This is kind of a last minute decision, but after hearing about The Book Junkie Trials, we decided to participate. We have to declare our TBR by July 1st, so that’s pretty last minute, but oh well? Haha. Let’s take a look at what these trials are and our TBRs.

The Book Junkie Trials is a readathon with a quest. There are a few ways to participate. You can choose to do all of the quests, or you can join a group (Bard, Mage, Scribe or Outlaw). All teams have reading prompts and a strength and weakness. We can join a group on our own or take the personality quest to choose where you belong. If you’re really looking to have a full challenge, you can also choose to do all of the prompts!

If you choose a team, once you declare your TBR you can’t change it anymore. You also have to read the books in the order the prompts are in that follow your map. We decided to be a Scribe.

Scribes are professional chroniclers who write accounts of important or
historical events. They follow where the action is. However, they have
been known to give rather conflicting accounts of battles, depending
upon which side they favor.

Here is the map:

Our ability/strength is to read a book that’s not declared on our TBR, as long as it completes our challenges.

Our weakness is because Scribes take time to document their findings, we must read a book with 500+ pages.
As we said, each group has their own challenges that we’ll show you when giving you our TBR.

Candyce

Dwarf Mount: You spot a fair tavern wench, however the Dwarf Mines, grimey and
dusty, didn’t evoke a very romantic feeling. Read a book with a hint of romance to get you in the mood.

This month I have a buddy read planned with a friend to read White Hot Kiss by Jennifer L. Armentrout. I read this quite awhile ago, but the spinoff Storm and Fury just came out. Even though I don’t have to reread The Dark Elements to read the spinoff, I was excited to give it another go. Luckily they did a cover change (I did not like the previous covers). I am waiting for my copy to arrive at the beginning of next week.

Apothecary Towers: Where the wizards dwell. Tricksters. They have blind-folded you
and randomised all your books, choose a book at random from your bookshelf.

To choose a random book, I had friends choose a number and I counted the books on my bookshelf. When I counted, I landed on the book These Witches Don’t Burn. Even though this seems more like a book for Halloween, I’m excited to pick it up!

The Great Library: Ahh the great archives, find and read a book that has been on your TBR forever.

There are a lot of books that have been on my TBR forever, haha. I decided to make sure I included the weakness (a book with 500+ pages) for this prompt. Yesterday, Laurie Forest did the title reveal for the third book in The Black Witch Chronicles and that got me thinking that I haven’t read the second book yet. The Iron Flower has 608 pages, so a perfect fit for the weakness.

The Drowning Deep: The Whirlpool… is so…. mesmerising. Read a book with rich world-building that will suck you into its own world, instead.

I had to think about this one for awhile. A lot of fantasy books have rich world-building. A Shifting of Stars is a book I got an e-arc from the author for and am a little behind on reading. I really wanted to read this in July, so perfect timing. And just look at that cover!

The Bookie Grail: Here you find a lost manuscript, delivered on this forgotten island by a fallen star. Read the group book: Stardust

Stardust isn’t a book that interests me at the moment. The FAQ claimed if we didn’t want to read that, to read a book with an adventure to find something lost. At first I was really thinking of fantasy series, but then I realized The Lovely and the Lost would fit this perfectly. A girl is missing and a search and rescue team needs to find her.

 

Isabelle

Dwarf Mount: You spot a fair tavern wench, however the Dwarf Mines, grimey and
dusty, didn’t evoke a very romantic feeling. Read a book with a hint of romance to get you in the mood.

I just got Fruits Baskets in the mail, a manga I was looking forward to a lot! So I decided I could wait one day longer and start reading it tomorrow. There is definitely some romance in this one and some fantasy elements as well. I loved the first episode of the new anime and I can’t wait to read it first and then watch the rest of the anime.

Apothecary Towers: Where the wizards dwell. Tricksters. They have blind-folded you
and randomised all your books, choose a book at random from your bookshelf.

Candyce and I were playing D&D yesterday and I decided to use the dice to select a book from my bookshelf. I really don’t like doing this haha and was super scared to land on a book I didn’t feel like reading. The number of the book was 73 and I only counted the ones on my TBR, so I landed on Half Wild by Sally Green. This is the sequel to Half Bad, a book I enjoyed but I never ended up reading the sequel. I guess this will be the month I do so!

The Great Library: Ahh the great archives, find and read a book that has been on your TBR forever.

So Half Wild has been on my TBR for almost 3 years, and so is the last book in the series, Half Lost. I think it will probably be another 3 years before I pick up this book if I don’t do it right away. So Half Lost will be my pick for a book that has been on my TBR forever!

The Drowning Deep: The Whirlpool… is so…. mesmerising. Read a book with rich world-building that will suck you into its own world, instead.

This one is a bit hard, as I am about to assume this book will have rich world building. My pick is a fantasy read so I hope it fits! A friend of Candyce and I has just published her first novel and my copy will arrive somewhere next week. I’m super excited to read her book so I think it will be perfect to read it for this readathon. The book I’m talking about it Crown of Conspiracy by Kara S. Weaver. I’m so proud of her and can’t wait to talk to you all about this book!

The Bookie Grail: Here you find a lost manuscript, delivered on this forgotten island by a fallen star. Read the group book: Stardust

Like Candyce, I don’t feel like reading Stardust. So I’m doing a book with an adventure to find something lost. For this last one I’m picking a book with 500+ pages because that’s something I have to fit in as well. I decided to go with Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor. In this book they try to find the lost city of Weep. And how cool is that?

 

So that’s what we plan on reading during The Book Junkie Trials. Is anybody else participating? Let us know if you are and leave your TBR in the comments! This should be a fun reading month! We’ll update you at the end of the month with how far we got.