MARVEL-A-THON PHASE ONE UPDATE

Hi everyone! So we’re ALREADY two weeks into Marvel-A-Thon I can’t believe it! I finished phase one, so I decided to write a little mini wrap-up type thing with the books I read and what I plan on reading next. So lets just jump right into it!

Iron Man: – Read the first book in a series.

For this I chose Monstress Volume One. I’ve had this graphic novel on my radar for a while, because lots of people seem to love it and it sounded like something I would enjoy. I did like this overall, some parts were a bit confusing but it wasn’t too bad. The art is beautiful and I loved the characters, so I definitely plan on continuing this series eventually. This is one of the longer and harder graphic novels I’ve read but it was worth it.  ( 🌟🌟🌟🌟 /5 )

Hulk: – Read a book with a green cover

So I technically cheated and carried this over from the month before, but I finished and counted The Fifth Season by N.K Jemisin for this one. I LOVED THIS and I already reviewed it if you would like to read that. this is an excellent fantasy with great characters and I can’t wait to read the rest of this series. (🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 /5)

Iron Man 2: – Read a book that’s unpopular

I actually totally stole my idea for this one from someone else. I saw a TBR where someone said they were reading All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater for this one and I thought that was a great idea and read it too! I’ve owned this book for a while and felt unmotivated to read it so this gave me a good push to. I ended up not enjoying it that much and kind of agree with the negative opinions. (🌟🌟🌟/5)

Thor: – Read a book that involves myth or mythology.

For this I went with a classic and chose Percy Jackson: The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan. I’m reading this series for the first time and I am really really liking it. So far, Sea of Monsters is still my favourite though this one was pretty good. I just love the characters so much and want them all to be happy and have a good life. (🌟🌟🌟🌟/5)

Captain America: – Read a book set or written in World War Two

I picked up another book I owned and read The Children’s House of Belsen by Hetty Verolme which is the memoir of a Holocaust survivor. This is a really good story but also incredibly sad. But I’m really glad I finally read it.

The Avengers: – Read a book with multiple perspectives

I finally finally finally FINALLY did it. I finished a series I’ve been reading since 2016, also known as, I read The End by Charlie Higson. This was pretty good, I think the ending was kind of disappointing in that is ended really quickly and didn’t wrap up everything well. But I loved seeing all the different groups come together. (🌟🌟🌟.5/5)

So that’s my phase one update. I’m super pleased with how everything is going so far, especially since I haven’t used any skips up yet. I’m planning on using a couple in phase two so I’m glad I saved them up.

If you’re participating in Marvel-A-Thon, how is it going so far? What phase are you currently on and what are you currently reading? I’m reading OBSIDIO and THE ITALIAN WIFE right now for the Age of Ultron and Iron Man 2 prompts!

until next time  

MARVEL-A-THON TBR

So I’m hosting a Read-A-Thon, if you missed that. It’s called Marvel-A-Thon and is based around the Marvel Cinematic Universe. You can read all about it by clicking the link. I’m so excited for it, and as of today it’s exactly TWO WEEKS AWAY. So I’m here today to share my TBR for this challenge! Hopefully it can give some of you guys some inspiration on the trickier prompts, plus you’ll have have idea of what I’ll be reading.

There’s a TONNE of prompts to get through, so lets just jump right in.

Phase One:

Iron Man: – Read the first book in a series.

For me, this is one of the easier challenges and I have a bunch of options. But I’m leaning towards MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN the most, because it’s been on my TBR so a long time. NOT YOUR SIDEKICK, CLOAKED IN SHADOW or FALLING KINGDOMS are also options, so I’ll probably decide based on mood.

Hulk: – Read a book with a green cover

Again, this is another prompt with quite a few options for me, but I’m thinking I’ll try and pick up A CROWN OF WISHES by Roshani Chokshi as I’ve been meaning to read it for soo long. If I can’t get to that, THE REFUGEES by Viet Thanh Nguyen is my next choice.

Iron Man 2: – Read a book that’s unpopular

So I decided to define unpopular as a book around the 3.0 range on Goodreads. That’s quite low and seemed to fit unpopular well enough. GRACE BESIDE ME has a very low rating but has been on my TBR for quite a while, and I really want to read it now that it has a TV show. A second option is GENUINE FRAUD if I don’t get to it in May.

Thor: – Read a book that involves myth or mythology.

I chose the obvious route with this one and think I’ll go with PERCY JACKSON, whichever one I’m up to at the time. CIRCE is also an option, but I’ll probably read it in May. Plus, PJO books are always really quick reads.

Captain America: – Read a book set or written in World War Two

In all honestly, I’ll probably use one of my skips on this prompt. I have a few WW2 books like ALL THE LIGHTS WE CANNOT SEE and THE NIGHTINGALE, but they’re both really long and not great ReadAThon choices.

The Avengers: – Read a book with multiple perspectives.

