Overly Ambitious TBR BustAThon Reading Plans

Posted On August 6, 2018

Hey guys! Surprise post for today!

Last month, while I was doing the Biannual Bibliothon, I had so much fun that I decided, sort of arbitrarily and without much forethought, that I was going to try to participate in at least one readathon every month for the rest of 2018, and maybe 2019, though I have some travel plans that might conflict with that plan. 

In-keeping with the theme of very little preplanning, I decided yesterday (well, today when I’m writing this, but yesterday when this post goes up) that the readathon I was going to do in August would be the TBR BustAThon, which starts August 6^th and runs through August 12^th. Like most readathons, it has reading challenges, and I have picked five books that fit those challenges, which I hope I’ll manage to read this week, and two others that I will almost definitely not get to.

Anyway, let’s just get into the books I want to read.

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire

I was smart this time. A lot of the books on this TBR are books that are on my August TBR as well, because I don’t want to go another month without reading those books.

Besides, this book was practically made for readathons. It’s really short, and it fulfills a challenge. One of the BustAThon’s challenges is to read a book that’s less than 300 pages. Well, this book is only 170-something pages, so it easily applies to that challenge. Plus, I’ve been interested in reading this series for a while.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

I’m satisfying two challenges with this book, challenge #2, which is to read a book that has a mythological creature on the cover. On the edition I have, you can see that there are at least two of those: the unicorn and the three-headed dog. It also satisfies challenge #7, which is to read a children’s book. I know, Harry Potter can be read and enjoyed by anyone, but it is still technically a children’s book, so it counts.

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

I’m using this book to satisfy the third challenge, which is to read a book whose title begins with the first letter of your name. My name is Ariel, and the book starts with the word “a”. Is that cheating? Maybe, but I think it’s fine.

The Girl Who Smiled Beads by Clemantine Wamariya and Elizabeth Weil

You’ll probably notice that this book was not on my August TBR. That’s because none of the books on my August TBR were released in 2018. In fact, this book is the only 2018 release I own and have not read yet. I got it from a Book of the Month box back in April. I believe it’s a memoir, which is something I don’t normally read, but it’s about the Rwandan genocide, which I read about in one of my classes last semester, so I thought I’d pick this book up, and maybe learn a little more about it.

Arcanum Unbounded by Brandon Sanderson

The 5^th challenge is to read a book that has some kind of school supply on the cover. You would not believe how hard that is to find. I swear I looked at every single one of my unread books. This was the only one that had anything even remotely resembling a school supply on it (the book the person’s holding), so I’m counting it. This book is also easily the longest on this TBR, coming in at a whopping 671 pages. That’s certainly not the longest book I’ve ever read, but it’s a very long book to read for a readathon, especially when I have other things I need to do this week. Luckily, though, I don’t have to read it all at once. It’s a collection of 10 novellas set in Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere, so I’m planning on reading a few each day, and hopefully getting done with all of them by the end of the week.

***

That’s all I have for the main part of my TBR. The last challenge is just to read four books, so if I manage to get through all of those books, I will have completed that challenge.

As if all of that weren’t ambitious enough, I do have two other optional books I want to mention, in case by some miracle I finish all five of those books before the week is over. These two don’t count for any challenges, they’re just books I have on my TBR this month that I want to get to as soon as I can.

Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson

I was actually hoping I would be able to finish this book before the readathon started. I’ve only got a little less than a hundred pages left. Now I guess I have to put it off till the end, if I have time.

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

I really wanted to be able to put this book on my main TBR somewhere. Technically, I should have read it by three days ago, when the movie came out in the U.S., but I didn’t. Unfortunately, I couldn’t figure out how to fit this book into any of the BustAThon reading challenges, so I’m putting it here, knowing very well that I probably won’t get to it. Who knows, though? Maybe I’ll have a killer reading week and knock out 6 ¼ books in 7 days, while also managing to do things like work, sleep, and hang out with actual human beings.

It could happen. But probably not.

Anyway, that’s all I have. This super unrealistic TBR is over. I’ll see you tomorrow for a non-readathon-related blog post. Until then, happy reading!

-Ariel