September TBR – BookoplAton

I am so excited to be joining in with Becca and The Books BookoplAton in September. This is month long readathon based on Becca’s TBR game bookopoly. She has redesigned her board to be suitable for a readathon that everyone can join in on. It will run from September 1^st to September 30^th. The announcement video can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMvFcCE3X_8.

The board is basked off a monopoly board and all I needed was a dice to create my TBR. You start on Go as you would in a usual game and then whatever you land on you choose a book for that prompt. I am going to roll the dice seven times resulting in seven prompts, but I could end up with more depending on if I get a double or not.

Roll One

The first number I rolled was an eight which landed me on a foiled cover. For this prompt I am going to be reading Circe by Madeline Miller. I got this book for my mum as a present and she loved it. I have been looking forward to reading it for the longest time and September will hopefully be that month!

Circe tells the story of Circe, the sorceress from the Odyssey as she discovers her powers- the power of witchcraft before she is banished to a desert island where she works on her power and discovers the many of the figures from Greek mythology. Then she is forced to make a decision on who’s side she is on; the Gods or the humans she has come to love. I think this sounds amazing and I used to love Greek mythology (thanks to Percy Jackson of course) and I am so excited to get back into the Greek mythology.

Roll Two

The next number I rolled was a six which landed me on LGBTQIA+ representation and for this I chose Nick and Charlie by Alice Oseman. I love the Heartstopper graphic novel series by Alice Oseman and this follows the same characters as the Heartstopper series.

This follows Nick and Charlie as Nick is leaving for University, but Charlie must stay behind to finish Sixth Form. But as everyone begins to question their relationship, they do too so can their relationships stand the test? I am so excited for this I love Nick and Charlie and how their relationships have developed throughout so I can’t wait to see how this one develops.

Roll Three

The next number I rolled was a seven and this was resulted in First in A Series. Anna With A K by Jenny Lee is the beginning of a series that I’m not quite sure how long its’s going to be. Pitched as a retelling of Anna Karenina meets Gossip Girl. I love Gossip Girl; it is my favorite series and anything that is pitches as being similar to Gossip Girl. However, I haven’t read Anna Karenina so I’m hoping that I will still understand all the references.

It follows Anna K who is at the top of the Manhattan society with everything in her life seemingly perfect. However, as her family and friend’s life fall apart around her, she is seemingly perfect until she meets Alexia. He is a seen as a bad influence going around boarding schools and lives only for himself but the two find each other drawn together. But as a secret threatens to pull them apart Anna must realize how far she is willing to go- how good does that sound!

Roll Four

I then rolled a ten which gave me a book that is set in the past. I have been wanting to read more classic, so I have chosen a book set well in the past which is Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. This is set in 1846 so many years in the past.

This is a classic so I’m sure many people know what it’s about, but it follows Heathcliff who is an orphan and Cathy. This is a love story that has descended through time, but I am unsure of the full summary and I’m read to go in blind to this ageless classic.

Roll Five

I then rolled another ten which landed me on the lowest rated book. So, I went to Goodreads and then sorted my want to read by lowest rated and my lowest book was Talking with Psychopaths by Christopher Berry-Dee. I read another one of the books in this series and I really enjoyed it so I’m not sure why it was so low rated.

It has five accounts where the author interviews five psychopaths where he attempts to get inside their head and find out about the crimes they committed. I find this sort of stuff so interesting, so I am looking forward to reading this although slightly sceptical because of the low rating.

Roll Six

Roll six was a seven and it landed me on foiled cover. Though I didn’t have another pick for this, so I have chosen to roll again and choose two books for the next prompt. I then rolled a five which landed me on person of color, so I had to choose two books for this one. The first option is A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown.

This is the first of a fantasy duology which is inspired by West African folklore. This sounds like this has an enemy to lover situation which I love. It follows two characters; Malik whose younger sister is stolen as a payment to the city so he creates a deal to kill the Princess for her freedom and Karina Crown Princess of Ziran who starts a contest for her hand in marriage in order to resurrect her recently deceased mother which requires the heart of a king. When Malik rigs the contest, they are set to destroy each other.

The second book which I chose was Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. This is a mystery novel set in 1950’s Mexico. Receiving a letter from her cousin begging for help, NoemÍ Taboada goes to the countryside to try and figure out the truth. Both books sound so good, so I am looking forward to getting to these two in September.

