Crazy for Summer Readathon | Final Wrap-Up

Even though I bet all of you are tired of reading after a whole week devoted to books, I hope you will get the chance to read our wrap-up of the readathon.

We really enjoyed everything about this week. We replied to all of your comments with huge smiles on our faces and made an extra effort to make intelligent and witty comments on all of your posts. The Twitter chats were amazing (I followed more people this week than I did during my first week on Twitter).

Even if we did not get as much reading as we wanted to this week, we made more friends than we ever could have imagined. I hope we can all stay in touch even after this event. You should watch out for a load of comments on your blogs!

Max

Pages Read Today: 107

Total Books Read: 3

Total Pages Read: 1,255! I think this is pretty good considering I worked most of the week :)

Favorite Book: I loved them all! I really enjoyed The Winner's Curse, and The Probability of Miracles is an old favorite.  

Achievements Earned: Library Lover and Summer Sensation

Tessa

Pages Read Today: 210

Total Books Read: 3.5 
(yes, I am counting the half to make myself feel better)

Total Pages Read: 920
(Only 80 pages away from my goal of 1000!)

Favorite Book: Trial by Fire by Josephine Angelini
(The Summer I Turned Pretty was a close second.)

Least Favorite: The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan
(The short stories were not my thing, but I loved the journalistic articles.)

Achievements Earned: Library Lover, Summer Sensation, and Genre Guru

This Week's Challenges

Day 1: Introduction and Two Truths and a Lie
Day 2: Where I am From Poem
Day 3: Letter to a Character
Day 4: Twitter Book Summaries
Day 5: Guess Who
Day 6: Recommended Reads
Day 7: Guess the Last Line

This Week's Wrap-Ups

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6

Also, if you can, please fill out this survey about the readathon. We loved hosting it and are considering planning another one for next year. We know that this week wasn't perfect, so help us improve for next year!

Crazy for Summer Readathon 2015 | Day 6 Wrap-Up

We are in the home-stretch! Only ONE more day to read, finish your goals, and earn your achievements. Do not forget to email me or DM me on Twitter if you earned an achievement, so I can email the badge to you. Excuse me while I try to make up a whole week's worth of reading in under 24 hours.

Also, do not forget that the wrap-up Twitter chat is going to be at 8 PM EST tomorrow. Anyone can join in, even if you did not participate in the readathon. We will be using #CFSreadathon. Please help us spread the word!

Max

Books Started: None

Currently Reading: The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder

Books Finished: None

Pages Read: 147

Total Pages Read: 1,152

Tessa

Books Started: None

Currently Reading: The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Book Finished: None

Pages Read: 130

Total Pages Read: 710

Crazy for Summer Readathon 2015 | Day 5 Wrap-Up

Today starts the countdown to the end of the readathon. Only two more days left to read, earn achievements, and finish your goals! We know that you can do it!

Again, work took over our reading time and our page counts suffered for it. But, there will be a lot more reading time over the next two days!

Max

Books Started: The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder

Books Finished: The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

Page Count: 344

Total Page Count: 1,005

Tessa

Books Started: The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Books Finished: The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan

Page Count: 60

Total Page Count: 580

Guess Who Answers

1. Harry Potter

2. Daemon from The Lux series

3. Will Herondale from The Clockwork Angel series

4. Karou from the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series

5. Anna from Anna and the French Kiss

6. Gus from The Fault in Our Stars

Crazy for Summer Readathon 2015 | Recommended Reads

   Today's challenge is a simplified version of what we do as bloggers--recommend books! Everyone hears about the hyped-up books, so we wanted to feature some of our favorite, lesser-known alternatives. Below you'll find our recommendations, in the form of "if you liked ____, you'll like ____" and the linky to share your recommendations!

Max

 If you liked Divergent by Veronica Roth, you'll like:

The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau

This book is awesome! It's a really interesting, action-packed mix between Divergent and The Hunger Games.


If you liked The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare, you'll like:

The Demon Trapper's Daughter by Jana Oliver

I absolutely loved this series, and I think the hunting demons/monsters aspect of the book will appeal to fans of TMI.


If you liked Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins, you'll like:

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith



Just like Anna and the French Kiss, this book is completely adorable and set overseas(ish).

Tessa

If you liked The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, you'll like:
The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder.




If you liked Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor, you'll like:
Angelfall by Susan Ee.

Crazy for Summer Readathon | Guess Who

I love young adult books. I have a soft spot for fantasy books and bad boys. I blog at Crazy for YA. Can you guess who I am? (If you said Tessa you are correct). 

Can you guess what today's challenge is going to be? 

