“Here is the boy, drowning.”
First line in More Than This by Patrick Ness
Hi, guys. Today I’m giving you something as rare as a monthly TBR from me. I decided that I wanted to participate in the yearly O.W.L.s Magical Readathon, which is so brilliantly hosted by G from the YouTube channel Book Roast. I’m been following her for a while and saw how much effort she put into the N.E.W.T.s Readathon last fall. I figured I had to try it out so here we are.
Her announcement video is right here:
If you want to learn more about all the details, you should check out the website. The readathon takes place between April 1st and April 30th.
The career I’ve chosen to go for is
Trader of Magical Tomes
Key traits: Eager to learn – Attentive – Calm – Thorough
It’s basically the magical equivalent of a bookshop owner. Of course, that’s what I’m going to be.
The classes (and prompts) required are:
| Class | Prompt |
|---|---|
| Ancient Runes (Heart rune) | A book with a heart on the cover or in the title |
| Charms (Lumos Maxima) | A book with a white cover |
| Transfiguration (Animagus) | A book or series that include shapeshifting |
| History of Magic (Witch hunts) | A book featuring witches or wizards |
My Picks
Read a book with a heart on the cover or in the title: The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne.
Synopsis
Cyril Avery is not a real Avery or at least that’s what his adoptive parents tell him. And he never will be. But if he isn’t a real Avery, then who is he?
Born out of wedlock to a teenage girl cast out from her rural Irish community and adopted by a well-to-do if eccentric Dublin couple via the intervention of a hunchbacked Redemptorist nun, Cyril is adrift in the world, anchored only tenuously by his heartfelt friendship with the infinitely more glamourous and dangerous Julian Woodbead.
At the mercy of fortune and coincidence, he will spend a lifetime coming to know himself and where he came from – and over his three score years and ten, will struggle to discover an identity, a home, a country and much more.
In this, Boyne’s most transcendent work to date, we are shown the story of Ireland from the 1940s to today through the eyes of one ordinary man. The Heart’s Invisible Furies is a novel to make you laugh and cry while reminding us all of the redemptive power of the human spirit.
Read a book with a white cover: Lord of Secrets by Breanna Teintze
Synopsis
Outlaw wizard Corcoran Gray has enough problems. He’s friendless, penniless and on the run from the tyrannical Mages’ Guild – and with the search for his imprisoned grandfather looking hopeless, his situation can’t get much worse.
So when a fugitive drops into his lap – literally – and gets them both arrested, it’s the last straw – until Gray realises that runaway slave Brix could be the key to his grandfather’s release. All he has to do is break out of prison, break into an ancient underground temple and avoid killing himself with his own magic in the process.
In theory, it’s simple enough. But as secrets unfold and loyalties shift, Gray discovers something with the power to change the nature of life and death itself.
Now Gray must find a way to protect the people he loves, but it could cost him everything, even his soul . .
A book that includes shapeshifting: Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson
Synopsis
All sorcerers are evil. Elisabeth has known that as long as she has known anything. Raised as a foundling in one of Austermeer’s Great Libraries, Elisabeth has grown up among the tools of sorcery—magical grimoires that whisper on shelves and rattle beneath iron chains. If provoked, they transform into grotesque monsters of ink and leather. She hopes to become a warden, charged with protecting the kingdom from their power.
Then an act of sabotage releases the library’s most dangerous grimoire. Elisabeth’s desperate intervention implicates her in the crime, and she is torn from her home to face justice in the capital. With no one to turn to but her sworn enemy, the sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn, and his mysterious demonic servant, she finds herself entangled in a centuries-old conspiracy. Not only could the Great Libraries go up in flames, but the world along with them.
As her alliance with Nathaniel grows stronger, Elisabeth starts to question everything she’s been taught—about sorcerers, about the libraries she loves, even about herself. For Elisabeth has a power she has never guessed, and a future she could never have imagined.
A book featuring witches or wizards: Serpent and Dove by Shelby Mahurin
Synopsis
Two years ago, Louise le Blanc fled her coven and took shelter in the city of Cesarine, forsaking all magic and living off whatever she could steal. There, witches like Lou are hunted. They are feared. And they are burned.
Sworn to the Church as a Chasseur, Reid Diggory has lived his life by one principle: thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. His path was never meant to cross with Lou’s, but a wicked stunt forces them into an impossible union—holy matrimony.
The war between witches and Church is an ancient one, and Lou’s most dangerous enemies bring a fate worse than fire. Unable to ignore her growing feelings, yet powerless to change what she is, a choice must be made.
And love makes fools of us all.
Those are the books I plan to be the ones which will get me my necessary O.W.L.s. However, things are complicated by the fact that currently, all libraries in Denmark are closed (along with everything else). That means it’s a little difficult for me to get the books but I’m trying to work around it by using ebooks. Just letting you know that yes, this is my tbr but it is subject to change in case things don’t work out according to plan.
I’m so excited to participate in my first Magical Readathon! Please let me know if you’re participating too and what career you’ve chosen. Feel free to link you tbr in the comments if you have one. Happy reading!
