read from the beginning in case I'd forgotten anything. I'm loving it! Adrian Ivashkov is easily one of my favourite book characters of all time, and I definitely prefer Sydney to Rose which means I'm enjoying this series more than Vampire Academy.

There are starting to be hints of romance between Sydney and Adrian which is awesome and Adrian's snark and sarcasm to Agent Boring Borscht is hilarious :)

Total pages read: 112

The Challenges

Today's challenge is hosted by Pabkins @ My Shelf Confessions and the rules are pretty simple - the challenge is open to all Wicked Valentine's participants and all you have to do is flip to a random page in your current read. Then read four dice and add the numbers together to give your line/sentence number, and just make that line romantic in some way (using at least 50% from the line). You can still enter here.

The official challenge description is:

My challenge for you today should you choose to bandy words with me: Compile some Lines of Love to woo us, Or perhaps fill us with sadness, make our hearts bleed perhaps? Or nay give us a laugh that only comedic love can.

My current read is The Golden Lily and I rolled a total of 8 and randomly opened the book to page 63 which makes my sentence: "We had no right to manipulate the world like that; it was a hundred times worse than what Sonya had done to the red lily on the street."


My entry is (with quoted words in italics):

We had no right to avoid our feelings as we did, it was a hundred times worse than any punishment on the street: I love you, my beautiful red lily, my world.

Wicked Valentine's Read-a-Thon: Sunday (#WWReadathon)

Whenever I do a read-a-thon, I like to post daily updates which end up forming a kind of journal for that time. I'm keeping this tradition with the Wicked Valentine's Read-a-Thon. Each update will include something about my day and what I've been up to along with my thoughts on the books I've been reading and any challenge entries.

My Day

I've been feeling really tired today after yesterday so I've been trying to take it easy, but also helping get the house ready for the electrician who is coming out for a safety check tomorrow. He needs to get at the plug sockets, although some of ours are inaccessible because they're behind really heavy furniture.

 

I also wrote an article for the TM society's newsletter on life as a carer and they're thinking of running it on the front page! I did manage to get some reading done, and I've only really been pausing to answer the reading group questions as I've gotten to each stopping point.

The Books

I've finally finished Deja Dead. All in all, this was an interesting read. The forensic details are fascinating while the the mystery is clever and kept me glued to the page. The storyline is packed with twists and turns and it builds up to an action packed conclusion.

It did take me a while to get into though, as I was a bit thrown by how different this was to Bones but I soon grew to like it. I don't read much crime either so that probably contributed to my struggle to get into it. Once I did though I actually resented having to stop to take part in my book group discussion!

Now I've diving straight back into The Golden Lily as I managed to snag a copy of The Indigo Spell when I was in the city yesterday as Waterstones had it on the shelf! It's not even supposed to be out yet so I snatched up a copy straight away and resisted the urge to happy dance.

I only stopped reading because losing my grandfather triggered a reading rut but now I'm excited and ready to jump straight back in, mostly because of Adrian :)

Total pages read: 277

The Challenges

Today's challenge is hosted by Kimba @ The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, who has invited us to a ball! Her challenge is:

The Ball begins at 7 o'clock sharp and we promise wicked food and entertainment!

For this challenge and to receive your ticket using book covers show us your dress for the ball, your date and how you will arrive.

Here's my dress, date and transport:

For the ball I will be wearing the gorgeous white dress from Rapture and I'll be accompanied by Wren Tigarian. He's a total sweetheart and is drop dead gorgeous to boot. We'll be arriving in a midnight blue 1971 Mustang :)

This challenge runs till 9am Monday and is open to all Wicked Valentine's participants and you can enter here.

Wicked Valentine's Read-a-Thon: Saturday (#WWReadathon)

Whenever I do a read-a-thon, I like to post daily updates which end up forming a kind of journal for that time. I'm keeping this tradition with the Wicked Valentine's Read-a-Thon. Each update will include something about my day and what I've been up to along with my thoughts on the books I've been reading and any challenge entries.

My Day

I had to go into the city today so I took a quick walk through Chinatown as a lot of the performers were practicing for the Chinese New Year celebrations tomorrow. It also gave me a chance to pick up a few oriental snacks for while reading :)

Unfortunately I get really travel sick so I got barely any reading time at all - even reading at the station was out because it was raining! I'm hoping to get much more reading done tomorrow though.

The Books

I'm still reading Deja Dead and I'm a little further in. I've been kind of lacking in reading time over the last couple of days which means I'm having to put the book down a lot :(

The storyline has deepened more and I'm really intrigued to see what happens next. Tempe's quest for answers about the murders and her friend is now putting her in danger, and the case is becoming more complex.

Total pages read: 67

The Challenges

Today's reading challenge is an awesome crossword hosted by Kathy @ I Read, I Write, I Review and you can still enter here :) It's an email entry so no more here but I have entered and it was a ton of fun!

Wicked Valentine's Read-a-Thon: Friday (#WWReadathon)

Whenever I do a read-a-thon, I like to post daily updates which end up forming a kind of journal for that time. I'm keeping this tradition with the Wicked Valentine's Read-a-Thon. Each update will include something about my day and what I've been up to along with my thoughts on the books I've been reading and any challenge entries.

My Day

I've had a not hugely restful day as my sister stopped by after her mother and baby group with my niece and nephew. I'm entirely biased but I think they are the cutest kids on the planet. My niece got me to sit down before putting on her pretend glasses and reading my book to me (well, the two year old translation of my book at least lol). My nephew is 10 weeks old today and has the cutest little smile with dimples.

