My Mythothon Round 7 TBR

I’ve seen Mythothon on my Twitter timeline before, but this is my first time actually participating! Theseus and the Minotaur is actually not one of the Greek myths I’m familiar with, which makes the group book for this readathon extra exciting for me!

If you want to learn more about this readathon you can look at the announcement post here. Without further ado let’s get into my tbr!

1. Poseidon: Read a book with a watery theme OR with blue on the cover.

Wretched Waterpark by Kiersten White

I mean, this book is literally set at a waterpark, can it get any more watery-themed than that? I love White’s Camelot Rising series, but I’ve never read any of her other work and I’m always a sucker for a good middle grade series so I expect to fully adore this.

2. Pasiphae and the Minoan Bull: Read a book with a romance OR a book with a white cover.

The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd-Jones

I’m going to be honest and say I’m not 100% certain if this book has a romance and the standard cover is not at all white but I have the OwlCrate edition, which has a very pretty white cover. I think a folklore-inspired book is such a good fit for this readathon, and I think I’m going to love this one!

3. Daedalus and Icarus: Read a book about a parent OR a book that will make you cry.

Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

This prompt is basically nothing I ever want to read, so instead, I’m taking advantage of the opportunity and I am going to read the group book instead! I got Ariadne as my pick from Book of the Month a while ago, and since I don’t know much about this myth at all I’m excited to read a book that ties into the readathon itself.

4. Androgeus: Read a book with a game or competition.

The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas

I have an ARC of this and I also preordered it, so suffice to say that I am excited to pick it up. Considering one of the comp titles I’ve seen floating around for this book is The Hunger Games I am completely certain that this book fits this prompt and I am incredibly ready to dive into it.

5. Theseus Charges In: Read a YA book OR a book with a number in the title.

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

I have tried to read this book numerous times, but it is so dense and complicated that I put it down and then forget about it for several months at a time. I’m enjoying it when I read it, it’s just taking me forever to read, so hopefully, this gets my butt in gear.

6. Ariadne: Read a book with gold foiling OR get help from a friend by asking for a recommendation.

The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

I didn’t even have to ask to know that a majority of my friends would want me to finish The Raven Cycle, so I decided to make this prompt The Raven King. This is also on my summer tbr, so I’m excited to get it squared away and finally finish this series!

7. The Minotaur: Read a book with a battle OR a book with a weapon on the cover.

The Ones We Burn by Rebecca Mix

I’m pretty sure this book could fit both of the prompts, although I was specifically zeroed in on the weapon on the cover. I’m not as excited about this book as I once was, but I already had an ARC so I may as well read it.

Extra Prompts to Complete

8. The Island of Naxos: Read a book with a party or celebration.

How to Catch a Queen by Alyssa Cole

I just overall need to read more Alyssa Cole, because ever book of hers that I have read was fantastic. This was probably the hardest prompt for me because it’s difficult to tell whether this elements are going to be in a book but I think there’s a wedding? Which I would consider a celebration.

9. Aegeus and the Sails: Read a book you forgot about, from the back of your TBR.

Storm of Locusts by Rebecca Roanhorse

I read the first book in this series when it first came out, and promptly forgot that a second book even came out for a good solid couple of years. I really enjoyed book one though, and I expect that to continue into book two!

10. King Theseus: Read a book about a hero OR a book from the POV of a villain.

Aru Shah and the City of Gold by Roshani Chokshi

You cannot tell me that Aru is not a hero. This is the fourth book in this series and while she doesn’t always have the purest intentions, Aru is absolutely a classic hero in practically every way and I can’t wait to read more about her adventures, even if her story is coming to an end.

And that’s it! I didn’t end up using any of the life savers, and I’m really excited for all of the books on this list. Are you participating in Mythothon? What books are you planning on reading? If not, what does your September TBR look like?

The Alphabet Challenge

I’ve seen a few people do this before, and I always thought it was such a fun idea, so here I am! This is the Alphabet Reading Challenge, where I’m going to try and read a book that starts with each letter of the alphabet between now and the end of the year! That’s a little ambitious since that’s a book a week from here on out, but I think I can manage it!

I’m not going to go through and talk about all 26 books, partly because I picked a plethora of them simply because they worked for an obscure letter. The only one I really struggled with was X, but I finally found one! Two of these books aren’t out yet, but I have an ARC of one of them and the other is out in 2 weeks, so I don’t see that being an issue.

Briefly, I considered also trying to read these books in alphabetical order, but I decided that I would be more likely to complete this list if I could jump around, so that’s what I’m going to do. My aim is to post a halfway update, and then an end-of-the-year update.

Without further ado, here is the list for my Alphabet Challenge!

