OWLs Magical Readathon 2020

In April, I participated in the OWLs Magical Readathon 2020 hosted by Book Roast. It’s a reading event that took place during the month of April 2020. The theme lines up with the wizarding world of Harry Potter and it’s about “taking your magical exams” also known as the “O.W.L.s”. This is done by reading a certain type of book for each subject that you would imagine attending.

So, what did I actually manage to read for this event and how many “subjects” did I complete? I read a lot of books in April, although not all of them fit the criteria and thus didn’t count towards the OWLS readathon. Here is my list of books for each prompts;

Prompts and books for OWLS Magical Readathon 2020

Ancient Runes: Heart on the cover or in the title
1. I read a Danish book called “Da Victor rejste til den 7. himmel for at finde Bedste” by Louise Lund Olesen, since it was the only book I had with a heart.
Astronomy: Read the majority of this book when it’s dark outside
1. I was so into the series of Little House: The Rose years that I had just bought, that I achieved this one almost by accident and read “Bachelor Girl” by Roger Lea MacBride for this prompt
Care of Magical Creatures: Hippogriffs – a creature with a beak on the cover
1. For this one, I felt like I had to finally read my illustrated “Fantastic Beasts and where to find them” by J.K. Rowling, illustrated by Olivia L. G.
Defence against the dark arts: Books set at the sea/the coast
1. This one is another Danish book, one that I’ve borrowed from my grandfather. “Ved Solens Gæstested” by Niels L. Underbjerg, set in Greenland from a fishermans perspective.
Divination: Random number from TBR
1. This ended up being “Marilla of Greengables” by Sarah McCoy, which I enjoyed although I wouldn’t say it counts as a canon prequel to the Anne books.
Herbology: Starts with an M
1. “Maybe a Fox” by Kathi Appelt & Alison McGhee was the winning book for this prompt and also, by far, one of the best books I read in April.
History of Magic: Book featuring witches or wizards
1. I had never read “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” before, even though I know the story. But I finally read it! Maybe it’s a bit outside the box to not actually read a Harry Potter book for this one, what do you think?
Potions: A book under 150 pages
1. This is an easy one if you’re a Ravenclaw and, like me, pick “The Scruffy Piper” a Doctor Who mini-book. Definitely the quickest read for this readathon.
Transfiguration: Book/series that include shapeshifting
1. “Slade House” by David Mitchell was my book of choice here.

Prompts I did not complete

Arithmancy: Read something outside your favorite genre
1. – not completed –
Charms: Lumos Maxima – a book with a white cover
1. – not completed – Technically, I did read a book with a white cover, but that was used for a different prompt, so I didn’t get my Charms this time.
Muggle Studies: A contemporary novel
1. – not completed – I was too busy reading Little House: The Rose Years to cram more books in for this challenge, haha.

All in all, I did pretty good for OWLs Magical Readathon 2020 and it was fun to complete prompts. Even though I didn’t get all of them, it’s okay. As this readathon is just as much about participating as completing, and I didn’t pay attention to the extra things. You have the possibility of choosing a magical carreer based on the subjects you complete, just for fun. But I was too late to the party with this and thought I’d just do the reading.