RMFAO (Reading My Frigging A** Off) discussion

Hello, dear RMFAO members,

We are at the end of another great year and keeping up with our tradition, we'll be embarking on some amazing adventurous and magical journeys to end the year on a high note. For December, we have options of 2 amazing genres (that can also be coupled together easily!) - Fantasy OR Adventure.
As always, you can choose to do either or both the genres, whatever suits you. You can join anytime during the entire month and read as many (or as few) books as you can manage, with no restrictions whatsoever!

If you are a regular fantasy or adventure genre reader then we request you to please recommend some awesome books to the other members. Others, please feel free to ask for suggestions and recs. Reviews of books are greatly appreciated and we are okay with anyone posting relevant links too.

There are absolutely no limits so you can interpret this genre in its broader sense and include other similar genres and/or subgenres that you feel might have a wee bit of similarity with the main genre. You can also include books that are not particularly centred around the main genre but has their components or elements somewhere in the story.

The main intent of this challenge is to incorporate different kinds of books and genres in our normal reading routine to make the experience more fun and entertaining. Please do not lose yourself in the technicalities as we all know how literary genres can be confusing.
If you have any doubts or questions, then post them below and we'll be happy to answer/discuss them.

Here are the DEFINITIONs for this month's genres:

Adventure: Adventure fiction is a genre of fiction in which an adventure, an exciting undertaking involving risk and physical danger, forms the main storyline. Adventure fiction often overlaps with other genres, notably war novels, crime novels, sea stories, spy fiction, science fiction, fantasy, and Westerns. Though, not all books within these genres are adventures. Adventure fiction takes the setting and premise of these other genres, but the fast-paced plot of an adventure focuses on the actions of the hero within the setting.

Fantasy: Fantasy is a genre that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting. Fantasy is generally distinguished from science fiction and horror by the expectation that it steers clear of technological and macabre themes, respectively, though there is a great deal of overlap between the three (collectively known as speculative fiction or science fiction/fantasy.)

Here's a quick summary of the levels:

Level 1: Casual Reader: 1 book (easy)
Level 2: Frequent Reader: 2 books (moderate)
Level 3: Bookworm: 3 books (mildly strenuous)
Level 4: Bibliophile: 4 books (strenuous)
Level 5: Bookiopath: 5 books or more (challenging)

Please mention what type of books you'd be reading:

PB: Paperbacks
HB: Hardbacks
EB: E-Books
AB: Audio Books

Please feel free to announce your to-read books along with the level you are targeting for below. Though it is not necessary as you can announce your reads as and when you decide or read them.

PLEASE READ (especially new members):
1. You can read any number of books for the respective genre every month.
2. You can join the challenge at any stage (in any month.)
3. You can drop out of the challenge any time you like.
4. You can select different levels every month.
5. Use this discussion board to share your reads with other members of the group.
6. Please be active and don't hesitate to ask questions or recommend books.
7. You can couple this challenge with any other challenge here (or anywhere else.) We all do it and it makes it all the more fun!

Happy reading!

Heena,

I had sent you a Message about next year's schedule and ideas for Game Month. Did you get it?

I think I am going to concentrate on classic books for this challenge. I looked at some Fantasy books at my library, but couldn't really get into them. I will be digging into Project Gutenberg for both Fantasy and Adventure. They have plenty to choose from.

Dagny wrote: "#1, Adventure Isle of the Undead by Lloyd Arthur Eshbach, Fiction, Fantasy, Horror"

Dagny,

I read that a few years ago. That was a fun one!

I'm trying to read ALL the books and complete ALL the challenges before the year ends. And because I actually picked my books out for the month already (gasp! I've never done that before), I'm only going to shoot for level 2 on this challenge, and see if I can squeeze in a few more ;)

Good luck, Fran!

1.) Michael Strogoff: A Courier of the Czar by Jules Verne (Adventure)
3 stars

Dagny wrote: "Was almost giving up on it until the vampires showed up."

I love this sentence!

Sorry I finally got the time to show up here for more than 2 minutes! It had been a crazy month and now I have my exams. I doubt I'll be able to read anything as my exams will end on 24th and then I have a surgery planned for the month-end, so I will most likely be absent for the rest of the month/year.

All the best and happy reading to you all! I'll see you all next year for Sci-Fi month!!

