We all have books in our physical or digital shelves that aren’t exactly a priority and for that same reason only remain forgotten and unread, year after year, in our shelves.
Since I don’t like unhauling unread books, my idea for this challenge is to try reading around forty pages of 12 or 24 of these books and then decide if I want to continue reading them, or if the book isn’t for me and needs to find a new home.
The rules for this challenge are as follows:
Choose Your Challenge
Normal or Hard Mode (12 or 24 Books)
Normal Mode – Try 40 pages of 12 books which aren’t priority in your TBR, and that you have in your physical or digital shelves. Decide if you want to finish or unhaul them.
Hard Mode – The same with 24 books.
Slow or Fast Mode
Completing the challenge in one year or two.
*****
My Challenge TBR
I’ll be planning twelve books during one year for now.
1. The Red Knight by Miles Cameron. 2. Mr. Darcy’s Diary by Amanda Grange. 3. Blood Engines by Tim Pratt. 4. Bronze Gods by A. A. Aguirre. 5. The Golden Age by John C. Wright. 6. Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan. 7. Lord of Snow and Shadows by Sarah Ash. 8. Prisoner of the Iron Tower by Sarah Ash. 9. Treason Keep by Jennifer Fallon. 10. The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli. 11. The Wren Hunt by Mary Watson. 12. Enchantée by Gita Trelease.
Any books I should read first, or give up and unhaul? Let me know in the comments!
March of the Mammoths is a very interesting readathon where you read a book of fiction or nonfiction that’s 800 or more pages in length. Originally created by Jason @OldBluesChapterandVerse and Alex@BigAlBooks, this is a readathon I often try to participate in March.
It takes a specially interesting book to make me invested in reading it beyond the 800 page limit. I don’t consider myself a literary reader and classics sometimes are 5 stars for me and sometimes I simply end up not finishing them.
Books I have read, liked a lot, and would therefore recommend for this readathon are:
Fantasy
The Stormlight Archive Series by Brandon Sanderson
Let’s start with the most popular and obvious mammoth fantasy books.
The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance were both big 5 star favorites for me. Oathbringer and Rhythm of War dropped into 4 star territory but were still very much worth reading.
Gemma Doyle Series by Libba Bray
Truth be said, only the third book in this series, The Sweet Far Thing, is a mammoth.
If you like LGBT historical fiction filled with magic and deep themes, then this series is for you. It’s worth binge reading the entire series. And I want to pick more books by this author for sure.
A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin
Many years ago, I read books #1 – 5 and had a great time with them. There was an incredible ammount of violence, and the fact that this series will probably never be finished detracts a bit from my enthusiasm for recommending it, but even though I don’t regret reading it.
Books I have in my TBR for this Readathon
The Roots of Chaos series by Samantha Shannon
I have read The Bone Season Series by this author and really liked it so far, therefore I have this other series, with the books A Day of Fallen Night and The Priory of the Orange Tree, on my TBR list.
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
I haven’t read this book myself, but my mother read it and really liked it. I have had it in my TBR since then, for the next historical fiction and mystery book I plan to read.
And you? Which Mammoths would you recommend? Let me know in the comments.
My 2024 Book Bingo blog post was one of the most successful blog posts in the history of this blog. It had 3K views so far, and yep, I am happily surprised by that number. I have had a TBR for the Hard Mode of this challenge since the beginning of the year, but I didn’t have the time to post it here so far. Without much further ado, here’s my TBR: I might change some of the choices like I did last year, but in its totality I hope to be as successful as last year in reading most of the planned books):
Bingo Challenge Hard Mode TBR:
First Row:
*Hard Mode: Novella by an author you didn’t read before – I’m between two choices here: The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht Or Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress. And I might even read both books since they have been long in my TBR anyway.
Rainbow: LGBT+ Another book that has been for years in my radar: Luck in the Shadows (Nightrunner #1) by Lynn Flewelling
*Hard Mode: 700+ Pages I already managed to read a book for this prompt in January, and that was Lord of All Things (Herr aller Dinge #1) by Andreas Eschbach, Samuel Willcocks (Translator).
