We are entering into a third year of our Buddy reading challenge my friend Vivone and I started at the beginning of 2021. We started by choosing 10 books we would both read trough the year. You can check out my initial post on it and the 2021-2022 overview HERE.
We started with ten books and since some of them were part of the series we liked, we decided to keep some extra. And in the second year our reading challenge grew to thirteen books – 10 new chosen titles and 3 books we decided to continue reading in series!
Here are the 2022 books we have chosen and my rating for them:
Buddy Reading list 2022
Holes (Holes #1) by Louis Sachar ★★★★★
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo ★★★★
The October Country by Ray Bradbury ★★★
Kraljica crne obale: i druge priče o legendarnom barbaru by Robert E. Howard ★★★★
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig ★★★★
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Blade Runner #1) by Philip K. Dick ★
The Last Bookaneer by Matthew Pearl ★★★
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain ★★
Ima jedna priča… (2nd ed) by Mauro Lacovich ★★★★
This Is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor by Adam Kay ★★★★
Sequels from 2021. list:
House of Many Ways (Howl’s Moving Castle #3) by Diana Wynne Jones ★★★
Blood & Honey (Serpent & Dove #2) by Shelby Mahurin ★★★
Sword of Destiny (The Witcher #0.7) by Andrzej Sapkowski ★★★★
I managed to read all the books we chosen even though my 2022. reading kinda sucked and I squeezed three last books in December. I was surprised at some of the books in a good way and some were not so great. My worst read book out of all of them was definitely Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Blade Runner #1) by Philip K. Dick. and the best one for me was Holes (Holes #1) by Louis Sachar. I am glad we finished both Howl’s Moving Castle trilogy and Serpent & Dove trilogy. I actually pushed myself to finish the Serpent & Dove trilogy and the third book of it on my one in order to get them out of my collection since I did not enjoyed them as much as I had hoped I would. We are still going with The Witcher series as you will see in the list for 2023.
The total of the pages we read was around 4192 depending on the editions we had at hand. Genres varied and this time we even had some horror which neither of us is a fan of. As opposed to the last time we had much more contemporary themed books and just like last time our love of fantastic literature can be seen in our choices. I had to point out that we went down with science fiction having only Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Blade Runner #1) by Philip K. Dick to represent the genre and we both agreed we were not too thrilled with it. In 2022 our reading did not diversify much if we looked at the author origins and most of our chosen books were from English speaking authors with notable exemptions of one Croatian author and the Witcher series which is originally published in Polish but we read it in English anyway…
For our 2023 picks we did broaden our language of origin scope by adding some Japanese authors to the mix of still mostly English original works. Again most of the copies we tend to read are in English anyway with some books that have Croatian translation mixed in.
Here are our 2023 picks:
Uprooted by Naomi Novik
The Traveling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa
Gallant by V. E. Schwab
The Word for World Is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin
Retribution Falls (Tales of the Ketty Jay, #1) by Chris Wooding
The City & the City by China Miéville
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
The Cat who saved Books by Sōsuke Natsukawa
Series that we decided to continue
Fugitive Telemetry (The Murderbot Diaries, #6) by Martha Wells
A Closed and Common Orbit (Wayfarers, #2) by Becky Chambers
Blood of Elves (The Witcher, #1) by Andrzej Sapkowski
Hours Of The Dragon (The Weird Works Of Robert E. Howard, #8) by Robert E. Howard
Since we ended one books series with Howl’s Moving Castle trilogy there were two book series we decided to continue: The Witcher and Conan’s Adventures in the works of Robert E. Howard. Murderbot Diaries got thrown into the mix because we both read the series before and wanted to catch up on the series together.
Our expectations on the list for 2023. are different for each. By Vivone’s choice we have decided to go low with books that are part of a possible new series and that is the reason most of the books we have are standalone books. From all the standalone books almost all the authors are new and first time reading for both of us. The only two exceptions are Ursula K. Le Guin for Vivone since she read some other books by that author and Philip K. Dick which is in hindsight a strange choice for both of us since the least liked book from 2022. was his Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Blade Runner #1) by Philip K. Dick.
The only book on the list I was very happy to read and will be my first book of the reading challenge to get my hands on is Fugitive Telemetry (The Murderbot Diaries, #6) by Martha Wells. The rest of them I don’t have very high expectations. I hope I get trough the books we picked earlier in the year and not leave as many as three for the last month of the year like I did in 2022!
For the year 2021. I decided to do a Buddy readathon for the first time. My reading buddy Vivone was a friend from book club and we wanted to challenge each other to experience and see how we liked some books we would not be able to read for the book club. We decided to make a list of 10 books to read during the course of the year and we both agreed to present our suggestions for the list. From our suggestions we picked five from each list and ended up with the final list below!
Buddy Read list 2021.
Alien ( Alien Movie Novelizations #1 ) by Alan Dean Foster ★★★
Strange the Dreamer (Strange the Dreamer #1) by Laini Taylor ★★★★
Damnation Alley by Roger Zelazny ★★★
Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein ★★★
The Last Wish (The Witcher #0.5) by Andrzej Sapkowski ★★★★
All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells ★★★★
Proklete Hrvatice : (1&2) : Dvadeset životopisa by Milana Vuković Runjić ★★★
Serpent & Dove (Serpent & Dove #1) by Shelby Mahurin ★★★★
Castle in the Air (Howl’s Moving Castle #2) by Diana Wynne Jones ★★★★
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers #1) by Becky Chambers ★★★★
I will take few moments to reflect on the statistics of the books we chose. Out of 10 books we picked there was one genre that dominated with five books and that was science fiction. Four books were fantasy and one book was nonfiction.
Out of all those books, six were part of a series. Only one book was written by a Croatian author and all the rest of the books were translations. From nine translations only one was from a Polish author while all the rest were English native speaking authors. For me the number of books from this list that I have read in Croatian translation is much higher than usual.
Total number of pages for the ten books we read was 3188!
We each had a different book from the list as a favorite. Vivone’s favorite was Strange the Dreamer (Strange the Dreamer #1) by Laini Taylor and my favorite was All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells.
