One of the most difficult and frustrating situations as an author is wanting to write something and being unable to think of a word to put on the page. Yesterday, I had fragments of stories that I wanted to write, but whenever I started a story or tried to add to an old story I got stuck. I hated every word that I wrote and I ended up deleting more snippets of stories than I probably should have. After my billionth scrapped idea, I vented to my younger brother about how frustrated I was with my writing and then we came up with an idea. I gave him a piece of paper and told him to go write four things on it. I didn't give him any parameters for what he could write. It could have been objects, people, random adjectives or verbs—it didn't matter. Just four things. He came back a few minutes later with a list and then I asked him for a song to set the mood of the story (this brother has pretty different musical taste than I do most days so I knew I would get a song I hadn't listened to a thousand times before). With the list of four things in hand and the song cued up, I started writing. I also told my brother to check in with me again after dinner to give myself somewhat of a timeline to work with (it definitely took me longer than that, but it was good to have an end time to aim for). Then I just started writing. I'm not 100% happy with what came of this experiment, but I am glad that I actually wrote something. So, if you are a writer or an artist I am challenging you to do the same thing. Ask someone for four things and a song and then just go and create! You don't have to share it, but I'd love it if you did. This probably won't get big enough that we will need it, but if you do want to share what you created (which can literally be anything: story, drawing, painting, sculpture, script, video, blog post, textile work, popsicle stick creation, or whatever) then please tag it with #corriescreativechallenge so I can see! And then go and challenge someone else to do it to! It doesn't matter how it turns out, it just matters that you get something made. Without further ado, here is the story I wrote. Four things picked by my little brother: 1. A pink bag 2. Bruised apples 3. Fake daisies 4. A knife "pouch" (or sheath) Song picked by my little brother: Flora's Secret by Enya https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gObUqHsxc5A Story: The Baroness (Be warned that there is some brief violence in this story!) High heels clicked on a floor so polished that it reflected the thousands of candles in the ballroom. Skirts swished and the smell of heavy perfume permeated the air. Grins stretched across faces, cracking layers of makeup and showing off teeth that were as polished as the floors. Elaborate hairstyles began to lean and collapse as sweat trickled down the backs of necks. In this thick cloud of celebration an airy song played, keeping every dancer in order as they waltzed. Amidst all of the gracefully gliding nobility and stern faced staff there was one attendee of the ball that should not have been there. Deep inside the gilded room there was a table adorned with a pure white cloth and delicate mountains of hors d'oeuvres. Underneath it, watching the pointed toes of regal, blistering shoes, sat a girl of sixteen. Her name was Wisteria Gundrun, but any friends that she might have had called her Ria (or Wist if they wanted to annoy her). She knew that she should not be hiding under a table at the most prestigious event of the year, but she could not leave now. Particularly because someone would undoubtedly notice a girl dressed in common clothes amongst the enormous gowns of the ladies of the court and question her presence. So, she sat under the table, hungry, but too scared to try and swipe one of the sticky treats above her. The dancing would last another hour at the very least before the brightly colored birds of the court would adjourn for their meal. Once they had eaten as much as their corsets and waistcoats would allow they would find their way back to the dance floor, but Ria would be long gone by then—hopefully with full pockets. She simply had to wait until the host of the party summoned his guests into the dining hall and she could slip out from under the table, eat a few confections, and then take what she came for. Before any of this could transpire, however, the tablecloth was lifted. Ria’s heartbeat paused for a moment, but no curious aristocrat or fierce guard poked their head under the table to spy her. Instead, a thin, ring covered hand dropped a pink bag under the table and a foot (presumably attached to the same body as the hand) gave the bag a light kick so that it was farther under the table and not able to be seen by any passerby. When the tablecloth lowered again Ria allowed herself a relieved breath before inching closer to the bag. Made of fine silk and covered in shimmering jewels and embroidery, the bag appeared to be a woman’s purse with a long beaded strap. Ria knew she ought to leave it be, but the mystery of its sudden appearance prompted her to open it. Inside, she