This second round of Trope-ical Readathon snuck up on me and I almost forgot to register and make reading “plans.” Nevertheless, I made it. For those unaware of Trope-ical Readathon, you can find all of the details here. In summary, Trope-ical Readathon August 2023 includes 13 “Common Challenges” whose prompts contain common tropes (or their alternatives); 2 team-specific challenges; and 1 team book challenge (out of 2 choices). There are 6 teams and completion of a challenge earns your team points. You can sign up to participate through August 6.

In March I signed up with Team Nonfiction/Poetry. But I decided to switch back to Team Fantasy for this round. Looking at the prompts and challenges it appears as though several books I read in July would have done nicely for the readathon. Oh well!

Common Challenges

PROMPT	ALTERNATE PROMPT	BOOK
Absent/dead parents	A book with more than one author	Wrath by Shäron Moalem and Daniel Kraus
Hand-picked crew	A cover-buy book	Morgan Is My Name by Sophie Keetch
The new kid in town	A genre you don’t usually read	Libertie by Kaitlyn Greenidge
Multiple timelines	A book you previously DNFed	Weyward by Emilia Hart Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir [DONE]
Love triangle	Followers/friends choose between two books	These Twisted Bonds by Lexi Ryan King of Battle and Blood by Scarlett St. Clair [DONE]
Recent loss	A recent (2023) release	Love Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood [DONE]
Mixed media	An audiobook or ebook	The Phoenix King by Aparna Verma
Outbreak/pandemic	A comfort read	The Premonition by Michael Lewis
Found family	A book in a series	The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake
Food themes	Devour a book in 24 hours	Under the Henfluence by Tove Danovich The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo [DONE]
Revenge	A banned book	He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan [DONE]
Bookish themes	A book with a pun in the title	The Reading List by Sarah Nisha Adams
Retelling	A book with a TV or movie adaptation	The Martian by Andy Weir

Team Challenges

Here are the challenges for Team Fantasy:

Team Challenge 1: Read a book with the “Portal Fantasy” trope
Team Challenge 2: Read a book with a non-human main character
New Team Book: To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose
Old Team Book: The Deep by Rivers Solomon

For Team Challenge 1 I chose Over the Woodward Wall by A. Deborah Baker.

For Team Challenge 2 I chose Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree.

Are you participating in Trope-ical Readathon August 2023? Let me know!