May The Force Read With You – 2021 Readathon

May 3, 2021May 13, 2021 / AnastasiaAdamov / 1 Comment

After a small break I decided to get back into reading challenges and the one reading challenge that made me excited to get back on track is May The Force Read With You Readathon by Breakeaven Books on YouTube. Here is the link to the announcement video: May The Force Read With You Readathon. The owner of the channel is Eric and he is a really cool guy that reads lots of great books and has some amazing content. I’ve been following his channel for a while now and this is the second reading challenge from his channel I am participating in! First one was Reindeer Readathon back in December 2020. where I was inspired and read an astounding ten books for it in December! Here is the link for the my Reindeer Readathon post and a link to Eric’s YouTube Breakeven Books channel. Give the guy some love and recognition because he deserves it!

I am not that an avid Star Wars fan but I do love a great reading challenge with an interesting theme. Most of the visuals for this post were taken from the materials created by the author of the reading challenge. I love the simplicity and the style of the info materials for the challenges he makes. While I was reading trough the materials I got stuck at the first fork in the road – choosing my reading path between the Light Side and the Dark Side. In the end I made two lists of books – one for each side and compared them to what I was more eager to read this month. I really wanted to be a Jedi and go with the Light Side since there are more people there to keep me company where as with the Sith on the Dark Side you get only two people (since there is only two of them at all times according to Star Wars lore). I don’t feel the need to be that special and isolated and would much prefer the company of other cool Jedi. It took some tweaking since the lure of the Dark Side and the books I managed to put on the list for the challenge were slightly more convenient for the Dark Side path BUT here are the books I picked out for my reading journey on the Light Side!

Light Side

Jedi Council – Sequel or book in a series

Book: The Vor Game (Vorkosigan Saga #5) by Lois McMaster Bujold

I love the Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold. It is one of the rare science fiction books I truly love. Like Star Wars it is a story set in a vast universe with lots of interesting characters and political intrigue. This book also fit another prompt in the Dark Side path – Force Vision Manipulation – A book with political intrigue or royalty. The whole series has been translated into Croatian and has unique illustrated covers by Esad T. Ribić. The illustrator has even done some work for Marvel and made some amazing covers. I like the intriguing cover and this book seems like a great start for Star Wars themed readathon even if it is not a Star Wars themed book!

Force Spirit – A book with paranormal elements

Book: Prolaz za divljač by Iva Šakić Ristić

Another unique cover and this time a book by an author I have never read before. The title of this book roughly translates as: Passageway for wild animals. I can be a very harsh critic with Croatian authors sometimes, but I hope I will like this little novel. I am not completely sure what it is about but it should have some paranormal elements and a friend recommended it to me. She liked it so much that she even gave me this book as a present. I can’t help but wonder at the strange cover though…

Healing – Read a book from your favorite genre

Book: Wicked Abyss (Immortals After Dark #17) by Kresley Cole

My favorite genre is urban fantasy with romantic elements and this book is the last published book in a series I used to love reading. I find the cover more appropriate for Dark Side path and I even had a ready prompt for this one as well: Seduction – Romance book. It is a dark type of urban fantasy romance and I hope I will enjoy it enough to be more upset about the next book of the series not already being published!

Knowledge – Read one of the oldest books on your shelf/TBR

Book: Seven Seasons of Buffy: Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Discuss Their Favorite Television Show
by Glenn Yeffeth (Editor)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer used to be my favorite TV show. I loved the witty dialogue and the characters. Lately there has been some rumors and accusations to the series director and it has made a dark mark upon something I really loved and the guy I really admired. In order to get back to something I enjoyed I picked out this book of essays on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer and an impact it had on the popular culture. The authors of the essays are some of the most famous science fiction and fantasy writers out there. This book has been on my TBR for more than a decade and that is about as long as I have it as well. I hope this book reminds me of the things I loved about the TV show and how much I enjoyed it.