All you have to do is describe a couple of book characters and we will have to guess who they are in the comments. Good luck!

Crazy for Summer Readathon 2015 | Day 4 Wrap-Up

Another day, another wrap-up. I hope your week is going well, now that we are officially more than halfway through the readathon. Max and I really need to get our act together and start some serious reading, but everyone else is doing a great job! I have been sending out several achievements and the progress reports on Twitter are pretty great. Keep it up!

Max

Books Started: None

 

 

Currently Reading: The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

Pages Read: 179

Books Finished: None

Total Pages Read: 661

 

Tessa

Books Started: None

 

 

Currently Reading: The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan

Pages Read: 60

Books Finished: None

Total Pages Read: 520

Crazy for Summer Readathon 2015 | Twitter Book Summaries

We are officially halfway through the readathon! I hope you are well on your way to a couple of achievements and deep into a couple of good books. Remember, if you reach any of the achievements, do not forget to email or DM me on Twitter so I can send you your graphic!

To give you guys a little bit of a break, today's challenge is a little bit easier.

All you have to do is describe a book in 140 characters or less, Twitter style. Hashtags are allowed and encouraged. Bonus if you summarize a book you've read so far in the readathon!

Max
 

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Sad stuff happens during WWII. Lots of sad stuff. #Definitelynotcrying

#Justallergies

The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare

Girl meets boy, learns she has magical powers, and makes a string of questionable decisions #Pleasejuststop

Tessa

Trial by Fire by Josephine Angelini

Infinite worlds. Infinite possibilities. Lily only has to save one. This should be easy, right? #notsomuch

 

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Where are the tissues? #Ilosttheminthefloodoftears 

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Apparently Percy's dad is Poseidon. And he can breathe underwater. And monsters are real. And they love to hunt him. #noproblem

Crazy for Summer Readathon | Day 3 Wrap-Up

       Welcome back, everyone. Congratulate yourselves--we are officially almost halfway through the week! You guys have already earned a few achievements, and everyone is doing so well. We hope we can keep up this great pace for the next few days. Below we have our progress for day three.

Max

Books Started: The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski

Pages Read: 127

Books Finished: None

Total Pages Read: 482

Tessa

Books Started: The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan



Pages Read: 190

Books Finished: Trial by Fire by Josephine Angelini

Total Pages Read: 460 (I am finally catching up to Max!)

How did your day go? Did you finish any books? If so, how were they?

Crazy for Summer Readathon 2015 | Letter to a Character

Everyone loves to get mail. There is just something about seeing a crisp envelope with your name on it that excites everyone, including book characters. Considering they are literally made of words, our favorite (and maybe not so favorite) characters especially love to receive mail from their adoring fans. 

So, today's challenge is to write a letter to a book character. It can be anyone, a favorite hero or a hated villain. Tell them how you really feel about them or something that they need to know. Make it as sappy, sarcastic, or insulting as you like!

Crazy for Summer Readathon | Day 2 Wrap-Up

Hello, fellow Readathon-ers! We hope you enjoyed today's reading and challenge, and that you haven't fallen into the dreaded second-day slump. From what we've seen, everyone is doing awesomely, and we are so excited for you all to see what the rest of the week has in store!

Max

Books Started: None

Pages Read: 265

Books Finished: The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

Total Pages Read: 355

Tessa

Currently Reading: Trial by Fire by Josephine Angelini

Pages Read: 165

Books Finished: None

Total Pages Read: 285

(I fell into the second day slump at little bit. But in my defense, it is quite a long book.)

How is your week going so far? Have you gotten have achievements yet? Have you finished any books? If so, how were they?

Crazy for Summer Readathon 2015 | Where I am From Poem

   Congratulations, Readathon-ers! You've completed the first day! Today's challenge requires a little more creativity than yesterday's. Your assignment, if you choose to accept it, is to write your very own Where I'm From poem. A Where I'm From poem, originally created by George Ella Lyon, looks something like this or this, and we're asking you to write your own version about how books, blogging, and reading have affected you as a person. Please link yours below, where you will also find our poem.

Crazy for Summer Readathon 2015 | Day 1 Wrap-Up

This concludes the first day of our first ever readathon! I have to say, it went well. 

We had our first Twitter chat. I talked for over an hour with Sarah @ YA Bookaholic and Adriana @ She's Got Books on Her Mind.  We proved that you can have an awesome Twitter chat without dozens of people. We also managed to schedule a buddy read for Dreams of Gods and Monsters!

