Hello there!
My reading has been a bit slow over the summer of 2021, but in September I got a great reading spike! I was excited about the fall vibes, readathons, and my upcoming holiday which made me really excited about picking up books ✨ I’m actually currently writing this in the middle of the woods in Finland, surrounded by fall leaves. Just look at this beautiful place:
Let’s get into the September stats!
Hello there!
I have been majorly neglecting the writing of wrap-ups lately so tadah – here is a combo wrap-up of March and April! These months have been absolutely crazy and I haven’t been able to read as much as I would have liked but that’s fine 😊 There’s no need to be super productive during a pandemic after all!
March and April were also special to my reading situation in other ways – in March I made myself a TBR flowchart for the first time and used it to select the books I read, and in April I took part in the OWLs Magical Readathon ✨ I loved doing both!
Hello! Welcome to my April TBR 😊
April is the magical time we have all been waiting for – the time for another round of OWLs! G @ The Book Roast organises magical readathons like the OWLs, which is based on ordinary wizarding levels in Hogwarts, multiple times every year! These readathons are always over-the-top kind of amazing because not only should you read a lot, you can complete prompts to gain your own magical career that you can select from G’s career guide! So if you have ever wanted to be a dragon tamer or a defence against the dark arts -teacher, now is your time!
Below is the introduction video by G, check it out for all the deeds on OWLs.
It’s December!
December is great because I love Christmas, my birthday is on the 17th and it is the perfect time for cozy readathons 💕
Here’s what my December plans look like:
What do your plans include? Are you celebrating Christmas? How about Hannukkah or Kwanzaa or New Years?
In Christmas I also hope to take part in a bunch of readathons! I’m co-hosting Currentathon and it will run for the entire month, Tis The Season A’Thon happens from 2nd to 8th of December and it challenges me to read Christmassy reads ✨ I’ll also take part in the December round of Magical Readathon although this round is all about surprising challenges within a story and so I can’t set a TBR for that one 😀
If you know me, then you know that I get extremely excited about readathons. Especially G @ Book Roast’s Magical Readathons are amazing and I’m always squealing from joy whenever a new announcement comes up.
In August it’s time to dive into NEWTs, or the Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests, that Hogwarts students complete on their seventh year of study to reach their preferred career. Book Roast has made it possible for us bookaholics to do the tests by reading! NEWTs is an extension of OWLs that happened in April (but you can still take part if you didn’t participate in OWLs). G gives you all of the details in her announcement video:
I am pursuing the career of a Metal Charmer, a mysterious profession of risky and careful work to produce intricate metallic objects with magical properties. Things like the time turner, the golden snitch, and much more!
As the profession of a metal charmer is exclusive, reaching the career is very difficult. That’s why I need to read 12 books in August 😱 that’s about 5 books more than I usually take up and I have already lost 10 days of the month for moving house! I’m panicked, hyperventilating and still kind of exhilarated.
Am I ready to give up all of my free time to reach this career? Yes. Am I ready to let my body decay while I stay in the same spot reading until I am a metal charmer? Yes. Will I procrastinate university work to reach my metal charmer magical career? Hell to the yes. Will I stop watching Netflix? NNnngggh, I don’t know man.
April, the Queen-Month of Readathons, has come to an end. I took part in two readathons: Tome Topple Round 8 in which the goal is to read tomes with more than 500 pages and the OWLs Magical Readathon which is a month-long readathon inspired by the magical exams that Hogwarts students take in their fifth year. Let’s see how the month of reading went!
We’re almost halfway through April and in the middle of OWLs Magical Readathon. If you haven’t the faintest about what I’m talking about you can check out Book Roast’s announcement video here, or my TBR with info on the readathon here.
While I’m super focused on doing the best I can with OWLs, I simply could not ignore Samantha @ Thoughts on Tomes announcement of Tome Topple Readathon Round 8!! Tome Topple is one of all time favorite readathons, and the point is to read those big, intimidating tomes over 500 pages on your TBR. Tome Topple also hosts the most fabulous reading sprints I have ever seen so I simply have to take part (check their Twitter here for the sprints). But we have a problem: OWLs are about reading a crazy amount of books to reach a wizarding career while Tome Topple wants me to read a few humongous books. I’m here today to shuffle up my OWLs TBR to make room for Tome Topple!
April is soon here, and do you know what that means??
Hosted by the fabulous Book Roast for the second year in a row, this readathon is my absolute favourite. OWLs are the exams that Hogwarts students in Hp take in their fifth year. G @ Book Roast has worked really hard and done an amazing job of bringing the OWLs to us in bookish form! This year we can take exams by reading book prompts but also work towards a wizarding career and participate in house cups and quidditch!
OWLs are not about reading Harry Potter (even though you definitely can!) and you don’t have to be a Hp fan to take part! The readathon runs for the entire month of April and maybe even a bit more than that if you took part in Charms Extra Credit Readathon last year.
Everything you need to know is in G’s announcement video:
She has created a catalogue of wizarding careers (!!) and it is beautiful.
Some OWLs rules: only one book per subject, no cross overs or doubling up (a book fulfills one challenge only), all books that count need to be started and finished within the readathon time scale. No cheating!
The OWLs prompts:
My OWLs will start on the 28th of March because I managed to receive 4 days from the Charms Extra Credit Readathon last year! That means that I can start my Charms read on the 28th and all other books on the 1st of April.
After a couple weeks of serious contemplation I finally managed to decide my wizarding career!
After having taken both NEWTs (a follow up readathon in August) and OWLs I will hopefully graduate to become a Metal Charmer!
Metal Charmer is a mysterious and demanding profession in the wizarding world. It is a profession that is illegal without the supervision from the Ministry of Magic because a lot of Metal Charmer’s work is highly valuable and used in important places such as Gringotts Bank or Azkaban!
Being a metal charmer requires a great deal of precision, eye to details, passion and patience!
For some reason, the profession of a Metal Charmer calls to me. It sounds important with a lot of responsibilities but still the freedom to work at my own pace and in my own peace. And I’m more than fascinated by the end result!
Metal Charmers invent and produce things like the Golden Snitch or the Time Turner. These artefacts are mysterious in their workings and almost seem to have their own mind.
To reach the Metal Charmer position, I will be taking Ancient Runes, Artihmancy, Charms, Defence against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration. My two subjects of choice are Muggle Studies and History of Magic. However, because I like to over-do things I would also love to read the prompts for Herbology and Potions to reach the 9 subjects to receive an Outstanding overall in my OWLs!
I am terrible at making TBRs and sticking to them which is why I have decided to give myself a lot of different choices. Please let me know which ones you would recommend that I prioritise reading, I’m excited for all of them!
Here is my TBR:
I am having some trouble deciding what to read for Transfiguration, and here are my options. What do you think I should read?
I am SO EXCITED for this readathon. I feel like I have been looking forward to the OWLs for a year and now it is finally here! I will also take part in Zoe’s 24hr Readathon on the 30th of March to kick off my Charms read and to finish all books I happen to be in the middle of before OWLs properly start.
Are you taking part in OWLs? What is your TBR like? Which career did you pick?? I would love to hear what you’re up to!
Also please help me select some books from my TBR! I’m equally excited to read all of these!
Thank you so much for reading!
-Pauliina
The Bookaholic Dreamer 