November TBR starring the Greek Gods (#Mythothon)

I’m in such a Readathon mood lately. I’ve failed some (witchathon, shame on me) due to a little reading slump, but I’m back in the game and going strong. This particular readathon intrigued me because it’s all based on Greek mythology. I’ve always loved Greek mythology since my grandpa told me all the stories when I was a kid. I wanted to hear them again and again and I could tell them all word for word. So having a readathon where the prompts are about the gods? Hell yes, please.

This readathon is hosted by Foxes and Fairytales and she also has some awesome book recommendations if you’re at a loss for certain prompts and want to go full on and read mythology inspired books (which is not required. Any book that fits the prompt is more than fine).

Now my tbr is already very large, so I didn’t want to buy any new books for this readathon. I don’t own any (at least not here in Vienna) books that are inspired by Greek mythology that I haven’t read yet, so … just ‘normal’ books for me.

Still, I’m so very excited. Now, this comes a little late to you (as per usual) so I already finished three books. I gonna list them here still though. There are 25 prompts. I am aiming for 13 -19 though. I thought it would be cool to write my initials while filling out the bingo board; N and if I finish that an E.

So, without further ado, let’s talk about which books I chose. (Also, I’m bad at making decisions, so I chose 2 or 3 for each prompt … I’m a mood reader and never do what I’m told to, okay? Setting myself a very specific tbr is a surefire way to have me read almost none of them.)

Zeus. King of the Gods. God of the Sky. Read a book at least 400 pages long.

 

DNA by Yrsa Sigurdardottir or Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray

Both are books I really need to read this year, so either now or in December!
DNA is actually a review copy so the earlier the better. My mom already read it and liked it so I am excited to start it.
And I simply loved the Diviners and really should read the sequel. And I think November is the right atmosphere for it.

Hermes. God of Travellers and Thieves. Read a book set in a country not your own.

I could have chosen any contemporary honestly, but I went for The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. I’ve had this book for a while and never picked it up because I feared I wouldn’t like it. (I actually already read this and I’m glad to say that I did like it.) .. so check for this category.

Aphrodite. Goddess of Love and Beauty. Read a book with a beautiful cover.

 

(Both have such beautiful covers!) I’m currently buddy reading GoPaF with two friends and so far it’s amazing. But I’ve only read the first 3 chapters … I hope it stays that way. I’ve heard a lot of positive reviews so I’m quite sure it will.

The Hydra. Multiheaded Serpent. Read a book with more than one POV

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The Unusual Possession of Alastair Stubb by
Honestly, I really want to get this book done. It’s been on my tbr for waaaay too long and it is also one of the books for my ‘I read the lowest rated books on my tbr – project’ so double win.

I’ve just finished Die Blutkönigin/ The Queen of Blood yesterday and I loved it so so much. I’ll post a review in the next few days, so if you’re interested, stay tuned. (This would also fit some other prompts, so we’ll see in my wrap up where I put it.)

Dionysus. God of Wine. Celebrate this year by reading a 2018 release.

Now, this is the perfect prompt for me because I have way too many unread review copies and eARCs lying around. Any of them would fit the bill but I went for Sugar Spells (again, I already read it and really enjoyed it. Review coming soon! Just prepare to be hungry after reading it!)

Hephaestus. God of Fire and Smiths. Read a book with a disabled character.

If I ever made a list with popular books I haven’t read yet, this duology would definitely be on it. Everybody seems to love these characters and I really liked the Shadow and Bone trilogy so I’m excited to dive into this other series. The reason why I haven’t read it yet, despite owning the book since it’s release, is that I’ve been spoiled for the ending of Crooked Kingdom, for what happened to a certain character and I tried to forget that. … I didn’t unfortunately and I don’t think I ever will. So now is a good time to read them. Especially because King of Scars is coming out in January and I want to know who Nina is before reading that book.

Ares. God of War. Read a book with a compelling antagonist or a written from the villain’s POV.

 

Well, what better book to choose than Vengeful by V.E. Schwab. The second installment in the Villains series. It’s rather long though, so my other option is Forest of a Thousand Lanterns. I think it’s a retelling of the Evil Queen? In an origin kind of way? I think? (Wow, I am goood with words …)

Gaia. Primordial Earth Goddess. Read a book which was published at least 5 years ago.

I have a lot of options for this one. But I think I’m going with Clockwork Prince. I’ve wanted to continue the trilogy for a while now (and I already started this book yesterday … ). I was very surprised that I liked Clockwork Angel after reading (and disliking) the first three Mortal Instruments books. I’m enjoying my time with TID though so I’m glad I decided to try this even after TMI.
But every Agatha Christie book would count, too or The Catcher in the Rye. Another one I’m quite excited to get to.

Artemis. Goddess of the Moon and the Hunt. Read a book with an animal on the cover or in the title.

