I’M BACK! Sorta.

Happy 2020, one and all! How have you guys been?

Things are wonderful on my end. I’ve done a crapton of traveling (quarterly visits to Tokyo, literally). A lot of crafting was done over the holidays; I wanted most of my gifts to be handmade so I’ve been swimming in more yarn than I can crochet lately. I’ve experienced so many amazing things from an intense 3-day anisong concert to meeting my favorite Japanese stage actors. My 2019 life had been very good.

My 2019 reading life, however, er… that kind of suffered. I only read 81 things last year, some of those are manga re-reads or just speeding through a series to add to my numbers. Since I was traveling, I barely had any reading done. There were weeks where I didn’t even look at a book, much less pick one  up to read it. I did finish an audio book while in Japan only because my lease on that was coming up. I know 81 books is nothing to laugh about but in general, it was a rather weak reading year for me. I did enjoy quite a few books but towards the end of the year, I just wasn’t reading.

This year, I want to change that. Not only to read more but also to read more physical books. I, too, was sucked into the whole Book Outlet and books for cheap hype. Across used bookstores, thrift shops, and online sellers, I’ve accumulated a lot of physical books. (Hah, my yarn stash is starting to sing the same tune.) However, I also have e-readers and quite frankly, they are much more convenient to tote around on the go. I don’t think I even read a physical book all of last year apart from some light novels and manga. I already told myself that if I were to buy a book, it should be either signed or less than $10 brand new. (LOL, let’s see how long I can stick to that.)

Anyway, I don’t usually do this IRL but here are my 2020 READING RESOLUTIONS. I can’t guarantee anything but I am determined to stick to these few. It’s about time I get back into reading because it’s fun and I enjoy it very much.

For the first one, I already mentioned it: Reading more PHYSICAL books. I’m still going to read on my e-reader and listen to audio books but I will make an effort to read an actual book for a change. I have piles and piles in my room. I do have a book sleeve I bought YEARS ago and I want to be one of the cool kids that use theirs. And I honestly want to buy more of those book sleeves.

Speaking of piles of books, I want to try to Unhaul the books that either I’m no longer interested in or those that I didn’t like. That will then motivate me to read an actual book in order to decide whether I like that book or not. I mostly have older titles because I never really kept up with what’s new. I’m overwhelmed as it is haha. So I hope that will make this whole unhauling business a little bit easier.

Next on my list is to Review books on GoodReads. “I like it” or “It was meh” don’t cut it anymore. I used to word vomit on some titles – even blogging about them here – but lately, I’ve been uninspired. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve read quite a few amazing (and awful) books but none have fired me up enough to sit down and spend time to write about it. It’s one of those “I can’t be bothered” moments. I do have something to say but… I was lazy, I guess. If my falling from the face of this blog was any indication. 😉

One thing that I think was to blame for my disinterest in reviewing stuff was my goal of completing reading challenges. I would sometimes pick a book just so I can fulfill an item off the prompts. So it felt like it was forced rather than me really wanting to read something. Or instead of reading something I like, I’d reading something else just to cross that item off the list. Am I the only crazy one who feels this way? I’m definitely overthinking things, right?  So in that vein, my next resolution is to Not join annual reading challenges or readathons. I must say that I enjoyed the smutty reading challenge a lot! But while trying to complete that, I got so overwhelmed by the millions of romance books in existence. I tend to read oddly specific tropes, usually back-to-back, and I end up losing track of my reading plans.

I may participate in Tome Topple since that’s more chill and it gives me an excuse to tackle a 500-page book. Not that it’s needed. But that readathon is quite fun and the organizers are really supportive. So it’s not a total write off. Just… the less pressure the better.

I also want to go back to my yearly resolution of reading more from Asian authors, especially Japanese ones. I have quite a collection of Japanese fiction and I want to make a dent on that pile. I’m open to reading from other Asian authors but my priority is definitely Japanese ones. This includes light novels and manga.

What else? Oh, not really reading related but I do want to Write More. Not just blog posts and reviews, but in general. Honestly, I’ve sort of neglected my bullet journal for about a month now (vacation is fun but everything IRL takes a backseat lol). That used to be my main writing outlet. I also used to write fan fiction. I have so many ideas still! But right now, I don’t think I’ll post them anywhere. I would rather write them down in a notebook (I specifically bought a Moleskine squared grid notebook for this purpose last year)… and probably hide them for the rest of eternity. Hey, at least I got it out of my brain!

