2016 Love-A-Thon: Mix and Match

The 2016 Love-a-Thon is hosted by Alexa from Alexa Loves Books, Cee from The Novel Hermit, Hazel from Stay Bookish, and Mel from The Daily Prophecy. 

Over the next two days, book bloggers from all over the world will be participating in the event. There will be Twitter chats, challenges, and commenting sprees to spread love and positivity in our little corner of the Internet.

Mini-Challenge #1: Mix and Match

For the second mini-challenge, Alexa, Cee, Hazel, and Mel have come up with a mix and match challenge. They are asking that us bookish people find a non-bookish hobby and pair it up with our love of reading.

I didn't even have to think twice about what I would do for this post! Today, I'm pairing up my love of finding beach glass with my love of reading. When I thought about it, I thought that Sarah Ockler's books would be the best way to mix and match these two because it just so happens that Ockler is a beach glass collector.

The two books below are some of my favorite YA books ever, and Ockler also mentions beach glass in both.

Sarah's Books Featuring Beach Glass

Title: Twenty Boy Summer

Publisher: Little Brown

Publication Date: June 1, 2009

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"Don’t worry, Anna. I’ll tell her, okay? Just let me think about the best way to do it."

"Okay."

"Promise me? Promise you won’t say anything?"

"Don’t worry.” I laughed. “It’s our secret, right?"

According to Anna’s best friend, Frankie, twenty days in Zanzibar Bay is the perfect opportunity to have a summer fling, and if they meet one boy every day, there’s a pretty good chance Anna will find her first summer romance. Anna lightheartedly agrees to the game, but there’s something she hasn’t told Frankie–she’s already had her romance, and it was with Frankie’s older brother, Matt, just before his tragic death one year ago.

TWENTY BOY SUMMER explores what it truly means to love someone, what it means to grieve, and ultimately, how to make the most of every beautiful moment life has to offer.

Title: The Summer of Chasing Mermaids
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: June 2, 2015
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The youngest of six talented sisters, Elyse d’Abreau was destined for stardom—until a boating accident took everything from her. Now, the most beautiful singer in Tobago can’t sing. She can’t even speak.
Seeking quiet solitude, Elyse accepts a friend’s invitation to Atargatis Cove. Named for the mythical first mermaid, the Oregon seaside town is everything Elyse’s home in the Caribbean isn’t: An ocean too cold for swimming, parties too tame for singing, and people too polite to pry—except for one.
Christian Kane is a notorious playboy—insolent, arrogant, and completely charming. He’s also the only person in Atargatis Cove who doesn’t treat Elyse like a glass statue. He challenges her to express herself, and he admires the way she treats his younger brother Sebastian, who believes Elyse is the legendary mermaid come to life.
 
When Christian needs a first mate for the Cove’s high-stakes Pirate Regatta, Elyse reluctantly stows her fear of the sea and climbs aboard. The ocean isn’t the only thing making waves, though—swept up in Christian’s seductive tide and entranced by the Cove’s charms, Elyse begins to wonder if a life of solitude isn’t what she needs. But changing course again means facing her past. It means finding her inner voice. And scariest of all, it means opening her heart to a boy who’s best known for breaking them . . .

My Love of Beach Glass

When you're a girl who has spent a lot of her summer vacations on the shores of Lake Erie, you learn a lot about the garbage that people throw into the lake. Most of it pollutes the lake or ends up back on shore, but sometimes, the lake does something beautiful to that garbage.

The process of a piece of glass or a bottle becoming a beautiful piece of beach glass (mermaid tears, sea glass) takes a long time. First the glass needs to break. Then, probably over years and years, the lake (or the ocean) churns it in the waves and sand. Eventually, the pieces find their way to the shore, and beachcombers like me find and collect them. 

My little corner of the world where I look for beach glass

When I was a kid, I thought it was fun just to walk up and down the beach to collect pieces of beach glass. I didn't think it was something I'd take with me to adulthood, so I didn't really worry about the pieces that I found. I didn't keep the pieces for myself. My mom would take my pieces when we got back to camp, and over the years, her collection grew. Giving the pieces away is something I regret, but it was kind of unavoidable. How can you tell your mom no, right?

Now that I'm an adult, I keep the pieces I find. Yes, my mom still gets a bit jealous if I find a really good piece, but I want mine for myself. I've been pretty lucky, especially due to the fact that our campground is on a private beach that a lot of people won't go to. If I get there early enough and stay long enough, I can find dozens of pieces. 

Ockler mentions in Twenty Boy Summer that some colors are rarer than others. This is true. Some of the harder to find colors today are reds, oranges, yellows, purples, and grays. Somehow, I've managed to find some yellow, gray, and pink pieces, and they are some of my favorite pieces of beach glass. Other hard to find pieces of beach glass are marbles. I found a marble during one of my "beach glass hunting" sessions. It was actually one of the first pieces I found after my mom stopped taking my pieces. I also have some other rare colors, but I'm still looking for that elusive red.

Let's Mix and Match!

 

Now I know I'm no Bookstagram star or anything and that these pictures aren't amazing, but I felt like the only way to really mix and match my love of reading and beach glass would be by combining my favorite Sarah Ockler books with my collection of beach glass.