*Hard Mode Jumping Cat: Book with a witch and her cat familiar on the cover or story. In the Company of Witches (Evenfall Witches B&B #1) by Auralee Wallace
Red or White: Book with Red or White on the cover or title. Red Mars (Mars Trilogy #1) by Kim Stanley Robinson.
Second Row:
*Hard Mode Robot: Non-Human character is the protagonist/main character of the story. Barsk: The Elephants’ Graveyard (Barsk #1) by Lawrence M. Schoen
Black or Grey: Book with Black or Grey on the cover or title. I will still decide which book I will read for this prompt. Perhaps The Haunting of Blackwood House (The Haunting of Blackwood House #1) by Darcy Coates. I am not sure yet.
Castle: Fantasy, Romance or Castle on the cover I like to read historical fiction/romance/mystery sometimes. Therefore I’m planning to read The Late Mrs. Willoughby (Mr. Darcy & Miss Tilney #2) by Claudia Gray. Another idea for this prompt would be The House Witch (The House Witch #1) by Delemhach, I heard good things about it on Booktube.
Green or Purple: Book with Green or Purple on the cover or title. I might read The Inheritance Games (The Inheritance Games #1) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes for this since it has a green cover. This book would also fit the romance prompt above. An idea for the purple cover would be The Disasters by M.K. England. This book would also fit the LGBT prompt.
*Hard Mode Rocket: Sci-fi without aliens. I plan to read Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre. This has been in my TBR for years now.
Third Row:
Number in the Title 20 Years Later by Emma Newman. I really like the writing style of this author, so I plan to read all her books.
Out Of Your Comfort Zone: A book in a genre you don’t usually read. I rarely read and enjoy Horror books, but I will try to read Rupert Wong, Cannibal Chef (Gods and Monsters: Rupert Wong #1) by Cassandra Khaw.
Free Space
*Hard Mode Favorite Author: Three books by your favorite author. I will read three books by Adrian Tchaikovsky: Lords of Uncreation (The Final Architecture #3) Bear Head (Dogs of War #2) The Doors of Eden.
I already finished Lords of Uncreation and really liked it.
Poetry, Nonfiction or Graphic Novel I must still decide what I will read here. Perhaps the graphic novel, The Moth Keeper by Kay O’Neill.
Fourth Row:
Christmas or Halloween: A book set during Christmas or Halloween A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny.
*Hard Mode Record Player: Three books written before you were born. The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester The Plumed Serpent by D.H. Lawrence Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier
By An author you never read before
Knot: Book with a twist. I read The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton now in January and I really liked it. It has more than a few twists! I surely want to read more books by this author.
A Book In Translation I read the dystopia I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman, Ros Schwartz (Translator) for this prompt and really liked it. This book would also work for the feminist prompt below.
Fifth Row:
*Hard mode Detective: Book with a mystery written by a woman or nonbinary author. I will be continuing the Three Pines series with A Fatal Grace (Three Pines series #2) by Louise Penny.
I would gladly accept recommendations of mystery books by nonbinary authors, since at the moment I can’t think of any.
Bipoc Author Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
*Hard Mode ‘One’ Book: Three Standalones I haven’t decided yet, but I might read three mystery standalones for this prompt. My ideas here would be: The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton, The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
*Hard Mode Gothic AND Feminist: Why choose? Read one Gothic and one Feminist book. Feminist – The Wall by Marlen Haushofer, Shaun Whiteside (Translator) Gothic – All the Murmuring Bones by A.G. Slatter, Angela Slatter
Dragon: Book with a dragon on the cover or title.
The Forgotten Beasts of Eld: 50th Anniversary Special Edition by Patricia A. McKillip. Other ideas for this prompt would be: Dragons of Autumn Twilight (Dragonlance: Chronicles #1) by Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman. Dragonsbane (Winterlands #1) by Barbara Hambly Dragon Mage (Rivenworld #1) by M.L. Spencer.
