Tag: Magical Readathon

Weekend Reads Inbox-Outbox

~ EMM

We’re about halfway through the month, and I’ve only finished one book on my Orilium Fall Equinox TBR.

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I finished Bride by Ali Hazelwood and enjoyed it. I’ve heard that her adult contemporary romance books are really good if you enjoy the “big guy with small girl” and “broody alpha male” tropes. Those aren’t at the the top of my favorite tropes list, which is why I haven’t picked up any of her books before. However, I think those particular tropes work pretty well in the context of a paranormal contemporary romance. Somehow, I’m less inclined to get annoyed by romance frustrations that could be resolved with some basic communication when the hero is a broody literal-Alpha of his werewolf pack. There is a bit of that in this book, and it’s a little (okay, a lot) obvious what’s going on, which may make some people want to throw the book across the room. It didn’t bother me too much. Probably because of how this sort of miscommunication thing has almost become a norm in this particular sub-genre. But, it is why this was only an “enjoyable read” for me and not more.

After that, I started This Spells Love by Kate Robb. I think I picked this up from my library because I saw it on a witchy contemporary romance list somewhere. I got through the part where they do the spell described in the blurb and into the resulting alternate reality the following morning. Then I bailed. This is not a witchy contemporary romance like Payback’s a Witch or The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches. This is more like a Freaky Friday thing, and I just wasn’t feeling it. So, that’s going back to the library as a DNF for me.

On the positive side, though, it does get me back on track with my Orilium Fall Equinox TBR!

Inbox

I was feeling a potential reading slump coming on after those two books, so I decided to pick up my book club book for this month, which happens to be a re-read of book two in a series I’m enjoying but haven’t finished and have convinced my book club buddies to read along with me. The only problem is, I’d forgotten that Marque and Reprisal (book two in Elizabeth Moon’s Vatta’s War series) starts off with Kylara in a somewhat mopey mood. Not ideal for pulling myself out of a potential slump, but at least I know she snaps out of it pretty fast.

Before that, I tried picking up Sheepfarmer’s Daughter, also by Elizabeth Moon, which is on my Orilium Fall Equinox TBR. But I didn’t get very far into it before setting it down again. It starts a bit like epic fantasy, but for some reason I’d thought it was also space opera? Oops. Oh well. I’m planning on continuing. I just want to eliminate my potentially slumpy reading feelings first, so they didn’t infect my opinion of the book.

I found and read a recap of the first two Neapolitan novels, and it did make me more excited about finishing that series. But I also really want to read The Dead Cat Tail Assassins. So, I may pick up that next, instead. Then I can at least finish my reading for Psionics & Divination.

Regardless of what I read next, I doubt I’m going to finish my TBR for this month. Kind of a bummer that I don’t have more time to spend reading for fun right now, but I’m sure I’ll be back to devouring fiction by November.

August Reading Recap

~ EMM

For some reason I was sure I only finished one book in August. Then I checked Goodreads, and what do you know? I actually read THREE whole books last month! Shocking!

Seriously. I have been so busy with “secret summer project” that I really haven’t had much time for reading aside from just before falling asleep. When I’m in that mode, I average about a chapter a day, and I really don’t make much progress on anything. (Side-note: I promise I will reveal “secret summer project” at some point, but don’t get too excited because it is not at all writing or reading related)

But apparently, I did make progress! I finished three books!

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Here’s what I read in August:

The Weight of Command by Michael Mammay — Catching up on my backlog of Michael Mammay military sci-fi. This was a really good one that I very much enjoyed and definitely recommend.

The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst — Look. I LOVE all the SBD books I’ve read so far, so don’t hate me when I say this is probably my least favorite. I just think that cozy fantasy is really not my jam. Ha! That pun was not intended, but considering that raspberry jam plays a huge part in this story, I probably should have seen that one coming.

The Friend Zone Experiment by Zen Cho — This was a delightful and unputdownable (for me) contemporary romance that I recommend if the synopsis sounds at all interesting to you.

Also, I just finished reading A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske this week and enjoyed it enough that I think I’ll continue with the series. That leaves only one more in-progress book from this summer’s reading.

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I’m still listening to Furious Heaven by Kate Elliott on audiobook. I haven’t had much time for audiobooks, either. So, it’s taking me a while to get through this one, even though I really like it. (Persephone is still my favorite character.)

And I just started on my Orilium TBR! I decided to kick things off with Bride by Ali Hazelwood. I’m enjoying it so far, even though first person present tense isn’t my favorite.

Orilium Fall Equinox Readathon TBR Time

~ EMM

This was a hard one to put together! But the readathon starts tomorrow, so here we go….

