O.W.L.s readathon / April - wrap-up.

Hi booklovers

April 30th was the last day of the O.W.L.s readathon, so it's time for my wrap-up.

I didn't think it would go as well as it did, so I'm very pleasantly surprised.

I wanted to take my O.W.L.s for the career of Librarian and so I needed to read books for the following subjects: Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Defence Against the Dark Arts, History of Magic and Transfiguration.

I'm happy to say that I succeeded in taking all of these exams and then some :-)

Ancient Runes: a retelling.

I only had one option for this which was The Great Hunt by Wendy Higgins. Although, at the end of the month I realised that Wintersong - which I have on my TBR - is also a retelling.

Arithmancy:

Work written by more than one author.

I decided to read Paper Girls by Brian K. Vaughan.

Defence Against the Dark Arts:

Reducto: Title starts with an 'r'.

For this I chose Restore Me by Tahereh Mafi.

History of Magic:

A book published at least 10 years ago

I listened to The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan. This was originally published in 1991. I highly recommend the audiobooks for these as well, Michael Kramer and Kate Reading do an amazing job narrating these stories.

Transfiguration:

A book with sprayed edges or a red cover.

I read Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell.

3.75 stars to be precise.

Since I was apparently on a roll I decided to go for a few more subjects.

Charms:

Age-line: read an adult work.

For this I actually steered away from my TBR. This was the last exam I wanted to take and there were only a few days of the readathon left so I needed a shorter book. That's why I went for The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson.

Herbology:

A book with a plant on the cover.

Even though I was planning to use this book for another subject, I decided to read Brieven van Marie by Lize Feryn for this subject.

Muggle Studies:

A contemporary book.

Since I was on Easter break, I decided to pick up a New Adult contemporary, which was The Destiny of Violet and Luke by Jessica Sorensen.

Potions:

Next ingredient: a sequel.

For this I also didn't stick to my TBR, but I went for Shadow Me by Tahereh Mafi. After finishing Restore Me, I really wanted to read this novella from Kenji's POV.

Those were the 9 books I read for the O.W.L.s. I even managed to squeeze in one more book that didn't count towards any of the subjects.

The Probability of Violet & Luke by Jessica Sorensen.

I've never read 10 books in a month so I'm calling this readathon (+ 1 extra read) a big success.

Have you read any of these? If so, what did you think of them?

Did you take part in the readathon? How did it go?

Bye for now

Annelies

OWLs readathon TBR

Hi booklovers

Last year I didn't know about the O.W.L.s readathon until it was over, so I'm very happy that now I've heard about it on time. This readathon is hosted by Book Roast. You can find her announcement video here. The readathon takes place during the month of April.

G has really put a lot of time and effort in creating this readathon and I'm so happy to be taking part in it.

'O.W.L.s' stands for 'Ordinary Wizarding Levels', which are the exams Hogwarts students take in their fifth year.

A new feature this year is that you can 'choose' the O.W.L.'s for a specific career. Of course you can also try to read books for all 12 exams.

Since I probably won't be able to read 12 books in one month, I will be focusing on the O.W.L's required to become a Librarian. If I finish the books for this career, I might 'take other exams' as well.

In August there is the follow-up readathon, which are of course the N.E.W.T's. For this readathon you can only take the exams for the O.W.L.'s you passed.

I'm going to be sharing my TBR for the subjects that I want to focus on and then I'm going to show what other books I might also read.

As always, I'm going to be giving myself a choice of books for each subject, otherwise this won't work.

Librarian:

Ancient Runes:

A retelling.

I actually only have one book for this:

*The Great Hunt by Wendy Higgins.

Arithmancy:

Work written by more than one author.

*These Broken Stars by Amy Kaufman and Megan Spooner

*Paper Girls

(I know my copy of Girls volume 2 is also in the photo, but that is because this was originally also on my TBR. Only, I have read this for the sequelathon :-D )

Defence Against the Dark Arts:

Reducto: Title starts with an 'r'.

*Roar by Cora Carmack

*The Red Knight by Miles Cameron

*Restore Me by Tahereh Mafi

*Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton
*Red Sister by Mark Lawrence (still need to get that one though)

History of Magic:

A book published at least 10 years ago

*The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan

*Northern Lights by Philip Pullman

*Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson (which is the one I'm most likely going to pick up because there will be a readalong for this one during April.)