I think that’s it. I’m sorta back in the game. Maybe. Let’s see how long I can keep this up.

If you’re curious about the other stuff that I’m doing, the best place to keep up with me is my Instagram, I guess. And Twitter, if you’re interested.

So I guess, I’ll see you when I see you!

WRAP-UP | April 2019 + #TomeTopple Round 8

I’m such an awful book blogger. I tend to disappear with weeks and months only to come back with super late and almost irrelevant posts. But if you’re still here, still reading, I thank you so much. Like with every aspect of my fangirl life, I barely have reading mutuals IRL. So you, my bookish internet mutuals, are very much appreciated.

(If you want to know why I’ve been MIA apart my from my usual “life happens” spiel, do check out my Twitter and Instagram. Yes, life did happen – is happening – but all in a good way.)

Anyway, it’s a month late but here’s what happened with my Tome Topple Round 8 participation. I’ve decided this was my most successful attempt yet. There were only two set books in my TBR and I stuck with it. Nothing more and nothing less. I had a day or two left of the readathon after finishing my 2nd book but I was also prepping for an international trip so I capped it there.

 

I loved The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata (5 stars) so damn much. It was 16 hours on audio, 673 pages of slow burn goodness. I was saving this book for Tome Topple because it’s a romance book that satisfy the only important rule of this readathon. Then I also finished The Demon Crown by James Rollins (4 stars), part of the Sigma Force series that I love so much. I cheated on this a bit because the hardcover is a bit under 500 pages so I went with the ebook (and mass paperback) pagination that puts it at around 600.

I told myself that I’ll finally by catching up to Sigma Force so I strong armed this book for Tome Topple. Turns out, it’s partially set in Tokyo with Japanese characters… I was going to Japan at the beginning of May. Yeah. This is going to be a recurring event in the next month also.

The rest of my April reads were Soulless by TM Frazier (5 stars) and The Stone Sky by NK Jemisin (5 stars). I was supposed to read the latter for Sequelathon but was unable to finish it within the time allotted. But I loved it so much, as well as every TM Frazier book I’ve read so far.

In total, I read 2037 pages, two audio books. Not a single manga. XD

(I initially wanted this to be a readathon wrap-up for both Tome Topple and the Asian Readathon until I realized that my Asian Readathon IS my May wrap-up. LOL. Stay tuned for that.)

#AsianReadathon | May 2019

I know it’s super duper late but I can still put this up, right? I’m aware that I haven’t even posted wrap ups for April and Tome Topple but I’ll make it up to you with double wrap ups by the beginning of June. I hope. XD

 

Photo by Yours Truly.

I was super excited when Cindy from @readwithcindy announced that this readathon is a go. For the whole month of May. It was perfect because for the first ten days of May, I will be in Japan. Surely, I’ll be so inspired to read books by Asian authors there, right?

Weeeeell… I sort of can’t read for leisure when I’m on vacation. Time and time again, I’ve proven that. However, I had some “required reading” to do for the shows that I was going to watch while in Tokyo. They were by Asian authors, with Asian characters, translated from the original Japanese, and two are manga. Great.

And they were. All three books were amazing and reading them definitely enhanced my enjoyment of their stage adaptations. I’m glad that I was able to read them since my Japanese isn’t 100%. My listening skills are definitely better than my speaking and reading. Having the knowledge from the source material helped it along.

But I digress. I know we have ten days before the end of May but here we go.

This readathon is hosted by:

CINDY | SANDRA| CHLOE | KAV  | ELLIAS

I runs the whole month of May in celebration of the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM).

For the record, I am Asian. I’m Filipino. So with that, plus sending the first ten day of May in Japan, a certified lover of anime, manga, and Japanese fiction… this should be fun.

The challenges are very chill and since this readathon runs the whole month, there’s not much pressure. I think the hardest thing for me is to not fill this up with Japanese authors. I mainly read Japanese fiction in terms of Asian literature, not to mention my love for manga over graphic novels.