If you remember back to my April wrap-up post (aka the last update I posted before disappearing for several months), I finished seven books, but only four subjects. That I knew of. I never bothered figuring out if any of the other books I read counted for any of the other subject prompts.

Instead of doing that now, I poked around at some of the other “callings” that sounded interesting and then tried to see if I had the subjects to pursue that calling. After attempting a few of those, I gave up and decided to just stick with leveling up my Story Weaver calling.

But the prompts for Story Weaver are HARD! And I’m not sure I can read six books this month with everything else I have going on. In the end, I managed to pull together this TBR for September, but I’ll be shocked if I get even half of these read before the end of the month.

Here’s the breakdown by subject:

Inscription

I only need “O” level in this one, which is just one book, but the prompt is to read a book with a title that has all the letters in your first name. That’s a lot of letters! And one of them is a Z!

Luckily, the folks over on the discord came to the rescue and let me know that The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England by Brandon Sanderson basically covers all the letters. And it works! Plus, it looks like it’s a stand-alone. So I went with that one.

Psionics & Divination

I need “Q” level in this subject, so two prompts/books.

The first prompt is to read a favorite author’s debut book. Okay. Sure. but who is my favorite author? I considered a lot of options for this one, and ultimately went with an author I really like who has been writing for a long time. I’ve only read a few of her more recent books, and I never read her first book. So, I’m going to try that one. It’s called Sheepfarmer’s Daughter and the author is Elizabeth Moon.

The second prompt is to read a book where the same letter appears in the title four or more times! For this I picked a short one that I was planning on reading next(ish) anyway, The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djèlí Clark.

Lore

To get to “D” level in this subject, I need to read three books.

The first prompt is to read a vampire book! Vampires are not my fave… BUT, I’ve been wanting to give Bride by Ali Hazelwood a try, so I’m going to try that one for this prompt. I’ve never read anything by Ali Hazelwood before, and this is her only non-contemporary romance novel (that I know of). So this is going to be interesting…

Next is to read a translated book! I’ve been meaning to finish the Elena Ferrante Neapolitan Novels series. I read the first two books a long time ago, though. I’ll need to find a recap of those books to refresh my memory before diving into book three, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay.

And then I need to read a re-telling. For this prompt I am going for another book that has been on my TBR forever. It’s a YA contemporary retelling of Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park called Hearts, Strings, and Other Breakable Things by Jacqueline Firkins. It looks super cute.

Orilium Spring Equinox (aka April) Reading Wrap-Up

~ EMM ~ 1 Comment

April turned out to be a BIG reading month. I finished SEVEN books and (temporarily?) DNFed one!

Orilium Spring Equinox Reading

Here’s a recap of everything I read in April:

  • It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey — I really enjoyed this cute rom com set in the Pacific Northwest.
  • The Homecoming War by Addie Woolridge — If you need a book for an ambitious bookworm tween or teen in your life, get them this one. It’s so adorable that I wanted to hug the book when I was done.
  • The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett — I love a good Sherlock / Watson character dynamic, and this one was perfect, especially because the super smart and slightly unhinged detective is a woman. Bonus points for really cool world-building, an engaging mystery plot, and great ensemble cast. I’ll definitely be reading more by this author.
  • Unclaimed by Courtney Milan — I really liked the premise of this book, so I skipped book one and jumped straight to book two. I know I’ll eventually go back and read the others because I love Courtney Milan’s books, and this one (as expected) did not disappoint.
  • Immortal Longings by Chloe Gong — This one, on the other hand, surprised me in a good way. I wasn’t expecting much from it because I haven’t read anything else by this author, and I found myself eager to get back to it. That may have had something to do with the audiobook narrator being very good, but I liked this enough that I think I’ll read the next one when it comes out.
  • A Game of Hearts and Heists by Ruby Roe — If you want more spicy lesbian romance in your life, definitely do not skip this series. I wasn’t quite buying the “enemies” part of the enemies to lovers trope, but found the world-building intriguing.
  • End Credits by Patty Lin — I listened to this one on audiobook (read by the author) because a friend recommended it. I found the parts about connecting with your creativity and pursing the things you’re passionate about to be really good.
  • A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen — I stalled out at about halfway through this one after hitting over half the boxes on my bingo card. I’m counting it for the readathon, but I’m not sure if I’m going to finish it. I think I’m just not that into Vikings? Possibly, the problem started when the heroine doesn’t tell the hero what really happened on her wedding night, even though the oath she had to swear had a loophole big enough to sail one of those drakkars through. When she didn’t spot that immediately, I kinda lost interest in her as a character.

