April TBR: Magical Readathon / OWLS TBR

Heya! Magical Readathon or the OWL’s is happening again in April and I cannot wait! This is one of my all-time favourite Readathons and one I participate in every year.

The Magical Readathon is a Harry Potter themed readathon based around taking the OWL’s, which are the exams the students take in April in the books. This readathon is hosted by Book Roast and I recommend watching her announcement video for more info.

This year I’ve chosen the Spellcaster career and I also hope to complete one of the training courses (hopefully animagus training) if I get time.

The OWLs for Spellcaster are Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Astronomy, Charms, Divination, History of Magic and Transfiguration. To get the Animagus training certificate I would also need to complete potions prompt on top of these.

For this readathon, I want to exclusively try to read books on my physical TBR. I really want to keep working on reducing the number of books I have on my physical TBR and since my library is now closed, this seems like a perfect reason to read what I have.

With that said, here are the books I plan on reading during this Readathon!

Ancient Runes – A book with a heart on the cover or in the title

For this prompt, I chose Tin Heart by Shivaun Plozza. I won this book at a Penguin event I went to last year, but it has been sitting on my shelves since. I don’t know too much about this book, only that it follows the main character after she has a heart transplant.

This is the only book I had on my shelves with Heart in the title. I am a little bit apprehensive about this because it hasn’t been grabbing my attention but this readathon is a perfect opportunity to read what you might not usually pick up so hopefully I end up really enjoying this.

Arithmancy – Read a book outside your favourite genre

For this prompt, I have chosen A Girl Like That by Tanaz Bhathena. This is a YA contemporary which is definitely not one of my favourite genres. In fact, I haven’t actually read a single one all year yet. But sometimes I do enjoy them and I really hope I like this one because I have heard a lot of good reviews.

This book is set in Saudi Arabia and I believe it explores rape culture and the livelihood of girls growing up in Saudi Arabia. This is an ownvoices book and I know it is quite hard-hitting which is the YA contemporary I enjoy.

Astronomy – Read a book at night

I almost always do all my reading at night so this prompt really is perfect for me.

For the OWL, I chose The Fate of the Tearling by Erika Johansen. I’ve been meaning to finish this series since the beginning of the year so this is a perfect time to do that.

I’ve definitely heard some mixed things about the ending of this book/series but I feel like I know where it’s going and I won’t be so disappointed.

Either way, this has been a fun series to read and I’m excited to finish it off.

Charms – Read a book with a white cover

So this prompt is to read a book with a white cover, and the only options left on my physical TBR are A Little Life or Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky. Which are both 720 pages long and also intimidating.

So this book is very tentatively placed on this TBR but I’ll probably leave this prompt to one of the later ones and see how I’m going. If I can’t get to a 720-page book, I’ll probably just reread one of my other books. I’m thinking either A Gathering of Shadows by V.E Schwab or The Raven King by Nora Sakavic.

This book has been on my TBR for a long time though, so it would be nice to finally read it.

Divination – Randomly chosen book

This prompt asked me to randomly assign books to those on my TBR and choose one with a random number generator. The book chosen for me was Perfume by Patrick Suskind. This book is about a man who discovers he has an extraordinary sense of smell and becomes a murderer in order to preserve the smells of other people.

It sounds insanely weird and creepy and I’ve heard a lot of people say they love this book. I have no idea how I’m going to feel about it myself, but it sounds so unique as a concept and I’m so excited to finally be reading this.

History of Magic – A book with witches or wizards

Could I really do the Harry Potter themed readathon without rereading at least one Harry Potter book? No, I could not

I decided to reread Goblet of Fire because I got the stunning illustrated edition for Christmas and I’ve been saving it for the perfect time. I love these editions so much, they are just so beautiful and Jim Kay’s drawings breathe a new life into the world and the characters. And I haven’t reread GoF in a long time.

Transfiguration – A book involving shapeshifting

My final book is for transfiguration. It was hard to find a book involving shapeshifting on my TBR, but I eventually went with Chain of Gold. I’ve been informed by twitter that using this is a *bit* of a stretch but ……. I don’t care! I’ve decided I’m okay with stretching.

This is the newest instalment in the Shadowhunters world, following the next generation after Will, Tessa and Jem. I admit I wasn’t sure if I was going to read this at first, but the excellent reviews really hiked up my excitement for it. Also, I need to meet and love Cordelia Carstairs, it is that simple.

Those are all the books I need to read for my OWLs. I gave myself much more of a challenge than I usually would but … I figure we’re all in self-isolation or lockdown and there is more time than usual for lying around reading.

If I do get through all of these, I have one more bonus prompt, which is potions to get my Animagus certificate.

Potions – A book under 150 pages

For the final prompt, I need to read a book under 150 pages. I don’t own anything for this and I had a hard time deciding what to read. I ultimately decided to go with A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle. I’ve been meaning to read the Sherlock Holmes books, especially since I have the complete set narrated by Stephen Fry. This prompt gives me the perfect opportunity to start this series.

That is my whole TBR for April / Magical Readathon. If you’re also participating in this readathon I’d love to hear what you plan on reading and what career you’re going for.

until next time!

PondAThon TBR !

Hi all ! I’m here today to share my TBR for PondAThon, which is a readathon hosted by CW and starts on January 24th.

First of all, I want to talk a little about this readathon, because I think it’s so creative and fun and I have been looking forward to it so much. In the prologue, we learn The Quiet Pond, a magical pond filled with loveable animals – is under threat! The point of the ReadAThon is to help the inhabitants of the pond defeat this evil. Everyone gets to choose which team they want to be on, and each team has a different challenge. You get points for completing books according to the challenge. Everyone gets to choose what team they want to be on, and even create their own personal animal friend who helps the pond’s inhabitants. It’s just an incredible setup, so everyone please check out The Quiet Pond and The PondAThon and consider signing up!

My team and character

For this ReadAThon, I’ve joined Team Varian. On Team Varian, we gain points for every single book we read that is of a previous genre to the one finished before. This is such a perfect team/challenge for me since reading from different genres has been my main goal for a few years now. I am so excited to be on team Varian.

