August 2022 To-Be-Read Orilium Academy Autumnal Equinox Semester

This one has a bit going with it, so bear with me. This month is the Orilium Academy Autumnal Equinox Semester (hosted by G at Book Roast) and as I have two characters "attending" the Orilium Academy, I will need to fill in the various prompts for the readathon. 

Each character has their career path now and these classes in August will determine whether or not they can continue on said path to take on said career. I have two: Aurin Beileth the Godseer and Irwyn Gaerotan the Spellsword. They each need to reach certain levels within their courses in order to pass. These levels are: O - Ordinary, Q - Qualified, and D - Distinguished. In order to read the Distinguished level book, you have to have already read the Ordinary and Qualified level books first, thus the to-be-read list, with that in mind, is as such: 

Aurin Beileth - Godseer

Conjuration - Qualified

- O: Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (Read a book with Necromancy themes)
- Q: The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco (Read a book with a bone on the cover or in the title)

Inscription - Ordinary

- O: The Capture by Kathryn Lasky (Read a childhood favorite)

Demonology - Ordinary 

- O: Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller (Read a fantasy) 

Lore - Distinguished 

- O: The Foreseeable Future by Emily Adrian (Read a book featuring the color(s) of your country's flag)

- Q: The Merciless by Danielle Vega (Read a story featuring a betrayal)

- D: Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton (Read a book featuring a desert setting)

Restoration - Qualified 

- O: Survive the Night by Danielle Vega (Read a book with a single object as the focus on the cover)

- Q: Descendant of the Crane by Elizabeth Lim (Read a book that's among the oldest on your TBR)

Irwyn Gaerotan - Spellsword

Animal Studies - Qualified 

- O: The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman (Read a book featuring familiars or animal companions)

- Q: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater (Read a book with a raven on the cover or in the title)

Demonology - Ordinary 

- O: The Justice of Kings by Richard Swan (Read a fantasy) 

Spells and Incantations - Ordinary

- O: Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman (Spin a color wheel and read a book with that color cover [I got Navy Blue]) 

Restoration - Qualified

- O: Eve by Wm. Paul Young (Read a book with a single object as the focus on the cover)

- Q: Daughters of Ruin by K.D. Castner (Read a book that's among the oldest on your TBR) 

Currently Reading: 24 to 30 July 2022

Currently Reading

- The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah (74%)

- Magpie Training by Irene Glasse (14%) 

- Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson (21%)

- Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao (23%)

* * *

Yearly Reading Goal

30/50

-

Yearly Page Goal

11,167/25,000

* * *

In the last week or so, I've made a new decision. Instead of $5 for each book I finish, I'm going to instead put away (either withdraw entirely or just move to another account) $10 for each book. History has already resoundingly taught me that I cannot afford any more. However, if there is someone else who would like to match me for the books I finish...we both put $5 or $10 into my bank account when I finish reading a book, that would also be nice. Help me save up for the new house. 

Realized either last night or this morning, I don't quite recall which, that I'm not quite going to make my reading goal for the month of July. There will likely be 2-3 books that get left out. I've not even started one of them yet, and it's rather long. Something like 650+ pages. It will get up onto September's TBR then. Started, I think, on April's. August already has a full claimed TBR for a readathon that I will be posting soon. So much to do.

Failed Camp NaNo. Only got about halfway through the word count goal that I wanted and then just sort of gave up? Not even going to bother with today and tomorrow. It's like that sometimes. I'm considering not participating in NaNoWriMo in November (which we all know is an outright lie, I just feel better announcing it?). I'm not even sure what I would put for my project. There's nothing really speaking to me right now and I prefer definitely doing original works in November over fanfictions. I'll give thought to it. Perhaps we will end up just continuing Project Book or Project Gorge. Who knows?! 

Nothing else particularly exciting has occurred. I realize I didn't mention the sale I talked my roommate into taking me to. Barnes & Noble was doing a BOGO sale of sorts, Buy-One-Get-One-Half-Off. I proceeded to spend $105. I got three new books that I wanted to read that looked interesting (one I even vaguely remember being popular last year on BookTube) and just a new edition of The Last Wish. It's ILLUSTRATED. My heart. I couldn't resist it. It was entirely worth the $36 I paid for it. Geralt on the cover looks amazing. Can you tell what my latest literary obsession might be?

