#tometopplereadathon

[jeannekwong]

Took a little break from the book community and ready to be back. My pick for #tometopplereadathon fulfills more than 1 prompt #amreading #historicalfiction #bookinaseries #bipocauthor https://www.instagram.com/p/CU3UJbrv9rV/?utm_medium=tumblr

[chaos-carat]

Day 3, sock Sunday wirh your tome #tometopple #tometopplereadathon #bookstagram #fairytail

[jazzrj]

Day 4 of #tometopple and today's challenge is my favorite one tower of tomes. I thought I would do an updated tower of Tad Williams books since I have added to the collection. I only need to read the bottom two books (books 2 and 3 of Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn) to have read this whole stack. Maybe I read them during the next Tome Topple. #tometopplereadathon #tometopplechallenge #books #bookstagram #tadwilliams #memorysorrowandthorn #otherland #waroftheflowers #scififantasy https://www.instagram.com/p/CAGegOzAhl8/?igshid=1l7uenbx1nx18

[xcurseofcurvesx]

Look at all those pages! 😱😵😍 . Behold my #tometoppleround11 TBR 👏 I'm not sharing the spines this time around because I'm going to colour my tbr, and turn the tomes around that I finish. . I don't expect to hit all of these, but I've made sure I have plenty of options in order to combat my mood-reading-stubborn-ass self. . 🌱Has been on my physical tbr the longest: A Discovery of Witches. 🌱A tome on audiobook: A Discovery of Witches/Six of Crows. 🌱A tome that's part of a series: The Poppy War/Obsidio/Aurora Burning 🌱A standalone tome: IT. 🌱A tome featuring an AAPI character: The Poppy War. 🌱A tome from a genre you don't normally read: A Little Life. 🌱A tome on your TBR with the most pages: IT 🌱An adult tome: A Little Life. . #tometopple #tometoppletbr #tometopplereadathon #tometopplechallenge @thoughtsontomes #paperbackstack (at Wollongong, New South Wales) https://www.instagram.com/p/B_9uVbggXqC/?igshid=103e40a3qxoiv

[randomsofmine]

November Wrap Up

This was a really good month. My best so far in terms of the number of pages read. I finished two readathons and managed to finish or catch up to four series. I finished 13 books and DNF’d 1. I read a total number of 6428 pages,  which is roughly 214 pages a day.

House Cup Reading Challenge

The Cuckoo Calling (Cormoran Strike, book 1) by Robert Galbraith I’ve been wanting to read this for ages but I kept putting off reading it in case it was terrible. I just decided to bite the bullet, bought a second-hand copy and I actually really enjoyed it. Yes, it is full of the standard tropes that detective novels tend to suffer from. And yes, I don’t love it like I do Harry Potter. But it was an enjoyable read. I liked the twist and only sort of saw it coming. Will definitely continue on. 4/5

The Strain (The Strain, book 1) by Guillermo del Toro

This is another re-read that I’m doing so that I can continue a series. I read this a few years ago and then just never got around to the rest of the series. The first read through I loved it, it was creepy and dark and atmospheric. This time around I listened to the audiobook and it was just as dark, creepy and atmospheric. I love the take on vampirism and I’m excited to pick up the next book. 4/5

Starflight (Starflight, book 1) by Melissa Landers

I liked this book. It was described as a YA Firefly novel, which I can see where the comparison comes from. But I didn’t love it.IT felt a bit trope-y, there were time jumps so we didn’t really get to see the characters building their friendship and relationships. There were some good points. The world building was very interesting, something happened towards the end that I didn’t see coming and I liked that the main female character was a mechanic. 3/5

Godsgrave (Nevernight Chronicles, book 2) by Jay Kristoff

This book....killed me, it was so good. It was very dark and bloody and just as a good as the first book. The world building is very strong (although I believe there may be some controversy over how Kristoff represents a particular race which is based on the Maori people. As I don’t know too much about this, I’m not gonna comment on it). The main character is very strong and flawed and fascinating, especially in terms of what she is or isn’t willing to do to get her revenge. She may or may not be bi (I can’t remember if it’s ever stated that she loved Tris) but either way, she’s definitely somewhere on the LGBTQ spectrum.Yay! Can’t wait for book 3.  4/5

