The O.W.L.s Magical Readathon is a readathon inspired by Harry Potter, hosted by Book Roast every year in April. I’ve always wanted to join in but April has been exam season for me the last few years. But given everything going on in the world, I had no reason not to participate this year.
My Experience
OWLs was more fun than I expected, tbh. Not that I thought it wasn’t going to be – I wouldn’t have participated in it if I thought that. I just, I don’t know, didn’t expect to take as much pleasure in fulfilling the prompts as I did.
My enjoyment of this readathon might have to do with the fact that I somehow managed to pass 9 subjects, which as someone who averaged reading 2 books a month before this, is pretty good. The three that I “failed” all required reading fantasy books, which I was NOT in the mood for.
My lack of enthusiasm for fantasy meant that my tbr was pretty worthless. Of the nine books I read, only two of them were on my tbr for the readathon. I’ll just have to read the rest some other time.
As for my career, well, that’s still a toss up. It really depends on the prompts for NEWTs. Because like I mentioned, my mood dictates what I read so therefore who knows what prompts I’ll be able to fulfill.
Ancient Runes
Prompt
Heart on the cover or in the title.
TBR Title
The Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler
Pass or Fail?
Passed! The Book of Broken Hearts might be one of my favorite reads so far this year. It’s also the only book out of the 12 books I planned to read for OWLs that I actually read.
Arithmancy
Prompt
Read something outside your favorite genre.
TBR Title
Passenger by Alexandra Bracken
Pass or Fail?
Passed but with Maybe Now by Colleen Hoover. It’s a NA contemporary, which is outside my favorite genres of fantasy and romcoms.
Astronomy
Prompt
Read the majority of this book when it’s dark outside.
TBR Title
Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Pass or Fail?
Passed with The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams, which I read from 1AM to 4AM one night, and doesn’t fit any other prompt.
Honestly, I could have used most of the books I read this month for this prompt – I’m definitely more of night owl.
Honorable mention goes to Say You Still Love Me by K.A. Tucker. I read 299 out of 490 pages when it was dark out.
Care of Magical Creatures
Prompt
Creature with a beak on the cover.
TBR Title
An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson or The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan
Pass or Fail?
Passed with a reread of The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren. It was the only book I was in the mood for that fit the prompt.
Charms
Prompt
White book
TBR Title
Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff
Pass or Fail?
Passed with Dating You / Hating You. I was really hoping to finish Godsgrave but it became clear that with a week left in the exam period, it just wasn’t going to happen.
Defense Against the Dark Arts
Prompt
Book set at the sea / coast
TBR Title
The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig
Pass or Fail?
Passed with Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett – it’s set in a beach town. There’s even a surfing scene. That counts, right?
Divination
Prompt
Assign numbers to your tbr and use a random number generator to pick a book
TBR Title
Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao
Pass or Fail?
Failed. It’s kind of hard to read a fantasy book when you’re not in the mood for that genre. And unfortunately, this prompt is pretty inflexible. Once a number is chosen, a number is chosen.
Herbology
Prompt
Title stars with an M
TBR Title
Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover
Pass or Fail?
Passed! I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Not to say I didn’t think I would, just that when I started reading it, I didn’t think I’d end up binging Maybe Not and Maybe Now afterwards.
History of Magic
Prompt
Books featuring witches / wizards
TBR Title
The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell
Pass or Fail?
Failed. Again, it’s kind of hard to find a contemporary book that features a witches or wizards.
Muggle Studies
Prompt
Book from the perspective of a muggle (contemporary)
TBR Title
Roomies by Christina Lauren, Dating You / Hating You by Christina Lauren, or Say You’ll Remember Me by Katie McGarry
Pass or Fail?
Passed with The Honey-Don’t List by Christina Lauren.
Potions
Prompt
Book under 150 pages
TBR Title
Memento by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Pass or Fail?
Passed? With Maybe Not by Colleen Hoover? I’m kind of cheating a bit here because technically its official page count is 160 pages. But in my defense, when I read it, it was only about 125 pages, the rest was acknowledgments and previews of Maybe Someday.
Transfiguration
Prompt
Book / series that includes shapeshifting
TBR Title
A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer
Pass or Fail?
Failed. There’s just no way that I could have read a contemporary novel that fit the prompt.
TL;DR
I had a fun time participating in OWLs and managed to read more books than expected, even if most of them weren’t on my original TBR. I’m looking forward to participating in NEWTs whenever they occur.
How was your April?
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