READING CHALLENGE | Taylor Swift Playlistathon

Ever since the Folklore album came out a couple of months ago, I have fallen completely in love with everything Taylor Swift. I was always a fan of her music but it was not until her most recent album that it all clicked into place, you know? Anyway, when I heard about this readathon, I just knew I needed to take part (as with every readathon I hear about)!

The Taylor Swift Playlistathon will take place from the 13th of November until the 13th of December and is hosted by Lisa Marie Reads and a few other hosts. There are eight prompt lists (albums) to choose from, which I really love. To find out more about the readathon, make sure to check out the video below!

For this readathon, I thought it would be ideal for me to read books for my top five favourite songs from the Folklore album. So, without further ado, let us look at the books I will be reading!

MY TAYLOR SWIFT PLAYLISTATHON TBR

F O L K L O R E

SEVEN — read a book with seven letters in the title.

Dracula by Bram Stoker

G O O D R E A D S | S Y N O P S I S

Jonathan Harker is travelling to Castle Dracula to see the Transylvanian noble, Count Dracula. He is begged by locals not to go there, because on the eve of St George’s Day, when the clock strikes midnight, all the evil things in the world will come full sway. But business must be done, so Jonathan makes his way to the Castle – and then his nightmare begins. His beloved wife Mina and other lost souls have fallen under the Count’s horrifying spell. Dracula must be destroyed . . .

CARDIGAN — read a book that gives you fall vibes.

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

G O O D R E A D S | S Y N O P S I S

Kell is one of the last Antari—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black.

Kell was raised in Arnes—Red London—and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see.

Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they’ll never see. It’s a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.

After an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.

Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they’ll first need to stay alive.

AUGUST — read a book set during the summer.

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

G O O D R E A D S | S Y N O P S I S

When New Yorker Rachel Chu agrees to spend the summer in Singapore with her boyfriend, Nicholas Young, she envisions a humble family home and quality time with the man she hopes to marry. But Nick has failed to give his girlfriend a few key details. One, that his childhood home looks like a palace; two, that he grew up riding in more private planes than cars; and three, that he just happens to be the country’s most eligible bachelor.

On Nick’s arm, Rachel may as well have a target on her back the second she steps off the plane, and soon, her relaxed vacation turns into an obstacle course of old money, new money, nosy relatives, and scheming social climbers.

ILLICIT AFFAIRS — read a translated work (or read a book that’s not in English).

Vir Altyd by François Bloemhof

G O O D R E A D S | S Y N O P S I S

As kinders was Hugo en Nina onskeidbaar – toe skei die noodlot hulle tog. Wanneer die volwasse Nina voor die altaar gelos word, haar romantiese droom aan flarde, is Hugo weer die een om haar by te staan.

Hoe ’n goeie plan was dit egter om saam na Mauritius te gaan vir dít wat bedoel was om haar en ŉ ander man se wittebrood te wees?

En hoeveel spoke moet verdryf word voordat ŉ gelukkige “vir altyd” moontlik is?

Op die eiland van liefde raak dit wel gou duidelik dat so ŉ einde nie al is waaroor dit gaan nie – maar ook die avontuur op pad soontoe

Pad Na Jou Hart was ŉ suksesverhaal soos min, beide as rolprent en die boek wat dit voorafgegaan het. Nou maak dieselfde span weer so.

HOAX — read a book with dark themes.

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

G O O D R E A D S | S Y N O P S I S

Galaxy “Alex” Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. By age twenty, in fact, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she’s thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the world’s most elite universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her?

Still searching for answers to this herself, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale’s secret societies. These eight windowless “tombs” are well-known to be haunts of the future rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street and Hollywood’s biggest players. But their occult activities are revealed to be more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive.