Hi everyone! I took part in something so exciting over the weekend and I wanted to share it with you. I joined in with Becca’s bookoplathon, which was a 48 hour readathon. The point of the bookoplathon is to use Becca’s bookopoly board (a play on a Monopoly board) to pick prompts for the readathon over the weekend. The other fun thing about this readathon is that you can’t really plan your TBR because the prompts were released over the weekend at 12 hour intervals! Becca explains how the readathon works in the video below, if you’d like to find out more.
The other crazy part of this readathon is the fact Becca decided to make it completely live for the whole 48 hours! No, she didn’t stay up the whole time, but a group of other booktubers joined to make sure the entire weekend had live reading sprints all of the time. I absolutely adored this as it made for a real sense of community and was so much fun to watch live sprints and read alongside others.
I decided to join this readathon only a few days before, and I was in the middle of filming a vlog at the time. I decided to turn it into a Bookoplathon vlog when I joined the readathon, and you can see this below! It’s a very long chilled out vlog that covers a few days before the readathon until just after it ends on Sunday night.
I managed to choose the first two prompts beforehand (as the first two are the only one’s announced in advance) and I decided to go for A Court of Silver Flames and The Black Flamingo. I was actually already reading A Court of Silver Flames but that’s okay in the rules of this readathon so I went for it! I’ll put a full list of prompts below and the books I decided to read for each prompt.
Prompt 1 – A fantasy book
Review | Goodreads | Waterstones
As I mentioned I was already reading this book when I decided to join the readathon, and initially I had the (very) hesitant goal of just finishing this book. I managed to read 425 pages of this on the Saturday of the readathon, and 100 pages from midnight on the Friday night when the readathon began. I really loved this and I’m so proud of myself for finishing it so quickly!
Prompt 2 – A book with a dark cover
Cassandra Cain is the daughter of super-villains and a living weapon trained from birth to be the ultimate assassin. But that doesn’t mean she has to stay that way, right? She’ll have to go through an identity crisis of epic proportions to find out. But how do you figure out who you’re supposed to be when you’ve been trained to become a villain your entire life?
After a soul-shattering moment that sends Cass reeling, she’ll attempt to answer this question the only way she knows how: learning everything she possibly can about her favorite hero–Batgirl. But Batgirl hasn’t been seen in Gotham for years, and when Cass’s father threatens the world she has grown to love, she’ll have to step out of the shadows and overcome her greatest obstacle–that voice inside her head telling her she can never be a hero.
I initially read The Black Flamingo for this prompt, but I had some time left on Saturday night so I decided to pick up this graphic novel instead. This was so emotive, with beautiful art and most of it was set in a library. What’s not to love?
Prompt 3 – A book with POC rep
A boy comes to terms with his identity as a mixed-race gay teen – then at university he finds his wings as a drag artist, The Black Flamingo. A bold story about the power of embracing your uniqueness. Sometimes, we need to take charge, to stand up wearing pink feathers – to show ourselves to the world in bold colour.
I read this book originally covering 3 different prompts, but eventually covered only one. This is one I’ve wanted to read for a long time and it was so beautiful and impactful.
Prompt 4 – A contemporary book
The manga adaptation of the beloved novel by #1 Bestselling author Rainbow Rowell!
New York Journal of Books
Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Okay, everybody is a Simon Snow fan, but for Cath, being a fan is her life. Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath just can’t let go. Now that they’re in college, Cath must decide if she’s ready to start living her own life. But does she even want to if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?
Cath doesn’t need friends IRL. She has her twin sister, Wren, and she’s a popular fanfic writer in the Simon Snow community with thousands of fans online. But now that she’s in college, Cath is completely outside of her comfort zone. There are suddenly all these new people in her life. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming boyfriend, a writing professor who thinks fanfiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome new writing partner … And she’s barely heard from Wren all semester!
I ended up picking this one up at the very end of the readathon for the contemporary prompt. It was a cute way to re-read the story, but nothing extraordinary.
Prompt 5 – the first book in a series
The Carls just appeared. Coming home from work at three a.m., twenty-three-year-old April May stumbles across a giant sculpture. Delighted by its appearance and craftsmanship–like a ten-foot-tall Transformer wearing a suit of samurai armor–April and her friend Andy make a video with it, which Andy uploads to YouTube. The next day April wakes up to a viral video and a new life. News quickly spreads that there are Carls in dozens of cities around the world–everywhere from Beijing to Buenos Aires–and April, as their first documentarian, finds herself at the center of an intense international media spotlight.
Now April has to deal with the pressure on her relationships, her identity, and her safety that this new position brings, all while being on the front lines of the quest to find out not just what the Carls are, but what they want from us.
I was unsure of what to pick up for the first book in the series prompt, but I’m so glad I read this one. It has become a quick favourite and was so cleverly written. However, I do want the second book asap now!
Prompt 6 – chance card
Foolish love appears to be the Roux family birthright, an ominous forecast for its most recent progeny, Ava Lavender. Ava—in all other ways a normal girl—is born with the wings of a bird.
In a quest to understand her peculiar disposition and a growing desire to fit in with her peers, sixteen-year old Ava ventures into the wider world, ill-prepared for what she might discover and naïve to the twisted motives of others. Others like the pious Nathaniel Sorrows, who mistakes Ava for an angel and whose obsession with her grows until the night of the Summer Solstice celebration.
That night, the skies open up, rain and feathers fill the air, and Ava’s quest and her family’s saga build to a devastating crescendo.
I slightly misunderstood the chance card prompt and ended up randomising my entire TBR and picking the top standalone. I am glad I picked this one up as it’s been on my TBR for so many years, but it was a bit of a let down for me.
Prompt 7 – a book outside of your usual two genres
Tweedledum and Tweedledee, the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat, the Red Queen and the White Rabbit all make their appearances, and are now familiar figures in writing, conversation and idiom. So too are Carroll’s delightful verses such as The Walrus and the Carpenter and the inspired jargon of that masterly Wordsworthian parody, The Jabberwocky.
For this prompt, I chose my two main genres as fantasy and contemporary and decided to choose classic as one I don’t pick up as much. I’m glad I did because it allowed me to choose Alice in Wonderland, which was so wacky and such an entertaining read.
Prompt 8 – a book set in the present day
The heart of the Runaways died years ago, but you won’t believe how she returns! Superstar author Rainbow Rowell (Eleanor & Park, Carry On) makes her Marvel debut with fan-favorite artist Kris Anka (ALL-NEW X-MEN, CAPTAIN MARVEL) in the series that will shock you and break your heart! Did Chase and Gert’s love survive their time apart? Have Karolina and Nico’s feelings made their friendship impossible? What emotional landmines lie in wait to DESTROY the Runaways?!
In a rush to finish all 8 prompts of the readathon (which I never expected to do!), I picked up another graphic novel right at the end. Although this one wasn’t my favourite, I’m definitely going to see where the series goes and I’m glad I managed to finish it and round off the readathon.
Did you join in with the bookoplathon? Or do you take part in readathons?
-Beth
May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽
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