BOOKTUBEATHON 2018 WRAP UP!

I did it! I finished my first ever BookTubeAThon! It was genuinely difficult, as I did the 7in7readathon just beforehand, however, I am really proud of what I managed to do! So, let’s get into the challenges and what I managed!

Book 1 was I Used To Know That Geography, by Will Williams. This book was part of the coin toss challenge, I did it between this book and a 1950s geography textbook, and clearly, this one won. This is a non-fiction book which encompasses the basics of Geography within the GSCE sector of UK education. My boyfriend bought me this as a little gift as this is the topic of my undergraduate degree! I genuinely enjoyed this, I think it would be such a good book to remind someone of the basics of geography or to even teach them it for the first time if they didn’t choose it as a subject. I gave it 4/5*. This book also counted as a book with green on the cover, reading a whole book with the same hat on (my mortarboard!) and also something that I want to do, which is geography.

Next up was Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery, which was my choice for the challenge of reading a book and then watching its adaptation. This took me a little while to get through, I enjoyed our introduction to Anne however, after this up until around when she turns 13 I struggled through. It was just not overly interesting to me and felt a lot like filler. Maybe I just really don’t like kids! Either way, once I got to the section where Anne was a little older I absolutely fell in love with her and with the whole story, speeding right through the last hundred odd pages. I then watched the adaptation from the 1980s and also loved this! I’m really excited to carry on with the books so that I can watch the next film! I gave Anne 4/5*, which is a pity as I feel really invested in this world now and wish I had read this as a girl!

Book number three was The Last Seven Months of Anne Frank, by Willy Lindwer. This book follows the story of six women who survived the Holocaust and their stories. They all individually had interactions with the Frank family during this time, however, that is not the main focus of their stories. They simply are telling us the atrocities they suffered, the comradeships they formed to make it through this horrendous event and how their lives were forever changed. This is such an important read, we should not forget horrific past events, lest we make the same mistakes. 5/5*

Onto something a little lighter for book four…but only a little, with Alice by Christina Henry. This is a dark retelling of Alice in Wonderland with Christina adding her own twists and turns to the aftermath of Alice’s visit and what it did to her. This version of events is not a cutesy fairy tale, it’s horrific and realistic and absolutely engrossing. I was still in this world days after I finished the book. Loved it! 5/5*!!

Now onto something that actually is lighter, Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett. The 6th book in the Discworld series! As anyone who is aware of the Discworld knows, these books are very lighthearted, humourous and silly so definitely a good choice after the last two, darker books. This is my favourite book so far in the series, I love all three witches and just lost myself in the world. Excited for the next witches story! 4.5/5*

Now this is where I started to deviate from my tbr for the BookTubeAThon. I was in a slump from all this reading for both this readathon and also the 7in7readathon which was for 7 days directly before BTAT. A lot of reading! So I went for a re-read instead, Battle of Britain by Chris Priestley. I picked this thin, 8-12 book which I know I enjoy and also has a spine which I love so that I could still meet that challenge. This is historical fiction which is written in a diary-like style and I personally think that all the books in this set are brilliant for children. 4/5*

I was still in a panicky stage, so I went for this 3-7 book that came with an American Girl doll I got when I was 7! Bright, Shiny Skylar by Valerie Tripp. I just really needed a quick read! Took me around 5 mins and was a really good way to stop me from stressing about the books I was reading as this was my 7th book! 3/5* for the age range that it’s in.

 

So now I wasn’t panicking as much I was able to actually read! Runaway by Meg Cabot, so back onto my planned tbr! This is the 3rd book in the Airhead series, which I’ve really enjoyed. It didn’t go in the direction I expected but tbh I’m not mad! All three have been quick and fun reads for me and I definitely recommend people who aren’t usually into “fluffy” contemporary to have a look at these. They are a good middle ground I think! 4/5*

Now technically that was my last book for the BookTubeAThon, at least it’s the last book that I completed. But I was in a good reading mood after finishing this so I picked up the final book that had been on my tbr.

Unrivalled by Alyson Noël. I only got 109 pages into this book, and tbh I’m still making my way through it now, but I have enjoyed what I’ve read of it and I’m really glad I managed to at least start it within BTAT. So far, I’d give what I’ve read 3/5*, but I’m not even halfway through yet so fingers crossed I’ll rate it higher!

 

And that’s my wrap up for the BookTubeAThon! In total, I read 1980 pages!!!! 1871 of these were from books that I started and finished during the readathon. This has taken me a while to get up, to be honest, I’ve been swimming in things to do for moving next month and it’s been hella stressful. So I decided that I was going to let myself write and upload this when it actually worked for me rather than stressing myself out to hell and back! Hopefully, I’ll be back on track….after the next post! Which is a July wrap up!!! (Halfway through August, I know, I know. It’ll be up to date after that!! haha).