The Books

A: Aru Shah and the City of Gold by Roshani Chokshi

B: Blanca & Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore

C: Crown of Coral and Pearl by Mara Rutherford

D: Down Comes the Night by Allison Saft

E: Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri

F: Five Dark Fates by Kendare Blake

G: Grace and Fury by Tracy Banghart

H: How to Catch a Queen by Alyssa Cole

I: Incendiary by Zoriada Cordova

J: Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid

K: Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix by Julie C. Dao

L: Last Gamer Standing by Katie Zhao

M: Maya and the Rising Dark by Rena Barron

N: Not Your Sidekick by C.B. Lee

O: Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson

P: Paola Santiago and the Forest of Nightmares by Tehlor Kay Mejia

Q: Queen of Coin and Whispers by Helen Cocorran

R: Ravage the Dark by Tara Sim

S: Supernova by Marissa Meyer

T: Theo Tan and the Fox Spirit by Jesse Q. Suntanto

U: Undying by Amie Kaufman and Megan Spooner

V: Violet Made of Thorns by Gina Chen

W: Wings of Ebony by J. Elle

X: XOXO by Axie Oh

Y: Youngblood by Sasha Laurens

Z: Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao

Have you ever done a reading challenge like this? Would you ever consider it? Have you read any of these books?

Summer Reading Had Me a Blast

Every season I set a TBR for the next 3 months, and every season I read maybe half that list. But not this year! This year I will finish this list or I will die trying.

As with all of my other seasonal TBRs, there are 10 books on this list. A few of them are sequels, and a couple are currently unreleased although I do have an ARC for one! I tried to focus on a mix of newer books and ones that I’ve been trying to get to for a while. Without further ado, let’s get into it!

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Listen. Gideon the Ninth was so supremely my shit. I have literally already decided I want a “one flesh, one end” tattoo. But I have started Harrow at least 3 times and I am just not smart enough to get through it. I really think I need to just buckle down and read the whole thing in a day or two, so that is actually my plan!

When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo

I loved the first book in this series, and they’re so short and easy to read. I truly think this will be my beach read for my August vacation, and I’m excited to dive back into this world and follow Chih around some more!

The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

This is the year I will finally finish this series. I’ve been working on it for 4 years, but I always need such a long break between books because they’re so taxing. I’m excited to finally see all the strings of plot in this series get mostly woven together, if the other Stiefvater books I’ve read have taught me anything it’s to expect absolute insanity.

The Ones we Burn by Rebecca Mix

Yes, I am not-so-internally screaming about the fact that I have an ARC of this. The Ones We Burn is one of my most anticipated reads of 2022, and I just know that this book is going to absolutely crush my heart like a marshmallow. I’m ready for it though.

Lakelore by Anna-Marie McLemore

I always list McLemore as one of my autobuy authors, and yet I am shamefully behind on their releases. I want to fix that though, and Lakelore is absolutely at the front of my list. Two non-binary teens? Some sort of secret society under a lake? I’m intensely excited for this.

Maya and the Rising Dark by Rena Barron

I think middle grade is such a great place to explore the idea of being thrust into a world you knew nothing about, and I’m incredibly excited to see a Black person get to tell this familiar concept in a way that is true to them. And with such an amazing cover how could anyone say no?

Youngblood by Sasha Laurens

Vampires! Boarding school! Sapphics! As a person that is always sad that there are no sapphics in Vampire Academy, I think this is so perfectly up my alley. It is currently unreleased, but it comes out in July and I am doing to devour it.

Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan

I keep seeing people talking about this book and every time I just get more certain that it is going to be an instant favourite for me. The premise alone is fantastic, the cover is beautiful, and I’m a massive sucker for romantic angst.

Storm of Locusts by Rebecca Roanhorse

I read Trail of Lightning back in 2018 when it was a new release and absolutely loved it. I also really want to read Black Sun but I told myself I couldn’t buy a copy until I finished Roanhorse’s first series, so I’m hoping to get to that one for my fall TBR.

The Witchery by S. Isabelle

Another July release that I plan on devouring, The Witchery has been on my radar for so long that I actually thought it had been released already. Clearly, it hasn’t, and I can’t wait to get my gay little hands on a copy as soon as my local bookstore has it.

And that’s it! What’s on your summer TBR? And have you read any of these books? I’d love to know what you think of them. Happy reading!

Deck the Halls With Books

It’s been a long time since I’ve participated in a readathon, and what better way to end the year than with a Christmas themed one! This will be my first year participating in the Reindeer Readathon, and I’m on Team Mistletoe! You can find out more info about this readathon here and without further ado, let’s get into my TBR.

DASHER — A short story (or collection) or novella.

A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow

I usually struggle with short story or novella challenges, as I don’t read a lot of them, but luckily I had literally just picked A Spindle Splintered up from the bookstore, and I’m super excited to dive into this Sleeping Beauty retelling!

DANCER — A book by one of your favorite authors (rereads count too).