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Believe it or not … but I had trouble finding one. After some searching though, these are my options:
Beyond a Darkened Shore, The Wolf/Wolfsthron, or Die Feder eines Greifs/The Griffin’s Feather (I don’t know if this would count … but there is a little monkey on the cover … right?
I think I’m gravitating towards The Wolf or The Griffin’s Feather though. One is a review copy and the other one I borrowed from a friend so I wanna give it back in a reasonable time. But we’ll see.

Athena. Goddess of Wisdom, Strategy and Crafts. Read a book that’s not the first in the series.

Again, sooo many options. I narrowed it down to Physics, Frost like Night, or Lair of Dreams. but I have a lot of other ebooks that would work for this. Or I could continue with, say, Clockwork Princess? Or King of Thorns? Or Two Dark Reigns? The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy? Help?

Demeter. Goddess of Agriculture. Read a book with a nature word in the title – e.g. leaf, wind, flower etc.

For the longest time I’ve wanted to read a book by Mark Lawrence and I’ve searched for these specific editions for a long time (I like the font more … I know, it’s weird) to get all three books to match (they kinda do, but then again they kinda don’t? But that’s a story for another time). So finally I’m going to read this book. And hopefully, fall in love with it so I can go and splurge on all his other books. They all sound so promising!

Hestia. Goddess of the Hearth. Read the first book in a series.

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Either The Winner’s Curse/Spiel der Macht by Marie Rutkoski (it would fit the beautiful cover prompt, too) or Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard or Lament by Maggie Stiefvater. Both Red Queen and Lament have been on my TBR for AGES! So it’s definitely time BUT I got the German review copy for Spiel der Macht from Netgalley (The Winner’s Curse) so I’d rather read that first.

Free Choice.

For this, I don’t have anything specific in mind. I’ll just see what I’m in the mood for. Or if I really wanna read a book that doesn’t fit any of the other prompts etc.
Now, if I manage to finish all those books and still have time, I’ll have all the prompts here to make an E:

Hera. Queen of the Gods. Goddess of Marriage, Mothers and Families. Read a book about royalty.

Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J Maas. I want to read this sooo badly. But I’m scared I will be in a book hangover after it and not be able to pick anything up. However, I think I’ve already read a spoiler (so mad about that!) so I want to read it quickly to avoid being spoiled completely.

Hebe. Goddess of Eternal Youth. Read a Middle Grade or Young Adult book.

Either Die Feder eines Greifes/ The Griffith Feather by Cornelia Funke or Physics by Angie Sage (the third in the Septimus Heap series)

Poseidon. God of the Sea. Read a book which features the sea – mermaids, pirates, surfers etc.

 

The Surface Breaky by Louise ? or These Rebel Waves by Sara Raasch.
I got both of them in a book box (the first in Dreamers&Fairies and the second in a Fairyloot box). I’m intrigued by both, so we’ll see what I’m in the mood for.

Persephone. Goddess of the Underworld and Springtime. Read a book which is less than 200 pages.

This is the only book I own that is under 200 pages. So not much of a choice here. But that’s fine, I’m quite interested in this one. Just got it this summer and I’ve read a few reviews that were mostly positive.

Hades. God of the Underworld and Riches. Read a book which you got for free (library, from a friend, ARC, Kindle offer etc.)

 

Again, all my NetGalley books would do, but I think I’ll strive for Madame le Commissaire. I should have read that a while ago. I started it and I am struggling with it. So if I’m not feeling it in 100 pages or so I’m DNFing it and going for Vengeance Road. A book I got from my mom and that has quite a gorgeous cover!

Apollo. God of Prophesy, Plague and Poetry. Read a collection of poetry or short stories.

Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman. Another book that’s been on my shelves for a few years. I’ve read the introduction though and already loved that, so colour me intrigued. I think I’ll try to get the audiobook though. Neil Gaiman narrates it himself and I love it when authors do that. Also, I listened to the sample and he does an amazing job!

Homer. Read a retelling (of a myth, fairy tale, classic novel etc.)

   

The Surface Breaks? or Forest of a Thousand Lanterns? That does count as a retelling, does it? I have surprisingly few retellings. I thought I owned more. I love Fairytales and their retellings, but apparently I never actually buy any?

Achilles and Patroclus. Read a book with an LGBT+ protagonist.

 

Honestly, I struggled with finding one. I don’t read (or own) a lot of contemporaries and the few fantasies that I know are LGBT+ are the ones I’ve already read. And I didn’t wanna choose one that has just a side character or anything.
From what I’ve heard Girls of Paper and Fire has an LGBT main character?
But a friend of mine recommended Of Fire and Stars. Now I don’t own that one, but I can listen to it via Scribd.

 

I really hope I can get to all of these. Especially Persephone and Hades as they’re two of my favorite Greek Gods.

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Who’s your fav? Tell me in the comments!