With that, I'm also out of news of the week for reading! Finished one book, almost finished another. Might be able to squeeze in a third before Monday, August 1st....so I shall see you in the next one!

Currently Reading: 17 July to 23 July 2022

 Currently Reading

- Magpie Training by Irene Glasse & Caine Dreamwalker (14%)

- The Tower of Swallows by Andrzej Sapkowski (36%)

- Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson (11%)

- Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao (23%)

* * *

Yearly Book Goal

29/50

-

Yearly Page Goal

10,319/25,000

* * *

Just like that I've stopped writing for the Camp project. Lost all interest in writing for the time. I'm back to reading. I've also cut my reading goal in half. There was no way I was going to read 100 books this year with the schedule they give me at work and other non-work/non-reading things I have to do...so we opted for 50. That way I can still meet the goal even though I know I won't be reading nearly as much. 

Doing pretty well as far as reading actually goes, too. Have about half my TBR to go yet for the month, but I think if I dedicate myself, I can get it done. I need to read fifteen books in August to "pass" the various courses that the two characters have and officially move on to the next level of "training" in the Orilium readathon hosted by G at BookRoast. I'm hoping to get at least one of them all the way through. I don't know what would happen if I miss?

Other than that, nothing really exciting has occurred. My week's been pretty steady. I'll see you all in the next one~

Currently Reading: 10 to 16 July 2022

 Currently Reading

- Magpie Training by Irene Glasse & Caine Dreamwalker (14%)

- Blood Like Magic by Liselle Sambury (18%)

- The Tower of Swallows by Andrzej Sapkowski (18%)

- Witch 13 by Patrick Delaney (05%)

* * *

Yearly Book Goal

28/100

-

Yearly Page Goal

9,899/25,000

-

Camp NaNo Goal

19,427/31,000

* * *

My copy of Blood Like Magic by Liselle Sambury arrived yesterday. It's such a struggle to not actually start it right off. I've already got enough books on my currently reading, including one over 800 pages long. Which of course means the new book that I just got is the one that I want to read more than any other (when I can even convince myself to read).

I have been thinking about my reading life as well lately. Decided on a new "goal" that I'm going to set for myself for the back half of 2022. Because I don't really review as many books as I should, when I finish one I'll write up a shorter review for it and post it here, on Instagram, and on StoryGraph. I post them here regardless, but I rarely ever keep track. From now on, as a promise to myself, I'll start up again with it!!

So I completely lost the bet with myself. I've started reading Blood Like Magic and kicked two books that I wasn't actively picking up at all. Why leave them on the list if I'm not going to bother? I like the list to help push myself, but I don't think now is the time for the big book. Instead I've swapped out to books that I know I'm going to like and will want to read. 

I checked my StoryGraph progress the other day to learn just how far behind goal I am. I logged book 28/100 two days ago. I am supposed to have already reached book 54/100 according to the site. This means that starting in August, I really need to buckle down and read my books. Try to see if I can find shorter YA or Middle Grade novels that I can use to read quickly and fill in the backlog that I owe to myself. Let's see if I can complete the mission!!

That's all for now folks. I'll see you next time~

2022 Mid-Year Book Freakout Tag

 I rarely do any tags I see these days. Mostly it's people using that tier system to "rank" their books, which really I don't bother because I don't see the point in ranking books that way. However, I will participate in one of the largest tags that I see come across the Bookish community. The Mid-Year Book Freakout. With that said, let's get into the questions (and my answers!) 

1. What is your favorite book so far in 2022? The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh. I loved the storyline and the way it was told. You could almost feel the same emotions the main character was going through as it was happening. 

2) What is the best sequel you've read so far in 2022? The Time of Contempt by Andrzej Sapkowski, being (at the time) the only sequel I've read in 2022 thus far. I watched the first two or three episodes of the Witcher series on Netflix and I've seen the animated movie, Wolf's Nightmare. Before I finish the television program, I'd like to read all the way through the series. As of the writing of this, I am on volume 4. 

3. New release you haven't read yet, but want to? The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah. It reminded me a lot of a combination of Aladdin and the Forty Thieves and what I've heard about the Daevabad series. (Did I spell that right? I'm not sure I did). Either way it looked really interesting and I am looking forward to reading it. 

