Tag: readathon

hispanic heritage readathon · readathon

Hispanic Heritage Month Readathon Summary

Sarah1 Comment

Hi I absolutely did not mean to fall off the face of the earth for a little while! October is always one of my busiest months, and it hit me with a massive reading slump, which in turn made me not want to blog either. I have a backlog of books that I can’t wait to review, starting with the ones I read for the Hispanic Heritage Month readathon!

There were a few books on my TBR for this readathon that I was unable to get to. The first was Solita by Vivien Rainn. This book was released in April but was impossible for me to find anywhere in any format. I was really bummed about it because it’s a gothic paranormal romance, and I hope eventually I can find a copy of it!

The second was Jawbone by Monica Ojeda, which is a contemporary horror that drew inspiration from Lovecraft and creepypastas. I figured it was right up my alley, but I only made it about 50 pages in before putting it down. I found it really difficult to get into, and the paragraphs were long and never-ending. I might pick this up again at some point, but for now it’s on hold. The third was Bindle Punk Bruja by Desideria Mesa, and honestly time just got away from me on this one and I was unable to read it in time. I will definitely be reading it soon, though!

I was able to read the rest of the books for this readathon, including Ophelia After All, which I already wrote a full review of. I’m in the middle of a full review for Together We Burn, so keep an eye out for that! I wrote mini reviews about the rest of the books below!

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hispanic heritage readathon · readathon

Hispanic Heritage Month Readathon

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National Hispanic Heritage Month started on September 15th as a way to celebrate histories, cultures, and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and South America. Five Latin American countries (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua) gained independence on the 15th, while Mexico and Chile celebrate their independence days on the 16th and 18th.

One of my reading goals for the last few years has been to read more books by BIPOC authors or about BIPOC characters, and I have to admit, they’ve been some of the best books I’ve read lately. The Hacienda and Mexican Gothic are definitely in my top 10 for recent years. There’s something so refreshing about learning more about different cultures and histories, and for me personally, there’s something comforting in reading books with the Spanish language in it.

This month, from September 15 to October 15, I’m going to aim to read eight Hispanic novels. Eight seems like a high number considering I’ve been in a reading slump most of the year, but I’ve been highly anticipating a lot of these stories for a long time and can’t wait to finally get to them! As always, I’ll do a wrap-up at the end of the month and review everything I’ve read.

pride month readathon · readathon · review

Pride Month Readathon 2022 Summary

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It feels good to finally be back into the swing of things when it comes to reading. While I didn’t read every book selected for the Pride Month Readathon, I was able to read four of them! I’m still slowly chugging away at my BOTM pick (The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah – a hefty first book in a trilogy based around One Thousand and One Nights), but I managed to read a total of eight books in June! I’m now at 31 out of my goal of 50 for the year, seven ahead of schedule!

I already wrote a full review of Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand, and I’ll be doing smaller reviews for the other books that I finished in this readathon. I also had a bonus book that I wasn’t anticipating reading but definitely checks all the boxes of this readathon, so I’m including a review for that as well.

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pride month readathon · readathon

Pride Month Readathon

Sarah1 Comment

Happy Pride Month! I had a lot of fun with the Asian Readathon in May, and I really love the idea of celebrating Pride Month by reading stories about or written by members of the LGBTQ+ community!

This is an extremely unofficial readathon, and I did consider joining one of the dozens of Pride readathons already happening, but I enjoy being able to read with a theme and very few parameters (it’s why I’m so awful at book clubs). I tried to pick books from different genres, because last month I read mostly YA fantasy (and loved them all, don’t get me wrong), but the thing about being a mood reader is that you don’t really get a choice in what looks good.

Our Wives Under the Sea – Julia Armfield (horror)
In the Dream House – Carmen Maria Machado (nonfiction, memoir)
History Is All You Left Me – Adam Silvera (young adult, contemporary)
A Magic Steeped in Poison – Judy I. Lin (fantasy, young adult)
Sawkill Girls – Claire Legrand (horror, young adult)
Summer Sons – Lee Mandelo (horror)

asian readathon · readathon · review

Asian Readathon 2022 Summary

Sarah1 Comment

May is always one of my busiest months (birthdays, holidays, the first time in the year when the weather gets nice and suddenly we’re not longer cooped up indoors), so when I signed up for the Asian Readathon for Asian Heritage Month, I was worried I was getting in over my head. I was especially nervous because I’d been in quite a reading slump so far this year, but I surprised myself by not only reading six books for this readathon, but also both of my Book of the Month selections and one (of three, sadly) books from my online book club!

All of the books I selected for this readathon were already on my tbr list, so it felt good to knock that number down a bit. I also made it a goal this year to read more books by POC, so this felt like a perfect reason to do that. If I want to read these books anyway, why not do it during a time to celebrate and bring awareness to these authors and stories (of course, we shouldn’t be reading these books exclusively for one month of the year). What I’m learning is that I really enjoy stories about different cultures, especially those that include mythology and folklore from said cultures. Who knew that young adult fantasy still had my heart?

The Asian Readathon had five simple rules, as follows:
– Read a book written by an Asian author.
– Read a book featuring an Asian character who is a woman AND/OR older.
– Read a book by an Asian author that has a universe you would want to experience OR a universe that is totally different from yours.
– Read a book by an Asian author that has a cover worthy of googly eyes. 
– Read a book by an Asian author that has a high rating OR was highly recommended.

I found that all of these books covered multiple rules. For example, The Ones We’re Meant to Find was written by an Asian author, had a universe that is totally different from mine, had a cover worthy of googly eyes, AND was highly recommended by a handful of my friends. In that regard, it was easy to reach this goals of the readathon, and I loved the loose interpretations here. It took a lot of the stress away from the readathon, and I had a lot of fun with it!

I already wrote full reviews for both The Ones We’re Meant to Find and The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea, but here are some mini reviews for the rest of the books.

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