The Book Junkie Trials TBR

I haven’t done a lot of reading lately because nothing has caught my eye in a while.  One of the best ways to get out of a slump and find some new favorite books, however, is often to throw myself into a new readathon, so I decided at the absolute last second to commit to doing The Book Junkie Trials!  This is a readathon hosted by Rachael Marie that takes place during the month of July and, like most readathons that I enjoy doing, it involves running around a map and completing challenges based on team objectives.  Initially, I wasn’t sure if I was up to the task, but when I took the test to find out what team I belonged on, I found out that I get to be on team mage!  As someone that exclusively plays mages in every video game, my fate was sealed and I have found my grand plans for the month of July.

Since the mage team’s special power is that we were actually allowed to start a few days early and we are supposed to post a reading list before we get started, I figured I should probably get a post up with some book selections as soon as possible.  Books are “locked in” and cannot be swapped out, so these are the titles I will be sticking with throughout the month!  First off, these are the books that I have to read for my main quest as a mage:

Orc Grove – A gruesome, gory, or gritty book

I have never read a book by Ronald Malfi before, but Bone White sounded sufficiently creepy and gruesome to make for an interesting horror experience.  This is a thriller set in a remote Alaskan town where a man comes into the local bar and confesses to a series of murders.  Why did he do it, and who are the victims?  I guess I will read it and find out!

Ol’ Pirate Cove – A book that takes place, at least in part, at sea

Historical fiction is a genre that I should pick up a lot more than I actually do.  Reading about the maritime disaster that is the centerpiece to Salt to the Sea isn’t going to be easy, but I love to learn about events that I previously didn’t have much knowledge about.  I have also made a goal with myself that I will stop buying books if I already own something unread from the same author, so I need to read this if I want to pick up Between Shades of Gray later.

Glimmer – A beautiful or colorful book

The Poet X serves two purposes.  In addition to having a colorful cover, it is also my pick for the additional weakness challenge that I am supposed to incorporate into one of the books I choose.  In this case, I am supposed to pick a title in a genre out of my comfort zone.  In general, I am not overly familiar with poetry, so an entire book written in free-verse will be an interesting experience.

Draconic Isle – A book with dragons in it

I have made it a goal of mine to try and read through as many children’s classics as possible, so this challenge is a great opportunity to finally read Eragon.  While I vaguely remember watching the movie at some point, it has been years and I can’t recall much about this book except that it revolves around a dragon egg of some sort.  I’m excited to give this a try!

The Bookie Grail – An adventure to find something lost

I meant to start Aurora Rising a while ago, but never got the chance.  As a huge fan of Illuminae, I hope that this will be a similarly phenomenal interstellar space adventure.  I’m a little nervous that my expectations may be set too high, but we will see soon.

As these are the five books I have to read to successfully complete the readathon, I will be prioritizing these titles first.  If I get through all of them, however, I will move on and complete as many of the other team’s prompts as possible.  Here are the books that I have selected for the other challenges:

Crimson Peaks – Reread a favorite book

I own all three of the currently available illustrated Harry Potter books, so those are always my go-to picks when I want to do a reread.  This time around, I will probably read Prisoner of Azkaban, as I have never read the illustrated version of it before.

Queendom Stone – A book featuring royalty

When Three Dark Crowns first came out, it had some rather mixed reviews and I put it on the back-burner for a while.  Now that the dust has settled, people seem to appreciate it more and I feel confident going into it.  I want to give this a shot because I love fantasies set around royalty and a fight for the crown sounds intriguing.

The Forgotten Forests – The next book in a series

Much to my own surprise, I loved Throne of Glass, so now seems like a great time to move on with the series and pick up Crown of Midnight.  I’m not committing to reading the entire series yet, as it’s long and daunting, but I will keep picking up the books until I’m not enjoying them anymore.

The Weeping Falls – A tear-jerker

I have made it a goal of mine to read more non-fiction, and since Laurie Halse Anderson is one of my favorite authors, I am really excited to read Shout.  It’s going to break my heart a million times over to read Halse’s story, but this is an important book that more people should pick up.

Dwarf Mount – A book with a romance

The Miseducation of Cameron Post is a book that I have had on my reading list since it first came out, so I believe that picking it up is long overdue.  Additionally, the movie came out recently and I would love to watch it after I read it.

Apothecary Towers – Choose a random book

I know nothing about The Girl With All the Gifts and my mom, the one that recommended it, said that it’s better for me to go in blind.  It sounds like it might be a creepy and weird read, which I am always on board for.

The Great Library – A book that has been on your TBR forever

Similar to my argument with Shout, since one of my goals for the remainder of the year is to read as many non-fiction books as I can, I should probably read the one that I have owned the longest.  I love video games, obviously, so Console Wars will give me some much-needed historical context to how gaming became the huge industry that it is today.

The Drowning Deep – A book with rich world-building

For those who follow my blog, I recently finished playing The Witcher 3:  Wild Hunt.  Now, I want to know everything there is to know about the world the games are set in, which led me to pick up the first book in the original series that the video games are based upon.  The Last Wish is a collection of short stories that I cannot wait to dive into.

The Elven Guard – A book with war, military, or political themes

I have to admit here that I don’t know how political The City of Brass is, as I put it here because Goodreads claims that people frequently tag it as political.  Since I haven’t read it, I am just going to hope that those who have picked it up already are telling the truth here.

On the Hallow Isle – An atmospheric or horror title

I am always looking for an opportunity to read more Stephen King, as my favorite book of all time is The Stand.  Elevation is a short novella from him that I have heard mixed things about.  With most authors, I would probably avoid a title because of this, but with King, I kind of want to know why opinions are so divided.

Empty Barrel Inn – An indulgent read

I played Life is Strange last year and it made me fall in love, only to stomp on my heart repeatedly.  When I found out there was going to be a graphic novel series that follows one of the possible timelines from the conclusion of the game, I knew that I had to check it out.  While I’m still hoping that they make a series for the other ending, as well, I can’t wait to learn more about Max and Chloe.

Giant Squid – An intimidating read

It is definitely not a book that I expect to finish in a month.  It’s huge and terrifying, but I want to read it one day, so I am going to at least start this massive tome this month and see how much I can get through.  My husband really wants to watch the movie with me, which I don’t want to do until I have finished the book, so I need to just get started!

Obviously, I am not expecting to finish seventeen books in a single month, especially since I haven’t been reading a ton recently.  Still, I can’t wait to get back into the hobby with some of these picks and see how many I can finish!  Have you read any of these books before?  What did you think?  Let me know in the comments!

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