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.

Stay Home Reading Rush Wrap Up

What is your Reading Rush TBR and did I read it? 

So the big question of every readathon is did your read what was on your TBR?  The answer is kind of.  I finished 2 books and most of the 3rd.  I had every intention of participating in the instagram challenges but I never did.  I'm not very good at this whole social media thing.

Reading Challenges Read a book with a house on the cover.  

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

I didn't finish this.  I'm about 60% done with it currently.  I thought it would be a really quick read, but it isn't as fast paced as I thought it would be.  The lead up to why the house is so creepy takes quite a while and it is so far more character driven than anything.  I'm hoping the rest is a bit more paranormal as nothing has really happened yet.

I did do all of my reading on my couch up to this point though.



Read a book set somewhere you wish you could go. 

Read a book that will make you smile.
Read a book in the same room the whole time. 

Batter of Wits by Karla Sorensen - This comes out on the 21st.

You can check out my review here.

This was really cute and it did make me smile.  Everytime Tucker and Grace were out hiking I wanted to be out with them.  It has been overcast, chilly, and windy lately so I appreciated being able to escape to the beauty of the Tennessee wilderness with them.  I still want to go to Donner Bakery.

I read all of this in one spot on my couch

And because I always have an audiobook going, I was also able to finish the League of Gallize Shifters Box Set One by Dianna Love this weekend.  This is the first 2 books in the series.

I believe the ebook box set is free for the remainder of April.

You can check out my review here.

Stay Home Readathon and Tag

The Reading Rush does a big readathon in July, but since we are all stuck at home the ladies that run it decided to host a mini readathon to encourage people to read and stay home.  Like the regular week long event there will be instagram challenges and badges.  I'm reading anyway, so I thought I'd give it a whirl.   The #stayhomereadingrush is running from April 16th-19th.

The Reading Rush Stay At Home Announcement Video or you can check out their website: https://thereadingrush.com/

Stay Home Reading Tag Questions:

How is your reading going while staying home?  I'm still reading, but I'm less focused.  I am reading less than I was with our hectic schedule when school and activities were going on.  Seems like it would be the other way around, but I'm working from home full time and my house is crazy loud all the time.  It's hard to find a quiet place to read and focus right now.

Where have you been reading at home? Usually on the couch, but because someone is always on the xbox, my focus isn't the best.  I can't focus when I read in bed, I usually fall asleep.  I have been listening to alot of audiobooks, thankfully can usually listen and work at the same time.

Best book you’ve read during isolation?

The Treble with Men by Piper Sheldon - This is kind of a Phantom of the Opera retelling.  It features an angry Maestro and a cello player who hasn't realized her full potential.  I really loved it.

What’s your favourite feel good book?  I'm not a big re-reader, so I'd say I typically turn to romantic comedies when I need a feel good book.  Penny Reid is a go to for me when I need a pick me up or I'm in a slump.

Book you wish you could buy or borrow from the library?  I don't really feel like this is an issue for me.  I shop online for books often and I've been borrowing ebooks and audiobooks from the library for ages so I don't feel like this is an issue for me.  I may or may not have made 2 large Book Outlet purchases during their recent sale.

Author you want to shout out during this time?  Colleen Hoover put up a bunch of her books for free at the beginning of the isolation period and she's been posting a lot of funny stuff on instagram.  Also all of the authors/staff over at Smartypants Romance.  I've been lucky enough to review for the spring launch and the books are awesome.  The authors and the PR staff are amazing.  They have all been posting great stuff, checking in, and if they can putting their books on sale/free for their readers.

What is your Reading Rush TBR? 

Since the readathon is only 4 days I'm planning to double up on the prompts.  

Reading Challenges Read a book with a house on the cover.  

Read a book in the same room the whole time. 

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson - I've wanted to read this forever.  It just happened to be on sale today, so I was finally able to grab it for my kindle.  I love scary stories and this has both a house on the cover and it is supposedly less than 200 pages.  Should be easy to finish in a few hours and in one place.  It is also touted to be one of the best scary stories ever written.  I'm looking forward to it.  I also have Hell House, but it's a lot longer.  I'll probably save that for Halloween time.

Read a book set somewhere you wish you could go. 

Read a book that will make you smile.

Batter of Wits by Karla Sorensen - This comes out on the 21st, but I have an ARC so I was going to be reading this week anyway.  If I could go to Green Valley and the Donner Bakery or Daisy's Nut House, I would.  I also know that all of these books are smile inducing.  Almost all of them are rom-coms and end with a happily ever after.  I really liked Karla's previous book in the series so I know this one will be great too.