Roll Seven

Next, I rolled a nine landing me on a chance card. My chance card said that I had to choose a random number from my TBR which was the number 16. This equated to the book Fear by Dirk Kurbjuweit. This is a book my dad has recently read and recommended to me and he said it was an average rating.

I’m not quite sure what this one is about but I know it focuses a lot on family dynamics and how far you would go for your family. But when the family is terrorised by a neighbour a man begins to become afraid of leaving his family at home.

So overall on my TBR I have a total of eight books which is manageable depending on how my Bratz readathon TBR goes because I am also participating in that in September! In my TBR there’s a total of two thousand seven hundred and forty-nine pages which is around ninety-one pages a day which sounds easy for me which is lower than my average. Although I am looking forward to all these books some of them are a little bit lengthier than the others. So, I look forward to showing you my Bratz TBR in my next post and hopefully I can double up on a few options!

The Reading Rush 2020

On the week of the 20^th-26^th of July I participated in the Reading Rush 2020 and I know this post is late and it’s because I was debating on uploading this blog due to the issues occurring with the Reading Rush however, I am still proud that I achieved what I did within seven days. So here are my updates for the reading rush and I hope you enjoy it!

The books I chose had a total of two thousand four hundred and fifty-five pages. On average this would mean that I would have to read around three hundred and fifty pages a day. Whilst this was slightly overwhelming, I had several graphic novels, so I wasn’t too worried.

Monday 20^th July
So I wanted to start my reading rush off strong by starting my first book at midnight. I started with Lost Boy by Christina Henry as this was one of the books that could fit for several of the challenges just in case, I didn’t manage to read all seven books. I read around fifty-four pages before I was too tired to keep on reading. This book grabbed my attention from the first page, and I knew I was going to love it.
Later, in the day I chose to start on my Monstress graphic novels in the summer house at the top of my garden for the challenge to read a book outside. I read all the first volume which was two hundred and two pages as well as thirty pages of the second volume.
On the first day of the reading rush I read a total of two hundred and eighty-eight pages and finished only one book that wasn’t even on my TBR. I didn’t earn any badges, but I was working my way towards two.

Tuesday 21^st July
Tuesday I started babysitting so my time was spent a lot less on reading suddenly however, I still managed to read a little bit of reading. When I got home, I managed to read the rest of Lost Boy by Christina Henry and I loved this book! It was everything I have ever wanted in a retelling from twists to a completely different perspective on a childhood favourite. I ended up giving it a four-star rating as it was just slightly off a five star for me however, I am really looking forward to reading more of Henry’s books in the future.
On Tuesday I read a total of two hundred and fifty-eight pages and finished my first challenge. The challenge that this completed was to read the first book that I touched. Although I was behind on my page count, I was still pleased that I had finished my first book of the readathon!

Wednesday 22^nd July
On Wednesday I was babysitting again so by the end of the day I was exhausted. I only managed to read forty-eight pages of a new book. I decided to start The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant which I have been excited to read and was one of my most anticipated books of the year. The Court of Miracles was to complete the challenge of reading a book with the word ‘The’ in the title. I was disappointed that I only read that much but I knew the next few days I would be able to read more.

Thursday 23^rd July
My reading improved a little on Thursday as I read more of The Court of Miracles but still wasn’t up to my daily average. I read two hundred and fifty-four pages whilst looking after my rabbit, but I had still only finished one book in four days, so I was pretty behind in my reading.

Friday 24^th July
Friday was such a good reading day for me as I managed to finish two books and start a third despite spending my day at the beach. When I got back to my house, I took Monstress Volume Two and The Court of Miracles up to my summer house. I started by reading the last hundred and twenty-two pages of Monstress Volume Two which was for the challenge to read a book outside of the house. I am loving this series so much I think it is one of the best graphic novels I have read, and I cannot wait to read the next volume. I ended up rating it a four out of five stars as some of the story was a little hard to follow but I loved it all the same.
I then picked up The Court of Miracles and taking it inside to finish in my bed which was so cosy. I rated it a three and a half stars because although I really enjoyed the plot and characters some parts felt rushed and some parts required expanding but it was such a fun read and I cannot wait for the next book in the series. This completed the challenge to read a book with the word ‘The’ in the title.
Finally, I picked up The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp for the challenge to read a book with the colour of your birthstone on it. I was born in August and my birthstone is a light green colour which matched the trees on the cover of the book. I read around a hundred and twenty pages and I was not enjoying this book although it was a quick read.
So, on Friday I read a total of four hundred and twenty-four pages; a hundred and eighty-two pages of The Court of Miracles, a hundred and twenty-two pages of Monstress and a hundred and twenty pages of The Spectacular Now. I completed two challenges and began a third. I was excited to see how my reading went over the weekend.

