Magical Readathon 2020 – OWLS

So it’s no secret that my reading has been super off this year, especially in over the last month and a half. I talked about how my usual crazy reading schedule and plans don’t necessarily work for me when I’m not in the mood to read – it only works when I WANT to read or have a lot of things I’m excited about. I wanted to simplify my life and stop stressing about meeting challenges. Nonetheless, I have been wanting to join the Magical Readathon (OWLS and NEWTS) for months and months. I knew this would be the perfect thing to get me back in the reading mood since I’d been so excited for it. Without further ado, here is my sign-up and general plans for this April!

Information

The Magical Readathon consists of choosing a career path and taking Hogwarts courses to pass your OWLS and NEWTS exams. OWLS are in April and NEWTS are in August. There are twelve reading prompts for each magical subject in the OWLS:

• Ancient Runes // Heart rune: heart on the cover or in the title
• Arithmancy // Magical qualities of number two: balance/opposites – read something outside your favorite genre
• Astronomy // Night classes: read majority of this book when its dark outside
• Care of Magical Creatures // Hippogriffs: creature with a beak on the cover
• Charms // Lumos maxima: white cover
• Defense Against the Dark Arts // Grindylows: book set at the sea/coast
• Divination // Third eye: assign numbers to your TBR and use a random number generator to pick your read
• Herbology // Mimbulus mimbletonia: title starts with an M
• History of Magic // Witch hunts: book featuring witches/wizards
• Muggle Studies // Book from the perspective of a muggle (contemporary)
• Potions // Shrinking solution: book under 150 pages
• Transfiguration // Animagus lecture: book/series that includes shapeshifting

You can then pick a career path for the year, which will work during both OWLS and NEWTS. For the OWLS, there will be courses to complete and focus on that work within your career path. The NEWTS get more challenging down the line.

Goals & Sign-Up

Career Choice: Hogwarts Professor – Muggle Studies

The requirements for this particular career involve taking seven OWLS in total: one for the course you wish to teach at Hogwarts (for me: Muggle Studies), Defense Against the Dark Arts, and five more subjects of your choosing.

I chose this career because it offered the most flexibility when it comes to picking books that go along with it. I knew that my mood reading and weird habits at the moment aren’t going to work well if it’s too specific. I thought it would make sense to teach Muggle Studies specifically because in my real life, I double-minored in Literary and Cultural Studies along with Sociology. Muggle Studies would allow for me to share about the ~Muggle culture~ and I think it fits well!

TBR Ideas

Based on books I plan to read in April and the prompts I’m likely to choose, here are TBR ideas for all twelve prompts she shared (as needed).

 

Ancient Runes // Heart rune: heart on the cover or in the title // The Honey-Don’t List by Christina Lauren // I have this one for review and it’s a little overdue in April, but I know I won’t get to it this month yet. So many cute hearts on the cover!

Arithmancy // Magical qualities of number two: balance/opposites – read something outside your favorite genre // The Deck of Omens by Christine Lynn Herman // I hope to read this one ASAP when it comes out! Not sure if I’ll be able to because it comes out April 21st but I’m pumped for it. It fits here as my favorite genre is contemporary and this is a fantasy/paranormal situation.

Care of Magical Creatures // Hippogriffs: creature with a beak on the cover // House of Earth and Blood by SJM // I’m really jazzed that this has a bird on the cover because my options were slim for this! I really hope to get in a reading rhythm and get this one read even though its 800 pages…

Charms // Lumos maxima: white cover // The Art of Lainey by Paula Stokes // I’ll be reading this for a blog tour (yes you read that right!) and it fits the prompt perfectly. I definitely need to get to this one 🙂

Defense Against the Dark Arts // Grindylows: book set at the sea/coast // The Summer of Impossibilities by Rachael Allen // This is a May review copy I know I won’t wait for. I’ve loved her books so far. This takes place at a lake house.

Herbology // Mimbulus mimbletonia: title starts with an M // The Mall by Megan McCafferty // This is a June release that I’ve been excited for so here’s a perfect place to possibly read it ahead of time.

History of Magic // Witch hunts: book featuring witches/wizards // Blythewood by Carol Goodman // This is up next on my Romanceopoly game and I keep avoiding it because I haven’t been in the mood. Could be a good opportunity to read about witches.

Muggle Studies // Book from the perspective of a muggle (contemporary) // Four Days of You and Me by Miranda Kenneally // I read contemporary books all the time so this is very easy for me. I plan to read it fairly soon, maybe even before April, so this could easily be swapped for something else.

Potions // Shrinking solution: book under 150 pages // Saga Vol. 8 by Brian K. Vaughan // I’m excited that the ONLY installment of Saga that is under 150 pages and it just so happens that it’s the next one I need to read in the series! Woooo.

Transfiguration // Animagus lecture: book/series that includes shapeshifting // Soulless by Gail Carriger // I don’t think I’ll actually read this but it’s been somewhat on my radar lately, as people seem to love this.

Not pictured – would be determined at the time if needed:

• Astronomy // Night classes: read majority of this book when its dark outside // I can pick any book to read mostly at night. For me that usually is a Kindle book since I can read it at night before bed.
• Divination // Third eye: assign numbers to your TBR and use a random number generator to pick your read // I won’t do this now – I’ll wait until the time comes and probably do this with my “up next” TBR on Goodreads.

Tracking Plans

I think I’ll end up tracking this one on Twitter, since there’s a community there for this readathon. I also will have a post going up right after the readathon starts with my tracking as well. I’ll go in and update it as I start/finish books throughout the month!

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