Magical Readathon OWLs/April 2020 TBR

It is that time of year again for the OWLs and the Magical Readathon.

Check out Book Roast's O.W.L.'s Magical Readathon 2020 Announcement, she is the creator of this awesome read-a-thon and all of the prompts, rules, and the amazing career guide she made are all posted in the description box of her video.   There have been some updates to the career guide this year and G has added some extras courses you can take.

All of the prompts are new, and whatever career you pick in April, will help guide you on what you should read in August for NEWTs.

There are 12 prompts and I'm going to try to fill in as many as I can in April, but based on the ARCs I'm committed to already and what I plan on reading for my reading challenges I chose the career of Culinary Sorcerer and taking the Locomotive Operator Course.

My TBR

Culinary Sorcerer

• Arithmancy - Magical Qualities of #2: Read something outside your favorite genre
• Reading Lolita in Tehran - Azar Nafisi
• This is about a group of female students in Iran who gathered illegally to hold a book club to read forbidden Western classics.
• Charms - Lumos Maxima: White Cover
• Ruthless Gods by Emily A. Duncan
• This is the sequel to Wicked Saints and I was lucky enough to get an ARC.  I'm anxious to get back to this dark fantasy world.
• Herbology - Mimbulus Mimbletonia: A title that starts with M
• Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey
• I've been on a Sarah Gailey binge lately.  I've really liked her other works.  This has magic and mystery.  It sounds perfect.
• Potions - Shrinking Solution: A book under 150 pages
• The Black God's Drums by P. Djeli Clark
• This is supposed to have some historical elements as well as some sci-fi/fantasy elements.  I've only heard good things.

Locomotive Operator

• Defense Against the Dark Arts - Grindylows: A Book Set at the Sea/Coast
• A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow
• This comes out in June and is about sirens.  
• Muggle Studies - A Book from the perspective of a Muggle (Contemporary)
• The Treble with Men by Piper Sheldon
• This comes out on April 7th and is one of the Smartypants Romance books from the spring release.  This is the second book in the Scorned Women Society series.  This promises a romance centered around music composition.

I have some other books on my TBR that will fit other prompts, so we'll see if I can actually finish

N.E.W.T.s Magical Read-a-Thon TBR

I participated in the O.W.L.s in April, and now it is time for the N.E.W.T.s.  Any Harry Potter fan will know what I'm talking about.  If you don't have a clue what I'm talking about, NEWTs are the Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests that 7th year students take at Hogwarts to determine their magical career paths upon graduation.

If you want more information about the Magical Read-a-Thon go check out Book Roast's announcement video.  She does such an amazing job with all of the prompts the documents she creates.

So when I took my O.W.L.s back in April, I picked Magizoologist as my career path based on what I thought my initial TBR would be.  I did end up finishing all the reading prompts (see what I read), so I think I can pick any career in the guide depending on how many N.E.W.T.s I finish in August.  I'm going to stick with the original plan and try to use the ARCs I've got coming up for fall and some of the books I was planning on reading for the Popsugar and Read Harder Challenges.  As I read other things I'll pencil in where they fit on my sheet to see what else I can finish.

There is also a group read book that you can use to fill in any prompt, Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell.  Not sure if I'll get to this one, but it sounds interesting.

Keeping with the Magizoologist plan, that means I need receive the following marks on my NEWTs

• O in Care of Magical Creatures
• E in Charms
• E in Herbology

Below are the prompts and the books I plan to read to achieve the required marks to become a Magizoologist:

Magical Creatures Prompts

• Book title that starts with  letter A
• Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
• Book under 300 pages
• The Hanged Man and the Fortune Teller by Lucy Banks
• Goodreads says this is 256 pages
• Read a book with a bird on the cover
• Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin

Charms Prompts

• Read a book that you think has a gorgeous cover
• Verity by Colleen Hoover
• Read a comic/graphic novel/manga (book under 150 pages)
• Star Mage Vol 2 by J.C De La Torre and Facundo Percio
• I read volume 1 for the OWLs but I think I'm going to read the version that has issues 1-6 because they are really short.

Herbology Prompts

• Listen to an audiobook
• Vengeful by V.E. Schwab
• Read a book between 350-390 pages
• The Furies by Katie Lowe
• Goodreads lists this at 368 pages

The Reading Rush TBR

I kept seeing all of these read-a-thon videos on youtube about reading rush, soI finally watched one to see what it was all about.  I usually just watch the vlogs and the wrap-up videos because I want to see what people thought about the books.  I came to find out that Booktubeathon got a new name, and it feels a bit more inclusive so those of us who don't vlog feel inclined to participate.  Go check out Reading Rush's website or channel for all of the details.  You can also create a profile, join forums, track your progress, and connect with other bookish people doing the challenge.  Plus you can get fun badges for all the challenges you complete.

