Legendary Creatures Reading Challenge

[Timeless]

This is a space to keep track of our Challenge books. Add the book and title of what books you plan on reading (if you know), and mark off what you've finished already. Here are the tasks again:

Tasks:
June: Water
Read a book containing: Mermaids/Sirens
Read a book containing: Selkies
Read a book containing: Kraken/Sea serpents/Sea monsters

July: Earth
Read a book containing: Golems
Read a book containing: Fairies/Sprites /Changelings
Read a book containing: Cosmic Turtle/World Elephants

August: Fire
Read a book containing: Dragons/Wyverns
Read a book containing: A Phoenix
Read a book containing: Hellhounds/Black Dogs


Bonus:
Read a book containing: Elementals
Your Pick!


Happy reading!

[Amber]

June: Water
Read a book containing: Mermaids/Sirens
Bayou Magic --- Done!
Read a book containing: Selkies
Tides
--- Didn't get to it but I still want to read it!
Read a book containing: Kraken/Sea serpents/Sea monsters
The Sea Monster --- Done!
July: Earth
Read a book containing: Golems
Read a book containing: Fairies/Sprites /Changelings
Faery Craft
Tithe by Holly Black (Modern Fairies Tales #1)
Read a book containing: Cosmic Turtle/World Elephants
The Color of Magic - Terry Pratchett

August: Fire
Read a book containing: Dragons/Wyverns
too many to pick rn!
Read a book containing: A Phoenix
Harry Potter Order of the Phoenix (Might swap this one out)
Read a book containing: Hellhounds/Black Dogs
Good Omens


Bonus:
Read a book containing: Elementals
Your Pick!

[Rosie]

Loving this so far!
I’ve done The Mermaid by Christina Henry (wowowowowowowowow!)
And The Seal Skin by Su Bristow (also wow!)
Then I was running short on time so did a graphic novel about Perseus!!

Just started a discworld (Terry Prachet) that involves a golum and loving the change in tone from the Romantic bleakness of the 2 previous novels.

Thank you for organising this!!
Rosie

[Timeless]

Rosie wrote: "Loving this so far!
I’ve done The Mermaid by Christina Henry (wowowowowowowowow!)
And The Seal Skin by Su Bristow (also wow!)
Then I was running short on time so did a graphic novel about Perseus!!..."

Thank YOU for participating! Glad to hear you're enjoying it so far! There's also a shift in tone for the books I've picked for this month too! Isn't that interesting?

[Leanbh]

For June: Water
Read a book containing: Mermaids/Sirens
Read a book containing: Selkies
Read a book containing: Kraken/Sea serpents/Sea monsters

For June’s theme of Water I’ve read Dark Currents by Jacqueline Carey featuring mermaids/sirens and sea serpents of a sort!

July: Earth
Read a book containing: Golems
Read a book containing: Fairies/Sprites /Changelings
Read a book containing: Cosmic Turtle/World Elephants
For July’s theme of Earth I’ve read The Harp of Kings by Juliet Marillier featuring fairies/sprites/changelings.

August: Fire
Read a book containing: Dragons/Wyverns
Read a book containing: A Phoenix
Read a book containing: Hellhounds/Black Dogs

For August’s theme of Fire I’m planning to read The Book of Dragons edited by Jonathan Strahan featuring dragons and wyverns.

I’m having a great time participating in this Challenge!

[Tahlia]

Rosie wrote: "Loving this so far!
I’ve done The Mermaid by Christina Henry (wowowowowowowowow!)
And The Seal Skin by Su Bristow (also wow!)
Then I was running short on time so did a graphic novel about Perseus!!..."

Rosie: Are you talking about "Feet of Clay?" That's the one I read for July too! Pratchett is one of my favorite authors. Just the thing to cheer me up when times are tough.

[Tahlia]

This has been so much fun and I love seeing what everyone's reading!!


For June, I read A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow. It was an excellent and very timely urban fantasy novel about a modern-day siren who has to hide her identity.

For July, I read Terry Pratchett's Feet of Clay which I think should count for double points because it's about a golem AND is set in Discworld, which floats on the back of a giant earth turtle. It was full of Pratchett's usual humor and wit.

