Wow. I literally cannot believe that it’s the end of September. Time really is a construct…but! With the end of September comes the end of the Theatreathon, and I thought that since I did a TBR post, it only makes sense that I did a wrap up post!
September has been a great reading month for me, and I really do think that the Theatreathon was a huge factor in how well this month went! Just like my reading prompt challenge did in August, the Theatreathon led to me seeking out some books that I’d been putting off for a while, actively looking for books that hadn’t been on my radar, rereading favorites and falling in love with new stories.
I’m so proud to say that I completed all 21 prompts – which was absolutely the goal, but I wasn’t completely sure if I would accomplish it! As I’m sure some of you know, I’m a very competitive person, so this readathon really inspired me to complete as many prompts as possible.
Best Musical – A classic or a retelling of a classic
As Twelfth Night is my favorite Shakespeare comedy, I’m very partial to the story and a little hesitant with retellings. Luckily, I was so pleased with The Last True Poets of the Sea! The Shakesperian influence was clearly there and I liked this modernized take on the characters. I think that if you’re a fan of Shakespeare, this is one that you’d enjoy.
Links for The Last True Poets of the Sea: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Best Revival of a Musical – A reread of a favorite
I read the ARC of Dial A For Aunties back in January and fell in love with it right away. I absolutely adored the family dynamics and comedy. The storytelling is done so well and the fast paced nature of the writing keeps everything exciting. I loved this book this time around just as much as I did the first time I read it and I can’t wait for the sequel.
Links for Dial A For Aunties: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | Indiebound
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical – A book with your favorite male character
I feel like I’ve said everything I can say about If We Were Villains on here unless you want me to go into another essay. I simply love this story and these characters more and more each time I read it. Also the [redacted] scene is still PAINFUL and I’m gonna go cry now that I’ve thought about it.
Links for If We Were Villains: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical – A strong female character
I finished Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From early on in my theatreathon reading journey, and unfortunately, I don’t remember a lot of details. I think that the story being told in Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From is an important one, but I had a hard time connecting to the characters which made me not as invested in the story.
Links for Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical – A book with more than one POV
I absolutely love Tangled and Rapunzel. Tangled is my favorite Disney movie, and Rapunzel is my favorite princess. So when I heard that the latest book in the Twisted Tales series would be a Tangled retelling, I knew that I had to read it. I was a little nervous, simply because I love Tangled so much and the story is very special to me, but I absolutely loved What Once Was Mine! Both the Twisted Tales stories that I’ve read I really liked, so I’ll for sure be checking out more of the books in the series.
Links for What Once Was Mine: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical – A book by two or more authors
As someone who often has trouble sleeping through the night, the idea of stories that take place strictly between sunset and sunrise is very appealing to me. That idea is exactly what drew me to the Up All Night anthology. Some of the stories I really liked and some I wasn’t a huge fan of, but overall I enjoyed reading the anthology.
Links for Up All Night: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Best Book of a Musical – A popular book you haven’t read
Right after I finished reading Down Comes the Night I said to myself, “why did I wait so long to read this?” It truly was a remarkable story. Allison Saft’s writing is so beautifully detailed which made it so easy to visualize everything! I really loved this book and can’t wait for A Far Wilder Magic.
Links for Down Comes the Night: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for Theatre – A book with beautiful prose
This Is How You Lose the Time War was actually the first book that I read this month, so I got this one checked off real quick! The writing in this book is beautiful but I truly have no idea what I read…it definitely fits the prompt though and I know that it resonated with so many which I think is so wonderful!
Links for This Is How You Lose the Time War: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Best Scenic Design of a Musical – A book that takes place in a country outside your own
I’ve always wanted to visit Tokyo, and Tokyo Ever After made me even more eager to do so one day. This was for sure a fun read – I feel like at one point or another we’ve all dreamt about finding that we’re actually royalty. I will say though, there were some choices that Izumi made that drove me crazy (namely the procrastination) but overall the book was very enjoyable!
Links for Tokyo Ever After: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Best Costume Design of a Musical – A book with a gorgeous cover
The first thing that drew me to Luck of the Titanic was in fact its cover, so it only makes sense that I read it for this prompt. I really loved this book. It was funny, heartfelt, emotional and very moving. The book was just as stunning as the cover.