MY TBR

Because I’m no longer really setting strict TBR’s for a bit, I just thought I’d talk about ten books I might get to over the course of this readathon, all in various genres. One big focus for me is reading the books I own, so that will also be a part of my selection process.

Before the Devil Breaks You by Libba Bray (fantasy) – I’m rereading this series before King of Crows comes out, so I’ll probably be reading this in late Jan / early Feb

Emma by Jane Austen (classic) – I want to read this before the movie comes out on Feb 14!

The King of Crows by Libba Bray (fantasy) – MY MOST ANTICIPATED RELEASE OF THE YEAR

On Earth, We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong (literary fiction) – I’ve wanted to read this for a while now. It is composed of letters by a gay Vietnamese boy to his illiterate mother and I’ve heard a lot about it.

A Girl Like That by Tanaz Bhathena (contemporary) – I’ve owned this book for a really long time and it’s time I read it. I know a lot of my friends loved this one.

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (historical fiction) – I’ve owned this for so long and it’s really time to read it because it feels like one of those ‘everyone has read it’ books

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche (historical fiction) – Another book I’ve owned way too long and need to get to. I’ve read Adiche’s work in the past and enjoyed it a lot so I should like this.

Dracula by Bram Stoker (classic) – I’ve been meaning to read this classic FOREVER and I just bought a nice edition of it, so it’s time to read it!

Perfume by Patrick Suskind (horror) – Honestly, I don’t know a lot about this book except I heard its good and I bought it at a book sale so I hope I like it.

Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari (non-fiction) – I’ve wanted to read this for so long, ever since I read (and loved) Sapiens. I am waiting for a copy of the libraries audiobook, and I think I should get access soon.

That is my (tentative) TBR for PondAThon. Because this readathon is fairly loose in terms of challenges (just to read from different genres for me) I’m not sure if this is what I’ll stick to, but I’ll definitely be trying to maximise my points by reading three different genres in a row to get the bonus points.

I’d love to hear if you’re participating in this readathon and if so, what team you’re on and what books are on your TBR.

until next time!

reflecting on my 2018 reading goals

It’s the end of the year and it’s time to look back on what I read, reflect on the goals I made and think about how well I did on them. I never made an official goals post this year because I wasn’t exactly sure what my goals were but I loosely had the plan to read 150 books, read a wider range of genres, and finish ten series. I also wanted to finish at least half of the books on my owned TBR, and try to read some of my most anticipated backlist titles.

Also, if anyone would like to see a more comprehensive look at everything I read here is my YEAR IN READING from Goodreads.

FINISH 150 BOOKS

Currently I’ve finished 134 books of 150 and I’m about 12 behind schedule. This is obviously very far behind my goal (especially since in June I was three books ahead of schedule)

However, 134 books is more than I read last year. I’ve also read 44,483 pages this year so far, and last year I read 37,519 in total. So despite reading less books, I’ve actually read more and so I think this is a win/fail over all.

I thought 150 was quite a long goal for me so 134 is pretty good, and maybe I can smash out the end of the year and actually hit 150 anyway! (maybe, I do doubt it but MAYBE)

READ A WIDER RANGE OF GENRES

(Note: these charts were made when I finished 125 books and don’t reflect my break down as of now)

This years genre breakdowns

Last years genre breakdown

Thoughts

The results of this were so surprising to me. First of all, the amount of historical fiction is such a shock! I enjoy historical fiction and at one point this year I decided I wanted to read more because I always like it, but I thought I read about five all year – definitely not 15! That is so exciting especially since last year I only read four. It’s a huge jump up and definitely reflects how this year I realised I really enjoyed Hist-Fic.

I also think it’s interesting contemporary stayed about the same (16%) of the books I read where fantasy went down (34% down to 24%) Contemporary is one of those genres I find very hit and miss, I love some but a lot (especially if they’re romance focussed) tend not to be my favourites. In contrast, fantasy is my favourite genre and yet it represents much less of my reading, which is interesting. I do think a read a lot of historical fantasies this year though so maybe that is one reason for it!

In 2017, about half of my reading was fantasy/contemporary and half other genres. This year just over half is not contemporary/fantasy, mostly because historical fiction takes up such a chunk. That is pretty good and definitely shows branching out more. But at the same time, I think the results from this year and last are about the same. Most genres had about one book different in terms of what I read, except mystery/thriller where I doubled how many I read this year. It is cool to see so many different genres represented though. Next year, I just need to focus on reading more than one or two books in those other genres.

I am definitely going to continue this challenge next year because I want to branch out way more. I am excited about reading so many historical fiction and I’ll continue that but I want to keep reading more of those other genres that make up the 50%. Just reading one or two non-fictions or literary fictions isn’t really what I was aiming for.

SERIES

I set a challenge to read ten series every year for the past few years. But I think I might move away from that next year. For a few reasons: one, I realised I’m actually really good at this anyway so I don’t need to do it much. Two: I pretty much cleared out all the unread series I started a few years ago and never finished now!

Here are the series I finished:

Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy by Laini Taylor
The Abyss Surrounds Us by Emily Skrutskie
The Enemy Series by Charlie Higson
The Illuminae Files by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kuafman
Percy Jackson & The Olympians by Rick Riordan
Conquerors Saga by Kiersten White
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han
Villains by V.E Schwab
Shatter Me by Teherah Mafi
Wayfarers by Becky Chambers
The Dark Artifices by Cassandra Clare
Montague Siblings by Mackenzi Lee
Reign of the Fallen by Sarah Glenn Marsh

I am thrilled with this because I finished 13 series! I also finished some of the series I wanted to finish for ages like Enemy and Percy Jackson. I started all these years ago and feel so good they’re finally finished.