Cleansed – Book with a white cover

Book: Proklete Hrvatice : (1&2) : Dvadeset životopisa by Milana Vuković Runjić

I had a few options for this prompt but decided to go with this one and claim that this sepia cover counts as white! That is my story and I am sticking to it! I must admit this is one of the books I had ready for the Dark Side version as well as a part of a duology since it is a book that collects two parts that were separately published before this edition – Rule of Two – Read a book from a duology. This one is also part of a buddy reading list of book for this year I am doing with a friend. I am a bit worried on how long it will take to read trough it.

There are some more options to add to the list of books that can be read in this challenge that I may opt to include later. These first five prompts are mandatory to be able do read the extra ones and there is even an option of spicing it all up by finishing both Light Side prompts and Darks Side prompts with the addition of a set of five neutral prompts. A reader who is on a Light Side path can spice it up with some books form the Neutral prompts list. Only after one finishes all five books on the chosen path can one start on the opposite path prompts. To illustrate better on how it all looks here is the complete list of all the prompts. I already have some books left aside in case I finish these mentioned above and add more. My main priority here is to get back into the reading and to stay motivated by finishing books in general. I don’t wont to set too high goals at this time.

For those who want even more extras and have a bigger reading appetites there are some additional prompts and goals for after finishing a chosen path. There is a group read book option and some Companions list for the each path. The rules are simple and straightforward. I did not go with the group book option since I don’t have it on my shelf and I already have one other book from the library on the list.

Here is my five book pile for the May The Force Read With You – 2021 Readathon. Wish me luck!

The Olympic Games Reading Challenge – Experience and thoughts

July 4, 2020 / AnastasiaAdamov / 2 Comments

For June I picked out two reading challenges simply because I was very interested in both and could not pick just one! Second reading challenge I really wanted to do was called The Olympic Games and it is thematically tied with the wonderful world of demigods created by the author Rick Riordan. The main host of this reading challenge is Ishi Time. You can check out her channel and the challenge announcement HERE

Even though these books cater to younger audiences these books are one of my favorites and I enjoy them quite a bit! So when I found the reading challenge that pays tribute to these amazing books I just had to participate. Thematically I was a lot more interested in this reading challenge than in the Make Your Myth-Taker Reading Challenge which I also picked out for June.

First part of the challenge was choosing one of the available Gods as a patron. After a long consideration I choose Hades as my patron. I like my books a bit on the darker side and Hades fits nicely with the books I can choose from my bookshelves. To honor my patron deity I have a list of five prompts I need to read books for. What I loved about this reading challenge was the freedom to pick the order of reading any way I please. I do believe this was what made me believe I can do both challenges. Since I was aware that I am doing two reading challenges I made my goal to use as many books I can for both challenges. In this regard I did pretty well I believe. Here are the books I choose for the prompts:

Hades prompt 1. – book featuring the undead

The Laughing Corpse (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter, #2) by Laurell K. Hamilton ★★★★★

I had a lot of books to choose from for this prompt since I love urban fantasy genre and one of the most often used motives in the genre is some kind of the undead as a main character, love interest, villain of just a side character. Basically my favorite book series that features variety of different types of undead is Anita Blake Vampire Hunter by Laurell K. Hamilton. I have been reading these books for almost a third of my life now and I am still looking forward to each new book and story. I loved going back to the second book of the series which I have rad only once before this.

Hades prompt 2. – reread a book

Circus of the Damned (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter, #3) by Laurell K. Hamilton ★★★★★

Having a reason to read these books again was a welcome bonus for my reading in June. Rereading the third book after so many years have passed has been an interesting experience. I was annoyed to realize some small inconsistencies in the book and it has dimmed my elation for reading these books. In spite of that small annoyance I enjoyed reading the book a lot. I realized some differences that some characters moved on in the series and it was definitely good to get that perspective on growth and progress on some of the characters. This was one of the most interesting books for me before I read it the second time and it still is very interesting in showcasing the world that the author has build for her characters.

Hades prompt 3. – book with a dark cover

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, #3) by J.K. Rowling ★★★★★

Even though I have never before actually read this book I was heavily influenced by how dark the movie version seemed in comparison to the first two. So when I picked out this book for the dark cover prompt it seemed a perfect fit for me. I might even say that the cover illustration looks a little creepy. Some of the major differences came out between the book and the movie while reading this book. The story was generally known to me since I’ve seen the movie so many times but I had no issues with following the story as much I used to have in similar situations before. Reading the book made me want to watch the movie again as well and made my June just a bit more magical for the Hufflepuff edition which I am proud to own.

