Sunday Funday: Name-a-Thon & PopCulture Readathon, Round 3 - Wrap Up & Mini Reviews

 

Happy Sunday everyone! Today I'm sharing my wrap up and mini reviews for two July readathons I participated in, the Name-a-Thon (hosted by Liv and Olive) and the PopCulture Readathon, Round 3 (hosted by Whitney @ bookswhitme and cohosted by Lorryn @ Reading Parental).  I completed 13 of 14 of the books on my original Name-a-Thon TBR and all 12 on my PopCulture, Round 3: Thrill Seeker Board TBR.  Keep reading to see my mini reviews on the books I completed the books I read for these challenges:

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DNF'd @ 50%

The Lazarus Gate (The Apollonian Case Files #1) by Mark A. Latham started off so well, but it lost me pretty quickly about a third of the way through. The main character just wasn't working for me.  Given how much I enjoyed his Sherlock Holmes novel The Red Tower, this was very disappointing.  I'm not going to be back for the rest of this series, but I would like to try his other Sherlock Holmes book, A Betrayal in Blood.

My review is also on Goodreads.

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At the Table of Wolves (Dark Talents #1) by Kay Kenyon was a solid historical fantasy and I have a feeling this could be one of those series that only gets better as it goes along. It took a bit too long for this to really hook me, but I'm glad I decided to stick around.  If you're a fan of Agent Carter or X-Men, this is certainly worth trying.  I'm definitely interested in seeing what's coming up next for the sequel, Serpent in the Heather.

My review is also on Goodreads.

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UnWholly (Unwind Dystology #2) by Neal Shusterman is a sequel that I don't know why I kept putting off.  The same goes for this series off because it is fantastic.  And by fantastic I mean absolutely horrifying.  While this installment didn't quite grab me in quite the same way as book one, it's still absolutely worth reading.  I need to get to book three, UnSouled asap.

My review is also on Goodreads.

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The Raven Lady (The Faery Rehistory #2) by Sharon Lynn Fisher is a cool historical fantasy romance that easily combines Irish, Icelandic, and Nordic mythology and folklore.  I really enjoyed seeing a secondary character from the first book in this trilogy take the lead here along with a new character. I'm wondering where the focus will be in the final book of the trilogy.  Even if you haven't read book one, this novel can still work as a standalone, but it's all the more entertaining to read the series in order.

My review is also on Goodreads.

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I loved The Wayfarer Redemption series from this author, but The Nameless Day (The Crucible #1) by Sara Douglass  just didn't quite hook me.  Sara Douglass was an incredibly talented author and that's very clear here.  However, I couldn't stand the lead character and overall the novel is quite slow going and a little overly long.  I do appreciated that instead of being presented as just historical fantasy, the author sets it up as the history of a parallel universe.  I haven't decided yet if I'm going to continue this series or not, but I do have a feeling that it would get better for me as it goes along.

My review is also on Goodreads.

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Arabella of Mars (Adventures of Arabella Ashby #1) by David D. Levine is a solid YA steampunk adventure.  I really enjoyed meeting Arabella herself.  I appreciated her sense of adventure and her curiosity.  It just didn't need to be quite so long, because the slower points really dragged the rest of it down.  If you're a fan of The Custard Protocol series by Gail Carriger and the movie Treasure Planet, I have a feeling you'll like this too.

My review is also on Goodreads.

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This series has definitely improved since book one.  With A Longer Fall (Gunnie Rose #2) by Charlaine Harris it's really started to find its groove and I know I have to come back for book three now.  I do enjoy this author's style.

My review is also on Goodreads.

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This series is a lot of zombie fun and White Trash Zombie Apocalypse (White Trash Zombie #3) by Diana Rowland is no exception.  I do enjoy Rowland's sense of humor.  It makes me remember how much I enjoyed the tv show iZombie.

My review is also on Goodreads.

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There's not a whole lot I can say about Alex: The Life of a Child by Frank Deford except that that was brutal and I'm glad I had a tissue handy.

My review is also on Goodreads.

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The Yard (Scotland Yard's Murder Squad #1) by Alex Grecian is a really good historical mystery thriller.  It really had me hooked right from the beginning and it rarely lets up.  That said, I just don't know if I'm interested in continuing the series though at this point.

My review is also on Goodreads.

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The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix is a solid and enjoyable horror comedy, but it just isn't quite up to par in my mind for the rest of his works.  It's still definitely worth picking up if you enjoy his style.  Honestly, I think I would prefer to see this as a tv show adaptation and luckily it's to be adapted in that format.

My review is also on Goodreads.

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It's been ages since I've read Written in Red, but it was easy to jump back into Murder of Crows (The Others #2) by Anne Bishop. The characters and their world are so lush - they all practically jump off the page. I really enjoy the author's writing style. I can't wait to read more of this series - and hopefully sooner than the gap between this one and the previous installment.

My review is also on Goodreads.

