August 2021 TBR

So this is probably a mistake…. I struggled with my reading in July. Partly because of burnout and partly cause I was just super busy (I was away for over a week and did NO reading, oops?). And yet here I am with a MASSIVE tbr for August. I’m totally expecting to crash and burn with this, but at least I’ll have a lot of options to mood read from!

You might’ve seen my post about August readathons earlier in July (click here if you wanna refresh your memory) so you should already be prepped for the HUGE tbr I’m about to drop on you!

First things first we have Kingdom of the Wicked by Derek Landy for the Dead Famous Readalong which is a reread for me. I’ve been going through the Skulduggery books again this year and really enjoying the process!

For Kayla from Booksandlala’s Buzzwordathon the prompt is “time of day” for August. One of the books on my tbr already has “clock” in the title, and honestly I think I’m just running with that.

Then we have the Mary Shelley-A-Thon hosted by Caitlyn from Mad Cheshire Rabbit. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte is my main book for this readathon which covers a lot of prompts, which are “an author born in 1818/1831”, “a book I keep saying I’ll get to”, “and set in the late 1700s/early 1800s”, but I’d also like to get around to Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare which is for the prompt “set in a country the author isn’t from”.

Next up is the Royal Readathon: Sidekicks which is what I’ve based the foundation of my tbr on. Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho is for a book featuring a dragon and a book with death, This Savage Song by V.E. Schwab for a book about music, Clockwork Angel again! This time for a cheesy book. The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan for a middle grade book, a book on mythology, and a colourful cover. Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchet is my pick for a humourous book, a book with greed, and one under 300 pages.

And last but never least is All the World’s a Page which is Olivia Savannah’s readathon in August! There are SO MANY prompts for this readathon that Olivia says herself that you don’t need to aim for them all! I’m basically just fitting in the other books into these prompts so I won’t go through these again.

And then FOR SOME REASON I also want to read my chapters of War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, as well as Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid, No Place to Hide by Glenn Greenwald, and also Smiler’s Fair by Rebecca Levene. For some reason I’ve added these onto an already huge tbr so other than War and Peace these will be riiiiiight at the bottom of the list! And last, but by no means least. I started and didn’t finish Prodigy by Marie Lu last month. So now I need to read that as well…. god damn it. I’ve not even pulled my tbr jar pick yet!!!

What do you want to read this month? Is your tbr as stupidly big as mine? Let me know!!

August Readathons?

Guys. Tell me. What readathons do you know about in August? There are already three on my radar which I’m crafting my tbr around, but I’m curious to know which ones are out there!

Of course I’m still taking part in the Dead Famous Readalong hosted by Hannah from LadetteM to read Skulduggery Pleasant. We’re simply reading each book each month, so there’s no specific prompts for this other than “read the book”. But if you’d like to check out the announcement video then here it is for your viewing pleasure!

Then we have the Mary Shelley-a-thon hosted by Caitlyn from Mad Cheshire Rabbit where all of the prompts relate to the woman who created her favourite book, Frankenstein.

The prompts for this readathon are:

1. Read a book by Mary Shelley

2. Read a poetry collection or a book by a poet

3. Read a book that was published in 1818/1831 or a book by an author who was born in either of those years (+/- 5 years)

4. Read a book you keep saying you will get to but still haven’t

5. Read a book set in the late 1700s or the early 1800s

6. Read a book in a country the author was not from/a book that features travel

7. Read a horror/gothic

Becca from Thebeccafowell is co-hosting The Royal Readathon: Sidekicks which is all based around Disney side characters which is so cute!