Bridge of Souls by Victoria Schwab

As soon as I saw this challenge I knew it was going to have to be one of the two Schwab books I haven’t read yet. I went with Bridge of Souls for 2 reasons. First and foremost, The Cassidy Blake series is some of my favourites of her books and this one has been out for almost 9 months. but secondly, because it’s a middle grade, which makes for fast and easy reading.

PRANCER — A book with a travel element in it (vacation, quest etc.).

The Storm Runner by J.C. Cervantes (🎶)

This book is also going to count for the Christmas Carol bonus as I currently have a hold at the library for the audiobook. I struggled a lot with this prompt, but I think The Storm Runner will be a fun read and what is more travel-based that entered a different world?

VIXEN — A book that has recently caught your eye.

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske

I know next to nothing about this book aside from the fact that it is gay and takes place in the Edwardian Era, but that is more than enough for me. I actually heard about it through TikTok, and I immediately added it to my want to read shelf without even finishing the video.

COMET — A 5 star prediction.

The Burning God by R.F. Kuang

I’ve been putting off this finale for quite a while, because I know this book is going to absolutely detroy me. I also know I’m going to love it, considering I’ve given both of the other books 5 stars without hesitation.

CUPID —Take a shot at reading a new author.

Where Dreams Descend by Janella Angeles

I put this on my Fall 2021 TBR, and it fits this prompt so perfectly. I’ve had a copy of this book sitting on my shelves for a couple months now, so I’m excited to finally pick it up so I can find out what all the hype is about.

DONNER — A book with green or red as the primary color on the cover.

Witches Steeped in Gold by Ciannon Smart (⭐️)

This challenge was actually surprisingly difficult for me. All of the green or red books I could think of off the top of my head were ones I’d already read, so I scoured my shelves until I came across Witches Steeped in Gold and I knew instantly it was going to have to be the one for this challenge.

BLITZEN —Choose at least 3 books and have one chosen randomly to read (for example, rolling a die, an online poll, your pets choosing etc.).

Blood & Honey by Shelby Mahurin

I’m not going to lie to you, for this challenge I just picked 3 books that were left on fall TBR and you can watch a video of my bearded dragon Koko picking Blood & Honey on my TikTok! I read an ARC of Serpent & Dove when it first came out in 2019 and enjoyed it well enough, so I thought I would continue the series!

RUDOLPH — A standalone book.

Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron(💡)

I adored This Poison Heart so I fully expect to feel the same way about Cinderella is Dead. I already know that I greatly enjoy Kaylnn Bayron’s writing, and honestly, a sapphic story set in the same world as Cinderella? How could I not like it?

There is also 3 bonus challenges which are as follows

⭐️ Christmas Star — read a book over 500 pages

💡 Christmas Lights — read an ebook

🎶 Christmas Carols — read an audiobook

You can find the books I’ve picked to complete these challenges marked with the corresponding emoji!

And that’s it! Are you planning on participating in the Reindeer Readathon? Have you read any of these books?

My Fall 2021 TBR

I cannot believe it is already fall, it feels like it was April just last week. But nonetheless we are softly fading into autum, the trees are starting to change color, and I’m starting to panic about my GoodReads challenge! To give me a boost up I’ve selected a list of 10 books that I want to get to between now and New Years Eve. Some of them are spooky themed, some of them are winter themed, and some of them are continuations of series! Let’s get into it!

A Lesson in Vengence by Victoria Lee

This book sounds so fucking good and I am going to absolutely devour it. Sapphic dark academia?? Yes please. Plus there’s murder which is always more reasons to read a book in my opinion. I’ve yet to read a book by Victoria Lee but I think this will be a good one to start with.

The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V.E. Schwab

I’ve you’ve been on my blog for any amount of time you’ll know that Schwab is one of my favourite authors, but unlike a lot of books on this list I can tell you exactly why I haven’t gotten around to reading this. I’m genuinely not sure I’ll like it. Several friends of mine that have read it have said that it is slower and character driven, neither of which are qualities I usually like in books. I’m giving it a go because, well, Schwab, but I don’t have particularly high hopes.

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

This is the first of two Bardugo books on this list, and this is by far the one I’m more excited to dive into. Everyone and their mother has been telling me that I will love this book, which makes sense as I love dark academia. However, the content warning list has been a little intimidating for me. None of it is stuff that I know will trigger me, but there is so much on it that I’m not sure I can handle all of it in one book.

Where Dreams Descend by Janella Angeles

On my winter TBR I mentioned that a friend of mine was liable to kill me if I didn’t read Legendborn, and the same thing goes for Where Dreams Descend. Circus books are usually hit or miss for me (I hated Caraval but loved The Night Circus) but the synopsis is so intriguing and I’m obsessed with the cover so we’re going to give it a shot.