In August, I read Dragon Slayer of Trondheim by E.K. Johnston. It's asks the question: How would our modern-day lives be different if dragons and humans had co-existed for centuries? I loved it so much I already bought the second book!

[Lily]

How do I update my progress for this reading challenge? I've created my own shelf for the challenge, but it seems like it's just under "My Books," not part of this group or the challenge. How can I fix that?

[Lily]

What are some good books about phoenixes? The problem I've run into while looking for those is that lots of fantasy novels seem to have the word "phoenix" in the title, but the story doesn't have any phoenixes in it. Any ideas for books about phoenixes?

[Timeless]

Lily wrote: "How do I update my progress for this reading challenge? I've created my own shelf for the challenge, but it seems like it's just under "My Books," not part of this group or the challenge. How can I..."


Hi Lily! Goodreads only counts the books if you add them to the shelf/tag you created for the challenge AND have marked them as read. Then it'll tell you what percentage you have done and how on schedule you are to completing your goal!

Or you can just copy and paste the tasks above and write what you're reading/have read to share with the rest of the group and keep track that way.


As for books with phoenixes, I'm familiar with your problem! It's happened to me many times. Goodreads lists can be super helpful! Check out this Goodread's listopedia for Phoenix books if you haven't already. https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8...

But a few I know of are:

Crown of Feathers is a YA adventure about war, sisters, and a group of legendary Phoenix Riders.

Into the Fire is YA paranormal romance book about a girl who is a month away from her rebirth into a Phoenix.

In Ruin and Rising, the main character goes in search of the Firebird in order to regain her strength. (Although, this is part of a series so heads up!)

A more scholarly pick is The Phoenix: An Unnatural Biography of a Mythical Beast which goes in-depth about Phoenixes in different cultures and myths throughout the ages.

And you can always go with a classic and read Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets for Fawkes.



I hope this helps!

[Lily]

Thank you so much. I can't wait to check out those phoenix books you listed! :)

[Alan]

I may have cheated a little, ^^' since I read a book with jinns in it. I started reading Vathek not knowing much about it, but then thre were jinns, witches, magic, and an adventure through the desert. Guess this counts as 'fire' enough? ^^'

[Lily]

Hi All,
I need some recommendations of dragon or wyvern books.
It seems that most books about dragons aren't the type I'm interested in. I'm not at all into fantasy epics that are full of battles, and most books about dragons seem to be of that type or similar.
The books I've most enjoyed so far for this challenge are "Tree of Dreams" by Mel Sterling, "The Selkie Spell" by Sophie Moss, "Hand of Miriam" by Eva Gordon, "Emily Windsnap and the Castle in the Mist" by Liz Kessler and "Into the Fire" by Kelly Hashway.
For those of you who have read one or more of the above books, are there any books about either dragons or wyverns you would recommend to someone who enjoyed those books? I am open to middle grade, young adult or adult fantasy as long as it's not too heavy in battles.
Please send some dragon and wyvern recommendations my way. I'd really like to finish this challenge on Monday! Thank you.

[Lily]

Hi All,
I've finally picked and finished my dragon book, and the challenge. It was so much fun!
The dragon book was an old friend, instead of a new one. It's Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher One of my favorites when I was a kid.
I have also read Into the Fire, Broken Faith, Ill Met by Moonlight, The Color of Magic, " Hand of Miriam, The Selkie Spell Tree of Dreamsand Emily Windsnap and the Castle in the Mist

[Lily]

Do I need to create a shelf specifically for this challenge to make my completing the challenge official? If so I still can't figure out how.

[Timeless]

Hi Lily,

Yes, there should be a separate shelf that you named. When you joined the challenge Goodreads should have prompted you to create a shelf for it to keep track. Then any books added to the shelf and completed within the challenge's dates would count towards your progress. (You can back-date books btw! Just update their "read by date")

This is where the challenge is officially listed:
https://www.goodreads.com/challenges/...

If you go here and click "update my entry" you can change the name of the shelf you're using for the challenge (which may help you locate it!) and the number of books you entered for the challenge.

Hope this helps!

[Lily]

Thank you! I think my main mistake was not adding my books for the challenge to the "Books I Read in 2020" page.