So I said I was going do a Readathon this month, and one of my wonderful followers itsKoo lead me towards the Trope-ical Readathon hosted by Jen Jen Reviews. There are several challenges for everyone doing the challenge and then there are teams
There are two ways to complete a common challenge: either you read a book with the given trope OR you read a book that satisfies the alternate prompt based off of that trope. You cannot double/triple/quadruple/etc. up on any challenges. In other words, you cannot use one book to satisfy multiple challenges and you cannot complete the same challenge multiple times for extra points.
You also pick a team based on what you usually read I’m going to be on Team Sci-Fi and Fantasy
I’m excited for this Readathon and will put up a TBR list soon. Hopefully it will get my reading amount up like I’ve been wanting. Either way I’m excited to be a part of this challenge.
So I’m glad Feburary is almost done. It may have been the shortest month but man, that bedrest was ANNOYING. Besides I feel like I’m ready for some walking again. Am I paranoid as heck about it, oh yes.
Because me falling down like a baby deer seems super duper likey, even if it’s only like 50% weight on my injured foot. I will update all my reader about my status and how much flailing was involved after my appointment.
March is going to be a good month though I’m getting off the couch at least somewhat, my tax money is coming in some of which I plan to use to update the plan of the website, so expect a better experience soon.
Also Raya and the Last Dragon is coming out so I can’t wait to get my hands on that because it looks AMAZING.
Pokemon Snap is also on the horizon because well its precious and I need it in my life.
I’ve been really enjoying WandaVison so I’m sorry that’s wrapping up soon, but I know it’s going to be in play in th larger MCU so that’s good!
Anyway March is going to be great and I have a few things I can’t even announce yet! Yay Spring!
Some of these I’ve already started but I’m looking forward to reading more of them in March. This is of course not a definative list because I’m also a mood reader, but I’d like to finish these three next month. Now looking at these covers together I think I want some snow or some more winter? Maybe because I missed part of winter breaking my foot, maybe because I hate spring. Who knows?
The Comeback: A Figure Skating Novel
Twelve-year-old Maxine Chen is just trying to nail that perfect landing: on the ice, in middle school, and at home, where her parents worry that competitive skating is too much pressure for a budding tween. Maxine isn’t concerned, however—she’s determined to glide to victory. But then a bully at school starts teasing Maxine for her Chinese heritage, leaving her stunned and speechless. And at the rink, she finds herself up against a stellar new skater named Hollie, whose grace and skill threaten to edge Maxine out of the competition. With everything she knows on uneven ice, will Maxine crash under the pressure? Or can she power her way to a comeback?
Written by E.L Shen who is a is a writer, editor, and former figure skater.Originally from upstate New York, she currently resides in Manhattan.
The cover was designed by Dung Ho and Cassidy Clausnitzer.
Alone
When twelve-year-old Maddie hatches a scheme for a secret sleepover with her two best friends, she ends up waking up to a nightmare. She’s alone—left behind in a town that has been mysteriously evacuated and abandoned.
With no one to rely on, no power, and no working phone lines or internet access, Maddie slowly learns to survive on her own. Her only companions are a Rottweiler named George and all the books she can read. After a rough start, Maddie learns to trust her own ingenuity and invents clever ways to survive in a place that has been deserted and forgotten.
As months pass, she escapes natural disasters, looters, and wild animals. But Maddie’s most formidable enemy is the crushing loneliness she faces every day. Can Maddie’s stubborn will to survive carry her through the most frightening experience of her life?
Written by Megan E. Freeman who is a writer and poet who also has decades of experince in K-16 education. Megan is also a Pushcart Prize-nominated poet.
The Sea in Winter
It’s been a hard year for Maisie Cannon, ever since she hurt her leg and could not keep up with her ballet training and auditions.
Her blended family is loving and supportive, but Maisie knows that they just can’t understand how hopeless she feels. With everything she’s dealing with, Maisie is not excited for their family midwinter road trip along the coast, near the Makah community where her mother grew up.
But soon, Maisie’s anxieties and dark moods start to hurt as much as the pa
in in her knee. How can she keep pretending to be strong when on the inside she feels as roiling and cold as the ocean?