Small Spaces by Katherine Arden

This book has been vaguely on my TBR since it came out in 2018 but I’m craving some spooky books this October so I’m finally buckling down to read it. I love middle grade horror and I’m a big fan of Arden’s adult fantasy series, so I think this will probably be a fav for me. Good thing there’s two more books after this one.

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

I loved Uprooted, it’s honestly one of my favourite books, and I’ve had a copy of Spinning Silver since it’s release. I really can’t explain why it’s taken me this long to get around to reading it, but I do know that it is a delightfully wintery book, so I’m probably going to pick up this book sometime in early December to finally knock it off my TBR.

Blood & Honey by Shelby Mahurin

Theres is the first of four series continuations and is the only one that isn’t a finale! I read Serpent & Dove as an ARC, and I just never got around to continuing the series. I know the final book came out in July so if I read this soon I can maybe read the last one and finish this series before the end of the year.

The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

I first read The Raven Boys in 2016, just shortly after this book first came out and I didn’t like it. I tried again in 2018 and gave the first book 5 stars. I don’t binge read anything so I’ve been slowly making my way through the series and I’m finally on the last book!

The Burning God by R.F. Kuang

This book is going to absolutely ruin me and I am not ready for it. I think that’s a large part of why I’ve put it off for so long, I am unprepared for the way this book is going to shred my heart into pieces. But I really want to know what all the memes mean lol

Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo

It is no secret that I did not like King of Scars however I’ve been told that this second installment is much better and that some of my old favourites make an appearance so I’m going to buckle down and finish this duology. Will I ever read anything else set in the Grishaverse? Probably not, but I hate leaving series unfinished.

Do you set quarterly TBRs? Why or why not? And if so, what’s on your fall TBR?

May TBR

As of writing this I am currently 11 books behind on my reading challenge, which is down from the beginning of April when I was 17 books behind, but still not particularly excellent. To help combat the backlog I’m going to be participating in two readathons in May! Both are month-long, and I might do a mini weekendlong readathon to help me push through!

Minecraft Readathon

I’ve participated in this readathon once before, and I had quite a bit of fun so I’m excited to participate in it again. This year I’m playing as a Farmer, mostly because those are the prompts I liked the best, and the advantage is the ability to replace 3 prompts with a different professions prompts, which I took full advantage of.

Hit Bedrock (read a book over 500 pages): Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo

Why am I reading this book? I wish I could tell you. I only gave King of Scars 2 stars, and I sincerely doubt that this one is going to get higher, but I desperately need to know how much more Bardugo is going to fuck up her world before she calls it quits. However, I’ve already decided that this will be the last Grishaverse book I read because I just can’t stand to see someone figuratively shit on their own past work.

Find Diamond (read a 5 star prediction): Five Dark Fates by Kendare Blake

I’ve given 5 stars to every other book in the Three Dark Crowns series, so it seems fair to assume that the last instalment will be the same. I’ve put this book off for a very long time because I don’t want this series to be over, but I think it’s time to finally find out what happens before someone spoils it for me.

Breed 2 Animals (read a book with an animal on the cover): Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Yes this is the second Bardugo book on my TBR, but I’ve been meaning to get to Ninth House since it came out, and it just keeps getting pushed back so I’m taking this opportunity to finish it. Also, it was the first book I thought of when I saw this prompt which has to mean something. Right?

Invade an Ocean Temple (read a book with historical elements): The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V.E. Schwab

This book might be a stretch for this prompt, I’ll be the first to admit that, but I really want to get to it because I’ve seen so many differing opinions on it. I’ve liked every other Schwab book I’ve read, but this one doesn’t seem particularly up my alley so I’m interested to see whether or not I actually like it myself!

Fill a Bucket (read a book targeted to your age demographic): One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

This is the first of 3 arcs I’ve put on this list, and I thought about saving this to read for Pride month, but I want to get to it before the release date. I loved the writing Red, White, and Royal Blue so I think this will be a new favourite!

Bake a Cake (read a feel-good book): A Pho Love Story by Loan Le

This is also my romance buddy read for May, and I’m incredibly excited to get to it. I have a feeling it’s going to make me hungry and I am fully prepared for that. I don’t read a lot of YA contemporary, but I haven’t dipped my toe in the water in a while so if I like this I might try to pick up more.

Asian Readathon

This is the third year I’ve participated in this readathon, and I’m, just as excited for this year as I was for the two previous! I have a bunch of books by Asian authors that I want to read that are not on the list, but these are the ones I picked for these challenges.

Read any book by an Asian author: Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

This is probably my most anticipated release for all of 2021, so I was over the moon when I saw I got an arc. Pacific Rim is only of my favourite movies, and we definitely need more polyamorous relationships in YA. I am incredibly ready to dive head first into what I’m sure will be an insane adventure.