This year I’ll be doing a new Reading Challenge where I plan to prioritize 24 books I predict will be 5 stars for me.
This list will include books by already established favorite authors of mine, but also books by authors I’ve read one five or four star book the years before, and which have a high probability of another five stars in their backlist.
Without much further ado, let’s talk about books!
I) By Brandon Sanderson
1. Wind and Truth (The Stormlight Archive #5)
The expected publication for this awaited sequel is only December 2024. I will be trying to read this as soon as it’s published though.
2. Yumi and the Nightmare Painter (The Cosmere #29) and The Sunlit Man (The Cosmere #30)
I read Secret Project #1 and #2 in 2023 and I liked both of them enough to plan to read the next two.
II) By Adrian Tchaikovsky
3. Lords of Uncreation (The Final Architecture #3)
I read the first two books in this series in 2022 and then I had too many books to read and somehow forgot about this last book. I am currently reading this third and final(?) book.
4. The Doors of Eden
I planned to read this one last year as well, but that wasn’t done for lack of time too.
5. Blood of the Mantis (Shadows of the Apt #3)
I read the first two books in this series last year and this year I plan to continue this series.
6. Precious Little Things (Made Things #0.5)
I listened to the audiobook of Made Things last year and it was so nicely narrated by the author himself. Made Things is surely cozy reread material and therefore this short story in the same series is in my radar too.
7. Service Model
The expected publication is June 2024. This is another release that I will try to get to as soon as it’s published.
III) By Valerie Valdes
8. Where Peace Is Lost
This space opera was published in August 2023, but somehow this went under my radar. I plan to read it soon.
9. Fault Tolerance (Chilling Effect #3)
I planned to read this third book last year but I didn’t due to lack of time. I plan to read it this year soon too.
IV) By T. Kingfisher
This was one of the favorite authors I planned to read more in 2023. I had a high number of fantasy books to read by other authors though, and these somehow fell to the background.
10. Minor Mage
11. Bryony and Roses
12. The Raven and the Reindeer
13. Swordheart (The World of the White Rat)
14. Thornhedge
This is a horror Novella, but I’ll try it, even if Horror isn’t one of my favorite genres.
V) By Other Authors
15. Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
This is a Horror/Mystery-Thriller book published last year that has been in my radar because I really enjoy all books by this author.
16. Or What You Will by Jo Walton
Last year I read The Just City (Thessaly #1) and really liked it, so this year I plan on continuing the series and reading more books by this author.
17. I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman, Ros Schwartz (Translator)
I heard about this translated book for the first time on the BookswithEmilyFox Youtube Channel. It seems interesting enough for a five star prediction, even if it’s dystopia.
18. The Ring of Solomon (Bartimaeus #0.5) by Jonathan Stroud
I read the following trilogy last year and I really liked the writing style, therefore I plan to read this prequel book too.
19. The Weaver and the Witch Queen by Genevieve Gornichec
The Witch’s Heart by the same author was one of my favorite books of last year, therefore this is in my TBR too.
20. Before, After, Alone: A Planetfall Universe short story collection by Emma Newman
I read three books in the Planetfall series last year and they were all outstanding. Therefore this short story collection is in my radar too.
21. An Education in Malice by S.T. Gibson
This book, which will be published in February, is in my radar due to me enjoying A Dowry of Blood very much last year.
22. Creatures of Want and Ruin (Diabolist’s Library #2) by Molly Tanzer
I really liked the first book in the series, Creatures of Will and Temper, last year. I plan on continuing this series soon.
23. The Late Mrs. Willoughby (Mr. Darcy & Miss Tilney #2) by Claudia Gray
The genre-blend of Mystery and Historical Fiction is something I am always enjoying more to read. I listened to the audiobook of The Murder of Mr. Wickham (Mr. Darcy & Miss Tilney #1) last year, and decided this is a series I definitely want to continue.
24. The Clergyman’s Wife: A Pride & Prejudice Novel by Molly Greeley
I like everything inspired by Jane Austen’s world, and I also read The Heiress: The Revelations of Anne de Bourgh by the same author last year and really enjoyed it.
