Once Upon a Read-a-Thon Final Update

From Wicked Awesome Books :
     This Mini-Challenge is all about matchmaking. You know how two characters in a book that could've saved themselves a lot of grief if they hadn't insisted on ending up together? Well this activity aims to "fix" this problem.
     My picks are :
          Astrid Llewelyn from Rampant and Ascendant (both by Diana Peterfreund) because she has so many issues to deal with, she just needs a guy who will respect her and try not to make her life any harder than it already is, not to mention the fact that she needs support and encouragement to battle all those unicorns!
                              ~matched with~
  Morning McCobb from Suck it Up by Brian Meehl because he is an awkward vampire still looking for his place in the world and I think he'd be willing to help her deal with her issues as long as he didn't have to be the poster-boy for any international vampire coming out of the closet events. And also he's one of my favorite male protagonists because it's so hard not to love him.

From Books from Bleh to Basically Amazing :
The point of this mini-challenge was to recommend two books to this blogger: one from you all-time favorite books and the other from your read-a-thon pile.

1. From my all-time favorites I'm recommending The Iron Thorn by Caitlin Kittredge. It's one of the best  books in general I've read in a long time...like since Harry Potter. It's got magic, it's got romance ( even a little hint of a love triangle), it's got crazy family issues, and it plays with your mind a bit. Aoife Grayson lives in the city of Lovecraft where Proctors rule what is Heretical: having to do with magic and thereby punishable by gruesome means. in Aoife's family, sixteen in the age when you go mad and the clock is ticking on Aoife's sanity. And when she gets a note from her older brother, she knows she has to save him and herself before she loses he mind...or gets caught. It's fast-paced, entrancing; basically a whole new adventure to dive into with such a tangible world, it might drive you a bit insane...that is, if the tantalizing love between Aoife and a silver-eyed Heretic named Dean Harrison. It'll keep you wondering what will happen next and if the end will make it all worth it to the very last word and you still won't ever guess the hectic conclusion.

2. From my Read-a-Thon pile, I'm recommending 3 Willow by Ann Brashares.
This will sound a bit cliche, but this book was the first on this type to actually engage me until the end. I actually wasn't expecting it from this book. But the characters, their issues and their friendship all felt so real to me. It all reminded me of my own friendships. Ama is a brainiac shipped off to an outdoorsy camp, even though she only wants to be reasearching in an air-conditioned library. Jo is staying in her parents beach house for the summer with a job at a local restauant. She wasn't expecting har parents surprise, nor was she counting on meeting the super-cute boy. Polly is trying not to miss her friends this summer. Her solution: aim for the glamourous life and never look back...but is she cut out for it?
I was sincerely impressed by this book and think with Ann Brashares other larger-than-life series( The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) casting a giant shadow over this one, it's not getting enough attention. I'd recommend it again and again.

This event is hosted by these lovely blogs:

http://www.readingangel.com/
http://www.pureimaginationblog.com/
http://www.candacesbookblog.com/
Today's challenges were hosted at these nice blogs:
http://www.wickedawesomebooks.com/ (matchmaker challenge)
http://basicallyamazing.blogspot.com/ (recommendations challenge)