Heena wrote: "Sorry I finally got the time to show up here for more than 2 minutes! It had been a crazy month and now I have my exams. I doubt I'll be able to read anything as my exams will end on 24th and then ..."

Heena,

Good luck on your exams! And I hope the surgery will help you feel alot better. What a relief to finally be able to get medical procedures done, after all that COVID quarantining! Take time out to relax a bit, too. The group will still be here when you are ready to participate more.

Good luck Heena. Try to sleep in between studying . And of couse... breathe :)

Hello all. These two are both adventure for this challenge.

1.) Shadow Spell (HB) - Nora Roberts
2.) The Islanders (AB) - Meg Mitchell Moore

I really enjoy this trilogy alot! Ireland, romance, new beginnings, family and animals, plus all the paranormal aspects, makes for a fantastic mix. I highly recommend it.

Dagny, I have the third and final book sitting on my shelf. I was able to borrow it from the library as an audio book. It's so bittersweet to finish this that I haven't the heart yet to begin it.

2.) Typhoon by Joseph Conrad (Adventure)
3 stars

1) Any Way the Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell. 2.5 stars.

3.) At a Winter's Fire by Bernard Capes (Fantasy/Adventure)
3 stars.
Short story collection: weird tales of dark fantasy and adventure.

Thanks a lot Cheryl & Fran!

Oh, and I love some of the other books by Nora Roberts, so I'll also look out for this trilogy! Thanks for the rec!!

2) Return of the Thief by Megan Whalen Turner. 4 stars.

4.) Where Angels Go by Debbie Macomber ( Fantasy)
3 stars. This was a cute Christmas story starring three angels who get to answer the prayers of three people before Christmas Day.

Dagny wrote: "Oh, the first one didn't sound nearly as good as the one you read, Cheryl, so I have put Where Angels Go on hold. There's no one waiting ahead of me so should get it in time."

Great! It's a light read, but one of the prayers is prayed by an old man who is close to the end of his life. That one is more bittersweet, but really not sad. You can read the entire book in just a few hours. I did.

1) The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling - 5/5

This book has very polarised reviews, you will either love it or hate it. Fortunately for me, I absolutely loved it (and have no clue why someone might not like it.) This book is pretty heavy on emotions and at one point I felt that I was Jane and going insane. Talk about realistic! It gets very surreal towards the end and very tense too. I would highly recommend it to all gothic paranormal fantasy readers (not exactly fantasy more like surreal fiction with magic-realism.)
My review can be found here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Heena wrote: "1) The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling - 5/5

This book has very polarised reviews, you will either love it or hate it. Fortunately for me, I absolutely loved it (and hav..."

Thanks for the info, Heena! It says on Goodreads this book was inspired by the movie Crimson Peak. I liked that movie, so I’m definitely going to try this book.

Cheryl wrote: "Thanks for the info, Heena! It says on Goodreads this book was inspired by the movie Crimson Peak. I liked that movie, so I’m definitely going to try this book."

Yes, Cheryl, it was the main inspiration behind this book. I haven't watched the film, but now I will definitely watch it. Also, I loved the narration of this audiobook, so if you can get the audiobook I think it would be great. The narrator really made the character of Jane come alive!!

5.) The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum (Fantasy)
4 stars

This will be my final book for this month's Genre challege. I'll be preparing for my travels that start later this week, and next week I'll be away. Have a great holiday, everyone!

Cheryl wrote: "I'll be preparing for my travels that start later this week, and next week I'll be away. Have a great holiday, everyone!"

Happy Holidays, Cheryl!!

Here's the thread for January 2022 - Sci-Fi month - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Happy Reading!

WOW! Sorry for the long delay...where did the month go? Reading, of course! Hope everyone had safe and wonderful holidays.

3.) War Storm (AB) - Victoria Aveyard Fantasy
4.) Blood Magick (AB) - Nora Roberts Fantasy
5.) Klaus (HB) - Grant Morrison Fantasy
6.) A Study in Scarlet (AB) - Arthur Conan Doyle Adventure
7.) Shakespeare's Christmas (AB) - Charlaine Harris Adventure
8.) How the Finch Stole Christmas (AB) - Donna Andrews Adventure
9.) The Golem's Eye (AB) - Jonathan Stroud Fantasy
10.) Winter Moon (AB) - Dean Koontz Adventure

I didn't have the same deep love for the third. I think it's genuinely because I didn't care for the narrator.