Happy Friday, sweet friends! I hope you’re having a wonderful day so far!
As you may know, I teamed up with Saima from storieswithsaima to create & host the Animal Crossing Readathon. The last month and a half has flown by, and I can’t even believe it’s already over. Since I did a Readathon TBR post, I figured I should only do a readathon wrap-up, and share what I ended up reading in the last month and a half. To no one’s surprise, I did not stick to my TBR, but I did read quite a bit — which really is all that matters.
Saima and I also thought it would be fun to do a little Animal Crossing challenge, where we made builds inspired by books. We each selected two items, and encouraged the other person to use said item to create an area on our island that reminded us of a book, or a scene from a book. The four items we chose were the wooden bookshelf, the fortune teller set, afternoon tea set, and the serving cart. You can view Saima’s post here!
First, I thought it’d be cute to do a You’ve Reached Sam inspired build, so I’ve got the bookshop where Julie works at, as well as a phone on the desk (which you can’t see very well in this photo). There’s also the cherry-blossom branches item, which is an homage to the cherry blossom scene!
With the fortune teller set, I knew I had to do The Raven Cycle. Of course, in a perfect world, the car would be orange to reflect Gansey’s camaro, but I had to make do with just a regular car! I tried to include some seating areas, as well as some books and scattered papers to reflect how the characters of The Raven Cycle (particularly Gansey) did a lot of research. And the Rover’s Briefcase item is simply there to represent all of Gansey’s travels! Can you tell he’s my favorite?
For the afternoon tea set, I decided to create a build based off of The Heartbreak Bakery — I really enjoyed reading it, and thought it was so cute! It was such an easy build to incorporate onto my island.
And last but not least, I created a build loosely inspired by This Poison Heart — I wanted to create something very green and overgrown, with lots of flowers and plants, and thought the serving cart would be a good addition!
Because I read so many books (and I did so many rereads) over the course of the last month and a half, I figured it’d be best to just share some of my highlights, and only count new reads that weren’t on my original TBR towards the readathon.
Let’s start with the books that I did read off my TBR:
PROMPT (SMUG): Read a Coming of Age Story
I followed my original TBR, and read Racquel Marie’s Ophelia After All. It was the tea time reads’ March book club pick, and I loved revisiting Ophelia’s story!
PROMPT (PEPPY): Read a Fantasy
I finally read Judy I. Lin’s A Magic Steeped in Poison, and while I was hoping to like it a lot more than I did, I enjoyed it on the whole. I don’t think I was particularly in a fantasy mood when I read it, so I’ll have to revisit it again at some point and see if my opinion of it changes. If you’re on the fence about checking it out, I wrote up five reasons to check it out as well!
PROMPT (JOCK): Read a Long Book (Over 500 Pages)
After three months, I finally finished listening to Les Misérables. It’s truly one of my favorite stories, and getting to reread it was so lovely. I highly, highly recommend the audiobook, despite it being 65 hours long. The cast was incredible, and they just brought it to life. Prior to this, I wasn’t really an audiobook person, but the Les Misérables one changed me forever.
PROMPT (NORMAL): Read a Debut Book
Unfortunately, Blood Scion was another story that just wasn’t for me. I’d heard great things and had really high expectations, but ultimately I think it was just darker than I was prepared for. I think this is another story that I have to revisit later, when I’m in the mood for something darker.
PROMPT (NORMAL): Read a book with high ratings
Saima and I buddy read Olivie Blake’s Alone With You in the Ether, and while it took a while for me to get into, I really loved it. I just know that this is a book that’ll stay with me for a while, and one that I cannot wait to reread.
PROMPT (LAZY): Read a book centered around food
I really enjoyed The Heartbreak Bakery! It wasn’t perfect by any means, but I found it to be such a cute and refreshing read. It definitely reminds me of one of my favorite musicals, Waitress, and I thought the concept was just so cool!
PROMPT (SNOOTY): Read a book released between 2020-2022
I reread The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh for Literasian Book Club’s March pick! I really enjoyed rereading it, and liked that I forced myself to go at a slower pace instead of reading it all in one sitting.
PROMPT (NORMAL): Read a book that you think will be a favorite
For this prompt, I read Claire Ahn’s I Guess I Live Here Now. I was really hoping that this would be a favorite, but it just wasn’t my cup of tea. I didn’t love the main character, and so it was difficult for me to root for her.
And now, here are the books that weren’t on my TBR but I ended up reading anyways!
Prompt (CRANKY): Read an autobiography/memoir
I got to read an ARC of Gemignani: Life and Lessons from Broadway and Beyond, which was so special for me. It’s written by one of my dearest friends, Margaret Hall, and not only did I get to learn a lot about Paul Gemignani, as well as the workings behind some of my favorite musicals, but I also got to see something special that my friend has been dedicated to for so long.
Prompt (JOCK): Read a book on your backlist
In a similar vein as Les Misérables, I finally took the plunge and listened to The Priory of the Orange Tree. I struggled with the physical copy, but had heard promising things about the audiobook, so I took the plunge and listened to it — and I’m SO glad I did!
Prompt (SISTERLY): Read a Beach Read
I actually binged all three of Beth O’Leary’s books in a weekend: The Flatshare, The Road Trip, and The Switch. The Flatshare was undoubtedly my favorite of the trio, but they were all just so easy to read.
Prompt (K.K. Slider): Listen to an audiobook
I listened to several audiobooks over the course of the readathon, but the one that I’m counting for this prompt is The Darkness Outside Us! It was a really quick listen, and I found myself really invested in the story.
Prompt (Orville): Read a book that takes place somewhere outside of your hometown
I listened to the audiobook for Conversations with Friends, and while I didn’t love it as much as I was hoping to, there were several lines that resonated deeply with me. I’m excited to watch it on screen!
Prompt (Cyrus & Reese): Read a romance
I read many romances over the course of this readathon, but the ones I’ve decided to highlight here are the Bridgerton books! I binged seven of them in the span of 24 hours (I know, I know), and while I have many issues with the misogyny and classism, among other things, I did find them to be a quick and easy read. I particularly loved The Viscount Who Loved Me, Romancing Mr. Bridgerton, and It’s In His Kiss. Caitlyn and I have a Cozy Convos post on Bridgerton coming out soon, so I’ll go into more detail there!
Prompt (Isabelle): Read a book that takes place in one day
The minute I was trying to pair NPC prompts with books I was hoping to read during the course of the readathon, I knew I had to pair Rachel Lynn Solomon’s See You Yesterday with this one! It’s a time loop romance, so technically speaking it all takes place on the same day.
Prompt (Timmy & Tommy): Read a book written by two authors
I watched The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society ages ago, but remembered remarkably little about it aside from the fact that I liked the costumes, so when I saw the audiobook on Scribd, I knew I had to give it a shot. Unfortunately, I just didn’t love it as much as I was hoping to!
Prompt (CJ): Have a friend pick out your next read
My friend, Em, over at adaptationbrain, has been asking me to read Miss Lattimore’s Letter for the longest time, so I decided to use it as one of my readathon picks! It was a short, easy read, and one that has me even more excited for the adaptation of Mr. Malcolm’s List.
Prompt (Gullivarrr): Read a book that follows a quest or journey
I read an arc of Gone Dark, which very much is not the type of book I normally gravitate towards, but it was a book that I simply couldn’t put down! I wrote a little more about it here.
Prompt (Celeste): Read a book late at night
As part of the tea time reads May suggestions, I read The Worst Best Man by Mia Soza late at night! Or maybe not super late, but later than when I normally read, so I’m counting it! I thought it was a cute read, but it wasn’t my favorite, and I felt like I wanted more resolution from it.
Prompt (Flick): Read a book you think your best friend would like
My best friend, Jessica, is a huge fan of donuts, so I thought of them when I picked up Donut Fall in Love by Jackie Lau. It’s a short and sweet read that definitely had me craving donuts!
Prompt (Luna): Read a book you’ve been anticipating
I’ve been really excited about Delilah Green Doesn’t Care, and it felt like everyone and their mother absolutely adored this book! While it took a while for Delilah to grow on me, I did end up really enjoying this one.
Prompt (Mabel & Sable): Read a book with more than one POV: I read Beth O’Leary’s The No Show for this one! I was so ready to DNF this book, and I honestly would’ve if it wasn’t written by Beth O’Leary, but I stuck with it and I’m so glad! The twist was such a surprise, and completely turned the book around for me. I loved all the different POV’s, and I found it to be such a unique tale.
And there you have it! My wrap up for the Animal Crossing readathon! I hope you’re all doing well & staying safe, and enjoying some good reads!
