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Remember to stay up to date with the world, listen to those facing atrocities and help spread awareness/donate where you’re able to.

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I got behind in my yearly reading challenge very early, so on the last weekend before January ended, I decided to give the Mini Star Hop Read-a-Thon a go to give myself a little game to help pick up those finishes.

I decided to do one of Stephanie’s (@Stephanie’s Bookverse) older ones which was the November 2024 round ✨. This only had four rolls, so the odds were a little more in my favour.

I also combined this challenge with watching reading sprints. Again, these are a little older (from over the winter holiday period) which meant I was able to go at my own pace and dip in and out of the video(s) during the two days. I love Gavin’s (@GavinReadsItAll) reading sprints. They go on for forever. There’s a great amount ratio of reading and entertainment! I then did one sprint with Katie Colson.

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The Vegetarian; Han Kang

translator: Deborah Smith

prompt: 🌙 buddy read

rating: ⭐⭐⭐.5

sprints: 3 (128 pages in 2hrs 20 mins)

Starting out this challenge, I am slightly cheating as I was already 55 pages into the book. However, I saw that there was a buddy read on Storygraph, so I just decided to keep going with it! I would like to join a book club this year, but not really sure where to start.

The translation by Deborah Smith was wonderful. I find that a lot of translated works simplify the prose, but this was beautiful, engaging and evocative of the mood the plot has. I will say, though, I don’t think I’m smart enough to engage fully with this kind of work.

We follow Yeong-Hye’s life through the eyes of three people: her husband, her brother-in-law and lastly, her older sister. From each perspective we see that Yeong-Hye is not well, but each perspective skews the ways in which (the men especially) do not take any responsibility for the harm and abuse they inflict on her. Simple acts, from becoming vegetarian to not wearing a bra, are ways in which we see Yeong-Hye fight back against society. But on the flip slide they are seen as somewhat aggressive acts of resistance to the “norm” (aka the patriarchy) through the eyes of those we’re reading from.

I found myself much more engaged with In-Hye’s novella because you could see the parallels between the two sisters and the paths in which these events could possibly have not occurred or have occurred to her instead. No-one is likeable, but for me I found myself closer to understanding her. To have the contrast between two men who are both disgusting, pathetic and privileged in this male dominant society and a woman who is clinging to those parameters that will allow her to keep going, was striking.

Overall, this probably would have been a fantastic ‘real’ buddy read because I can imagine that discussion would make the experience far more valuable.

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Spy x Family, Vol. 2; Tatsuya Endo

translator: Casey Loe

prompt: 🌙 monthly tbr

rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

sprints: 1 (200 pages in 1hr)

I don’t have a monthly tbr, so I looked at Stephanie’s TBR Star Hop for January and chose “starts on a page greater than 1”.

While I’m not so overly enamoured by the ‘spy’ aspect as the world isn’t fully developed enough to truly understand the conflict and repercussions of this mission failing, I do love this little odd fake family.

The school setting with Anya was fun and I love that she wants to help, but is so oblivious of how her actions and words come off to others, despite her ability.

I enjoyed seeing Loid be so invested in the mission with Anya and Yor becoming so protective was perfect! Her and Anya having a little self-defence class was cute!

I definitely enjoyed this volume more than the first and I’m excited to see how the plot progresses considering how we’ve been introduced to new characters, most notably Yor’s little brother.

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Under the Oak Tree (Comic) Vol.1; Suji Kim

adapted by: namu

illustrator: p

prompt: 🌟 free pick

rating: ⭐⭐⭐.5

sprints: 1 (416 pages in 1hr 20mins)

I didn’t know anything about Under the Oak Tree before picking it up – it was definitely a cover buy! The artwork is stunning!

The romance itself is also kind of basic and doesn’t have any substance. However, I’m excited for that element to be developed as there’s definitely a lot of potential there. At the moment they lack communication.

Maximilian has a stammer, and quite a severe one at that, and I appreciated that this doesn’t immediately go away when she leaves her abusive family home. I was a little surprised that Riftan doesn’t mention or acknowledge the stammer. Maximilian is very aware of it and I think that acknowledging the fact and showing that he’s trying to make a more comfortable environment for her and allow the time to process what she wants to say etc. could potentially benefit her more than just pretending it’s not there.

I had a great time in the moment, but there’s not a whole lot of substance in this first volume. There were a lot of ‘potential’ plot lines that I’m intrigued about though.

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So, spoiler alert, I did not complete the challenge. However, I’m still proud of my achievements and I also got halfway through the book below. The ‘saving for last’ prompt was the second roll and I started it straight after The Vegetarian, however, my ‘mood reader’ brain had different thoughts.

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Magnolia Parks; Jessa Hastings

prompt: ☀️ saving for last

sprints: 3 (206 pages in 3hrs 40mins)

pages left: 213

When Stephanie says “saving for last” this is normally a doorstop of a book that’s always over 500 or 600 pages long. I could never. I tend read books in the 300’s, so I opted for something over 400 pages long. The edition of Magnolia Parks I have is 419 pages.

I have seen so much hype over these books on TikTok and I ignored it all as I just couldn’t see myself reading them as I’m not overly keen on contemporaries. However, Kayla (@BooksandLala) read this first book and ever since I’ve been influenced! I just kept thinking, ‘could I like Magnolia Parks?’

And let me tell you, I am having a great time! This feels like Gossip Girl in London. Magnolia and BJ (hate his name) are Blair and Chuck coded and I am eating this up! The stupid drama, the family issues, the toxic relationships, the name brands. There’s also an element of fake dating that I’m enjoying and a whole host of characters to get involved with.

The writing style isn’t impressive, but it matches the characters and general tone of the novel really well. It’s quick and easy to read, and added with the drama, I can see why these book are so popular.

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While, 8hrs 20mins worth of reading over two days doesn’t sound overly impressive, I’m happy with the results and getting back on track with my yearly reading goal!

Thanks for reading!

I hope you’re having a lovely day and staying safe ♥