I also got up to date/stayed up to date on a few series:

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
Wayward Children by Seanan McGuire
The Diviners by Libba Bray

Overall I’m really happy with how well I have done on this challenge. Most of my uncompleted series are ones I am waiting for the next book to come out, and I think only a handful I’m actually behind on. And most I plan to catch up on once I can go to the library and get the sequels.

OWNED TBR

At the beginning of the year I worked out I had 42 unread books, including ebooks and physical books. This number went up from receiving arcs and new books. I wanted to try and get that number way down, possibly even halve it if possible. I was doing really well with this in the first half of the year and then kind of let the ball drop in the second half.

Books I read in the first half of the year:

The Princess Saves Herself in This One by Amanda Lovelace
The Witch Doesn’t Burn in This One by Amanda Lovelace
Zenith by Sasha Alsberg and Lindsay Cummings
The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson
Reign of the Fallen by Sarah Glen Marsh
Heart of Iron by Ashley Poston
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
I Was Born for This by Alice Oseman
Peter Darling by Austin Chant
If I Tell You by Alicia Tuckerman
Spellslinger by Sebastian DeCastell
Under the Lights by Dahlia Adler
Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli
Breath by Tim Winton
Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater

Books I read in the second half of the year

A Lake of Feathers and Moonbeams by Dax Murray
Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch
More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Genuine Fraud by e. lockhart
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
The Italian Wife by Kate Furnivall

As you can see, I definitely didn’t read as many of my owned books in the second half of the year. I did read a lot of books I owned, but most of them I had bought this year rather than being backlist books sitting on my shelves from 2017 or earlier. My total unread books according to my app I use to track it is 23 so thats pretty close to 50% of my unread books from the beginning of the year read. Overall I’m pretty happy with this although I definitely need to keep trying to read the books I own in 2019.

I also (shamefully) have a few arcs that I haven’t finished yet and it’s HAPPENING next year. I want to clear out all my old arcs it’s time for them to go! And I feel so guilty about them all too so it’s the right thing to do, I really need to read and review those and that will be a 2019 priority.

That is everything for today ! It was really interesting to look back on this and reflect on how I went. My goals definitely had mixed outcomes but overall I’m satisfied, though I could definitely work on things more in 2019. At the end of the day though, reading should be fun and not a whole list of “things to do” and “goals to complete”.

I’m going to make a 2019 goal post sometime soon, but haven’t fully settled on what I everything really want to work on quite yet. How did your 2018 goals go, and that do you hope to achieve in 2019?

until next time

THE ‘FIVE-STAR READATHON’ TBR

Hi all! I saw Elise make an announcement post about a ReadAThon called the ‘Five Star Readathon’ they have created and I’m here today to post my TBR for that challenge. The link above will take you to the original post but here’s a real basic run down of the challenge anyway:

The aim of the ReadAThon is to try read those books you know you’re going to love but haven’t got to yet
There is five challenges to complete but they are optional
The challenge runs from October 1st to October 7th

I love the idea of this challenge so much. I’m definitely one to put off the books I know I’m going to love because I’m waiting for “the right time” and I don’t end up reading them. But I will admit I actually struggle to come up with books I think will be five star reads for me. When people were doing that challenge I thought about it too but I didn’t know what books of mine would be a five star read. The thing is, for me five star reads are ones that surprise me. Books I end up liking a lot more than I expected I tend to give five stars to. So because of that, my TBR will be full of books I think I will really enjoy but not necessarily my five star predictions (although hopefully lots of these will be five star books)

Anyway this is a long intro and lots of babble so lets jump into the actual TBR.

Read a next book in a series you like

I started this series earlier this year and I loved book one so much. I see so much potential for this series and I’m so ready to read the next book. I’ve been putting off continuing for literally no reason so I think I’ll pick this up on audiobook.

Read a book by a favourite author

I have read all of Adam Silvera’s other books but reading What If It’s Us has put me in a huge mood to finally read this one. I love Adam Silvera’s books so much, especially since he usually writes messy characters and relationships. This was in my list of top backlist titles I wanted to read in 2018 so it’s perfect.

Read an anticipated book you never read

Circe was one of my most anticipated books of 2018. I adored The Song of Achilles and the entire concept of this book is so perfect. Circe is such an interesting mythological character. I preordered this and then like a fool never read it. So it’s definitely time to do that.

Read a book over 500 pages

I AM DETERMINED TO STOP PUTTING THIS BOOK ON MY TBR. It’s time to finally read this. Technically my edition is 486 pages long but close enough. I really enjoyed the movie for this book so I think I should really like the book too.

Read five books

The final books I’m putting on my TBR is A Study in Charlotte. I am so excited to read this book. Ive heard so many good things and lots of friends like it. I always read and watch Sherlock Holmes retellings, and this seems like a really easy read which is great for a ReadAThon.

That is my whole TBR for this ReadAThon. I’m so excited for this one, it’s such a good idea and something I definitely need to do because my Top 2018 TBR’s shelf still has WAY too many books on it and it’s October! Are you participating in this ReadAThon? If yes, I’d love to know what books you’re planning on reading.

until next time

2018 BEAT THE BACKLIST Sign Up & TBR !

Beat the Backlist challenge is hosted by NovelKnight and is a year long Readathon dedicated to reading books released prior to 2018. It involves teams, points, and a tonne of reading and I’m soo excited for it. This challenge honestly sounds freakin amazing, and right up my alley since I have looots of old books on my tbr

I’m not gonna list ALL the books I want to read in 2018 that are earlier releases, but I’m gonna be making a TBR post with some of my top priorities – which is close to fourty EEK. So without further ado lets get into my tbr!

BACKLIST TBR

So I really want to knock some series off my tbr this year, and to complete the ones I’ve started and left hanging. Thats going to be a big priority this year, so most of the books here are series, but there are a few standalones.

1: The Enemy by Charlie Higson: I am so eager to finish this series, I really like it but I’ve been reading it slow due to it being 7 books long, and each book being about or over 500 pages. I have two more books in this series (The Hunted & The End) and I hope to read them very soon.