We both agreed on the book that was our least favorite book to read – Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein. We were not sorry for reading it but the experience was very different than we expected and that is the reason for it being dubbed the least favorite.
Our most memorable books were Damnation Alley by Roger Zelazny and Proklete Hrvatice : (1&2) : Dvadeset životopisa by Milana Vuković Runjić. And our average rating for the books differs a bit: Vivone’s average score for the books was 4 and mine 3,6. We are happy with the books we read in general and are looking forward to the books we picked for 2022.
We have decided to make some changes for the 2022. list. We decided to expand the ten books approach by each adding five books and keeping on three more sequels from the 2021. list. This gives us more pages in total since the number of books for Buddy reading challenge is now thirteen. The total number of pages we will read is 2867 for the ten books and another 1324 pages for the added three sequels. We have decided to take down the number of new book series on the list which gives us more standalone books and those have a bit less pages a piece. We have two new book series on the list and if we count the added three sequels we still have less book series than we had on 2021 list.
Again we have one dominating genre only this time it is general fantasy with five books. Other genres we have are two nonfiction only one science fiction and two contemporary genre books. All three added sequels are fantasy as well. We did not account for more diversity on the authors front. Again we have one Croatian author and nine translated titles with all those authors being from English speaking territories. We both plan to diversify with our personal plans since our tastes with those tend to go in totally different direction because Vivone really enjoys middle eastern authors and even has a growing collection of translated editions in Croatian and my tastes are more far eastern with contemporary Japanese authors and I plan to try adding Indigenous authors.
Buddy Reading list 2022
Holes (Holes #1) by Louis Sachar
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
The October Country by Ray Bradbury
Kraljica crne obale: i druge priče o legendarnom barbaru by Robert E. Howard
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Blade Runner #1) by Philip K. Dick
The Last Bookaneer by Matthew Pearl
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain
Ima jedna priča… (2nd ed) by Mauro Lacovich
This Is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor by Adam Kay
Sequels from 2021. list:
House of Many Ways (Howl’s Moving Castle #3) by Diana Wynne Jones
Blood & Honey (Serpent & Dove #2) by Shelby Mahurin
Sword of Destiny (The Witcher #0.7) by Andrzej Sapkowski
Our expectations on the 2022. list
We have both agreed that the list could have been better and we both compromised on our suggestions. Vivone is most excited for Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain and Kraljica crne obale: i druge priče o legendarnom barbaru by Robert E. Howard, which is a first Croatian collection of stories on Conan the Barabarian. I’m most excited for Blood & Honey (Serpent & Dove #2) by Shelby Mahurin because I plan to finish up the whole trilogy and have found it difficult to restrain myself and not pick it up sooner.
The books we are most apprehensive about differ. Vivone is very unsure how Holes (Holes #1) by Louis Sachar is going to go for her and I am having mixed feelings on The Last Bookaneer by Matthew Pearl. While she is happy with the amount of new book series on the list I think we could have gone with a bit more of those and I actually had problems with finding some suggestions that were not part of a book series for the 2022. list. Because of this I was very straight forward with deciding to continue reading the sequels on some of the books that are part of a book series while Vivone was much more reserved and will have to see how the continuation will reflect on her reading plans trough the year.
This is my second year participating in the Reindeer Readathon! You can check out how it all went last December HERE! Reindeer Readathon was created by Erik and you can find the official announcement for it on his Breakeven Books YouTube channel HERE. I even tried to clear out my TBR in order to fit the books I have left in my plans for the rest of the year. This year all participants were randomly put into one of the five teams available to make the reading challenge among groups more fair by the number of participants. Last year I was in team Candy Cane with lovely Amanda as a leader – you can check out her channel and give her some love and support HERE.
This year I am placed in Team Stocking and my team leader is Savy Writes Books. You can check out her content HERE. While I would have loved to be placed in the team I was last year because the coordination trough Instagram with Amanda suited me better I am going to do my best to help Team Stocking win!
Here are my book choices for Reindeer Readathon 2021:
DASHER – 10 PTS
A short story (or collection ) or novella
The Burning Man (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn #0.5) by Tad Williams
DANCER – 15 PTS
A book by one of your favorite authors (rereads count too)
Network Effect (The Murderbot Diaries #5) by Martha Wells
PRANCER – 20 PTS
A book with a travel element in it (vacation, quest etc.)
Castle in the Air (Howl’s Moving Castle, #2) by Diana Wynne Jones
VIXEN – 20 PTS
A book that has recently caught your eye
Born in Fire (Fire and Ice Trilogy #1) by K.F. Breene
COMET – 15 PTS
A 5 star prediction
The Gilded Wolves (The Gilded Wolves #1) by Roshani Chokshi
CUPID – 25 PTS
Take a shot at reading a new author
Bring Me the Head of Prince Charming (Millennial Contest #1) by Roger Zelazny, Robert Sheckley
DONNER – 20 PTS
A book with green or red as the primary color on the cover
Vampire Stories by Richard Dalby (Editor), Peter Cushing (Introduction)
BLITZEN – 30 PTS
Choose at least 3 books and have one chosen randomly to read – Boyfriend pick!
Polaris poslednji grad by Snežana Kanački
RUDOLPH – 15 PTS
A standalone book
Čitam da se pročitam by Miha Kovač
Just like last year there are some additional rules and options! I hope the be able to read all nine books I’ve entered here and while last year I did some bonus books as well due to work – life balance I don’t think I will be able to more this year. Also while I decided to add an e-book to the list, audio books are not my thing and none of the books on my list this year are over 500 pages long for the bonus options to apply…
I am pretty happy with my pile of books. All the books on the list are books I own except for one that is borrowed.
This September and the first week of October were a real mess for me. While I did manage to get some nice reading squeezed in and have read most of the books I planed to read, I am behind on making posts and updates in general. To illustrate the gravity of the situation let me just point out that while I did read the books out of order and finished reading six books out of seven I’ve chosen I completely forgot that I was supposed to record them in trough the form provided. Thankfully the form is still open and I was able do do that later on even though my books were not counted towards the statistics for September.
