Well Tome Topple officially concluded last night at midnight. This was my second soiree into the Tome Topple Read-A-Thon and I had more success this round than I did in Round 10. I set a pretty aggressive TBR for this round and was not able to complete all of the books (not surprising). I was able to finish “Strange the Dreamer” by Laini Taylor and a good portion of “Eldest” by Christopher Paolini. As I was working out my TBR, I didn’t factor in that “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” by Suzanne Collins was coming out in the middle of this read-a-thon (which absolutely sabotaged my plan). I’m going to go ahead and give myself the “Scholar” status hitting the following prompts:
I finished “Strange The Dreamer” on audiobook yesterday afternoon. I originally read this book on my Kindle in January 2019. I didn’t think it was possible to enjoy a book more the second time through than the original read (outside of Harry Potter, of course). The book summary really keeps you in the dark for the most part (which is absolutely part of the charm). I’m not sure if having a better grasp of the plot helped my enjoyment or what, but I thoroughly enjoyed my re-read! The audiobook was extremely well down with excellent production value. I typically listen to audiobook whenever I go for walks – each time I turned on this audiobook, I became instantly engrossed in the plot. The narrator did a fantastic job as well and really added another dimension to this story. If you haven’t picked up “Strange the Dreamer” by Laini Taylor, do yourself a favor and add this to your TBR. While the ending does provide some closure, you’ll be incredibly eager to start the sequel, Muse of Nightmares, as soon as possible!
The other book I semi-toppled, was “Eldest” by Christopher Paolini. I still have a bit left of this book to go, so I want to reserve my final judgement until then! I have been enjoying what I’ve read so far but the slightly overly detailed descriptions, really slow down the pacing. I have an idea of where this story is going and anticipate there to be quite a bit of action (I think I’m on the cusp of this happening). I definitely could have finished this book, if my pre-order of “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” didn’t show up almost a week early!
I have been anticipating the release of “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” for months. I was late to reading “The Hunger Games,” I started them around when “Mockingjay” was released. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire series and was anxious to return to this world. There was a lot of negativity and skepticism around this new entry being a President Snow origin story but I was interested in seeing Collins continue to build that character. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to purchase the Kindle edition because it was $17.99 (which is ludicrous) or a hardback for $19.99. Target ended up running a couple deals a few weeks back that all stacked, so I was about to get the hardback for ~$13 + tax. The only downside here was Target doesn’t provide free release-day shipping – my original delivery date was 5/26. While I was disappointed, I was also subliminally thankful because this gave me a chance to finish “Eldest” and chip away at a couple of the Shadowhunter novella bindups I’ve been working through (in preparation to read The Dark Artifices series). I was surprised when my delivery date was updated to this past Wednesday (5/20). I’ve been staring at this book since it came and finally broke down last night, abandoning “Eldest” and starting “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.” I’m about 75 pages in so far and absolutely loving it! I’m planning to fully review this book once I’m finished (which, at this rate, will be soon)!
Until Next Time,
Mr Geek
Treat Yo Shelf By Mr Geek 