PS I Love You by Cecelia Ahern

My sisters, Mum and I love the movie of this. It’s been played at least a bajillion times in our house by now. So I figured I’d finally get around to reading the book. It was different from the movie. The book is set in Ireland instead of America.  I liked it, not as much as the movies but I liked it. I did not like the supposed love interest. He was a moron in the end. But I did love that it showed the complexity of grief and that you just don’t get over losing someone in a few months. It's an ongoing process.3/5

Secrets and Scoundrels by Sarah MacLean

The Rogue Not Taken, book 1 4/5

A Scot in the Dark, book 2 4/5

These were perfect to read during the readathon. Fun and quick to read. I did pick up the 3rd book later in the month. My favorite in the series is the 2nd book.Sarah MacLean is a brilliant romance writer and I just love her. And the sisters in this are just brilliant. I want them for my friends.

Tome Topple

Ship of Magic (The Liveship Traders, book 1) by Robin Hobb

I finished the Farseer Trilogy in October and loved it. I was a bit worried that after 3 months, I’d be tired of Robin Hobbs writing.....that was stupid. This was even better than all of the Farseer books. It has a much darker tone than the Farseer books and there are parts that actually upset me. Within 100 pages I had gone through so many emotions, to the point I was almost in tears over something happening while I was on a bus. Women in this part of the world are slower being made into less than what they were. It is socially unacceptable for a woman to handle business matters. It's very realistic. There are multiple POV’s in this series, which differs from the Farseer where we only saw through Fitz’s eyes and the changes were handled very well. I already can’t wait to get to the second book. 5/5

Orange (Orange, vol.2) by Ichigo Takano

This was a fun and cute read. However, I felt the ending was a bit abrupt and sometimes the characters came off as a bit overly dramatic. 3/5

The Republic of Thieves (Gentleman Bastard, book 3) by Scott Lynch 

I love this series. I cannot express how much.It’s fun, action-packed, smart, dark and gripping. I love all the characters. And I love how Scott Lynch handles the changes between the past and present scenes. It’s handled so well and with minimal confusion. I’m now settling into a long wait for the 4th book but given everything, it’ll be worth the wait. 5/5

Other

The Day of the Duchess (Secrets and Scoundrels, book 3) by Sarah MacLean

This is the third book in the series. I would give this a trigger warning for child loss and adultery for this one. It was very emotional. 4/5

The Shadow Revolution (Crown and Key, book 1) by Clay Griffith and Susan Griffith

I picked this up on a whim literally because it had werewolves, steampunk, and historical London. It wasn’t greatly written. It was a bit clunky...but I really did enjoy it. It was very action-y and had a couple of interesting magic systems within the world. I think I will carry on with it. 3/5

Burn for Me (Hidden Legacy, book 1) by Ilona Andrews

Interesting world building where people with powers are essentially running things while people without powers try to survive. The heroine is a bounty hunter in a family run business. The hero is a man with major powers. I liked this. I did have some issues with the hero. He was very Alpha male and he was a bit overly confident that he would get the heroine into bed. I will probably pick up the remaining series but mostly because I loved the heroine's family. Full of bad ass women and very funny. 3/5

DNF

Lorna Doone by R.D. Blackmore 

Alright, I made a good attempt at this. I got almost 200 pages in. But through the entire bit that I did read, I kept thinking “What is the point of this? When does the story start?”There were characters that were incomprehensible, including the main character at points. I kept finding excuses to not pick it up which is when I knew I had to DNF.I’m not sure I will ever attempt this again.

[maximumpetal-blog]

In the month of August I participated in 3 readathons, #TomeTopple, #7in7readathon and the #rainbowreadathon, and finished 16 texts, 5 of which are The Rainmaker by Barbara Todd translated to Korean by 강미나, The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, Cloud Physics by Karen Enns, Admission Requirements by Phoebe Wang and my #fivestar read, What the Soul Doesn't Want by Lorna Crozier. It was a good reading month however, September and October were a bit disappointing readingwise because I was busy with preparing for the baby and then eventually caring for a newborn and healing. Hopefully November will be better as I am planning on joining two readathons. Other works I finished in August: .Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix .Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince .Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ⬆all by J.K. Rowling of course .The Buckwheat .The Flying Trunk .The Drop of Water ⬆all by Hans Christian Andersen .B .Milk and Honey ⬆Poetry .Everyone's Getting Married Vol.4 .Kobato Vol.1 ⬆Manga .New Clothes for New Year's Day ⬆Picture book #book #books #bookstagram #booknerd #reading #read #readathon #readingnow #tometopplereadathon #throwback #august #booklife #booksforlife #bookstagrammer #harrypotter #fairytale #poetry #poems #manga #picturebook #북스타그램 #책 #책스타그램