Challenges:

1. Read any book by an Asian author.  (Any of these count but I’m picking The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco for this. A fellow Filipina!)
2. Read a graphic novel featuring an Asian character or written/drawn by an Asian author. (I read Haikyuu Volumes 22 and 23 by Haruichi Furudate for this. It was in preparation for Hyper Projection Engeki Haikyuu: Tokyo no Jin. It’s a 2.5D stage play. Look it up. You’ll thank me later.)
3. Read a book featuring an intersectional Asian character or written by an intersectional Asian identity (i.e. queer, mixed, disabled, neurodiverse, etc). (I read The Bride Test by Helen Hoang. Thank you, Hoopla for your no-wait system for audio books.)
4. Read a book by Asian author that was originally written in their native language (translated books and graphic novels count). (Kokoro by Natsume Soseki was my pick. I read it because I was going to watch a recitation drama by Japanese voice actors on my very first day in Japan. It was life-changing.)
5. Read the group book: A Thousand Beginnings and Endings by Ellen Oh, which will be covered in the live show on Saturday, May 25 at 6pm EST on readwithcindy’s channel. (I’m currently reading this. Unfortunately, short stories aren’t my thing and it actually takes me longer to read these than single story books.)

If you want, you can fill everything with manga. Or manhwa to have some variety. I’m interested in re-reading the rest of Haikyuu because I was just so inspired by the stage play that I want to relive the next arcs.

I know I keep mentioning Japanese work. It’s because I’m most familiar with them. Japanese thrillers are amazing. But I have read works by other Asian authors. I’m open to reading more, not just during this readathon. I love reading other people’s TBRs and recommendations.

So let’s make the most out of the rest of the month. I hope we all continue to read books by Asian authors and with Asian representation.

#TomeTopple | ROUND 8 (4/13 through 4/26)

It’s back! I am excite.

So far, I’ve been doing well on my “one readathon a month” thing. I was hoping the Tome Topple announcement will come through before I decide on another on. And here we are!

The Tome Topple Readathon is created by Sam from Thoughts on Tomes. The GoodReads group for this readathon can be found here. If you’re looking for recommendations, inspiration, and/or buddies to read with, go check out the group.

This readathon is hosted by:

SAM | ADRIANA | SARAH-JANE | SIAN |  CAZ | SAM 2

It’s going to be from 12AM of April 13 through 11:59PM of April 26, your time zone.

I won’t be doing much explanation here. You do you. As long as you read a book that is 500 pages or more. It can be of any format as long as it comes in something that has 500 pages. You can pick an audio book that may look short (say, 10 hours) but the printed copy has 600 pages. Or maybe the hardcover has 450 but the mass market paperback has 700. That counts too.

There are challenges but I think for this year, I’m just going to pick two books and go with those. Of course I’m going to make it count… somehow.

READING CHALLENGES:

1. Read more than one tome
2. Read the tome that’s been on your TBR the longest
3. Read a tome that’s part of a series
4. Read a tome from a genre you don’t usually read
5. Read an adult novel
6. Instagram challenges. (TBD)

What’s crazy is that these last two weeks of April is going to be hectic for me. Mostly packing and trip planning for Japan. Hopefully, I can use that time to audio book or read on my breaks.

So what am I reading? Here are the main two titles:

• The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata. The physical copy has 673 pages but I’ll be listening to this on audio. Mariana Zapata has some LONG books and I heard they are very slow burn. I picked this because a lot of people on GoodReads shelved this under “book boyfriend”. I can’t wait. I’m going to make this count for prompt #4 because it’s only been a couple of months since I read romance extensively. Also, prompt #5.
• The Demon Crown by James Rollins. I’m in a James Rollins kick, okay. I do own a signed hard copy of this book. However, I’ll be reading the ebook because that has 672 pages according to GoodReads. And of course, being on the go, I always have my e-reader with me. This satisfies prompt #3 and 5. If I happen to finish both within the two weeks, that takes care of #1.

In the event that I finish one early and I still have time to squeeze in another book (at least start it), I’ll probably pick up Courting Darkness by Robin LaFevers. The hardcover says 498 pages but, come on… two pages more? 😉 If not that, maybe another Mariana Zapata (audio) book.

Let’s see how well I do this round. Good luck to all participants!

WRAP-UP | MARCH 2019 + SEQUELATHON

It was a modest reading month. I did participate in a readathon but I can’t say it was a smashing success. For shame. It was a rather easy one but it just goes to show how much a mood reader I really am.

But this was a rather unique reading month for me. I did not read a single manga… something that I will hopefully remedy this month and the next. Also, all five of my reads are from the NA romance genre, three from the same author, the same series. It’s not as if I’m consciously crossing out prompts from the annual challenge. It’s what I’m in the mood for.