If you’ve read A Fate Inked in Blood and think I should keep going, definitely let me know. I am willing to be convinced.

I’m really hoping now that Fairyloot has spun off a Romantasy specific subscription box the adult selections will be a little less romance heavy. This is such a weird thing for me to say, given that I really enjoy sci-fi and fantasy with romance. But, their romance-heavy fantasy selections all seem to feel just a smidge above YA to me. The ones that are actually adult (The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi, Babel, The Last Tale of the Flower Bride, Emily Wilde, Spells for Forgetting, The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy, etc.) are the ones I’ve enjoyed the most.

Picking a Book for Inscription

~ EMM

If you remember, there was one open slot in my Orilium Spring Equinox TBR. I needed to pick a book for Inscription. I was going to put this off until I had at least one of the other two books on my TBR read. But, for reasons explained below, I decided to go ahead and do the selection now.

My long-awaited library hold for The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett became available to borrow, so I convinced my Camp Book Club friends that it should be our book pick for April. This automatically added this book to my April TBR.

Then, I remembered that I planned to give my niece a (signed) copy of my friend Addie Woolridge’s latest book, The Homecoming War, for her upcoming birthday. I got myself a copy at the same time that I bought one for my niece, but my TBR has been packed, and I haven’t gotten around to reading it, yet. Another non-Orilium Readathon book added to my April TBR.

At that point, I figured I should just make these options number one and number two for the Inscription draw. But, in order to determine which one would officially make it into my Orilium TBR, I needed a third book.

For my third pick, I added a (relatively short) contemporary romance novel. Rafe: A Buff Male Nanny by Rebekah Weatherspoon surfaced from the depths of my Kindle when I was trying to think of romance books I knew that had a very specific hero-heroine dynamic. I’d actually forgotten that I purchased this book on Kindle back in 2020! So, that book became Inscription option number three.

I used a random number generator to pick one (rather than slips of paper). The result?

The Homecoming War by Addie Woolridge won! Yay!

My Orilium Readathon Spring Equinox TBR

I still need to read The Tainted Cup. So, technically, there is also a fourth book on my April TBR. Fingers crossed I can finish all these by the end of this month!

It’s Orilium Spring Equinox TBR Time!

~ EMM ~ 1 Comment

It’s that time of year again! Time to head back to the Orilium Academy for the Spring Equinox Magical Readathon!

I have four subjects I know I need to complete if I want to take another shot at advancing my Story Weaver calling from Novice to Apprentice. If you remember what happened last year, I completed the Spring session, and then failed to finish all the prompts I needed to complete in Autumn.

  • Lore: “The Legend of Dia” — This is an Orilium lore short story, and I’m pretty excited that just by reading it I fulfill one of the prompts for this readathon! Woohoo!
  • Inscription: TBD — For this prompt I need to take the titles of three books, write them on scraps of paper, scramble them up, and then pick one at random. I think I am going to do this closer to when I am ready to actually read for this prompt, which probably won’t be until after I read the books for the other two prompts. That way, I can pick three short reads if I’m running out of time. (I’ll do a blog post mid-month to update on progress and tell you what I picked for this.)
  • Art of Illusions: A Game of Hearts and Heists by Ruby Roe — I chose this because, for the prompt, the title needs to include the word “game” or “play.” This works perfectly and also happens to be a book I’ve been meaning to read for a while.
  • Psionics & Divination: A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen — The prompt for this one involves creating a book bingo card. I created the book bingo card first (see below), and basically put together what I felt was a sort of generic romantasy book bingo card (feel free to borrow if you want, and tag me on Instagram if you use it). Then I waited to see what the book club pick was for my guild (the Mind Walkers). I’m thrilled that this book got the most votes because it is one of my Fairyloot hardcovers, and I needed to work one of those in somewhere anyway if I want to stay on track with my 2024 reading goals.

Since I only have four subjects (and one of them has a super easy prompt), I’m thinking that I might also try to complete the Lore side-quest. Or at least, I’ll get it started, even if I don’t finish all of it in April, since there are no deadlines for the side-quests.

However, I’m also starting a new writing project in April. So, I may be happy to have a light reading month. We’ll see how I’m feeling once I get started on my first two selections.

Are you participating in this readathon? What are you planning to read in April?

Reading Goals for 2024

~ EMM

Last year, I decided to give myself only one goal: read through my Fairyloot hardcover backlog. Specifically, I picked nine books I wanted to either finish or DNF and donate by the end of 2023. I didn’t accomplish that goal, but I did get pretty close. Seven out of nine isn’t bad.

