Orilium Autumn Equinox Readathon TBR

August is almost here! Which means that it’s time for the Orilium Autumn Equinox!

(It also means that it’s nearly time for back-to-school sales on stationery… but that’s not what this blog post is about… so I’m going to ignore that temptation for the moment and get back to the topic of this post… Readathon Time!)

During this session at the Orilium Academy, I will be working to level-up in my chosen calling of Story Weaver. To do that, I need to achieve the following grades in the follow subjects.

• Ordinary in Inscription
• Qualified in Psionics & Divination
• Distinguished in Lore

To achieve Ordinary I have to read one book based on the Ordinary level prompt for that class. For Qualified I have to read two books based on the corresponding prompts for that class. And Distinguished is three books. So, I have the moderately-challenging task of reading six books in the month of August!

Here’s what’s on my TBR:

Inscription

To achieve Ordinary in Inscription, I need to read a book from my end of the year TBR. I am going to pick something from my FairyLoot hoard for this one. I’m keeping a few of them to fill the final prompts for the Adventure in Aeldia quest. I’ve decided that I want to try for an Owlcat. In case you’re curious, here’s how that’s been going for me so far…

I was going to pick The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi because it’s the shortest of the bunch, and I don’t want to get bogged down in a long physical book and risk not finishing the rest of my TBR. But, I’m already planning on reading a gothic horror novel for a different prompt, so I think I’m going to try the second shortest, which is one of the more recent additions to the stack, Shanghai Immortal by A.Y. Chao.

Psionics & Divination

The first prompt for Psionics & Divination is a little complicated. For “Introduction to Tarot” I had to pick a card using the random tarot card generator linked from the video. Then I had to pick a book that had one of the symbols on the card in the title or on the cover. I got Justice which has a crown, a sword, scales, and maybe also a throne. I have a few options that might work for this one, but right now I’m thinking I might try to FINALLY finish the Three Dark Crowns series by Kendare Blake. I only have the last book, Five Dark Fates, left to read, and it has swords (and maybe a crown?) on the cover.

The second prompt for Psionics & Divination is “Reading the Future,” or read a book set in the future. For this one I’m going to read The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler. This is one of the books that was nominated for the Nebula award for best novel, and it sounds really good.

Lore

Then, I have three prompts I need to complete for Lore. The first is “Tale of the Guide,” or read a book recommended by a bookseller. For this prompt, I went to the Powell’s Staff Picks page and scrolled through the list to see what jumped out at me. I’ve been meaning to read Jade City by Fonda Lee for a while now. According to Amazon, I purchased the book for Kindle in December of 2017. It’s probably about time I get around to reading it, huh? Especially if it’s a bookseller pick.

The second Lore prompt is “Cursed Cloaks,” or read a book with clothing on the cover. I haven’t found any books on my TBR with clothing not on a person on the cover. So, I’m going with A Lady’s Guide to Scandal by Sophie Irwin. It has an illustrated cover that feels like it’s featuring the (historical) clothing more than the people. So, I’m going with that one.

The final Lore prompt is the most difficult of the bunch for me. It is “The Underworld 101,” or read a horror book. I don’t like horror. But one of the Hugo nominees for best novel is a gothic horror, and it’s written by an author I like. So, I am going to try The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia for this prompt.

Here’s what my reading journal spread looks like for this readathon.

Now, there’s also this impling summoning quest that I would like to do as part of this readathon. But the 6 books I need to read for my Story Weaver calling already represent 2553 pages of reading (or about 82 pages per day on average).

The impling summoning quest, assuming you can find one book that satisfies all the prompts, requires reading at least another 400 pages. But, if I do decide to take on one more book for this quest, I think Alisha Rai’s Partners in Crime will satisfy all the prompts (between 400 and 450 pages, one letter appears only twice, released this year or last year, blue on the cover, read from this author before). I just need to start reading it at night (which is the final prompt). I’m hoping that, because it’s a contemporary romance, it will be a fast read, and I can squeeze it in with the rest of my TBR.

Are you participating in the Orilium Autumn Equinox readathon? Are any of these books on your TBR? Let me know what you think about my selections in the comments.