#ReadingValdemar: 2019 Posting Schedule

January 6, 2019

 

In early December, Melanie @ Grab the Lapels and I announced we were going to spend 2019 reading 15 books from Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar universe. When we decided to kick this off, we thought this would be mostly a buddy read between the two of us. Just reading, discussing, and sharing on our blogs. Yes, we had hoped some people might participate, but honestly, we didn’t want to hold our breath. You all thankfully surprised us! Our announcement posts were so well received, and people expressed such an interest, we want to do everything we can to get you engaged with us! YES! JOIN US!

 

On these dates, Melanie and I will be posting our own thoughts on each book. We will also be posting some additional posts each month sharing our reflections. If you’d like to join us and participate, post on your preferred platform whatever you want related to this book or series during the week listed above. Yes, this could be a book review. But it could also be…

  • Top ## List
  • Video Review
  • Twitter Review (aka: Review in 280 characters or less)
  • Bullet Points, like a reading diary
  • Discussion Post related to the book/series
  • Lessons Learned
  • Aesthetic post
  • Bookstagram Images
  • Infographic
  • Readalikes
  • Explorations of characters/themes/worldbuilding

Heck, you could post something about why you *didn’t* make time to read one of these books. These possibilities are endless. Anything you want to write about, related to the book or series in question. We’d love for you to participate!

But why would you want to participate? Obviously, you’ll get a chance to explore or revisit the amazing world of Valdemar. You’ll connect with bloggers, potentially making new friends. You’ll have a chance to reflect and share your thoughts in your corner of the world. You’ll be exposed to new ideas, perspectives, and interests. You might even find a new favorite author, series, or concept to explore.

Oh, and every time to participate, you earn another way to enter into our #ReadingValdemar giveaways!

There will be two giveaways this year: One will be for a Book Depository gift card (yay internationals!!!) hosted the week of June 10th-17th. The other will be for an Omnibus trilogy from the Valdemar Universe, but NOT one we are reading hosted the week of December 16th. For each post you write related to #ReadingValdemar you will receive TWO entries into this giveaway. If you’re a planner, get those dates down now. There will certainly be other ways to enter, but why wouldn’t you participate from the start?!

There is no pressure to read every book, or even participate in reading every trilogy. While these trilogies are all set in the same universe, they do not need to be read in any particular order. Feel free to only join us in April-June for the The Mage Winds trilogy reading. Or, just join us for the book with the most interesting title. Either way, we’d love to hear your thoughts.

On the dates above, Melanie and I will be hosting Link-Ups for your posts. Share them in the link up, visit other book lover posts, and get the discussion going! January 14th is coming quickly, but you can always retroactively link up. We want to hear from you whenever, however, and about whatever #ReadingValdemar related.

Melanie and I couldn’t be more excited for you to join us on this adventure. We look forward to connecting with you in new and exciting ways!


What do you think?

  • Will you be participating in #ReadingValdemar? Why or why not?
  • What about this read along appeals to you? What doesn’t? How do you want to engage with us?
  • Do you read much fantasy? What are your favorite literary universes? Why?

19 Comments

  • Kim @ Traveling in Books January 6, 2019 at 12:55 pm

    Yay! I’m looking forward to taking another look back at Valdemar after all this time! I’ve read all of these books, but it’s been years so I’ve forgotten a lot.

    • Jackie B January 8, 2019 at 4:52 pm

      I can relate to that. I read all the Tamora Pierece Tortall novels in the 90’s (many more have been published since then), and I re-read them two years ago. It was really interesting! Not only had I forgotten a lot, but I also realized that I appreciated certain things differently as an adult. I hope you have a positive experience with this, Kim!

  • Annie Esser January 6, 2019 at 1:43 pm

    I’m giving this a shot. I’ve got the Arrows Trilogy downloaded!

    • Jackie B January 6, 2019 at 2:07 pm

      YAAAY! I’m so excited you’re joining us. πŸ™‚ I was shocked to see so many of my friends are interested in reading these with me. I hope I don’t lead us astray, but these books seem to be well loved by many. I hope you love them!

  • Grab the Lapels January 6, 2019 at 2:33 pm

    I feel like you know more about the book blog world than I do. Your post is super informative! I get all narrative with my posts, lol. That’s okay; I liked to you so people can see both!

  • Jorie January 6, 2019 at 3:06 pm

    *waves*

    I saw you announcing this RAL – I wasn’t sure if I could participate but I just found I could place a hold on the audiobook copy for *Arrows of the Queen*. I’ve never had a chance to read anything by Mercedes Lackey and she is on my TBR for more than half my life, so why not now? Ooh I take that back – I did read one by her… it was re-telling of a fairy tale… this is before I was a book blogger….

    I’ll try to keep the schedule you’ve set forth, but as I’m borrowing these at my library, I am unsure if I’ll make all the dates; at least you know I’ll be following in your stead!

