Currently Reading: 11 July to 24 July 2021

  Currently Reading

- The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang (43%)

- Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes (31%)

- Black Witch by Laurie Forest (13%)

- Beneath the Apple Blossom by Kate Frost (02%)

- Fearless Tarot by Elliot Adam (52%)

- Persephone Unveiled by Charles Stein (20%)

- The Shadow of What Was Lost by James Islington (37%)

- The Fireman by Joe Hill (40%)

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Yearly Reading Goal

48/100

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Look at me go, remembering to post an actual update before, you know, a full month went by. I am amused by the Tarot prompts, so I may even just continue to read like that after the readathon ends. It will, somewhat ironically, help me get to my 100 book goal. Go figure. 

So, as you saw from the last post, one of the Swords specialties we can use is "upright" and that means we can use one book for two prompts. Depending on if there is murder in the one I'm on, I will see if I can use The Dragon Republic for both Bookstagram recommendation and featuring a murder. If not...I suppose I could swap right away to Evelyn Hardcastle, which everyone has been recommending. 

I've made it through the first book in the Tarot readathon, The Tale of Genji by Lady Murasaki. And I want to beat some sense into him. Minamoto Genji, for that is his name, doesn't understand the concept of other people not being of his status and thus liable to extreme social repercussions for association with him. He goes dallying about sleeping with whomever his fancy lands on, not caring one whit for if that person is older than he is or younger. He doesn't seem to notice or care about the marriage or social status of the people (there were men and women) that share a bed with him. I would have been able to look past most of this, until it came to the grooming of a child. Yes. He literally adopted a 10-year-old girl because she was was niece of the woman he got pregnant and allowed to be passed off as his father's child, raised her for about five years (he was 17 when he abducted this girl and 22 when...you'll see) and then switched to courting her instead of raising her. What the fuck? His whole goal in secreting away with this child was to raise her and get himself in her heart until she was old enough to sleep with him and become his wife. Just...ew. Why? 

Finished the second book now as well, Jason and the Golden Fleece by Apollonius of Rhodes. Clearly a much quicker read than the first one. I liked it better, even though I already kind of knew the story because of my love of Greek myth and legends. I heard part of the tale reading Circe by Madeleine Miller, and then whatever other books of myth because the fleece is prominent. I wonder how I will feel about the next book in the readathon?