Monthly Archives: July 2020

Trope-ical Readathon TBR

Reading Challenge, TBR

Hello, again! I’m doing another reading challenge in August because it’s one of the few ways I can create structure for the monstrosity that is my TBR pile. (If you’re wondering when I’m actually going to post a book review again, rest assured that reviews will be coming in the following months as I’m scheduled for several blog tours for amazing books!) The reading challenge is called the Trope-ical Readathon and is co-hosted by Jenny @ JenJenReviews and her partner Rob. The page with the detailed readathon information is here.

Basically, there are 13 common challenges that every participant can do (each has an alternate prompt as well) and then 5 different teams divided up by genre you can join that each have their own assigned team book plus 2 more challenges. I’m joining Team Contemporary/Literary/Historical Fiction. The books you pick for any given challenge, including the team-specific ones, do not have to be of the genres associated with your team, so as a result my TBR is actually very SFF-heavy (which is not surprising if you’re familiar with my reading tastes, lol).

Trope-ical Readathon Common Challenges

My Common Challenge Book Selections

  • Absent/Dead Parent(s) Trope: The Silvered Serpents by Roshani Chokshi
  • Strange Names Trope: The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow (male protagonist is an alien named M0Rr1S)
  • Outbreak/Pandemic Trope: Shadowshaper Legacy by Daniel Jose Older (I’m doing the alternate prompt, and this book is the third in a series)
  • Forbidden Romance Trope: Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know by Samira Ahmed
  • Dystopia Trope: Rebelwing by Andrea Tang
  • Blast from the Past Trope: The Wolf of Oren-Yaro by K.S. Villoso
  • Mixed Media Trope: The Weight of the Stars by K. Ancrum
  • Artificial Intelligence Trope: The Life Below by Alexandra Monir
  • Amnesia Trope: The True Queen by Zen Cho
  • Enemies to Lovers/Enemies to Friends Trope: A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown
  • Chosen One Trope: Forest of Souls by Lori M. Lee
  • The New Kid in Town Trope: A Love Hate Thing by Whitney D. Grandison
  • Retelling Trope: A Spark of White Fire by Sangu Mandanna (retelling of the Mahabharata)

Team Contemporary, Literary, Historical Fiction

My Team Challenge Book Selections

  • A Coming-of-Age Novel: Not So Pure and Simple by Lamar Giles
  • “War” Trope: We Are Not Free by Traci Chee (set in World War II)

This is a pretty ambitious TBR, but I’m looking forward to the challenge. 🙂

Koreadathon TBR

Reading Challenge, TBR,

I’m perhaps a little too ambitious about my reading this month because I escaped my reading slump, so I’m participating in multiple reading challenges, LOL. This one is for Korean books and authors and is hosted by booktubers Monica (YouTube/Twitter) and Chloe (YouTube/Twitter). You can find more about the readathon on the official Twitter account @koreadathon.

Here’s what I’ve picked for each prompt!

  1. Group Book (ok this wasn’t chosen by me): The Silence of Bones by June Hur – YA, Historical Fiction, Mystery
  2. Book with a person on the cover: Rogue Heart by Axie Oh (companion to Rebel Seoul) – YA, Science Fiction
  3. Book translated from Korean: Human Acts by Han Kang – Adult, Historical Fiction
  4. Book featuring a diaspora Korean character: Stand Up, Yumi Chung! by Jessica Kim – MG, Contemporary
  5. Book featuring Korean mythology: The Dragon Egg Princess by Ellen Oh – MG, Fantasy (Note: this is a secondary world fantasy with worldbuilding that’s inspired by Korean mythology and folklore)

Transathon TBR

Reading Challenge, TBR

I’m a bit late to the party, but this month I’m participating in a reading challenge called Transathon, which spotlights trans authors and books. Here are the prompts and my choices for each.

Transathon 2020

  • A book written by a trans woman: Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars: A Dangerous Trans Girl’s Confabulous Memoir by Kai Cheng Thom
  • A book written by a nonbinary person: King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender – MG, Contemporary, Gay Black Boy MC
  • A book written by a trans man: Stay Gold by Tobly McSmith – YA, Contemporary, Trans Boy MC
  • A book with a trans MC: Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas – YA, Fantasy, Gay Latinx Trans Boy MC
  • A nonfiction trans book: Redefining Realness by Janet Mock
  • A book with a nonbinary MC: No More Heroes by Michelle Kan – YA/NA, Urban Fantasy, Asexual/Gray-Aromantic Genderfluid Cantonese Chinese MC (plus other queer, disabled, POC characters)
  • A book with multiple trans characters: An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon – Adult, Science Fiction, Black Nonbinary MC
  • A book with the word trans in the title: Queer & Trans Artists of Color Volume Three, interviews by Nia King, edited by Maliha Ahmed
  • A graphic novel with a trans main character: Mooncakes by Wendy Xu – YA, Fantasy, Queer Chinese American MCs (one cis, one trans & nonbinary)

(Note: All of the authors above are trans except Wendy Xu.)