More importantly, upon MUCH reflection, I don’t regret giving myself that goal. It was something that I really wanted to make sure happened. And it wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t made it a priority. Because of that, I am inclined to set myself a similar goal for 2024. The problem is, I also find myself tempted to expand the assignment just a bit.

I am resisting the urge to make multiple goals and trying to stick to just one, since that worked so well last year. To account for the fact that there are more than just hardcovers that I’ve been meaning to read for what feels like forever, I have decided to take a “24 for 24” approach this year.

There are there categories of books that tend to linger unread on my TBR:

  • General non-fiction
  • Tomes (books over 500 pages)
  • Hardcovers

I REALLY want to get to them, but I keep picking up short, mostly fiction, ebooks instead. So, to accomplish my (very flexible) “24 for 24” challenge, I need to read:

  • at least 6 general non-fiction books (Note: memoir, self-help, business, or writing craft books don’t count)
  • at least 6 tomes (books over 500 pages long)
  • at least 12 books from my physical TBR pile (ex: Fairyloot hardcovers)

The only rule is: no double dipping. In other words, a non-fiction book over 500 pages can only be counted in one category, not both.

What I read in each of those categories can be whatever I’m feeling like. I don’t have to read anything in any specific month. Though, I do plant to get started on this challenge early in the year and not leave it all to the last minute.

I have some ideas about what I’d like to read, and I made myself a little Goodreads shelf to keep track of what’s sounding good to me. I’ll probably shift things on an off that shelf as I go through the year.

I set up some pages in my 2024 Hobonichi Cousin to track my reading. I’m repurposing several pages and pasting over content on several others to create a sort of reading journal for myself in the back of this planner.

A little creative use of washi tape and stickers allowed me to turn two pages that already had twelve boxes on them (for journaling prompts or something? I can’t remember…) into pages where I can track the books I’m reading for my “24 for 24” challenge. One is going to be dedicated to Fairyloot hardcovers. The other is going to be for the tomes and non-fiction books.

I labeled both with the months of the year before I decided that I wasn’t going to try force myself to do one a month. I’ll probably end up covering over those labels with the printout of the book cover for the book I read. You might also have noticed the printout of this year’s Adventure in Aeldia prompts next to the Fairyloot hardcover tracker page. I’m planning on participating again this year, but I’m NOT planning on giving myself the additional requirement of having to read a Fairyloot hardcover in order to fulfill the prompt.

Since we’re on the topic of Aeldia, the journey this year starts in a dungeon. My character is in the dungeon because she over-promised and under-delivered. Don’t ask how or why. She doesn’t want to talk about it. 🙂

It’s going to be all right, though. She has already attempted escape by relying on her wits (reading an audiobook). But, because she is extra, and she’d rather not have to remove a complex lock enchantment to complete her escape (start/continue a series that intimidates you), she is going to also see if she can escape by relying on her strength (reading a physical book). What can I say? She likes options. If strength doesn’t work (I don’t finish a physical book before the end of the month), then she’ll be able to fall back on wits. No harm, no foul.

So, that’s my plan for reading in 2024. I’ll try to remember to do a mid-year check-in with some photos of my planner pages so you can see how things are progressing.

On the Eighth Day of Lightfall (Readathon)

~ EMM

Apologies for the short (and slightly subdued) post tonight. I didn’t get as much writing done today as I’d hoped, and I also didn’t do any reading. We’re less than a week out from the shortest day of the year, and I am feeling it today. I am both extremely ready for the solstice (in terms of craving more daylight hours), and absolutely not ready at all (in terms of what I need to get done before then).

As much as I want to just say “F*** it,” and spend the rest of the weekend reading, I am probably not going to visit any other stores (aka finish another book) before the readathon ends tomorrow night. So, I think I’m going to spend the rest of my time hanging out at the Rich Pigeon Pub.

In other words, I’m not going to start any more books on my Lightfall TBR. Instead, it’s time to go back to reading This Golden Flame, which I temporarily abandoned so I could participate in this readathon. But not tonight, because it’s bedtime. Since I need a book to read on my Kindle before bed, I think I’m going to start reading Paladin’s Hope tonight. It’s not a good fit for any of the remaining Lightfall reading prompts, but it is the next book I need to read.

I keep tweaking my end of the year TBR as we get closer and closer to the end of the month. We’re halfway at this point, and I’m having to cut it back to bare bones. There are four books that I really want to finish reading. Two to complete my 2023 reading goal, and two for a buddy read that weren’t even on my original list.

That’s four books totaling just over 1500 pages. The math on that works out to about 100 pages per day on average. Plus I need to edit the rest of my novel.