[marsreads]

“There is... this rage." she said "This despair and hatred and rage that lives and breathes inside me. There's not sanity to it, no gentleness. It is a monster dwelling under my skin. For the past ten years, I have worked every day, every hour, to keep that monster locked up. And the moment I talk about those two days, and what happened before and after, that monster is going to break loose, and there will be no accounting for what I do." — Sarah J. Maas, Heir of Fire . . . . . I've decided to partecipate to the Tome Topple Readathon (: it goes from 11.59 on the 4th of August to I think the 18th but I'm not very sure of it. I intend to read Queen of Shadows by Sarah J Maas and The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson! . . . . . . . . { #books #booklr #booknerd #bookworm #bookstagram #booklover #bookshelf #bookstagram #vsco #vscobooks #instabook #reading #yareads #bookaddict #bookstagramfeature #epicreads #fiercereads #summer #beach #sea #sand #tometopple #tbr #tometopplereadathon }

[reader44ever]

And here are the books I hope to read in the next #TomeTopple Round! This post should have been shared on the last day of the #TomeToppleReadathon as "Books for Next Time" was the #TomeToppleChallenge for that day, but I was too busy trying to finish my last two books to stop and put this collage together. 😉 . . . So, what am I hoping and planning to read in Round 5 of Tome Topple? . . . IF I Can wait that long (when IS the next round?), I will reread The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss and then move right onto The Wise Man's Fear. I bought The Name of the Wind in mass market paperback yesterday. I had hoped to also buy The Wise Man's Fear, but B&N only had one copy of it and it was ripped. 😔😢😭 . . . So I ordered The Wise Man's Fear and should be able to pick it up later this week. 😁😊 . . . I also definitely plan to read Blood Song by Anthony Ryan. I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway three or four years ago. Round 5 of Tome Topple will be the perfect time to finally read it. 😁😊😉 . . . And I might read The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee. I have this book out from my library right now, but I doubt I'll be able to read it. I just have too many other books that I have to read first. So I might save it for Tome Topple's next round. 😕🙄 . . . So these are the four books that I *might* read next round. I'll try to get others, too (or instead, depending...), but I'll figure out my true Tome Topple Round 5 TBR when we're closer to starting it. 😉

[becaw15]

Day 8: Tome in Favourite reading spot. I usually read in my chair while listening to music, sometimes my bed but I usually can only read for like half an hour in my bed before I want to pass out. Also Mesh office chairs ftw! #tometopplereadathon #tometopple #tometopplechallenge #bookstagram #BookDragon #readingspot #booklover #spotify #organized #currentlyreading

[cup-of-letters]

My TomeTopple ReadAThon TBR.

Thats a readathon where you have to read books that has 500 and more pages.

It takes place from April 7th to April 20th.

1. Stīgs Lārsons “Meitene, kas spēlējas ar uguni” (Stieg Larsson “ The Girl Who Plates with Fire”) 647pages

2. Dens Brauns “Inferno” (Dan Brown “Inferno”) 592pages

3. Kolīna Makkalova “Dziedoņi ērkšķu krūmā” (Colleen McCullough “The Thorn Birds”) 697pages

I hope to read at least one. :)

[chronicles-of-a-paper-heart]

A bit late, but here is my April tbr.