This challenge was so much harder than I thought it would be. Lots of books have multiple perspectives, but I wasn’t sure which ones on my TBR did. In the end I decided to go with YOU KNOW ME WELL because it’s much shorter than the other options.

Phase Two:

Iron Man 3: – Read a book that will challenge you

For this I thought either length or genre was the best way to go for the challenge. Length because it’s hard to read long books during readathons, and genre because some  find really difficult. In the end I decided to go with potentially the most challening book on my TBR which is THE CHILDREN’S HOUSE OF BELSEN. This is a world war two memoir and is challenging both in subject matter and length. But I’vewanted to read it for a long time so this is a good challenge for it.

Dark World: – Read a book that involves siblings.

I had a few options for this one. I am still leaning between three. WILD BEAUTY by Anna Marie McLemore, ONE DARK THRONE by Kendare Blake or a reread of LITTLE & LION by Brandy Colbert. I am still undecided on this and will probably make a final choice based on mood, but I’m thinking it’ll probably be ONE DARK THRONE.

Winter Soldier: – Read a book where the main character is a villain

For this one I’m definitely thinking FOREST OF A THOUSAND LANTERNS. People have told me way too many good things about this book.

Guardians of the Galaxy:– Read a book involving the 80’s

I am considering skipping this prompt, because I’m not feeling it that much? But if I DO go for it, I’ll probably read THE MISEDUCATION OF CAMERON POST

Age of Ultron: –  Read a book involving an AI in some way

The obvious choice for this one was OBSIDIO by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman. I want to finish that series and AIDAN (the AI) is a big part of it.

Ant-Man: – Read a book involving a heist or thieves.

At first I was considering skipping this prompt because the only books I could think were really long. But then I remembered HEIST SOCIETY by Ally Carter. A series I’ve been meaning to read for SO LONG.

Phase Three:

Civil War:  –  Read a book about a rivalry or enemies

For this one, I think I’ll read one of the editions of FENCE I haven’t got to yet. This one was a pretty easy choice.

Doctor Strange:  – Read a book that involves medicine in some way

Most likely skipping this one, but if I do decide to read it, A PRINCESS IN THEORY is an option as I believe the mc is involved in STEM?

GOTG: Volume 2: –  Read a book set in or involving space

I could read THE MARTIAN for this, but I think it would make more sense to try and read something shorter, so I’m thinking I’ll read the next edition of SAGA instead.

Spider-Man: – Read a YA book involving secrets in some way

For this one, I’m thinking a book I’ve been meaning to read for ages – TO ALL THE BOYS I’VE LOVED BEFORE by Jenny Han. However there is quite a few I could use for this so I might change!

Thor: Ragnarok: –  Read a popular book

This is an open space really, there’s so so many I could choose for this since there’s a ridiculous amount of popular books I haven’t read. Another PERCY JACKSON book, but honestly I think I’ll just decide this one when I get to it based on my mood.

Infinity War: – Read a book that fulfils multiple challenges

I’m thinking THE KISS OF DECEPTION (green cover + first in a series), THE DARKEST MINDS (secret in YA + first in a series) or another edition of SAGA (set in space + popular book)

Black Panther: – Read an ownvoices book with a black main character

I have soo many choices for this one! My top choice is DEAR MARTIN because it’s been high on my TBR for a while but any of Jason Reynolds books, TYLER JOHNSON WAS HERE, CALLING MY NAME, THE BELLES and PIECING ME TOGETHER are all options too!

Captain Marvel: – Read a book with a female mc

Gonna go with MOXIE for this one. It’s a book about feminism and I’ve heard quite a few good things, so I’ interested in reading it myself.

The Avengers 4: – Read a book you don’t know anything about

So I decided to interpret this as a book thats on my TBR because I heard it’s good but I don’t really know what it’s about. So some options: my top option is THE SMELL OF OTHER PEOPLE’S HOUSES but WOLFSONG, HI-FI FIGHT CLUB, TO KILL A KINGDOM and FURYBORN are also options.

Recap

So that’s my entire TBR for Marvel-A-Thon! I want to try really hard to finish this Read-A-Thon because it’s mine and I don’t want to embarrass myself. I can’t wait to see everyone else’s TBR’s! I hope this gave some ideas for anyone a bit unsure what to pick.

until next time! 

 

MARVEL-A-THON (AN MCU BASED READATHON) ANNOUNCEMENT + DETAILS

I’m so excited to be bringing you this post today. A little while ago I asked if people would be interested in a Marvel based ReadAThon I had come up with and people said YES. I’ve been working hard to hammer out the details of this ReadAThon and I’ve finally got it all sorted which means I can FINALLY announce the challenge and I am SO SO EXCITED.

This ReadAThon will be A MONTH long, because there is so many challenges. So it will run from midnight, June 1st to midnight July 1st in your timezone.

This readathon is focussed around Marvel movies in the cinematic universe, each of the movies have been split into their phases and there is one challenge per movie. The goal is to read a book for EVERY SINGLE MOVIE (that’s 21 movies, by the way). Everyone starts in Phase One, and you can’t move onto the next phase until you’ve completed all the challenges. Here is the game board, I’ll go more into depth with the rules & provide a typed out version of the challenges below.