Don’t mind me while I quietly freak out… Next year, could someone please remind me to just chill? I think that’s going to have to be my only goal for 2024. Just chill.

On the Seventh Day of Lightfall (Readathon)

~ EMM

I decided to do a little doodling on my Old Favour Passport. I’m creating a different doodle for each shop with the intention of making them look sort of like stamps. The first one I did was a little cat reading a book for Old Tails Bookstore. Then I realized that, with all the visiting I did last weekend, I think I can officially check off the only non-reading prompt (reach out to someone during this festive season). That is for the Rich Pigeon Pub, so I added a pigeon with a top hat doodle in the next circle. (The Pub counts for the loyalty card, right?)

Anyway, if you look closely, you can see that I’ve started sketching out my doodle for Wallice’s Wonderful Winter Wanimals. I’m trying to make the four Ws into something that looks a little like a snowflake. But I’m not going to finish it until after I finish reading A Holly Jolly Ever After.

That probably will be very soon, considering that I devoured nearly this entire book in less than 24 hours. And it’s not exactly short (428 pages!). I’m really enjoying it so far. I love the two main characters, and it’s a scorching read, as expected. The entire concept of this Christmas town in Vermont where they film holiday movies for the “Hope Channel,” combined with the film crew and their adult filmmaking background, is just perfect. I love it so much. And the ex-boy-band heroes in these novels are just chef’s kiss cinnamon rolls.

I predict I’ll be done with this book by breakfast tomorrow, if not sooner. Which is a good thing, because wanting to just keep reading has been a major distraction to me getting much work done today. I really needed this reading break to recover after the usual stress plus side-helping of unexpected drama that accompanied this year’s NaNoWriMo. But I also need to finish this book and get it to my trusted alpha readers before Christmas. So, tomorrow, after I’m done reading A Holly Jolly Ever After, it’s time to get back to it.

We’ll see if I can squeeze in one more book this weekend before the readathon ends, but I’m not even sure where I want to go from here… I don’t really have enough time to finish a tome like Bloodmarked or Sword Catcher. I may have to go with my pick for Occult Premonitions. I’ll make that decision tomorrow. For tonight, it’s time to get back to Christmas Notch.

On the Sixth Day of Lightfall (Readathon)

~ EMM

I did not end up staying up late last night finishing Manslaughter Park, but I did finish reading it this morning. And… I was RIGHT about whodunit! Ha! It was a very satisfying conclusion, and not just because I guessed correctly. I had lots of thoughts about it during my run today. I think I basically drafted an entire review in my head. But I didn’t write it down and after lunch and a shower, I completely forgot about it. I will now attempt to recreate my thoughts.

I really enjoyed this adaptation. When I read the author’s note at the end, I realized something more about what it was that drew me to Mansfield Park when I initially read it. I really like a story featuring a character with a strong moral code. It doesn’t even really matter what it is, so long as they are consistently driven by it. I equally enjoy paladins and mercenaries, mobsters and military. I like it even better when that character’s moral code and worldview are challenged and they have to decide how they are going to behave in the face of that. For a recent example, take Some Desperate Glory, which I loved.

I think this is also why I don’t like polemics. I want to see the character struggling on the page. I don’t want to be lectured and told how the author wants me to think about the moral or ethical dilemma.

And this is why I like Mansfield Park. Fanny Price is very driven by her morals. She makes decisions that I might not make in her place, because she insists on sticking to her moral code, even when it’s uncomfortable for her. And this adaptation kept that aspect of the story in place beautifully.

Now that I’m done at Old Tails Bookstore, stop one on my Old Favour Pass journey, it’s time to wander over to Wallice’s Wonderful Winter Wanimals to visit the winged winter stoats! In other words, I’ve started A Holly Jolly Ever After. Nothing like a little Christmas smut to get you in the mood for the holidays!

So far, the first few chapters have reminded me how much I enjoyed A Merry Little Meet Cute, and also how much I have completely forgotten most of the details of that story. This starts off very much like a continuation from that book. More than I think you usually get from the standard connected-but-stand-alone contemporary romance novels. I think I’m going to be okay not remembering stuff from the first book, but I also think it might be fun to read them back to back. Something I might consider for next year, if there is a new release in this series and I’m feeling up for a re-read.

Oh, hey! It just hit me that I finished reading my first book for the Lightfall Readathon! I think that means I get a stamp on my punch card! Fun! I’m going to go do that now while I’m waiting for my lemon bars to finish baking. (What? Who’s stress baking? Certainly not me…)

Last thing before I go, if you’re looking for some fantasy new releases to add to your TBR, I’m participating in this 12 Days of Fantasy book sale that starts today. Check it out if you’re interested.