Christine Day (Upper Skagit) grew up in Seattle.Her debut novel, I Can Make This Promise, was a best book of the year from Kirkus, School Library Journal, NPR, and the Chicago Public Library, as well as a Charlotte Huck Award Honor Book, and an American Indian Youth Literature Award Honor Book
March is going to be better than Febuary for several reason most all of them being doctor visits. My the doctor who did the operation on my foot is finally going to let me put some weight on it, not all weight but I don’t care, some weight means crutches or a walker and not being on the couch all the time. I’m also getting shots for Botox so my headaches won’t be as bad. Which hopefully means more reading and a happier blogger.
1.Try and read 10 books
I did this in January, and I read six this month. I’d just want to keep pace for my yearly goal.
2. Try and get ahead on blog posts.
Forever my goal. Always my inspriation.
3. Look for another read-a-thon.
If you guys know of any cool ones please post in the comments.
4. Work on my Dungons and Dragons Book Lists.
I already have some good ideas for them and you should see them coming out throughout March.
A sorcerer’s magic wants to be wielded, and it has a tendency to spill out in unpredictable ways if it isn’t called on. Sorcerer’s often set of on adventures to understand the nature of their magic or try and understand it’s origin, while some sorcerers see their magic as a gift others see it as a curse from from draconic ancestors. With this list I’m focusing on character with a bloodline of magic, that is unpredictable or outside forces that cause them to use their magic.
Wings of Ebony
Making something out of nothing is just a way of life for Rue. But her changes for she and her younger sister when their mother is shot dead on their doorstep. Suddenly Rue is taken from her neighborhood by a father she never knew forced to leave her little sister behind. Her father wisks her away to Ghizon-a hidden island of magic wielders.
Rue is the odd girl out, being half god/half human. Leaders on the island protect their magical power at all cost and thrive on human suffering. Rue is miserable and desperate to see her sister again. So on the anniversery of her mother’s death she breaks Ghizon’s sacred Do Not Leave Law and returns to Houston only to discover that Black kids are being foreced into crime and violence. Worse yet her sister Tasha is in danger of falling sway to the forces that claimed their mother’s life.
But evidence is pointing to the fact that the evil on East Row is also in Ghizon, and it will stop at nothing until it takes everything and everyone Rue loves from her. To beat it Rue must embrace her true power to save her neighborhood before the gods destory it. .
J. Elle is fromTexas but currently lives in Southern California, she enjoys reading, writing and cooking. She also love elevating fearless, unapologetic Black heroines.
Genie is a perfectionist feeling the struggle to get into a top-tier college. It consume her every waking though, until she discovers she’s a celestial spirit powerful enough to bash through the gates of heaven with her fist. Then college, well it’s not exactly at the top of the list, maybe like number two though.
Then there is Quentin a transfer student from China. He’s tone-deaf assertiveness intruges Genie, yet it also annoys her to the point of madness. Quentin helps with Genie’s outrageous transfromation sometimes gently sometimes agressively as their sleepy suburb in the Bay Area comes under threat from hell-spawn.
Drawing from Chinese folklore Yee perfectly balences a larger than life heroine’s high school life, with the supernatural world she finds herself commanding.
F. C. Yee grew up in New Jersey and went to school in New England, but has called the San Francisco Bay Area home.
MUTI Creative Studio designed the cover for The Epic Crush of Genie Lo.
Usagi was born in the year of the wood rabbit, she can hear a squirrel’s heartbeat a mile away and soar over treetops in a giant leap. The year of her birth gave her extraordinary zodiac gifts.
But she can never use them not with the mysterious and vious Dragonload in charge, he hunts down all those in her land with zodiac powers. Instead she must keep her powers and her rambunctious sister Uma’s powers a secert.
But after Uma is captured by the Dragonlord. Usagi can’t ignore her powers anymore, She must journey to Mount Jade with the fabled Heirs of Twele, a mystical group of warriors who once protected the land.
But as new mysteries unfold Usagi must decide who she’s willing to stand with and trust, as she goes after deadly foe after deadly foe in her path to the elusive and dangerous Dragonlord.
A former award winning journalist Cindy Lin love reading, yoga and has recently taken up archery and kendo.
