My 'Our Reading Club' Readathon TBR List | #‎ORCreadathon3

Guess who *opens the door* is finally *flips the chair* doing the *slams fists on the table* ORC READ-A-THON?

I wanted to participate last year but unfortunately I got caught with some errands and ended up missing the whole event. This year I made sure to dedicate some free time for the readathon. It was created by Sarah from A Tunisian Reader and the concept is simple, you have 10 days and 7 challenges. The readathon starts on the 1st of August and ends on the 10th, the amount of books you wish to read is up to you. For more informations, this post explains everything.

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I've been suffering from a reading slump lately and even though it's over, It ruined my plans for July so I'm going to make up for it by reading as much books as I can in August. This readathon is an opportunity for me to go through all the books that are not very high on my Goodreads TBR, the ones I know I'll keep pushing until I forget about them completely. I'm quite satisfied with the categories but I wished the majority voted for ones that weren't featured last year. 
Without further ado, here's my #ORCReadathon3 TBR list:

• Read in a different language than the one you usually read:

I picked Arabic for this challenge and the book I chose is روائح ماري كلير  by الحبيب السالمي. Tunisian erotica? Sign me up! I'm kidding, I'm not a huge fan of that genre but I heard good things about this book and I would never miss a chance to discover Tunisian authors' works. I must confess, when it comes to Arab writers, the only ones that intrigue me are often Lebanese, Tunisian or Syrian. I don't read a lot books in Arabic.

Pages: 223 pages.
Synopsis: 
رواية تتابع تطوُّر قصة عاطفية في كلّ مراحلتها: منذ لحظة تبادل النظرات الأولى، وصولاً إلى الانفصال، مروراً بما يحكم العلاقة بين رجل وامرأة من غموض وتعقيدات وإرباكات تَفْضح هشاشة هذه العلاقة وسرعة عطبها. لحظة بلحظة، تلتقط التفاصيل الصغيرة التي تَصْنع، بتراكمها، العيش اليوميّْ بكلّ أصالته وحقيقته: من الفطور الصباحي والعادات الشخصية المبتذلة، حتى رغبات الجسد وغرائزه وانفعالاته، تتقابل حضاراتان وتصطدمان.

• Read a book that had been sitting on your shelf for over two years:

 Eugénie Grandet, a French classic by Honoré de Balzac. This has been of my shelf for four years and I've been wanting to read it for a while now but never got around to actually do that.

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Pages: 200 pages.
Synopsis: 
"'Who is going to marry Eugenie Grandet?' 
This is the question that fills the minds of the inhabitants of Saumur, the setting for Eugenie Grandet (1833), one of the earliest and most famous novels in Balzac's Comedie humaine. The Grandet household, oppressed by the exacting miserliness of Grandet himself, is jerked violently out of routine by the sudden arrival of Eugenie's cousin Charles, recently orphaned and penniless. Eugenie's emotional awakening, stimulated by her love for her cousin, brings her into direct conflict with her father, whose cunning and financial success are matched against her determination to rebel. 
Eugenie's moving story is set against the backdrop of provincial oppression, the vicissitudes of the wine trade, and the workings of the financial system in the aftermath of the French Revolution. It is both a poignant portrayal of private life and a vigorous fictional document of its age.""

• Read a book with an ugly cover:

The first book in The Bone Season series by Samantha Shannon. It's a Supernatural Dystopian novel with an interesting concept and a really bad cover.

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Pages: 452 pages.
Synopsis: 
"The year is 2059. Nineteen-year-old Paige Mahoney is working in the criminal underworld of Scion London, based at Seven Dials, employed by a man named Jaxon Hall. Her job: to scout for information by breaking into people's minds. For Paige is a dreamwalker, a clairvoyant and, in the world of Scion, she commits treason simply by breathing.

It is raining the day her life changes for ever. Attacked, drugged and kidnapped, Paige is transported to Oxford – a city kept secret for two hundred years, controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. Paige is assigned to Warden, a Rephaite with mysterious motives. He is her master. Her trainer. Her natural enemy. But if Paige wants to regain her freedom she must allow herself to be nurtured in this prison where she is meant to die.

The Bone Season introduces a compelling heroine and also introduces an extraordinary young writer, with huge ambition and a teeming imagination. Samantha Shannon has created a bold new reality in this riveting debut."----------------

• Read a book that has been published the year of your birth:

I'm going to re-read Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling. I feel like this book deserves a second chance, I didn't enjoy it that much when I read it this winter, hopefully things will change this time.

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Pages: 223 pages.
Synopsis: 
"Harry Potter thinks he is an ordinary boy - until he is rescued by an owl, taken to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, learns to play Quidditch and does battle in a deadly duel. The Reason ... HARRY POTTER IS A WIZARD!"
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• Read a book with a genre you don't usually read:

It's not a mycozybooknest post without a Neil Gaiman mention. I picked The View From The Cheap Seats which is selected non-fiction. This book was my most anticipated release of the first half of 2016 and I'm so pumped to start it.

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Pages: 522 pages.
Synopsis: 
"An enthralling collection of nonfiction essays on a myriad of topics—from art and artists to dreams, myths, and memories—observed in Neil Gaiman’s probing, amusing, and distinctive style.

An inquisitive observer, thoughtful commentator, and assiduous craftsman, Neil Gaiman has long been celebrated for the sharp intellect and startling imagination that informs his bestselling fiction. Now, The View from the Cheap Seats brings together for the first time ever more than sixty pieces of his outstanding nonfiction. Analytical yet playful, erudite yet accessible, this cornucopia explores a broad range of interests and topics, including (but not limited to): authors past and present; music; storytelling; comics; bookshops; travel; fairy tales; America; inspiration; libraries; ghosts; and the title piece, at turns touching and self-deprecating, which recounts the author’s experiences at the 2010 Academy Awards in Hollywood. 

Insightful, incisive, witty, and wise, The View from the Cheap Seatsexplores the issues and subjects that matter most to Neil Gaiman—offering a glimpse into the head and heart of one of the most acclaimed, beloved, and influential artists of our time."

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• Read your best friend's favourite book:

Sab was kind enough to volunteer to fill the role of my best friend. Because life doesn't bless all of us. Her favourite book is Letters From The Earth by Mark Twain. 

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Pages: 321 pages.
Synopsis:

"I have told you nothing about man that is not true." You must pardon me if I repeat that remark now and then in these letters; I want you to take seriously the things I am telling you, and I feel that if I were in your place and you in mine, I should need that reminder from time to time, to keep my credulity from flagging.

In Letters from the Earth, Twain presents himself as the Father of History—reviewing and interpreting events from the Garden of Eden through the Fall and the Flood, translating the papers of Adam and his descendants through the generations. First published fifty years after his death, this eclectic collection is vintage Twain: sharp, witty, imaginative, complex, and wildly funny.


Forward, written by Henry Nash Smith, is dated March 1962.

from the forward, p. viii: "The book is now presented as DeVoto edited it in 1939, with only one or two minor changes in his editorial comments to take account of subsequent events."

from the forward, p. ix: "Mrs. Bernard DeVoto has kindly given her consent to the publication fo what is in a double sense a posthumous work."
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• Read a book by an author from your dream country:

I don't really have a dream country but I became quite fond of Scotland this past year. I chose The Falconer by Elizabeth May who may not be Scottish-born but currently resides in Scotland with her family. This book is a YA High Fantasy with faes, kickass hunters, steampunk settings and it takes place in Edinburgh. Plus, look at that cover!

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Pages: 378 pages.
Synopsis: 

"One girl's nightmare is this girl's faery tale
She's a stunner.
Edinburgh, 1844. Eighteen-year-old Lady Aileana Kameron, the only daughter of the Marquess of Douglas, has everything a girl could dream of: brains, charm, wealth, a title—and drop-dead beauty.
She's a liar.
But Aileana only looks the part of an aristocratic young lady. she's leading a double life: She has a rare ability to sense thesìthíchean—the faery race obsessed with slaughtering humans—and, with the aid of a mysterious mentor, has spent the year since her mother died learning how to kill them.
She's a murderer.
Now Aileana is dedicated to slaying the fae before they take innocent lives. With her knack for inventing ingenious tools and weapons—from flying machines to detonators to lightning pistols—ruthless Aileana has one goal: Destroy the faery who destroyed her mother.
She's a Falconer.
The last in a line of female warriors born with a gift for hunting and killing the fae, Aileana is the sole hope of preventing a powerful faery population from massacring all of humanity. Suddenly, her quest is a lot more complicated. She still longs to avenge her mother's murder—but she'll have to save the world first.
The first volume of a trilogy from an exciting new voice in young adult fantasy, this electrifying thriller combines romance and action, steampunk technology and Scottish lore in a deliciously addictive read."
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Phew, that's it! I'm pleased with my selection and I can't wait for the readathon to start. I'll keep you guys updated!

ORC: Our Reading Club.
Sarah's channel: A Tunisian Reader.