found a compact mirror, a dance card, a fan, and a sheath for a small knife. The knife itself was missing. Unsure of what this meant for the owner of the purse or herself, Ria put everything back and crawled away from the bag in case someone came looking for it. After endless stretching minutes, a bell finally sounded, summoning the dancers to their dinner. From the scents wafting in the direction of the dining hall, Ria could guess that some sort of fish was on the menu. Apart from two overly enthusiastic dancers who were moving as if they had never heard of dancing or music before but quite enjoyed it, everyone cleared out of the ballroom. Peeking from under the tablecloth, Ria saw that even the two with the terrible dancing skills were soon escorted from the room and only servants were left. The servants were busy collecting hairpins and other bobbles that had fallen from the dancers during the more vigorous songs. With their backs bent to their task they did not notice Ria slide out behind the table and stuff a caramelized onion and apple tart in her mouth. The taste was wretchedly wealthy, but she swallowed it down anyway before filling her pockets with more appetizing appetizers. When she spotted untouched chocolate covered something or other she could barely stop herself from carrying the whole tray away from the unappreciative aristocracy. That plot became especially tempting when the servants left her alone in the room with no one to stop her. Pockets and mouth full, she realized that her pilfered picnic would make it difficult to transport what she actually needed to steal. Her thoughts turned to the pink bag under the table and before she could think too long about it she dropped back into her hiding spot and reached for the bag. At the same time her hand closed around the strap, a familiar ring covered hand snatched at the body of the purse. When met with resistance, the ring covered hand tugged harder and the owner of the hand lifted the tablecloth. Ria flinched back as she locked eyes with a woman. The woman had a face that would have been smooth as porcelain if sweat had not left tracks through the white powder. Her lips were red as pomegranate seeds, her cheeks as pink as a sunburn, and by her right eye she sported an inky black heart shaped mole. A thin, penciled-on brow lifted a notch as her brown eyes took in the girl under the table. Under all of the makeup, the clearly noble woman looked only slightly older than Ria. “I’m meant to be here,” Ria blurted quickly. “Clearly, otherwise you wouldn’t feel the need to tell me that you are,” the woman quipped, “You should have started with ‘you dropped your purse, ma’am’ and I might have believed you a servant despite your lack of uniform… and shoes. Where are your shoes? It is chilly outside.” “Shoes make too much noise,” Ria responded without thinking and then cursed herself, “Not that I need to be sneaking around or nothing, but… seen not heard… is, uh, what I should be. Since I’m a servant. You know.” “So you’re stealing my ploy now, are you?” The woman adjusted her crouched position, pushing her enormous golden skirt behind her so she could balance better, “I’ll hardly believe it now. You’d better just give up the real reason you’re here because now I’m curious.” “I am a serving girl, ma’am. I’m meant to be here, I swear it.” “Don’t you know you aren’t supposed to make oaths you can’t keep? Out with it. Why are you really here? I won’t tell anyone if that’s what you’re afraid of. I’m on my own secret mission and I’ll need you to keep quiet about seeing me as well.” Ria frowned, but decided it would not be the end of the world to tell one nosy noble what she was up to. Besides, with such a cumbersome dress and unstable shoes, this woman could hardly chase after her if she decided to run. “I’m here for food and… the necklace.” Both of the woman’s brows rose this time and she tilted her head as if trying to solve a puzzle. With her head tilted a ringlet of white powdered hair slipped from its updo and Ria caught a glimpse of faux flowers pinned to the woman’s head. They looked to be silk daisies to match her gold and white dress and pink roses to go with her purse. “The necklace? Surely you don’t mean the Pendant of Peace. A symbol of the goodwill between our country and our terribly violent neighbors to the north? The gift brought by ambassadors to mark a peace treaty to save thousands of lives? The reason for the celebration tonight? You don’t mean that necklace, do you?” “Yes,” Ria replied firmly, “The price it fetches in the south should be enough to support the families who suffered loss after loss during the war with the north.” “Ah, you are a little revolutionary? Not fond of how our king has treated the commoners, hmm?” The woman grinned, “I don’t blame you. He is a complete idiot.” A thought struck Ria and she pulled the purse toward her again. “What’s with the empty sheath? Where is the knife?” “You went through my things? That was very rude of you,” the noblewoman pouted. “What are you doing with the knife?” “I hate to