Not pictured is A Court of Thorns and Roses 🌹

Game of Thrones and Voyager are part of my #tometopplereadathon tbr. So excited for all of them 😍

I’m also participating in a got readalong and in an acotar readalong. This is going to be a good reading month ☺

[chaos-carat]

Day 4 of #tometopple wirh challenge to picture a summer coloured tome.. And this is the most summery I had 😊 #tometopplereadathon

[bibliophilicwitch]

End of Year TBR

Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson (backlist; own audiobook/physical; #tometopplereadathon)

Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson (new release; own audiobook/physical; #tometopplereadathon)

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse (audiobook on Scribd; requested physical for Christmas so no longer on 2020 tbr; #tometopplereadathon)

Baptism of Fire by Andrzej Sapkowski (backlist; own physical/audiobook; buddy read)

The Burning God by RF Kuang (new release; own physical; #tometopplereadathon)

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik (new release; own physical; currently reading)

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert (backlist; library physical/audiobook on Scribd)

Year of the Witch: Connecting with Nature's Seasons Through Intuitive Magic by Temperance Allen (group read; audiobook on Scribd)

The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein (backlist education; audiobook on Scribd; buddy read)

[randomsofmine]

August Wrap Up

This has been an amazing reading month and its largely in part thanks to Tome Topple and The Reading Quest readathons. I picked some amazing books and they inspired and drove me to keep reading. In total, I read 16 books with no DNF’s and a total of 5512 pages. (thats roughly 177 pages per day!)

Books Outside of Readathons

The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower, book 1) by Stephen King

This was really not what I was expecting,after watching the movie trailer.It is very different.But I really liked it.It had a Old West/High fantasy feel to it. There was a bit of time jumping and the main character is a bit of an unreliable narrator.I also felt like I’d missed part of the story.But I will be picking up more of the series (hopefully soon!).I’m already a massive Stephen King fan but I’ve only read his horror novels and am really looking forward to going into his other genres. 4/5

San Andreas Shifters series by Gail Carriger

Marine Biology, book 0.5 2.5/5

The Sumage Solution, book 1 3.5/5

So these are by a favourite author of mine.I love Gail Carrigers steampunk series The Parasol Protectorate. Now while I didn’t fall immediately in love with this series, I did enjoy it a lot. The Sumage Solution was this months VF alt pick, which I’m really glad of. It’s a m/m erotic romance and is set in the same world as The Parasol Protectorate but further into the future. The novella was ok, it was a short story to get you into the world and could have done with being a bit longer to give us more time with the characters. The Sumage Solution was very sweet and there were some very good sexy time scenes between the two main characters.I will definitely be continuing on with the series.

Tome Topple

The Gentlemen Bastards series by Scott Lynch 

The Lies of Locke Lamora, book 1 5/5

 Red Seas Under Red Skies, book 2 5/5

I read the first book in this series years ago, loved it and always meant to return. I kept putting it off and then managed to pick up books 2 and 3 as part of a deal a little while ago. Re-reading the 1st book was amazing. I thought I had remembered everything but I definitely hadn’t. I had only planned on reading the 1st book for the readathon but found myself diving into the 2nd book straight away. And it didn’t disappoint. It was just as brilliant as the 1st. Scott Lynch has created a fantastic world, which is almost Medieval Italy with an Oceans 11 theme and some magic. I loved Locke and Jean’s friendship. The whole book is filled with the amazingly realistic characters, twists and very dark moments. I’ll be picking up the 3rd book as soon as my readathons are over.

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue (Guide, book 1) by  Mackenzie Lee

This book was such a delight to read. Its a fun historical romp across Europe......except its not just that. Its also a m/m romance between 2 best friends. The main character is bisexual and has clearly been abused by his father because of his relationships with men. This is the 18th century and Percy is part of the aristocracy so this is not unexpected and I think it was handled fairly well. Percy’s sister is also along for the ride and is (potentially) asexual, which I just loved as asexuality is not something that is usually written about much. There will be a sequel next year and I will be picking it up. 5/5

Orange: The Complete Collection, Vol. 1 by  Ichigo Takano

This was a cute manga set in a school, where a new student has just arrived. The main character has received a mysterious letter in the mail which sets into motion a series of events. I enjoyed this. It was fun, although I didn’t get some of the references or humour, but I have already bought the 2nd volume. 4/5

