Reading Rush // in which i decide that i do not, in fact, love readathons
Hi guys! Happy Monday. Can anyone believe that it’s already almost August?
So, last week I participated in the reading rush. I was excited about this, and while I definitely had fun, I’m super disappointed by how the hosts have approached a lot of things within this years rush.
It’s become clear that they’ve made some poor choices when it comes to the event, and I don’t want to overlook those who have felt hurt or mislead by the hosts’ mistakes. From them joking about not taking the time to read the group book (actually reading a group book? What a concept!) to an untimely prompt about reading a book outside that disregards those who cannot physically or safely go outside, it’s obvious that the hosts haven’t put as much thought and care into this years rush, which is unfortunate because this is such an influential event in the book community and could’ve been used to spread some much needed love and inclusion!
(If you DO want to participate in a group read for this book and actually discuss it, check out the Hottie Book Club, who are reading Such a Fun Age next month!!)
Anyways, I’ve decided I’m still going to do this wrap-up because I actually won my own personal goals (yay!!) and planned to share what I read, what I liked and how I’m feeling about my reads!
Monday:
On Monday, I read the entirety of The Kiss Quotient. I just couldn’t stop!! This book was absolutely adorable, and I’m so happy that I decided to both buy it and read it right away.
Afterwards, I basically rearranged my TBR to a fit in The Bride Test, because Helen Hoang has me hooked and I don’t think I can ever NOT read a book she puts out (and I was lucky enough to find both books at the bookstore on sale!!).
Tuesday:
Tuesday was dedicated to The Bride Test. I took Loveless off the TBR and switched around Black Flamingo to fit the “another continent” prompt and The Bride Test to fit “book w/ the word ‘the'”. Again, Helen Hoang has my heart. I finished this in a day, with time to spare that night!!
I also worked on my new blog site, which I had a lot of fun doing. Who knew making a website was so complicated, though?
Wednesday:
Wednesday is where I struggled a bit. I began Howl’s Moving Castle, which I am ecstatic that I finally read. Now I get to watch the movie!! I thought this book was adorable, and I love Howl & Sofie (Calcifer might be my favorite, though (; ).
I also went for a walk and listened to the audiobook for this, which is well-narrated. I love walking and listening to audiobooks, it’s the perfect way to check- out and just enjoy a good book!
Thursday:
On Thursday, my only goal was pretty much to finish Howls Moving Castle, which I thankfully did! Again, such a cutie, and I can’t wait to watch my first Studio Ghibli movie!!
I also read about 100 pages of The Black Flamingo that night. Since it’s written in verse and such an intriguing story, I read more than I anticipate, but that was probably a good thing, since I was a bit worried about being behind on my goals!
Friday:
On Friday, I finished The Black Flamingo and began (and ended) Persepolis, one of two graphic novels I had on my TBR. At this point, I was feeling a lot better about my prospects – I only had two graphic novels and one full length book to complete before the weekend ended!
I read most of this outside before the sun decided that it wanted me to melt, and then transitioned in to read Persepolis. I really loved Persepolis – it was such an interesting and informative – if not heartbreaking – account of what growing up in Iran was like. I admittedly don’t know much about the history of conflict in Iran, so reading this was really important to me and I plan to read more of these types of accounts in the future!
Saturday:
Step 1: Take dogs to the vet
Step 2: Aquire chocolate croissant & iced coffee
Step 3: Read!
That was pretty much my day Saturday – I read Fence Vol. 2 on my back deck and then began the last book of the week, Spin the Dawn!
I also decided that I had wayyyy too many books piling up on my shelves, and something had to be done ASAP. So, I arranged some of the ones that I’ve read to fit into the cases, and resolved to get a TBR cart for the books I hope to read in the near future! I went to Target and got one, put it together while watching The Expanse, and am now much happier with the state of my shelves. (Included in this post is the before picture, don’t judge me too much!!)