spoil the surprise, but after tonight you won’t have to worry about our illustrious incompetant ruler anymore,” the woman’s smile turned wicked and a beautiful knife appeared from nowhere and twirled around her knuckles. “You’re… you’re going to kill the king?” “Shush shush,” she placed the flat of the blade against her lips, “Don’t let that secret out please or I’ll be forced to report you to the guards.” Ria stared at the woman, but was unable to form words. “Now, you may keep my purse and use the jewels on it for those poor, poor families affected by the war. It will also be a wonderful hiding place for the Pendant of Peace, which is on display in the portrait gallery through that door over there,” she gestured with her knife, “I’ll distract the guards from that room and when you see them rush out you run in and take the Pendant, put it in this purse, climb out the window—can you climb?” “Yes,” Ria huffed indignantly, “How do you think I got in here earlier?” “Excellent. Climb out the window and make sure you hide the purse inside your shirt or your petticoat or your bloomers or somewhere, understand? Then head for the gate. The guards there might yell at you, but just tell them you were running an errand for Baroness Flora Chastain and they should let you pass.” Ria nodded, somewhat annoyed that this extravagantly dressed aristocrat could form a better plan for theft than she, a trained thief, could. She was about to respond to the instructions when another voice joined their conversation. “Dear Baroness, what are you doing under the table?” The woman’s eyes widened and she mouthed a swear word. Hiding the knife in the folds of her skirt and motioning for Ria to proceed with the plan, she put a smile on her face and stood up. “Your Most Regal Majesty, I was simply searching for my purse. I thought I might have dropped it earlier and then the idea crossed my mind that it may have been kicked under the table during that rather zesty gavotte. Alas, I cannot find it anywhere.” Ria listened to the conversation as she slipped out from under the table. She peered through the mountains of hors d'oeuvres and spotted the king, wearing a sickly shade of green with enough gold trim to provide food for a small family for a few years. The baroness had sunk into a curtsy in front of him and not risen yet. When he motioned for her to rise she carefully stepped away from the table so that the king was facing toward the room and not toward Ria. The girl took the opportunity to slip closer to the door of the portrait gallery and hide behind a potted fern as big as a horse’s rear. There, she waited to see if the baroness would still bring the guards from the gallery or if Ria would have to find a way to distract them on her own. She wondered what sort of distraction the noblewoman could possibly cause with the king now in the room, but that question was answered shortly. There was a flash of silver and gold, an explosion of red, and the screams of the baroness. Ria felt sick at seeing the king crumple to the ground, even if she hated the things he’d done to the country. Thoughts of his younger brother, now alone in the world, flashed through her mind and she wondered if the boy would be made king or if the baroness meant to topple the monarchy entirely. Ria’s thoughts did not linger on this long. The three guards from the portrait gallery came rushing to the baroness’s side as she wailed in distress. Moving quickly, Ria was about to slip into the gallery when she heard something that made her blood run cold. “It was her!” The baroness shrieked, “That peasant was hiding under the table and she ambushed us! She took my purse and used my dagger to stab the king!” Ria looked first at the purse she’d slung over her shoulder and then at the guards. They hesitated half a second before racing toward her. Yelping in shock and terror, Ria sprinted into the gallery and snatched the Pendant of Peace from its velvet cushion, stuffed it in the pink bag, and dove out the window. Luckily, it was not far to fall and, though she was fairly certain she heard something crack, she was too filled with adrenaline to stop and take inventory of her wounds. Running as fast as she was able, she made it to the front gate before the guards could catch up to her and she stuffed the purse into her shirt as the treacherous baroness had suggested. In an attempt to catch her breath and appear presentable, she forced a smile and made her trembling legs slow to a walk. At the gate she came face to face with two more guards. They had pleasant expressions on their faces and smiled back at her. “Good evening,” she nodded to them, “I was running an errand for the Baroness Flora Ch...uh...Charity. Chastain! Baroness Chastain. My employer.” “All wrapped up for the evening then?” One of the guards asked. “Yes. I won’t be back tonight. Time to go eat my own dinner, though it won’t be anywhere near as fancy as the food in there,” she jerked her thumb over her shoulder and chuckled, “I think I saw a whole swan on the table in there! Feathers stuck back on it and