May 2020 – rachel hall

I originally saw this tag from Amy’s Bookish Life (amysbooksishlifeblog.wordpress.com), and because the person I wanted to interview for this blog was busy this week, here we are. Feel free to check their blog out.

Laying in Bed–A book you read in a day

When I was doing my 24 hour reading challenge, I read both Slay by Brittney Morris and Happyface by Stephen Emond in a day. Even though it was exhausting, it was a lot of fun getting so much reading done in so little time. I felt super productive. I’m tempted to do it again…

2. Snacking–A book that is a guilty pleasure read

I have to say any Jenny Colgan book. I tend to read very dark books but decided to read The Bookshop on the Corner and later The Bookshop on the Shore since I wanted something more wholesome. To be honest, even though some of it was predictable, I really liked them!

3. Netflix–A series you want to start

There are so many series I want to start but one on the top of my list is to reread the Percy Jackson series. I read the first series and really liked them but the second series was a miss for me. I’m hoping if I reread it, I’ll think differently. Also, because I read it around 10 years ago, I honestly don’t remember much.

4. Deep Clean–A book that has been on your TBR for ages

There’s quite a few but on the top of my head I’d say the Harry Potter series. I’ve read it before, but I planned to reread it when I turned 18 but my health problems got in the way. The only reason I can recall anything from Harry Potter is because of the movies and because of tumblr.

5. Animal Crossing–A book you bought recently because of the hype

I bought The Institute by Stephen King for 50% off at Barnes and Noble because I kept seeing ads for it on my feed. I also bought The Handmaid’s Tale as well. Both are also on my TBR for The Percy Jackson readathon and I’m very excited for both!

6. Productivity–A book you learned from or had an impact on you

The first thing that comes to mind is Slay by Britney Morris. I didn’t really know a lot about what it was like to be a minority really besides reading posts on Twitter so Slay was definitely an eye opener on what it was like to be a black woman. So much so that I almost cried.

7. Facetime–A book you were gifted

My friend Jay and I trade books and return them once we’re done so we can talk about them together and have our own book club. Happyface by Stephen Emond was one of those books.

8. Self Care–What is one thing you have done recently to look after yourself

I’ve been doing a lot of crafts such as coloring, extreme dot-to-dot pages, and finger knitting. I like feeling accomplished after finishing a piece.

9. Bonus–An upcoming release you are looking forward to

I tend not to focus on books coming out because my TBR is so big and I’m seriously behind because I stopped reading a couple years when I had serious health problems and was unable to. However I am looking forward to the new Percy Jackson show Rick Riordan is in charge of. I don’t watch a lot of shows, but I may make room for this one.

Anyone who is reading this is welcome to participate in this tag!

After being gone on here (and the internet in general) due to exams, one of the biggest things I missed was reading. Even though I’m still a part of a reading group (please check out Literary Society of Alexandria on Twitter if you’re into Egyptian mythology and readathons) I still didn’t have motivation to read as much as I did before my exams. Mainly because I’m just….tired. So when I found The Olympic Games on Twitter, a readathon based on Percy Jackson and Greek Mythology in general, I was more than excited.

To be quite honest, I haven’t read Percy Jackson in a hot minute. But, it is definitely on my list for a reread. I was not fond of The Heroes of Olympus, but I’m willing to give it another shot. What I am fond of is mythology. Mythology in general is definitely an interesting topic, and I give kudos to Rick Riordan for writing books about ancient mythologies that gravitate towards kids and young adults alike.

Anyway, I was hoping to do a readathon based on Hecate, Artemis, or maybe even Apollo, but almost as if I was chosen by the god himself, my books ended up best alligning with Zeus.

Yes. That Zeus. As in, King of the Gods, major player, Mister Lightning kind of Zeus.

To be quite clear I always saw Zeus as a jerk, but in Percy Jackson, if I remember correctly, the Zeus cabin was quite small. And even in the discord, the Zeus cabin is indeed small. As of today there are three people.

The Advanced Challenges are also themed book challenges for when you’re done with the other 5.

To honour the king of the gods, read a book featuring a king Honestly for this prompt I have nothing on me. But when I’m done with the other prompts I’ll probably make this one an audiobook or ebook from my library app.

Thalia’s Tree: Read a book with a tree on the cover For this book I have Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell which is about a mother who lost her child 10 years ago and is reminded of all the questions regarding her disappearance when she meets her lover’s child.

Read the longest book on your TBR For this book I chose The Institute by Stephen King which is over 500 pages. It’s about a kid who is kidnapped after his parents are murdered and is trapped in the Institute, a place where children are forced to test their supernatural powers or suffer severe consequences.

Zeus’ lightning bolt has been stolen again and you must set out on a quest to find it. Read a book that features a high-stakes quest. The book I chose was Witch and Wizard by James Patterson. It’s about siblings torn from their family and put in jail for witchcraft along with thousands of other people. I have a feeling there will be a quest to defeat the regime and evil tyrant involved.

Heracles: Read a popular book that everyone talks about. The book I chose was The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood, which features a dystopian future where women who are fertile are enslaved to repopulate the nation.