The 2020 Reading Rush (Kind Of)

Hey friends!

Yesterday was a great day for me--it was my birthday! It was also the start of a readathon that is very famous across the bookish community on the Internet. The Reading Rush has been running since 2013 in some form or another. The wonderful Ariel Bissett and Raeleen Lemay are in charge. While I would have loved to participate in a readathon, especially one that takes place on my birthday, I decided not to this year because I just started a full time job and am still getting used to it. However, I did want to do something for it in my own way. This post is going to take all the challenges Ariel and Raeleen have created for this year's Reading Rush and I'm going to list a book that I've enjoyed in the past that fits the prompt. Without further ado:

1) A Book with a Cover that Matches your Birthstone

Goodreads

As I've mentioned, my birthday was yesterday, so it's definitely in July. The July birthstone is the ruby. Therefore, for this prompt, I picked The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher. The book is a memoir that recounts Fisher's time working on Star Wars, supplemented by her journals from this time. I'm a big fan of Star Wars and Princess Leia has always been my favorite character. I really appreciate Fisher's life because she was always so outspoken. When I read this book,I really enjoyed being able to see a glimpse into her life.

2) A Book that Starts with the Word "The"

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There are definitely a lot of options for this prompt, so I looked through my most recent reads to find one that I loved but hadn't recommended on here yet. I ended up picking The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White. I've been a Kiersten White fan since I was a wee girl with a Kindle who loved the Paranormalcy series and Frankenstein is my favorite classic, so this book sounded like the perfect book for me. I finally picked it up this year, and I was right. This book manages to bring light to the side characters in the original and make it even more feminist, but also make it scarier? I know I only read it a few months ago, but it might be time for a reread.

3) Read a Book that Inspired a Movie You've Already Seen

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Apparently my movie watching life and reading life don't overlap all that much, so I stretched a little for this one. I used to love the Alvin and the Chipmunks version of Jekyll and Hyde and I finally read The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde last year. That counts. I liked the book a lot because it had a gothic air but was a great mystery story!

4) Read the First Book You Touch

Goodreads

I amended this one because I'm not going through books to read on my bookshelf, I am looking through Goodreads for what I've already read. To get a book for this challenge, I sorted my Goodreads Read shelf randomly, closed my eyes, and refreshed the page a few times. I read this book a while ago so I can't remember the exact details of it, but I remember it was an adorable YA contemporary.

5) Read a Book Completely Outside Your House

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I am not sure if I read any of the books on my Read list entirely outside my house, so I decided to pick a book for this challenge that was set mostly outdoors. If you love nature, I highly recommend An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson. This book largely takes place after a Fae Prince has swept the main character away, so there is a lot of hiking through the outdoors. I was especially intrigued by the depictions of nature because different fairy courts in the book had different weather dependent on the seasons they house, leading to completely differing descriptions of different locales.

6) Read a Book in a Genre You Want to Read More Of

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I'm definitely more of a fiction reader, but I have been trying to read more non-fiction this year. Likewise, I don't pick up many anthologies or even books by multiple authors in general. I got (Don't) Call Me Crazy in a sale for my Kindle and I am really glad I did because I found it extremely interesting. It's edited by Kelly Jensen, a podcaster and article writer whose other media I have often listened to and read. There are so many different authors and other creatives in here relating stories of mental health, showing the wide array of lived experiences that are out there.

7) Read a Book That Takes Place on a Different Continent

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I picked A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab for this challenge because it takes place in London, which is in Europe and I live in North America. However, it technically takes place in three different versions of that continent since the main character Kell can travel between three different Londons in different dimensions. If you like cool magic systems, definitely check this one out.

Have you ever participated in the Reading Rush or another readathon?

Kyra