2: The Gentleman Bastard Sequence by Scott Lynch: I started this year in 2017 with The Lies of Locke Lamora, but I want to continue as soon as possible. This is such a cool thief based high fantasy and I’ve heard so many good things about the second and third books, so I want to read Red Seas Under Red Skies and The Republic of Thieves this year. Plus book four is supposed to be released in 2018 and it’d be nice to be caught up

3: Spellslinger by Sebastian De Castell: I own this book so knocking it off my tbr would be really nice. This is a con kinda book I think, but with magic, and it sounds so fun. I also need to read the sequel to this book, Shadowblack.

4: A Crown of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi: I really enjoyed The Star Touched Queen when I read it in early 2017 so I need to read the sequel asap

5: The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken: I want to start this series to see what I think. I may not continue with it but I would like to give it a go. If I enjoy it there is also two sequels, Never Fade and In The Afterlight.

6: Eyes of Ember by Rebecca Ethington: I’ve read the first book in this series and thought it was alright, and book two was free on Amazon one day so now I own it. I am on the fence about continuing this series, so I plan to read this one and hopefully that makes up my mind for me.

7: Vicious by V.E Schwab: I read and enjoyed the Darker Shade of Magic series, but I’ve been wanting to give Vicious a shot for ages. It seems like something I’d really enjoy and I’m not sure why I keep putting it off. I’m definitely gonna get to it in 2018

8: The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan: I read Percy Jackson in 2016 and have never continued on, but I want to !! I really want to read his newer series but feel I need to read these first. They should be quick fun reads, I just keep putting them off for some reason. I have four more books to complete in this series – The Sea of Monsters, The Titan’s Curse, The Battle of the Labyrinth and The Last Olympian and I’d like to read them all

9: Shatter Me by Teherah Mafi: My friend ‘in real life’ has been pressuring me to read this series because it’s her favourite “trash series” so I said I’d at least give Shatter Me a chance

10: Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor: I’ve started this one in 2018 on audiobook and thus have high hopes for it. The audible narrator is fantastic. I had mixed feelings on book one but I wanted to give the series another chance

11: The Whispering Skull by Jonathan Stroud: I listened to Lockwood & Co in 2017 and really enjoyed it, so I’d like to continue on. There is three books in this series after this one – The Hollow Boy, The Creeping Shadow and The Empty Grave. I don’t know if I’ll finish them all this year

12: Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld: I read the first book in this series, Leviathan, in 2016 and really liked it and I am unsure as to why I never continued on. It was so fun and a quick middle grade read. I’d like to read Behemoth and Goliath this year to finish off the trilogy

I have many more books I’d like to read this year! But this is some of the biggest priorities – hopefully I can finish all of these and many more ! Some more books like Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson, Fence by C.S Pacat and The Saga graphic novels are also in line to be read in 2018, but aren’t as high priority.

REREAD TBR

2018 is gonna be a year dedicated to rereads. I love rereads and I barely had any last year so I want to fill up a few this year.

1: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo: This is the first book I’m reading in 2018 and I am soo happy to be rereading this. It’s one of my favourite series and I just adore all the characters and the story itself. I also will 100% be rereading Crooked Kingdom

2: The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo: Since I’m rereading Six of Crows, I want to reread The Language of Thorns. I enjoyed this collection but I listened on audiobook – I since bought the physical and want to read it from there

3: The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic: I’ve only read this full series once and it’s a disgrace (though I’ve read tkm like, three times) ANYWAY, I have the physical versions of these books now and it’s time to read them

4: Radio Silence by Alice Oseman: Literally one of my favourite books ever, I just have to reread this one soon

5: Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare: This one is gonna be a reread a bit later on, but I like to reread books before the sequel comes out so I plan on reading this before I read Queen of Air and Darkness

6: Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli: I want to reread this before the movies comes out! It’s such a good book that gives me all the feels and I’m dying for my pre-movie reread, especially because I’m planning a buddy read with some of my offline friends.

Aaand, thats my entire Beat the Backlist TBR! I mean, I plan on reading a lot more then this (especially since I mostly read backlist titles anyway) but these are all the ones that are really high priority.

Definitely go check out Beat the Backlist Challenge and consider joining yourselves, it sounds awesome! And I can’t wait to start earning points for my team

And even if you’re not joining, I’d love to hear what Backlisted books everyone wants to read in 2018. Anyway, now I’m off to get started reading some of the massive books from this list.

Until next time!

#SapphicAThon 2017 Wrap – Up !

SAPPHICATHON IS OVER AND IT WAS THE MOST FUN TIME EVER BUT ALSO IT ENDED WAY TOO SOON ?!?! Anyway I didn’t finish my board sadly – I missed three categories, even doubling up which is so disappointing. BUT, I did feel slumpy going into the readathon, and I read some longer books including a 14 hour audiobook. so I don’t feel too bad. I’ll just finish off those books some other time.

Before I do my wrap up here is some stats!

Books read: 8 (three full length, one audio, one graphic novel, four novellas)

Categories completed: bisexual mc, sf/f, under 500 ratings, jewish mc, established relationship, friends to lovers, non coming out story, hate to love, both woc, disabled mc, retelling, interracial relationship

Categories missed: ace spec mc, trans mc, mc realises they’re queer

Longest book: Girls Made of Snow and Glass (400 pages)

Shortest book: The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars (Part One)

Bingo Board:

Wrap Up

Book one: The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars (Part One)

Read for: Established relationship, both woc

I absolutely adore The Legend of Korra and this novella made me so so happy. It was so nice to focus on Korra and Asami and to see their relationship further developed.

