ContemporaryAThon is happening again and y’all, I’m so excited! The hosts are Chelsea from chelseadollingreads, Julie from Pages & Pens, and Natasha from myreadingisodd. I love each of their channels. There are seven reading challenges and I’m so ready for this TBR!!
Challenge Number One: Most Recent Contemporary
Okay, so super exciting news is that Brooklynnaire is going to drop onto my e-reader and I am READY. I’ve been waiting for Nate and Rebecca’s book since the first Brooklyn Bruisers book (Rookie Move). (Weirdly, Goodreads doesn’t list this book as part of the series, but… It is? So…) Anyway, Rebecca is Nate’s assistant and Nate is IN LOVE WITH HER. But she is apparently oblivious. And I just really love this entire series. And Sarina Bowen. So yes, I’m pumped. Also, this man on the cover is working for me.
Challenge Number Two: Read a Book with Pink on the Cover
Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert is my pick for this, in part because Chelsea has talked it up so much, but also because I’m really intrigued by the plot. In this book, Suzette returns home from her boarding school to provide emotional support for her brother Lionel–he’s dealing with his recent diagnosis of bipolar disorder. But while she’s back home in L.A., she starts to fall for the same girl that her brother is crushing on. I’m really excited to read this one!
Challenge Three: Hyped Book
My selection for a hyped book is Little Fires Everywhere, which has definitely been hyped by so many people! It is time for me to actually get to this book. I’m 99% sure I’ve talked about this before and you’ve probably heard of it from somewhere else, but basically, in the town of Shaker Heights, Ohio, there’s a house fire in this rich family’s home and it’s an exploration of class and race. Yeah, I’ll hopefully give a better description once I’ve read it. Also, I think Dani at Dani’s Bookshelf is going to read this book with me! So that’s super exciting.
Challenge Four: Diverse Book
I’m so excited for American Panda by Gloria Chao, which y’all probably know already. This book is about Mei, a seventeen year old attending MIT and she’s theoretically studying to become a doctor. Mei is Taiwanese American and her parents expect her to become a doctor and marry a Taiwanese man and have babies. Except, Mei actually doesn’t like anything about medicine and the guy she has a crush on is not Taiwanese (he’s Japanese American). Mei reconnects with her estranged brother and learns a lot about coming into her own and following her own path. I’m so excited for this book, but I also know I’m going to need to plan on having food on hand to satisfy my cravings because one of the emojis Gloria Chao keeps using to describe her book is the dumpling emoji. At least I’ve been forewarned!
Challenge Five: Dark or Taboo Contemporary
For this, I’m going with a dark book and will be reading All American Boys. This book deals with police brutality and white privilege in a unique way. It’s co-written by Jason Reynolds and Brenden Kiley and follows Rashad, a black boy who bumps into an old white lady in a store and then is accused of stealing and that for some reason leads to him being beaten by a cop, and Quinn, a white boy who witnessed the event. I’m really excited to read this book, but also I’m not sure I’m prepared to read this book. Oh well. It’s happening!
Challenge Six: Contemporary Graphic Novel
I’m really still not sure what I’m doing for this challenge. Most likely it will wind up being the first volume of the Giant Days series. I would have liked to do Spinning but Hoopla doesn’t appear to have that as an option, so… Quite unfortunate. We’ll see though!
Challenge Seven: Read a Book Recommended to You
I’m going with Nice Try, Jane Sinner and I’m pretending that Natasha recommended it to me. We did have an interaction in the comments that was more or less a recommendation, so I think it counts. I was lucky enough to win this book from the author, Lianne Oelke on Twitter so I’m really excited to get to it. From what I understand, our main character in this book has a depressive episode that results in her getting kicked out of school (which does not seem like a good way to handle such a thing) and winds up attending community college. She then moves into this house on campus where they’re doing a reality TV show? I’m not quite sure, but I do know that I’m intrigued.
Are you participating in Contemporary A Thon? If so, what are you reading? Let me know!
xx
firewhiskeyreader 