Magical Readathon OWLs Choices!

If you haven’t heard of the Magical Readathon yet, then here you go. If you have, then read on anyway, because I am here to accio your socks off. This will, obviously, be a very geeky Harry Potter themed post. You’ve been warned!

Just in case you’re not familiar with how this works, you pick your wanted wizarding career, for example, a wand maker. To be a wand maker, you need certain OWLs, and to pass each subject you need to read a book that matches a prompt. Example, one of the prompts this year is “a book with a white cover”. So by reading a book with a white cover, you pass your subject, and move on to the next. Simple, straight froward, and fun. The Magical Readathon is in its third year now, and even more special, it’s my first year taking part. G has social media sites and the website above to show what’s going on, and this year there are more career paths to choose from. I have chosen to become a Curse Breaker. For this, I need:

• Ancient Runes – Heart Rune: Heart on the cover or in the title
• Arithmancy – Magical qualities of number two, balance / opposites: Read something outside of your favourite genre
• Charms – Lumos Maxima: Book with a white cover
• Defense Against the Dark Arts – Grindylows: Book set at the sea or coast
• Potions – Shrinking Solution – A book with less than 150 pages
  and
• Transfiguration – Animagus Lecture – A book or series that features shapeshifting

I’m joining in for a few reasons. Firstly, because Harry Potter is a fabulous world to get lost in when the real world is too hard (looking at you, Covid19). I’ve also found that going by reading challenges, I’m more likely to push myself outside of my comfort zone, read that bit more, and enjoy the feeling of a group effort. There’s something, too, that must be said for the general feeling of fun that can easily get lost if you’re reading on demand at times. So April is my month to ensnare my sense and captivate my mind.

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So with all that said, here are my choices so far. Obviously some of these are subject to change!

Ancient Rune – Heart on cover or in title
I struggled with this one a bit, I must admit. I’m not really one for mushy love stories or erotica (no judgement, you do you!), so searching the words “books containing the word heart” is rather a dead end, no pun intended. However, I have narrowed it down to two possibilities, either The Queen Of Hearts or The Heart Goes Last, both of which I would be interested to read, and I’ll probably end up drawing a name out of a hat to choose which one.

Arithmancy – A book outside your preferred genre
This one was tricky as I don’t actually have a favourite genre! I read a bit of everything, from economics to thrillers, and so to think about the opposite of what I normally read was a really in depth chat with myself. It’s been interesting. What I’ve ended up picking The War Of the Worlds – a book that I have always told myself I should very much read, but have never somehow managed to do. I’m interested to see how this works out. Either I’ll end up reading more science fiction, or I’ll never read any again!

Charms – A book with a white cover
A white cover was hard to pick for different reasons; I had too many to choose from. What a wonderful problem to have. This time, I have chosen and ARC that I have on my NetGalley account, Mary Toft; or, The Rabbit Queen. Somewhere on a line between the absurd and the fascinating, I really can’t wait to read this, and it may well be the first book I start in April when the challenge starts.

Defense Against the Dark Arts – A book set by the sea
Another of my ARCs to read, Bone China is Laura Purcell’s latest novel, and after completely captivating me with The Corset last year, I’m looking forward to digging into this. I read the first few pages sneakily to check I was doing the right thing… And wanted to carry on reading. This will be a delightfully creepy read as all her books are, and I’m so excited it’s on my TBR list.

Potions – A book under 150 pages
When I asked some bookworm friends for helping picking out some of these titles, one immediately sent back, “You need to read The Yellow Wallpaper!”. I know absolutely nothing about it. I’ve decided deliberately to NOT find anything else about it, other than knowing it’s intense, and just let it happen in my life.

Transfiguration – A book or series that contains shapeshifting
Of all of the book prompts, this was perhaps the most bemusing. Obviously, it is understandable given that transfiguration is the study of changing one form to another, but still – when it comes to books, if high fantasy isn’t your immediate go to, then knowing where to look can be a bit daunting! I’ve decided to go with A Throne Of Swans. I read a preview of the book via Readers First a while ago, and although I didn’t end up with the book I remember the start. So that is a good place to begin.

So, there’s my list of choices for OWLs needed as a Curse Breaker. I’m really excited to join in with all the geeky wonderfulness that is happening, and also just to know exactly what I’m reading! Let me know if you’re joining in below, and what you’ve chosen, I can’t wait to hear.