Our Progress

Max

Books Started: The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski



Pages Read: 90

Books Finished: None
 

Tessa

Books started: Trial by Fire by Josephine Angelini



Pages Read: 120

Books Finished: None

 

Answers to Two Truths and a Lie

Max's second "truth" was the lie. We actually know each other really well in real life and met before we decided to make a blog together. 

Tessa's third "truth" was the lie. I have devoutly been on Team Gale since the beginning of the series and I always will be. I'm a little insulted if you thought otherwise.

Congrats to everyone who guessed correctly!

Crazy for Summer Readathon 2015 | Introduction

       The day has finally come--the start of our first readathon! We have been carefully plotting this event for over three months and it is incredible to finally see it happening! We'd like to give a big thanks to everyone who is participating! You can still sign up here if you're interested. Also, even if you're not participating in the readathon, we invite you to take a shot at any of our daily challenges and link them on our instructions post for that challenge. 

Instructions

Readathon-ers: listen (or read) carefully. Below are your instructions for the very first part of the Crazy for Summer Readathon--the intro post! Your intro post should have three parts, but feel free to add more!

1. Two Truths and a Lie

Yes, this is the awkward game that your teachers used to make you play on the first day of school to "get to know you" even though it took half of the year for them to get your name right. We promise, it won't be as awkward. 

Your goal is to come up with three facts about yourself and post them. The trick is that one of them is secretly a lie (so do not indicate which one is the lie in your post). Then, we will try to guess in the comments which one is the lie. You can make them as ridiculous or mundane as you would like, just make sure to stump us!

2. Introduction Questions

This is your introduction interview to the Crazy for Summer Readathon participants. This is your chance to tell everyone the most important things about you, like your favorite ice cream flavor and the name of your first pet. Follow our questions below, or check out your email!

3. Goals

This section will help you as much as it will entertain us. Here, you can post the books you want to read (we like putting in pictures), any challenges you want to complete, and achievements you hope to earn. 

Sweet Summer Read-a-Thon Wrap-Up

Yesterday was the last day of the Sweet Summer Read-a-thon hosted by The Book Tower.
Our TBR shelves are empty and the paper cuts are countless, but we survived the week.
This was our first read-a-thon, but I think we rose to the challenge.
Special thanks to Hannah at The Book Tower for hosting the read-a-thon and Jessica from Book Review from a Christian Girl for sticking with us though the read-a-thon.
All of our posts from the week are linked below, so check them out if you missed any.

The Final Results

Max

Books Read: Nobody by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian, The Art of Lainey by Paula Stokes, City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare, We Were Liars by E. Lockhart, The Distance Between Us by Kasie West, and My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

Total Pages Read: 2137! (WIIIIIIIIINER!)

Challenges Completed: Read 2 or 3 summer themed books.

Tessa

Books Read: Dangerous by Shannon Hale, The Distance Between Us by Kasie West, Ink by Amanda Sun, City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare, and The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen

Total Pages Read: 2130

Challenges Completed: Read 200 pages a day.

Read a summer themed book.

Cassia

Books Read: The Elite by Kiera Cass, The One by Kiera Cass, City of Bones by Cassandra Clare, and I started White Cat by Holly Black.

Total Pages Read: 963

Challenges Completed: Get to the end of The Selection series QUICKLY.
Try to like Jace a little more.

Links

Goals

Day #1

Day #2

Day #3

Day #4

Day #5

Day #6

Rainbow Spine Challenge

Spell It Out Challenge

Something Old, Something New Challenge

Sweet Summer Read-a-Thon Day #6

I cannot believe that there is only one more day left in the Sweet Summer Read-a-Thon hosted by The Book Tower.
The words are starting to blur on the pages and the fatigue is catching up to us. One more day of reading is almost too much to handle, but we only have one more day to finish all of our goals, challenges, and TBR books. Wish us luck.
Yesterday, we all completed the Something Old, Something New Challenge hosted by Beth at the Coffee House.

Max

 

Books Started: The Distance Between Us by Kasie West
Books Finished: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart and The Distance Between Us by Kasie West

Pages Read: 479

Impressions: I'm not entirely sure, but I think I liked We Were Liars. It was definitely worth reading but if I told you how I felt about it, I'd probably by lying, because I'm really not sure. Go out and read it, though! It was interesting, that's for sure. The Distance Between Us was adorable and loads of fun, and the main character was snark-tastic and hysterical.

Frustrations: I wasn't the biggest fan of the writing style of We Were Liars---there was sometimes a lack of paragraphs and the narrator Cadence described things in odd ways, but that was just a small issue.

Challenges Completed: The Something Old, Something New challenge. Read an average of 200 pages. Read a summer themed book (We Were Liars).