Read any book featuring an Asian protagonist: The Last Fallen Star by Graci Kim

I technically got an arc of this book a couple months ago and then fell into a massive reading slump that had me blacking out almost the entire month of march in my reading journal. Now that I’m back I want to make this a priority, so I’m including it in this TBR!

Read any book written by an Asian author in your favorite genre: The Ever Cruel Kingdom by Rin Chupeco

The Never Tilting World made me fall in love with this world, so it’s high time I read the sequel. This will actually be my third Rin Chupeco book, so I suspect that after I finish this series I’m going to end up finishing The Bone Witch trilogy next. At this point I’ll read anything Chupeco publishes, if I’m honest with you.

Read any book written by an Asian author that’s not US-centric: The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo

I’ve actually read both this and the next book on the list, and I absolutely adored this one. Vo’s writing is absolutely excellent, and the style this was written in was so interesting. I found myself completely hooked as pieces of the puzzle were slowly revealed and I’m going to devour the next book in this series in preparation for the rest of the series.

Read any nonfiction book written by an Asian author: The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur

As I mentioned, I’ve already read this and it was,,, not my favourite. Overall I liked the concepts Kaur was trying to explore, but I don’t think her style of poetry is really my thing. I’m not necessarily surprised about that, but I had never read anything by her so I thought I would give it a shot! I probably won’t be picking up her other books, unfortunately.

Other Books

• Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong
• The Burning God by R.F. Kuang
• Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater
• Avatar: The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars Part 1 by Michael DiMartino & Irene Koh
• Heartstopper Volume 1 by Alice Oseman
• Crownchasers by Rebecca Coffindaffer

O.W.L.s Year 3 TBR

This is my third year of participating in the O.W.L.s and I’m really hoping to do better than last year. For those of you who don’t know, the O.W.L.s Readathon is hosted by Book Roast over on YouTube inspired by Harry Potter!! You can find out more info by going over to her channel and watching this video.

For my career this year I chose to be a Hogwarts Professor, mostly because it gives me the most options in terms of actual challenges! This won’t quite be my whole TBR for this month as I’m also part of a few book clubs but I’m not going to include those in this list.

MY BOOKS

DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS: Book set at the sea/coast — Teeth by Hannah Moskowitz 

This book has been on my radar for a really long time, but it’s one of those times where you mean to read something and then keep forgetting to until you die. Thankfully, I just picked up a copy so I’m ready to dive in, possibly literally.

 

POTIONS: Book Under 150 Pages — Predatory by Brooklyn Ray 

This is exactly 149 pages, which means it just barely counts. It’s also the third book in this series and I figure I may as well catch up before the fourth one comes out. It’s also, obviously, a novella! So I should be able to finish it pretty quickly.

 

DIVINATIONS: Assign a number to your TBR — Heartless by Marissa Meyer 

Funny enough, I was already doing this! This would be my second month of letting a random number generator pick a book on my tbr. I made a spread in my bullet journal for this and got number 13!

 

CARE OF MAGICAL CREATURES: Creature with a beak on the cover — Beyond a Darkened Shore by Jessica Leake 

I’ve had this book since early 2018 and I have yet to read it. However, as an Irish person and a history nerd I’m excited to jump into a book with a root in Celtic history, and I’m always on board for books with boats.

ARITHMACY: Read something outside your favourite genre — I Hope You Get This Message by Farah Naz Rishi 

I got an ARC of this book mid 2019 and I just, forgot to pick it up. I Hope You Get This Message has now been out for almost 6 months, but I’m still determined to get to it. If you’ve been on my blog before you’re probably away my favourite genre is fantasy, so I figured a sci-fi was a good option for this challenge!

CHARMS: White cover — A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir 

The main reason this is on my TBR for this month is because I want to be caught up in time to preorder book 4 and get the super cool preorder gift. As of writing this I’m currently 70% through book 2, and really enjoying it, so I hope book 3 also lives up to my expectations.

HISTORY OF MAGIC: Books featuring witches or wizards — Half Bad by Sally Green

There are practically a million and one books in YA that have witches and/or wizards, but this whole TBR is built of older backlist title so I figured it was finally time to pick this up, after owning it for several years.

Pondathon TBR

What is the Pondathon?

The Pondathon is a co-operative and story-driven readathon hosted and run by CW from The Quiet Pond. The aim of the Pondathon is to read books and collect points to protect the friends over at The Quiet Pond from the encroaching malevolent forces that threaten our friends in the forest.

Have fun participating in the Pondathon readathon by joining one of five teams, each with a unique way to collect points and signing up! You can also follow the story of the Pondathon as it unfolds, and participants can also complete ‘side quests’ during the readathon to collect extra points. The readathon takes place from January 24th 2020 to March 7th 2020. More information about the readathon can be found here.

