Draw Challenge Feed

My February Book Draw (Draw Challenge)

Hello, lovelies!

I'm sorry I'm a bit late, but here's my Draw in the LuckyDraw app for the month of February. Just to remind you, I am doing a book draw challenge where I use an app to pick a number I wrote on one of six books, and I need to read that book for the month. I'm soon to be reviewing Teach the Torches to Burn by Caleb Roehrig, which was my random pick for January. So stay tuned for my book review!

Now, however, since it's a new month, it needs a new book... So, what did the LuckyDraw app pick as a number?

Here we go!

LuckyDraw 5_Draw Challenge

As you can see, it picked number 5. MAMBO NUMBER 5! No? Okay, sorry.

What is it, what is it?! Drum rolls

And we've got...

La casa de los espiritus_Draw Challenge

La casa de los espíritus by Isabel Allende! GREAT! :D Remember, I'd mentioned in the first Draw Challenge article that not all of my books would be in English and I'd added this one to the pile of the Draw Challenge since I do speak Spanish. :) I think it does wonders for diversifying my reading and just keeping in touch with the language and culture, it's lovely. Also, if you'd like, you can watch my unwrapping video on Instagram.

Now, I got a funny story for you: I did read half of this book years ago when I was in university in my Spanish courses. And I thought it was a beautiful story! However, I never finished it... And I vowed to myself that whenever I'd find a copy in Spanish in Canada (I had it on my Kindle, and finding a physical Spanish book isn't easy here), then I'd buy it instantly and read it. So, one day before my surgery a few months earlier, I was at Renaud-Bray with my mother, just browsing the bookshelves aisles and having fun, when I stumbled upon the small but full Spanish section. My joy when I saw La casa de los espíritus!! I simply grabbed it and kept it close to my chest, and I ended up leaving with it. What luck! Spanish novels are so hard to come by here... Wow!

So, I'm ready to start reading it again and up till the end this time around. I've already started it and it's as touching as it was the first time, if not even more now that I'm older and can comprehend some nuances better as well as the language itself. 

I can't wait to let you know my thoughts about La casa de los espíritus next month!

See you in March with my new draw and book review, lovelies!

 


The Draw Challenge: Choosing My Montlhy TBR Blindly

Hello, lovelies!

Every month, I have so many books to read: ARCs, books for book clubs, books from my bookshelves, and so on. But oftentimes, my OWN bookshelves are put aside for the other readings. So, I decided to do a monthly draw challenge where I pick a book blindly for six months from my curated TBR list. This makes things a bit more fun, and ensures I read at least one of my own books per month, too. 

I was inspired to do this by a certain book vlogger I just love to watch (she's my favorite, hiya!), Sarah Hafidh (a.k.a SarahsCozyCorner). I figured it would be the solution to my problem of not reading enough of the books I own, while being amusing, too!

 

DSC01689_done_Draw Challenge

 

So, I picked six books for January to June 2025 to choose from blindly:

Teach the Torches to Burn by Caleb Roehrig

The Modern Faerie Tales by Holly Black

La casa de los espíritus by Isabel Allende (Why not read also in Spanish when I can, huh?! So, to spice up this reading challenge, I decided to read in another language as well. As a polyglot, this is very helpful in keeping what I learned!)

The Witches of St. Petersburg by Imogen Edwards-Jones

Roseblood by A. G. Howard

Flowerheart by Catherine Bakewell

 

DSC01695_Gathering supplies_1

Then, I took out some brown paper to wrap them in, scissors, tape, and a Sharpie to number them. I would have preferred an ecological solution, but I didn't haven enough cloths lying around at home. So, I am trying with this method first, and another time if I repeat this endeavour, I will use cloth.

 

DSC01699_Wrapped Up_2

I wrapped them up, then numbered them. I made sure that when two-three were done to mix them up on my table so I couldn't know which was which, and I didn't number them in order at all--only after I'd mixed them up. Otherwise, what's the point of choosing my next read blindly if I know which one it is in advance?

 

DSC01713_ALL Wrapped Up_3

And tah dah, all done! Isn't it just beautiful?! Now, there's no book I can identify--besides the mega one, I know which one it is (it's The Modern Faerie Tales by Holly Black), but STILL! The rest is still a surprise, and it's fun just to pick the books blindly through an app. 

 

Now, only one last step for January 2025: picking the actual book!

I chose an app called LuckyDraw, so that I could input six numbers and it won't pick the same number twice (great feature! It makes this draw challenge easier.) I turned the wheel, got the number 3, annnnnnddd...

 

January 2025 Read: Teach the Torches to Burn by Caleb Roehrig!!! YAY!!!!

DSC01714_Teach the torches to burn_Number 3 picked

I've been longing to read this book since I ordered it a few months back, and I couldn't be happier for the number 3 to have been picked! You can watch my happy unwrapping reel. 

You can now expect a review of Teach the Torches to Burn towards mid-February, and a new pick at the beginning of February, and so on for the Draw Challenge! Fun, right?

 

Here's the blurb of this Romeo & Juliet LGBTQ+ retelling:

In Teach the Torches to Burn, a breathlessly romantic remix of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet and seventh book in the Remixed Classics series, a queer teen boy discovers first love amid a bloody, centuries-old feud.

Verona, Italy. Seventeen-year-old aspiring artist Romeo dreams of a quiet life with someone who loves him just as he is. But as the heir to the Montague family, he is expected to give up his womanly artistic pursuits and uphold the family honor--particularly in their centuries-old blood feud with a rival family, the Capulets. Worse still, he is also expected to marry a well-bred girl approved by his parents and produce heirs. But the more Romeo is forced to mingle with eligible maidens, the harder it is to keep his deepest secret: He only feels attracted to other boys.

In an attempt to forget his troubles for just one night, Romeo joins his cousin in sneaking into a Capulet party. During a fateful encounter in the garden, he meets the kindest, most beautiful boy he's ever encountered, and is shocked to learn he's Valentine, the younger brother of one of his closest friends. He is even more shocked to discover that Valentine is just as enamored with Romeo as Romeo is with him.

So begins a tender romance that the boys must hide from their families and friends, each of them longing for a world where they could be together without fear. And as the conflict between the Montagues and Capulets escalates out of control, Romeo and Valentine find themselves in danger of losing each other forever--if not by society's scorn, then by the edge of a blade.