I also like how the worldbuilding was extended to look more closely into queer politics in the ATLA universe. This was so fun and cute and I can’t wait for Part two!
My full review is here My full review is here My full review is here

Book Two: Unicorn Tracks by Julia Ember

Read for: Interracial Relationship

I read Embers other book, The Seafarers Kiss, earlier in the year and wanted to give Unicorn Tracks a shot. Overall my feelings are mixed. I loved the world and the plot was fun, but honestly I wasn’t that sold on the romance? It was a bit insta lovey for me. Also, the writing wasn’t my favourite – which was my problem with The Seafarers Kiss too

But I did love all the unicorns. Review here

Book Three: Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova

Read for: Bisexual mc, qwoc mc, friends to lovers

I was so excited to read this one and it was off to a start, but around the middle it started to drag for me and I don’t know why. I found myself disengaged a bit reading this, and I think it was because I couldn’t really get into the characters. I didn’t really feel much for any of them, and I thought there would be more prominent romance then there was.

I still enjoyed this, I just didn’t fall in love with it as much as I was expecting to.

Book Four: The Witch Sea by S.E Diemer

Read for: science fiction/fantasy

This was … weird. It was interesting! But I had no clue what was going on. I wish this was longer because the worldbuilding was kinda confusing but also it was rushed because this is a short story. I don’t know, I didn’t really feel anything for this novella, it was just okay.

I did like that it had mermaids though.

Book Five: Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust

Read for: retelling

I loved this! Beside Korra is was probably my favourite thing I read. It was such an interesting retelling and I really enjoyed the characters. The grey morality of the women and their character arcs were so intriguing to me and I had such a fun time listening to this one on audible.

Full review is here !

Book Six: Otherbound by Corinne Duyvis

Read for: hate to love, disabled mc

Another one I have mixed feelings on. For me the concept of this book was awesome, and I really really loved Nolan’s chapters. He was such an interesting character to follow.

However I found the worldbuilding sooo confusing, I had no clue what was going on and even when explanations happened I was still, so confused. So that really took away from my enjoyment of this book

Book Seven: Fearless by Shira Glassman

Read for: jewish mc, non coming out story

This short story was so cute! It follows a mum who falls for her daughters music teacher and it was so short and sweet!! The romance made me so happy and I also really liked how it had some focus on the kids too, as well as trying to rejoin hobbies you’ve given up

I just wish this was longer because I want more of them

Book Eight: The Melody of You and Me by M. Hollis

Read for: under 500 ratings on Goodreads

Another short and sweet. The main character is pansexual which was such a nice thing to see and I thought this had such a cute romance, I just wish it had been taken a little less far (I love you’s after three weeks always annoy me) But the bookstore romance setting was soo cute so that made up for it.

I did find the characters a bit basic at times but this was mostly just something short and good so it didn’t really matter

MISSED OUT ON

I wanted to make a little section with the books I wanted to read and didn’t get to, as I footnote of things I will probably be reading soon that have f/f representation

The Second Mango by Shira Glassman – my original jewish mc slot
The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza by Shaun David Hutchinson – this is a current read, I didn’t quite finish it during SapphicAThon but it is so good! It was supposed to fit for QWOC mc
Daybreak Rising by Kiran Oliver – this was supposed to be my ace spec slot and I didn’t get to it, but I plan on reading this in 2018
How to Make a Wish by Ashley Herring Blake – this is so many friends favourite book and I’m sad I didn’t get to it, but I did get it out the library and will read it soon
Cinder Ella by S.T Lynn – this was my original trans mc slot. I’m really disappointed in myself for not reading this and I plan to do it asap
Huntress by Malinda Lo – this was a tentative addition to my TBR, and was supposed to be for both woc. I want to read all Malinda Lo’s books eventually
Treasure by Rebekah Weatherspoon – Before I chose to use Otherbound this was my disabled mc spot
Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour – I NEED to read a Nina LaCour book soon
Under the Lights by Dahlia Adler – my original MC realises they’re queer choice. Need to read this one badly

FINAL THOUGHTS

Overall I do kind of wish I had read more for SapphicAThon. I definitely felt I got a bit weighted down by books I wasn’t loving which put me off my game. On the other hand, I was really busy with work and other commitments which took a huge chunk out of my reading time, so I don’t feel too guilty

From what I did realy, I had such a good time. I loved participating in and helping to host this readathon, it was so fun putting the challenges together and I really hoped you guys loved it too.

I’m so glad I read some books I’ve been meaning to get to for a long time, like Korra and Labyrinth Lost. I just wish I had got to a few more books in general

How did everyone else go with #SapphicAThon? Would love to hear what you all managed to finish off during the fortnight

Anyway, hope everyone enjoyed this post and SapphicAThon overall

Until next time!

#SapphicAThon TBR

So have you heard about #SapphicAThon? It’s a two week long readathon from the 14th to the 28th of December. Throughout this readathon we will be focussing on reading books which feature an f/f romance! It stars at midnight on the 14th in your timezone. Sapphicathon was created by Tasha @CatsAndPaperbacks so be sure to follow her as well as my fellow co hosts Elise, Amelie and Miriam. And don’t forget to follow the official Twitter, we’ll be hosting sprints and discussing challenges there.

So here’s the readathon rules. The only real one is that all the books you read need to have an f/f romance that is the main focus of the story. So no side relationships! This is our queer women main characters time to shine. There is a bingo board (made by yours truly) that has some challenges to complete if that’s your thing but these aren’t compulsory! It’s a bingo board so you can do one line or two lines or just go random and don’t do lines at all. It’s all up to you! You can also read one book for multiple squares if you want.

So below is my tbr! I’ll go into detail for each main book I intend to read and then add some extra options in case you want recommendations. Although I may end up using some of these as double ups I’m going to try and read one for each category if I can and then use double ups when it’s obvious thats not gonna happen.

Bisexual MC

The book I’d like to read most for this one is Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova. I just bought this book and I don’t know heaps about it, but I do know it features Brujas and a girl who needs to save her family. And obviously it has a central f/f romance. I’m very excited to read this!

Some of my other options: The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars graphic novel, How to Make a Wish by Ashley Herring Blake and Our Own Private Universe by Robin Talley

f/f in Science Fiction or Fantasy

For this one I’ll be reading Unicorn Tracks by Julia Ember. I’ve owned this book on kindle for a little while and I’ve been meaning to read it because a book that features a safari full of Unicorns, Phoenixes and other mythical animals seems right up my alley. The setting actually has me so excited and I have heard some good things about the way that the romance develops between the main character and the tour guide. I’m so excited to start this one.