Life was perfect for Maren Partridge before her sister’s accident. Now her sister is in a coma and her parent are talking about the hospital bills, and putting her sister Hallie in a long term care facility. Maren knows what this is code for, Hallie never getting better.
While Maren isn’t worried about Hallie she works in her family’s dream shop, with her Gran Gran Lishta where she can hand craft any dream imaginable. The shop only has one rule. Dreams cannot be given without the person consent.
Maren has never had a problem with this until Hallie got sick, if dream can help people with other problems then maybe they can help heal her sister. Maren’s certain she can cure Hallie with a few well-chosen dreams. And when no one is watching, she slips her a flying dream.
But someone is watching, a strange new customer, Ms. Malo to the shop has been watching Maren, and she knows what she’s been up to with trying to heal Hallie. Now she’s planning to blackmail Maren into creating custom nightmares’ for a dark and terrible purpose. Now she must make a choice protect her family or the town she loves?
Nicole Lesrpance is a young adult and middle grade author, and she lives near Boston with her husband, two kids, and two black cats. Her debut MG novel, THE NIGHTMARE THIEF, was published by Sourcebooks Kids. Her debut YA novel, THE WIDE STARLIGHT, was published this month.
Federica Frenna, was the illustrator, and Jordan Kost was the designer for THE NIGHTMARE THIEF
A wonderful book about the Gullah people who I’ve never seen in a middle grade book before (please correct me if I’m wrong!)
Set during 1963 when things are changing for Jezbel Turner. Her beloved grandmother has just passed away. Her family is the target of harassment from the local police deputy. And with school integration beginning in South Carolina Jez and her twin brother are going to start school with a bunch of new kids.
But the biggest change comes from their Uncle Doc who tells them he’s going to train them in rootwork. Jez and her brother Jay have alway been intrested in the African American folk magic, that has been in their family for generations.
They are especially curious about the potions and powers Doc and Gran would make for the people on their island. But Jez soon finds out her family’s power is much bigger than she ever could have imagined, and not a moment too soon. Because her family will have to deal with both natural and supernatural evil as it comes to town and it’s going to take every bit of Jez’s magic to see this problem through.
Eden Royce is from Charleston, South Carolina and is a member of the Gullah-Geechee nation.When she’s not writing or reading, she’s probably roller-skating, watching quiz shows.
Oh Febuary you’ve been a long month. This month has seemed like a year and I haven’t read that many books. What did I plan at the beginning of month and did I accomplish it. Partly yes and partly no but since it seems like everything was particularly against me this month I’ll take what I can get.
1) Get ahead on posts.
This just did not happen, the stars were very much not aligned for this.
2) Do some kind of Ace Awareness thing for Valentine’s Day
I did do this, I put together a post for Valentine’s Day highlighting ace characters.
3)Find a read-a-thon I like.
I couldn’t find one hopefully next month?
4) More interaction, book tour maybe?
I didn’t do a book tour but I did get approved for an ARC which I enjoyed so that was good at least.
Reha feels caught between two worlds in her private school where she’s the only Indian American, and at home with her families traditions and holidays. She wants to be like all the other girls not to disrecpect her traditions but try something new too. But she feels like she doesn’t meet her family’s strict expectations she feels especially disconnected from her mother.
Though their names are similar her mother’s, or Amma’s name Punam means “moon” and Reha’s means “star” but she feels like they are worlds apart.
Then Reha finds out the Amma is sick, really sick, and everything else falls by the wayside, Reha doesn’t care about being a new cool girl. She’ll be virtuous and learn everything her parents want her to, she’ll do everything she can to make her mother well.
Reha, who wants to be a doctor even though she can’t stand the sight of blood will be perfect daughter if it means saving her mothers life, the question is will it be enough?
Review
This was a beautiful book in verse. Every chapter felt like a poem. I also love the way it incorporated the time period, it felt like you were in the the 1980’s especially due to the music. I love the the way Reha works in the ancient Indian story to deal with her own situation. I also especially love the aerogramme at the end I literally almost cried it was so sweet. The ending to the book wasn’t what I was imagining but it was actually perfect.