I’m thinking that April will be different. I went to a James Rollins signing and that inspired me to go back to one of my favorite genres, mystery/thrillers. They’re fun and easy to read or listen to on audio.

In 2011, I won a Goodreads giveaway for the book The Devil Colony by James Rollins. I had no idea what I was getting into. Eleven Sigma Force novels (and 4 of his other works) later, I finally met one of my favorite authors! Thank you so very much, Mr. Rollins, for these incredible books. And thank you, Vroman’s Bookstore for the opportunity. It seriously made my month. It was so exciting to hear his speak. I asked him who was his favorite character to write and he said it was Kowalski. He liked him so much that he brought him over to Sigma Force from Ice Hunt. And because of that, I’m listening to Ice Hunt right now.

Needless to say, I bought books in March. All of them signed, of course. On the day of the signing, I scored a signed copy of The Judas Strain from a used bookstore. From the same store, I bought a mass paperback copy of Blood Line, my favorite from the series, and The Bone Labyrinth, to bring to the signing. I do have copies of James Rollins’ books in my house but it’s a literal excavation getting to them. Then I bought Crucible at Vroman’s so I can get into the signing line. Keeping up with this signed book thing is working so far.

Even if I only read 5 books, I consider it a good reading month. I didn’t take the easy way by padding my numbers with manga, not that there’s anything wrong with that. Again, mood. Then I was able to stick with a series. And I was able to be a bit more critical with my rating. I would like to continue this trend. Never mind reading “less”.

(However, I’ve been binge-watching reading vlogs lately. They’re seriously inspiring me to read more. But. The new anime season is here. OTL.)

TOTAL BOOKS READ: 5.

• King by TM Frazier – I’m still getting used to aggressive alpha males but oh boy, that ending! I’ve been meaning to pick this book/series up for a while now. I heard this is a good dark motorcycle club “romance”. A lot of blood and violence. At first, I wasn’t too sure about the possessiveness of the guy and the blatant drug use but the more I read it, I’m actually liking it. 4/5 stars.
• The Controversial Princess by Jodi Ellen Malpas –  Okay. So. Adeline. I have some words. I went into this with high hopes. As you know, I like the royalty trope. But… I did not like this book. Yes, I was expecting the ending but everything happened in between felt so detached and unnecessarily long. Adeline is dumb and I wanted to punch Josh every time he opened his damn mouth. Oh Adeline… I have no idea how real royalty is but I sure as hell know regular people as stupid and useless as her so I know how and why her character irritates me. And Josh should just go the fck away. However, I like Damon. He can stay. Everyone else can leave. That’s one whole star for him and the other for the ending that I 1000% expected. Who knows… maybe I’ll read the next one too, a glutton for punishment. 2/5 stars.
• Tyrant by TM Frazier –  2nd part of the King/Doe arc. This was pretty dark. Like, I was shocked. There were some parts that I didn’t expect but it all wrapped up well in the end. I don’t know how people come out of this without some kind of psychological problem. Just… wow. 4/5 stars.
• Gabriel’s Inferno by Sylvain Reynard –  I finally got to this book and it didn’t live up to the hype that was in my head. It was a 20-hour audiobook. If I have to hear the narrator say “Julianne” one more time, there’d be hell to pay. It was longer than necessary and that ending was rushed, I literally missed it. (I listen to audio books at work so half my attention is elsewhere. Next thing I know, it’s the acknowledgements.) It was bordering on pretentious. I was expecting that but I just can’t get over the damn “Julianne” thing. Will I continue with the rest? Maybe. Idk. Someday. 3/5 stars.
• Lawless by TM Frazier – I didn’t realize that I was alternating my reading. This one I read for Sequelathon. I thought of taking a break from TM Frazier after finishing one arc but I needed to read about Bear and his girl, Thia. I like Bear. I liked him even in King’s story. I enjoyed the narration of his POV; it has me literally laughing out loud at some parts. Something awful was done to him at the end of Tyrant but he never let that show. He did drown himself in bad things but when he was needed to step up, he pushed through his pain. Thia, wow. I liked her too. Although I didn’t get much of her personality. (It could be my fault because I was so into Bear lol.) These two are very damaged people who found strength in each other. I liked that. 4/5 stars.

