Top 5 Tuesday: Halloween Reads

Welcome back to Top 5 Tuesday, now following the list from That Artsy Reader Girl! As always, I do a top 5 instead of a top 10 because I tend to struggle to find 10 books for prompts.

This week's prompt is..... Halloween reads

These are actually in order by my favorites this time

1. Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
2. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
3. Meant to Burn by Shae Ruby
4. Summoned by Shae Ruby
5. Three Tainted Teas by Lynn Cahoon

I will be truly frank here... these are the only books I have read as an adult that could at all count for Halloween. Spooky and/or paranormal generally are not my vibe. Neither is fantasy as a whole. Some of these are my current reads, but some of these are completed. I am really scraping the bottom of the barrel, but I wanted to participate a bit in being seasonal. 

Here it all is in a pretty lil' graphic 😁

My day-to-day has been a major struggle. I have also struggled to get much reading done amongst everything else on my mind. That said, being here and talking about books... this is the most coherent I have felt all week. So even with my personal life trying to blow up, I will be here getting my slice of happiness with my bookish friends. I hope all of you are having more peace. See you tomorrow!

Friday Free For All: Magical Readathon Spring 2025

 Friday Free For All: Magical Readathon Spring 2025

How This Readathon Went for Me

Hello lovelies! Welcome to my first Friday Free For All. I made this series as basically a chance to ramble more about books and all things bookish that don't necessarily align with the content I am already doing. In this week's case, I wanna talk about the Magical Readathon created by G aka Book Roast. This is a fantasy-themed DND style readathon where you create a character and take "classes" that are completed by reading books that align with the prompts for the readathon. 

This year, G created an additional incentive for people to log the books they've read for the readathon, which seems to be working quite well. As "students" at Orillium Academy (the fake school for the readathon. As the participants reach more pages read milestones, dragons are unlocked! These dragons are all very unique, and your characters get to keep one at the end of the readathon. As of now, all of the milestones have been reached, but we are waiting on the final dragon reveal!

I completed all of my reading prompts for my calling (major) a week in advance of the end of the readathon. I am a Mind Mender. The classes I had to take are as follows: 

• Alchemy (all capitals in a book title)
• Spells and Incantiations (word from your last book title)
• Psionics and Divinations (book with witches or the occult)
• Restoration (book with a 4+ star average rating)
• Demonology (book with a missing person)

For alchemy, I chose All Signs Point to Malibu by Jennifer Snow. Turns out this book was a miss for me, and I ended up giving it 2.5 stars.

For spells and incantations, I chose How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang, which I liked a lot better, and I gave it 4.5 stars. 

For psionics and divination, I choose Three Tainted Teas by Lynn Cahoon. Witchy books will never be my thing, so I gave it 3 stars. 

For restoration, I chose Punt in the Dark by Ariana St. Claire. It was a nice, quick read I gave 4.25 stars. 

Lastly, for demonology, I chose Such a Bad Influence by Olivia Muenter. I was able to read this one entirely during the kick-off reading spirits and had a fantastic time. I gave it 4.5 stars. 

Overall, my actual ratings were a mixed bag, and that's okay. Readathons like this one get me out of my comfort zone, which is a good thing! I plan to do more readathons to keep up the fun and inspiration to branch out. In fact, keep your eyes peeled for an announcement about a readathon I want to create for June! I always go big for Pride, and this year is no exception. 

See you next Friday for more surprise ramblings!