Hey yall, sorry I missed a day of putting up content this week I was just really tired from my medications and the mental strain of being on bedrest. I had a pretty good week over all, I’ve been reading a lot, to the point I can’t decide what to focus on? Do you all ever have that issue too many good books? ‘
Right now the main ones I’m focusing on are Red White and Whole, The Sea in Winter, and Five Things about Ava Andrews. If you guys have any idea on which one I should focus on just let me know. I know I’ll get them all read eventually and reviews will be up soon.
Are you stressing over the number of books you’ve read so far? Cause I am. Despite the numbers which show I’m on target I feel behind for my goal of 100 books this year. I don’t know what this is, I think it’s the fact I can’t do as much as I used to generally because I’m on bedrest so I’m focusing on reading because it’s something I CAN do.
Anyway I’m over all on the mend and I think I will get back to my regular reading pace soon.
Right now when I’m not reading I’m napping and watching TV and movies and playing Pokemon this week. But I also need to improve my island in Animal Crossing so that might be my project next week. I hope you all are well and enjoying my Dungeon’s and Dragons project. Let me know if you have any ideas or want to see anything in the comment. Hope you all are well.
Claudia has always been the most creative person she know. That is until new girl Ashley Wyeth comes along. Ashley is really different and really cool. She wears hippie clothes and has multipe earings and she’s the most fantastic artist Claudia has ever met.
Ashley says that Claudia is just is good but she’s wasting her time and talent with the Baby Sitter’s Club. When Claudia starts spending more time with Ashley and missing meetings it becomes clear, one of them has to go! But will Claudia let go of the BSC?
Review
I enjoyed this spotlight on Claudia who is one of my favorite BSC characters. I figured her art would come in to comflict with her BSC duties at some point, and I like Ashley Wyeth, as an antagonist, she wasn’t really evil like none of the BSC antagonists tend to be, she was just conflicted, and I liked the ending a lot. Another great entry in the series. I can’t wait for the next one.
A Childhood Favourite That You Could Read 100 Times and Still Love
Even though I’m aware of the problematic nature of his work, I still enjoy J.R.R Tolkien. I try to read the books at least once a year. And while some portions don’t always hold up, his decscriptions tend to go on. I still enjoy both the books and the movies.
A Book You DNF’d But Would Be Willing to Give A Second Chance To
I sort of just put down the Mystwick School of Musicraft and forgot about it so I didn’t really DNF it, but I’m trying to get back to reading it because I enjoyed the story far as I read into it but I just put it down and forgot.
A Newer Favorite You Would Reread
.I’d read A Thousand Questions by Saadia Faruqi. It was such a sweet story and I’d be happy to jump to it again.
A Book You Hated and Never Want to Read Again
I don’t want to drop names because it was an ARC I read but it was terrible, the main character had no common sense. It was very anti-feminist and couldn’t really find a message to save it’s life.
A Classic You Read in School but Want to Try AgainI
Honestly I’m not big on classics and would much rather read the tons of diverse books coming out now as oppossed to the mostly white authors we were taught in school.
An Author You Would Reread Anything From
I’d reread anything from Shannon Messenger or Lisa McMann. I’ve reread both their series multiple times.
A Series You Want to Reread for The Fun of It
I’d like to reread the Cassidy Blake series since the third book is coming out.
A Book You’ve Read but Want to Listen to The Audiobook
I’d like to listen to more to the Story by Hena Khan in Audio book.
![The Comeback: A Figure Skating Novel by [E. L. Shen]](https://i0.wp.com/m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51koxe9myxL.jpg?w=840&ssl=1)
![The Sea in Winter by [Christine Day]](https://i0.wp.com/m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51jMwQcmtsL.jpg?w=840&ssl=1)
![Wings of Ebony by [J. Elle]](https://i0.wp.com/m.media-amazon.com/images/I/410ePHduJML.jpg?w=840&ssl=1)
![The Epic Crush of Genie Lo by [F. C. Yee]](https://i0.wp.com/m.media-amazon.com/images/I/511dUoFk8wL.jpg?w=840&ssl=1)
![Red, White, and Whole by [Rajani LaRocca]](https://i0.wp.com/m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41dDRRnZjTL.jpg?w=840&ssl=1)
