It’s my favourite time of the year—it’s Eurovisionathon!!
This is a readathon hosted by one of my dearest friends, Helen from Helen’s Book Haven. She created this readathon in 2020 and hosts it every year. This year the round takes place from the 18th of April to the 16th of May and you can find all the information here in Helen’s announcement.
This is my favourite readathon—I always participate no matter how I might be feeling and this year is no different. This year I decided to really dial it back and I’ve just chosen six books to read. I’ve organised them alphabetically by country just to keep things easy for myself. So let’s talk about them…
I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman | Belgium
This happens to be the first one on my priority list as well as the first country on my list. I had selected this one last year for France, then realised the author was Belgian and then ran out of time to read it. This year, I grabbed an ebook copy and I’ve got the audiobook as well so hopefully I should be able to make it through. My goal with Eurovisionathon every year is to try and mark off at least one country I haven’t read from before and this year it’s Belgium’s turn. I’ve kept myself mostly in the dark about this one—I know it’s sort of a sci fi/post-apocalyptic world where a group of women find themselves alone, and that’s all I know. I’ve heard incredible things though.
Emperor of Rome by Mary Beard | Italy
I like picking up a few non fiction books for Eurovisonathon usually, but this year this one is my only pick. I love Mary Beard. This is maybe the fourth or fifth book of hers that I’ve read and I really enjoy them. I also got to meet her late last year and it was such a dream come true. She is 1000% one of my academic crushes even though classics isn’t my area of study and so I’m looking forward to this one. I’m not sure if I’ll finish it during the readathon, but I’m going to at least make a start. I think this one is pretty self-explanatory from the title—it’s about the emperors of Rome.
The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave | Norway
Now we get into a couple that have been on my shelves for a while. I bought The Mercies in 2024 (I think?) in preparation for Eurovisionathon for a couple of dollars secondhand. I started it that year but ran out of time and then didn’t get around to it last year either. I really enjoyed what I had read so I’m looking forward to finishing it this year. This one also features a group of women who suddenly find themselves alone, but this time in historical Norway. All the men in the town are killed and the women have to find a way to survive on their own. Unexplainable things happen and it leads to the 1620 witch trials in this town, Vardø—it’s all inspired by real events.
The Silent Unseen by Amanda McCrina | Poland
This one is the sort of sequel/companion to Traitor which I read for Eurovisionathon a few years ago. This one takes place in 1944 and follows the war between the Polish Resistance and the Ukranian nationalists. I really enjoyed Traitor—it was intense and emotional, and taught me about a different side of WWII that I didn’t really know anything about. The blurb for this one gives me the feeling that it might be even more emotional than Traitor, which honestly I’m totally ready for.
I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys | Romania
I cannot tell you how excited I am to read this one. Romania paused their participation in Eurovisionathon for a little there and I was so gutted because I’d been holding onto this one. But now they’re back and I can finally read this one! Ruta Sepetys is one of my favourite authors—her first book, Between Shades of Grey, is one of the most heartbreakingly gorgeous things I’ve ever read. I immediately preordered this one when it was released in 2022 so it’s about time I got to it. It’s about the Romania citizen spy network during WWII which is something I know nothing about, but I can’t wait to learn.
Herstories. An Anthology of New Ukrainian Women Prose Writers edited by Michael M. Naydan | Ukraine
Last but not least is this lovely book. As you can probably guess by the title, this is collection of prose writings from different Ukranian women writers. This one has been on my radar for a few years but I’ve always had 4 or 5 books to pick for Ukraine and I didn’t own this one yet. But now I have an ebook and it’s my pick for this year. I’m extremely excited to read these authors and hopefully discover some new writers to read in the future.
That’s it for my TBR. Are you joining in this year? Have you read any of these?
Earl Grey Books 