January 20, 2021

The One Where 'Friends' Meets Reality!


Yesterday, someone tagged me on Instagram in a post about a read-athon for 2021--with a Friends theme! ('Friends' being the TV show, of course--if you're not aware, Jerry and I are a little obsessed with it. I write this with Chick and Duck on my lap while Phoebe is curled up on my legs. It's hard to type with cats all over the place! Haha)

The Instagram account that is hosting the read-athon is @where.fiction.meets.reality. Each month, there is a prompt to choose a book based on an episode of Friends. When I looked over the list, I was glad to see that it could be interpreted very loosely--I usually don't do book lists or clubs because I'm so picky about what I read. When you're a slow reader like I am, every page needs to be interesting!


Since I'd already had a goal in the back of my mind to read one book a month, seeing this list made me excited to do it. And since there are only 11 days left in January, I knew I'd better pick a themed book right away so I'd have time to finish before the end of the month.

January's prompt is:
"The One Where Monica Gets a Roommate" : Read the 1st book in a series.

Since I don't have a full month to read this book, I decided to look for a Young Adult book, which tend to go faster. And I love YA books! The Hunger Games trilogy got me interested in other apocalyptic/dystopian books, but for the past few years, I've been reading mostly psychological thrillers.

I turned to Amazon's list of "Best Sellers in Teens and Young Adult Dystopian ebooks". Pretty specific, right? Some of the lists are even more specific than that!

I ultimately chose selected 'The Selection' by Kiera Cass (Amazon affiliate link). It's #2 on that Amazon list and I've had it on my Goodreads "Want To Read" list for a long time after a friend told me about it. It's book one of five, so hopefully I'll like it and will want to read the rest (in addition to the books for the 'Friends' read-athon).

To finish it in 10 days, I decided that I'd aim for 10% of the book per day (with the Kindle Paperwhite (Amazon affiliate link), it shows you the percentage of the book you've read). I started it this morning after my walk and I have NOT been able to put it down! Right now, I'm kind of hurrying through this post so that I can continue reading it.

This book is exactly what I needed. A book that keeps me excited to read and choose reading over watching TV or something else before bed (or, in this case, all day long.)

Here is the description of the book from the publisher on Amazon:

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape a rigid caste system, live in a palace, and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon. But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her, and competing for a crown she doesn’t want.

Then America meets Prince Maxon—and realizes that the life she’s always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

The description doesn't sound very enticing and there isn't much detail at all. It sounds very "fluffy". The only reason I'd had it on my list is because my friend was so insistent that I read it. So far, it reminds of something like the love child of The Bachelor and The Hunger Games. Hopefully the rest of the book will pan out to be as good as what I've read up to now.

Anyway, I'm excited about this Friends read-athon! I'll share my picks each month and then do a quick review of the books when I'm done. (I'm not good a reviewing books, so I basically just write--"Holy cow, read this!!" or "Eh, it was okay." But I'll try.)

If any of you want to join in on the Friends read-athon, you can find the Instagram account here: @where.fiction.meets.reality and the post regarding the details here. Below is a screenshot from Instagram.

(Just to make it clear, I am not the one hosting this... I'm just participating!)

6 comments:

  1. I love The Selection series and that description does it a huge disservice.

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  2. The Selection series is one I've found quite enjoyable. And yeah, is a weird dystopian future mixed with The Bachelor.

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  3. I received the Kindle Paperwhite as a Christmas gift and love it. I had mentioned to the person who gifted it to me (who also has one) that you really loved yours so I think she was excited to give it to me.

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  4. I read the Selection series and LOVED it. The first one is definitely the best, but I'll bet you won't want to stop after that one! Can't wait to hear what you think...

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  5. I very much liked the Selection- and the next few in the series! Keep with them it is worth it :)

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  6. I loved the Young Adult Enemy Series by Charlie Higson. My 16 year old son would read a book and then hand it off to me. It's about Zombies and kids having to make due on their own without adults, it was very interesting and the plots were well thought out.

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