 

When they left I realised that a) I'm going out tomorrow and b) there's barely any music on my new MP3 which would be waaaay easier if I had any music on my laptop :( So now I'm ripping CDs and trying to remember where on earth I put some.

The Books

I'm still reading Deja Dead and I'm enjoying it more as I go. I'm getting used to the writing style and I'm finding the forensics fascinating. There's also more tension coming into the storyline which is awesome and making the book hard to put down. There's even been some action :)

I've kinda come to the conclusion that the books are very different to the show (Bones), although a friend told me today that show Tempe is supposed to be the younger book Tempe. Either way I'm thinking of them as two separate entities which means I'm not ending up confused about the differences.

Total pages read: 23

The Challenges

Today's challenge is hosted by Beckie @ Bittersweet Enchantment, and you can still enter here. Beckie's challenge is:

This challenge is called The Dating Game. The idea is to choose two different book characters to go on a date. Although each character must be from two totally different books or series. Example: Edward Cullen (Twilight series) and Kaylee Cavanaugh (Soul Screamers series). Once you know who you are going to choose then your next step is to tell me where they will being going on the date. Your welcome to post a image of a certain place as well. Example:

Next, I need to know what they will be doing on their date and why you think both characters would make a great couple. You are welcome to use pictures if you'd like.
Once you are completely finished you may either leave a comment below or make a blog post. Whichever works for you but be sure to leave a link to where I can find your entry.

My answer is to send Jace Wayland from the Mortal Instruments series on a date with Eve Rosser. I think they'd make a great couple because they are both really snarky and sarcastic so sparks would definitely fly. For their date I'd send them to San Francisco because the diversity of the city means that Jace's tattoos and Eve's goth style will immediately fit in.

Their date would be a session fencing. It definitely should have been covered by Jace's Shadowhunter training but Eve's fencing hobby has left her with some serious skills which would leave them evenly matched, allowing them to see how much they have in common and form a bond through their shared skills. After they could tour the city, each picking out landmarks to visit to show each other their differences and sample the culture.

Wicked Valentine's Read-a-thon: Thursday (#WWReadathon)

Whenever I do a read-a-thon, I like to post daily updates which end up forming a kind of journal for that time. I'm keeping this tradition with the Wicked Valentine's Read-a-Thon. Each update will include something about my day and what I've been up to along with my thoughts on the books I've been reading and any challenge entries.

My Day

I've not read that much today as my ME has flared up and I'm feeling exhausted all the time. Add that to accompanying my Mum to her hospital appointment and I'm totally wiped. I did manage to get a little reading done though, and I'm hoping to get some rest tomorrow as I know I have to go out on Saturday.

The Books

Although I said in my goals post I was 2 chapters into The Golden Lily, I decided to start fresh with Deja Dead. I was supposed to start this on the 2nd for a buddy read so I decided to bump it up and get reading.

Honestly, I'm not sure what I think so far. I'm a big fan of Bones and the book is very different (Tempe stays, everyone else is gone). It's different, and it turns out watching the forensic scenes is a lot less gross than reading them. At this point I'm around 1/3 in so this could be because I've not read in a while, or that I've been reading a lot of YA, or even that I don't read much crime. Either way I'm going to keep reading before I form an opinion.

Total pages read: 142

The Challenges

April @ My Shelf Confessions is hosting the Love 'Ship Challenge today and you can still take part here. The challenge is:

Your mission should you choose to accept it is to pick an established relationship (get it, “‘ship” LOL) from any book or series and then tell me what sort of cruise they would go on – we all know there are SO many themed cruise ships, and you can make up a theme too! Where would the travel destination stops be? What fun things would they do together during the week? And best of all, explain why you chose what you chose! Essentially you are their cruise ship travel agent trying to give them the trip of a lifetime that they’ll love! OH and what’s the cruise ship named?

I'm going to steal Sam and Grace from Shiver and send them on a cruise around French Polynesia on the SS Paradiso. The cruise will tour the gorgeous, warm islands providing ample opportunities for some alone time in some of the most beautiful natural hideaways on earth. Stopping at Tahiti, Bora Bora and the Tuamoto Islands there are romantic beaches galore and a host hidden islands to explore. The lovebirds can enjoy hiking up volcanoes, scuba diving and even hunting for elusive black pearls.

For a couple torn apart by seasonal changes, the crystal clear waters and outstanding scenery will give Sam and Grace some time away from the stress of their pasts to enjoy some time as a couple while the perma-summer setting will keep those worries far away.

Wicked Valentine's Read-a-Thon: Goals (#WWReadathon)

The Wicked Valentines Read-a-Thon has just started and I've finally decided what my goals for this week will be. I just recently lost my grandfather and as a result I haven't been reading or blogging, and I've been pretty much avoiding the internet. I'm looking forward to getting back into reading and blogging, so my goals are pretty much just to read as and when I can taking whatever breaks I need.

I'm keeping my goals pretty small to ease myself back into reading. I've been 2 chapters in to The Golden Lily for over a week so that is first on my goals list, and Deja Dead is for a buddy read that started on the 2nd. I've also been super excited to read The Archived :)


I'm also hoping to take part in the twitter chat on Saturday (4-6pm EST/9-11pm GMT), although not the Tuesday chat as that works out as the early hours of Wednesday for me. I'm hoping to take part in as many challenges as possible and chat with other bloggers wherever I can. I'll also be doing my usual daily updates :)