Hello blog I miss you! How terrible have I treated you for months and months and months….

I’m not sure how much I am going to come back to it, but I do have plans to clean up and restart my blog back up. And what better way than to discuss the nerdy nerdy thing I did this past weekend – a readathon!?

In the middle of treatment and a very hot July, I decided that the idea of sitting in my apartment and reading sounded like the most magical thing I could do.

I found a post in the Owlcrate Facebook group (lots of thoughts about that group, but that’s for another day) that asked if anyone was participating in 24in48.

What the heck was 24in48??

I headed over to 24 in 48 to take a look. Simply put, you read for 24 hours in 48 hours of a weekend. It started at 12.00 AM on Saturday, July 22nd and ended at 11.59 PM July 23. There were opportunities for prizes and cheering, and honestly, it sounded exactly like what I needed. Plus it allowed for audiobooks to count, so I had no excuse to miss out on cleaning and cooking for the sake of reading.

So I signed up and started planning my books.

…..and knew that would be too many. BUT it also inspired me to clean out my Goodreads TBR lists.

 

Since starting two book based podcasts, I’ve had some low-key anxiety about how my reading time is starting to feel more like I’m back at school rather than for fun. It’s such a thin line to walk, and rather than do so, I’ve just been panicking about it. Because of this, and because I was between episodes of Judging Book Covers Podcast and Fableulous Retellings JUST started, I figured I could take 48 hours to read WHATEVER I wanted. And remind myself that I can balance my reading and podcast reading again.

What I Read During 24in48 Readathon

Apparently I was REALLY BEHIND on my graphic novel reading.

• 2 Books
• 4 Graphic Novels
• 1300 Pages

1. It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover

Published: 2016
Genre: New Adult, Romance, Contemporary
Ratings:  3/5 Moose

This book was recommended to me a few times last year, and  I wanted to read something light to start off this Readathon, It…..wasn’t that at all This book was written kind of as an homage to the author’s life and relationship with her mother. It was a bit heavy and yet a bit of a weird chick lit book. I was happy with the ending though. It resolved in an appropriate manner without seeming cheesy or off? But I was glad to be done with it. It wasn’t for me, it wasn’t for my fun summer readathon, but I’m glad I read it.

2. Saga Volume 6 by Brian Vaughn (writer) and Fiona Staples (Artist)

Published: 2016
Genre: Graphic Novels, Sci-Fi, Space Opera
Rating: 

Saga! I love Saga. I don’t even read it in single trades — I let it build up and binge when I can! It’s always worth it though. This issue discusses Kindergarten and jail? Plus a lot of WTF are the adults doing. The end of this trade brought some tears….but didn’t prepare me for what was to come.

3. Saga Volume 7 by Brian Vaughn (writer) and Fiona Staples (Artist)

Published: 2017
Genre: Graphic Novels, Sci-Fi, Space Opera
Rating: 

Have tissues for this one. It’s……it’s an ending. This one primarily takes place on Phang, which new friends and relationships.

Just……have tissues.

 

4. We Can Never Go Home Volume 1 by Matthew Rosenberg, Patrick Kindlon, and Josh Hood

Published: 2015
Genre: Graphic Novels, Fantasy??? Bloody??
Rating: 

First review:

What….what did I just read?

This is violent and weird and beautifully done and WHAT DID I JUST READ.

Honestly, I still haven’t changed my thoughts.

5. Monstress Volume 1 by Marjorie Liu (writer) and Saga Takeda (Artist) and Rus Wooton (Letterer/Designer) 

Published: 2016
Genre: Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Horror, Steampunk,
Rating: 

This book is equally gorgeous in its writing and artwork. It too me a little longer to read than normal because it is BEAUTIFUL. Also the cats in this book are amusing. I am definitely looking forward to the new trade. But 1900s Asia art deco steampunk with demonic connections and AHHH.

 

6. Bird Box by Josh Malerman

Published: 2016
Genre: Horror, Dystopia, Mastery, Apocalyptic
Rating: 

This book was recommended by a friend who is friends with the author. I liked the concept — a cross between The Happening and The Road, with the added bonus of you cannot look outside or anything the could have been outside too long. If you do, you will die.

This story got back and forth between the “present” which is when the main character and her two kids are rowing, blindfolded, down the river, and the “past,” which is at the beginning of the apocalypse. When the story lines fold into one, it is heartbreaking and terrifying. Sandy Bullock is going to start in the Netflix….something, so I am looking forward to seeing what comes out next.

I also started The Last Harvest by Kim Liggett, which I’ll be finishing up this week/end. I might stick to this horror kick??

How Did I Feel Post Readathon?

I honestly had a blast doing this readathon! It got me mentally back to a good baseline, and I feel more organized to walk the line of podcast reading and personal reading. I feel like I could have done more with time to prepare (I decided Thursday night to do this??) but honestly, I’m proud of what I accomplished.

….Next Readathon?

I am considering two more in August! But I’ll post about those later this week. Otherwise, here’s my face as I realized I could have done Booktube-a-thon, but I didn’t have enough time to plan. So close! But I do have two new ones picked out, and I am also considering what I want to do/need to do to start and host my own. Or if someone needs a host, pick me!!

And finally, thank you again to Rachel at 24in48 for creating this readathon – I had a blast in my first one.