Beat the Heat Readathon Goals and Reading List

Beat the Heat is hosted by Jessi at Novel Heartbeat and Reanna at Phantasmic Reads you can signup at this link. The Beat the Heat Readathon runs from August 11th to September 1st. There will be mini-challenges throughout the Readathon for participants, along with a grand prize giveaway at the end. You pick how much you want to read and what you want to read and set your own goals. I would like to finish at least 2 books and around 500 pages.

My reading list:
Cinder by Marissa Meyer (now that I am halfway through, surely I can finish it with this readathon!)
Men of Athens by Olivia Coolidge (last book I need for Mini-challenge #2 of the Newbery Challenge)
Escape from Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein
Dearest by Althea Kontis

Rereads:
The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan
The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan

Novellas (for COYER challenge)
Shadows by Jennifer Armentrout
The Staff of Serapis by Rick Riordan

Sleeping Beauty by Jenni James

This is the second novella in the Faerie Tale collection by her. Each novella can be read individually and the order does not matter.

StoneHouse Ink

Prince Darien wants to find a true love like his friend King Michael has found with his wife. Queen Aleyna lives in a sleep induced world in which she does not know about the horrors in her past and the horror that awaits her future. Ezralon the unicorn keeps her in this state until she can face Villeria, the witch who killed Aleyna's family and placed a curse on her. Darien and Aleyna are destined  to meet, when his friends challenge his honor by saying he is scared of the ghostly queen. When Darien learns the truth about Aleyna, he will stop at nothing to defend her and bring her back to the world.

This was a very dark novella. Villeria is a truly vicious villain who uses torture as one of her most effective tactics. The bloody violence she inflicted on Aleyna's family and people is very macabre and gives this a darker feel than Beauty and the Beast by her. I think this makes Sleeping Beauty a unique retelling and gives it a sort of horror story type feel. I have mixed feelings on Aleyna as a character. In the end she is pretty strong, but she is treated throughout the book as fragile and incapable of anything. She was a bit too much damsel in distress.

Favorite Character: Ezralon, because I love unicorns. He was also very brave, although he, like all the male characters, underestimated Aleyna.

Favorite Quote: "Perfection may be good on the outside, but if there are no trials-if we do not face our destroyers and challenge our right to truly live-then what is the point of living if we do not gain anything, if everything is frozen, if we do not find out what we are capable of achieving?"

I like James' retellings and will probably read more of them at a later date. These were the only two available on Overdrive, but I liked them enough to purchase the rest. 3 cups of cocoa.

The Snow Bride by Debbie Macomber

I read this book for the Christmas in July readathon as part of the COYER Summer Vacation challenge. I read and liked both of Macomber's Mrs. Miracle books, so I decided to try another of her Christmas books.

Mira

Jenna Campbell is a practical sort of person, so when she decides she is going to meet the man of her dreams in Alaska, a man she met on the Internet, her mother, friends, and boss are all concerned. Jenna has been in love with her boss for years, but he only sees her as a good assistant. Her mother has just divorced her 5th husband and Jenna is a little tired of taking care of her. Dalton Gray seems like the perfect escape and also potential husband material, since he quotes poetry and thought she was pretty based on an actual picture of her. At this point, Jenna is thirty and desperate and boards a plane to Fairbanks. On the plane, she meets Reid, who seems like a total jerk. He doesn't realize who Jenna is meeting in Alaska, until the guy doesn't show up. Jenna needs a ride to a smaller town in Alaska and Reid has his own plane, so he ends up flying Jenna toward her destination, until she tells him who she is meeting. He knows Dalton is no good and basically kidnaps Jenna and takes her to his town of Snowbound. He wants her to stay with his sister who knows just how bad Dalton is. However, his sister is out of town and there is no where else for Jenna to stay in this one woman town. With the charming locals and melting Reid's cold exterior, Jenna may find what she is really looking for.

My first thoughts were this reads exactly like a Hallmark movie. I looked it up and couldn't find a movie link for it, but it would make for a perfectly cheesy Hallmark movie. I actually secretly like those movies, but don't tell anyone. ;) Parts of the story were a little out there, like Jenna was a little too comfortable with Reid kidnapping her and the storyline with her mom was a bit out there. I did like that Jenna refuses to just dismiss Dalton based on other peoples opinions of him. She realizes they are probably right, but she wants to make up her own mind.

This was a perfect quick fluff read and perfect for Christmas in July. I am really excited about Mr. Miracle, both book and movie, coming out in October. 3.5 cups of cocoa!

Beat the Heat Readathon Signup

Beat the Heat is hosted by Jessi at Novel Heartbeat and Reanna at Phantasmic Reads you can signup at this link. The Beat the Heat Readathon runs from August 11th to September 1st. There will be mini-challenges throughout the Readathon for participants, along with a grand prize giveaway at the end. You pick how much you want to read and what you want to read and set your own goals. I will chose a reading list and goals soon!

New to Me! Read-a-thon

This is another COYER read-a-thon for August 1- August 3. I forgot to post this earlier! I am reading Wonder by R.J. Palacio and A Tangle of Knots by Lisa Graff. These are both books I need to read before the class I am teaching starts. I have heard so many good things about Wonder, so I am excited to finally start reading it!

Day 1: Wonder- 180 pages
Day 2: Wonder- 133 pages and finished!
Day 3:A Tangle of Knots-

ARC August signup

ARC August is hosted by Octavia at Read Sleep Repeat and you can sign up at this link. I am going to try to read at least 2 ARCs, since I am far behind in my reads! I want to read Dearest by Althea Kontis and possibly Iron Trial by Cassandra Clare and Holly Black. I am really excited about these two books, so hopefully I can dive into them next month. Thank you to Octavia for hosting this again!

Bout of Books 11 Signup

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 18th and runs through Sunday, August 24th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 11 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

I love Bout of Books and this is my 7th one! I will be making a reading list and goals closer to time.