4. What is your most anticipated release for the second half of 2022? Easily Heart of the Sun Warrior by Sue Lynn Tan. I bought myself the first book in the duology, Daughter of the Moon Goddess, being already somewhat familiar with the legend that inspired it and I am curious to see where she goes with the rest of the tale. 

5. What was your biggest surprise so far of 2022? How terrible Everyday Magic by Semra Haksever was. I was so disappointed in what she wrote. I wouldn't be surprised to learn she's a TERF or anything. She seemed to be of the impression only women could be witches (insisted on using she/her pronouns and referring to witches only in the feminine) and a good deal of what she wrote was meant to be taken as 100% the only way when I am positive that's not correct. 

6. Who is your new favorite author? That's a tie. Solidly. Between James Islington (Licanius Trilogy) and Matthew Ward (Legacy Trilogy), both of which are epic adult high fantasy authors published by Orbit. I guess my new favorite publisher in 2022 is Orbit? 

7. Who is your newest fictional crush? Another easy one. That is [Sir] Geralt of Rivia. He doesn't strike one as the kind of person you would have a crush on, but his morals are so sound that he is willing to do just about anything to uphold them. He's strong, smart, almost foolishly brave, and not to mention really nice to look at (in any of his many versions). I will forever be enamored by Geralt. 

8. What book made you cry? I can't really think of one? I sometimes get misty-eyed, but so far this year there hasn't been a single book that's actually moved me to tears. Not even tears of joy or frustration. I suppose the closest I came was when I was reading I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai? But that was long enough ago that my memory is quite hazy now of the event. 

9. What book made you happy? This one is easy: Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan. Being already familiar with the legend of Chang'e, I was quite pleased by the way she retold the legend and then added to it with Xingyi. It was well written. 

10. What was the most beautiful book you bought this year? As of the typing of this, I want to say its between Daughter of the Moon Goddess and Blood Like Magic by Liselle Sambury. The cover is stunning for it. I love the way the purples, pinks, and silver smoke trails mesh together on the cover with how the main character is cast almost in shadows. It is very pretty. 

11. What books do you need to read before the end of the year? I want to finish up the Witcher series (The Tower of Swallows, The Lady of the Lake, and Season of Storms) by Andrzej Sapkowski...I also want to finish The Light of All that Falls by James Islington and the two books left in Matthew Ward's Legacy trilogy (Legacy of Steel & Legacy of Light). I also want to read Blood Like Magic by Liselle Sambury, The Inheritance Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin, and the Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jemisin. 

What are your answers to the tag? Do it yourself and let me know!!

Currently Reading: 03 to 09 July 2022

 Currently Reading

- A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan (54%)

- The Light of All that Falls by James Islington (02%)

- Magpie Training by Irene Glasse & Caine Dreamwalker (10%)

- The Tower of Swallows by Andrzej Sapkowski (03%)

- Witch 13 by Patrick Delaney (05%)

* * *

Yearly Book Goal

27/100

-

Yearly Page Goal

9,558/25,000

* * *

Camp NaNo Goal

11,323/31,000

* * *

Camp NaNo is going well. I've given up on one of the projects entirely and have since removed it from my computer and all websites it was attached to. Decided to work on one of my original fiction pieces for the rest of the month and then take August as a break and go back to it in September to read over and edit my draft before sending it on to beta readers. I'm about 2500 words ahead of where I am supposed to be, which is interesting. Usually I'm falling behind. We will see what happens later!

I've succeeded in hitting one goal already for Camp NaNo. On July 5th, I made it to the 6,000 word mark, which means I can get one new book this month so far (not including my Book of the Month pick). I went with Liselle Samsbury's Blood Like Magic. I've been following her for a bit on YouTube and thought it was only a good choice for my reward for myself for hitting my writing goal. It's expected to arrive some time today between 16:00 and 19:00. It started at 15:45-18:45, then went to 14:30-17:30...like no one has any idea. 

Reading has been going fairly well. Haven't finished anything, but I have been making good progress on A Natural History of Dragons, which if you'll notice was not at all even on my to be read for July. I learned that Shelf Space, one of the Discord servers I'm in, was reading it as their July book and as I have a copy...I figured I'd read it. I love it so far. I'm just over halfway through, and should be able to finish it probably tomorrow if I dedicate myself. 