Hades prompt 4. – random TBR book

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Vol. 1 by John Vornholt, Arthur Byron Cover, Alice Henderson ★★★

In continuation with fantastical and undead related themes for this prompt I used my pick for TBR Jar Draw in June. You can check out more about it HERE. Buffy is one of my favorite TV shows for its humorous and witty dialogues and fantastical content. Reading the novelizations that were set somewhere in the first two seasons of the show was not the best experience and I was worried about ruining what good memories I have of it. There were three different stories that could be found as a standalone books: Coyote Moon by John Vornholt; Night of the Living Rerun by Arthur Byron Cover and Portal Trough Time by Alice Henderson. The reading experience totaled as average with one story being not so good, one just OK and the third very good for me. I am sad to say that these stories did not age well for me.

Hades prompt 5. – Any Hermes prompt – snake on the cover

For this prompt I had a lot more choices than I anticipated. In fact I ended up reading three different books in June that fit this prompt! In the end I choose:

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2) by J.K. Rowling ★★★★★

Reading the Harry Potter books in my own Hufflepuff editions is a magical experience on its own. I loved reading articles before and after the story relating to Hufflepuffs! It was very satisfying to have it available in Hogwarts house edition of my choice. I will continue reading and collecting the whole set. It already has a special place on my bookshelf!

Hades had two Advanced challenges prompts for me to fit books for. I managed to find two books that fit the prompts but I missed out on the reading rule of the challenge to read these only after I have read all five for the main challenge. Out of these two I managed to read only one of the books I chose.

Advanced Challenge 1. – Sword and Shield

✔ The Queen of Nothing (The Folk of the Air, #3) by Holly Black

Advanced Challenge 2. – Monster fighting

Wayward Son (Simon Snow, #2) by Rainbow Rowell

My score on Olympic Games reading challenge:

I have read 5 books for The Olympic Games challenge

I read one additional book for the advanced challenge BUT I did not follow the rule of reading it after the first five prompts of the main challenge were done.

The second advanced challenge I did not get to read at all.

I would have loved to have chosen only one reading challenge for June in order to enjoy the experience more. I am glad I tried my own limits by reading two challenges and I hope to do better on the Olympic Games next year. In all the reading I did in June I forgot to follow and engage in some other social media platforms with other readers who were participating. Now that I got the hang of the few reading challenges I think I might be ready for that step as well. I’m kinda sorry for not putting in my books for the competition on which patron deity would inspire most readers and get most book read. I am glad for this experience though and hope to do better next time!

The figurine and the Hades visual are from the Disney Villainous: Wicked to the Core board game. You can check out more information on it HERE.

Make Your Myth-Taker Reading Challenge – Experience and thoughts

July 4, 2020July 4, 2020 / AnastasiaAdamov / 1 Comment

June was a third month in a row I have decided to take on a reading challenge. Make Your Myth-Taker was one out of two reading challenges that caught my attention in June. I was interested in the concept of making one’s own story using various prompts for reading. Make Your Myth-Taker offered a lot of options and out of the four general paths I choose the path of the Sorcerer.

In the path of the Sorcerer I have decided to follow the prompts to the Goddess option. This meant I had to read four books in the line of given prompts. The rule I am not very fond of was to read the books in the order for the prompts. This annoyed me a bit and I had to keep checking what book I was supposed to read next! Here are my book choices and what I thought about them:

Sorceress prompt 1. – nonhuman main

Elves Vol. 1: The Crystal of the Blue Elves by Jean-Luc Istin, DUARTE (Illustrator), Saito (Illustrator) ★★★★★

A friend who loves comics and graphic novels suggested for me to try these out after I noticed them on his Goodreads profile. It is a work of European authors with amazing illustrations I sometimes got lost in. The details and the coloring were very well done and some scenes were so good they gave me a feeling of watching an animated work with how well the illustrations flowed from one picture to the next. The story was very easy for me to get into because when I started reading I was just starting a new RPG Dungeons and Dragons campaign with some friends after a long time not playing pen and paper games like that. The fantastical setting offered many different races and an assortment of interesting characters. It was like diving into the world of high fantasy from some of the best authors out there. I appreciated the character quirks, political intrigue between the races and the colorful scenes in the background of it all. I was almost sad to stop reading this graphic novel series because I had to follow the prompts for my next book in the challenge.