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Eon: Dragoneye Reborn (Eon #1) by Alison Goodman is a series opener that I've been putting off for a long time.  Now that I've officially read it, I can say that it is easily a new favorite.  I absolutely adored this story and I can't wait to read the second half of this duology.  Then again, I'm not sure if I'm ready for it to be over so soon.  If you haven't tried this yet, what are you waiting for?

My review is also on Goodreads.

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Hair Raising (Dan Shamble, Zombie PI #3) by Kevin J. Anderson is just so much fun.  I love this author's combination of urban fantasy, noir, and the perfect sense of humor.  The whole series has been delightful.  Plus, I loved the meta aspect of this one with Penny Dreadful, a book within the book about Dan's adventures as a zombie detective.  If you haven't tried this series, I highly recommend it.  I can't wait to read book four, Slimy Underbelly.

My review is also on Goodreads.

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Since I really enjoyed Teen Titans: Beast Boy, I decided to give Teen Titans: Raven (Teen Titans #1) by Kami Garcia and Gabriel Picolo a chance. While I enjoyed the art style, the main storyline was a little underwhelming. Raven was one of my favorite characters from Teen Titans so I was really excited to see what was going to happen here. While this isn't bad, it was up to par for what I was expecting for one of my favorite characters. Regardless, I'm still looking forward to what's coming in the future for Teen Titans: Beast Boy Loves Raven.

My review is also on Goodreads.

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I didn't really have expectations for Green Rider (Green Rider #1) by Kristen Britain, but that was a lot of fun. Britain's brand of YA fantasy adventure was right up my alley.  Karigan was such a great lead character and the world-building really drew me in.  At times, it was a bit all over the place on the whole, but I couldn't resist it.  If only I had the chance to read this when I was younger.  I'll definitely be back for the sequels.

My review is also on Goodreads.

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House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland  is easily one of my favorite releases of 2021, and one of my favorite reads of 2021 as well.  It's an unsettling and flat out creepy fairytale.  If you like your fairytales on the twisted, dark, and Grimm side and the authors Melissa Albert, Holly Black, and Seanan McGuire, I have a feeling you'll love this too.  I can't wait to read more from Krystal Sutherland in the future.  

My review is also on Goodreads.

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Laura by Vera Caspary is the 1943 novel that inspired the 1944 movie Laura.  This is one of those few cases where I prefer the film adaptation to the original novel.  The film's cast really make the movie work.

My review is also on Goodreads.

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I can honestly say that I don't get the hype with Fruits Basket, Vol. 1 by Natsuki Takaya.  I remember back in the old days when I was in high school I was told over and over again that I needed to read this series, but for whatever reason that never happened.  Now that I've read it, I felt like I was missing something massive about this story and the characters.  I've heard a lot of great things about it and have read a lot of great reviews, but I guess I'm with the minority on this one.  Maybe I should try the anime?

My review is also on Goodreads.

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I've really enjoyed what I've read from Edgar Cantero, but The Supernatural Enhancements by Edgar Cantero never quite worked for me as much as I wanted it to.  I've seen a lot of great reviews for it and I've heard it compared to Night Film by Marisha Pessl which is one of my favorites, so this was disappointing.  The plot and the format in this case were a bit tricky to follow over the course of the novel.  I definitely preferred the idea of this one to the final product.

My review is also on Goodreads.

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If you're looking for a quirky MG that's like a combination of The School for Good and Evil meets A Series of Unfortunate Events, you might want to try School of Fear (School of Fear #1) by Gitty Daneshvari. It doesn't quite have what those two have but it comes pretty close to replicating their respective styles.. I especially appreciated the phobia list and definitions at the beginning of each chapter.

My review is also on Goodreads.

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I'm kind of pleasantly surprised by how much I ended up actually liking this 1920s set prequel novel, Indiana Jones and the Peril at Delphi (Indiana Jones: Prequels #1) by Rob MacGregor.  Usually movie tie-in books or what have you can be hit and miss, but this one was pretty cool.  I've never seen the Indiana Jones film prequels, so I have no idea how they compare.  Either way, I'm looking forward to reading the rest of these prequels.

My review is also on Goodreads.

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Midnight Brunch (Casa Dracula #2) by Marta Acosta just wasn't working for me. It sounded like it could be fun even though it's the second book in a series, but this reminded me too much of another series. I didn't know what to expect from the voice of the story, but for me it was trying too hard to be funny. Maybe if I was already familiar with the series and had already read book one I would feel differently, but it lost me pretty early on.

My review is also on Goodreads.

See my four star review for A Longer Fall (Gunnie Rose #2) by Charlaine Harris above.

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DNF'd @ pg. 60

Dead Certainties: Unwarranted Speculations by Simon Schama just wasn't for me.  I had a really difficult time getting into this and I decided to move on to other hopefully greater things.

My review is also on Goodreads.

Congratulations if you've made it this far!  Did you take part in either of these readathon challenges?  Have you read any of these books?  As always, thanks for visiting and perhaps even commenting down below!