Get excited!! It’s that time of year again–the Reading Rush is here!! The Reading Rush is a weeklong readathon hosted by Ariel Bissett and Raeleen Lemay. This year the Reading Rush is taking place from July 20 to July 26. Check out their website for more information.
I’ve been participating in the Reading Rush (formerly known as the Booktube-a-thon) for years now, and it’s always a highlight of my summer. It’s so lovely to read alongside thousands of other bookworms for an entire week, participating in fun challenges along the way. The Reading Rush fosters an incredible sense of togetherness in the online bookish community, and I am so excited to participate in it again this year. ❤
On of my favorite aspects of the Reading Rush are the new reading challenges set each year. They’re always so creative and provide some great motivation for reading as much as possible during this readathon. Each year I make a TBR according to these reading challenges; however, I don’t usually end up sticking precisely to the list I create beforehand. Nevertheless, it’s fun (and motivating!) to make a TBR list that goes along with all of the challenges.
Here are the books that I’m hoping to read during the Reading Rush:
1 // Read a book with a cover that matches the color of your birth stone.
Play As It Lays by Joan Didion. My birthstone is topaz for November, which is usually considered gold-ish color. Although this cover isn’t brimming with yellow, I still think it gives off topaz-vibes. I purchased my copy of Play As It Lays shortly after finishing Didion’s memoir The Year of Magical Thinking during my senior year of college, and it’s been sitting in my physical TBR pile ever since. I will be thrilled if I finally get around to reading this one during this readathon!
2 // Read a book that starts with the word “The”.
The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Surprisingly, I think this challenge was actually the hardest for me to find a book for. Somehow few of the books in my physical TBR start with “the,” and the ones that do are far too long for a readathon. Despite absolutely loving F. Scott Fitzgerald’s writing style in The Great Gatsby, I’ve never read anything else by him. Time to fix that!
3 // Read a book that inspired a movie you’ve already seen.
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. I am notorious among my friends for not having seen most movies, so this question was quite a challenging one to choose a book for. Luckily, I just so happen to have an unread copy of Sense and Sensibility waiting for me in my TBR pile, the film adaptation of which I watched a few years ago. I’m so exciting to finally (hopefully!!) get around to reading this novel that has been on my TBR for AGES.
4 // Read the first book you touch.
I think I honestly might just put my physical books in a pile and touch one with my eyes closed… that counts, right?
5 // Read a book completely outside of your house.
Summer Crossing by Truman Capote. I’ve always wanted to read something by Truman Capote, and this short audiobook with “summer” in the title seems like the perfect thing to read for this challenge. “Outside of my house” will either consist of my backyard or my car during my commute to work–we’ll see what sort of mood I’m in this week!
6 // Read a book in a genre you’ve always wanted to read more of.
Grand Union by Zadie Smith. Are short stories considered a genre? Not only would I like to read more short stories, but I’ve also been meaning to read more of Zadie Smith’s work ever since I read White Teeth and On Beauty in college. This audiobook is relatively short, so from a readathon-strategy standpoint I think it’ll be a great one to listen to on my way to work and get some extra reading done.
7 // Read a book that takes place on a different continent than where you live.
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. This novel is set in the UK and I live in the US–quite an easy challenge to fulfill!
I’m so excited for the Reading Rush!! If you’re also participating, best of luck with your TBR!
Let me know: Are you participating? What’s on your TBR? Have you read any of these books? Which one should I start with?
Yours,
HOLLY
nut free nerd 
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