Hello there! I’m here to talk about my participation in an amazing read-a-thon over the weekend! *And every day we are reminded that discrimination against marginalized communities is still a serious problem, so click here to find a compilation of resources where you can donate your time, money, or whatever you can to support these communities. I still encourage you to research these causes on your own to educate yourself and find the best way to lend your support.*
So over the weekend (March 20th – March 21st), I participated in Becca’s 48-hour Bookopolathon. For those who are unaware, the read-a-thon was created by YouTuber Becca at the channel Becca and The Books. In December 2018, she began a series on her channel called “Bookopoly,” a game based on Monopoly [with bookish prompts] which she has used to choose the books she’d read in the next month ever since. In July, 2020, she hosted a 48-hour read-a-thon so that people who watched her channel could join in on the fun, with prompts being revealed every 12 hours on the read-a-thon’s Twitter page, and then a full month-long event in September complete with a special “Bookopolathon” board. She announced back in February that there would be another 48-hour event happening in March, and this time everything would be completely live, with reading sprints occurring every 4 hours on her channel along with 10 additional hosts. Prompts would still be announced every 12 hours (based on GMT, as that is her time zone) for 8 prompts in total, one from the Bookopolathon board and another from her personal 2021 board. I feel like I’ve taken forever to explain all this so I hope this makes sense. This has been a read-a-thon I look forward to participating in each time it’s been hosted, and this round was absolutely no exception. The live element really motivated me to read, and the individual hosts enthusiasm was contagious. I’m so proud to have read at least one book for each roll drop, and I’m excited to tell you all about them! AND, if you’re ever in need of some reading sprints, the entire playlist from this weekend has been saved and can be accessed here.
Roll drop #1: dark cover / fantasy
-The first two prompts were given in the read-a-thon’s announcement video on Becca’s channel. The boards gave us dark cover and fantasy. I was originally going to read All the Tides of Fate, by Adalyn Grace, the sequel to All the Stars and Teeth, but decided I wanted to do a reread of the first book. Luckily, earlier on Friday I was already reading my review copy of Finding Freedom: A Cook’s Story – Remaking a Life From Scratch by Erin French. I received this copy from BookishFirst, which is a great site for winning / receiving advanced copies of books every week and I talk about it quite frequently. I will have a full review posted on the release date (April 6th, 2021), and will link it here when it’s out [find it here], so I’ll be brief in my thoughts here. Finding Freedom is a non-fiction memoir of the life of Erin French, owner and chef of The Lost Kitchen, a firty-seat restaurant in Freedom, Maine. The book spans throughout her lifetime, from growing up in Freedom and working at her father’s diner, to becoming a single mother, to being involved in a toxic relationship during which she developed an addiction to pain medications and alcohol, to losing custody of her son to her manupulative partner, to essentially rebuilding her life and providing stability for herself and her child by pursuing the one thing that had been a constant in her life – food. It was honest and vulnerable and affected me in ways I didn’t expect. I highly recommend picking this memoir up when it’s released on April 6th.
Roll drop #2: contemporary / POC rep
-Prompts 3 and 4 were announced at 12pm GMT on March 20th, which was 8am in my time zone. I wasn’t planning on staying up the entire 48 hours, so I set an alarm to see the roll drop and then went back to sleep. I was back in my comfort zone, with contemporary and POC rep, so I decided to listen to the audiobook of Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel, a YA contemporary following a Persian main character. High school junior Leila realized over the summer that she is attracted to girls, and when a new student, Saskia, arrives at school, and starts sending her mixed signals, she is forced to figure out what it all means. So. Um. I didn’t like this book. At all, really. I actually really enjoyed the couple that comes out on top in the end, but didn’t appreciate much of the journey getting to that point. I have to understand that these are teenagers in high school, as I sometimes forget I haven’t been in high school for over six years now, but I felt it was a bit juvenile at times, and the story is littered with biphobia (as the main antagonist is coded as being attracted to multiple genders, but is never stated outright), and slut-shaming (as Leila mentions rumors of a fellow student engaging in a relationship with a teacher, which is never confirmed or shown in any way, but frames it as the student being too promiscuous instead of the teacher being at fault). I could appreciate the discussion about being afraid your family won’t accept your identiy, but the story was too riddled with stereotypes that I couldn’t quite look past it. I personally wouldn’t recommend, but would say if you’re interested still give it a shot and see how you feel about it.