One thing I feel I must mention is that I did not exactly follow the path but instead I visited the locations in my own order and pace – I read the books in a different order than they were presented by the prompts! I will contribute this to my future Orilium character weird personality in which I tend to stray from the usual path and the way of doing things. From all my experience in role playing games I have a tendency to play characters that are of the chaotic alignment.
Hare are the books and prompts for the Novice Path I have read in September:
Site: Novice Path Entrance
Prompt: Book with a map
Book: Half the World (Shattered Sea #2) by Joe Abercrombie ★★★★
It was a strange choice for me to pick a second book in the Shattered Sea trilogy as the first book to start on my Novice path. Choosing the book with a map as was the requirement was harder than I anticipated and I went trough some other options I wanted more than this book but could not just find the right one. I read the first book last year and liked it very much but was apprehensive since my boyfriend did not like it because it follows some new characters other than those in the first book. I went fearfully into this book.
The map in the book is an expended version of the map in the first books and on it it was interesting to follow the adventurous path of the characters. I kept returning to the map and referring to the locations on it while I was reading. Just like the first book of the series it is a book that describes a great journey – both geographical as well as mental and personal for the characters. It was not the first book I read in September but in the end I was happy with it and enjoyed it much more than I expected. I even enjoyed myself so much I am still on the lookout for the third book in hardcover edition.
Site: Ashtorn Tree
Prompt: A book that keeps tempting you or a book on top of your TBR
Book: The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch ★★★★
This is one of the books on my list for book club suggestions. It has been years since it was translated into Croatian and I was intrigued since the time I was working in a bookstore. It is not a type of a book I normally go for which only speaks so much more for about the attention it garnered from me. I expected an emotional rollercoaster of a book and tried to prepare myself for the slightly morbid topic of a man who knows he is about to die and is sharing his views and values trough a story and ultimately a lecture at a university. I am not ashamed to admit that I cried on some parts of the book and some parts I considered to be thoughtful and inspiring – especially the parts where he talks about his dreams and life goals and aspirations for his own children. I will continue to advocate for this book to my book club group because I would really like to hear what they think and share my thoughts about this unusually inspiring book.
Site: The Mist of Solitude
Prompt: Standalone book
Book: Les Hirondelles de Kaboul by Yasmina Khadra ★★★
From all the books I’ve chosen for this reading challenge this one was the one I was the least looking forward to. I used to for the standalone prompt because it fit another reading challenge I was doing in September as well. It was for Becca’s Bookoplathon and you can read more about it HERE. I think I prepared myself for the harshness of this book so well that when I read the parts I was worried about, it went much easier than I anticipated. The story portrays human and practical characters in a brutal setting that we sometimes forget is very real in the parts of the world we live in. I managed to disconnect myself from the story because otherwise I would not be able to wrestle with my daily chores. I prefer to use books as a balm and inspiration.
Site: Ruin of the Skye
Prompt: Book with ghosts/haunted house or other supernatural elements
Book: The Vampire Lestat (The Vampire Chronicles #2) by Anne Rice
This is one of the last books I started reading in September and I did not finish yet. My chosen supernatural element were vampires. I got a full shelf of Anne Rice’s books and out of all of them I read only one!
I often get sidetracked in my quests and I will count this one as a part of the scenic rout taken on my adventuring path in Orilium. I plan to finish it soon and as you will see from some other stats below I have reasons not to be very upset about not finishing this book in September
Site: Obsidian Falls
Prompt: Thriller or a mystery book
Book: Kingdom of the Wicked (Kingdom of the Wicked #1)by Kerri Maniscalco
Thriller or a mystery book prompt did not inspire confidence. I was happy when I was checking my TBR on Goodreads and in the tags found a few options that I actually liked. I decided to go with the latest Kindle edition of a book that is popular at the moment. I had high hopes of liking it too. I don’t know what did I expect from this book but I was more frustrated by it then I enjoyed it. Plot and the characters seemed weak and predictable and the explanations and plot twists seemed convenient. Some things just did not hold up for me. The vague timeline and open world that was reduced to a small Italian island felt too small and constricting while giving a respectable medieval vibe which in turn was slightly off from the open worldview of the townsfolk and their general behaviour. The book could have used a glossary of Italian words the author used. The cooking bit did not impress me as much it should have. All that being said – I liked the witch story twist and demonology theme even though I felt it to be unclear in some things. I am debating on giving the next book a try because I think it might have more potential and most of my issues with the book setting might be resolved.
Site: Tower of Rumination
Prompt: Five star prediction
Book: Exit Strategy (The Murderbot Diaries #4) by Martha Wells ★★★★★
From the first book in Murderbot Diaries series I was enamored with this science fiction stories. I loved all three previous books and I loved this one as well. I am still surprised at how much easy to read these little books are especially since space theme science fiction is still not a genre I consider a favorite. But these books are definitely my favorite and I am getting the other books related to Murderbot Diaries by the end of the year as well.
In fact I loved it so much that I am even looking out for the new fantasy book by the same author named Witch King and set to hit the bookstores in the fall next year!
Site: Orilium Academy Arc
Prompt: Book with a school setting
Book: The Culling Trials (Shadowspell Academy #1) by K.F. Breene and Shannon Mayer ★★★★★
I really thought that it would be easier to find a book with a school setting on my own shelves that was not a part of the Harry Potter book series! at one point I even thought I was going to reread one of those. Instead I accidentally stumbled on a new Croatian edition and translation of the author one of my bookish friends really loves – K.F. Breene. While I never before read anything from this author I have found some of her other books on Kindle sales and collected them for some new reading opportunity and some new reading challenge. This book is fairly new and I was waiting for weeks to get it from the library. I almost did not read it in time because of it! The book actually offered a sort of prequel to some really interesting and brutal school setting and because it ended on a cliffhanger I am rethinking of reading it in English because I might not be able to wait forever for Croatian translation!
Character background prompts and book choices:
Even though I technically have time by April 2022. to finish up reading the books for my character background choices I read two out of three right away in September!
