At the beginning of the year, I set myself what I considered to be a very ambitious challenge: I would read 70 books in 2023.
Three months in, and finishing my 36th book, I am reminded about my family’s blessing (or curse), which enables us to single-mindedly steamroll towards our priorities once we’ve decided on a commitment.
Since I am averaging 12 books a month, and showing no sign of slowing down, I thought it would be fun to channel that enthusiasm into a themed challenge: cue the Realmathon (that is, Realm-athon, and not real-mathon, which I confusedly first read it as!).
I’ll let the creator explain what it is all about:
Welcome to the realm of the readathon where we have four very different realms which are ripping rifts through space and time, converging on each other. Only one can remain, the rest will just cease to exist. The rifts are fueled by an energy source which is strengthened by the magic of the realm. So they are all trying to strengthen their magic in turn strengthening their rift and lessening the powers of the others! Read a book to either strengthen your rifts, or close one of the other realms rifts.
Realmathon Guide 2.0
There are four realms to choose from, each one centering around a different book genre. You don’t have to strictly read within your genre, but I think it is a fun way of tackling the readathon and pushing yourself to read a certain type of book for the bonus points it rewards you.
I went for Sactum, the genre focused on the Thriller, Horror and Mystery genre.
Sanctum – The realm of the thrills and chill. Sanctum is a desert ghost land. This is a realm that lacks a lot of color, shades of black, gray and white wherever you look. But when magic is used you will see a spark of color! Expect the paranormal to be a regular occurrence over here and your best friend will most likely be a ghost. This realm uses the magic of the unknown and the bizarre. Calling upon ancient spirits, demons, angels and vampires alike. The border between life and death has never before been so thin! The land and magic is fueled by this thin line, and the connections made between either side.
Genre: SPOOKY
Here’s some books I’m determined to tackle this month:
- Ninth House // Leigh Bardugo
- Our Wives Under The Sea // Julia Armfield
- In The Miso Soup // Ryu Murakami
- Coraline // Neil Gaiman
- Cursed Bunny // Bora Chung
- The Skeleton Key // Erin Kelly
Realmathon kicked off on 1st April, and runs throughout all of April – a perfect challenge for the long Easter weekend! You can learn more about it on Covers with Cassidy’s YouTube.
