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Reading Challenges
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2020 Summer Reading Challenge...
Woo! I have 51 tbr books in my fairytale/folktale/mythology shelf. Edit: 44 books.
In my to read list are the last 3 volumes of The Complete Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson so that is 3 of the 5 already planned. I'm about 3/4 done with my current one. And I plan to read the final 3 volumes of the Jane Hawk series by Dean Koontz. It's nice when they are things I was wanting to read this summer anyway! (Yet another happy dance!)My detailed list is:
✅1. The Complete Wheel of Time Bk. 12 The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
2. The Complete Wheel of Time Bk. 13 Towers of Midnight by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
✅3. The Sword of God by Ann Chamberlin
✅4. The Crooked Staircase by Dean Koontz
✅5. Llama Unleashes the Alpacalypse by Jonathan Stutzman and Heather Fox
6. Madness in Solidar by L.E. Modesitt Jr.
Extras, just 'cause I read them and they count:
[Narnias, WOT 14]
All right! I don't read much else as it is.1. Promise of Blood (flintlock fantasy)
2. The Wendy (Peter Pan retelling)
3. Brief Cases (urban fantasy anthology)
4. The Queen of Attolia (historical fantasy)
5. Blood Creek Witch (folklore fantasy by our local writer Jay Barnson)
6. The Just City (a blend of fantasy, science fiction, and historical fiction)
7. Imager (classic fantasy)
8. Woven (King Arthur retelling by a Utah writer)
9. Peace Talks (urban fantasy)
the Sevenwaters series is my absolute favorite! I love fantasy novels, so this will be a great challenge!
Mod
I have learned to love this genre even though I didn't read much of it in my younger years. I'm excited, plus Jim Butcher's #16 of the Dresden Files comes out in July. It has been greatly anticipated for 6 years....that will definitely be one of my reads this summer.
I expect a lot of holds on Peace Talks.
Audrey wrote: "I expect a lot of holds on Peace Talks."Yes I don't doubt it. I've already pre-ordered that one on Audible. I will also be re-listening to the whole series before it comes out. It has been 6 years......and I'm old so I have to refresh my memory.
I just love Harry.
Elizabeth wrote: "Fantasy is one of my favorite genres. All year ive been waiting to post this challenge. I'm excited to get some new recs from everyone. Debbie, are you excited about the wheel of time tv show? Audre..."I'm cautious. The first efforts of Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit were abysmal. The latest effort of The Hobbit was dismaying for me (I hated it). My single hope it that it is on a streaming service I already get. That is probable because Amazon Studios is involved. The IMDB page says a larger role is planned for one of the minor characters. I worry about what they will invent vs. eliminate. Still, Brandon Sanderson, author of the last 3 novels (and personally chosen by Jordan to finish the series) is a consulting producer. Maybe they won't stray too, too far. Depending on how much they listen to him.
Donna wrote: "Audrey wrote: "I expect a lot of holds on Peace Talks."Yes I don't doubt it. I've already pre-ordered that one on Audible. I will also be re-listening to the whole series before it comes out. It ..."
I've gone through the series in just the last couple years. I finally caught up except for the Brief Cases anthology.
If you have never read The Enchanted Forest books by Patricia Wrede, I highly recommend them! I just listened to the first one (Dealing with Dragons) with my 10-yr-old and she loved it. I read it with my oldest when she was about 7 and she's read it probably a dozen times since! They're a lot of fun.
My granddaughter said she would loan me the Warriors books I got her for Christmas. They are on my to-read list, just not this year. But I thought that was so sweet of her.
Mod
I love those! I like the first one the best.
Mod
The cat ones, by Erin Hunter? I hear they're really good, but I haven't read them yet.
Debbie wrote: "My granddaughter said she would loan me the Warriors books I got her for Christmas. They are on my to-read list, just not this year. But I thought that was so sweet of her."My kids love those. One of the Erin Hunters came to The King's English a year or two ago. It was really cool.
