If you haven't heard of The Reading Quest, here's the link to the original post over on Read at Midnight, with all of the challenges, rules, etc: Reading Quest Sign Up.
Brief summary, for those of you who didn't read that post: Each person participating chooses a character (to start out as) between the 4 listed above. Each of those characters has specific challenges that take up one side of The Quest Board. Your goal is to travel around the outside of the board, completing the challenges for as many characters as possible, while also completing optional side quests. But, you have to fully complete a character's path before starting a different character's path. There are several more specific rules, but those are the basics. Like I said, check the original posts for more of the details.
Below is the quest board. Predictably, I'm going to be beginning as a Mage (and then moving clockwise from there). I'm sure that I'm not going to get around the entire board and complete all of the challenges, but I AM going to create a TBR with options for each and every challenge, which will be updated as I continue along. At the very least, I'm hoping to fully complete the Mage path before the end of the quest.
Now that all the explanatory stuff is out of the way, let's go through my TBR, challenge by challenge.
Mage
A Book With a One Word Title
Elantris by Brandon Sanderson
Brandon Sanderson is one of my favorite authors (if not my favorite), and this is one of his adult novels that I have yet to read. It's also the one I'm most intrigued by, since the last standalone I read by him (Warbreaker) was my favorite book of last year. Super hyped for this one.
A Book That Contains Magic
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
A few months back, I announced a series (called YA Bandwagoning) on my YouTube channel where I was planning on reading popular YA books and doing an "as I read" style of video for them. That was like... March/April, and I still haven't done a single video in that series or read a single book on that list. So I'm using these challenges to help me actually get to those books. This is the one I'm probably most excited about on that list, so I'll probably try to get to it pretty quickly.
A Book Based on Mythology
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Look, I know re-reads aren't supposed to count (if I can't actually get points for this, so be it), but the last time I read this was 7th grade. I don't remember much about it at all. Plus, it's the only book I have based on mythology, and I never finished the series (and want to finish the series), so here we are. I've been meaning to get to Percy Jackson, so I'm guessing this is the best opportunity.
A Book Set in a Different World
Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas
Like with Six of Crows, this is for my YA Bandwagoning series. I've been meaning to read this for literally 3 years. I've had the book for almost 2 years. And I still haven't read it. I'm super curious about it, given the really mixed opinions on the series overall, but I'm also kinda anxious about it because it's so loved by so many people and I have a sinking suspicion that I might be one of the people who doesn't like it. But we'll see.
The First Book of a Series
Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes
I feel like a broken record here. This is for my YA Bandwagoning series. It's the first in a popular YA series. I actually think I might like this more than Throne of Glass. I feel like reviews of this series have been pretty solid across the board (but not outstanding), while reviews for Throne of Glass are all over the place (but generally on the decline as the series goes along). Anyway, I'm intrigued by this one and love when there are multiple plot threads following multiple characters throughout a novel.
Knight
A Book With a Verb in Its Title
The Song Rising by Samantha Shannon
The Bone Season series is my favorite ongoing series, and (per usual) I have yet to read the most recent release. It's partially because I feel the need to re-read The Mime Order before jumping into book 3, but there's also a summary up on Samantha Shannon's website for The Mime Order, so I might just be able to read that too. IDK, we'll see what I end up doing when the time comes. I'm honestly pretty skeptical about making it to this point, given that I plan to do a few of the side quests before moving on to the Knight path.
A Book With A Weapon On Its Cover
Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher
I recently re-organized my bookshelves so that an entire bookcase is devoted to my TBR (well-- most of a bookcase. Fortunately, my TBR isn't as big as it once was). I have that bookcase organized by the year that I got it, and this is on the "2014 or earlier" shelf. AKA the ones I've had for way too long without reading them. So this is one that I at least need to try to read, even if it's one that I don't end up liking.
A Book With A Red Cover
The Rook by Daniel O'Malley
This is another one that's on my "2014 or earlier" shelf. I discovered it on a book recommendation site after reading Ready Player One, and it's one that has a super intriguing premise, but I honestly just completely forget that I own it. It's been on my shelves so long that my eyes just glance over it when scanning for things to read. At the very least, this quest gives me a reminder that this book is still sticking around.
A Book That Has a TV/Movie Adaptation
The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
I feel like a broken record again here. This is on my "2014 or earlier" shelf, and it's one I've been meaning to read for quite a while. And I also forget that it's there because of how long it's been sitting there. So... we'll see. I don't think I'm going to get this far. But... optimism! Yay!
Taking a quick step away from the main quest into the side quests, since I'm much more likely to get to these than I am to the other 2 characters' paths...
Side Quests
Potions: A Book by 2 Authors
Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
I tried listening to this during the BookTubeAThon, and I thought it was just alright. I'm hoping to start over by reading the physical book (while listening to the audiobook?) to hopefully immerse myself more in the world and make it a bit more interesting. This is one of the ones I'm a bit less likely to get to. But, it is a YA Bandwagoning book, so... maybe?
