So many of you have heard of the reading rush event that took place between 20 -26 July, unfortunately I couldn’t write up a Pre-reading rush post, and because I didn’t properly prep for this I didn’t want to write a pointless post that’s just messy. You deserve better than that.
I did a recap instead! Being a first timer I’ll be talking about first impressions, prompts completed, my reading goals, and the books I’ve read.
First Impressions
Before becoming a book blogger I never even heard of a readathon called Reading Rush, heck I don’t think I’ve ever participated in something of this magnitude!
The site clearly highlights everything and the process to get into the reading rush which is helpful for first timers. At first when you gloss over the forums you kind of get overwhelmed of the sheer amount of discussions and debates going on, and for a minute or two you kind of get lost.
What’s great?
- The diversity of different books and worldwide readers. I definitely added some books I never knew before.
- The challenging prompts that gets readers having a greater drive to finish the challenge!
- The colorful badges that you earn each time you finish a challenge.
- Book discounts from Book Depository 😍
What could be better?
- I wish there were reading sprints or read ins that fit with my timeline. I couldn’t really participate due to the stark time differences and sadly no featured read ins were from the Middle East (Maybe I’ll host one next year who knows!?)
- Have a prompt or two that was more fun. Like “Read a book that matches your aura” or “Read a book that Cleopatra or Rasputin might suggest”. Something crazier!
- I would change the coloring of the “reply”, “like” heart, hyperlink symbol, and the rest of the buttons on the same line. They’re all light grey and a couple of times I skimmed past them before scrolling back up again. Perhaps a darker color or a sharper one to make it more visible and clear to users?
Main Goals
Reading goal: 2-3 books
Actual books read: 3
Challenge prompts completed: 3/7
I’m really happy to have accomplished my reading goals especially since my first book was a heavy read and I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to pick up another book right after it. I kind of got a reading burnout after. Also I’m not really great with reading more than one book at once but that’s a skill I’m willing to learn this year.
Books Read
Book: Macbeth by Jo Nesbo – Challenge prompt: Read a book that takes place on a different continent than you live
So I started with Nesbo’s Macbeth which takes place in a Scandinavian country or somewhere on the European continent. I probably should have picked a lighter book, the author truly took his sweet time lol but a true thriller nonetheless. Recommend if you’re into dark crime thrillers. Check out my review here!
Book: The Big Book of Teeny Tiny Stories by Skyler Hammond – Challenge prompt: Read a book in a genre that you’ve always wanted to read more of
That genre is: Graphic Novels. I know most would go for Non-fiction but once upon a time I used to be one of those Lit snobs who refused to acknowledge graphic novels as “books” because they’re filled with pictures. (I am sorry graphic novel fans I assure you I have cut my ties with that person and I don’t know her anymore 👀). Hammond’s picture book features a collection of short stories accompanied with illustrations submitted from various artists around the world. It was a nice breather after the previous book. Check out my review here!
Book: The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner – Challenge prompt: Read a book that starts with the word “The”
Managed to finish this one right on the last day of the reading rush but out of the three, this has to be my favorite. I absolutely was wrecked by this book and my fragile heart has yet to survive more fictional heartbreaks and deaths, but Zentner wrote an amazing novel. Recommend if you’re into contemporary YA. Review will be up in the near future 😉
That’s a wrap folks! Being a part of this is a unique way to celebrate with fellow bookworms all over the world and it can really give you that kick to push you to lessen that TBR a bit (or at least try to lessen it). Although I’m sure to some 3 books might look like a failure but I’m quite proud of what I managed to read and I stand behind that! I’ll most likely participate next year and hopefully get better acquainted with the site and other fellow readers.
Tell me: Did you participate this year? How was it!? I would love to hear your thoughts about this year’s 2020 reading rush 😍
The Never Ending Chronicles of Jawahir the Bookworm 
Congrats on completing your goals!! This was my first reading rush too, and while I definitely had fun, I’m glad I don’t feel pressured to finish books at the same rate anymore!! Also, reading a book that matches your aura sounds SO fun!! Maybe you should make your own readathon w/ those fun prompts one day! 🥰
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Thanks Erin! Congrats on finishing reading rush too! Hosting my own readathon actually sounds like a great idea 😍 If you’re interested to join/collab, tell me, the more the merrier!
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I didn’t participate this year but I heard a lot about it and wish I did! Maybe next year 🙂
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In truth after the recent criticisms they might have done a better job, but hopefully next year’s will be a better one!
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Congrats on completing your goals! This sounds like a fun challenge!
Tash // A Girl with a View
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It was definitely something different! Thanks for reading ❤️
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Ah, this was one of my first times participating in The Reading Rush, as well! I also liked the prompts but they definitely could have done some crazier ones, like what you had suggested. My only criticism to add would be that they didn’t really mention their book club read enough so I wasn’t aware of it until the end and they also should have made it their primary focus to actually finish the book they were going to read – the way they handled that was quite disrespectful towards those who had actually read the book, not to mention the author of the book.
It’s awesome that you were able to meet your goals for this challenge, I’m looking forward to reading your reviews!
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Exactly! The marketing and promotion of things were really poor. I didn’t even know about their book club till the last day. As for the situation that happened with the book club and their book choice, I wasn’t aware of that when I wrote this post. Afterwards when I went on Twitter I could understand how insensitive and disrespectful they were with how they handled things. They could have done better.
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