everything!” “Aristocrats,” the guard shook his head and opened the gate, “None of that for me, I’m happy with a warm mug of cider and maybe a roast lamb chop.” “I agree,” she put her hand to her stomach, “If only I had more than a loaf of bread in the cupboard, eh?” She moved forward, terrified that the gate would slam closed at any minute and she would be caught for the crime she committed as well as the one she had been framed for. As she passed through the gate it took all of her willpower to keep from running and hiding somewhere she would never be found. “Wait a minute!” The guard called and Ria prepared to run. Slowly turning to face him, she smiled again. “Yes?” “Here, take this. I might be able to get some leftovers from the kitchen. My sister works there,” the guard tossed a bruised apple at her and she caught it, thinking of the fanciful snacks stuffed in her pockets. “Thank you.” “Have a good night, miss.” “And you as well,” she nodded and walked away. As soon as she was out of sight of the guards, she broke into a run and did not stop until she was home. There she was greeted by her actual employer who asked if she had captured the Pendant. Ria tossed the pink bag at him, collected her thief’s fee, and hunkered down in her room for the rest of the night. She was not quite sure how to break the news that she had gone from rebellious theft to prime suspect for regicide, but perhaps that was something she ought to keep to herself. No one ever needed to know that she had been there. No one apart from Wisteria Gundrun and the brilliant, bloody Baroness Flora Chastain. Thank you for reading! I hope you participate in "Corrie's Creative Challenge" and that you enjoy it! :D
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Personal Rating: 3.75 Stars Goodreads Rating: 3.84 Stars Content Rating: PG-13 Vika Andreyeva can summon the snow and turn ash into gold. Nikolai Karimov can see through walls and conjure bridges out of thin air. They are enchanters—the only two in Russia—and with the Ottoman Empire and the Kazakhs threatening, the tsar needs a powerful enchanter by his side. And so he initiates the Crown’s Game, an ancient duel of magical skill—the greatest test an enchanter will ever know. The victor becomes the Imperial Enchanter and the tsar’s most respected adviser. The defeated is sentenced to death. Raised on tiny Ovchinin Island her whole life, Vika is eager for the chance to show off her talent in the grand capital of Saint Petersburg. But can she kill another enchanter—even when his magic calls to her like nothing else ever has? For Nikolai, an orphan, the Crown’s Game is the chance of a lifetime. But his deadly opponent is a force to be reckoned with—beautiful, whip-smart, imaginative—and he can’t stop thinking about her. And when Pasha, Nikolai’s best friend and heir to the throne, also starts to fall for the mysterious enchantress, Nikolai must defeat the girl they both love…or be killed himself. As long-buried secrets emerge, threatening the future of the empire, it becomes dangerously clear—the Crown’s Game is not one to lose. (goodreads.com) Another read for my O.W.L.s TBR, one that has been on my list of “want-to-reads” for several years but not one that I thought I’d be reading soon because I forgot what it was about until I was frantically looking for a book with a white cover to fill the Charms prompt for O.W.L.s. I’ve read a few different reviews that said this book was similar to Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo, but I’m pretty sure that the only reason people say that is because it’s set in Imperial Russia and the Grisha Trilogy is set in Ravka, which is based off of late Imperial Russia and they both have magic. However, apart from the fact that I enjoyed both of them, that’s about where the similarities end. The Grisha Trilogy has a more eerie tone and is full of mystery, monsters, and darkness. The Crown’s Game is brighter, more straightforward, and more full of wonder. Oh, I guess they both have love triangles in them and super powerful protagonists, but that is where the similarities end! Mostly. Rather than compare two books, however, I’d prefer to talk about this one as its own thing. Because if you go into reading it expecting it to be of the same tone as Shadow and Bone or Six of Crows then you will be disappointed. But if you look at it as its own, separate book, then you’ll probably enjoy it more. So I’m definitely, probably, mostly done talking about Leigh Bardugo’s books from here on out in this review. It actually reminded me more of Caraval by Stephanie Graber than the Grishaverse. Anyway, back to the book we’re actually here to discuss. Let’s start by talking about the things that I didn’t like so that we can get the negative out of the way and end on the positive: I did not like how little fleshing out the characters had. The book seemed to stick to the superficial traits of the characters and I felt that we didn’t really get to know them very well. It is hard to explain, but it felt like they were just characters in a book. They