Background: Urban
Prompt: Book set in a city or town
Book: Darkfever (Fever #1) by Karen Marie Moning ★★★
As one of the books that has been on my TBR for almost a decade I expected a lot more from it. I did not want to believe the ugly cover to be a true indicator of how good the book in general is. I had issues with this book. It has been quite some time since I’ve read an urban fantasy book with the main character as unlikable and annoying as this one. I tried liking her and as soon as I could come to terms with one annoying thing two new popped up! What I did have a healthy respect for was that the story was not set on the romance and that the sole purpose of the main character was not to fall for the dark mysterious brooding guy – Jericho Barrons. What killed this book for me and made me not want to continue reading the rest of the series was the last chapter where nothing made sense in lieu of what the characters did. Getting a manicure from the person she got the manicure from seemed like something that should have happened in a chaotic dream and not the cliffhanger plot it turned out to be… I’m glad I gave it a try and I would have tried giving this book series another try with the sequel but I just could not digest that last chapter. Maybe I would have liked it more if I had read it first at the time when I added it to my TBR.
Province: Kerador
Prompt: Book from an ongoing series
Book: The Crystal of the Wood Elves (Elfes #7) by Nicolas Jarry, Gianluca Maconi, Christina Cox-De Ravel ★★★★
The Elfes fantasy graphic novel series has around 30 volumes and there are supposed to be other related graphic novels with other races as the main topic. For me this is going to be an ongoing series for a long time because I am using the casual approach and I’m adding a volume TBR each month or a chance I get to include it in some future reading challenge. Volumes are relatively short – each is around 50 pages long but the artwork is stunning and I enjoy the fantasy setting. I might have rushed this volume in order to read it in time but the short episode format is starting to bug me.
In addition to the options and choices above I got an update to my guild choice and have finally chosen a name for myself. So let me introduce myself for now:
My name is Petaniqua and I am a of skaimorn descent. I come from a city in the province of Kerador and belong to The Archivists guild. The ancient art of book keeping is one of our specialties.
I am looking forward to new content and details that come with each guild, quest and lore. From the prompts I have left to complete until April I have only one more left and I will probably start on it at the in December if not somewhere in early 2022.
Heritage: Skaimorn
Prompt: Oldest book I own or have on TBR
Book: Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe
This reading challenge feels more like an adventure game and I hope I will continue to enjoy it. How do you like my journey so far and what do you think about participating in this type of a reading challenge? For more details on the Orilium challenge check out the video announcement HERE and give Book Roast some love and support.
Strange the Dreamer (Strange the Dreamer #1) by Laini Taylor ★★★★
Muse of Nightmares (Strange the Dreamer #2) by Laini Taylor ★★★★
Exit Strategy (The Murderbot Diaries #4) by Martha Wells ★★★★★
Darkfever (Fever #1) by Karen Marie Moning ★★★
Kingdom of the Wicked (Kingdom of the Wicked #1)by Kerri Maniscalco ★★★
The Crystal of the Wood Elves (Elfes #7) by Nicolas Jarry, Gianluca Maconi, Christina Cox-De Ravel ★★★
Half the World (Shattered Sea #2) by Joe Abercrombie ★★★★
The Culling Trials (Shadowspell Academy #1) by K.F. Breene and Shannon Mayer ★★★★★
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch ★★★★
1. How many books have you read last month? Are you happy with the amount you read?
This September was a busy month and I am surprised to have read ten books total. I am happy with the amount of books read and I am especially pleased with the variety of genres among the books I’ve read.
2. What was the best of all the books you’ve read in September? Any scenes or characters that made a lasting impression?
The biggest pleasant surprise in September was one of the last books I’ve finished in the month: The Culling Trials (Shadowspell Academy #1) by K.F. Breene and Shannon Mayer. A friend reader loves the K.F. Breene and I was surprised to find a translation in Croatian for this book. The best part of the book for me personally was a translation that did not suck! I could enjoy the book! The fast pace of the book was a welcome surprise and the language was fluently translated. This book hit all the right spots for me and considering I’ve went in not knowing much about it – I thought it was a children’s book, I am happy to report that I have trouble remembering the last time I enjoyed reading a translated book as much as this one! The angsty parts of the book were done just how I like them and now I am even thinking about buying a copy in Croatian and sign myself for further torture by waiting on the next book. The fact that I’m thinking about it says a lot and only those who had the misfortune of never having a book series translated till the end can fully understand why this is such a significant comment.
3. Were there any not so good books for you last month? What made it hard or not enjoyable to read?
It has been quite some time since I’ve read an urban fantasy book with the main character as unlikable and annoying as the one in Darkfever (Fever #1) by Karen Marie Moning. I tried liking her and as soon as I could come to terms with one annoying thing two new popped up! What I did have a healthy respect for was that the story was not set on the romance and that the sole purpose of the main character was not to fall for the dark mysterious brooding guy – Jericho Barrons. For the better part of the book main character Mac was a typical privileged twenty two year old American that has never known any serious hardship in her life. Pink and glitter were not the annoying parts and the “she’s a rainbow” gig was at times refreshing. What killed this book series for me and made me not want to continue reading the rest of it was the last chapter where nothing made sense in lieu of what the characters did. Getting a manicure from the person she got the manicure from seemed like something that should have happened in a chaotic dream and not the cliffhanger plot it turned out to be. I’m glad I gave it a try and I would have tried giving this book series another try with the sequel but I just could not digest that last chapter…
4. How did the books you were reading last month fit in your reading plans if you had any?
My plans for September were elaborate and I intentionally went to make it a real challenge by participating in two different book challenges with total amount of 13 books. I read 9 of the planned books. One of the books had to be replaced because Empire of the Vampire (Empire of the Vampire #1) by Jay Kristoff did not arrive (still waiting for it). Two of the books I started on and did not finish by the end of September – one: Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold (Stephen Fry’s Great Mythology #1) by Stephen Fry was not what I expected and it is a very slow read; second: The Vampire Lestat (The Vampire Chronicles #2) by Anne Rice I started reading literally on the last day of September which makes me want to scream so bad because the book is so interesting and engaging I would like to drop everything I have to do (including going to a new job) and just spend my time reading it! One of the books I put in my plans (Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe) was for the Orilium Magical readathon challenge as a book I am supposed to read until April next year which makes it not that big of a deal for not fitting in this month.