Roll drop #3: first in a series / CHANCE
-Prompts 5 and 6 were announced at 12am GMT on March 21st, which was 8pm on March 20th in my time zone. This gave us first in a series or CHANCE – for chance, you set aside an equal number of books you are more and less interested in and let a random source choose the book out of those choices. Some used a random number generator, other used their left-over chance cards from the month-long read-a-thon back in September. I personally chose eight books (equal parts ebook and physical, and books I wasn’t sure about and those I was excited for), and let my mom choose for me, going off only the titles. She wasn’t very willing to make this choice for me, but relented after I promised to buy lunch the next day. Out of the eight titles she chose I Killed Zoe Spanos, a YA mystery by Kit Frick, which was one I was excited to read. I received this book in an Unplugged book box, and ever since I heard there was a podcast element I had the audiobook on hand, which definitely was a good choice. I Killed Zoe Spanos follows two timelines, the “past” (two months ago) when Anna Cicconi arrives to Herron Mills, Long Island to start a nanny position, where all the townspeople say how much she looks like missing teen Zoe Spanos, and the “present,” where Anna confesses to Zoe’s murder. There’s also a podcast, Missing Zoe, led by teen Martina Green, where she is trying to uncover the truth behind Zoe’s disappearance, and if Anna truly was guilty of the crime. Things certainly were never as they seemed in this book, and throughout the entire novel I wasn’t sure who I could trust or who was giving me false information. I’m still trying to decide if I liked how everything came about in the end, but I would still recommend checking it out, and definitely going the audiobook route, it was really well done.
Roll drop #4: set in present / other
-The final roll drop, giving us prompts 7 and 8, occured at 12pm GMT on March 21st, which was 8am in my time zone. In the last quarter of the read-a-thon, we were given set in the present (book taking place in present day), and other (reading a book outside a genre, demographic, etc. you’d usually read). I was a little behind at this point, the audiobook for I Killed Zoe Spanos taking me outside its alotted time, and sleep, I wanted to sleep. So I scanned my shelves and ebook library for something that wouldn’t take me too long and stumbled upon The Unteachables, a middle grade contemporary novel by Gordon Korman – I don’t usually reach for middle grade, and its set in modern day, so hits all the buttons I need. I remember purchasing this book at the beginning of quarantine from Mysterious Galaxy, an independent bookstore in San Diego, California that has been one of my favorites to shop from during lock-down. The Unteachables follows a group of students placed in the self-contained special eighth grade class – the students no one knows what else to do with due to their behavior, anger issues, educational inabilities, etc. At the start of the year, they’re assigned Mr. Zachary Kermit as their teacher – the man who’s career has been destroyed ever since his seventh grade student was involved in a cheating scandal that disgraced the name of the school district. Maybe both the students and the teacher deserve a shot at redemption. Ok, I did not expect to enjoy this as much as I did. I LOVED watching all the students, Mr. Kermit, and even some side characters, get the growth and redemption they deserved. I came to love all seven students for their differences, and how they became such a unit over the course of a semester. I did find some parts a little repetitive, but overall I very much enjoyed my time reading, and it truly did fly by.
When all is said and done, I would certainly classify this read-a-thon as a success. That’s four books I managed to get off my TBR, and I had a blast all weekend tuning in to the sprints and watching everyone just have a great time right alongside me. Hats off to Becca for organizing the whole thing, and to all the additional hosts who made this experience so enjoyable and fun. I can’t wait to participate in the next round of Becca’s Bookopolathon, whether it be another week-long read-a-thon or a month-long one.
Where to find these books:
Finding Freedom: Bookshop Amazon Goodreads Celadon Books
Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel: Bookshop Amazon Goodreads Workman (publisher)
I Killed Zoe Spanos: Bookshop Amazon Goodreads Kit Frick’s site
The Unteachables: Bookshop Amazon Goodreads Gordon Korman’s site
Thoughts About Things 