Contemporary-A-Thon Wrap Up!

What’s going on, book nerds?

I took a break yesterday after double posting on Tuesday, but I’m back to wrap up last week’s Contemporary-a-thon! Hosted by the lovely Pages and Pens, Chelseadolling reads, and Myreadingisodd this week-long readathon consisted of seven challenges (see below), and I’m ready to reveal my stats! Did I hit #SevenBooksInSevenDays? Read on to find out…

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1) Read a contemporary with orange on the cover.  — DNF —

For this challenge I selected Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty. I got one page into this book before I stumbled across a line that I found so disgusting it prompted this entire book chat discussion. I tried to continue on because I have NEVER DNF’d a book before, but the next few pages were full of slut shaming and nonsense that convinced me to just set the book down. Thankfully, I was able to cross this prompt off this list on another selection (See #5 or #7).

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2) Read a contemporary that’s dark, taboo, or spooky. – COMPLETED!

After 5-Starring Summers most recent book, which was plenty dark and triggering, I thought I’d give All the Rage a go for this particular challenge. And boy did it deliver. This powerful and relevant novel realistically paints all the rage-inducing consequences that coincide when a rape victim speaks out to deaf — and unwilling — ears. Published three years ago, this story feels even more fitting in today’s society and I believe it could be an important book for readers who can safely handle the content.

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3) Read a diverse contemporary. – Didn’t Get To In Time

It KILLS me that this beautiful book remains on my TBR. I purchased The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo back in *mumbles month and year* for my Book of the Month selection and I realize what a travesty it is that it remains unread. I had the greatest of intentions y’all. I will do my absolute best to read about Evelyn’s journey before the end of 2018! As for this challenge, I was able to complete it with my selection for topic #7!

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4) Read a contemporary in a non-traditional format (audio, etc). – COMPLETED! 

And the award for the most controversial title on my list goes to All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood. It’s been almost a week since I completed this challenging and thought-provoking contemporary. Spanning almost two decades, this devastating novel is one of the first ones I’ve ever encountered where I truly don’t know how to rate it. The writing was intriguing, the story was heartbreaking, but the content at times was downright disgusting. This story will not be for everyone, but it does spark very interesting conversations and at the end of the day isn’t that what art and good books are meant to do?

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5) Read a contemporary with your initials on the cover. – COMPLETED!

Y’all I have 4 names! FOUR! And I was so worried it would be difficult to find a contemporary (that I already owned) that could fit the bill for this challenge. And thank my lucky stars, The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker met the requirements. A certain Viking sky cowboy kept me up way past my bedtime finishing this beautiful contemporary, but I have no regrets! This was one of my favorite reads of the year and I’m so thankful to have discovered it thanks to this amazing community! If this isn’t on your radar, RUN (read: click quickly) to Goodreads and add it today! *Btw, that plane is orange so it helps complete challenge #1 too!*

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6) Read a contemporary by a new-to-you author.  – Didn’t Get To In Time

Like Ms. Hugo, Laura Steven’s The Exact Opposite of Okay didn’t make my “read” pile by the end of the week’s deadline. I’m especially bummed because this is one of those little discussed yet extremely adored titles I’ve been meaning to get to since the day I heard about it! Promising a humorous and kickass feminist storyline, this British contemporary seems very much in my lane and will definitely be on my shortlist going forward. And while I didn’t read this yet, I did read 2 new-to-me authors (See #4 and #5)!

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7) Read a five-star-prediction contemporary. – COMPLETED! 

My final read for this round of Contemporary-A-Thon was devoted to Foolish Hearts by Emma Mills. This was my second attempt at a Mills novel and I’m thrilled to report it was way more enjoyable than my first foray. There were many times this book — and it’s precious male lead — had me grinning ear to ear and even chuckling aloud while reading. I loved the diverse cast, the female friendships, the family bonds, and the Shakespearean undertones. What I didn’t love was our MC’s self-sabotaging actions that went a little too extreme in my personal opinion. So while this didn’t actually get 5-Stars from me (4.25, so pretty darn close) it was read and completed for this challenge. It also fulfills the requirements for #1 and #3!

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FINAL RESULTS:

BOOKS READ: 4 OF 7

CHALLENGES COMPLETED: 7 OUT OF 7

PAGES READ: 1,400 

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Thus concludes my results for this round of Contemporary-A-Thon! Did you participate? If so, how did you do? Did we share any titles? Let me know below!

And, as always: Happy Reading!

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