Reading Rush 2019 TBR

It’s that time of year again, time for the Reading Rush! (Formerly the Booktube-a-thon) Since I am the best at being a slacker, my TBR is going up with a whole 2 hours to spare. There are a few books for each challenge because I’m a mood reader and can’t guarantee what I’m going to want to read.

Challenge 1: Read A Book with Purple on the Cover.

• The Smell of Other People’s Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock – you’ll see this book a few times on my list because it marks off a few challenges for me. The plot description is pretty vague so I’m not sure if this is a thriller or more of a contemporary but everyone I’ve heard mention reading it has rated it 4 or 5 stars so I’m in either way!
• Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend – I am always in for middle grade fantasy, especially if it involves a magical school. The bonus for this one is that I have the audio as well so I can listen along with it.

Challenge 2: Read A Book in the Same Spot

• Blackbird by Sam Humphries and Jen Bartel – First off, I fucking adore Jen Bartel’s artwork and her color palette for this comic is massive heart eyes. Second, a magical witchy Latina starring in a Neo-Noir fantasy? That’s pure catnip for me. Now I just have to hope my order arrives in time. (Also works for purple on the cover)
• Monstress Vol 1 by Marjorie M Liu and Sana Takeda – A dark, steampunk fantasy with magic and monsters and a gazillion awards? Sign me up. The art on this is gorgeous too.

Challenge 3: Read A Book You Meant To Read Last Year

I have so many books that fit this category. Pretty much everything on my TBR double dips into this category.

• Prime Meridian by Silvia Moreno-Garcia – I’ve loved everything I’ve read by this author and I have 2 other books of hers waiting for me but this novella wins out because the other 2 are chunkers and not exactly readathon friendly. I don’t know much about this one, but she’s an autobuy author for me so I’m fine going in blind.

Challenge 4: Read An Author’s First Book

• The Smell of Other People’s Houses
• Nevermoor
• Juliet Takes A Breath by Gabby Rivera – I’ve been waiting to read this book, I love Gabby’s America Chavez comics so much. The only downside is that I only own this on audio and sometimes if my day job is crazy busy, I don’t get to listen too much because I get interrupted by coworkers every 30 seconds. Maybe I’ll see if my library has a digital copy I can check out as well.

Challenge 5: Read A Book With A Non-Human Main Character

Since I am not a huge Fantasy reader, this one took me a little bit to figure out.

• Monstress
• Gunsmoke & Glamour by Hillary Monahan – this might be kinda sorta cheating, but one of the three main characters is a fairy and that works for me. It’s also been a long time since I’ve read a western so I think a feminist and diverse western could be a lot of fun.
• Red Delicious by Kathleen Tierney – I read the first book in this series, Blood Oranges, a few years ago and it was enjoyable enough that I wouldn’t mind continuing on with the series. It’s been a while since I read the first book, but if I remember correctly, the main character is a vampire/werewolf hybrid.

Challenge 6: Read A Book with 5 or More Words in the Title

This challenge was easier than I expected. I didn’t realize so many books had such long titles!

• The Smell of Other People’s Houses
• Nevermoor (technically the full title is Nevermoor, the Trials of Morrigan Crow)
• I Hate Everyone But You by Gaby Dunn and Allison Raskin – I loved their YouTube channel, Just Between Us, and as I am someone who lives 3,000 miles away from everyone I grew up with, including two of my best friends, I love the idea of a book about trying to navigate long distance friendship.

Challenge 7: Read A Book and Watch the Adaptation

This one was surprisingly hard for me. I’ve read a few book to TV show/movie adaptations, but it’s rare that I seek out a book because it has one.

• The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky – admittedly I am nervous about this one. I absolutely adored this book in high school but I haven’t read it in at least a decade. I’m so scared it doesn’t hold up! I also haven’t seen the movie so that could be a shitshow too for all I know.

Welp, there’s my TBR. I’m aiming for 7 books, and my friends know this is a “sorry, I’m reading” week, but we will see how much I’m able to resist that siren song of video games and the new season of Veronica Mars.