Side view of The Casual Vacancy with the Kinde on top and a small potter plant in the background to the right.

The Hardest Reading Challenge of September

Every time I have to write an update for the Hardest Reading Challenge You’ve Ever Done, I get so excited. I would lie if I said it was so easy and that I’m not starting to question my life choices… BUT! I’m enjoying to see the progress.

The books of September

After the flop of A Study in Charlotte last month, I was missing a 4+ book series to read. The next one on the list was Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco. Now, this is the book I was looking for. I don’t care if any part of the book is historically accurate because it was what I wanted from a mystery set in the late 1800s. I loved the characters. I loved the banter. I loved the mystery, even though there isn’t much hands-on investigation. I wanted to read this book for a long time, and I’m so happy it was right up my alley.

Unfortunately, I got sick. It was just the common and extremely annoying cold. I didn’t have many symptoms, but once your ability to use your nose for its intended purpose – to breathe – is taken away, everything is 100 times harder. I thought it was best to take a sick day, and it allowed me to give another try on the 500-page book in a day challenge. Spoiler alert, I failed… Again. My companion was The Casual Vacancy by who-shall-not-be-named. I read it while listening to the audio version to test if I would read quickly. I read 300 pages, which was great progress but not enough to complete the prompt. I ended up liking the book more than I want to admit. I bought it years ago on clearance for 5€. Every single character in this book was terrible. The title should change to The Casual Misogyny since it would be more accurate. There’s drug abuse, sexual assault, prostitution, child death, domestic violence, auto-mutilation, and just copious amounts of hate. I was captivated by these garbage people and the lengths they were willing to go to to get their way.

Book stack with Kindle on top showing the cover of The Lesbiana's Guide.

For cleansing my palate, my next read was The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reys. While the school wasn’t as big a problem as the title might suggest, it was a lovely romance. I believe this was my first lesbian romance, and it was great to skip the tall, handsome, and the red-flags-are-what-make-me-desireble trope. I have given up on romance books because I don’t like to invest in a relationship if I see red flags left and right. And this one was so wholesome and innocent. It was lovely. Maybe I should change to queer romance from now on.

My subscription to Everand was ending, and I wanted to squeeze out as much from it as I could. So, I read Paper Girls Volume 1 by Brian K Vaughan. I love Saga, and I’m aware the creator has other well-loved series, Paper Girls being one of them. I’m not sure it convinced me. It was interesting, and I wasn’t expecting the sci-fi twist. There was some familiarity to the storytelling I enjoyed, but I’m not sure if that’s enough to want to continue the series. Still, it was a quick read and helped with the prompts, and that’s enough for now.

Progress in the Hardest Reading Challenge

While I’ve been on top of the new release prompt, this time, I’m still making my way through it. I’m currently reading Sentience Hazard by Alexandru Czimbor. I’m currently halfway done. It has been a slow progress. If it wasn’t for this challenge, I probably wouldn’t continue reading it. It’s not a bad book by any means. I’m just tired of reading digitally. I want to hold paper. And the plot, despite slow, I don’t see much of a direction, just like Dune. I’m riding with the characters and navigating this world without knowing what the future brings. Since I haven’t finished, I won’t be counting this book and leave it for next month’s update.

Kindle laying on a white table showing the cover of Stalking Jack the Ripper.

So, let’s continue. For the alphabet prompt, we have K for Kerri Maniscalco, R for J K Rowling, L for The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School, and P for Paper Girls. To spell my name, I also used J in J K Rowling, L and P. Now, I’m slowly seeing how both of these prompts are becoming harder and harder while so many letters start to repeat in book titles.

For the queer prompt, I can also cross off lesbian for The Lesbiana’s Guide, if that wasn’t clear by the title, and yellow in the other rainbow prompt. As well as red for The Casual Vacancy. For the genre, I have two new additions: The Lesbiana’s Guide for romance and Stalking Jack the Ripper for historical. I’m so close to finishing the genre prompt. As I’ve mentioned, this last book is my official 4+ book series for the readathon. Only three more to go, and that prompt is complete.

I still don’t have any complete prompt to show off, but I’m consistently making progress in others. It’s hard to see how good or bad I’m doing. I hope this pace will be enough to complete the challenge or, at least, be very close to it. I have another book on my TBR for attempting another 500 pages in a day, and also, I’ve narrowed down the books for the 3 books in 24 hours. I just need to set a date and read until my eyeballs fall out.