#owlsreadathon2020

[oneartivist]

Currently reading 📚

This beautiful memoir for my Astronomy class. #owlsreadathon2020

[books-on-a-wire]

Currently Reading - I'm already changing my TBR for the O.W.L.s readathon. Fantasy is not cutting it, requires way too much concentration. Give me thriller or romance, please!

[thisbookninja]

Saga volume 3 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples: 4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This series is so action packed and unpredictable and surprising! For those of you who don’t normally read graphic novels, this is a good series to start with. I haven’t read a lot of graphic novels myself before these ones, and was afraid I wouldn’t get into the story properly, but that certainly has never been a problem with Saga. There’s a lot of sex and violence in them, but hey, it makes for some really cool artwork. Highly recommend! 👌

This was for my transfiguration exam, a book that involves shape shifting. You see, there’s a little a ghost girl (who’s been torn in half and has no legs) that can transform into anything to scare her opponents. Need I say more?

[manuscripts-dontburn]

Little OWLs update

Done with four books/exams :)

Arithmancy

History of Magic

Potions

Muggle Studies

Eight more to go!

How are you keeping up?

[kellys-book-corner]

Title: The King of Crows by Libba Bray (The Diviners, #4)

Prompt: 1) Care of Magical Creatures: Read a book with a beak on the cover. 2) Read a book from an author that you love

Page Count: 510 pages 📚

Rating: 3.5 Stars ⭐

Synopsis: After the horrifying explosion that claimed one of their own, the Diviners find themselves wanted by the US government, and on the brink of war with the King of Crows.

While Memphis and Isaiah run for their lives from the mysterious Shadow Men, Isaiah receives a startling vision of a girl, Sarah Beth Olson, who could shift the balance in their struggle for peace. Sarah Beth says she knows how to stop the King of Crows-but, she will need the Diviners' help to do it.

Elsewhere, Jericho has returned after his escape from Jake Marlowe's estate, where he has learned the shocking truth behind the King of Crow's plans. Now, the Diviners must travel to Bountiful, Nebraska, in hopes of joining forces with Sarah Beth and to stop the King of Crows and his army of the dead forever.

But as rumors of towns becoming ghost towns and the dead developing unprecedented powers begin to surface, all hope seems to be lost.

In this sweeping finale, The Diviners will be forced to confront their greatest fears and learn to rely on one another if they hope to save the nation, and world from catastrophe...

---

"Make a better history."

---

Okay. I'm not sure where to start with this review to be honest.

I loved The Diviner's so much. I think it was an incredibly clever way to tell a ghost story and I thought it was very witty and engaging. Over time, I feel like there's a bit of a disconnect between this series. This fourth one, in tone, doesn't really match the rest of the series?

It's weird, because the world, characters and powers have expanded so much...but this book felt very narrow and isolated. They spent a lot of time just travelling and not really going anywhere? I loved that the characters were paired in ways that they haven't been before, and that new relationships and connections between the characters were allowed to be explored, but it all felt very slow and a bit mechanical?

Ultimately, what makes this book excellent, is the social commentary. America is haunted by the ghosts of it's dead, the forgotten, the abandoned, the killed and slaughtered. It's haunted by its indiscretions, its misdeeds, its place on the wrong side of history. The prejudice and bigotry that plagues the minorities, the ones not deemed allowed to ve. One of my personal favourite quotes from this series was this one:

"It was always somebody's turn. The Irish, the Italians, the Jews, the Negroes, or Chinese or Mexicans. A great wheel of bigotry, ever turning. Who got to decide what made somebody an american? America, the ideal of it at least, was its own form of elusive magic."

Powerful. And incredibly truthful.

Ultimately, I think this book tried too hard to capture the magic of this series that was a little lost, so it overcompensated with so many filler chapters that it was too long-winded, and the final showdown was barely a couple chapters long. It all wrapped up a little too quickly and it used one of my least favourite tropes (SPOILER ALERT), someone who's passed on coming back to life, but I love who the ultimate saviour is and I appreciate the open ending with the way this book wraps up quite alarming (the last line was particularly chilling).

I love this series, and while this book didn't live up to my expectations, it answered all of my questions and I have some sense of closure for these characters. The unnecessary love-triangle was axed and there's a great exploration of race and sexuality between the pages of this series. A series I would highly recommend, but this, for me, is one of those rare series where I think the first one is the best one.

[ag-reads]

New video is up!!!