The read-a-thon runs from July 22 to July 28 and there are 7 challenges for the week.  There will be additional video and instagram challenges as well.  I just want to get lots of reading done.  Maybe I'll even participate in some of the instagram challenges.

As for my TBR, I probably won't read 7 books next week but if I get through 4 that will be an accomplishment.  I'll be happy if I complete any of these during the week.  I'm so behind, so what better way to read more books than join an unplanned readathon.  I put together a pretty ambitious TBR, but I plan to listen to at least two of them on audio.  Most of the books are around 200 pages so hopefully I can get through half or more in a day and start another. 

Connect with me on Reading Rush via my profile link

1.  Read a book with purple on the cover

a.   Small Spaces by Katherine Arden

2.  Read a book in the same spot the entire time

a.   Skyward, vol 2: Here There be Dragonflies by Joe Henderson

3.  Read a book you meant to read last year

a.   Black Dawn by Mallory McCartney

4.  Read an author’s first book

a.   The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab

5.  Read a book with a non-human main character

a.   The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

6.  Pick a book that has five or more words in the title

a.   The Magic of Race Bailey by Eric Hobbs

7.  Read and watch a book to movie adaptation

a.   A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Bonus Challenge: Read 7 books!  

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

So I stumbled across this read-a-thon about a week into April, and realized that I could participate too.  I have been horrible about posting on twitter and instagram but I'm still doing all the prompts.   My original TBR only had a few books on it, but as the month progressed I realized I could complete more of the prompts than I initially realized.  Towards the end of the month I was struggling to finish a few of the prompts, so I turned to graphic novels because I knew I could finish them quickly.  This was such a fun read-a-thon!

What I Read

• Ancient Runes - Retelling
• Unhappily Ever After (The Librarian #2) by Eric Hobbs
• OK technically I cheated on this one, I started this one in March, but I read most of it in April.
• 
• Arithmancy - Work Written by More than One Author
• Hotel Dare by Terry Blas (author) and Claudia Aguirre (illustrator)
• 
• Astronomy - "Star" in the Title
• Star Mage #1 by J.C. De La Torre (author) and Ray Dillon (illustrator)
• 
• Care of Magical Creatures - Land Animal on the Cover
• The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden
• 
• Charms - Age-line: Read an adult work
• The Guest Book by Sarah Blake
• I cheated a bit on this one too, I finished it on May 2nd.  It was almost 500 pages and took me almost all month to read.  
• 
• Defense Against the Dark Arts - Reducto: Title Starts with an R
• Running the Books: The Adventures of an Accidental Prison Librarian by Avi Steinberg
• 
• Divination - Set in the Future
• Skyward. Vol. 1: My Low-G Life by Joe Henderson, Lee Garbett, and Antonio Fabela
• 
• Herbology - Plant on the Cover
• Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
• 
• History of Magic - Published at least 10 years ago
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 
• 
• Muggle Studies - Contemporary
• Things We Never Said by Samantha Young 
• 
• Potions - Next Ingredient: Sequel
• Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend
• 
• Transfiguration - Sprayed Edged or Red Cover
• The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor
• 

Check out Book Roast for all of the info on the readathon.

O.W.L. Read-a-thon and TBR

So I keep seeing these O.W.L. TBR video's on Book-tube and I haven't watched any of them, until today.  I watched Pages and Pens TBR earlier today and realized I am missing out on an amazing and magical readathon.  So naturally I went down the TBR video rabbit hole, and I realized this is totally something I can do in the month of April.  Several of the O.W.L prompts fit right in with what I'm already planning on reading. 

Check out Book Roast's O.W.L.'s Magical Readathon 2019 Announcement, she is the creator of this awesome read-a-thon and all of the prompts, rules, and the amazing career guide she made are all posted in the description box of her video.   I really admire all of her creativity and the work she has put into creating the materials. 

Based on the books I plan on reading in April I think that makes my career path a Magizoologist.

My TBR

• Care of Magical Creatures - Land Animal on the Cover
• The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden 
• Charms - Age-line: Read an adult work
• The Guest Book by Sarah Blake
• History of Magic - Published at least 10 years ago
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 
• Muggle Studies - Contemporary
• Things We Never Said by Samantha Young 
• Potions - Next Ingredient: Sequel
• Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend