Monday 25 March 2019

OWL's Magical Readathon 2019 TBR

This amazing readathon was created by Book Roast on Youtube. This year Gi has gone all out and not only created reading prompts for each subject but has also created wizarding careers to choose from so people can decide what OWLs to take. The readathon starts on April 1st and lasts the whole month until April 30th and during this time everyone will be taking their 'OWL Examinations'. To see her announcement video explaining the readathon in more detail you can click here. You can also find all the reading prompts and career paths in that video too.

I decided to be ambitious this year and chose the Alchemist career path which basically means I will be attempting to take all the subjects and complete all of the prompts. I usually read between 10-15 books a month so hopefully I can manage them! So, below are all the subjects and reading prompts as well as my TBR! This TBR is subject to some change if I find that the books don't fit the prompts as well as I hoped!

Ancient Runes - A Retelling
For this first one I've decided to go with To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo. I believe this is a retelling of A Little Mermaid but with a darker twist so I'm really looking forward to seeing how this has been done. I've pretty much only heard good things about this book so it's about time I got around to reading it.

Arithmancy - Work written by more than one author
Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian is the first book in a contemporary trilogy that I've heard has similar vibes to Pretty Little Liars (which I loved). So I've decided to put the whole trilogy on my TBR since they fit a lot of the requirements and I feel like they're going to be quick reads. Obviously this book has been written by two authors so fills this prompt! 

Astronomy - "Star" in the title
This one is pretty obvious why it was chosen: Stars Above by Marissa Meyer. This is a collection of short stories set in the world of the Lunar Chronicles. I read the Lunar Chronicles about four/five years ago now but I only ever read three of the short stories because they weren't available as a collection at the time. I finally bought this a couple of years ago now and still haven't got around to it so this readathon will hopefully make me pick it up sooner! (Although it will probably make me want to re-read the series!).


Care of Magical Creatures - Land animal on the cover
The Tiger Thief by Michaela Clarke is a children's fantasy book following Sharat who loses his tiger during a performance, and the adventure that follows. My sister bought me this book a while ago and I haven't picked it up yet. This readathon will finally make me prioritise it as it has a tiger on the cover and I imagine it will be a quick read with being a children's book.

Charms - Age-line: read an adult work
I am currently reading Truthwitch by Susan Dennard and I'm hoping to finish both it and the sequel, Windwitch before the end of the month. If I can then Sightwitch will be the first book I pick up this readathon, shortly followed by Bloodwitch. This is an adult fantasy series following two Threadsisters: Safi, who must avoid capture at all costs as she's a rare Truthwitch, and Iseult, whose true powers are hidden even from herself. I'm really looked forward to continuing on with this series!

Defence Against the Dark Arts - Reducto: Title starts with an "R"
Similar to Burn for Burn, I've added another trilogy to this TBR: this one being The Dust Lands trilogy. This is a dystopian trilogy that I've been wanting to read for a few years and since all three book fit into the reading prompts I've decided to add them here. Rebel Heart by Moira Young is the second book in the trilogy.

Divination - Set in the future
Raging Star by Moira Young is the third and final book in The Dust Lands trilogy (as mentioned above). Since this is a dystopian series I believe it is set in the future. I sincerely hope I enjoy this book series as I've heard very mixed reviews on the second and third books in particular.

Herbology - Plant on the cover
As mentioned in my Charms prompt, I am currently reading Truthwitch so I'll soon be picking up Sightwitch, the novella between books 2 and 3. This has some moss on the cover which I am 100% counting towards this challenge!

History of Magic - Published at least 10 years ago
For this I decided to go back further than 10 years as I thought it would be a good excuse to pick up one of my classics. I decided to go with  Dr Jeykll and Mr Hyde and Other Stories by Robert Louis Stevenson. I first read this book about 10-15 years ago and don't really remember it so I want to give it a re-read to refresh my memory.

Muggle Studies - Contemporary
As I talked about in my Arithmancy prompt, this is the third book in the Burn for Burn trilogy: Ashes to Ashes by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian. As noted above, this is a contemporary book with a dark undercurrent.

Potions - Next ingredient: A Sequel
And again, this is the second book (and, therefore, the sequel) in the Burn for Burn trilogy: Fire with Fire by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian. I actually picked up these books for 99p each and just haven't got around to them yet so I'm excited to get to them.

Transfiguration - Sprayed edges or a red cover
And finally there's Blood Red Road by Moira Young. This is the first book in The Dust Lands trilogy which I've already talked about above. I've heard really good things about this first book so I'm hoping I'll enjoy it!

So, overall, I'll hopefully be reading:

1. Sightwitch by Susan Dennard
2. Bloodwitch by Susan Dennard 
3. Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian
4. Fire with Fire by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian
5. Ashes to Ashes by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian
6. Blood Red Road by Moira Young
7. Rebel Heart by Moira Young
8. Raging Star by Moira Young
9. To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo
10. Stars Above by Marissa Meyer 
11. The Tiger Thief by Michaela Clarke
12. Dr Jeykll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Wish me luck! Let me know if you're doing this readathon and what your TBR will be. Also, let me know if you've read any of the above and what you thought of them! Good luck to everyone participating!