Links for Luck of the Titanic: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Best Lighting Design of a Musical – Read a dark/scary book
The premise of White Smoke really drew me to the story, especially because I’ve been really into ghost stories lately. Tiffany D. Jackson is definitely a very talented writer, but unfortunately, this book fell flat for me. I couldn’t connect to any of the characters and the pacing was far too slow. It took over 150 pages to discover a huge plot point, which just does not work for me.
Links for White Smoke: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Best Direction of a Musical – A character-driven book
I really enjoyed A Wish in the Dark! It absolutely felt reminiscent of Les Miserables, and I saw all the influences. I could tell which characters in Les Mis inspired these characters and it was fun with every new character introduced to try to quickly piece together who their inspiration was. Additionally, I thought that A Wish in the Dark did a great job of tackling some really heavy subject matter in a way that is accessible to younger readers. I had pretty high hopes for this one as it’s based on one of my all time favorite novels, and I was definitely pleased.
Links for A Wish in the Dark: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Best Choreography – A book about performing arts
Fearless was such a fun read! I loved reading Monica’s journey to Broadway and following along on her discovery of the mystery of the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. I thought the characters were well written and had distinctive personalities. Overall, this was a cute story with good characters and a fun mystery. I’m excited to see what happens in the next book.
Links for Fearless: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Best Orchestrations – A book written in verse
I read Solo via audiobook and I think that was absolutely the right choice because I was able to listen to the music that was written in the book which is always such a cool experience! There were lots of aspects of Solo that I did like, but unfortunately, I think it was a little too short to fully develop the characters which stopped me from getting particularly attached to them.
Links for Solo: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Best Sound Design of a Musical – Read an audiobook
I did read Axie Oh’s XOXO for this prompt as I originally planned and I loved it! It was so cute and fun, and I’m really excited that it’s the October pick for teatimereads. While I really enjoyed the book itself, I, unfortunately, was not a huge fan of the narrator so the next time I read this it’ll definitely be via ebook or physical copy. Even though I didn’t enjoy the narrator, I really adored the book and look forward to reading more from Axie Oh!
Links for XOXO: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre – Free Space
Hang the Moon basically had me becoming the human equivalent of the pleading face emoji, it genuinely was just so cute! I loved Brendon and Annie so much, and as expected, I absolutely loved how Brendon went about recreating scenes from his favorite rom coms. This book just made me so happy and I know I’ll be revisiting it whenever I need a pick-me-up.
Links for Hang the Moon: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Isabelle Stevens Award – A book over 450 pages
For this prompt I ended up rereading Little Women! Cossette and I were doing a Little Women reread for the post that we did a few weeks back, and since I was already reading it and it was over 450 pages, I thought, might as well use it for this prompt! I really took my time with this reread because reading Little Women always feels like coming home, and I loved every second of it.
Links for Little Women: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Special Tony Award (lifetime) – A non-fiction book centered around a subject you’re passionate about
I was so excited to read Black Broadway: African Americans on the Great White Way because I knew that it would be a highly interesting and educational read, and I was right! While I know a lot about Broadway, I am ashamed to say that a lot of the information in this book I didn’t know. Black artists have been at the heart and soul of Broadway since the beginning and their voices and stories need to be heard and uplifted. If you’re a fan of Broadway, I highly recommend reading this!
Links for Black Broadway: African Americans on the Great White Way: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Best Newcomer – A 2021 debut
I had originally planned on reading a different book for this prompt, but I ended up going with Michelle Quach’s Not Here to Be Liked and I absolutely loved it! I read it pretty much straight through. I thought that there were some great conversations about feminism and allyship, performative activism, racism, and double standards. Plus, there was a little theatre and baseball thrown in there to make this the perfect book for me!
Links for Not Here to Be Liked: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Best Author – A book written by your favorite author
I usually reread a few Jane Austen books a year, so it was definitely time for an Emma reread! Emma has always been seen as one of those “unlikeable” female characters but you know what? I love her! I always have and this reread was no different.
Links for Emma: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Best Special Theatrical Event – A book with an adaptation
The Color Purple is a very compelling story and wonderfully written, but it also is a very difficult book to read. Celie just goes through so much and it’s absolutely heartbreaking. While I’m glad that I finally took the time to read this story, I don’t think I’d revisit it, simply because of how emotionally draining it is.
Links for The Color Purple: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Did you participate in the Theatreathon? If so, tell me about your experience! What books did you read? What did you think of them? I’d love to hear all about your Theatreathon reading journey!
