July Preview

 Hello Interwebs!

So my July TBR is a little different from typical. I've got several books on my TBR, which is in two parts. The first part of this TBR are the books I plan to read as part of the Summerween Readathon and the second part of the TBR is for the entire month which is Jane Austen July. So this post is also divided into sections and I'll explain more about the these readathons and the prompts and what I'm planning for it. 

So first up in the month of July is Summerween which goes from July 2-8th. This is a horror/thriller/spooky readathon put on by gabbyreads and oliviareadsalatte. The point is to have Halloween for a week in July. So of course I'm going to participate. There are five prompts that can be combined and done separately as desired. 

1. Read a book in the dark
2. Read a paranormal book
3. Read a horror book
4. Read a book with Halloween colors on the cover (black, orange, green, purple)
5. Bake or make a treat or drink to go with your spooky read

So for this readathon I'm planning on reading three books for prompts two, three and four and I'll use them while doing prompts one and five. The three books I'm going to read for Summerween are:

• House of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski: this is my paranormal book as it says its a paranormal horror on goodreads. This is a hefty book but I'm hoping that since it's kind of a found footage format it will go by quickly. 
  
  
  
  
• The Troop by Nick Cutter: this is my horror book. I've been meaning to read this for a while and I recently got a paperback copy of it and have the audiobook available to me as well since the first weekend of Summerween might be rather busy for me. 
  
  
  
  
• The Maidens by Alex Michaelides: this is my pick for a book with Halloween colors on the cover. This is a recent release thriller that I really want to read and although the cover colors are more black and gold it reminds me a little of a full moon night which I personally associate with Halloween. 
  
  
  
  

So those are my three picks for the readathon and I'll try to blog at least a couple times during the event. As for the treat/drink I have a box of Pumpkin Spice tea in my cupboard as well as an Apple Spice Scone mix and Pumpkin Spice muffin mix in the cupboard that I'll use to snack. Plus considering I work nights and tend to be rather nocturnal I will have NO problems with the read in the dark prompt. 

The other readathon that I'm going to participate in during the month of July is Jane Austen July which is put on by Books and Things to celebrate all things Jane Austen: her works, her, retellings of her works, the time period she lived and wrote during, and the movies based on her books and retellings of her stories. This readathon goes through the entire month of July and includes two read-a-longs of Jane Austen novels and seven prompts for both reading and watching. The prompts and what I'm planning on reading/watching for each are as follows:

1. Read one of Jane Austen's Main Six Novels (Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, or Emma): For this prompt I'm wanting to read Mansfield Park 
   
   
   and Persuasion 
   
   
   which are the two books for the readalong this month with Mansfield Park from July 1-21 and Persuasion from July 22-31. If I can't read both I want to read Mansfield Park first since it is one of the few Jane Austen books I haven't read yet. 
2. Read something by Jane Austen that is not one of her main six novels: for this prompt I chose her unfinished novel Sandition
   
   
    which I have on my kindle already. 
3. Read a nonfiction work about Jane Austen or her time: For this prompt I plan on reading Jane Austen at Home by Lucy Worsley
   
   
   This is a nonfiction book by one of my favorite historians (I've seen the television program that goes with this one) and I own it as both an ebook and an audiobook.
4. Read a retelling of a Jane Austen book: This prompt I have two options for: Pride and Premeditation by Tirzah Price
   
   
   which is a young adult mystery retelling of Pride and Prejudice or Ladies of the House by Lauren Edmondson
   
   
   which is a modern retelling of Sense and Sensibility.
5. Read a book by a contemporary of Jane Austen (i.e. 1775-1817): like many others that are participating in this readathon I think I'm going to be reading Lover's Vows by Elizabeth Inchbald
   
   
   which is the play that is put on by the characters in Mansfield Park (and I've got a lot of books I want to read in July so a play is a good choice).
6. Watch a direct screen adaptation of a Jane Austen book: I think for this one I'm going to be watching either the 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice which I absolutely love or I'll read the 2020 version of Emma which was also a great watch. 
7. Watch a modern screen adaptation/retelling of a Jane Austen book: I'm not sure what movie I'm going to watch for this yet but maybe I'll rewatch Clueless or watch Bridget Jones Diary for the first time. We'll see how it goes. 

So that's my plans for July 2021. In addition to all of these I also have a book from the library that I want to read soon so it's ambitious but I think it's doable considering I have a number of these available to me on audiobook so I can listen to some while also doing other things. 

Happy Reading!

Richelle