Hello! I’m here to talk about my October reads for the Buzzword Readathon! **And every day we are reminded that discrimination against marginalized communities is still a serious problem, so click here to find a compilation of resources where you can donate your time, money, or whatever you can to support these communities. I still encourage you to research these causes on your own to educate yourself and find the best way to lend your support.**
This is the tenth post in my “Buzzword-a-thon” series. In case you’re new here, Buzzword-a-thon is a read-a-thon originally created by Kayla at the YouTube channel booksandlala. It centers around readers choosing books that include specific words or ‘types’ of words. This year, all prompts were selected in advance and it’s been loosely hosted once a month. I’m making a yearly challenge for myself to at least read one book with the buzzword each month, and also include one recommendation and one anticipated read in my monthly post. The theme for October was “words that somehow involve the elements” and this is probably the prompt for me that could be interpreted the most. So read on for my October Buzzword-a-thon bok choices!
Read in October – Blazewrath Games by Amparo Ortiz
-I veered a bit from my planned TBR and actually picked up Blazewrath Games by Amparo Ortiz again in October, which happened to work out for this particular Buzzword prompt. I originally read this book pre-publication back in August of 2020 (and you can check out my post with my original thoughts here) but I had acquired an early copy of its sequel Dragonblood Ring through an auction and wanted to read it before its release on October 12th, so I decided to pick up Blazewrath Games again in order to fully immerse myself in the world again, and I’m glad I did. The story follows Lana Torres who dreams of nothing more than representing team Puerto Rican as its Runner in the Blazewrath Games tournament. When a dangerous encounter with a Dragon Knight occurs on the day of her audition, Lana finds herself fulfilling everything she’s always wanted. But as time goes on, she finds that maybe, the circumstances were too good to be true, and she (along with her entire team) might just be pawns in an even more dangerous game. I loved going back through this book knowing how it ended and putting pieces together in my mind, rooting for the characters to succeed even when I knew how things unfolded. Team Puerto Rico, and truly all the players we meet at the Blazewrath Games, just warmed my heart with their loyalty, teamwork, and dedication to their craft, their countries, and their dragons. Lana Torres is such a stubborn girl, strong-willed and determined to do what’s right and protect those she cares for. She doesn’t always get it right, but her actions come from a good place. I also loved how in the sequel, we gain Victoria’s perspective. It was interesting to see things through her eyes, as her experiences and feelings differ so greatly from Lana’s. I highly recommend picking up this duology – and I wouldn’t even mind if we got more books in this world following these characters, I would read them in a heartbeat.
Recommendation – Elemental Haiku by Mary Soon Lee
-I knew from the second this prompt was released I was going to make this joke and choose Elemental Haiku: Poems to honor the periodic table three lines at a time. A few years ago I was strolling around Barnes and Noble and found this gem sitting at a table near the front. As someone who was made to memorize the first forty elements and their symbols in high school, and who loves short poetry, I had t pick this up. And it was exactly what was promised in the subtitle (which I just realized is written as its own haiku on the cover) – a collection of poems for the 119 elements on the periodic table (at the time of writing no know synthesis of 119 has occurred, so it has a temporary name, waiting to be named by those lucky enough to discover it). After the first 40 it did get a bit repetitive, but I did have a great time going through these poems with a little paragraph about the element at the bottom, and really cute illustrations drawn by Iris Gottlieb. So while this book might not exactly fit with what the prompt was going for, I would still recommend picking it up if you’re interested.
Want to Read – This Golden Flame by Emily Victoria
-I was originally planning to pick up This Golden Flame by Emily Victoria in October, until I won an ARC of Dragonblood Ring and I veered a bit off course. Still, it is a book I would like to pick up, hopefully sometime in the near future. The sole focus of the Scriptorium is unlocking the the magic of an ancient automaton army. The story follows Karis, who wants nothing more than to find her brother who was shipped away long ago. In her search, Karis awakens a hidden automaton, Alix, something that should have been seemingly impossible. Alix has a conscience of his own, but has no idea why he was made, or why his father once tried to destroy the automatons. Suddenly, Karis is being hunted, and must work with Alix to find her brother, and together they might just discover the secret that has kept her country in its power for centuries.
In conclusion, there’s only two more Buzzword prompts to complete, so let’s see what I make of them.
Where to find all these books:
Blazewrath Games: Bookshop Amazon Goodreads
Elemental Haiku: Bookshop Amazon Goodreads
This Golden Flame: Bookshop Amazon Goodreads
Author sites: Amparo Ortiz Mary Soon Lee Emily Victoria
Thoughts About Things 