STATS:

• 1733 pages
• 3 audio books

As for Sequelathon, I got about 70% of The Stone Sky before the readathon ended. So my only book read for this particular readathon is Lawless… which is sort of a spin-off sequel, if that makes sense. It does not directly follow the book that came before it, however, it’s in the same series. Eh, whatever. It counts. XD

For this month, my readathon pick is one of my favorites… TOME TOPPLE! I’ll post my announcement and reading plans within the week.

#Sequelathon | The Stone Sky

Not a month goes by that I don’t participate in some kind of readathon. Or something that “forces” me into a structured TBR that gives some sense to my reading habits. I mainly look to it to broaden my reading tastes but so far, it’s only gotten me deeper into NA romance.

I stumbled upon Sequelathon through Julie of Pages and Pens (her announcement video is linked via the header photo above) and I was intrigued. I looked at the challenges and said to myself, “I can do this.” And I have one book to sort of satisfy all 3 challenges. But first…

Sequelathon starts Thursday, 3/21 until Sunday, 3/31.

Eleven glorious days. Why can’t all readathons be at least ten days long? XD

This readathon is hosted by:

SAMANTHA LEIGHANNE | REBECCA AND SARAH | KATHY | ZOE | BRANDY | AMANDA

The challenges are:

1. Read the sequel you’ve been putting off the longest
2. Continue with a series that you started last year
3. Finish a series
4. BONUS: Give a fun name to your tbr. “The Reckoning”, “PART DEUX”, etc.

Like I said above, I have one book for all three (four) points: The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin. Okay, to be clear, I technically started The Broken Earth trilogy in 2017. The Fifth Season was the last book I finished in 2017, clocking in on the very last day of the year. I hoped to finish the trilogy in 2018 but for some reason, I wasn’t able to do that. With this readathon, I will have no excuse to neglect another sequel. If (when) I am successful, I’ll be finishing that particular trilogy.

BUUUUT if I will stick with the rules and find something that I started in 2018… I can always throw in a Gakuen Babysitters manga. I had no idea how many series I finished in 2018 until I looked through my list. XD

 

WRAP-UP | FEBRUARY 2019

I’m starting to recognize that the secret to a good reading month for me is a readathon.

I read 7 books for Contemporaryathon Round 4. I started a new manga series (because I loved the anime so much, what’s new). I also read/listened to something that is not NA for a change. Who would’ve thought I’d say that lol.

I didn’t include reviews in my readathon wrap-up so I’ll have something to talk about here. I figured outside of the readathon, I won’t be able to do much more reading. And yes, I was right. After my 7th book for that week, I started a fantasy audio book. I put that on hold because I wasn’t in the mood for it and I didn’t have the time. Then I moved on to an NA audio book that I’m still listening to today. But I managed to finish another book, on March 1st.

Overall, I read 8 books. Not bad for a short month.

TOTAL BOOKS READ: 8.

• Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson – I loved The Remnant Chronicles. I read all three on audio so I figured I should do the same for this one. I actually borrowed this before, back when it was first released but I couldn’t get into it initially. I eventually picked it back up and I loved it. I loved going back to this world! 4/5 stars.
• Chihayafuru by Yuri Suetsugu – I loved the anime. In fact, I bought a “Caruta” shirt and a card set so that I can cosplay either Kana-chan or Chihaya come Anime Expo 2019.
  • Volume 1 – TAICHIIII!!! 4/5 stars.
  • Volume 2 – I mean, I already knew what was going to happen. But I still love it. 5/5 stars.
  • Volume 3 – Desk-tomu is my favorite character of this whole entire series. 5/5 stars.
  • Volume 4 – I’m so torn. I love Taichi and Arata both. Equally. But I feel so much pain for Taichi. That’s why I’m thankful that Desktomu is around. 5/5 stars.
• Tied by Carian Cole – Tyler and Holly were so adorable. I loved all the twists and turns of their relationships – with each other and with other people in their lives. So glad to have Toren around too. I hope we get stories about the other Grace brothers. Tesla too, I guess. I wonder if all of them are in age gap relationships lol. 5/5 stars.
• Newcomer by Keigo Higashino – Yes! Another Detective Kaga novel in English. I enjoy Detective Kaga books so much. They’re so witty and the storytelling is quite unique. This one was not as good as Malice. It took a while for me to get into it but once I did, I was hooked. 4/5 stars.
• Balance by Lucia Franco – I have feelings. I was so looking forward to this because this is a VERY forbidden age gap romance and from the snippets I spoiled myself for, the smut is PRIME. And they were, don’t get me wrong. The technical parts – explanations about gymnastics – read so easily, almost like a textbook. But everything else is… well, not the best. The main character is a privileged little bitch and the way she’s making fun of tofu and Kova’s accent was getting on my nerves. In the end, it picked up. I enjoyed it. 4/5 stars.