And you, which are the books you plan to prioritize this year?
Note: You can substitute 2 squares if you consider them too difficult to find a book for.
First Row: Novella Rainbow: LGBT+ 500+ Pages Jumping Cat: Book with a cat on the cover or title. Red or White: Book with Red or White on the cover or title.
Second Row: Robot: Non-Human character Black or Grey: Book with Black or Grey on the cover or title. Castle: Fantasy, Romance or Castle on the cover Green or Purple: Book with Green or Purple on the cover or title. Rocket: Spaceship on the cover or with Aliens.
Third Row: Number in the Title Out Of Your Comfort Zone: A book in a genre you don’t usually read. Free Space Favorite Author Poetry, Nonfiction or Graphic Novel
Fourth Row: Christmas or Halloween: A book set during Christmas or Halloween Record Player: A book written before you were born. By An author you never read before Knot: Book with a twist. A Book In Translation
Fifth Row: Detective: Book with a mystery. Bipoc Author One Book: A Standalone Gothic or Feminist Dragon: Book with a dragon on the cover or title.
Bingo Challenge Hard Mode:
Note: Like on normal mode you can substitute 2 squares if you consider them too difficult to find a book for.
First Row: *Hard Mode: Novella by an author you didn’t read before Rainbow: LGBT+ *Hard Mode: 700+ Pages *Hard Mode Jumping Cat: Book with a witch and her cat familiar on the cover or story. Red or White: Book with Red or White on the cover or title.
Second Row: *Hard Mode Robot: Non-Human character is the protagonist/main character of the story Black or Grey: Book with Black or Grey on the cover or title. Castle: Fantasy, Romance or Castle on the cover Green or Purple: Book with Green or Purple on the cover or title. *Hard Mode Rocket: Sci-fi without aliens.
Third Row: Number in the Title Out Of Your Comfort Zone: A book in a genre you don’t usually read. Free Space *Hard Mode Favorite Author: Three books by your favorite author. Poetry, Nonfiction or Graphic Novel
Fourth Row: Christmas or Halloween: A book set during Christmas or Halloween *Hard Mode Record Player: Three books written before you were born. By An author you never read before Knot: Book with a twist. A Book In Translation
Fifth Row: *Hard mode Detective: Book with a mystery written by a woman or nonbinary author. Bipoc Author *Hard Mode ‘One’ Book: Three Standalones *Hard Mode Gothic AND Feminist: Why choose? Read one Gothic and one Feminist book. Dragon: Book with a dragon on the cover or title.
Queen of Cups “Half in our world and half in the world of intuition, love and psychic phenomena, the Queen of Cups sits on her throne.”
Read 5 books by Women/Nonbinary Authors
Queen of Wands “The key to this queen’s infectious joy is that she is incredibly ambitious, but deeply noncompetitive. She’s always hustling, but she wants to know about your hustle too, and if there is anything she can do to help, she will… a serious abundance mind-set…”
Read 10 books by Women/Nonbinary Authors
Queen of Swords “All hail the Queen of Swords. With her mighty sword, she is ready to cut through whatever bullshit you or the rest of the world try to offer her… This Queen is in service to the truth.”
Read 15 books by Women/Nonbinary Authors
Queen of Pentacles “The Queen of Pentacles is a self-made woman. Sure, she might have had a little help from a parent or the King, but she put it to wise use, not frivolously burning through any theoretical trust fund but using it sensibly to build a simple yet beautiful life for herself.”
Read 20 books by Women/Nonbinary Authors
The Empress “The core of the Empress, the archetypal earth mother, is connection. Not only is the Empress connected, but all of her connections run deep.”
Read 25 books by Women/Nonbinary Authors
The High Priestess “The High Priestess represents the female individuals who in antiquity were crowned pope, or popess. She is the female or transgendered person who passed as male and was unwittingly crowned pope until their body betrayed them;”
My Reader's Journey 