5. Any updates on the series you are reading or are you starting any new series?
This September I managed to start a new series and finish it – it is Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor duology (yes, its only two books in a “series” but I don’t care because it feels good and sounds cool to have this accomplishment) I’ve officially read all the Murderbot diaries books I have and I’am already making plans to get the next two! I read three books that were first in three new series and only one of those – The Culling Trials (Shadowspell Academy #1) by K.F. Breene and Shannon Mayer I plan to continue. I felt like I forced the The Crystal of the Wood Elves (Elfes #7) by Nicolas Jarry, Gianluca Maconi, Christina Cox-De Ravel and might have enjoyed it more had I just took my time with it. I plan to continue with this graphic novel series in the future at a casual pace.
6. Would you like to recommend any books or authors you’ve been reading this last month?
For September my recommendation is variety in genres with some casual sprinkle of the books and authors you know you will love and enjoy. Reading a good book gives me more energy and makes me more passionate in my search for the next great book. I love letting myself be surprised by actually liking the book I was thinking I would not like. Below is the pile of books I loved this September and recommend them to you to try out 🙂
Final thoughts on September 2021 reading
September was a hard month for me since I have started working and my hours have made me more aware of the need to plan my time for books better. I find myself wanting to pick up a book more and read for enjoyment. It came as a total surprise when the books I though I would not like turned out to be awesome and something I can look forward to. I think I did good with the number of books total I have read and I am especially happy with the amount of different genres and topics I have read in September. Not all of the books I have read in September were something I would casually pick to read and enjoy but I am glad to have had an opportunity to experience reading the books that others think highly of and enjoy. In this way, I can report that I have grown as a reader enough to appreciate that, while some books are not my thing, they have a value outside the genres and topics I usually go for comfort reading. I consider these occasional excursions into genres and topics I consider “not my cup of tea” to be a good educational choice that gives me insight into how my reading personality evolves trough the years.
This year I felt the absence of Harry Potter Magical Readathon that Book Roast used to organize. In preparation for a whole new original magical readathon that will be in full swing next year, she prepared an intro for all those who are interested. You can check out Book Roast channel for more of her content HERE and the video announcement for Orilium Magical readathon with explanations and detail HERE.
This is going to be a roleplaying type of a reading challenge where each participant will make a character like for a video game or the usual roleplaying game of Dungeons & Dragons. You have your character sheet with origin and trait details and you will be progressing trough quests and events by reading books that fir given prompts. But for now there is a Novice Path for all participants to get into their characters and get the feel of the game.
Novice Path has a map with six quest sites that offer a prompt for reading a book. Two are a minimum to be able to advance and participate in the next round in spring next year. So, the goal is to read at least two books that fit the prompts and solve the quests that way. As I love challenging myself I will try to read the books for all seven prompts and travel the map for all the quests!
Here are the prompts and my book choices:
Site: Novice Path Entrance
Prompt: Book with a map
Book: Half the World (Shattered Sea #2) by Joe Abercrombie
Site: Ashtorn Tree
Prompt: A book that keeps tempting you or a book on top of your TBR
Book: The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
Site: The Mist of Solitude
Prompt: Standalone book
Book: Les Hirondelles de Kaboul by Yasmina Khadra
Site: Ruin of the Skye
Prompt: Book with ghosts/haunted house or other supernatural elements
Book: The Vampire Lestat (The Vampire Chronicles #2) by Anne Rice
Site: Obsidian Falls
Prompt: Thriller or a mystery book
Book: Kingdom of the Wicked (Kingdom of the Wicked #1)by Kerri Maniscalco
Site: Tower of Rumination
Prompt: Five star prediction
Book: Exit Strategy (The Murderbot Diaries #4) by Martha Wells
Site: Orilium Academy Arc
Prompt: Book with a school setting
Book: The Culling Trials (Shadowspell Academy #1) by K.F. Breene and Shannon Mayer
Other than the Novice Path reading challenge there are also three reading prompts designed for character creation. These can be done anytime by April 2022. when the next part of Orilium reading challenge is set to begin. The prompts are made to choose the background of the character – urban or wild, province of origin out of those provided on the first map and a heritage of the character which is a race the character belongs out of those that were provided trough the lore and materials about the world of Aldia. For all the reading prompts above mentioned there is a rule that each prompt requires a separate book.
Here are my character background prompts and book choices:
Background: Urban
Prompt: Book set in a city or town
Book: Darkfever (Fever #1) by Karen Marie Moning
Province: Kerador
Prompt: Book from an ongoing series
Book: The Crystal of the Wood Elves (Elfes #7) by Nicolas Jarry, Gianluca Maconi, Christina Cox-De Ravel
Heritage: Skaimorn
Prompt: Oldest book I own or have on TBR
Book: Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe
There are some other things that will be linked to character creation and development like being part of a particular guild and Lunar phase at birth that will be introduced later on. Those who wish to try out more than one character can do that as well as they will be reading prompts for each character separately. I am not that ambitious and will be sticking to just one!
How do you like my plans and choices? What choices did you pick?
The Hedge Knight: The Tales of Dunk and Egg by George R.R. Martin ★★★★
Kako ste? by Barbara Matejčić ★★★★
Time Weaver (Drakon #5) by Shana Abe ★★★
The Strain (The Strain Trilogy #1) by Guillermo del Toro, Chuck Hogan ★★★
Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries #2) by Martha Wells ★★★★★
The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller ★★★★
Antologija suvremene japanske novele by Kazuo Tanaka (Editor) ★★★★
Real World by Natsuo Kirino ★★★
Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein ★★★
Elves: The Blue Elves’ Mission (Elfes #6) by Jean-Luc Istin, Kyko Duarte ★★★★★
Heartstopper: Volume One (Heartstopper #1) by Alice Oseman ★★★★★
To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers ★★★★
Rogue Protocol (The Murderbot Diaries #3) by Martha Wells ★★★★★
Danse Macabre (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter #14) by Laurell K. Hamilton ★★★
1. How many books have you read last month? Are you happy with the amount you read?
This July I have outdone myself and read an amazing 14 books! I am actually surprised at the amount and the variety of genres and books that have been on my TBR for a quite a long time as well as some relatively new books for me.
