Trope-ical Readathon TBR

In March, I’ll be participating in the Trope-ical Readathon for the third time. This is a really fun team-based competitive readathon. It has a ton of prompts and I’ve never finished it but I always have fun and it tends to make me want to read more.

Same as last go around, I have joined Team Nonfiction/Poetry! This is a little odd given that I rarely read either nonfiction or poetry but the only thing your team actually sets is the Team Challenges which can be fulfilled with a book from any genre. It was really fun being on the smallest team. One of my favorite things about this readathon is the very frequently updated scoreboard and being on the tiniest team, I could really see how my points helped the team. Plus, finding books I actually want to read for the team challenges is a nice challenge in itself.

If you’re interested in signing up, all of the information can be found on Jen Jen Reviews blog.

Without further ado, here is my TBR. As always I will probably change this and this is extremely ambitious, I will be shocked if I read them all.

Common Challenge #1: Absent/Dead Parent (alternate: a book with more than one author)

Pretty much every Wayward Children book has absent/dead parents and they’re nice and short. So I’m planning to read the fifth book in the series, Come Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire.

Common Challenge #2: Love Triangle (alternate: followers/friends choose between two books)

I’ve been meaning to get to finishing this trilogy for a while so that I can read Six of Crows, so here I am putting Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo on yet another TBR. There definitely is a love triangle in the first two books so assuming it will play a part in this third one too.

Common Challenge #3: Bookish Themes (alternate: predicted 5-star read)

I’ve been hoping to get to Ten Thousand Doors if January by Alix E Harrow sometime early this year and reading the blurb, it has bookish themes. So a perfect fit. I haven’t read anything from Harrow yet but I’ve heard great things and I’m looking forward to this one.

Common Challenge #4: Platonic Partnership (alternate: buddy read)

Bridge of Souls by Victoria Schwab is the third book in the Cassidy Blake series. These books follow a young girl who can see ghosts and her ghost best friend. It’s middle grade and her best friend is a boy ghost. So I say it counts and will be a nice quick read.

Common Challenge #5: Food Themed (alternate: over 500 pages)

I loved The Poet X and enjoyed Clap When You Land so I’ve been meaning to read With the Fire on Fire by Elizabeth Acevedo. This one is normal prose rather than a novel in verse. It has food on the cover and seems to have some cooking involved in the plot.

Common Challenge #6: Blast from the Past (alternate: published before 2000)

I didn’t have any books fitting the main prompt so I’m going with the alternate prompt here. I looked on Goodreads and the only pre-2000 book on my TBR that isn’t crazy long is Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb. I’ve heard such wonderful things about this series, I really want to give it a try. I’ve actually gotten this book out of the library a few times but they only have one copy and I can never renew it and have never been in a place to pick it up as soon as I get it. Hopefully this will give me the kick to finally pick it up.

Common Challenge #7: Mixed Media (alternate: an audiobook or eBook)

After March 1st, my only ARC for March is A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I Lin. I decided to fit this one in for the alternate prompt of this challenge.

Common Challenge #8: (Post) Apocalyptic (alternate: comfort read)

The blurb of The Fever King by Victoria Lee definitely seems to fit this prompt. I mean ,it starts with “In the former United States”, that’s gotta count, right?

Common Challenge #9: Found Family (alternate: book in a series)

I’m so excited that I received an ARC of Fevered Star by Rebecca Roanhorse. This is the sequel to Black Sun, one of my favorite books from 2021 and I can’t wait to dive into this next installment. So I’m going with the alternate prompt in order to fit it in.

Common Challenge #10: Morally Grey/Anti Hero (alternate: previously DNF’d book)

The Spellslinger series is full of morally-grey characters. So I’m planning to pick up the second book, Shadowblack by Sebastien de Castell.

Common Challenge #11: Multiple POV (alternate: multiple POC characters)

Before I read Fevered Star, I want to reread Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse. It’s been over a year and I really hope it’s as good as I remember. But there’s definitely both multiple POVs and POC characters.

Common Challenge #12: New Kid in Town (alternate: genre you don’t normally read)

I have heard such amazing things about Bear Town by Fredrick Backman, I’ve been wanting to pick it up. I picked it because it isn’t my usual genre but I think it fits the main prompt too based on the blurb so a good fit all around.

Common Challenge #13: Retelling (alternate: TV or move adaptation)

I was happy to see this prompt, it’s a great excuse to read my ARC of Misrule by Heather Walter. This is the sequel to Malice which I loved and I can’t wait to see how much further they can bend this is retelling of Sleeping Beauty.

Team Challenge #1: Written by or about a Political Figure

These team challenges were tricky but I’ve decided to go with Blood for Blood by Ryan Graudin for this challenge. This is the sequel to Wolf by Wolf which I read at the end of 2020 so it’s been a while. The premise of this series is that Hitler is still in power. There’s also a little bit of magical elements in it. I really enjoyed the first book and just never got to the sequel so I think this is a good excuse to finally read it and it definitely meets the prompt as Hitler is a prominent character.

Team Challenge #2: True Crime

I was at a total loss on this prompt and actually delayed signing up because I thought I may need to pick another team. But then I realized Know My Name by Chanel Miller counts as true crime. It’s not your typical true crime but it’s one of the categories even Amazon counts it in so I’m going with it. I have heard such amazing things about this book that I know I need to pick it up even though it isn’t my normal thing.

Team Books

For the team books, you are allowed to read one book for each team and you don’t need to read your team’s book. So I looked through each team and there are three books that look interesting.

The Ivory Key by Akshaya Raman – This was on my planned reads for February but bumping to March since it’s a team book. I love the cover and just have a good feeling about this one.

This is Kind of an Epic Love Story by Kacen Callender – I loved Felix Ever After so the author immediately caught my eye.

How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu – I’ve been loving sci-fi lately and this premise sounds intriguing. Oh, and it’s like 300 pages so that’s good too.

Well, that’s the very ambitious list. 18 books and 6,844 pages, it would be a miracle if I actually finished but if I get even close, I’ll be a happy camper. The last Trope-ical Readathon was my best reading month of 2021 with 15 books and 5,745 pages so I’m aiming high!

If you’re participating in the Trope-ical Readathon, I’d love to know what team you’re on and your planned TBR!