THE CHALLENGES

Phase One:

• Iron Man: Iron Man started the MCU timeline – Read the first book in a series.
• Hulk: Bruce Banner is famous for his green alter-ego. Read a book with a green cover
• Iron Man 2: Iron Man 2 is one of Marvel’s most unpopular movies. Read a book that’s unpopular
• Thor: The Thor movies are based on Norse Mythology. Read a book that involved myth or mythology.
• Captain America: Captain America is set during WW2. Read a book set or written in World War Two
• The Avengers: The Avengers is the first time we see the MCU heroes together. Read a book with multiple perspectives.

Phase Two:

• Iron Man 3: Tony Stark has to make some hard decisions in this movie. Read a book that will challenge you
• Dark World: In The Dark World, Thor has to team up with Loki to win. Read a book that involves siblings.
• Winter Soldier: In The Winter Soldier a character returns as a villain. Read a book where the main character is a villain or anti-hero
• Guardians of the Galaxy: Guardians of the Galaxy is well known for it’s soundtrack. Read a book set in, written in, or involving the 80’s
• Age of Ultron: The villain of Age Of Ultron is a robot created by Tony Stark. Read a book involving an AI in some way
• Ant-Man: In Ant-Man, Scott involuntarily gets caught up in a heist. Read a book involving a heist or thieves.

Phase Three:

• Civil War: The Avengers split into two teams after disagreements. Read a book about a rivalry or enemies
• Doctor Strange: Stephen Strange was a doctor beforehe was a hero. Read a book that involves medicine in some way
• GOTG: Volume 2: Volume Two shows even more epic space battles. Read a book set in or involving space
• Spider-Man: Peter Parker has to hide his superhero identity at school. Read a YA book involving secrets in some way
• Thor: Ragnarok: Thor: Ragnarok is one of Marvel’s most popular movies. Read a popular book
• Infinity War: “the most ambitious crossover event in history”. Read a book that fulfils multiple challenges
• Black Panther: Black Panther features Marvel’s first black superhero. Read an ownvoices book with a black main character
• Captain Marvel: This movie will feature Marvel’s first female hero as the main character. Read a book with a female mc
• The Avengers 4: Details of this movie including it’s title are still a secret. Read a book you don’t know anything about

SOME EXPLANATIONS: Feel free to interpret these as loosely as you like. While some are pretty self explanatory (read the first book in a series) some are more vague (read a book involving medicine) so feel free to interpret how you would like. Because there is so many challenges I’d rather people didn’t worry too much about the exact semantics, just fit to the challenge as much as you can. For example, a challenging book can be because of it’s genre, it’s format or it’s content. Whatever makes it challenging to YOU. A book “involving” something can mean it relates to the main character, the plot, the cover, anything else. Feel free to interpret.

For the Infinity War challenge, you need to read one book that works for two or more categories and those can be ANY categories, it doesn’t matter what phase. For example, you could read a book with a green cover that’s popular to complete it. Or a book set in the 80’s with multiple perspectives. As long as it’s fulfilling two or more challenges at once it’s useable for the Infinity War space.

THE RULES

• The aim of this challenge is to read as many books as you can, and to finish the challenge you reach the final movie in the MCU phase three (Avengers 4)
• You can read books in any order WITHIN phases, but need to complete the phase to move onto the next one.
• We’ve all skipped watching a Marvel movie here and there, which means you’re allowed two skips per phase, and skips can be rolled over into the next phase if they’re not used. So in total you have 6 skips to play with.
• You can’t use one book for multiple challenges one book per category must be read.
• Books can be ANYTHING and any length. Audiobooks, ebooks, graphic novels, comics, fanfics and anything else you can think of.

Any other questions can be directed to me here or tweeted to me @jamishelves.

BUDDY READS

Marvel movie’s are more fun when watched together, and sometimes you ned a friend to summarise a movie you haven’t seen for you before you watch the next one. This is why Buddy Reads can be used to complete challenges even if you haven’t read the books. 

 If you read a book with a friend, they can then ‘give’ one of their reads to you if it’s within the same phase as you’re working on. So say you and a friend read the “Iron Man” challenge together, but your friend has also read Captain America from that phase, and you’ve read Hulk. After the buddy, you can count their Captain America read as one of your reads, and they can count your Hulk read as theirs. Essentially, you both get a free read on top of the buddy read.

You can do this ONCE per phase (of course you’re free to Buddy read more than that, but the ‘give away’ will only be allowed once per phase. 

That’s all for the announcement post ! I’m going to be posting my TBR soon and I would OF COURSE love to be linked to everyone you guys’ TBR’s  whether they’re on YouTube/Blogs/Twitter ect

Thanks for reading, and I hope everyone can participate! I’m so excited to be hosting this challenge, since I love Marvel so so much.

Until next time!