Sorceress prompt 2. – foiled cover

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2) by J.K. Rowling ★★★★★

This year I finally started reading the Harry Potter series from the beginning. I have never actually read the first three books before I got my own copies. I started reading them when the third movie came out and started out with the fourth book! I ended up reading the last few books and buying them at midnight premiere sales when the hype for Harry Potter was at its wildest! Reading them now all these years later and after watching the movies so many times was a different experience on its own. I loved the design of the books I started to collect to have a whole set as they come out – The Hufflepuff editions with startling yellow cover jacket and extra lovable tidbits on Hufllepuffs in each book. Even the stars around the title of each chapter made me smile while I was reading. The story was known to me and I enjoyed each little difference I could find from the movie versions in the books.

Sorceress prompt 3. – highest rated

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, #3) by J.K. Rowling ★★★★★

I did not plan on picking out the third book in the Harry Potter series to read right after the second one. But when the coincidence offered this book as the most highest available to me at the time I embraced this choice with glee! The third book was translated into a very dark movie and because of it it became one of my least favorite movies. Reading the book was a completely different experience. I cant point out the exact differences for me but the book seemed much approachable for me to read than I remember from the movie. I had to watch the movie as soon as I finished the book and go over the things that caught my attention the most. I will be getting the next two books for my birthday and I plan on to continue reading them this year. Having both books fit into the same reading challenge in this order made me very pleased and I hope to fit the others in some other reading challenge by the end of the year as well!

Sorceress prompt 4. – random TBR

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Vol. 1 by John Vornholt, Arthur Byron Cover, Alice Henderson ★★★

Last time I had to read a book for a random prompt I ended up not reading the book I got. Random TBR prompt is definitely one of my least favorite prompts out there. I already have a semi random TBR book draw each month with my reading project TBR Jar Draw which I came up with in order to read more of the books I own. I have been at it for a few years now and I’m loving the results. For this reason I decided to use my TBR Jar Draw for the general random book prompt in this challenge. Out of three random book picks I decided on the one with the most pages and was really worried what would this long book do to my reading pace for the reading challenge. As it turned out the book I chose to read was a 3in1 edition of Buffy the Vampire Slayer novelizations – it was three actual books in one chubby edition. This was actually on my TBR for quite a number of years and since I avoided it for that long I decided to go for it. The three novelizations on their own did not have such stellar ratings and reviews and for a while I was a bit worried since these were the character I have fond memories of. The first story Coyote Moon was okay. I had to concentrate on the fact that these stories were set to be somewhere around first two seasons of the TV show. Those were some strange times and the TV show was way ahead of the times for the most part. Second story – The Night of the Living Rerun was the weakest for me. But what really made me not like it was the way the characters were portrayed. I just thought that they were way off from the behavior of the characters in the show. Third story – Portal Trough Time was the most interesting to me. I remember some of the slayers mentioned in the story from the Tales of the Slayers edition I have read before. Because the time travelling theme this one had bad reviews in general but the fact that the characters seemed true to those from the show I ended up liking it the most. The overall score of this edition was the sum of all three stories and I was glad to make a dent into my Buffy related book collection since I have plenty of it to read still.