Saturday 25^th July
This was one of the best reading days that I had the entire readathon. I finished a book and got a far way into two of the books. Although I spent the day reading, I still had a lovely day and felt like I really caught up with my reading. I started by finishing The Spectacular Now which unfortunately I really did not enjoy.
The main characters description of women and how I did not enjoy how this book played out in the end. It did not age well at all although I would be really interested in seeing how it plays out in the movie. Overall, I ended up giving the book a two out of five stars and I almost gave it a lower rating.
After this I took Uzumnaki up to the summer house and I loved the beginning of tis book. The art style, the story and concept it was brilliant I literally ate up the story. I read around three quarters of it before heading back to my house.
Finally, I started Peter Pan in the evening so that I could make a start on the only classic on my TBR. I knew that I would like this book, but I didn’t expect to love it as much as I did. It literally is the definition of escapism; it captures a childlike wonder in the way no book I’ve read before.
So, on Saturday I read a total of seven hundred and eighty-four pages; a hundred and eighty-four pages of the Spectacular Now, four hundred and ninety pages of Uzumnaki and a hundred and ten pages of Peter Pan. I finished one book which was to complete the challenge of a book that is the same colour of your birthstone.

Sunday 26^th July
By the end of this readathon I was getting so tired and I knew I wouldn’t be reading much after the readathon had finished. However, I was determined to finish all seven books. I started off by reading the end of Uzumnaki by Junji Ito. I can’t express how much I loved this manga and I am so excited to eventually get to the rest of Junji Ito’s works. It is so whimsical and horrific put into one book that I’m not quite sure how he comes up with the ideas. It was definitely a five out of five star.
Next, I read the entirety of Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu which was such a sweet, cute graphic novel. I ate up the story and read it in around an hour and it turned out to be a four-star read.
Finally, I wanted to end the readathon on a high by ending with Peter Pan. This book took me back to my childhood and I am obsessed with it. Since finishing it I have watched the Disney adaptation and the 2003 adaptation because I am that obsessed, and I want to read every retelling and watch every adaptation.
Overall, on the final day I finished three books and read five hundred and sixty-five pages; a hundred and sixty-three pages of Uzumnaki, a hundred and forty-six pages of Peter Pan and two hundred and fifty-six pages of Mooncakes. This completed three challenges; to read a book that takes place on a different continent, to read a book with an adaptation you’ve already seen and to read a book that you want to read more of.

Readathon Summary
So by the end of the readathon I read eight books, completing seven challenges over a two thousand four hundred and fifty-five pages. I read a large range of books one two star, a three and a half star, three four stars and two five stars. My favourite of the week must be Peter Pan just because it took me back into my childhood and my least favourite was The Spectacular Now.
Overall, I earned a total of eleven badges which I was so happy with for my first readathon and I cannot wait to see how I do in future readathons.

The Reading Rush 2020

During the month of July I’ve decided to participate in my first readathon which will be The Reading Rush which is beginning on the 20^th of July to the 26th of July. The readathon consists of seven challenges which relates to book promps that you can build your TBR around. My username is worldofwords so if you want to add me on the website I would be more than happy to meet new people through the readathon.

During lockdown I have had plenty of time to read so I am hoping to manage a book for all seven challenges although I am going to be reading a range of books, manga and graphic novels. My TBR may change during the week and I do have a couple that I could double up challenges with however I am really hoping to read a book for each challenge to attempt to catch up with my Goodreads TBR which I am currently six books behind on.

Challenge One: Read A Book With A Cover That Matches The Colour Of Your Birth Stone

The first challenge is to read a book with a cover that matches the colour of my birth stone. I was born on August the 14^th so I have a birthstone that is an unpleasant mid/light green which I didn’t have many books for however I do have The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp. This book has been on my shelf for around six years now and I have never had any interest in reading it but it was the only book on my shelf that I haven’t read that would fulfill this challenge.