  • Isabelle @ BookwyrmBites January 6, 2019 at 4:59 pm

    oooh this looks like a lot of fun! unfortunately I’ve already got a lot of books lined up to read these next few months so I probably won’t be participating, but maybe in the future. happy reading to you all!

  • Zezee January 6, 2019 at 5:00 pm

    Oh that’s a cool reading event! I’m tempted to join in because I’ve always wanted to read some Lackey, especially Magic’s Pawn, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to commit due to my schedule this year. This is a great reading event though so I will follow along anyway.

  • Vera January 7, 2019 at 4:04 am

    I’ll be definitely reading Arrows of the Queen. I may not meet the 14th January target but I’ll start it this week and may surprise myself. πŸ™‚ I’ll see how I enjoy the first book before I commit to the rest of the series. πŸ™‚ I like to ‘proceed with care’ as I am a picky reader.

    Thanks for organising it with Melanie. I’m looking forward to reading both your reviews. Happy reading. πŸ™‚

    • Jackie B January 8, 2019 at 2:24 pm

      I can’t believe January 14th is almost here already! I will confess, I haven’t started Arrows of the Queen yet myself. O_o This will turn into quite a rush read for me to make it. Oops!

      I don’t blame you on waiting until you’ve read the first book before you decide to continue on, Vera. I often feel the same way. There are far too many books and far too little time. πŸ™‚ Regardless, I look forward to getting to know you better through this read along. Welcome on the journey!

  • whatthelog January 9, 2019 at 4:00 pm

    Excited to read Arrows of the Queen! I better start reading if I want to be on time on the 14th! (Will you be doing Twitter chats or anything about it?)

    • Jackie B January 15, 2019 at 1:14 pm

      Sorry for the delay, Wendy. I’m only just catching back up on comments; you know how life is.

      We don’t have plans to do any Twitter chats or anything like that on social media. That said, if the interest arises, we’ll look into it! Originally, this just started as a buddy read with Melanie @ Grab the Lapels, but once we started talking about it, people got so excited, we expanded it to a read along. We’re flying a bit by the seat of our pants. XD

      No pressure on getting your review up on time. The Linky will be open all week! I look forward to hearing your thoughts on Arrows of the Queen!

      • whatthelog January 18, 2019 at 3:18 am

        That’s quite alright!
        Ugh I’m probably not going to make the Linky – the nonfiction book I’m reading atm is a lot longer than I thought it would be, and is taking up all my time!!

        • Jackie B January 21, 2019 at 9:38 am

          No pressure. We’d love to have you participate in whatever way you can. Linkys are fun, but not required. πŸ™‚ At least this one is still open for another 2 days!

  • Amanda @Cover2CoverMom January 12, 2019 at 9:09 pm

    Yay! I’m about 80% through the first book. I think it’s safe to say I won’t be posting a review by tomorrow though lol Most likely I will wait until I finish the first trilogy, then post a series wrap-up/mini reviews.

    Will you be participating in #ReadingValdemar? Why or why not?
    Yes because I like to participate in read alongs with friends πŸ™‚ I enjoyed reading the Anne of Green Gables series in 2017, and haven’t participated in once since.

    What about this read along appeals to you? What doesn’t? How do you want to engage with us?
    The fact that I’ve never heard of this author or her books. I’ve also been wanting to read more adult fantasy.
    I am going to attempt to write a trilogy wrap-up for each trilogy I read. I’m also going to attempt to do a more creative post for each trilogy too. Stay tuned.

    Do you read much fantasy? What are your favorite literary universes? Why?
    I didn’t read much fantasy in the past, but that has really changed over the past 2 years. I’ve been reading more and more.

    • Jackie B January 16, 2019 at 3:50 pm

      I love the idea of writing a trilogy review. I considered doing that for the first two trilogies, my self. There are so many books in this first quarter! I don’t know why we did this to ourselves. XD

      I hope that you enjoy what you read and keep participating throughout the yet with us, even if you aren’t keeping up with the reading. I know 15 books it quite a bit to commit to. But, if they all ready as quickly as Arrows of the Queen, I’m confident I’ll make it through. I’m rooting for you!

      What has inspired you to read more fantasy?

      • Amanda @Cover2CoverMom January 19, 2019 at 4:13 pm

        I’ve been really into fantasy these past two years, but notice that I’ve been reading a lot of YA fantasy. I wanted to bridge more into adult fantasy this year. I feel like adult fantasy can sometimes be intimidating… Mostly because adult fantasy tends to be on the longer side, which you know I avoid like the plague lol I did like that the books, at least in this trilogy, are not intimidatingly large πŸ™‚

        • Jackie B January 21, 2019 at 1:05 pm

          They aren’t — which is lovely. You’re right that a lot of adult fantasy are written in tome form with lots and lots of books. However, I’ve been seeking out more managable fantasy thanks to my SFF Book Club. We only have a month to read our books, so we’ve never picked anything over 500 pages. Which is still a lot… but manageable.

          Is there anything in particular you’re looking for in fantasy? Perhaps I can help point you towards some other adult fantasy which you might enjoy!

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