Just four books seemed too easy for me and when I saw that the third prompt offers a crossover with another path choice I decided to spice things up and go with the crossover to Royal Court path to Monarch line. This added three more books to my reading challenge since the the third prompt is the same for both paths. I had much more trouble finding the right books for the last three prompts. Here are the books I came up with for the prompts:

Royal Court prompt 1. – queen main character

The Queen of Nothing (The Folk of the Air, #3) by Holly Black ★★★★★

I searched through my bookshelves in order to find a book fro this one. I ended up choosing a book I already read in January this year. Few years back I did not reread books often if at all with few notable exceptions. I even joined a Facebook group of fans of this book series and had some extra motivation for reading this book. It was as good and as interesting as the first time I read it! I loved the characters even more the second time around. When I finished reading it I even found out about the next book from the series that comes out later this year and now I am enjoying the hype and anticipation for the next time I can read about the characters that make me happy and giggle a lot! Now that I think about it I am glad I had a reason to read this book again even in such short period of time.

Royal Court prompt 2. – red, purple or gold on the cover

Elves Vol. 2: The Honor of the Sylvan Elves by by Nicolas Jarry, Gianluca Maconi, Diogo Saito ★★★★★

For some reason I had no clue what to pick for this prompt and I even began to panic a little bit because of it! In my search for the right book for the prompt I decided to try the graphic novel I started the reading challenge with. I decided to categorize the cover illustration as gold for the purposes of the reading challenge. I used this opportunity to read another volume of the graphic novel I liked so much. The story in this one is completely independent from the first volume. They are both set in the same world and I got the feeling that they are both an interlude for the stories that come after it. This graphic novel series has 24 volumes and I am interested in reading them all. The character in this volume reminded me of some Dungeons and Dragons archetypes which made it more interesting to me. Again I was floored with beautiful coloring and scenes. I’m sad this graphic novel is not more popular.

Royal Court prompt 4. – reread a favorite

The Laughing Corpse (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter, #2) by Laurell K. Hamilton ★★★★★

Last prompt was a fairly easy one for me to pick after the last two. I have been meaning to reread Anita Blake book series for years now. I have been with this book series for well over a decade. These characters have been part of my reading experience so long I fell very connected with them. This book series has many bad reviews from book nine on and many readers are frustrated with how the author has decided to develop her story and characters. This is a book series with 27 books and counting. Going back to reading the book series from the beginning was an interesting experience. I was reminded just how far the characters and the plot progressed. It has given me some perspective and I plan to continue with rereading the other books in the series as well.

My score on Make Your Myth-Taker reading challenge:

I have read 7 books for this reading challenge.

3 books were completely new for me.

2 books were rereads.

2 books felt like rereads since I have seen the movies so many times.

I have taken on a journey of a Sorceress and went the path of Goddess.

I have decided to expand to the path of Royal Court and go for the title of Monarch.

This reading challenge was an interesting experience. I enjoyed having a reason to reread so many books I love. I will be on the lookout for this challenge next year where I might add to these paths or just choose to complete the journey again. The Make Your Myth-Taker reading challenge was created by Charlotte and Ashley from A Frolic Through Fiction – you can check out Ashley’s announcement for the challenge HERE. Charlotte is on Twitter and you can follow here HERE. Give them some love for they deserve it! I am glad I found this reading challenge and did good on it!

June Book Wrap Up 2020

June 30, 2020June 30, 2020 / AnastasiaAdamov / Leave a comment

Monthly reading review – June 2020

This June I have read:

Elves Vol. 1: The Crystal of the Blue Elves by Jean-Luc Istin, DUARTE (Illustrator), Saito (Illustrator) ★★★★★

The Gospel According to Jesus Christ by Jose Saramago ★★

Aries (The Zodiac Queen, #1) by Gemma James ★★★

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2) by J.K. Rowling ★★★★★

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, #3) by J.K. Rowling ★★★★★

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Vol. 1 by John Vornholt, Arthur Byron Cover, Alice Henderson ★★★

The Queen of Nothing (The Folk of the Air, #3) by Holly Black ★★★★★

Elves Vol. 2: The Honor of the Sylvan Elves by by Nicolas Jarry, Gianluca Maconi, Diogo Saito ★★★★★

The Laughing Corpse (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter, #2) by Laurell K. Hamilton ★★★★★

Circus of the Damned (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter, #3) by Laurell K. Hamilton ★★★★

1. How many books have you read last month? Are you happy with the amount you read?

This June I have read ten books. One of them was a omnibus edition that contain three separate books so if I wanted to I could have pumped up the numbers up to twelve! I am okay with the number as it is.