STATS:

• 2551 pages
• 3 audio books, 4 manga

I also bought one book! Courting Darkness by Robin LaFevers. Signed, of course. I was supposed to go to her signing but I remember it was a rainy day and I had a late night at work. All my other LaFevers books are signed (and personalized) so I gotta keep up the tradition!

 

WRAP-UP | #CONTEMPORARYATHON Round 4

My first time participating in Contemporary-A-Thon was a complete success.

Who would’ve thunk it?! 😉

I’m listening to a fantasy novel as I write this, The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. I got approved while I was in the middle of my 2nd Contemporary-A-Thon audio book. A sign maybe? After a whole week of reading contemporary, the universe is giving me a fantasy novel to enjoy. (I was on the waitlist for this book for close to three months almost.)

Not only did I read 7 books, I also hit all prompts! This is probably the first time I’ve ever done that. Buddy read prompts usually trip me up because I don’t do buddy reads. Never will. This time, I actually built a TBR to count for every single one. Except the Instagram challenges LOL. Yes, I doubled up but I still hit all of them.

Let’s see how my readathon week turned out:

1. Read your most recently acquired contemporary novel – Newcomer by Keigo Higashino. I got approved for the audio for this right as I finished another book so it counted as my most recent acquisition.

2. Read a book with plurple (blue or purple) on the cover – Balance by Lucia Franco. It has this blue/purple watercolor effect. All the other books have the same pattern.

3. Read a diverse contemporary – Newcomer by Keigo Higashino. Japanese author. Story based in Japan.

4. Read a dark or taboo contemporary – Balance by Lucia Franco. She’s 16. He’s 32, That’s all you need to know. And also, Tied by Carian Cole. She’s an abduction survivor and he’s a pretty damaged one too.

5. Read a contemporary you meant to read in 2018 but didn’t get to – Balance by Lucia Franco. I found out about this last year and I actually planned to read it for Tome Topple. But I didn’t get to it until last week finally.

6. Read a contemporary in a non-traditional format. – I read Tied and Newcomer via audio and Balance as an e-book.

7. Read a contemporary with a picture on the spine. – Chihayafuru Volumes 1, 2, 3, 4 by Yuki Suetsugu. I saw a set of the manga with the spines lined up and it’s all pretty.

All in all, it’s a total of 2043 pages read. I enjoyed most of them, rating all 4 to 5 stars. It was timely that I was obsessed with Chihayafuru and I was interested in reading the manga too. Carian Cole is easily becoming my new favorite author. I’ve always loved Higashino mysteries. I had a rocky start with Balance but in the end, I liked it a lot. I can’t wait to pick up the next book in the series.

I’m already scouting out potential readathons in March. Do you have any suggestions?

#CONTEMPORARYATHON | Round 4 Check-In

They suggested to daily vlog but I’m not brave enough LOL.

(Unless you guys want to watch someone gush over Chihayafuru, Haisute, bullet journal, Nendoroids, and yeah why not… romance novels.)

So here I am with a mid-readathon check-in. And I think I’m doing well enough.

I’ve finished three things so far:

• Chihayafuru Volume 1 by Yuki Suetsugu
• Chihayafuru Volume 2
• Tied by Carian Cole

That’s how I mostly consume my manga: anime first, then read the manga. Unlike with books, this method does not take away from my reading experience. I find that even when I skim through it, I don’t really lose a whole lot. I will continue to read Chihayafuru throughout the duration of this readathon and beyond. This manga series satisfies prompt #7, Read a contemporary with a picture on the spine.

As for Tied, I decided to have it count for the 4th prompt, Read a dark or taboo contemporary. This does have taboo aspects (a sort of age gap) as well as dark themes (abduction and abuse). I loved it. I’m adding Carian Cole to my favorite authors list.