Sunday:
Whew, at this point I was kinda wiped out. I had about 200 more pages left of Spin the Dawn, and while I enjoyed it, it was kind of a drag to read just because I wasn’t in a reading mood. To inspire myself to get going and finish the damn book, I took a trip to Barnes & Noble to buy the sequel, Unravel the Dusk.
BUT, in the end I finished!!! I read the last 200 pages before dinner and had the rest of the night to relax and bask in the glory of completing my goals. Which, of course, I did by binging Castle Swimmer.
Like I said, I’m just disappointed with the revelations that have come up in the past few days regarding the hosts attitudes and actions. I’m proud of myself for accomplishing my goals and for sticking with it, but I don’t know if I’ll be participating in any future Reading Rush’s.
Not only was it the disappointment from the hosts, but I also just don’t vibe with pressuring myself to read so much. I know this was a “me” thing and I didn’t have to read if I didn’t want to, but I found myself falling into a competition with myself and making myself read in order to meet my goals, even if I wasn’t in the mood! I worry that if I do this too much in the future, it could push me into a slump, which is obviously the last thing I want!
I did love the community aspect of the readathon, though. I watched a ton of Monte’s livestreams, and it was fun to just listen and hangout while reading! I also liked how they included so many amazing book content creators in the twitter sprints – it was really neat to see how many people were reading at the same time and keep up with people’s thoughts and opinions on their books!
In the end, I enjoyed this challenge and am feeling good about reaching my own personal reading goals! I hope if you participated and/or just set your own goals for this week, you hit them and had some awesome reads! (:
So tell me, what did you read this week? Anything amazing that I need to check out ASAP? What other readathons should I keep an eye out for??
Thanks guys!! xx
18 Comments
TheOneWhoReadIt
Congrats on completing all of your goals! The Black Flamingo is definitely on my TBR! I totally agree with you, I also felt like I HAD to finish more books than I felt like finishing and it sucked a bit of the joy out of it. Also, yeah I didn’t like some of the decisions made by the hosts. Your posts are always fantastic!
Keli
It was lovely reading about your week! 😃
I can totally see how a readathon can limit a person. For me it was easy cause my goal was so low and I wasn’t stressed. I can’t have anything done if I’m under pressure.
The Black Flamingo sounds super interesting I might have to give it a go 😃
erin
Thank you!! 🥰 That’s probably the right idea and somethng I’ll do in the next one – while it was definitely fun to read so many books, it got exhausting after a bit! I 100% recommend The Black Flamingo, well worth all the hype!! (:
erin
Thank you!! It was definitely a good exercise in restraint – I had to tell myself to read instead of going on Twitter or watching TV so many times, haha! I hope you enjoy The Black Flamingo, it’s a really good one and super quick to read! Awww thank you so much, it means to world!! Love interacting with you and keeping up with your blog posts!! ❤️
TheOneWhoReadIt
Haha, I clearly don’t have your willpower. If anything I went on Twitter and Instagram more this week (yeah, I know), hence why I’ve only read 3 books for The Reading Rush. But honestly that’s fine. I’m going to listen to the audiobook for The Black Flamingo! You are so kind!
Leyanis
Great post! I totally agree with The Kiss Quotient, what an amazing read! Also Howl’s Moving Castle, YOU WILL LOVE THE MOVIE. My favorite movie from the Ghibili Studio <3 ps. I loved your pictures.
erin
Ugh I want to watch it so so bad but I keep getting distracted!! I need to plan a cozy movie night to curl up and watch 😊 thank you so so much!! 🥰
Tasya @ The Literary Huntress
Congratulations on finishing all your books, you did amazing! I was really disappointed too since this is my first year joining (which also because of FOMO) and I did have a lot of fun, but since I’m not that engaged with the community I missed a lot of problems until later. I used to feel the pressure when I first join readathons, but over time I guess I just get better at pacing myself and just read what I’m in the mood to 🙂
erin
Thank you!! 🥰 Totally get that – I feel like I’m only tuned in to, like, 60% of what actually happens in the book community so I get snippets of whats happening but never actually the full story!! I’m so glad you had fun though, at least it was able to bring a little bit of joy even if it ended up disappointing us! ❤️
Ali
Howl’s Moving Castle has been on my TBR for so long, good to know that you liked it. I watched the movie when I was a kid and had no idea it was a book until several years ago. So magical!