Some other options: The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars, Not Your Sidekick by C.B Lee, The Witch Sea by Sarah Diemer, Ash by Malinda Lo.

Under 500 Ratings on Goodreads

For this one I’ll probably be reading another ebook I’ve been sitting on for ages for some reason, The Melody of You and Me by M.Hollis. This is a college romance between two women and I know that the MC is pansexual which is awesome! It’s such an underrepresented sexuality. This one only has 369 ratings on Goodreads right now.

Some other options: Fearless by Shira Glassman and The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza by Shaun David Hutchinson

Jewish MC

The book I’m choosing for this one has been on my tbr for a while ever since I heard about the premise and thats The Second Mango by Shira Glassman. This is about a princess who meets a warrior woman who rides a dragon (WOW) and then goes on a mission with her to save some women who’ve been turned to stone by an evil sorceress (TRIPLE WOW) sounds lit I’m in.

Other options: Knit One Girl Two by Shira Glassman

QWOC MC

For this one I think I’m going to read one of my arcs, aka as The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza by Shaun David Hutchinson. I’m a big fan of the author and I’m so excited to see what he does with a female bisexual Cuban main character. I know this is about a girl called Elena Mendoza who’s born of a virgin birth and who must save the world from the apocalypse.

Some other options: Everything Leads to You by Nina Lacour, Unicorn Tracks by Julia Ember, Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova, The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars and Our Own Private Universe by Robin Talley.

Ace Spec MC

For this one I’m choosing Daybreak Rising by Kiran Oliver which has also been sitting on my tbr for quite a while. I believe this has the rag-tag group band together trope (MY FAVOURITE) and follows the main character who needs to redeem herself from a mistake she made in the past. It features elemental magic and mages and it just sounds like it’s going to be so good! Plus the main character is a qwoc and look at her on the cover!! it looks stunning !

Some other options: Second Chance by Chelsea M Cameron

Established Relationship

I have to read my girls I HAVE TO so I’m reading The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars by Michael Dante DiMartino and Irene Koh. I love Korra and Asami so much and I’ve wanted to read Turf Wars for so long but kept putting it off because ?? I don’t know why but I just love them and miss them I am excited for this.

If you don’t know these comics are a continuation of the Legend of Korra tv series and follows Korra and Asami’s relationship after the show.

Some other options: Bleeding Earth by Kaitlin Ward, Lambs Can Always Become Lions by Charlotte Anne Hamilton

Friends to Lovers

I would have liked to read We Are Okay for this, but think I just since summer is the complete wrong season for it I’m leaning toward How to Make a Wish by Ashley Herring Blake instead. This follows two girls, Eva and Grace who become friends and then later open up to eachother about how they like girls altering their relationship. I’ve heard this is really tender, and I know lots of my friends really love it so I’m excited to start.

Some other options: We Are Okay by Nina LaCour, Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden, Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova, Under the Lights by Dahlia Adler.

Trans MC

I’m going to read Cinder Ella by S.T Lynn for this one. This is a retelling of Cinderella featuring a black trans woman at the centre. This story is really short and I love retellings so I think I’m definitely going to enjoy it. Plus it’s really cheap on kindle which is a massive plus.

Some other options: Roller Girl by Vanessa North, Sovereign by April Daniels

Non coming out story

For this one I’m thinking Fearless by Shira Glassman. This is a short story romance between a woman and her daughters teacher and it just sounds super soft and sweet. I feel like older women never get good f/f representation so I’m happy this one is there for that. I own this and should be able to read it really quickly which is nice too. Shira Glassman is so well loved so it’s good that two of her books are on my list.

Some other options: Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour, The Melody of You and Me by M. Hollis, Legend of Korra: Turf Wars

Hate to Love

I’m going to be picking up Otherbound by Corinne Duyvis for this one. I recently got this on kindle thanks to kindle unlimited. I’ve heard this is a blend of sci-fi and contemporary elements which is interesting It follows a girl called Amara who is a slave to the princess Cilla and is forced to take on her pain. Meanwhile, whenever a boy called Nolan closes his eyes he can see Amara in his dreams. It sounds really unique so I just hope I enjoy it since it is kind of long aah.

Some other options: Style Chelsea by M. Cameron

They’re both WOC

In reality I’ll probably double this one with one of my previous reads but an option for it is Huntress by Malinda Lo. Huntress is a fantasy about two girls who are sent on a journey to the land of the Fairy Queen. There’s magic and fantasy lands and fairies and all that good stuff so it should be fun.

Some other options: Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova, Legend of Korra: Turf Wars, Otherbound by Corinne Duyvis

Disabled MC (this includes mental illness)

For this one I’m also planning on doubling with The Second Mango but if I somehow have time for more books I’m thinking Treasure by Rebekah Weatherspoon. All I really know about this is the characters meet in a club? I’m not sure in what way they character is disabled because it’s hard to tell from the reviews and premise, but I know this one is really popular and it’s been on my tbr for a while. So hopefully I can power through the two weeks and get to this instead of doubling.

Retelling

Throughout the two months I plan on listening to Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust on Audible. I’m hoping I can get through the whole thing (I am terrible with audiobooks) but if not I have Cinder Ella to act as a double. Girls Made of Snow and Glass is a Snow White retelling and I’ve heard its got Frozen elements so um YE BOI. Anyway, I’m pretty sure this is a 10 hour audiobook so I’m just gonna try listen to an hour a day and then I should finish it.

Some other options: Ash by Malinda Lo, Cinder Ella by S.T Lynn, The Dark Wife by Sarah Diemer

Interracial relationship

I’m hoping to read Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour for this one because my library actually has it and they never have lesbians. This feels like an essential f/f read, it seems like everyone has already read it and I’m sadly playing catch up. I believe this book follows a girl trying to make her breath in Hollywood?