*Priestess of the White by Trudi Canavan

*Ship of Destiny by Robin Hobb

(I know the second book is not the UK edition of Northern Lights, but I have since gotten the UK edition, so it would be that one I'd be reading.)

Transfiguration:

A book with sprayed edges or a red cover

*Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell

*Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (reread)

*The Edge of Everything by Jef Giles

The other subjects are:

Astronomy:

A book with 'star' in the title.

*These Broken Stars (if I don't use it for arithmancy)

*Stars Above by Marissa Meyer

*Defy the Stars by Claudia Grey

Care of Magical Creatures:

A book with a land animal on the cover.

*Northern Lights - it has a bear on the cover

Charms:

Age-line: read an adult work.

*The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan

*Priestess of the White by Trudi Canavan

*Ship of Destiny by Robin Hobb

*Red Sister by Mark Lawrence

Divination:

A book set in the future.

*These Broken Stars

*Stars Above 

*Defy the Stars 

whichever one I don't use for another prompt.

Herbology:

A book with a plant on the cover.

I only have one book with a plant on the cover and I would rather use it for another subject.

Muggle Studies:

A contemporary book.

*Brieven van Marie (Letters from Marie). This is a companion to the Flemish tv-series 'In Flanders Fields'. (This is the one I could use for herbology as well because there are poppies on the cover.)
*A New Adult book (don't know which one yet)

Potions:

Next ingredient: a sequel.

*Knight's shadow by Sebastien de Castell.

*King of Thorns by Mark Lawrence.

I'm very excited to start this readathon and I'm also very curious to see if I'll succeed and how many subjects I'll pass.

Will you be taking part in this readathon? If so, what's your TBR? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now

Annelies

O.W.Ls readathon - TBR.

Hi booklovers

Back in April the Book Roast on YouTube hosted the O.W.Ls readathon and in August she will be hosting the N.E.W.Ts readathon. 

I didn't participate back in April, but you 'need' to have sat your O.W.Ls (Ordinary Wizarding LevelS) before you can sit your N.E.W.Ts. (Nastily Exhausting Wizarding TestS). G suggested in her announcement video that you can sit your O.W.Ls in August and then choose another month to sit your N.E.W.Ts., so that's what I'm going to do. (I know this is getting complicated.)

I know I've said before that I'm not good with readathons, but I want to give this one a go because a) it's a month long readathon and b) you can choose which O.W.Ls you want to sit.

Like with the TBR readathon I'm going to give myself some options to choose from and I'm not going to push myself to complete all the challenges (that would be crazy).

Below you can see the letter G designed with all the prompts for the different subjects.

I know this is almost impossible to read, but you can find the original letter in the information bar of G's announcement video.

I've decided I'm going to choose 5 O.W.Ls, but I will probably only sit 3 of them, but that way I can give myself some manoeuvering space and not put myself into a slump.
I've also tried to find some books that also fit this month's theme for the #OWbookclub which is 'recently bought'.

Let's take a look at my tentative TBR:

Ancient Runes: Read a book with a symbol on the cover

*Clariel by Garth Nix

*Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher

Care of Magical Creatures: Read a book that includes magical creatures or Features a magical creature on the cover

*The Red Knight by Miles Cameron

I'm pretty sure I will pick this one up because I'll be buddy reading this with someone from the #OWbookclub.

 

Charms: Read a fantasy book

 

*The Shadow of What Was Lost by James Islington

Another one I want to read for the #OWbookclub.

 

*The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

Potions: Read a book about / with alchemy in it

*The Poison Diaries by Maryrose Wood

*The Sin Eater's Daughter by Melinda Salisbury

Transfiguration: Read a book that deals with transfiguration / shapeshifting or similar theme

*Lake Silence by Anne Bishop

I have this on audio and I've been wanting to listen to it for some time now.

In order to get an Acceptable grade I have to sit and pass 2 O.W.Ls . For an Exceeded Expectations grade I have to sit and pass 3 O.W.Ls (which I'm aiming for). For an Outstanding grade I have to sit and pass 5 O.W.Ls, which is not very realistic since some of the books I've chosen are 500+ pages :-s Those books probably aren't the best choices for a readathon, but oh well.

Did you participate in the O.W.Ls back in April and are you participating in the N.E.W.Ts? Or are you sitting your O.W.Ls in August?

Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now

Annelies