[owlfansworld-blog]

[cestmoiamanda]

Tomorrow starting the O.W.L.s! Are you excited? Hopefully I can manage my reading this time. Last year wasn’t so great. But with social distancing I should be managing to read four books. Or five. We totally forget, that I read maybe two books in March, shall we? My chosen career path is Trader of Magical Tomes. Quite fitting, don’t you think? The O.W.L.s are created by @book_roast and if you want to know more about this readathon watch her YouTube channel. #owlsreadathon2020 #owls #readathon #tbrinapril #bunniesofinstagram #bunniesandbooks #igreads #bookstagram https://www.instagram.com/p/B-aN3ycgu-I/?igshid=1ng0y8lnw9pss

[adayinbookland]

May, 1st || 🌷April wrap-up: the OWLs 🦉 edition! . i chose Librarian as my career which required 5 owls and the Animagus course which added a new owl to my tbr. at the beginning of the month i was in such a slump that i thought getting through my owls would be tedious… however, i ended up not only completting the owls i required but also every single subject on the list (🥳🤣 - can you tell i’m a Ravenclaw 💙). so here’s the wrap-up: . ➰ancient runes - A Heart So Fierce and Lonely (7/10). 🔢arithmancy - The Bookish Life of Nina Hill (8/10). 💫astronomy - Ex-Libris (4.5/10). 🦄care of magical creatures - Pride and Prejudice (8/10). 🧙🏼charms - Beloved (9/10). ⚡️defence against the dark arts - The Lies of Locke Lamora (8.5/10). 🔮divination - 84, Charing Cross Road (6.5/10). 🌿herbology - The Mercies (8/10). 📚history of magic - Witches of Ash and Ruin (6/10). 👩🏼‍⚕️muggle studies - The Unseen World (10/10). 🩸potions - I’d Rather Be Reading (8/10). 🍷transfiguration - Trail of Lightning (7.5/10). . and i also read The Unspoken Name (5.5/10) which wasn’t part of the OWLs. . i had a very good month as i enjoyed almost all of my reads and found a new absolute favourite. . so, what about you? how was april? any good reads? • • • #owlsreadathon2020 #magicalreadathon2020 #aprilreads #readingwrapup #bookstack #pileofbooks #readmore #readeverything #theunspokenname #trailoflightning #orgulloyprejuicio #thebookishlifeofninahill #theliesoflockelamora #theunseenworld #beloved #exlibris #idratherbereading #84charingcrossroad #themercies #aheartsofierceandbroken #nonfiction #booksonbooks #literaryfiction #yaliterature #unitedbookstagram #fantasyfiction https://www.instagram.com/p/B_pRRN9Ks5X/?igshid=biaesko4kzlj

[lorienkittybooks]

So give days into it I decided to join the Magical Readathon O.W.L.'s 2020 run by @book_roast . I've already read 3 books for it and I'm in the middle of two more. Thanks a is a rough TBR, as I keep adding and moving books around. It's also missing Binti by @nnediokorafor and City of Heavenly Fire by @cassieclare1 but I have read the first and am reading the latter. I haven't actually done a readathon in years as I find them stressful, but this one lasts all month, not a few days or a week, giving my plenty of time to meet all the prompts for all the different job owls I'm going for. I doubt I'll do them all, but I'm gonna try. Also I think I'll share my reading journal spread for this readathon, cuz I'm pretty proud of it! #readathon #magicalreadathon2020 #magaicalreadathon #owls2020 #owlsreadathon2020 #tbr #books #reading #bookish #bookstagram https://www.instagram.com/p/B-xZVRqHG5w/?igshid=18upijo6aaowp

[jezatrixreads]

April is for #pageathon ☀️ and #owlsreadathon2020 ❤️ https://www.instagram.com/p/B-i52UfFbJ-/?igshid=u6zsgsvmut9t

[bookishluna]

Read 5, Buy 1 | April 2020 Haul

Read 5, Buy 1 | April 2020 Haul

Hello and welcome to another check in for my Read 5, Buy 1 challenge. I am happy to report I did a lot better with my challenge this time around! The OWLs Readathon really pushed my reading, which was just wonderful plus a lot of fun. Without further delay, here is my progress of my challenge for April!

The Breakdown

They Will Drown in Their Mothers’ Tears by Johannes Anyuru

Macbeth by William…

[books-on-a-wire]

First day of #magicalreadathon2020 and I have my first book done. I enjoyed this so much more than Carry On. I know, unpopular opinion, but although I liked Simon/Baz I just couldn't get away from the Potter fanfiction. I loved the premise of a road trip, which made it feel a little more original. I also enjoyed the new characters Shepherd and Lamb, Penelope still kicks butt, and even didn't mind the angst between Simon and Baz. But I am disappointed that despite her characters aging, it still read more PG-13 than the New Adult fantasy romance it should be. The romance was barely a whimper which was sad because that was literally what made Carry On readable (for me). But Baz and Penny still own my heart, and Simon's tail and wings make him more enjoyable lol ⭐⭐⭐⭐

[leslielaissetonlit]

OWLs Reading challenge || Magical Readathon

Le mois d’avril vient de s’achever et avec lui le challenge de lectures organisé par Book Roast spécial Harry Potter. Le principe est simple : choisir une carrière magique, correspondant à différentes matières à réviser pour ses BUSE (OWLs). Chaque matière signifie un thème imposé d’un livre.