This should be good! Unfortunately, Battleground by Jim Butcher won't be out before the end of the challenge, so I won't be able to get that one in. But it shouldn't be hard to come up with 5. I'll catalog them as I go...Complete:
1. Storm Cursed by Patricia Briggs - Complete 6/3/20
2. Spellbound by Larry Correia - Complete 6/15/20
3. Treasury of Egyptian Mythology by Donna Jo Napoli - Complete 7/8/20
4. Peace Talks by Jim Butcher - Complete 7/15/20
5. Smoke Bitten by Patricia Briggs - Complete 8/1/20
Mod
1. Storm Cursed by Patricia Briggs - Complete 6/3/20..."
I love Patricia Briggs! My favorites from that series are River Marked, Night Broken, and Fire Touched.
Do you have a favorite?
I was really bored by Moon Called and quit the series.
Elizabeth wrote: "Do you have a favorite?"I think Storm Cursed was my favorite, yet. I loved the complexity Briggs introduced into the world in this novel.
Audrey wrote: "I was really bored by Moon Called and quit the series."Are you generally a fan of Urban Fantasy? Have you read any of the Dresden series?
I like Dresden, but I seem to have a hard time finding UF that I like.Moon Called started off good, and then it just turned into a history of love triangles. The action stopped after the first few chapters.
Mod
Moon Called started off good, and then it just turned into a history of love triangles. The action stopped after the first fe..."
Yes, the love triangle stuff can be annoying. They move past that by book three, if you want to skip ahead. You might also like Seanan McGuire. She has a few different series. My favorite is Incryptids. The first one is Discount Armageddon. Theyre fast paced and funny.
I tried Middlegame, but it just jumped all over the place without a real story, so I gave up early on. Maybe I'd like her other stuff.
Mod
Try Discount Armageddon. It's my favorite series of hers. Or, if you're in the mood for a Portal Fantasy, try Every Heart a Doorway.
Audrey wrote: "The action stopped after the first few chapters."It picks back up again. As with a lot of authors, the first couple books were not Briggs' best work. Later books are better.
Dresden is definitely my favorite UF. You might try Larry Corriea's Hard Magic, or Monster Hunter series.
This list might interest you, as well. https://reedsy.com/discovery/blog/urb...
Donna wrote: "Yes I don't doubt it. I've already pre-ordered that one on Audible. I will also be re-listening to the whole series before it comes out."I'm 5th in line for the County...here's to hoping it's open and operating!
There's a group on goodreads that has been doing a scheduled re-reading of the series. They started in January. I was reading with them...and then I just shot forward to the finish. They're having some interesting discussions, book by book. https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
The first book I finished is Meat Cute: The Hedgehog Incident, a novelette in the Parasol Protectorate series.
Mod
I love Gail Carriger. I haven't read the Parasol Protectorate books though, just the Soulless series. If you like Gail Carriger, you may enjoy Leanna Renee Hieber.
I did read the first Monster Hunter International. It was fun.
the fantasy type books I am plan on reading mostly this month some next month if I don't finish them this month. these are the books I plan on reading and they are1. ghosts of the shadow market by Cassandra Clare
2 . chain of gold by cassandra clare .
3. forged in fire and stars by Andrea Robertson
I've already the iron warrior by julie kagawa this month
Not a traditional fantasy by any means, but The Lost Island by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child involves a link to Homer's The Odyssey and an actual living breathing Cyclops, so I feel like that should count.
Elizabeth, Soulless and the Parasol Protectorate are the same. Meat Cute is a prequel to Soulless.
Britt, Book Habitue wrote: "Not a traditional fantasy by any means, but The Lost Island by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child involves a link to Homer's The Odyssey and an actual living breathing Cyclops, so I feel like that s..."If it's one of the Pendergast series, those are paranormal so would count. Still, just having the Cyclops, I agree, really ought to count.
I have plenty of fantasy on my TBR list, but whether i read five this summer depends on where my reading takes me. But I did finish my first one: The Queen's Secret by Jessica Day George. The third one in the series was just released so I needed to catch up. In a Facebook live book event for the new book, Jessica Day George talking about a time period she had in mind while writing this series, and I could certainly see elements of that woven into this fictional world.