Not much else is going on. Just writing up the next chapter of Project Book and continuing my reading. I'm waiting [in]patiently for my book to arrive in the mail and then we will probably start reading it or see if we can hold off and use it in a prompt for August's Orilium readathon. 

Currently Reading: 01 to 02 July 2022

Currently Reading

- The Light of All that Falls by James Islington (02%)

- Magpie Training by Irene Glasse & Caine Dreamwalker (10%)

- The Tower of Swallows by Andrzej Sapkowski (03%)

- Witch 13 by Patrick Delaney (05%)

* * *

Yearly Book Goal

27/100

-

Yearly Page Goal

9,304/25,000

* * *

Camp NaNo Goal

1,211/31,000

* * *

I am quite aware that we jumped from May to July. Figured with the start of the second half of the year, I'd just start over again as far as the blog posts go. Was pretty much starting all new books anyway with the exception of literally one (which will take me a quite a while to get through, and it's not the one you think it is.) ANYWAY let's get moving in the blog!!

Failed the Guild-a-Thon with flying colors. Only read one book, and that was An Echo of Things to Come by James Islington. I am proud of myself for finishing a 700+ page book in a single month though. I've never done that before. There's that and that's pretty much all of the reading updates from June. 

I picked a rather reasonable bookish TBR this month as mentioned here for those of you who are interested in reading it. If not that's totally okay. I doubt highly that I'll finish the first one. I believe there's a grand total of about 3,500 pages' worth of reading on that list. One book taking up nearly a third of that on it's own. I can't wait to see how far I get!

Camp NaNo July has started. I'm sitting pretty at 1211/1000 on Day 1. We'll see how far we can keep that going before I stop writing. I picked my project for the month as the "fanfiction" one featuring my Wolvden pack as the main focus. There was a lot I needed to do with it anyway, so we'll see if we can't keep it up by making it our idea. I think in November, I'm going to work on the rewrite of Project Book. It needs to be started again from basically the ground up. 

I'm going to add the Camp NaNo goal listing here as well, just because it makes me happy. This month my self-set goal is 31,000. I always aim for 1,000 words a day during the camp seasons. I don't know why. I could push myself to write more, but I never felt the need to? It's not really about winning. Never has been. It's about building that daily writing practice. I'm looking forward to seeing if I get to the 31,000. 

I suppose that will be all this week. See you all next Saturday~

July 2022 To-Be-Read

So to keep up with the new ideas that we have been following, I have my new July 2022 To-Be-Read list. Let's see how many of these I can actually get through before the end of the month!!

Physical

1. The Light of All that Falls by James Islington - The third and final volume (also the largest by far) in the Licanius Trilogy. I am quite looking forward to this. With how the second volume ended, I am definitely putting this one a little higher up on the reading list than the other books becuase I absolutely need to know. I am wondering exactly what the plan is and how the one thing I know of that had to happen is going to take up 816 pages. 

2. The Tower of Swallows by Andrzej Sapkowski - I was supposed to read this last month and never got that far. The fourth book in the Witcher series, this follows more of the journey between Cirilla and Geralt and how they fare against their enemies. I can't exactly go into detail since this is the fourth book and you need to have read the first three to understand, regardless of the show (which does change a few things...). I am interested in learning about how Geralt deals once again with the rogue bard Dandelion following him and/or just turning up wherever he happens to be. 

3. The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah - This was my June 2022 Book of the Month pick and it looks amazing. Did I realize it was Orbit at the time? No. Am I even more intrigued, knowing the kind of books they publish (of which I have read a few)? Yes. Definitely yes. The synopsis of this book gives me very strong 1,001 Nights vibes, especially Aladdin and the Forty Thieves. I cannot wait to find out more. 

Digital

4. The Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton - Another book I was supposed to have read in May and June. (or was it April and June....maybe all three?) Following the new tradition, since I started it and did not finish it before the end of the month, it's being transferred over to the July TBR. Hopefully I can actually get through it this month!!

5. Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson - It looked interesting and I needed a murder or murder/mystery book for last month, which I never got to. Hoping to read it this month. I need a good spook now and then. From what I gather, someone is recreating murders from famous books and people suspect a bookseller who had previously compiled a list of the most unsolvable murders from those popular books. It looked really good and I am very much curious to see if it was him or someone else looking to frame him. 