Multiplayer: Buddy Read a Book
Little Monsters by Kara Thomas
I'm gonna be real honest here-- I really don't plan to read this. I'll only get to this if it's my last available spot and I'm desperate. Which is extremely unlikely. Anyway, this is the Booksplosion book of the month, and it did sound kinda interesting. That being said, it's not a book I own, which motivates me a lot less. There are only 2 books on this TBR that fall under that category and they're both ones I don't really think I'm going to get to. But I figured I might as well still chuck them on here anyway.
Time Warp: A Book Set in Either the Past or Future
Rebel Angels by Libba Bray
I started the Gemma Doyle trilogy during the BookTubeAThon, and I've been meaning to jump back into it ever since, so this might actually be the first thing I read instead of starting the Mage path. I'm really excited about continuing this series-- the first book was really awesome.
Grind: A Book With 500+ Pages
The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray
Along the same lines, I'm also hoping to move on to The Sweet Far Thing. Rebel Angels also technically counts here (530ish pages, I think) but given that double-counting books doesn't count (ayyy, bad pun), I figured this was the better one to put here. It's real chunky-- 800+ pages.
Open World: Read Whatever You Want
I'll probably end up doing this one, but given that I'm a mood reader, I'm keeping this open for now just so that I don't feel like I'm obligated to read whatever I put in this spot.
Re-Spawn: A Book You Previously DNF'd
Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor
Honestly, I've DNF'd a lot of books on this list, but this one just fit nicely here. I didn't do it because I wasn't interested in the book, but rather that I was in a BookTubeAThon time crunch and didn't have enough time to read the whole thing. I've been meaning to return to it for almost 2 years now, so I think it's finally time to. Plus it's another Bandwagoning YA book, so that's good.
Expansion: Companion Novel or Short Story
The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson
This is a companion to Elantris that's meant to be read after it, so I'll probably end up just reading The Emperor's Soul right after finishing Elantris. Like I said earlier in the post, I mean to get to a lot more of the side quests than the actual character paths.
Mini-Game: Graphic Novel, Novella, or Poem Collection
Battle Royale Vol. 3 by Koushun Takami
I read the first 2 volumes of the manga adaptation of Battle Royale during the BookTubeAThon, so I want to keep on making my way through the series, so that's what I'll do with this.
Animal Companion: References Animal in the Title
Honestly, I can't think of a single book on my TBR that fits this. Maybe I'm missing something (I didn't try too hard here) but I'm drawing a blank. I'll update this if I figure something, but... I'm doubtful.
Bard
A Fairy Tale Re-Telling
Geekerella by Ashley Poston
I got this back around the time it came out because I was in a reading slump and wanted to read it alongside Booksplosion to get myself back in a reading mood. Unfortunately, that clearly didn't end up happening. But, it still sounds super cute and it'll be a breath of fresh air, given all of the fantasy & darker stuff that I'm planning on reading.
A Book Cover With Striking Typography
Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor
If I'm planning on reading book 1 during the quest, might as well add book 2 to the TBR as well. At this point, I'm really kidding myself if I think I'm actually going to make it this far around the board, but oh well.
A Book Translated From Another Language
Battle Royale Vol. 4 by Koushun Takami
I'll get to the side quest before making my way all the way here, hence the side quest getting Vol 3 & this getting Vol 4. Either way, I'm hoping to continue the series ASAP.
A Banned Book
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
I actually first got this for a class (my sophomore year of college. Another from the 2014 or earlier shelf) and I never ended up reading it because I just watched the movie instead. But it's always really intrigued me, so I've kept it on my shelf all this time, so I might as well throw it on my TBR, even if we've already established that I'm not making it to this point on the board.
Rogue
A Book Published by a Small Press
London Belongs to Me by Jacquelyn Middleton
There are probably a couple other books on my shelves that could fit here, but I figured I should throw in a contemporary to lighten up this super dark TBR. I mean, I've got A Clockwork Orange on here. I'm going to need something happy after that.
A Book With Less Than 500 Ratings on Goodreads
Gamescape: Overworld
This is the other book on the TBR that I don't own. I'm definitely intrigued by it and it's one that I want to read, but since it's one I'd have to pick up from the library it's a bit lower priority.
A Book Cover W/ A Partially Obscured Face
Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor
Once again, I'm probably not going to be getting to this, but if I'm going to be putting the first 2 books on here, I might as well throw this one on too.
So, that's my TBR for The Reading Quest! Ultimately, I think that my genuine goal is to complete the entirety of the Mage path and a few side quests, but obviously it would be fantastic if I were able to get all the way around the board (don't get your hopes up!). Overall, I'm just really excited for this quest, and I hope that it helps me to get a lot of reading done and to hopefully crush a good chunk of my tbr shelf!
So, that's my TBR for The Reading Quest! Ultimately, I think that my genuine goal is to complete the entirety of the Mage path and a few side quests, but obviously it would be fantastic if I were able to get all the way around the board (don't get your hopes up!). Overall, I'm just really excited for this quest, and I hope that it helps me to get a lot of reading done and to hopefully crush a good chunk of my tbr shelf!
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