I’ve also got The Black Flamingo on hold at the library…it’s going to be awhile for that one. Congrats on accomplishing your goals for the readathon! The self control required for weeklong readathons is something I don’t have 😅
erin
Oh I hope you get to read it soon! I wonder how it compares to the movies – I can’t wait to watch it!! (: Thank you love!! 💞 I’m super surprised I was able to end up finishing everything, I thought for sure I’d be at least a book behind but I guess I’m full of surprises!! Hope you get your hands on Black Flamingo soon!! 🥰
May @ Forever and Everly
it really is upsetting to see the reading rush be absolutely insensitive! i participated in it, but very lowkey and unofficially (didn’t even do anything on the website or make a tbr with all the prompts haha) — and i failed anyways so 😎 but aahh all the books you mentioned here — the black flamingo, fence, castle swimmer, spin the dawn… so many of my favorites! i’m glad you were able to stick to your goals 💖
erin
SO disappointing – like what an amazing opportunity to use such a huge platform for good! But alas 🙁 That’s okay, so much better to read at your own pace and not feel pressured to read a ton, I think (: I am so obsessed w/ Castle Swimmer, I can’t believe I hadn’t heard about it before now!! thank youuuu!! 💞
Linda @ flourishreader
I am not a big readathon/ reading challenges fan 🙈 mainly because I can’t stick to a set tbr. Also: You read Howl’s Moving Castle?! 👏 I NEED to read that one!! The Ghibli movie is one of my favs but I heard that the book is quite different with a bunch of other characters and Howl, well, having a different personality. 😅 The Kiss Quotient is also on my want-to-read list. 😊
erin
Totally get that – usually I can’t either, but somehow the reading gods worked in my favor this week! 😂 Ohhhh okay I have to watch it asap, I’ve heard such high praise and can’t wait to compare! Maybe I finally will tonight. I hope you enjoy The Kiss Quotient, it was adorable and I’m so so happy I read it!! ❤️
Corina
Oh wow, I didn’t hear anything about what was going on, and I’m so sorry it turned out this way.
I tried this event last year, which I failed spectacularly, partially because I found out about it too late and wasn’t able to organize my books accordingly, and also because it made me realize that I’m not good with having to read certain books on certain days. I have no issues with reading all week, all day, but I like to be more flexible with my book choices.
Happy you pulled it off though!
Lais @ The Bookish Skies
i feel like the reading rush is one of the biggest events in the community and i see so many people even outside of book tube taking part in it. it’s really a shame that this wasn’t handled with as much care, because it really can be such an influential event!
i’m glad you still had a great readathon! i really liked the bride test, i really liked the main character and i feel like the miscommunication issues made a lot more sense here.
i do understand that the pressure of reading slumps can be a bit too much, which is probably why i only take part in readathons that last for a longer period of time. i like the element of having a group of people to talk to who are doing the same thing you are and the prompts to help curate a TBR, but it can take away from the enjoyment if you pressure yourself too hard to finish a certain amount of books before the end of the week. that’s why i like month-long readathons, because it gives me more time and i don’t feel *as* pressured, it’s more like an extra motivation.
erin
Thank you!! Yes totally agree, hopefully we can find some large events in the book community that promote inclusivity and love in the coming years!!
Hmm I’ve never actually participated in a month long readathon, but I totally get what you’re saying!! Maybe I’ll have to find one coming up to try and see if that takes some of the stress off instead of trying to cram x books into a short week-long period!! Honestly anything that motivates me to pick up a book, I’m all for 🥰