Audio

6. A Hero Born by Jin Yong - I've read this book in the past, having been on the hunt for translated works and stumbling across this on BookOutlet. I've since gotten the other three books in the series and want to re-read it before diving in because frankly, it's just been too long since I've read it. Literally all I can remember is that involves someone who is raised thinking they are Mongol and they are actually Han Chinese? My memory of four-ish years ago is a bit hazy. In any event, I'm looking forward to listening to this one and refreshing my memory before jumping into the next one. Who knows, maybe I'll find the others on audio and make it a series. 

Bonus

* Alcestis by Euripides - It's a short series of plays by the famous Greek playwright. I've been learning about Greek culture and history lately and figured what better source (albeit mangled) than the original works? Who would better tell me how the ancient Greeks perceived their gods and their religion than said ancient Greeks?

* Witch 13 by Patrick Delaney - I have no idea. It showed up in my BookBub freebies, and it looked interesting. Discovered it was free with Kindle Unlimited (which I now have for my sister). Thought I'd give it a go. If I don't finish it before the end of the month, that's okay. I'm not particularly worried about it. I liked the little rhyme at the front and know almost nothing else about it beyond that.

June 2022 Wrap Up

I'm getting much better at remembering to post and upload these. Can we keep the momentum going? 

In June, I read 2 books: 

1. Llewellyn's 2022 Almanac ed. by Llewellyn Publications - I like to read the articles in these and I found quite a few of them to be actually good. Especially one about magickal protection for protesting. With the current political climate, it seemed oddly appropriate. I also am rather fond of the coloring pages that they have at the back of the book. 

2. An Echo of Things to Come by James Islington - This chunker of a book took me the entire month to read, but I did get through it and that makes me proud. I enjoyed this book. we get more of Caeden's memories returning and the weight of his past coming back to haunt him. I won't and really can't go into too much detail, as this is the second book in the trilogy. I will say it was wonderfully done. I loved how captivating Mr. Islington's writing is. I had put it down for a while, but went right back into it reading 75-100 pages a day. I feel for them over the sacrifices they made, either the ones they volunteered for or the ones that were forced upon them. It was not fair. Sometimes they were forced onto paths that they otherwise would not normally have taken. I am greatly looking forward to finishing the series.

June 2022 Book Haul

I'm going to try to be better at remembering to actually write up and post these. So far in my goal of purchasing less books, I'm actually doing fairly well. Last month I bought 2 and so far this month I've purchased 3. 

1. Magpie Training by Irene Glasse and Caine Dreamwalker - The first reason I bought this? I am personally acquainted with Irene Glasse. I've been down to her CUUPs chapter to attend Full Moon walks in the past and I've met up with her at a Pagan retreat last year. So when I heard she had a book coming out, I rushed right off to order it. Both she and Caine refer to their series as Blackfeather Mystery School, which I think is a good name. The object of this, and what I assume will be subsequent volumes in the series is: a foundational, full-spectrum training in empowered witchcraft. It focuses on reducing self-sabotage while providing a solid grounding in magickal theory, devotional practices, mysticism, spellcasting, and ritual work. So says the back of the book. I'm looking forward to reading this in a group with my own CUUPs chapter. 

2. The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah - I went with this for my June 2022 Book of the Month selection because it looked rather interesting. Strikes me as a sort of Aladdin retelling? Maybe Thousand and One Nights. I'm not sure really. In either case, it still looked good. We follow Loulie al-Nazari, the "Midnight Merchant" who steals and sells magic. She saves a prince and draws the attention of the sultan. Said sultan blackmails her into going in search of a lamp in the desert. Starting to sound familiar? I think I've seen this before....grabbed it wanting to know more. Then realized it was from one of my favorite publishers: Orbit. First book in the Sandsea Trilogy. 

3. Dark Rise by C.S. Pacat - I bought this one on the recommendation of a friend from Discord. We were discussing our May reads and June TBRs and she asked if anyone had read it yet. I looked it up and was intrigued by the synopsis and the fact she said it made her angry. I want to know. I have to know. So when it appeared on my BookBub bargain email at the very top for only $1.99, you know this little goblin couldn't resist. I hope I like it. All I know right now is that it's portal magic and LGBTQIA+, which is really all I need to know.