Hello again! I’m here to talk about my participation in a really cool read-a-thon for the second year in a row! **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 past weekend (May 21st – May 22nd) brought about the second live 48-hour Becca’s Bookopolathon. Last March I also documented my reads (which you can check out here) so I thought I’d do the same this year. For those who are unaware, the read-a-thon was created by YouTuber Becca at the channel Becca and The Books. In December 2018, she began a series on her channel called “Bookopoly,” a game based on Monopoly [with bookish prompts] which she has used to choose the books she’d read in the next month ever since. In July, 2020, she hosted a 48-hour read-a-thon so that people who watched her channel could join in on the fun, with prompts being revealed every 12 hours on the read-a-thon’s Twitter page, and then a full month-long event in September complete with a special “Bookopolathon” board. For the 48-hour readathon, she gathers several of her booktube friends to volunteer to host reading sprints in four-hour slots so that at every point throughout the weekend, someone is live. 8 prompts in total are chosen from two of Becca’s boards, and (besides the initial two in the announcement video found here) are revealed two at a time at 12pm, 12am, and 12pm BST, so it’s very much a “plan as you go” type readathon. Honestly, I’ve been in need of some motivation to read (well, something other than romance) so I gladly took the chance to be involved, when I wasn’t too preoccupied with work. I tried to pick at least one book for each roll drop, to read (and try to finish) 4 books over the course of the weekend. And if you’re ever in need of more reading sprints, the playlist has been saved and can be accessed here.
Roll drop #1: small book (< 300 pages) / gods
-Ok so these were the only two prompts I had to plan going into the readathon, and it ended up working perfectly because I had just about 250 pages left to read [listen to] of Middlegame by Seanan McGuire, which features an alchemist, James Reed, wanting to ascend to godhood. I guess I technically crossed off both of these prompts, even though the entirety of the book is definitely not under 300 pages. Middlegame follows Roger and Dodger, twins who aren’t quite human as they were created by Reed to embody the Doctrine of Ethos, which would make him essentially able to control reality. Roger’s specialities are words and language, and Dodger excels in mathematics and computation – together they just may have the ability to change the world. I wanted to do a reread of Middlegame because its sequel / companion novel Seasonal Fears was just released and I wanted to become reaquainted with the writing style for this series. It’s certainly a complicated book to explain, especially plot-wise, and even upon reread I’m not sure I understand absolutely everything that happened, but there’s so much I can appreciate about what this book was trying to do and the messages it was trying to convey – there is conversation about loneliness, expectations, consequences, abandonment, and so so much more. There are some pretty intense content warning (you can find several in a thread from the author here) so please take care before picking it up, but I’m glad I asked for it in my office’s secret Santa 3 years ago, I know it’s a book I’ll come back through to ponder often.
Roll drop #2: ebook or audiobook / color in the title
-Last year, I’m not sure why but I had the weekend off which made it a lot easier to participate and be around for the roll drops. But since I had to work on Saturday, I hopped onto sprints quickly before I left home to check and see if I could fulfill at least one of them while at my lab (I work primarily in analysis so in between projects and on breaks I have some downtime). I ultimately decided to go with the ebook of Out of Character, a new adult romance and the sequel to Conventionally Yours by Annabeth Albert which I read earlier in March. Looking back now, the series title is actually “True Colors,” so if I wanted to stretch it this actually fulfills both prompts, but I’ll stick with just ebook for now. Out of Character follows Jasper and Milo, childhood friends until a falling out in high school. Jasper works at a store dedicated to the card game Odyssey, and one day Milo walks in asking for his help because he recently lost a few of his brother’s rare cards in a bet when he was drunk. Although he is still upset about what went down years ago, Jasper agrees to help only if Milo partakes in a cosplay group to cheer up kids at the local hospital. While the two start spending more time together, old feelings start to arise and both will have to decide what they truly want – from each other and for the future. I found this to be a pretty cute story, and I really appreciated how Milo struggles to cope with the actions of his past and trying to prove he can change and be a better person. Jasper also needed to learn how to trust his best friend again, and be open to the fact that sometimes there is more to someone’s actions than we may know outright. I still don’t fully understand Odyssey as a game, but I would still recommend this series if you’re looking for something emotional and sweet.