If I don’t get to the library though I’ll use this one as a double with Unicorn Tracks or The Melody of You and Me.

MC Realises They’re Queer

The final box and for this one I’m going to read one of Tasha’s favourites aka Under the Lights by Dahlia Adler. I think this may also be another Hollywood/acting centric romance which should be fun. All I know is everyone loves this book so I’m just going with it. I hope I have time to get this far down the list because I really want to read this one (so even if it doesn’t happen during the readathon I’ll probably just finish it after)

And thats my WHOLE #SapphicAThon TBR. Am I being a little ambitious? Yes most definitely. BUT IM OKAY WITH IT IM CHALLENGING MYSELF. I want to read allllll the f/f. So who else is doing #SapphicAThon? I can’t wait to see everyone’s TBR’s (remember to tag me because I’d love to look!)

I’ll be posting reading updates on my Twitter as I go so remember to follow that too

#TheReadingQuest Wrap Up

For the past month I’ve been doing #TheReadingQuest run by Aentee on twitter. This is a month long reading quest, inspired by video games. The aim is to choose a character, and complete their character quest which is filled with different reading challenges. I chose to be The Rogue and made a tbr.

QUICK SUMMARY:

I completed The Rogue path, and also four side quests. I was pretty happy with that, even though I planned to do more my one real goal was to finish a path which I did.

I ended up with 165EXP and 189health points – and was on level 3

In total I read 9 books for the challenge

WRAP UP

Rogue Path

1: A book with a partially obscured face

For this one I decided to read UFO in her Eyes, which I read for my university course. It’s a satire piece set in a rural Chinese village, and is #OwnVoices so it counted for an extra ten point. I really liked the characters in this story, they were often so funny and I liked the style as well – it’s written in all reports and interviews.

2: A book with under 500 ratings on Goodreads

For this one I read my arc of They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera, which at the time had just 300 ratings. It’s now over 500 thanks to it coming out but sshhh it was 300 at the time I promise. Adam Silvera books are always heart wrenching and TBDATE was no exception, though I didn’t think I liked it quite as much as History is All You Left me.

3: A book published by a small press

I chose The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf for this one, published by Walker Books Australia. Ashala Wolf is an #ownvoices dystopian novel featuring an Indigenous Australian main character. I actually super loved this one! The dystopian was exciting even though I’m kind of over that genre, and the setting and characters were great. I’m really excited to read the sequels.

4: A book with a one word title

I read Carousel by Brendan Ritchie for this one. Carousel is also a dystopian, where four teens are trapped inside a supermarket. Presumably, the outside is an apocalyptic wasteland. I liked that two of the main characters were lesbians! The ending left me with lots of questions so I’m going to be reading the sequel soon.

5: A banned book

I chose To Kill a Mockingbird for this one, which I’ve always meant to read but never did. Its one of those classics EVERYONE seems to have read and I feel like I need to as well to get my Real Reader pass. Anyway, I liked it! Was a very easy classic to read compared to some, and even though much of the discourse is very outdated, it’s a pretty big book for it’s time.

Side Quests

A book concocted by 2+ authors

I chose A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, and Siobhan Dowd for this one. I LOVED this book, it made me cry! It was so beautiful and I adored the illustrations through it. The storyline is amazing and the execution is brilliant and aaah I don’t want to gush too much but this was my favourite book I’ve read so far this month

Buddy read of a book

I read Exit, Pursued by a Bear with @readbyem on twitter. This was a really confronting book, but I liked that it was also quite hopeful. The message overall was really good, but I did kind of have issues with how the representation was handled.

Mini Game: Read a poem/short story/graphic novel

I read Saga Part 3 – a graphic novel. I love this graphic novel series, but unfortunately part 3 was probably my least favourite I’ve read yet. They are so good though I will be continuing as soon as I can find the other volumes.

Read a book set in the past or future

I chose WANT by Cindy Pon which is set in future Taiwan. It’s about a group of kids who want to destroy a massive corporation which is exploiting the people and damaging the environment for profit. It’s kind of a heist story, and I loved it! The characters were fun and the ending blew me away. Plus, it’s set in Taiwan and according to the author is the first YA book to be set there, which is just amazing. We need that kind of diversity and representation in YA!

So thats it! I kind of wanted to read more books then this but I fell in a slump half way through soooo … It didn’t work out. But all well! Nine books is still pretty amazing and I loved doing this Quest. I’d definitely participate again next year.

How did everyone else go if you participated?

#TheReadingQuest Sign Up & TBR

BookTubeAThon has just ended and I’m signing up for another readathon straight away! #TheReadingQuest is hosted by Aentee @ReadatMidnight with help from CW of Read, Think, Ponder who is the artist behind all the adorable illustration!

#TheReadingQuest is a reading adventure based on a video-game quest, and in the challenge, we’ll be embarking on a journey to conquer your TBR pile through a series of stages. We’ll read new stories, gain experience, and level up a character of our choosing.

The quest will take place between Sunday 13th August to Sunday 10th September, 2017. The signup form is open until Sunday 13th August!

The Reading Quest Character Card Creator.jpg

I decided to choose to play as the Rogue to start me off in the challenge. I chose the Rogue because the challenges in their quest appealed to me the most!

The Rogue completes the “Fifth Across” Quests, aka everything on the bottom row. I thought the challenges were really interesting and I was excited to give them a go. Also, lots of them fit in well with the uni reading I have going on over the period and I think it’s always nice if I can incorporate my uni reading with my “pleasure reading”.

#TheReadingQuest TBR

Without further ado, here is the books I plan on completing for the quest. I’m hoping to also get another character done, but I’ll just put my tbr down for The Rogue because thats the minimum I want to complete at least.

A BOOK WITH A ONE WORLD TITLE:

My choice: Release by Patrick Ness

I’ve been meaning to read a Patrick ness book for the longest time, so when I found a hardcover of Release for really cheap I snatched it up. I’ve heard so many good things about Release, and also Patrick Ness in general. It’s also #ownvoices for the gay representation.

