Shardathon Round 3 TBR

 Hello there! If you read fantasy, you've probably heard of Brandon Sanderson. And there is, of course, a readathon all for him! Now I am just beginning my Sanderson journey so I'm not super knowledgeable about the Cosmere but I know it has something to do with shards scattered around a bunch of planets which is probably where the name of the readathon came from? I'm assuming here.

Angela (aka Literature Science Alliance) posted a video about it and that's how I found out about the readathon. The book that Round 3 is basing its prompts on is Warbreaker! Haven't read it but I plan to read it after I read Mistborn era 1. There are 4 teams, based off of characters from the book. I chose Team Lightsong! There are some nice graphics to go along for the prompts so I'll show them off here, all credit to the maker Sophia's Thoughts over on booktube! Pretty sure they're also the creator of the readathon so major shoutout to them!

Since I'm joining Team Lightsong, I'll be matching my books to those prompts. Like I said, I haven't read Warbreaker so I have no idea what these prompts correlate to but matching book to prompts = fun!

So the first prompt is Returned - Give a book a second chance or reread a favorite. I'll be reading Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones!

Goodreads Description:

"In this beloved modern classic, young Sophie Hatter from the land of Ingary catches the unwelcome attention of the Witch of the Waste and is put under a spell...

Deciding she has nothing more to lose, Sophie makes her way to the moving castle that hovers on the hills above her town, Market Chipping. But the castle belongs to the dreaded Wizard Howl, whose appetite, they say, is satisfied only by the souls of young girls…

There Sophie meets Michael, Howl’s apprentice, and Calcifer the fire demon, with whom she agrees a pact. Her entanglements with Calcifer, Howl and Michael and her quest to break her curse come alive with Diana Wynne Jones’s unique combination of magic, humour and imagination."

This was my favorite book of 2020 so I'm excited to reread it. I'm going to read it and then watch the Howl's Moving Castle movie because your girl has HBO Max now!

The second prompt is God of Bravery - Read a book with gods or a red or yellow cover. For this prompt, I'll be reading City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett!

Goodreads Description:

"The city of Bulikov once wielded the powers of the gods to conquer the world, enslaving and brutalizing millions — until its divine protectors were killed. Now, Bulikov’s history has been censored and erased, its citizens subjugated. But the surreal landscape of the city itself, forever altered by the thousands of miracles its guardians once worked upon it, stands as a haunting reminder of its former supremacy.

Into this broken city steps Shara Thivani. Officially, the unassuming young woman is just another junior diplomat sent by Bulikov’s oppressors. Unofficially, she is one of her country’s most accomplished spies, dispatched — along with her terrifying “secretary”, Sigrud — to solve a murder.

But as Shara pursues the killer, she starts to suspect that the beings who ruled this terrible place may not be as dead as they seem, and that Bulikov’s cruel reign may not yet be over."

I heard the gods are supposedly dead in this book but it still counts! Robert Jackson Bennett also wrote (or is still writing I guess) The Founders trilogy, the first of which is Foundryside. I've heard great things about it. But since that book doesn't have gods, as far as I know, I decided to start here. Hopefully, I click with his writing style so I can eventually read Foundryside.

The third prompt is Never Asked for This - Read a book with a reluctant hero or protagonist. For this prompt, I'll be reading Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales.

Goodreads Description:

"Her advice, spot on. Her love life, way off.

Darcy Phillips:
• Can give you the solution to any of your relationship woes―for a fee.
• Uses her power for good. Most of the time.
• Really cannot stand Alexander Brougham.
• Has maybe not the best judgement when it comes to her best friend, Brooke…who is in love with someone else.
• Does not appreciate being blackmailed.

However, when Brougham catches her in the act of collecting letters from locker 89―out of which she’s been running her questionably legal, anonymous relationship advice service―that’s exactly what happens. In exchange for keeping her secret, Darcy begrudgingly agrees to become his personal dating coach―at a generous hourly rate, at least. The goal? To help him win his ex-girlfriend back.

Darcy has a good reason to keep her identity secret. If word gets out that she’s behind the locker, some things she's not proud of will come to light, and there’s a good chance Brooke will never speak to her again.

Okay, so all she has to do is help an entitled, bratty, (annoyingly hot) guy win over a girl who’s already fallen for him once? What could go wrong?"

Mainly I'm reading this because of the bi rep but the main character is also caught in a blackmail-y situation where she has to help a dude win his girlfriend back so I think it fits the prompt. 

The fourth prompt is Secret Cinnamon Roll - Read a book with a found family or mentor trope. I'm so excited for the book I picked for this prompt. It's The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune!

Goodreads Description:

"A magical island. A dangerous task. A burning secret.

Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages.

When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he's given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist. Linus must set aside his fears and determine whether or not they’re likely to bring about the end of days.

But the children aren’t the only secret the island keeps. Their caretaker is the charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, who will do anything to keep his wards safe. As Arthur and Linus grow closer, long-held secrets are exposed, and Linus must make a choice: destroy a home or watch the world burn."

I've heard so many good things about this book. It's apparently got dangerous levels of wholesomeness which I always need in my life. 

The last prompt is Siri - Read a prompt from Siri's list. The prompt I chose from Siri's list is Royal Locks - A book with multiple colors on the cover. For this one, I'll be reading The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna!

Goodreads Description:

"Sixteen-year-old Deka lives in fear and anticipation of the blood ceremony that will determine whether she will become a member of her village. Already different from everyone else because of her unnatural intuition, Deka prays for red blood so she can finally feel like she belongs.

But on the day of the ceremony, her blood runs gold, the color of impurity--and Deka knows she will face a consequence worse than death.

Then a mysterious woman comes to her with a choice: stay in the village and submit to her fate, or leave to fight for the emperor in an army of girls just like her. They are called alaki--near-immortals with rare gifts. And they are the only ones who can stop the empire's greatest threat.

Knowing the dangers that lie ahead yet yearning for acceptance, Deka decides to leave the only life she's ever known. But as she journeys to the capital to train for the biggest battle of her life, she will discover that the great walled city holds many surprises. Nothing and no one are quite what they seem to be--not even Deka herself."

I've been hearing about this all over and it sounds like the general consensus is a good one. I had this on hold at the library for a while so I'm glad I'll finally be getting to it!

If you want to join us for the readathon, go check out Angela's video which will have a link to the Discord. There's also a Twitter but it's not very active right now. But Twitter is a cesspool anyway, so...

Thanks for reading! 

x Sasha