#FridayReads - July 22

Tiina

Hello, hello, hello. Friday again! There’s a lovely heatwave here at the moment – a nice change from the constant rain – so I’m hunkered down inside a lot with a cold drink and a book. As one does. Since it’s still the Booktubeathon, I’m planning a sort of a reading sprint over this weekend. The main aim is to finish up Rainbow Rowell’s Carry On. In addition to that, I really feel like starting Elizabeth von Armin’s Enchanting April. Apparently, it’s set in an Italian villa and perfect reading for summer (despite the name!). That’s exactly what I’m in the mood for right now. I’m also thinking of reading the last volume in the Alex + Ada limited run comic series. The first two volumes were really, really good and I can’t wait to finish up the whole series. It’s sci-fi, but it takes almost no time at all to really get into it. There’s also a hint of romance, but it’s not overwhelming at all. And there’s no graphic violence or sex. That’s it. Three books. One of them is over 500 pages so that’ll tell ya how ambitious I am in my plans.

Coll

Well I went ahead and got myself a summer cold, so that combined with 95-100F (up to 37C) temperatures this weekend means lots of reading time indoors for me. This weekend I plan on finishing up The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey, which is my #BookTubeAThon2016 choice for a yellow cover and book to read after sunset. This book is zombie apocalypse with a twist, where children who house the disease but are not fully afflicted by it are studied in an attempt to uncover why they are so different from the others. It is exciting, heartbreaking, and creepy and I am loving it. I also plan on reading the short novella that comes between books two and three in the Expanse series, Gods of Risk by James S.A. Corey. The novella gives a quick side story about one of the main characters from book two, Caliban's War. Then I plan on starting This Bloody Mary is the Last Thing I Own by Jonathan Rendall, which is my #BookTubeAThon2016 choice for a book discovered via BookTube. It is a true story about a Las Vegas boxer and his journey in through boxing world and his exit from the scene. Finally, if possible, I hope to start on Love That Boy by Ron Fournier, my Book of the Month choice. This book is about a father's journey with his son who has Asperger's, as they visit presidents and presidential libraries in the United States. The journey is not only a learning experience for the son, but for the father as he learns more of childhood development, acceptance, and the expectations of parents and children. So there you go. I seem to have big reading plans for this weekend and might have bit off more than I can chew, but let's see how it goes. ;-)

#booktubeathon2016 announcement and TBR!

We aren’t currently making any Booktube videos, but we do comment on others’ videos quite a bit, and I for one – Tiina - have been obsessively watching several Booktubers for nearly 2 years now. It is one of my favourite pastimes, actually. In addition to book hauls and monthly wrap-ups, readathon TBRs are one of my favourite videos to watch. As you might know, we love reading challenges around here a lot – and even hosted our own (ends on Tuesday!) – it’s about time we join in. Fair’s fair so here’s our participation announcement and TBRs.

We'll be posting on Instagram as @doublelettersbookclub

Challenge	Tiina	Coll
Book with yellow on the cover	Most probably Carry On, but if I end up speeding through the others, I might read The Girl with All the Gifts for this one instead (it’s aaaalll yellow)	For this I am going to read The Girl with All the Gifts. I have wanted to read it for a while now so this is a good push for me to do it.
Book to read after sunset	Alex + Ada, Vol 2 because I plan on finishing it one night. That is, if they arrive in the mail!	For this I also plan on using The Girl with All the Gifts because I love reading horror at night. So this is perfect!
Book discovered via Booktube	The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan as my library just got it and I think I’m in the mood for it. I think I heard it first from Jen Campbell.	So I was torn between two for this but I am going with This Bloody Mary Is the Last Thing I Own. For some reason I am super intrigued by it so I figured why the hell not.  I heard it from the Book Riot channel.
Book by favourite author	I will combine challenges and read Carry On by Rainbow Rowell for this one, as well.	I think I will probably read Cannery Row by John Steinbeck. He is my all-time favorite author and this is one of his books that I have actually never read.
Book that’s older than you	The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Armin	Cannery Row for this too. It was published in 1945, so there you go. ;-)
Read a book and watch its adaption	Once again: The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Armin. It has a highly lauded film adaption so two birds with one stone and all that (also: figuratively!).	I feel bad using Cannery Row again but not really. The movie came out in 1982 and I am interested to see how the book translates into movie.
Read 7 books	Might not get to this as I will have the in-laws over for most of the weekend. I’m aiming towards 4 and that might be generous ;-).	Seven books huh? Well maybe if I didn’t work and video games didn’t exist I could manage this. ;-) However, in reality I am aiming for four or five books.