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Hi hello and welcome to my Summerween 2023 wrap-up! If you don't know what Summerween is, it's a readathon created by gabbyreads and oliviareadsalatte where the goal is to bring the spooky season to Summer! I’m going to be honest, this readathon week wasn’t as much of a success as I was hoping it would be. But I did still read from several books that I really enjoyed and I’m really looking forward to talking about how things went, even if it wasn’t perfect for me. Let’s get spooky!
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First, let’s talk about my initial TBR. I think I may have tried to overload myself because I watched multiple Summerween TBR videos where people had a big stack of books they wanted to read and thought, “If they can read 6-8 books then why can’t I?!” I set myself up for failure before the readathon even started by trying to read six books, even though I knew I would never be able to read that many. Sure, I can read fairly fast, but not every week is a good reading week for me. I suppose I was just hoping to be like the people building their giant TBR piles and didn’t think realistically.
When the readathon started, I was still reading Mister Magic by Kiersten White. I did end up finishing it, so does that count as a success? I’m giving myself at least a little credit with this one, despite me having already read most of it before the readathon. This was a great read and I really enjoyed it!
Dead Eleven by Jimmy Juliano was what I went to next because I had seen that Kayla from BooksandLala had read the first chapter and liked it quite a bit so I figured I’d give it a shot. And I got about 15% in reading on and off and I really liked what I read! The format is interesting and definitely kept me reading (even though I’m not super far in) and I’m very excited to pick this up again and continue because I’m so down for a weird flippy floppy book and this absolutely gives those vibes.
I swapped over to You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalyan Bayron for a bit and read 8% of it and surprisingly loved what I read! I was hesitant about this because it’s YA and I’m not big on reading YA anymore, but oh my gosh I loved the opening and the vibes are on point! This is another one that I can’t wait to pick up again because Charity is amazing and I’m so excited for all hell to break loose!
I fully blame (and thank) Gabby for this one. She’s been reading through At Home With the Horrors by Sammy Scott and it made me want to pick it up because she was liking it so much. Holy. Crap. This is the one that I read the most of and this is the one that I’m continuing to read since I didn’t finish it during the readathon. This is a fantastic collection of short stories and I cannot wait to do a full review for this because I just want to talk about it and all of the creepy stories I’ve read!
So did I stick to my initial TBR? Kind of? I actually ended up picking up I’m in Love With Mothman by Paige Lavoie in place of Below by Laurel Hightower, but I didn’t end up reading either of them. I didn’t fully finish any of the books I picked up, but I did enjoy what I read outside of one, so I’d say that’s a success. And I discovered a book I probably wouldn’t have known about and I am loving every story that I’m reading! So overall, I’m calling this Summerween 2023 readathon a win!
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And that does it for Summerween 2023! I’ve been trying to think of it in a more positive light and remind myself that it’s a readathon, not a competition. No one is going to fail me for not reading as much as everyone else and I need to be proud of what I did manage to read! Sometimes I tend to worry that I’m not as much of a reader anymore but then I remember that reading anything at all makes me a reader and that I don’t have to read 1000 books a year just to be valid. I love doing readathons like Summerween and I hope to be able to participate in more this year! How was your Summerween? Did you complete your TBR? Did you find a new favorite from what you read? I’d love to know so please leave me a comment below so we can chat! Thanks for stopping by and I’ll see you in the next chapter!