Mod
If you feel like it should count, it should! It definitely has mythological elements, which is part of the theme. It also sounds interesting, I'll have to add it to my TBR pile. :)
Mod
Thanks Teresa! It's been a while since I've read them, and I guess i was thinking that the Parasol Protectorate series was the books about the spy school rather than the Soulless books.
Mod
Elizabeth, I like the books about the spy school too, lol, even if I can't remember the names off the top of my head. Gail Carriger does a great Victorian, Steampunk, quirky vibe. I also finished Reticence, about Pru and Prim, the children of the Soulless characters.
Although it's not on my original list, I just read The Sword of God by Ann Chamberlin (Review). Set in the area of Iraq around 640 AD, not long after the beginnings of Islam, but after the death of the prophet Muhammad, it looks at the culture of that area through characters sometimes historical and sometimes fictional. Magical elements move throughout the story through the presence of the jinn and their activities. So I decided it would count.Besides, I'm almost done with one of the Koontz books and the tension in it is so strong I just can't do another one right away. So this is in place of that.
so far I've read The Shadows Brtween Us by Tricia Lenenseller, and The Iron King by Julie Kagawa. I really liked the Shadows Between Us, 4/5 stars. Iron King was fun, but the characters felt very shallow so 3/5 stars.
Mod
I have finished The Crooked Staircase by Dean Koontz (Review), the 3rd book of the Jane Hawk quintet.
I read Dread Nation. It's post Civil War, the North kind of won, and they called a truce to work together to fight the undead who rose up from the battlegrounds. All children of color are put into 'combat schools' where they learn to fight off the zombies. Some parts of society have gone back to slavery, using other terminology, and three teenagers are kidnapped from their school and shipped across country to a slave town. They have to fight off hordes of undead with dull and rusty weapons and try to escape to get back to their families.
I read Three Mages and a Margarita. A woman gets a bartending job at a rundown seeming bar and it turns out, everyone there, staff and customers, is magic.
Just finished Howl's Moving Castle on audio with my 10-year-old. A reread for me, the narrator was good and my daughter enjoyed comparing the book to the movie.Running list:
Lost Island
Howl's Moving Castle
Britt, I like your idea of a running list. I'm going to use it with the next books I finish. Thanks!
I just read Llama Unleashes the Alpacalypse by Jonathan Stutzman and Heather Fox. Llama invents a cloning device and disaster ensues.My detailed list is:
✅1. The Complete Wheel of Time Bk. 12 The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
✅2. The Sword of God by Ann Chamberlin
✅3. The Crooked Staircase by Dean Koontz
✅4. Llama Unleashes the Alpacalypse by Jonathan Stutzman and Heather Fox
The County Library
Books mentioned in this topic
The Sword of God (other topics)The Complete Wheel of Time (other topics)
Llama Unleashes the Alpacalypse (other topics)
The Gathering Storm (other topics)
The Horse and His Boy (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Robert Jordan (other topics)Dean Koontz (other topics)
Ann Chamberlin (other topics)
Jonathan Stutzman (other topics)
Brandon Sanderson (other topics)
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It's that time of year again. It's Summer Reading time! The County Library's summer reading challenge runs from June 1-July 31. To participate, please head over to thecountylibrary.org/summer. This is where you'll be able to download and print the Summer Reading Records, find book titles, and interesting activities.
Here on Goodreads, our summer reading challenge runs June 1-August 31. You have three months to read five books that relate to our theme. Let me know when you've finished and I'll enter you into the prize drawing.*
This year's summer reading slogan is "Imagine Your Story" and the broader theme is fairy tales, folk-tales and mythology. That's right, it's Fantasy all summer long! You may want to try Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier a retelling of The Six Swans, you may want to read the original fairy tales found in collections like The Complete Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales, or brush up on your mythology with Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman. Don't leave urban fantasy out of the mix, try Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire.
Good luck and happy reading!
ps I love fantasy, so if you need any suggestions, let me know!
*Prize drawings are currently suspended, but as soon as we re-open to the public and I get the go-ahead from upper management, I will go back to March and pull prize drawing winners for each challenge while we were closed.