Ten Books in Ten Days-Failed

For those of you that haven't read previous posts- I set out to read ten books in ten days. It seems a little ambitious and this time for me it was. What I learned during my challenge of ten books in ten days:

1) Don't set a goal to read a book a day when everyone of those days you will have a house guest. Especially a house guest you haven't seen in three years and loves to talk.

2) Don't choose ten books that contain emotional content that will leave you drained. I wrote about this on my last post. It was almost impossible to go from one book to the next when the book I just finished was weighing heavy on my mind.

3) When the end nears don't give up- I kind of did.

In the end I read 6 1/2 books.

Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Supernaturally by Kiersten White
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma
Fixing Delilah by Sarah Ockler
1/2 of Radiance by Alyson Noel

I reviewed Thirteen Reasons why here. The rest of the reviews will come, but I wanted to do a quick overview.

Favorite book read:
Fixing Delilah (I have found a new writer to stalk. When I find a book I love I have to read every book that writer has out. This book is exactly what I love to read and write.)

The book that had me up all night:
Thirteen Reasons Why (I explain it all in my review)

Just not for me:
Imaginary Girls (It is beautifully written and I would highly recommend it, but it's just not my type of book. I'll go into detail in a future post.)

Favorite Cover:
Imaginary Girls (The cover is gorgeous)

Favorite Main Character:
Evie from Supernaturally

I will say that I did this challenge to get out of my writing and reading funk and in that sense it was a success. I look forward to finishing Radiance and moving on to the next book, but most of all I can't wait to dive into my WIP.

Have you read anything good lately? Have you read any from my list?

Update and Ten Books in Ten Days

In the beginning of the month I wrote a post about how I am JaNoing (NaNoing in January). It's not going so well. First off I started on a new idea, wrote the first chapter, hated everysingle word I wrote and basically let self doubt consume me. Then I decided I'm going to finally finish a WIP I have been randomly working on and pushing aside for something new for the past three years-the longest I have ever spent on a first draft EVER! It was perfect. I have had the story plotted out in my mind for years and I even came up with a new twist in the plot that had me clapping. So how many words have I added to this WIP that has been calling my name? Zero! Yup that's right. Nothing. Zilch. Nada. To make matters worse, I have no desire to read either. I blame this all on my current state of being unemployed and spending my days watching crappy day time TV and dusting every ten minutes. I've come to the conclusion that I'm not going to get motivated unless I force myself to get motivated. So I am still hoping I can finish the first draft of this WIP that has been begging me to do so for years by the end of the month.

In order to get inspiration and force myself out of my reading funk I am creating a challenge for myself. Ten books in ten days. Crazy right? Probably, but it's not impossible and I have a lot, too much, free time on my hand so I know I can do it. Plus I have books I have been dying to read just sitting and collecting dust on my shelf. I'm going to put aside A Tale of Two Cities, that god I have been desperately trying to finish, to at least stick with one New Year Resolution. I have scanned my bookshelf and have picked up the ten books I had to have and have yet to read:

You can place your bets below. Just Kidding. But if like me you are in a reading funk, need inspiration or just want an excuse to read more, join me. The reading begins today and will end on the 23 of January. I'll post my progress along the way. Happy Reading.