The Racing to Read Book Tag

Hey, everyone! I hope you’re all doing well. It’s been a little while since I’ve done a tag I was actually tagged for, not just one I did because it looked fun. Today I am doing the Racing to Read Book Tag. Thank you to Riddhi @ Whispering Stories for tagging me!

This tag was originally created and done in 2020 for a readathon. It was created by Ariel Bissett and Raeleen Lamay. You can also find them on their podcast: Books Unbound.

Warm-Up: a book that stretches your mind

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (AGGGTM #1) by Holly Jackson

My mind was definitely stretched while reading this book. AGGGTM has a lot of twists and turns and trying to find out who the murderer was proved to be a challenging task. When it was finally revealed at the end, I wasn’t expecting it to be who it was. I’m pretty sure I flipped through the book to see if I could spot clues I’d missed earlier.

Start Line: a book you started but never finished

Orphans of the Tide (Orphans of the Tide #1) by Struan Murray

I started listening to this book on audio during a car ride a few months ago. The narrator was good and the story was interesting but the characters annoyed me to no end. A lot of their rationale didn’t make sense and I couldn’t see the reasons behind some of the characters’ opinions. It made the story hard to listen to.

Sprint: a book you read really quickly

Heartstopper: Volume One (Heartstopper #1) by Alice Oseman

This is a graphic novel, so it makes sense that I would read it quickly. This only took me a few hours to read, stretched over two days. It was just so fun to read that I couldn’t stop. The three other volumes of Heartstopper were also read very quickly.

Marathon: your favorite long book

The Dragon Republic (The Poppy War #2) by R.F. Kuang

The Dragon Republic has 654 pages, the longest book I’ve read in the past year or two. It surprisingly only took me about a week and a half to read, which is funny because it took me longer to read the third book, even though that one has fewer pages.

Hurdles: a book that had ups and downs

We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story by Simu Liu

I’m currently reading this and it definitely has its fair share of ups and downs. There were a lot of good moments in Simu Liu’s childhood and career, but there were just as many bad moments. It’s been really fascinating to learn about his life. I’m not usually one for memoirs but I’m enjoying this one.

Finish Line: a book you were proud to finish

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

I read this book in seventh grade and I remember it taking me forever to finish it. It was very different and more mature than the books I was reading back then, so I had to take my time to really understand what I was reading. I felt a huge sense of accomplishment once I finished it.

Gold Medal: best book you’ve read during a readathon

I’ve never actually participated in a readathon before, so I can’t answer this question. I am planning to do a readathon next year, though, which should be exciting.

Participation Ribbon: an underrated book you wish got more attention

The Beast Player (The Beast Player #1) by Nahoko Uehashi

I enjoyed this book so much! The concept was interesting and I loved the worldbuilding. This came out in 2006 and yet it has less than 3,000 ratings on Goodreads. Both this book and the sequel were fantastic. They’re both translated from Japanese and it was done so well! The only thing I didn’t like were the age jumps in the first book. Elin aged by four years a few times throughout the story and it was a bit jarring to adjust to her new age.

I Tag:

• Aster Marie @ Happy Bookish After
• Selina @ Simply Selina
• Aria @ Book Nook Bits

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Have you read any of the books I mentioned?