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Why I am anchouring this to my INSPY readathon:

Having found my groove for reading #Fantasy after a gruelling month of migraines this #WyrdAndWonder in May, 2019 – I’ve decided to give myself free licence to return into the fantastical worlds and realms I hadn’t yet had the pleasure of reading during the event itself! I simply couldn’t get into a lot of the lovelies I had earmarked to read – specifically of course, I wanted to spread out my readings of the Night’s Edge series by Ms Czerneda as I am participating in her MAGE blog tour this August – however, sometimes life has other plans whilst we’re attempting to do something we love.

When I first saw this readathon announced – I nearly worried I couldn’t participate – I mean, its based on “Game of Thrones” – the one series in both literature & tv I’ve avoided like the plague – just #notmycuppa – therefore how to join a readathon paying homage to a beloved series without any inside knowledge of the “houses” we’re meant to select as participants!? It was clearly an easier route of entry for #BeatTheBacklist – I mean, I was bourne a Ravenclaw, talk about a no-brainer! lol

Thus, as I have this lovely sisterhood of readers who are encouraging me along with my readings of the October Daye series – having recently completed my readings of *Rosemary & Rue* this June on the footheels of wrapping up my participation in our 2nd Year of Wyrd and Wonder – I decided to reach out to them (as a few were already going to participate in this readathon themselves) which House I ought to select and how best to address the categories of reading focus.

Through this lively discussion, I decided to join the Equality Progressive House of Spanish Hippies (their descriptions of the house, I wouldn’t know them if I met them!) which I felt suited me just dandy!

Erhm, better known as *House Martell!*

For starters, I’m an Intersectional Feminist – we all rise together or we all fall. Quite a simple philosophy – all women are all equal unto each other and we all should have equal rights across the gender divides. This includes all ethnicties, gender expressions, gender identities (*trans included!) and religious backgrounds – basically any which way to Sunday you identify as a woman and however which way you live your life – you are Equal & a soul sister to all women.

In regards to the “Spanish Hippies” side of the ledger – I’m a green-living cheerleader for 21st Century living – wherein I might be a book blogger & social reader but I’m full-on analogue at the same time – I love my vintage typewriters, love board games, old world arts & crafts and the old fashioned ways of interacting with people unplugged and offline. I also believe in natural & organic foods, green living practices and the whole locavore movement of reducing our footprint by creating a smaller footpath between farm to fork. There is more to it than that, but you gather the gist – I am definitely a ‘hippie’ to live amongst the hippies of this world!

Having sorted that out – I decided to sort out which audiobooks are available via my local libraries which befit the categories whilst which books I can check-out which would also qualify. I recognised this particular readathon isn’t for YA Fantasy – which ironically is predominately what I’ve been checking out recently! lol Still. I found that I have quite a few fantastical reads which are in the Adult section which will give me hours of Fantasy joy to immerse inside.

If I could, I also wanted to pull from the selections I made during #Mythothon – as towards which of the stories I’d be most keen to pick up reading again this Summer,..

Overall, though – I am slated to read a heap of lovely INSPY novels by the collective hive of #LoveInspiredSuspense novelists who are giving me a wicked good read for gentle fiction & compelling suspense wherein I know I can handle where the stories take me! This year, I’m dearly focusing on Elizabeth Goddard novels as I never had the chance to dig into hers last year whilst I am also returning into the Callahan Confidental novels I adored last July! I haven’t formulated my TBR this year but if you see me doing recaps or reading progress reports about this imprint of Harlequin just know these novelists truly keep me engaged!

At the same time, I have some thrilling INSPY reads outside of the scope of Love Inspired Suspense I want to finish reading as well! Including the other half of the series I began in December which rendered me slightly dizzy due to how extremely on edge I was reading it!

I’ll be continuing my #InspySundays showcases throughout July along with a return of Inspirational & Self Motivating Non-Fiction and/or Memoirs returning as a keen focus of my Non-Fic wanderings alongside my Scientific enquiries as well. I am just thankful to finally get back into the books I desire to be reading and if this readathon can be anchoured to July’s Christian Fiction & Clean Reads readathon as a path towards re-aligning into those stories I love to read, all the better!!

Fantasy & Inspy are two of my cuppa loves of bookish joy!

Speaking of which, did you see my review for Fantasy Inspy by Morgan L. Busse?

Sigil: a gold spear piercing a red sun on a field of orange
House words: “Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken.”

Not all of these selections are being borrowed through my local libraries as some of these titles were received for review consideration and will be reviewed. Others are part of a readalong and/or readathon focus of interest. Some are a carry-over from Wyrd And Wonder Year 2 or Mythothon Year 1. Technically, I am also beginning my Year of Asian Stories co-hosted by Bookish Valhalla (#YOAS).

Concurrent to the intent to keep this strictly a list of Adult Fantasy vs YA Fantasy – I’ve come to the conclusion, I happen to be gravitating towards a heap of YA moreso in some instances than Adult selections of Fantasy. Thereby, for the sake of the readathon + the points, ONLY those books I could sort out being a) Adult / Adult Crossover or b) NA – New Adult are going to count for points for House Martell. You will automatically see the (points) next to the titles for further clarification. Once my review goes up on my blog a link will be added!

The rest of the lovelies are *extras!* I’m reading for the joy of discovering them. I just decided to streamline the list to showcase which Fantasy authors, stories and series I am a) attempting to begin reading, b) attempting to finish reading and c) joyfully will be enjoying throughout the #IronTomeAThon!

I’d like to give a proper s/o of gratitude to Annemieke who helped me sort out
how to create my own TBR for this readathon! Kindly visit her TBR, too! Read More

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

• #IronTomeAThon