Information about Joining the Pondathon

1. To join the Pondathon, simply sign up anytime between January 18th 2020 to March 5th 2020.
2. Choose a team, create your own animal character for the Pondathon and create a character card!
3. Create a blog post, bookstagram post, booktube video, Twitter thread, or whatever medium you wish, with ‘#Pondathon’ in the title or your tweet. Share the character you have created and your character card!
4. Link back to this post so that others can find this readathon and join in.

Share your updates on your blog/bookstagram/booktube and social media. You are more than welcome to tag @thequietpond or @artfromafriend on Twitter or Instagram in all your updates! We’d love to see all of the beautiful and awesome characters that you create!

My Pond Character

This lil dude (as I was affectionately referring to him before I’d picked out a name) is Sir Koiry, a knight of the pond! Sir Koiry has always had a protective streak that extends to his younger sister Koitherine, as well as the pond and all of its inhabitants, and while he hates the circumstances he’s proud to protect the pond.

My Pondathon TBR

I’ve decided, as of roughly 30 seconds ago, that I’m going to use this readathon to inspire me to finish some series! I’m also doing CW’s Start-On-Your-Shelf-Athon and since I’m on #TeamXiaolong I think completing series will work out great!

Forest of Ruin by Kelley Armstrong

This is probably the finale I’ve owned the longest, and I’m still not sure why I haven’t gotten around to it yet. I thoroughly enjoyed books one and two, so I’m excited to jump into the last one!

War Storm by Victoria Aveyard

Unlike the previous, I can tell you exactly why I haven’t gotten around to War Strom. It’s bloody massive, clocking in at around 700 pages, and I’ve heard plenty of mixed reviews, even from people that loved the first 3. It makes me nervous, to say the least, but I’d like to wrap this series up so here we are.

Five Dark Fates by Kendare Blake

I really just don’t want Three Dark Crowns to be over. So much so that I broke my tradition of reading the series on Thanksgiving weekend because I didn’t want to be done with it. Now that it’s past I’m a little upset with myself over it, but I’m excited to see how my three favourite queens fare.

Undying by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

I was supposed to buddy read this with my roommate, but that was in the midst of my late-2019 reading slump so suffice to say it didn’t happen. She really enjoyed it, so I have pretty high expectations and I’m pumped to see if they’re met. I’m also pumped to see my nerd son kick some ass.

Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi

I’m not even sure I like this series, and I am sure I’m not going to be reading any of the other three books after reading reviews from people I trust, but I already own this, and I hate leaving things unfinished. 

Ruse by Cindy Pon

Similar to Five Dark Fates, I have yet to pick up Ruse because I don’t want the series to be over. I read Want early last year and absolutely loved it, promptly preordered Ruse and then refused to read it until (hopefully) now!

The Unbound by Victoria Schwab

If I finish this then I am but one book away from being entirely caught up with Schwab releases, just in time for her to release more. I know many people who would commit murder for this series and these characters, so I’m trusting them to no lead me astray but convincing me to read this book even though it’s supposed to be book 2 out of 3 instead of a finale.

Are you joining the Pondathon? Do we have any of the same books on our TBRs? Let me know!

 

2020 Reading Goals

It’s been a while since I’ve used this blog (primarily because I haven’t finished a book since mid-October) so I thought this would be a good way to get back into it! I’m doing a few different challenges this year and I wanted one place to talk about them altogether. 

In addition to the goals below, I have a smaller, personal goal to read at least 5 books that aren’t science fiction or fantasy. That probably doesn’t seem like much, but considering last year the number of non-SFF I read was 3 (which was a raise from 2018 when I read 0), its a big leap for me.

I’ll be keeping track of my 2020 reading progress through this twitter thread, in addition to my spreadsheet and Goodreads goal!

Goodreads Goal

Last year I set my GR goal at 80 books and I fell short, by a quite a bit, so I pared it back a little this year! I’ve set me 2020 goal as 70 books, which I think is totally manageable for me providing I don’t fall into another reading slump like I did at the end of 2019.

Year of the Asian Reading Challenge 2020

I loved participating in the YARC2019 challenge, so I’m very excited to join again!! You can find out more info about YARC2020 here or here or here or here! (I recommend checking out all 4 blogs because they’re all fantastic.) This year I’ll be running a twitter thread because I forgot to update the post I made last year and I think (read: hope) I’ll be more consistent this way! 

Last year I made a TBR of 15 books, and even though I read 11 a few of them weren’t on the TBR so this year I’m restricting my list to 10 books in hopes that I’ll read all of the ones on my list this time.

