THE READING QUEST!

Hi all!

This year, an incredibly unique and fun Readathon was created that I just had to be a part of: THE READING QUEST! It was developed by Bookish Blogger: Read At Midnight with brilliant artwork/designs by Read, Think, Ponder. The Readathon will commence Sunday August 13th (wherever you are in the world) and conclude Sunday September 10th. This makes it a 4 week long Readathon. Plenty of time to tackle that unmanageable TBR!

This Readathon operates like an RPG (Role-Playing Game) in which you pick a class, complete reading quests, gain experience points and level up. You all know I’m a big gamer nerd so this is my idea of heaven. To get started, you first have to pick your class:

You can either pick a Knight (action style books), a Bard (famed & forbidden style books), a Rogue (underrated style books) or a Mage (fantasy style books). My go-to class is usually a Mage but for this Readathon, I decided to try something different…so I picked a Bard. Meet my cute character!

If you’re a Harry Potter fan, you will understand my character’s name mixed in with my own. All classes start with 10 EXP. Every challenge you complete, you gain more experience. Every 50 EXP points, you go up a level. Right now, we all start at Level 1.

For more information  – click here. This will take you to the official Reading Quest Page where you can understand all of the rules, check out the awesome prizes up for grabs, download your customisable character cards and sign up (which you must do before August 13th).

Once you have picked your character, it’s time to view the Quest Board!

You must complete the entire path of your chosen class before you can start a new character’s story. In the centre (the blue squares) are additional side-quests that you can do regardless of your class to obtain extra points. I have decided that in these 4 weeks, I will aim to complete all of the Bard’s challenges and if I have time, some side-quests.

I’m now going to outline my TBR for this Readathon:

Bard Challenge 1.) Read a Book that has a TV/Movie Adaptation

I will be reading Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli. The movie adaptation will be released in 2018 and the cast is now listed in IMDB. In this book, we follow Simon, a teenage boy struggling with his sexuality. When an email revealing his secret falls into the hands of the school bully, Simon is faced with the fear of having to come out before he is ready. This book has been sitting on my shelf for quite some time so I’m excited to finally read it and get myself ready for the film!

Bard Challenge 2.) Read a Fairy-tale Retelling

In July, I began reading the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer for the first time and fell in love. I’ve since finished Cinder (Book #1) and now I’m ready to start Scarlet (Book #2) which is a fairy-tale retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. In the sequel, we follow Scarlet who is tracking her missing grandmother. She teams up with a street-fighter named Wolf and together they form an unlikely friendship whilst uncovering the mystery. I will be listening to this on audio-book.

 Bard Challenge 3.) Read a Book with striking typography on the cover

To be perfectly honest, I originally bought Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley because of the cover. It is so beautiful and unique. I love the bold typography inside the bird’s silhouette. After my purchase, I started hearing lots of rave reviews. It had won awards and touched people’s lives. The story follows teenager Cullen Witter’s senior year of highschool. In a small, insulated village of Arkansas, Cullen finds himself dealing with his cousin’s overdose, the disappearance of his gifted younger brother Gabriel and the town’s sudden obsession with an alleged sighting of an extinct woodpecker. I am really looking forward to seeing if it lives up to the hype.

Bard Challenge 4.) Read a Book translated from another language

I have never read The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery but I have heard nothing but wonderful things. This book is perfect for the Readathon as it’s quite short. It has been translated from French to English thus meeting the challenge requirements. In this story, we follow our hero as he leaves his tiny planet and goes on an adventure to Earth. It features strong themes of growing up and spiritual exploration. I cannot wait to dive into this classic journey.

Bard Challenge 5.) Read a Banned Book

For a banned book, I’ve selected An Abundance of Katherines by John Green. I have not yet read this one (nor Will Grayson, Will Grayson) and it is quite high on my TBR. It was banned from Marshall University in Texas due to sexual references. This story follows Colin Singleton who seems to have a type: girls named Katherine. That’s all I know but I love John Green and want to read all of his books so I’m excited for this one. I’m hoping to borrow my cousin’s copy otherwise I’ll read it on Kindle.

Here are a couple of side-quests I have chosen just in case I have time to spare:

OPEN WORLD – Read whatever you want

I’m still making my way through the Demonata Series by Darren Shan so hopefully I can get back to where I was up to – Demon Apocalypse (Book #6). I won’t divulge the plot summary as there are too many spoilers but basically this series follows Grubbs Grady, a boy who witnesses his family get slaughtered by demons. There’s a lot more to it than that but you just have to find out for yourself. The books are gory, horrific, violent and unbelievably fantastic. Truly one of the best series I’ve ever read.

EXPANSION – Read a companion novel or short story

And finally, if I have time, I will read Fairest by Marissa Meyer. This is a companion novel to the Lunar Chronicles (mentioned above) that follows the evil Queen Levana and her back-story. I would love to know what made this villain so awful. Even if I don’t make this challenge in time, I will still read it afterwards.

So there you have it! Thank you for reading my super long post. As you can see, I am very excited for this video-game type Readathon. It is going to be epic. In September, I will post a wrap-up blog detailing how I went. If you would like to enter, I highly encourage you to do so. Make sure to sign up and read all of the information so you’re prepared. Best of luck on your Reading Quest!

Peace & Love xoxo

Disclaimer: This post contains links to my Book Depository Affiliate which helps fund my blog, I am not being paid or sponsored for this post/products – all my thoughts/opinions are my own