Ayant du retard, je me suis penchée sur le métier de “aurologist” avec quatre matières, avec en bonus un stage de “merpeople linguistics” avec une matière supplémentaire.

Ma PAL :

─ Botanique (titre commençant par M) : Matilda de Roald Dalh => lecture plaisante par un retour en enfance et un amour de la lecture ;

─ Divination (au hasard) : Stardust de Neil Gaiman => conte magique bien que prévisible avec une découverte d’une écriture drôle et fraîche ;

─ Histoire de la Magie (livre de sorciers) : Le Château de Hurle de Diana Wynne Jones => amour, humour et magie se mêlant avec joie, à lire autant que le film est à voir ; ─ Astronomie (à lire de nuit) : Cloud Atlas de David Mitchell => un bon pavé de bonheur avec des histoires entremêlées, variant styles, genres et personnages : un régal.

Conclusion :

Vraiment un plaisir ce challenge ! Le thème de Harry Potter m’a appâtée mais mes choix finaux m’ont régalé ce mois-ci. Je suis pressée d’être en août pour passer aux ASPIC (NEWTs) où le nombre d’ouvrages à lire va augmenter haha !

Source :

https://www.magicalreadathon.com/copy-of-induction-to-magical-readat

[frenchshark]

Exam: Herbology Prompt: Title Starting with 'M' ✨✨✨ Book: "Midnight Sun" by Trish Cook #owlsreadathon2020 #magicalreadathon2020 @book_roast #herbology #owls #reading #books #bingereading #bibliophile #readathon #readingmarathon https://www.instagram.com/p/B_iaIgtATDO/?igshid=119n0nbg7q5uw

[kellys-book-corner]

Title: When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore

Prompt: Astronomy: Read a book entirely at night time.

Page Count: 273 Pages; DNF at 198 📚

Rating: 1.5 Stars

Synopsis: To everyone who knows them, best friends Miel and Sam are as strange as they are inseparable. Roses grow out of Miel’s wrist, and rumors say that she spilled out of a water tower when she was five. Sam is known for the moons he paints and hangs in the trees, and for how little anyone knows about his life before he and his mother moved to town. But as odd as everyone considers Miel and Sam, even they stay away from the Bonner girls, four beautiful sisters rumored to be witches. Now they want the roses that grow from Miel’s skin, convinced that their scent can make anyone fall in love. And they’re willing to use every secret Miel has fought to protect to make sure she gives them up.

---

"They're expected to forget everything they knew about being anything other than what they're supposed to be."

---

I loved Anna-Marie McLemore's novel Wild Beauty. I was surprised at how much I like it, since 1) magical realism just isn't really my thing, and 2) I don't get on with overwritten and flowery sentences. But, despite that, I loved it. I went in with low expectations, so maybe that effected my enjoyment of the novel because my expectations for When The Moon Was Ours where incredibly high. When BooksandLala not only put this book in God Tier, but as a Libra read as well, I knew I had to read it for the OWLs.

But I just...couldn't...do it to myself.

I save 1 stars for books I despise, so this isn't quite on that level, but I think it's fair to say, that me and this book are not friends. It did some things right though; I loved it was a lose retelling of the Wheeping Woman ghost story, I loved the LGBTQ+ rep with it mosty focusing on trans issues, and I liked the Bonner sisters as 'villains' of the story. But that's where my enjoyment of this book ended.

I was just so drawn out.

Whole paragraphs dedicated to the colours of the moons that one of our main characters, Sam, hides around town. Just over and over and over again. Miel would grow flower after flower from her wrist, described in excruciating detail. The Bonner sisters hair was described with so many synonyms for red that I actually wanted to bang my head against the wall. Glass pumpkins sprouted for no reason across fields, long chapters assigned to dispelling the love from someone...

I lost the actual plot of the novel in the description.

Was there even a plot?

This book also uses one of my most hated tropes on novels, and that's when one character makes a decision for another character without talking to them about it. It really irritates me, and it would solve everything. There would still be a story, the author just has to come up with a different way of telling it instead of having me believe that two characters who love each other very much, would be this uncommunicative about something as important as this?

In all the magical realism that floats around this book, of the wrist-roses and the dispelling of love and the glass pumpkins and the forever slightly damp skirts, that was the most unbelievable element to the whole story.

I couldn't suffer through anymore and I had to officially DNF it. I wanted to like this book so much, but we didn't get on. I think they're a wonderful writer and I'm not opposed to more of their novels. One got 4.5 stars, one got 1.5 Stars...the third time will let me know for sure where I stand, and I am eager to find out.