 

• The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh
• Five Dark Fates by Kendare Blake
• Wintersong by S. Jae Jones
• Ruse by Cindy Pon
• Aru Shah and the Song of Death by Roshani Chokshi
• Seven Deadly Shadows by Courtney Alameda & Valynne E. Maetani
• The Dragon Egg Princess by Ellen Oh
• Forest of Souls by Lori M Lee
• The Silvered Serpents by Roshani Chokshi
• The Burning God by R.F. Kuang

Start-On-Your-Shelf-Athon

(Image credit to CW @ The Quiet Pond)

Start-On-Your-Shelf-Athon is a year-long readathon dedicated to reading the books you already own! You can find out more info on CW’s blog here!

This is a great big heavy sigh, my pals. I have 99 unread books including ebooks. That is just so fucking many. It’s roughly 35% of the total amount of books I own, which I suppose isn’t too bad, but I’d really like to get that number down to below 15%. That means I roughly need to read 5 owned books a month, and I think that’s pretty doable for me. 

I’m obviously not going to sit here and list all 99 books because a) we’d be here for a while and b) this post would be a literal mile long but I can assure you a list exists, and it’s long enough to wrap around a city block. I’ll also be utilizing a twitter thread for this, so feel free to take a look at that if you’re interested to know what books I’m knocking off my TBR.

And that’s it! My reading goals for 2020. What are some goals you’ve set for yourself this year? Are there any books you’re dying to get to? Let me know!!

Triple Feature TBR

A fundamental fact about me is that I love themed readathons. Something about them just gets me excited in a way I can’t explain. That is how I ended up doing 3 month-long readathons in July.

The three I’m participating in are the DND Readathon hosted by my friend Sam, the Iron Tome-A-Thon hosted by Aimal, and the Book Junkie Trials hosted by Racheal!

I decided to let some of the challenges overlap, so I was struggling to figure out how to format this in a way where I wasn’t listing the same book multiple times. This is what I came up with so hopefully it’s clear enough.

First, let’s talk about the actual readathons!

DND Readathon

The DND Readathon doesn’t have teams, instead you are aiming to complete challenges to acquire various fantasy races and each race has 3 challenges. I’m going for 4 races, which makes a total of 12 challenges! The ones I’m going for are as follows:

Dragonborn

• Read a book that involves dragons
• Read a book that was recommended by a parent/guardian/mentor
• Buddy-read a book

Dwarf

• Read a book with foil on the cover
• Read a classic
• Read a book you acquired because of the cover

Half-elf

• Read a translated book
• Read a book with only one POV
• Read a book set in a country you’ve never been to

Tiefling

• Read a banned book
• Read a book that follows a humanoid (but not fully human) character
• Read a book recommended to you by someone you trust

Iron Tome-A-Thon

For this bad boy we have a total of 7 challenges (including a group book). This readathon is based on Game of Thrones so instead of teams we have houses, which really are just for fun as opposed to for competition.

I’m personally choosing House Baratheon because my favourite character is Renly and we have the coolest house words! They’re my blog title on Tumblr for a reason.

CASTLE BLACK: Read the group book

WINTERFELL: Read a book set in a cold climate

KING’S LANDING: Read a book about or involving royalty, politics or government

SUNSPEAR: Read a book by an author of color or an indigenous author

OLDTOWN: Read a book about or involving an institution of knowledge or training

VALYRIA: Read a book about or involving dragons

ASSHAI: Read a dark/grimdark fantasy or read an urban fantasy.

The Book Junkie Trials

The most competitive of my July readathons, this one is also the one where your team actually plays a part in your challenges, as well as gives you an ability and a weakness! I am Team Bard, which means I get the ability to DNF one book, and count it as read, and the weakness that one book has to include music/poetry.

I can tell you from the get-go that I’ll be using my ability on the group book, because I just really have no interest in reading it, and I really don’t just DNF books anyway.

THE ELVEN GUARD: Read a book with War, Military or Political Themes.

HALLOW ISLE: Read an atmospheric or horror book.

EMPTY BARREL INN: Enjoy an indulgent read.

GIANT SQUID: Read a book that intimidates you.

THE BOOKIE GRAIL: Read the group book.

The Books

The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang

Challenges: Castle Black, The Elven Guard

Technically the group book for the Iron Tome-A-Thon is The Poppy War. However, I’ve already read that and I’m not a huge reread person as of late. So I decided to read The Dragon Republic instead since it’s the sequel! Plus it fits perfectly with the Elven Guard challenge, since it focuses heavily on war and the military.

Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

Challenges: Dwarf, Hallow Isle

All the reviews of this book that I’ve seen have described it as atmospheric, and Rogerson’s debut novel An Enchantment of Ravensmost definitely also falls into that category. I also just got my preorder in the mail yesterday as of writing this post and the foil on it is very pretty, so it fit well with the Dwarf challenge.