Total Books Finished: 6

Total Pages Read: 1743

 

 

Tessa

 

Books Started: Ink by Amanda Sun

Books Finished: The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen

Pages Read: 371

Impressions: Ink has me intrigued. I have not read a book about Japanese culture before, and I am very open to the idea. I have a strong case of wanderlust, and anything that lets me travel around the world without leaving my home is extraordinary.

Frustrations: The Moon and More did not live up to the expectation of a Sarah Dessen novel. Some things I did like, but I found the book generally shallow and lacking the charm that Dessen usually incorporates into her stories. I felt like I was reading a book full of stereotypes.

Challenges Completed: Read 200 pages a day.
Read a summer-themed book (The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen).
Something Old, Something New Challenge

Total Books Finished: 4

Total Pages Read: 1761 (I beat Max by 18 pages!)

 

 

Cassia

 

Books Started: None

Books Finished: None

Pages Read: 80

Impressions: I do not like Clary

Frustrations: Clary. Even though I have read it before, her decisions still surprise (and annoy) me.

Challenges Completed: Something Old, Something New Challenge

Total Books Finished: 2

Total Pages Read: 898

 

Sweet Summer Read-a-Thon: Something Old, Something New Challenge

This is a fun challenge hosted by Beth at the Coffee House.

The rules are simple:

• Post the earliest book that you remember reading (it has to be a full length novel, not a children's book)


• Post the latest book that you finished reading

Max
 

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Tessa 

The Magician's Nephew by C. S. Lewis

 

 

Dangerous by Shannon Hale

Cassia
 

 

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The One by Kiera Cass

Sweet Summer Read-a-thon Day #5

This is the end of the fifth day of the Sweet Summer Read-a-Thon hosted by The Book Tower.
Even though yesterday was an unlucky day (being Friday the 13th) we managed to keep reading (and avoided being killed by maniacs with chainsaws, but just barely).
On the other hand, our reading was anything but scary, even though Tessa's was a bit dangerous.

Max 

Books Started: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Books Finished: City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

Pages Read: 382

Impressions: Finishing City of Lost Souls made me excited to read City of Heavenly Fire. I think I liked reading it this time around more than I did the first time (which may not be saying much because I distinctly remember not enjoying it the first time.) I'm not sure what I think of We Were Liars yet.

Frustrations: Once again, Clary's decisions didn't really make sense to me most of the time.

Challenges Completed: Read 200 pages.

Total Books Finished: 4

Total Pages Read: 1264

Tessa

Books Started: None

Books Finished: Dangerous by Shannon Hale (see the pun in the intro)

Pages Read: 204

Impressions: I loved the ending of Dangerous, I did not see it coming! I love how the book kept me in suspense throughout the entire book. I am slowly progressing in The Moon and More.

Frustrations: I think that I am in action deprivation. Since I finished Dangerous, I am craving action from The Moon and More, but I have figured out that just because "moon" is in the title does not mean that it is about fighting aliens.

Challenges Completed: Read 200 pages every day.

Total Books Finished: 3

Total Pages Read: 1390 :)

Cassia

Books Started: None

Books Finished: None

Pages Read: 111 :(

Impressions: Umm, basically the same thing as last time: I love this book!!!! I have decided to get the boxed set. Plus City of Heavenly Fire.

Frustrations: I have absolutely no idea why I can't get into this book (City of Bones)! Well I was distracted by my DVR... Anyway I don't like to read two or more books at the same time, not that I can't do it, but because it just makes a lot of clutter that I do not want to deal with.

Challenges Completed: Try to like Jace a little more. Except now it's a lot more. :D

Total Books Finished: 2

Total Pages Read: 818

Sweet Summer Read-a-Thon Day #4

This is the halfway point for The Sweet Summer Read-a-Thon hosted by The Book Tower. There are only 3.5 more days to complete our goals and empty our TBR shelves. These fast-paced days full of reading and blogging have been going by like lightning.
So far, our progress has been slow, but we hope to change that during the weekend. With no plans for these three days besides reading, we should (hopefully) be able to pick up the pace.

Max

Books Started: City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare and The Inventor's Secret by Andrea Cremer

Books Finished: None :(

Pages Read: 210

Impressions: City of Lost Souls has been pretty intense, but I'm not going to be reading The Inventor's Secret for this read-a-thon, or maybe even at all. I think it'll take too long for me to read it.

Frustrations: I had forgotten how much Clary and her decisions could annoy me sometimes--does she ever think things through? And The Inventor's Secret is not my genre, I just haven't gotten into it, and I'm not sure I'll be able to.  

Challenges Completed: I read more than 200 pages.

