Returning readers will need no introduction to this readathon, as I’ve participated in it since its birth years back. Bookroasts G’s project that started as a Hogwarts-themed readathon, has now grown into its own kind of magical RPG-reading-game, that thousands of readers (including myself) happily participate in 2x a year. August 1st marks the second part of 2023’s Orilium readathon, building forwards on our results from the Spring Equinox Readathon in April. For those who need a refresher: I will link G’s introductory video into the readathon, the G-drive where you can find all information, and my previous post in which I introduce my character and set-out my plans for this year.
During the Spring Equinox, I attempted to keep multiple career-options open, as I was originally planning to continue both my chosen career as an Alchemist, as well as dip my toes into the new Druid career. That was doable for the Spring Equinox, but for this round it would mean I’d have to finish 21 books, which isn’t feasible for me at this point. Therefore, I will just focus on the Alchemist-prompts, which will already tally up to a 14-book-TBR.
Without further ado, let’s get into my chosen subjects and my TBR.
Alchemy:
It might have made more sense to put a complete series here, since I have to complete all three tiers of the prompt. As I scoured my shelves, however, I didn’t have any complete series on my TBR that I was willing and able to finish in a single month. Instead, I piecemealed it together from different parts of series I’ve been desperate to get to, and managed to get in 3 books from my priority TBR.
O: Stone to Copper – The first in a series The Surviving Sky by Kritika Rao Rages #1
Q: Copper to Silver – The second in a series Assassin of Reality by Marina and Sergej Dyachenko Vita Nostra #2
D: Silver to Gold – The last in a series Acceptance by Jeff Vandermeer Southern Reach #3
Animal Studies
G always comes up with the best prompt for Animal Studies, and this year was no different. Although I would love a full-time dog for myself, I have to make do with my regular fosters and pet-sitting. One of my frequent overnights guests had the honor of picking a my read. I let him choose between 3 titles, all featuring a dog-companion. First of all, meet Banjer (dutch for “gallivanting”), as well as his pick for my TBR. With the choice between Wild Spaces by S.L. Coney, The Friend by Sigrid Nunez and A Home for Goddesses and Dogs by Leslie Connor, he picked the first one for me.
O: introduction to domestic creatures - A pet-pick Wild Spaces by S.L. Coney
Astronomy:
For this prompt I simply switched on the radio to my music-station of choice (for my Dutchies: it’s Q-Music) during my drive home. The song playing when I arrived was Cruel Summer by Taylor Swift, which isn’t surprising as it’s been all over the radio since its release. The word “summer” therefore became my prompt for Astronomy.
O: Moon Song Ritual – word in the title from the last thing you listened to Summer Fishing in Lapland by Juhani Karila
Inscription
The Q-prompt for Inscription was the one I struggled with the hardest this year. I found only two books on my shelves with a shield on the cover (four if you stretch the prompt to include “face-shields”). There’s Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames, The Witcher Series by Andrzej Sapkowski, The Martian by Andy Weir and Cold Storage by David Koepp. I’ve already read all four of them, and although there are a few favourites among them, I don’t feel like rereading any of them right now.
On my Goodreads TBR however, I found two: Abeni’s Song by P. Djeli Clark, and Fires of the Dead by Jed Herne. Abeni’s Song is the one I’m most excited to get to, however, with it being such a new release, I’m unsure if I’ll be able to get a hold of a copy without paying half my month salary. Depending on whether I succeed in that, I’ll pick between these two at a later point throughout the readathon.
O: glyph tidy – a book from your end-of-year-tbr A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher
Q: glyph of shield – “shield” on the cover or in title Abeni’s Song by P. Djeli Clark or Fires of the Dead by Jed Herne
D: advanced penmanship – a non-debut novel The Wise and the Wicked by Rebecca Podos
Spells and Incantations:
O: Charm short trip – a manga/graphic novel/short story collection Things we Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enriquez
Q: incantation black flame – black cover or fire on the cover Swim Home to the Vanished by Brendan Shay Basham
Restoration
O: induce sleep: start a book before bed The Seep by Chandra Porter
Demonology:
O: introduction into low level demons - a book you see on other people’s social media Chlorine by Jade Song As seen on BooksandLala’s recent vlog on her Summerween TBR
Lore:
This prompt has my most “risky” picks for this month. For a booksellers recommendation, my local bookstore has a table of new-releases, with sticky notes from the booksellers on which they recommend or review their favourites. With 5 book-sellers, I know I can blindly trust some of their opinions to match mine, but for others, I have hit-or-miss-experiences. So too with the bookseller that wrote the recommendation for my pick. He tends to like more experimental/alternative literary novels, which tend to be marmite-picks. With this recommendation, I can equally see it being a 1- or a 5 star for me, which has me even more intrigued to try it.
Something similar goes for Sudden Traveler; it has very mixed review, but since Burntcoat by the same author was a favourite of last year, I wanted to give it a chance. The prominent red-dress on the cover made it a nice fit for this prompt.
O: tale of the guide – a booksellers recommendation Oh God, The Sun Goes by David Connor
Q: cursed cloak – clothing on the cover Sudden Traveler by Sarah Hall
That concludes an ambitious, but hopefully feasible TBR for August. If you plan to join the Magical Readathon too, feel free to share your TBR and show some love to creator G at Bookroast. Happy reading, and I hope to see you back with my wrap-up at the end of the month.