Hamlet by William Shakespeare

Challenges: Dwarf, Empty Barrel Inn

I’m not a classics reader by any means. I tried a copy of A Tale of Two Cities 3 years ago and my bookmark is still sitting in it at 69 pages. I do love Shakespeare though, and I’ve been meaning to read Hamlet for a while. Since I won’t be writing a review for it, and I know it’ll be fun to read, I decided to also count it for my Empty Barrel Inn challenge. I’m also counting this as my poetry/music book, since verse is a type of poetry.

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

Challenges: King’s Landing, Giant Squid

My copy of The Way of Kings weighs in at a hefty 1258 pages so to say I’m intimidated is the understatement of the century. I have the mass market paperback edition which is a mistake and I need to buy the hardcover because it only accentuates how long it is and I don’t need to be reminded that I’m about to sell my soul to a 1.2k beast of a book.

The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden

Challenges: Winterfell, Half-elf

I’ve been meaning to read this book for over a year. In fact, I’ve had my personal copy for a year as of July 29th so hopefully I read this before then. This book is set in 14th century Russia, and I haven’t quite made it there during my travels yet so it counts for the “country I haven’t been to” challenge.

Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

Challenges: Oldtown, Dragonborn

Nevernight is set (at least partly) at an assassin school, which sounds badass. I’m also probably stretching the rules just a little when I use it for the parent/mentor recommendation challenge, since my mother only reads romance books which aren’t my cup of tea. For the purposes of that prompt I’m counting Victoria Schwab as my mentor, which sorta works because she is one of the authors I look up to the most, she just doesn’t know she’s my mentor.

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

Challenges: Valyria, Dragonborn

Both of these are “read a book with a dragon in it” challenges and, well… Is there a more hot ticket dragon book on the market right now? I actually got this 800+ page behemoth on sale at a whopping 39% off. Seriously, why am I determined to read so many big books this month.

Upon a Burning Throne by Ashok K. Banker

Challenge: Sunspear

I marked this as reading over a month ago and then promptly did not pick up my ereader once. I’m honestly very excited for this, it sounds like it’s going to be dark and twisted, a politically complex novel that’s been compared to stuff like A Game of Thrones. Once again it’s not exactly a small book, but it’s by no means the largest on this list.

Jade City by Fonda Lee

Challenge: Asshai

The sequel to this comes out soon-ish, so I want to be on the train when it hits that station. To be honest, I had no idea what this was about until I saw people talking about it on Twitter (mostly CW from The Quiet Pond but it really seems like something that is right up my alley.

Descendant of the Crane by Joan He

Challenge: Dwarf

Half this list is just Books Sage Should Have Read Sooner and this one is no exception. This challenge is actually supposed to be “read a book you bought for the cover” but I don’t do that, so instead I decided to pick a book with a cover I really love. I adore both the art style and the cover palette of the Descendant of the Crane cover, so I picked it for this one!

The Beast Player by Nahoko Uehashi

Challenge: Half-elf

If you’ve been around for a while you might recognize this from my Asian Readathon TBR. Unfortunately I didn’t get to read all that much during May, and by that I mean I only read 4 books which is a staggeringly low number for me. However, it’s back, because I really want to read this book.

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

Challenge: Half-elf

I bought the tie-in paperback edition of The Darkest Minds from Wal-Mart shortly before the movie came out, intending to read it before I watched the film in theatres. It’s a year later almost and I have not read the book nor seen the movie. Thankfully someone suggested it to me as a book with only 1 POV, so I got to use it for this challenge and hopefully read it before I have to blow off the dust like Slughorn handing Harry his potions textbook in The Half-Blood Prince.

Girls with Sharp Sticks by Suzanne Young

Challenge: Dragonborn

I’m a big fan of buddy reads so I was super excited about this challenge, despite the fact that I had no idea who I was going to do aforementioned buddy read with. I ended up piggybacking on two of my friends pre-planned buddy read. We decided to go with this book because it was one we were all interested in, but I have absolutely no idea what to expect.

The Giver by Lois Lowry

Challenge: Tiefling

I read this book once when I was 12 years old as part of my 7th grade english curriculum. I remember exactly 1 thing from this book and it’s something about an apple. I knew it had been banned, and I’d been thinking about rereading it anyway. Plus it’s short which is a rare thing on this TBR.

The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa

Challenge: Tiefling

Kagawa has actually been in the YA community for a very long time, and this was her first series. I read the first of these books back in /*mumbles behind hand/* January 2018, so I’m not sure how much I actually remember. I also have the first book in her *Talon* series and her most recent release, *Shadow of the Fox* so hopefully I can get to those soon.

The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding by Alexandra Bracken

Challenge: Tiefling

We’re coming to the end of this terribly long TBR and we’re finishing off with the one book I didn’t pick myself. This challenge is to have someone you trust rec a book and I asked a few people but I really wasn’t feeling what they were giving me, so I went to the one person I knew would absolutely give me a book I felt like reading, and they gave me this.