2. What was the best of all the books you’ve read in July? Any scenes or characters that made a lasting impression?
Books I most enjoyed reading this month were from the Murderbot Diaries book series: Artificial Condition and Rogue Protocol . Usually I have some issues with reading science fiction books and following up with all the technical parts of the story but these are so easy to get into and I really love them!
3. Were there any not so good books for you last month? What made it hard or not enjoyable to read?
There were few books that were a let down this month and some were even a source of frustration. Time Weaver was the last book in the Drakon series and The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan. Time Weaver was a messy ending to a book series that had me interested because of the unique dragon shapeshifter angle. Of this five book series each book I read was either a let down or really good and as a whole the series was a wild ride with high highs and low lows. The Strain belongs to a horror genre that I am not a big fan of. I had some serious issues with the translated edition and the general feeling was not good. The Strain is one series I will not be continuing.
I am glad that have read them and can move on from these.
4. How did the books you were reading last month fit in your reading plans if you had any?
For July I made plans for Bookopoly and Olympic Games reading challenge. I managed to read all the books for Bookopoly and all but one for the Olympic Games challenge. The only book I wanted to read and did not managed to read was Any Way the Wind Blows (Simon Snow #3) by Rainbow Rowell because my preorder has not arrived yet. I am hoping to get it in time for some reading challenges in August!
Actually all the fourteen books I have read in July were a part of reading challenges!
5. Any updates on the series you are reading or are you starting any new series?
I have finished one book series and made a decision not to continue another – so that’s two book series cleared in July. I started one new graphic novel series I am very much enjoying. Anita Blake Vampire Hunter book series second reading is moving along and I’ve finished book fourteen out of current 28. which makes me halfway trough! I managed to read two books in the Murderbot Diaries series and can’t wait to for an opportunity to read the next book! July was a very good month for reading book series!
6. Would you like to recommend any books or authors you’ve been reading this last month?
This is a second month in the row that I am blown away with Martha Wells’s Murderbot Diaries book series and my whole outlook on science fiction is changing because of it. I love the short format, the artwork and the lovable main character. The main character has proven to be surprisingly insightful on everything about what it means to be human. So much story and emotion packed in less than 200 pages per book made these books best I have read this year so far and I hope the next books are at least as good!
Final thoughts on July 2021 reading
I have been working on making up for those spring months when I got a reading slump and I am still behind on my plans to read 100 books in a year. I am proud of how many books I have read this July and I have managed to cut the amount of books I needed to catch up by half!
In the fourteen books I have read 3656 pages. There were a lot of the genres I am not usually drawn to in July and four of the books were science fiction which is starting to be on my TBR more often recently. Only two of the books were graphic novels and only one book was over 500 pages long. Nine books I have read in July were under 300 pages.
I find this shorter format motivating and very satisfying.
June was a cool Bookopoly reading month with only five books. I have participated in one other reading challenge in June and filled up my reading list that way. Because when I say “reading challenge” I need more than just five books in a month to make it challenging!
In the five books I’ve chosen to read I’ve read 1542 pages. One of the books in my Bookopoly readathon for June was a part of a Buddy reading project and one was a book club pick for June. Four of the books were the books I own and were physical copies from my own shelf. One book was a book from the library. Last book I’ve read for this reading challenge was finished reading few days in July but I’m still counting it! Here is the list of the books I’ve read for my Bookopoly in June and how I rated them in short:
Lucky (Lucky Santangelo #2) by Jackie Collins ★★★★★
Mogla je biti prosta priča by Ajla Terzić ★★★★
The Last Wish (The Witcher #0.5) by Andrzej Sapkowski ★★★★
I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf by Grant Snider ★★★★★
The Hedge Knight: The Tales of Dunk and Egg by George R.R. Martin ★★★★
All the books I’ve read for my June Bookopoly were good or great and none I’ve rated with less than four out of five stars. In fact most of the books I’ve read in June were the same with the sole exception of one book I DNFed. For more details on them all you can check my June reading review HERE.
Here are my reading goals for Bookopoly in July:
Prompt: Science Fiction
Book: Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries #2) by Martha Wells
My first roll for July was a meager four and landed me on Science fiction tile for the very first time! I loved reading the first part of Murderbot Diaries and jumped at the chance to read the second book. This series is fairly new in general and I got the box set of first four books as one of my latest purchases. I will try to update and make a post on the books I got recently by the end of July! At this rate I will be ordering more Murderbot books very soon! Also I am not very happy with how the tile for Science Fiction came out and I am thinking of redesigning the Bookopoly board again!
Prompt: Last Chance
Book: The Strain (The Strain Trilogy #1) by Guillermo del Toro, Chuck Hogan
My second roll for the month and I got a double six. What this means is I will be adding one more extra roll for the July. This landed me on a Last Chance spot for the first time as well! I actually pulled this book at random for the Olympic Games readathon this month and I decided to use it for this prompt since I am thinking on culling it from the collection. The edition is said to be bad because of the translation and it is a cheap paperback with not a very inviting cover. The other two books in trilogy were never translated and probably never will be since the publisher no longer exists and the book did not attract that much positive reader attention to be picked up by any other publisher.
Prompt: Chance Card
Book: Antologija suvremene japanske novele by Kazuo Tanaka (Editor)
My third roll was another low number – three in total! This landed me on one of the most popular prompts on the board but to be fair there are two of these across the board – Chance Card. This is another one of the books from my own bookshelves I bought a few years back at a library sale. The translated title would be Contemporary Japanese novella anthology. This book has been published in the late nineties and it was not something that can be easily found which is the reason it caught my attention. If it is to believed to the GR entry for it, there is no translated edition for it which makes it original and unique. I took a peek at the rest of the Chance Cards I have left and there is only three of them. Out of those, two have been chosen for some other prompts in July which leaves me with only one left for some other roll of the die. I need to make another set of cards for next month!
