#AYearAThon Middlegrade Wrap-Up

The #AYearAThon middlegrade readathon is officially done (for my time zone, at least), and I had a pretty good week.

On Monday, I read A Monster Calls, by Patrick Ness, Lemony Snicket's The Reptile Room, and Coraline: A Graphic Novel by Neil Gaiman with art by P. Craig Russell.  I absolutely LOVED A Monster Calls, and I am going to write a full review of that in the very near future.


So on day one I finished 3 books and read 368 pages.

I decided to start Sabriel, which is part of Garth Nix's Old Kingdom Trilogy, on Tuesday, and I didn't finish it until Wednesday, it being the only book I read either of those two days.  It was a reread for me, and I enjoyed it even more the second time than I did the first time.  It added 282 pages to my total.

The rest of the week was pretty busy for me, so I tried to read one book a day after that.

Since I love Roald Dahl, I picked up Boy on Thursday and read all 176 pages in one sitting.  If you enjoy Dahl's books, but you haven't read Boy or Flying Solo, I highly recommend them.  They are collections of stories about his life, and they are just as entertaining as his fiction.

On Friday I read A Child Called It, by Dave Pelzer, which was 174 pages .  I know that a lot of people really love this book, but I just didn't like it.  The writing was so bad, and the message didn't go beyond the abuse.  I know that there is a lot of controversy surrounding the validity of the book, but without even considering that, I just found the book poorly written.  I think that there are a lot better books on child abuse that offer hope alongside truth.

The Giver movie is coming out this week, and I hadn't read the book in a few years, so I decided to reread it on Saturday.  I finished the 180-page tome in one sitting, and I was just reminded of how amazing it is.  Simultaneously, my expectations for the movie lowered as I can already tell from the trailer that they have greatly altered it.  We shall see!

On Sunday I didn't read a thing.  I know.  My nephew turned 9, so my husband and I had a sleepover with him, and we didn't go to sleep until 2 am, and then we had to wake up at 8:30 for church.  Needless to say, my brain was just not up to reading any words.

So, I was able to read 7 books and a total of 1180 pages.  I'm happy with that!

What did you read for this #AYearAThon?  And what middlegrade books am I missing out on?  Tell me in the comments.

Have a blessed day!