2. What was the best of all the books you’ve read in June? Any scenes or characters that made a lasting impression?

More than half the books I read in June I rated with five stars. This June was a month of favorites and plenty of rereading. I loved reading the Harry Potter books. The Hufflepuff editions were extra magic for reading and enjoying. The Elves graphic novel was a pleasant surprise and I loved it. Fantastical background of the graphic novel reminds me a lot to some good and immersive RPG setting I would enjoy playing in!

3. Were there any not so good books for you last month? What made it hard or not enjoyable to read?

The least favorite book this June was The Gospel According to Jesus Christ by Jose Saramago. I really liked his Blindness. It is a book I often think about and it has left a lasting impression on me. This book I had issues with. I did not enjoy the motives the author selected for his work. This was another book club selection and the discussion was at times heated. I expected more sense from the book and was let down I guess. Second least favorite book was Aries (The Zodiac Queen, #1) by Gemma James. This was a Kindle freebie first of the series. It had an interesting intro but I was not really hooked in by the astrology references.

4. How did the books you were reading last month fit in your reading plans if you had any?

This June I overextended myself by trying out two reading challenges. Most of the books I’ve read were part of the reading challenge. I managed to set up an impressive number of books to fir both of the reading challenges. Instead of being happy and pleased by my reading for the challenge I was a bit under pressure. I ended not feeling as accomplished as I wanted to because I just barely made the challenge and did not read the additional books I wanted to. It was a learning experience and I will write a bit more about it in my reading challenge review next week.

5. Any updates on the series you are reading or are you starting any new series?

I started a new graphic novel series I am very happy about and will continue it into next month. I did a lot of rereading of favorite book series. I read two books in Anita Blake Vampire Hunter book series I have been planing rereading for years now. I’ve finished book 3 in the series and hope to continue with rereading the whole series since it has been a really long time since I’ve read these book the first time. It was amazing reading the Harry Potter book series and as soon as I get the next book I will continue that as well!

6. Would you like to recommend any books or authors you’ve been reading this last month?

This has been a month of rereading and favorites for me. I guess my recommendation is to go back to your own favorites: enjoy them all over again and question why you enjoyed them in the first place. It provides a perfect opportunity for reflection. With that being said The Elves graphic novel series by Jean-Luc Istin, DUARTE (Illustrator), Saito (Illustrator) is an amazing piece of work you should definitely check out if you get the chance!

Final thoughts on June 2020 reading

My decision to try out two reading challenges in June was very optimistic. The feeling of accomplishment was not as rewarding as I expected. I was under pressure to follow the reading order of the challenge and that made a huge difference for my reading enjoyment. This June I was reading more books I already read than ever before. Three books were actual rereadings and one of them was a second time read this year alone. Harry Potter books seemed so familiar that those felt a bit like rereading too. Reading 3in1 book with Buffy theme was another thing that made this June kinda nostalgic for me as well. Only new reading I did was in the e-book form and that felt a bit weird as well. It was a different reading month for sure. I did not make any book reviews this month since I was trying to get trough the reading challenge books. I would have probably enjoyed both reading challenges more if I tried them one by one!

June reading challenge 2 – Olympic Games

June 4, 2020 / AnastasiaAdamov / 2 Comments

Second reading challenge I decided to participate in this June is The Olympic Games hosted by Ishi Time. You can check out her channel and the challenge announcement HERE. This reading challenge lasts for the whole month of June. What pulled me in to add this challenge as soon as I discovered it was that it is thematically tied to the world of Percy Jackson and I looove those books!

Here is the Camp Half Blood Letter for more details!

For my patron God I picked out Hades. I like my books a bit on the darker side and Hades fits nicely with the books I can choose from my bookshelves. To honor my patron deity I have a list of five prompts I need to read books for. Again I will concentrate only on my own reading journey and not explain other prompts and deities prompts. I love that the order I complete the books is up to me and that there are some advanced challenges after I finish the five mandatory ones! Here is what my patron Hades is all about!