Total Books Finished: 3

Total Pages Read: 882

Tessa

Books Started: The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen

Books Finished: City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

Pages Read: 266

Impressions: The Moon and More is a standard Sarah Dessen book is equal parts of teen angst and family problems. I am enjoying it so far. I am going to count it as my summer-themed book for the challenge.

Frustrations: I am still reading Dangerous, and it has proven to be a rollercoaster of a book. One page I am completely aware of what is happening, but the next page leaves me in a confused stupor. So many things are occurring that I do not know what I think of the book yet.

Challenges Completed: Read 200 pages a day.

Total Books Finished: 2

Total Pages Read: 1186 (Victory!)

Cassia

Books Started: None

Books Finished: None (City of Bones is long, okay? ;))

Pages Read: 151

Impressions: I forgot how much I love this series. I'm so happy to be reading it again. I really just want to forget the other books I said I would read this week and just plow through the whole series, but City of Ashes isn't at the library yet and I said I would read the other three books. Oh, boy. Three books... In short: I love love LOVE this book! Clare's writing is amazing; it's filled with little things that are very descriptive and I can't believe I forgot what a wonderful treat her writing is.

Frustrations: As much as I love this book, this series, this world, this writing, I can't get into it. And I have no idea why. But when I read it I love it. I guess it's me trying to savor it. I plowed through The One, so I don't know. Let's just go with I'm savoring it.

Challenges Completed: Try to like Jace a little more. He's working his charms. Again. :)

Total Books Finished: 2

Total Pages Read: 707



Sweet Summer Read-a-Thon Day #3

The third day of the Sweet Summer Read-a-Thon hosted by The Book Tower has ended. We are already almost halfway through the week, and it has been grueling. Nothing is more difficult than reading all day long. But somehow we are still alive and reading.

Max
 

Books Started: The Art of Lainey by Paula Stokes

Books Finished: The Art of Lainey by Paula Stokes

Pages Read: 364

Impressions: While a bit predictable, The Art of Lainey was adorable and loads of fun--it was exactly like reading a chick flick! The dialogue was great, the characters and relationships between the characters were really solid, especially the friendships, and I enjoyed it a lot!

Frustrations: Sometimes I thought Lainey was a little bit self-centered, more than a little bit shallow.

Challenges Completed: Read more than 200 pages a day.
 Spell It Out Challenge hosted by The Book Tower.
 

Total Books Finished: 3

Total Pages Read: 672

 

Tessa
 

Books Started: Dangerous by Shannon Hale

Books Finished: None

Pages Read: 321

Impressions: Dangerous is a promising book. It has been a long time since I have read a book with actual science to back up the technology that the author creates. Call me a nerd, but I love the explanations of the science in a book's world-- it makes the book seem more realistic.

Frustrations: Why did I pick such long books?

Challenges Completed: Read 200 pages a day.
 Spell It Out Challenge hosted by The Book Tower.
 

Total Books Finished: 1

Total Pages Read: 920 (at least I am still winning here)
 

Cassia
 

Books Started: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Books Finished: The One by Kiera Cass

Pages Read: 196

Impressions: I loved loved LOVED the end of The One! You thought it was going to end, and then she threw in another plot twist. It was nerve-racking and thrilling and ahhhh it was just awesome. And, umm, I guess this goes here, but for those of you who have read The Infernal Devices...
"Just because you call an electric eel a rubber duck doesn't make it a rubber duck, does it? And God help the poor b****** who decides they want to take a bath with the duckie."
~Jace
That made me happy. :D

Frustrations: Why do I keep watching the movies for books? The City of Bones movie is so different from the book and I keep finding myself picturing scenes from the movie instead of how they are in the book (because we all know the movie people screwed it up). Therefore, I have decided that when I re-read books after I watched the movie, I am keeping it separate from the movie.

Challenges Completed: Get to the end of The Selection series quickly. And try to like Jace a little bit more. (Yes, it's true. But I think it's more of a tortured soul kind of thing.)
 

Total Books Finished: 2

Total Pages Read: 556

Sweet Summer Read-a-Thon: Spell it Out Challenge

Since the last challenge went to well, we decided that we would all participate in The Spell It Out Challenge hosted by The Book Tower for the Sweet Summer Read-a-Thon.

The rules are to spell out your blog's name with book titles. So it is basically a literary acrostic.

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins
Allegiant by Veronica Roth
Zel by Donna Jo Napoli
You Against Me by Jenny Downham

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
The One by Kiera Cass
Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier

Just One Year by Gayle Forman (Sorry, but we had two Y's, so please cut us some slack.)
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins