Books

Pondathon II: A Round 3 Summary

March 17, 2022 by Mackenzie 6 Comments


A disclaimer: all of the Pondathon graphics were created by CW of The Quiet Pond and belong to her!

And a note: find my intro post about joining Pondathon II here!

Yet another round of the Pondathon II has come and gone! Which means that yes, it is time for another round summary. We had some excellent rewards this time – including snowdrops and vegetables!! My garden is getting so full lol. So let’s get to it!

Round 3 Pondathon II Quests

This month the readathon rewards were roses, snowdrops, dandelions, grass flowers, and shrubs. My two favorites are definitely the dandelions and the snowdrops. I made it a mission to collect every dandelion variation first haha.

For this round, we were given a side quest by Cuddle – with VEGETABLE REWARDS!!! Look at them!! So cute. The quest task was to read a book by a woman (including non-binary women and femme) author of color during Women’s History Month OR read a book by a Black author for Black History Month. If we read three books, we got a badge for our character card. And there was a secret achievement if you read a book by a Black woman/non-binary woman/femme author.

There was no companion quest this round, but we did have a time-warp quest! To complete this quest, we had to read a diverse book that either is a fantasy book, has magic, or has time travel. And we got to choose from a selection of past rewards!

Books I Read

I read 5 graphic novels this round! It’s been a while since I read any, and it felt good to get back into them. I also discovered a new favorite book – Light from Uncommon Stars. So overall this was a great round!

  1. The Adventure Zone: The Crystal Kingdom by Clint McElroy, Justin McElroy, Travis McElroy, Griffin McElroy, and Carey Pietsch (the fourth graphic novel in a series based on a Dungeons & Dragons podcast that I love!)
  2. Amulet: The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi (a graphic novel following sibling in a mysterious new house who go to a fantastical land to rescue their mother)
  3. Amulet: The Stonekeeper’s Curse by Kazu Kibuishi (the second book in the Amulet series, sequel to The Stonekeeper)
  4. Witchy by Ariel Slamet Ries (a middle grade graphic novel about a girl who hides her magical talents for fear of being recruited by the military, or worse, being executed for her powers – sounds dark but I promise it’s cute haha)
  5. The Circus Infinite by Khan Wong – review here (a great space adventure following a panromantic asexual lead who aims to take down a crime boss with the help of his newfound circus family)
  6. Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki (a stunning sci-fi novel about aliens and doughnuts and deals with devils and queer characters and so much more. a new fav)
  7. Cream and Punishment by Susannah Nix (a cute second chance adult romance novel)
  8. Wingbearer by Marjorie M. Liu and Teny Issakhanian (a wonderful YA fantasy graphic novel about a young girl on a quest to save the souls of birds – and other beings)
  9. Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor (a fascinating and thought-provoking sci-fi novella about a young girl with the power to kill with a single thought)

I managed to complete the side quest multiple times, and the secret and bonus achievements as well. Since I mostly read fantasy (aka things with magic), I also got a handful of rewards from the time warp quest! Bluebells for daysssss. As you’ll see in my garden very soon haha. All of these were 4 or 5 stars, I really loved them all.

Character Card and Garden Update

Since I completed the bonus of reading three books for the side quest, I received a new badge for my character card! I love seeing it fill up hehe. I also got quite a few new rewards, so I had to rearrange my garden a bit. Everything is slightly smaller now so that I can fit everything haha.

How’s your reading been going? Have you read any of the books that I mentioned? What do you think of my garden?

Related posts:

The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy
An Illusion of Thieves
Trans Book Recs!
Book Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone
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