I’m currently reading these:

• Balance by Lucia Franco
• Newcomer by Keigo Higashino

I admit, I thought I was going to breeze through Balance. The age gap aspect made it so exciting to me. But then I started reading and… yeah. It’s not bad per se but it’s quite inconsistent. The main female character is super annoying and the writing is kind of hard to read because it’s so choppy. I’m going to power through because this counts for two prompts: #2 and #5.

And finally, I’m currently listening to Newcomer. It wasn’t in my original plans. I placed a hold on Overdrive for this audiobook some weeks ago. I love Higashino mysteries. It’s just lucky that I got approved for it right when Tied was ending. I’ll have this count as my latest acquisition (prompt 1) and a diverse contemporary (prompt 3) since this is set in Japan by a Japanese author.

All of these reads count for prompt 6, Read a contemporary in a non-traditional format. I don’t own any of these physically so I’m reading digitally and through audio. A couple of days to go and I’m going full steam ahead.

By the way, I’m making an effort to read on my NOOK Tablet 7″. I mainly use it for watching videos on the go but I have books on there also. Since I wasn’t feeling Balance too much, I crochet an easy tablet sleeve instead. But don’t worry, I was listening to Tied as I stitched away.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

#CONTEMPORARYATHON | Round 4 + Reading Plan

Who would’ve thought that one day, I’ll find myself participating in a readathon for contemporary literature? In the past, I almost exclusively read fantasy, sci-fi, paranormal, and historical fiction. It’s only in the last year that I discovered that you can also get away from your own reality by reading someone else’s. Of course, I found that escape by reading what many consider guilty pleasure reads – emphasis on pleasure, lol – in the form of new adult romance but they are set in the present time, no magic and fairy dusts apart from the kind that you get when you fall in love.

As you will see, my picks for my first Contemporaryathon falls more for Smutathon (hah!) yet I’m still going to do it. I admit, the cutesy contemporaries still don’t do it for me, although I did love Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson. I do have another Matson book on my shelves but that fits more into Tome Topple than a week-long readathon. I really just aim to read one or two books, more if I decide to tackle manga. I have one book that satisfies a lot of the challenges. Plus, it’s a week-long readathon. I applaud those who can read 7 books in that week. I’ll never be that person, but I am extremely pumped if you are. 🙂

The fourth round of Contemporaryathon starts Monday, 2/11 until Saturday, 2/17.

Here are the announcement posts of our amazing hosts:

JULIE | CHELSEA | NATASHA | MELANIE

They also have a bunch of giveaways. I’ll pass but best of luck to those who are participating!

THE CHALLENGES:

1. Read your most recently acquired contemporary novel
2. Read a book with plurple (blue or purple) on the cover
3. Read a diverse contemporary (keep in mind it’s Black History Month)
4. Read a dark or taboo contemporary
5. Read a contemporary you meant to read in 2018 but didn’t get to
6. Read a contemporary in a non-traditional format.
7. Read a contemporary with a picture on the spine.
8. INSTAGRAM CHALLENGES

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As for my TBR, I really only have one book… Balance by Lucia Franco. 

It counts for prompts number 2, 4, and 5. For #6 too, if I’m pushing it since I’ll be reading the ebook instead of the paperback. I messaged the author asking if signed copies (or at least book plates) were available but she said they weren’t yet. Maybe it’ll be the same case as Birthday Girl by Penelope Douglas where I purchased a signed copy as soon as I finished the Kindle copy. Also, I think it’s better for me if I read this digitally because hey, it’s 600-some pages. Tome Topple material as well! And it doesn’t have an audio book, I think. I’m still not comfortable reading a book with a rather risque cover in public so e-reader it is. Whoo, what a tall order for my first foray into Contemporaryathon!

When I read the prompts, especially the 4th one, I immediately picked this book as my main read. And it’s also a book that I wanted to read last year but didn’t because of traveling. Conveniently, it has a blue and purple cover. Even the sequel has it. I might pick up an audio book to fulfill the other prompts such as the first one. Or like I said, a manga. I may have a perfect one in mind.

Now, all I need to do is to finish my current audio book and finish watching Chihayafuru 2 (I can do this today, but then I’ll be watching the live action movies too… omg I am thoroughly obsessed.) Also, yes… I do plan to touch the Chihayafuru manga for this challenge as short reads.

What are you planning to read for February?

Edit: I just remembered that the sequel to My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness by Kabi Nagata, My Solo Exchange Diary Vol. 2 is out! At least I saw it already at my local Kinokuniya. I might read that for prompt number 3. 🙂