On a side note, I’m totally engrossed by this cover and when I realised there was two faces forming the path thing the boy is walking up I was shooked.

A BOOK PUBLISHED BY A SMALL PRESS

My choice: Carousel by Brendan Ritchie

This is a book I’m really excited for because its set in Western Australia which is the state I live in. I believe it’s a dystopian series, featuring Australian teenagers and I’m really excited to give it a go. It’s published by Fremantle Press which is a TINY press.

A BOOK WITH UNDER 500 RATINGS ON GOODREADS

My choice: UFO In Her Eyes by Xiaolu Guo

This book has 366 ratings on Goodreads as of me typing this right now, so it just slides under the 500 limit. This is set reading for my uni course, but I’m actually really excited for it. It’s a satirical piece about Communism in modern China (it’s set in 2012) and is ownvoices.

I’m pretty sure some of it is told in interviews and things similar (don’t quote me though I don’t know!!) but if it is, thats a format I usually enjoy.

A BOOK COVER WITH A PARTIALLY OBSCURED FACE

my choice: The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf by Amberlin Kwaymullina

This is actually the prompt I had the most trouble with because I don’t really have many books with people on them on my TBR. I went with The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf in the end, which is an ownvoices dystopian novel following an Indigenous Australian girl with special powers who is captured and must escape to protect her tribe.

This is also on my diversity bingo tbr so getting down another book for that makes me happy as well.

A BANNED BOOK:

my choice: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Without really trying I’ve actually read quite a lot of banned books? I was reading the Goodreads List dedicated to popular banned books and so many of them were highschool reading I was kind of surprised. ONE book I’ve been meaning to read .. forever .. and that was banned is TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD.

I own a copy of this and I keep telling myself I’ll read it soon and I haven’t yet so here’s my chance.

As with all my previous reading challenge, this Quest comes with an additional competitive element. Keeping scores and leveling up is entirely optional, but if you want to be eligible for the prizes, you should be keeping scores.

EXPERIENCE POINTS

All characters will start off with 10 Experience Points (EXP), and each book (in any format: physical, eBook, or audiobook) they complete for the Quest Board will add another +10 EXP. The exception are graphic novels/manga, which will give +5 EXP.
The exception is for books written by marginalised authors. These books will earn your characters bonus EXP. For each book completed for the Quest, you will gain +20 EXP.
Adventurers who complete their character’s quest before the challenge period will earn a +50 EXP. You will earn an additional +30 EXP for any additional character quest you complete after that.
Because I am not interested in employing polynomials or convoluted equations for a reading challenge, I’m going to go ahead and say your character will level up with every +50 EXP. They all start at Level 1.

HEALTH POINTS

All characters begin with 10 Health Points (HP). Every 10 pages you read during the Quest will give you +1HP. The exception are graphic novels/manga, which will give you +1HP every 20 pages.
Tweeting on #TheReadingQuest hashtag (with meaningful tweets about your current reads, roleplay with your current character, book recommendations) will earn you +1HP each. You can have a maximum of +20HP from Social Media interactions
Photos of your #TheReadingQuest books or TBR pile will earn you 1HPeach. This contributes towards the maximum of +20HP from Social Media interactions mentioned above.
We will catalogue the points at the end via a masterpost, and find out who The Quest Champion is! This requires all participants interested in the prizes to link up in the Masterpost at the conclusion of the Quest!

And thats my tbr for this challenge, and the rules! I’m so so excited for this challenge, I love the videogame theme and the prompts used. I’m also going to be making a spreadsheet where I will be logging my read books and tbr for other characters.

Who else is doing #TheReadingQuest??

#BTAT17 || Wrap-Up

I debated on whether or not I should make this post, because I didn’t feel like I did that well on the 2017 booktubeathon and was kinda disappointed with myself.

But I’d promised myself before btat that I was just going to do the best I can and I did that, even if I didn’t complete the seven prompts. I think there is so much pressure around readathons and I want to celebrate what I did and not what I could have done.

If you want to see my tbr post and announcement you can, but if you’ve seen it or just don’t care read on to see what I completed in the week of booktubeathon.

BOOKS I COMPLETED IN THE BOOKTUBEATHON 2017

1: Saga Part One

I read this graphic novel for the reading outside prompt and the read a book in one day prompt. I’ve been meaning to read these grapic novels for the longest time and I really enjoyed the first part! I’ve since read part two as well and really liked that too.

Saga is about two aliens, who’s planets are at war with eachother. They fall in love and have a baby, and are not on the run after the leaders of their planets sent assassins after them, It’s basically space Romeo and Juliet. I LOVE the characters and the art and the story very excited to finish the series off.

2: Caraval by Stephanie Garber

I read this one for the cover buy prompt. I’ve heard so many mixed things about this book and I think I feel somewhere in the middle. I didn’t loathe it, but I also don’t think it was very strong either. I wouldn’t reread it, but I might try the sequel.

Caraval is about two sisters who are invited to participate in Caraval – a circus style game where players must navigate the strange world of Caraval to find something missing and win the game.

3: The Seafarer’s Kiss by Julia Ember

I read this for the “someone different to you prompt” but it can also fit for the person on the cover prompt. I chose it as a person different because of it featuring mermaids and nordic gods which are NOT like me.

The Seafarers Kiss is a Little Mermaid retelling / Ursula origin story focussing on an f/f romance between Ursula as a mermaid and a human girl she falls in love with. I overall really enjoyed it, it’s really short and goes by SO fast but I did have a few little concerns with it, like some of the tropes and rep. THE COVER IS AMAZING THOUGH

And that was all the books I completed! Only 3/7 and two of them were super short, but alll well. I had lots of other stuff going on that weekend, and I don’t think you need to complete heaps and heaps of books to be considered successful. As my parents would say it’s just about having a good time.

How did everyone else go for the booktubeathon? This was my first time competing but I am looking forward to 2018. And what other readathons are people attempting? I’ll be doing #TomeTopple and #TheReadingQuest soon