It has been well over a year since I returned to blogging at Earl Grey Editing. In that time, I haven’t once written about readathons. There are a variety of reasons for this, one of which is some ongoing health challenges; it takes more spoons than I currently have to track which readathons are on and to squeeze extra reading time into my schedule.

However, there are two readathons that I still follow: Dewey’s 24-hour Readathon and the Magical Readathon. Both customarily run twice a year in April and October, often with smaller challenges at various points in between.

The Magical Readathon is run by G of The Book Roast. She recently mentioned that due to health issues, she was not confident April’s edition of the challenge would be ready in time (I can certainly relate). Instead, she has elected to run a smaller week-long challenge on 14-20 March.

The Magical Readathon is a unique challenge. Originally themed after Harry Potter’s wizarding tests, G elected to step away from that after J.K. Rowlings’s transphobia became obvious. To replace it, she has created her own unique fantasy world. The first readathon in this setting took place last year, as the students traversed a perilous path to the Orilium Academy. Themed reading prompts were offered for each of the locations along the way. Participants were also sorted into guilds based on the roleplaying options they chose.

Character creation is governed by reading prompts as well. Want to play an elf? Read a book with a moon or stars on the cover or in the title. Want to come from a city? Read a book set in a city.

The theme of the mini readathon is gear. It’s a chance to pick up a magic wand or a familiar… or a variety of other cool things. And if you’ve missed the previous challenges, it’s a chance to catch up.

If you think this sounds cool, but are feeling a bit intimidated, I promise it’s not as complicated as it sounds. G always emphasises that the readathon is meant to be fun and supports adapting it in ways that make it accessible for you.

You can find more information over at The Book Roast.

I hope you’ll join me on this adventure.

 

Happy Halloween! I admit I don’t really celebrate, but it is a wonderful excuse to wear some awesome manicures.

Of course, the arrival of Halloween means that the 13th Readers Imbibing Peril reading challenge is coming to a close. In case you have forgotten, this is basically an excuse to read as much as possible of anything that fits into horror, dark fantasy, the supernatural, Gothic, thriller or crime and mystery. I was pretty pleased to get through a bunch of great stuff this year:

Twice Dead by Caitlin Seal. Supernatural fantasy. Reviewed here.

Restoration by Angela Slatter. Last of the Verity Fassbinder trilogy. Urban fantasy with supernatural and thriller/mystery elements. Reviewed here.

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor. This YA novel is set in Nigeria and is about a young albino girl comes to terms with her magical heritage. It felt a bit episodic in places, though that fades as things ramp up towards the end. I read the sequel first and was surprised to find this didn’t provide as much set-up as I’d expected. It also felt odd that the villain had so little page space… although I can also see the appeal of that.

The Red Magician by Lisa Goldstein. A mythopoeic tale of a young Jewish woman who gets caught in a conflict between her village’s rabbi and a mysterious stranger. Set against the background of WWII, it goes to some dark places. The main character seemed a bit passive at times and the characters were often more symbols than people, but I find the latter is often characteristic of mythopoeic work.

Whisper by Lynette Noni. A young woman is imprisoned in a government facility in an effort to coerce her into using her special abilities. Read for the 2018 Aurealis Awards, so I won’t be offering an opinion on this one.

City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett. Part mystery, part supernatural fantasy. A retired general gets pulled in for one last job: to investigate the disappearance of a spy who was looking into a potentially divine phenomenon. I’ve been loving this series so much and especially that the first two books have each featured a different woman of colour who is amazing at what she does. General Mulaghesh is delightfully cranky, partially because she has Seen Some Shit. The book has a slow build, but really throws itself into the action once it reaches the tipping point. The worldbuilding continues to enchant me. Highly recommended.

Palace of Fires by Bill Bennett. A young girl inherits her powers and discovers her family broke a pact with the Devil. She must go on the run from the evil forces hunting her. Again, read for the 2018 Aurealis Awards.

An Artificial Night by Seanan McGuire. Toby must venture into the realm of the Wild Hunt in order to rescue a group of kidnapped children. Wonderfully atmospheric. I also felt you could see the seeds for McGuire’s more recent Wayward Children series. However, I wasn’t wholly sold on the thread with Toby’s Fetch, May.

