Magical Readathon: Orilium 2021 TBR

Hello friends! It’s been a while. I took a bit of time off from blogging due to many personal life changes, working a lot, and because I’ve honestly been having lots of fun gaming and streaming over on my Twitch channel. It’s been really great to hang out with friends, play games to wind down after work but as reading is my OG hobby, I’m finally getting back into reading and blogging. I honestly barely read in August and didn’t finish a book. I’m in the middle of one now which will count towards this month’s TBR.

I’m still in lockdown in Melbourne and I’m soon starting a new job, which is exciting and will allow me to create a fresh routine. Part of that routine will be to read and blog more again! So I thought I’d start back off with my TBR for the Magical Readathon for the month of September. I’ve participated in this readathon prior to its Magical refresh this year and it’s always such a fun challenge so I’m hoping that this will kick start my motivation to read and get through the books on my shelves this month.

You can find the full readathon details over at the Book Roast who created this readathon and has done an absolutely amazing job in creating a whole new world with maps and everything! I’m honestly in awe and I’m super keen to participate!

Although there are many prompts for this year’s readathon, I’m going to try to set myself achievable goals by only aiming to do a few, rather than all. So I’ve chosen 4 out of the 7 main prompts to guide my reading and get back into a nice reading routine!

Prompt 1: The Novice Path Entrance
Read a book with a map

For this prompt, I’m choosing my current read – The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson!

I finally picked up this book after having it on my shelf for 4 years. I’m about a third way through and really enjoying this; I shouldn’t have expected anything from Brandon Sanderson to be honest.

Prompt 2: Ashtorn Tree
Read a book that keeps tempting you/top of TBR

The book at the top of my TBR right now is one that I received yesterday – my most highly anticipated read of the year: As Good As Dead by Holly Jackson. This is the third and final book in the Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series that I absolutely adore. I’m so excited to get into it! It is so much thicked than I expected at 550 pages but I’m sure I’ll wish it were longer when I finish this series. I’d highly recommend its two predecessors; Holly Jackson is a fantastic author.

Prompt 3: The Mist of Solitude
Read a standalone book

For this prompt, I’m not actually sure which book I’ll read. I’ve set out 3 options for myself to see how I feel when I get to this prompt during the month (mood reader life let’s go). My options are to:

• Continue reading Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q Sutanto. I started this book a month ago and put it down as work got busier, so I don’t really have any opinions on it yet but I do want to finish it sometime soon.
• Read A Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. A modern classic, it seems like everyone and their friend wants me to read this book and says I’ll love it so I should definitely pick it up soon.
• Read Loveless by Alice Oseman. A book I bought myself last year that I still haven’t picked up; this may be the perfect YA contemporary to keep me away from a book slump if I’m starting to feel sick of fantasy.

Prompt 4: Obsidian Falls
Read a thriller or mystery book

Last but not least, for this prompt I want to pick back up Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco. I’ve had this ‘on hold’ for over a year now I think. I loved Stalking Jack the Ripper so I do want to continue this series and see how this book goes! It’ll make the perfect end of September spooky read as we head into October.

And those are my magical readathon TBR picks for this year! I’m super excited to keep reading and get back into the swing of things. It’ll be a challenge to juggle my hobbies of streaming and reading but I’m optimistic. Lockdowns have certainly made everything a bit harder – not just physically with work and life but to stay strong mentally and persevere through this tough time. I hope everyone is taking care and looking after themselves! Stay hydrated, stay safe.

Until next time,