The Reading Quest

Assassins Apprentice (Farseer Trilogy, book 1)by Robin Hobb

This was also for the readathon Plenty of Hobb and a re-read. I think I read this about 8 or 9 years ago and had only vague memories about the story. One thing I had forgotten........how dark it could be. There were some moments where I had to stop for a second to breathe. It was amazing. The world building was rich and interesting. The story had me on edge at parts and always interested.I will be carrying on with the series, one a month for the next year and I am sorely tempted to just ignore the schedule and jump into the next book. 4.5/5

Paper Girls, vol. 3 by Brian K Vaughn

This just keeps getting better and better. I don’t want to spoil too much but I will say if you love mysteries that are outside the box, excellent characters and strong world building, this is definitely for you. 4/5

October Daye series by Seanan McGuire

Chimes at Midnight, book 7 4/5

Never Shines The Sun , book 7.5 3/5

And so continues my love for this series. Its just one of my favourite. Seanan McGuire has created this very dark and fascinating world.Book 7 was full of high stakes and had me on edge to see how it would end.And full of the gallows humor that I love.Book 7.5 is a novella set before the series and adds another layer of mystery to Octobers life.

Knit One,Two Girls by Shira Glassman

This was a short f/f romance centered around a knitting project. It was sweet and well written. It could have done with being much longer. I wanted to spend more time with the two main characters and have the romance more drawn out. It went a bit too quickly for me. But if you are looking for a good short story, I can recommend this. 3/5 The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

A fascinating and some what horrifying look into the history of the HeLa cells. These cells lead to the discovery of an untold amount of vaccines, cures and scientific knowledge. However the origin of the cells (and sometimes use of) is highly controversial. The cells were taken from an African American woman by the name of Henrietta Lacks, in the 1950′s who had cervical cancer without her or her family’s knowledge or permission. This is a hard book to read, there are areas that will make a person uncomfortable. It goes into detail about Henrietta Lacks history (medical and personal) as well as her family’s history (I would give a trigger warning for the parts about Deborah Lacks childhood). It also goes into the history of scientific experimentation,especially on people of colour. There were genuine moments where I had to put the book down due to the overwhelming emotion I was feeling at the time, mostly anger and horror.I completely recommend this book, I think its very important for people to understand what has happened and how far we’ve come. 4.5/5

Stars of Fortune (The Guardians Trilogy, book 1) by Nora Roberts

An easy magical romance read. I’ve read Nora Roberts Cousins O’Dwyer trilogy which I really enjoyed and this is along a similar vein. It takes place in Greece and brings together a bunch of strangers who are linked to an ancient myth. It is very insta-lovey but for a quick easy read, its not too bad. 3/5

Sylvester by Georgette Heyer

A classic Georgette Heyer novel that thankfully lived up to its hype. I’ve so far never found a bad book of hers. Miscommunication, rakes and high society.I actually listened to this via Audible and the narrator was Richard Armitage which never hurts. 4/5

Overlapping Books

American Gods (American Gods, book 1) by Neil Gaiman

I picked this up after watching the Amazon tv series. It’s a fairly accurate adaptation which I really appreciate. This is my 3rd Neil Gaiman book and its by far my favourite. The melding of the modern world and the ancient was fascinating and really well done.  5/5

[feminist-dreaming]

Happy Saturday! For the next #TomeTopple challenge I am supposed to post about my most recent Tome purchase. I looked through my thickest book purchases for the past 3 months and none of them exceed 500 pages! My most recent Tome purchase is my duplicate copy of East/North Child! This book is massive and so much fun. It’s one of my favorite #eastothesunwestothemoon retellings! @ediepattou does a fantastic job retelling the beautiful story. The sequel for East, West, comes out in October! Don’t forget to preorder! . . Today I’m still working on #TowerOfDawn by #SarahJMaas 😍 it’s so freaking good! It’s just been so hot that I can barely focus 😂 I wanted to read outside but it is supposed to be 90 degrees Fahrenheit until 10PM! It’s wild! . . #accessibility [the book North Child by Edith Pattou in front of a bunch of books that are faced so their pages face forward.] . . {#edithpattou #norsefairytales #norseman #norsemythology #bookshelf #tometopplereadathon #tomes #tometopple #bookstagram #bookblog #bookblogger #blog #blogger #bookreview #bookreviewer #review #booktube #booknerd #bookworm #booknerdigans #bookshelf #bookshelfie #shelfie #booklover #bookporn}