Thursday, April 30, 2020

2020 O.W.L. Magical Read-a-Thon Wrap Up

I didn't think I would finish all 12 prompts, but I ended up finishing the last 2 books today!  As usual I ended up with way to many things on my plate book-wise, and work has been really cutting into my reading time.  So while I didn't end up reading everything I planned I was still able to finish all the prompts.  

I did finish all the books I needed for the Culinary Sorcery Career and the Locomotive Operator Certificate.  I had some other books left over so I decided those could fit for the Legal Defense of Fantastic Beasts because you never know when that will come in handy.  

Did you finish all your OWLs and get your career?  

What I read

These books don't fulfil a career or an extra course but they do fill an OWL.
  • Ancient Runes - Heart Run: Heart on the cover or in the title
    • The Heart of Shadows by Marco Cosimo d'Amico
    • This is a strange little graphic novel with a great message about fear.  The style isn't my favorite, but I can see how it is appealing to kids.
  • Astronomy - Night Classes:  Read the majority of this book when it's dark outside
    • Food Wars by Yuto Tsukuda
    • I picked this up for another reading challenge and I thought I'd really enjoy this because it's about food.  This just really isn't my taste and I didn't enjoy it.
  • Divination - Third Eye: Assign Numbers to your TBR and use a random number generator to pick your read
    • I kind of cheated with this one and let the library do my picking for me.  You never know when your holds are going to come due so I went with Come Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire.  This takes us back to the world of Jack and Jill and the kids from Eleanor's school have to help save the day yet again.  
  •  Transfiguration - Animagus Lecture:  Book/Series that includes shapeshifting
    • Wild Wolf Mate by Dianna Love
    • This is book 5 of the League of Gallize series.  I had it for review, and since I had just finished books 1&2 for another prompt I gave it a go.  I really like this series.  If you like steamy shifter romances this is a good one to pick up.

Culinary Sorcerer

I ended up finishing all of the prompts at the last minute.  I didn't think I was going to make it, but I was able to swap out 
  • Arithmancy - Magical Qualities of #2: Read something outside your favorite genre
    • Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
    • I didn't love this, but I learned alot about the books and the political and culture.  The author narrates the book, but I would have preferred that a voice actor narrated it.  Despite her heated opinions on certain subjects, that didn't come through in her narration.
  • Charms - Lumos Maxima: White Cover
    • I planned on reading Ruthless Gods by Emily A. Duncan.  I'm currently reading it now so I decided to read a short story by Mark Lawrence instead.  I read During the Dance, which is a beautiful short story, which is available for free on Amazon.
  • Herbology - Mimbulus Mimbletonia: A title that starts with M
    • Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey
    • I like Gailey's works, but I didn't love this one.  
  • Potions - Shrinking Solution: A book under 150 pages
    • The Black God's Drums by P. Djeli Clark
    • This was an excellent mix of historical fiction, sci-fi, mythology, and fantasy.  I loved it!

Locomotive Operator

  • Defense Against the Dark Arts - Grindylows: A Book Set at the Sea/Coast
    • I had planned on reading A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow, but I ended up reading The Deep by Rivers Solomon.  The Deep was a cool novella, that I feel like you really need to read multiple times before you really absorb the entire story.  I highly recommend the audiobook!
  • Muggle Studies - A Book from the perspective of a Muggle (Contemporary)
    • The Treble with Men by Piper Sheldon
    • This was my favorite book of April!  It has a Phantom of the Opera vibe and I really loved the characters.  

Legal Defense of Fantastic Beasts  

  • Hippogriffs: Creature with a beak on the cover
    • The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang
    • This is the sequel to The Poppy War, which I loved!  This is kind of slow, but it finally picks up towards the end and leaves you needing the next book.  This book is a journey for sure, but it is a journey worth taking.
  • Witch Hunts: Book featuring witches/wizards
    • League of Gallize Shifters: Box Set One by Dianna Love
    • This whole series deals with shapeshifters of different kinds.  The Gallize are a special sect of shifters with extra special powers working and always willing to save the day.  This is a fairly steamy romance series as well, but fear not it isn't overly fluffy.  The female leads are strong and intelligent and just as awesome as their partners.  While not prominent characters in the books, there is a witch/wizard element to the storyline.


No comments:

Post a Comment