Mercy Point by Anna Snoekstra. Thriller. Five teenagers who suspect they were adopted come together to discover the secrets their parents have kept hidden. Also read for the 2018 Aurealis Awards.

City of Miracles by Robert Jackson Bennett. Sigrud, a former spy and thug, comes out of hiding after thirteen years when he hears a good friend has been assassinated. A brilliant conclusion to the series, though it has a little more of an actiony, James Bond feel than the others. I enjoyed the reincorporation of a previously minor character and the way the story showed the impact of previous events on her. Right to the end, the series has been thoughtful in its worldbuilding and exploration of themes. Highly recommended.

A Curse of Ash and Embers by Jo Spurrier. Dark fantasy with Gothic vibes. A young woman receives a letter to say she’s been hired as a cleaner. When she travels up to the mountains to her new workplace, she finds she’ll be working for a witch. Another read for the 2018 Aurealis Awards.

Death Most Definite by Trent Jamieson. Urban fantasy with supernatural and thriller/mystery elements. Someone is killing off Australia’s Pomps–the people responsible for sending spirits on and keeping the zombie-like Stirrers from taking over the world. Steven has never taken the family business all that seriously, but he’s going to have to start if he wants to survive. Some great action and pacing. But the romance really didn’t work for me and rather put me off the rest of the series.

A Small Charred Face by Kazuki Sakuraba, translated by Jocelyne Allen. A young boy is adopted by a pair of vampires after his family is murdered. A poignant meditation on the desperation and hope inherent in life. The book was actually three interconnected stories and I enjoyed the different perspectives they brought and the way they filled out the life cycle and history of the vampires. Comes with trigger warnings for sexual assault and animal death.

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black. Dark fantasy YA. After a fae general kills her parents, Jude and her sisters are raised by him in the fae world. As a human, she’s at the mercy of the fae and their glamours, and vows to do everything she can to gain power. I love Holly Black’s work and I appreciated the way this one touched on what it’s like to live under oppression. However, I found it a little predictable in places.

I also read Halloween Is Not a Verb by Tansy Rayner Roberts, which is not in any way dark, but the Halloween theme made it feel like it fit in.

With all this, I made it pretty much through everything I had on my list, except Feedback by Mira Grant. I also didn’t quite get as far as pulling out Angela Carter’s The Magic Toyshop. However, the challenge was such a success for me that I have already signed up for a similar challenge for next month, as you’ve probably seen. I’d forgotten how much I love these themed challenges!

If you participated, I’d love to hear how you went. If not, what dark fantasy, Gothic horror or thriller would you recommend for next year?

 

Mirrored from Earl Grey Editing.

Round 21 of Bout of Books wrapped up on Sunday, so it’s time for me to check in with my progress!

In my sign-up post, I mentioned my goal was to get through a minimum of three books. One of the books on my list, The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty, was over 500 pages, so I was concerned I was being a bit too ambitious. However, the book was less dense than I was expecting and I made it through. I also finished reading Hunger Makes the Wolf by Alex Wells (which I’d started prior to the challenge) and two-thirds of Ironheart by Jodi McAlister. So, it wasn’t exactly three books, but altogether I read a little over 1000 pages. I’m calling that a win.

What about you? Did you join in Bout of Books last week? If so, how did you do? If not, what did you read over the week?

For those interested in the next Bout of Books, it will take place on 14-20 May 2018. For further details, keep an eye out here or head over to the Bout of Books blog.

Mirrored from Earl Grey Editing.

April put a considerable dent in Mt TBR, but there’s plenty of work still to be done. And the best way to keep up my motivation is a reading challenge, of course!

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 9th and runs through Sunday, May 15th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional.For all Bout of Books 16 information and updates, be sure to visit theBout of Booksblog.– From the Bout of Books team

Being a low-pressure challenge, Bout of Books lets me set my own goals. As I have mentioned before, I overcommitted on review books for May. So I’d like to get through a minimum of three books.Carpentaria(pictured above) by Alexis Wright is definitely on the list along with The Crying Child by Becca Lusher and Penric’s Demon by Lois McMaster Bujold. If I manage all of those, I’d like to get back to my reread of Ursula Le Guin’sThe Earthsea Quartet.

If you’d like to join in, there’s still time to sign up!

What’s on your TBR pile this week?

 

Mirrored from Earl Grey Editing.