Prompt: Other Culture
Book: Real World by Natsuo Kirino
Next roll was six and landed me on Other Culture tile. Since I prioritize all my books to check my own bookshelves first I got this little book I had for years. As it turns out I will be reading two books on Japanese culture and by Japanese authors for Bookopoly this month! I am slowly running out of appropriate books for this prompt and will have to soon turn to library for them or investigate and buy some interesting new ones!
Prompt: First in a series
Book: Heartstopper: Volume One (Heartstopper #1) by Alice Oseman
Fifth roll was another double and got me an exciting prompt “First in a series”. Since I will be adding at least two extra rolls for July I decided to finally read a graphic novel I only recently got and one that is still very praised and popular. The more I learned about this graphic novel I liked it more. I just hope I will enjoy reading it too!
Prompt: Gifted
Book: Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein
First extra roll for July landed me on a “Gifted” tile for second time ever. First time I got this prompt was last month. I am running out of books I’ve been gifted and I did not read on my bookshelves. This book was given to my by a friend when I helped him sort out books he wanted to sell and get rid off. This is an older paperback edition that is out of print in Croatian. I loved the movie and I wanted to read it for years now! Also this one is a part of my Buddy reading project for this year and it will be good for me to get some progress on that.
Prompt: Graphic novel / Manga
Book: Elves: The Blue Elves’ Mission (Elfes #6) by Jean-Luc Istin, Kyko Duarte
On my last roll for July I got another low number – three! This moved me to Graphic Novel / Manga spot. In June I was reminded how much I enjoy reading the graphic novel Elfes series and decided to continue reading it in July as well. These are short and beautiful. I love how they look and the fantastic stories they bring.
This is my handsome pile of Bookopoly picks for July. There are books I am really looking forward to reading here and there are some I am less excited about.
This year I am happy to participate in The Olympic Games reading challenge second year in a row. I had a lot of fun last year and I like the thematic ties with Percy Jackson universe by Rick Riordan no matter how small they may seem – anyone who did not read the books would have no trouble participating. You can check out the YouTube Challenge Announcement HERE and give Ishi Time and her channel some love and attention.
I like the mythology theme a lot! Last year I went with Hades as a patron god of choice. You can check out my thoughts and experiences for it HERE. Some of the prompts this year are a bit more tricky to fit a book in but I decided to stick with Hades once more! There is a bit less focus on the undead in the prompts this year and my choice of books is all over the place.
Hades prompt 1 – Read a stand alone
Kako ste? by Barbara Matejčić
This book has a relatively dark cover and is a stand alone. It is also my book club pick for the month of July so I’m fitting it in here as well! The theme is a bit on the heavy side and deals with life issues and stories from people who are dealing with hurt, pain and prejudice in general. I was warned of the content being hard and serious. This is definitely not a light summer read but I hope the book discussion on our meeting is worth it.
Hades prompt 2 – Read a book with a dark cover
Time Weaver (Drakon #5) by Shana Abe
The last book in a fantasy series about dragon shapeshifters. Some of the books from the series I absolutely loved and some were underwhelming. I stayed with the book series and I am hoping this last book will be a good one! The cover has a dark background with a pale hand and some dark read flower and some jewelry in the center. It looks dark enough for me.
Hades prompt 3 – Random TBR book
The Strain (The Strain Trilogy #1) by Guillermo del Toro, Chuck Hogan
I pulled this book out of my long forgotten TBR Jar Draw. I am not that pleased with this choice but it fits the dark undead theme. I am not a fan of horror genre and this book might prove a real challenge for me in July! What worries me the most is the Croatian translation that is considered beyond bad. I might even be tempted to find an edition in English and get rid of my copy of the book permanently if I find it to be that bad.
Hades prompt 4 – Book with a character that hides their identity
Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries #2) by Martha Wells
The main character of this book series is a AI unit that has hacked its module and escaped. It refer to itself as “Murderbot” and likes to procrastinate and watch futuristic soap opera. It is unlike any other SF I have read and I liked the first part a lot! Murderbot is incognito and is on a journey across the wast space in the distant future. If anyone is to find out that its module has been hacked they would probably hunt it down and reprogram it back again. I think this fits the category of a hidden identity.
Hades prompt 5 – Book with a wealthy character
The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller
Of all the prompts and books for this reading challenge this one I had the hardest time choosing. In the end I went with the main characters being a king and a future queen as a point of them being wealthy. I got this book for my Kindle when it was on sale because I had it on my wishlist for a hardcover edition. The reviews are either hate it or love it mostly. I like when the books have that kind of range among audience. This book has a dark cover, is a stand alone and has what I consider wealthy characters.
Like last year there are some bonus challenges to be read after these first five books. There is only one change in prompts for them from last year. But unlike last year they are not limited to certain patron gods – last year each patron god had two offered bonus challenges and now they are all available to everyone no matter what patron god they choose.
I chose a few books that fit the bonus challenges I liked and added them to the list below. I have listed them in the order I want to read them in. I am also aware that I might not get to read all of them and will probably read them in completely different order by the time I start reading them at all…
Bonus challenge prompt: Pegasus Riding – A book published within the last 5 years
Heartstopper: Volume One (Heartstopper #1) by Alice Oseman
This book is a graphic novel created and self published as a Kickstarter project back in 2018. That was less than 4 years ago and it fits the prompt. I like seeing a Kickstarter project do so well and get published and translated like this one did. I bought the printed version and I hope I will like it!
Bonus challenge prompt: Archery – A book shorter than 200 pages
To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers
I had to look hard to find a book under 200 pages on my book shelves. The one I was going to pick was just slightly over with 208 pages! Then I had another choice but in the end I went with this one since it is one of the never books on my shelf and I am curious about it.
Bonus challenge prompt: Climbing the Wall – The next book in the series
Rogue Protocol (The Murderbot Diaries #3) by Martha Wells
I decided to add another book from this series to this month! I have first four books in The Murderbot series and at this pace I might be buying some more sooner than expected!