Im not quite sure what The Spectacular Now is about but as far as I know it is a coming of age romance novel following a boy struggling with alcoholism and doesn’t see his life father than parties and doesn’t have many aspirations and a academically inclined girl who lives a sheltered life looking after her mother who would love nothing more than to go to college. I know there was a film in 2013 based on this book which I may check out if I hopefully enjoy the book.

Challenge Two: Read A Book That Starts With The Word ‘The’

Challenge two is to read a book that start with the word ‘The’. I found this challenge really challenging as I only had around three books on my TBR starting with it. Ultimately, I decided on The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant which has arrived in the post today and I am so excited to get to it as it is one of my most anticipated books of the year.

The Court of Miracles is a Les Miserables retelling set in 1828 Paris, and follows Nina and her younger sister Ettie. The book follows Nina as she struggles to protect Ettie from the Tiger, the Lord of the guild of Flesh setting off a brutal war between the guilds. It has been described as Les Miserables meets Six Of Crows which are two of my favourite things.

Challenge Three: Read a Book That Inspired A Movie You Have Already Seen

The third challenge was read a book that inspired a movie you have already seen and I again really struggled with this because there aren’t many movies I’ve seen that I haven’t read the book for but I ended up choosing One Day by David Nicholls. I loved this film when I was younger and I did attempt to read it around then but I wasn’t enjoying it probably because I was so young at the time I attempted to read it.

It follows Emma and Dexter after they meet on the night of their graduation and then follows their lives on that day every year after. I love the whole plot of this movie so I am really hoping that I enjoy this book as much as I love the film.

Challenge Four: Read The First Book You Touch

Challenge four was to read the first book I touched so I simply sat in front of my TBR shelf and then placed my hand on to it which resulted with the book Lost Boy by Christina Henry. This could also double up as a book for challenge one as this book does have green on the cover however I am hoping to read all the books on this TBR.

Lost Boy is a retelling of Peter Pan from Hooks perspective and his version of the classic story that everyone knows and loves. I have heard amazing things about Christina Henry’s retellings so hopefully I will love this one and pick up the rest of her books soon.

Challenge Five: Read A Book Outside Of Your House

The fifth challenge is to read a book out of your house and this was my favourite challenge because at the back of my garden we have been restoring a summer house and made it really cosy so I am going to take myself up there to read for this challenge. However, in traditional British weather it has been raining and cold so I have chosen quite a short book just in case it isn’t nice enough to read for too long outside. I chose Monstress Vol. 2: The Blood by Marjorie M. Liu. I will probably end up re-reading volume one just to refresh myself on what’s happening.

Monstress is a graphic novel that follows a teenage girl who is struggling through war in an alternate Asia who has a link with a monster which contains a lot of power. The art style of this graphic novel is my favourite that I have come across in any graphic novel and I found the story so interesting I can’t wait to read the next volume.

Challenge Six: Read A Book In A Genre You Want To Read More Of

Challenge six is to read a book in a genre that you’ve always wanted to read more of and for this challenge I have chose Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker. I have been really getting into graphic novels lately however I still haven’t read as many as I would like to have read so Mooncakes is next on my list to read.

It follows a young girl who works at her grandmothers’ bookshop and one night she comes across her childhood best friend who also turns out to be a werewolf. After he turns to her for help, she feels compelled to help him with what he came to town to do. This book looks so wholesome with such a cute art style.

Challenge Seven: Read A Book That Takes Place On A Different Continent Than Where You Live

Finally challenge seven is to read a book that takes place on a different continent than where you live and I chose Uzumaki by Junju Ito. I live in the UK which is obviously in Europe but I didn’t want to go simple with a North American book so I went with Japan in Asia because it is my dream place to visit and I love the culture also as I said for the last challenge I want to read more manga and I have been highly recommended this book.

This is a horror manga following a town that is suddenly overrun with spirals after the protagonist father becomes obsessed with them and her and her friend attempt to figure out what is causing them obsession.

Overall this is going to be quite a challenge for me but I am hoping the shorter books balance out the longer ones and I can also double up on a few challenges which I may have to do depending on how the week works as I still have assignments and work to get on with. I cant wait to get involved with the readathon over the next week and push myself.

If youre taking part let me know below what you’re thinking about reading for the challenges!