Reading Rush Day 6 & 7 + Wrap-up

I decided to combine my updates for the last few days of the Reading Rush in one post, to not overwhelm you with posts and to not ignore what’s been going on with them – at the end of this post I will explain the issues with this readathon. But first I’ll get into my reading!

Catch up with my previous posts:

Day 6

On day 6, I ended up finishing Vicious Spirits by Kat Cho, which was a 5 star read for me. It was just as good as Wicked Fox, and this series honestly deserves the biggest fandom. In the evening, I got comfortable in my bed to do some reading sprints, and I read The List of Things That Will Not Change by Rebecca Stead in one sitting. It was such a profound and heartwarming middlegrade, that reminded me I should be reading more middlegrade.

Day 7

On day 7 I had a really terrible day because of a sensory overload. I did spend a lot of time outside in my hammock so I could finish my outside read, which was I Wanna Be Where You Are by Kristina Forest. I gave this book 3 stars, but in the best possible way – it’s a very positive 3 stars. In the evening, I picked up the graphic novel retelling of Little Women: Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. I absolutely fell in love with it, and gave it 5 stars. I finished it exactly at midnight.

Wrap-up

In total, I ended up reading 8 books during this readathon. That’s actually around the same amount as I would normally read, but in my defense: I’ve been playing a lot of Animal Crossing too.

I ended up reading these books:

Court of Lions – Somaiya Daud. This book was on my TBR as a bonus read – I didn’t complete any challenges with it.
Just Like That – Cole McCade. I read this book for the challenge to read the first book you touch.
Love Is For Losers – Wibke Brueggeman. This book wasn’t on my TBR, I was just suddenly in the mood for it.
Heartsong – TJ Klune. This was also a bonus read for me.
Vicious Spirits – Kat Cho. I read this book for the challenge to read a book that takes place on a different continent than where you live – I live in the Netherlands and this book is set in Korea.
The List of Things That Will Not Change – Rebecca Stead. This book wasn’t on my TBR but I picked it up at the children’s bookstore on Thursday and wanted to dive right in. I completed this for the challenge to read a book that starts with “the”.
I Wanna Be Where You Are – Kristina Forest. I read this book for the challenge to read a book completely outside of your house.
Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy – Rey Terciero. This has been cheating a little, but I’m counting this for the challenge to read a book that inspired a movie you’ve already seen. There was just no way I was going to finish Little Women this week, and honestly? This is close enough for me.

This means I didn’t end up completing the birthstone challenge or the challenge to read a book in a genre you’ve always wanted to read more of. Overall though, I’m really happy with my reading. I stuck to my TBR a lot better than I normally do!

Issues With This Readathon

The Reading Rush hosts decided to have a group book this year, that people could vote on. The book Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid was chosen, and there would be a live show where the hosts would be discussing the book. Instead, they started said live show laughing about the fact they failed to read the book and turned the show into a Q&A instead. The way they handled this situation by not reading this book by a Black author and then laughing about it is so disrespectful and performative – and it’s especially ironic because the book is about performative allyship.

There have been other issues as well, like their challenges that haven’t been inclusive to disabled people (and the “reading outside” prompt in the middle of a pandemic), and announcing their reading challenges on Juneteenth. Because of this, I don’t think I’ll be participating in this readathon again. You can find more information here, for instance.

Have you participated in this readathon? Did you have fun?