The prompt for this readathon are:

Olaf – A book under 300 pages

Mushu – A book with a dragon

Sebastian – A book with music

Gus Gus – A cheesy book

Chip – A Middle Grade or a children’s book

Hei Hei – A book with comedy

Pascal – A book with a colourful front cover

Abu – A book with greed

Ray – A book with death

Pegasus – A book with mythology

And lastly but never least, Olivia is co-hosting a Shakespeare themed readathon named All the World’s a Page which I’m super excited to take part in! It’s round two of this readathon after it went so well last year and even though I don’t have any Shakespeare related books to read, I’m pretty sure I can squeeze the prompts to fit on my tbr books! You can do as many of as few of the prompts as you like so don’t be put off by how many there are!

The prompts for this readathon are:

Character Tropes:

You Have a Twin, I Guess? – Read a book in a duology.

The Inevitable Cross-Dressing – Read a queer book.

Villain Monologue – Read a book focusing on a villain, antagonist, or antihero, OR one you think will have a dramatic character arc (positive or negative.)

The Fool With All The Wisdom – Take a chance on a book you’re unsure about.

Band of Brothers – Read a book with multiple points of view or an ensemble cast.

Underrated Female Character Outshines the Main Character – Read a book by a BIPOC female author

Lavinia Speaks – Read a book by a disabled author.

Story Tropes:

Fake Your Own Death Because That Will Definitely Solve This Problem – Give a book or author “a second chance at life” – a book you’ve DNFed, a second chance author, etc.

It’s a Problem Play So Your Punishment is Marriage – Read a book with a romance element in it.

Even Instalove Sounds Beautiful When You Write It, Will – Read a book with pretty writing AND/OR a writing style you love.

Definitely Not Set in England, I Promise – Read a book set in a country you don’t live in. History,

But Add Even More Drama – Read a book that blends historical fiction + another genre: fantasy, romance, etc.

Does This Play NEED Three Parts? – Read a book in a series.

You Just Missed the Character You Really Needed To Talk To – Read a book you’ve been meaning to read for a while.

Surprise! Magic Actually Exists for Plot Convenience – Read a book with magic in it.

I’ve Been Dying for the Last 50 Lines: Read a big book (can decide what ‘big’ means).

There is a 99.999% chance I won’t be doing all of the prompt’s for Olivia’s readathon but I’m looking forward to fulfilling some of them! So come on, let me know what other readathons there are for August! Or if you know some for the other months in 2021 let me know so I can get prepared now!!!

The Mary Shelley-a-Thon!

The amazing and wonderful Caitlyn from Mad Cheshire Rabbit is hosting the Mary Shelley-a-thon once again in 2021! Her favourite book is Frankenstein but she also loves the rest of Shelley’s works and wants to promote more people to read them! But you can read modern books to fit most of the prompts!

I definitely recommend checking out Caitlyn’s video below, but I’ll post the prompts below that and the books I’m thinking of reading!

Here are the prompts!!!

1. Read a book by Mary Shelley

2. Read a poetry collection or a book by a poet

3. Read a book that was published in 1818/1831 or a book by an author who was born in either of those years (+/- 5 years)

4. Read a book you keep saying you will get to but still haven’t

5. Read a book set in the late 1700s or the early 1800s

6. Read a book in a country the author was not from/a book that features travel

7. Read a horror/gothic

Now the only one I’m going to struggle with is to read a book by Mary Shelley, cause the only one I own is Frankenstein and I read that earlier in 2021! So I may just have to reread it…. hmmm

I don’t have any books by poets on my shelves as well, but I would love to listen to more by Elizabeth Acevedo after loving The Poet X in 2020!

For a book that was published within those years, Caitlyn gifted me Wuthering Heights cause she loves that book and wants me to read it, and that would work so I’m probably going to pick that up! And I think it’ll work for prompt 5 too!

I’ll pick any tbr vet for prompt 4, that’s probably the easiest for me to get to!

The last two prompts are a little more difficult for me, I think I have a good option for travel but I want to check more of my books. And I don’t think I have any horror or gothic books! Look I’ve been trying not to add to my tbr! I’ll have to ask Caitlyn for some recommendations!

Are you going to join in with the Mary Shelley-a-thon? Have you read any of her books? Let me know!!