Roll drop #3: young adult / spooky vibes
-I didn’t get a chance to tune into the 3rd set of roll drops, as my parents and I were out to dinner after I got home from work, so I was trying to figure out a short book that would be able to work. Turns out that Down Among the Sticks and Bones, the second installment in the Wayward Children series by Seanan McGuire gave me just the right amount of spooky vibes I was looking for, and a book under 200 pages never hurts for a readathon. I won’t speak too much about my thoughts here, as I’m also using Down Among the Sticks and Bones to fulfill my Buzzwordathon prompt of “direction words” (and when that’s posted I’ll link it here) but this book follows Jack and Jill, two characters we meant in the first book Every Heart a Doorway. We see their childhood, growing up with parents with set expectations and little knowledge about what their children really wanted, we see them find a door in their attic and enter the Moors, a dark and logical world where one stays with the Master and the other becomes a scientist’s apprentice. After the events of Every Heart a Doorway I was so intrigued to see what became of Jack and Jill before they found their way to Eleanor’s Home for Wayward Children. The series can be quite intimidating, with all the love and hype that surrounds it, but I’m definitely interested to see what comes next.
Roll drop #4: water / feed scroll
-And last but not least, the last roll drop gave me some rather interesting options. When I scrolled down my Goodreads feed, the first book I came across was Hell Followed With Us, which comes out in June but I have an arc of from NetGalley. While I do really want to read it, and do it before release day, it seems like the kind of book I really want to sit with, and not rush through just for the sake of a readathon. I’m sure Sam will forgive me. So looking through the covers for books on my TBR I finally came across Weather Girl, Rachel Lynn Solomon’s newest adult romance release. I’d say the rain on the cover and the fact that the MC is a meteorologist, fulfills the water prompt quite nicely. Weather Girl follows Ari Abrams, who finds that working for her childhood idol Torrance Hale isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Especially when they work at the same station as Torrance ex husband, Seth, and the two just can’t seem to get along. After a disasterous holiday party, Ari teams up with her coworker, a sports reporter Russell Barringer, to rekindle a romance between their bosses. Ari never feels like she’s opened up to anyone outside her family, so working closely with Russell will truly tell if she’s ready to let someone else see her real self. I’ve really enjoyed everything I’ve read so far from Rachel Lynn Solomon (my favorite so far has to be Today Tonight Tomorrow) and Weather Girl was honestly no different. I absolutely loved the mental health rep in both Ari and Russell – Ari (and her mother) have struggled with depression, Ari was diagnosed in college and has been on medication and in therapy for it, while her mother never wanted to address the underlying issues of her mental health until she ends up admitted to a hospital for treatment a few chapters into the book. Ari struggles to let anyone see the ugly sides of her, because she fears that people will leave her just like her dad did years ago. Russell also struggles with opening up at work about his daughter, who he had young so he fears judgement from his fears. Russell is also fat, and says he has been all his life so he is afraid Ari won’t want to see all of him. I found this book just really sweet, with a nice helping of steam, and communication that doesn’t always go right the first time around. I think I’ve been gushing a little too much but I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it and all other Rachel Lynn Solomon books if you’re interested.
In conclusion, I’d say another successful 48-hour Bookopolathon is in the books. I can’t wait to see what prompts the next full-length one will bring.
Where to find these books:
Middlegame: Bookshop Amazon Goodreads Author’s site
Out of Character: Bookshop Amazon Goodreads Author’s site
Down Among the Sticks and Bones: Bookshop Amazon Goodreads Author’s site
Weather Girl: Bookshop Amazon Goodreads Author’s site
Thoughts About Things 