Bonus challenge prompt: Sword&Shield – A book featuring a character I would not get along with
Danse Macabre (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter #14) by Laurell K. Hamilton
This is a part of my second reading trough the Anita Blake book series and my attitude toward the main character is very complicated. I would definitely not get along with the main character but I do love reading this series! This book is a bit on the chubby side and I might not be bale to finish it in time or even get to it.
Bonus challenge prompt: Capture the Flag – One of your most anticipated books
Any Way the Wind Blows (Simon Snow #3) by Rainbow Rowell
Now we are threading deeply into the territory of wishful thinking! This book is coming out in the first week of July and I have preordered it. I have no clue if it’s going to even arrive by the end of the July let alone if I am going to read it by then. I just wanted to add it to the list because I could!
I hope I get trough all of the books I want to read this July. They make a really big pile and I still have to add the books from Bookopoly and my next posts! Wish me luck for I will need it!
Lucky (Lucky Santangelo #2) by Jackie Collins ★★★★★
Mogla je biti prosta priča by Ajla Terzić ★★★★
The Last Wish (The Witcher #0.5) by Andrzej Sapkowski ★★★★
I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf by Grant Snider ★★★★★
Školski knjižničar by Dinka Kovačević, Jasmina Lovrinčević ★★★★★
The Lives of Saints (Grishaverse) by Leigh Bardugo ★★★★
Dark Prince: Author’s Cut (The “Dark” Carpathian book 1) by Christine Feehan ★ DNF
All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells ★★★★
Micah (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter #13) by Laurell K. Hamilton ★★★★★
The Dynasty of the Dark Elves ( Elves Vol. 5) by Marc Hadrien, Ma Yi, Olivier Héban ★★★★★
1. How many books have you read last month? Are you happy with the amount you read?
I had plans to read ten books and I read ten books. The amount I am happy with, but these are not all books I planned to read…On the bright side: I made a major break trough with finally finishing one of the books from my long postponed TBR Jar Draw reading project!
2. What was the best of all the books you’ve read in June? Any scenes or characters that made a lasting impression?
I was intimidated by Lucky (Lucky Santangelo #2) by Jackie Collins for around a year or so. It turned out a much better book than I expected and I found myself enjoying it! I expected to love I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf by Grant Snider and my expectations were met. I found much enjoyment and inspiration in the book. Micah (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter #13) by Laurell K. Hamilton was a lot better than I remembered, but then I may be a bit biased when it comes to Anita Blake Vampire Hunter books series in general. I ended a month on a high not with The Dynasty of the Dark Elves ( Elves Vol. 5) by Marc Hadrien, Ma Yi, Olivier Héban. I loved coming back to this awesome graphic novel series and loved it so much that I Have already made plans for reading the next one in July.
3. Were there any not so good books for you last month? What made it hard or not enjoyable to read?
The sole and biggest let down for me this month was Dark Prince: Author’s Cut (The “Dark” Carpathian book 1) by Christine Feehan. This book was on my TBR for almost a decade and when the opportunity to get the “Authors Cut” Kindle edition arose I jumped at the chance. The characters were so underdeveloped and the dialogue was so annoying I had to stop torturing myself and DNFed this book at exactly half of it! I tried giving it all the chances but I just realized I was wasting time on the book that is not getting any better for me and wasting time I could be reading a book I actually enjoy. I cant remember the last time I decided to not finish a book like this but in the end I felt relieved since I really tried and I don’t feel guilty about it!
4. How did the books you were reading last month fit in your reading plans if you had any?
In June I made plans to read 5 books for Bookopoly and 10 books for Whatever-You-Want-A-Thon reading challenge. I did NOT have to go with 10 books! Going for 10 books was not a very smart decision! I read some of the books I planned to read and then some things I did not plan on happened and I lost a whole week preparing for a test and reading books for that. I read most of what I have planned on reading: I read 7 books that I planned on reading, 1 book I DNFed and I read another 2 books that I did not plan on reading. 1 book I planned on reading has been left out because I wanted more time to enjoy it and not just read trough it quickly. And 1 book I am currently still reading from that list.
5. Any updates on the series you are reading or are you starting any new series?
I have finally started on The Witcher series and The Murderbot Diaries – both are on my buddy reading project. The Lives of Saints is the last Leigh Bardugo book I had to read connected to the Grishaverse. Dark Prince: Author’s Cut (The “Dark” Carpathian book 1) by Christine Feehan is one book series I will not be reading anymore and since it has a bunch of books I am glad to cross it off my TBR and the lists of books to buy. My second reading of Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series is progressing nicely and I managed to read Micah (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter #13) by Laurell K. Hamilton and enjoy it more than I thought I would.
6. Would you like to recommend any books or authors you’ve been reading this last month?
All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells was a nice surprise and the short format make it a fast and enjoyable read. Most of the books in the series have won genre awards and I recommend them for those who love science fiction and those who are like me and are picky about science fiction books they choose to read. Grant Snyder and his book I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf is super fun and intelligent book for book lovers and all who are interested in the book business.
Final thoughts on June 2021 reading
I am not totally happy with my reading in June. I managed to squeeze in all ten books as planned but I was forced to shuffle some and change others so I get the number ten. I had to put in some literature for the exam I was preparing instead of one book and I DNFed a book. One book I was planning to read I am still reading and will finish later in July and instead of that I put in a graphic novel to meet the quota. On week of reading was marred by trying to read a book I ended up not finishing and letting go and one other week I spent reading the stuff I did not plan on. I will elaborate a bit more on the detail in the next Bookopoly and Whatever-You-Want-A-Thon reading challenge review posts.
The Hedge Knight: The Tales of Dunk and Egg by George R.R. Martin I am still reading and A Phoenix First Must Burn edited by Patrice Caldwell I was soo looking forward to but it was left untouched and will be postponed for some other more opportune time when I will be able to enjoy it more!
June experience aside I have made plans and new lists of books to read in July. There are even some reading challenges involved so stay tuned and wish me luck!
anastasiaadamov 