didn’t really come alive for me. Which is not to say that they weren’t fun characters, but they just didn’t “pop off the page”. They felt flat and maybe a bit static. There wasn’t a whole lot of development happening (though that could come in the sequel). I also did not like the “insta-love”. I’m sure that the sequel will delve more into the romance, as there wasn’t much of it in this book beyond a couple of boys declaring themselves in love with a girl they just met. Seriously, the three main characters barely talk to each other and somehow two of them are head over heels in love with the third one. And I kind of understand for Nikolai (one of the male MCs) because he and Vika (the female MC) are like two sides of the same mystic-magic coin, but it would be nice for them to get to know each other a bit more before we get to confessions of love. And I don’t really get Pasha (the other male MC) falling for her as much as he did because he barely knows her and he isn’t her magical rival like Nikolai is. I would be totally fine with the romance in this book if it a little more time was spent actually making me believe that these kids know each other. Listen to me, calling book teens “kids”. I’m becoming a grouchy old lady. Get off my lawn you dang kids with your dang magical powers and your love triangles! Bah! Back in my day… Anywho, moving on to the things that I really enjoyed. I loved the whimsy of this book. Despite the fact that two teenagers are battling to the death and the fate of the country is at stake, this is a fairly light hearted book (that doesn’t bode well for the sequel, I’m sure) full of over the top magical feats. I said I wouldn’t make any more comparisons, but I lied (*Darth Vader voice* as I have from the very beginning). The magic contest that Vika and Nikolai have in this book reminds me so much of Caraval by Stephanie Garber. I thought it was going to be this dark, serious duel of violent magic, but instead it was creative, joyful, and even playful at times. It was exciting to see what the next move would be for each player and I loved the displays they made to one up each other. Another thing I really liked about this book was how the author’s passion for Russian history shone through. You can tell by reading it that, despite the liberties she takes with some of the facts, she really has done her research and that she enjoyed it. Reading books that clearly have the author’s heart in them is the best. It always makes me excited to learn more about whatever the author is writing about and be part of the story. I also have to mention that I love the cover for this book and the cover for the sequel even more because, well, look at them! Beautiful! Gorgeous! Magnificent! I’m in love with the covers and that makes it really hard for me not to love the books, okay? Give me a break. There are so many other things I enjoyed about this book (there are other things I disliked as well, but we aren’t going to linger on that), but I don’t want to say too much because of spoilers. Part of the reason I enjoyed The Crown’s Game so much might be because I’ve been reading up on Imperial Russia lately and enjoying some “Russian” music (none of it is actually Russian, but it’s inspired by Russia, so that counts, right?), so I was totally ready for a new story taking place in that historical setting with a heaping dose of magic thrown in. I’m not going to lie to you, I’ve already read a few chapters of the second book, The Crown’s Fate (my mom first read the title as “The Crow is Fat”) and I’m loving it. I’m already afraid that 417 pages aren’t going to be enough for me and I’ve barely made a dent in it. To the age old question that I ask myself in every review: do I recommend it? Heck yeah I do! Unless you’re one of those angry people who is going to get really down on the characters and the fast paced plot. I recommend it to you if you are ready for some whimsy and some Russian history. Alright, I’m off to make sure that there are no stinky zombies wandering around (did I mention there is a zombie in this book?) doing not very nice things, so I’ll see you in the next post! Thanks for reading! Image source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26156203-the-crown-s-game?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=uWpcYVg70K&rank=1 Personal Rating: 3 Stars Goodreads Rating: 3.8 Stars Content Rating: Strong PG-13 Rowena Duncan is a thoroughly modern girl with big plans for her summer—until she catches her boyfriend making out with another girl. Heartbroken, she applies to an out-of-town job posting and finds herself somewhere she never expected: the Renaissance Faire. As a face-painter doubling as a serving wench, Ro is thrown headfirst into a vibrant community of artists and performers. She feels like a fish out of water until Will, a quick-witted whip cracker, takes her under his wing. Then there’s Christian, a blue-eyed stunt jouster who makes Ro weak in the knees. Soon, it’s not just her gown that’s tripping her up. Trading in the internet and electricity for stars and campfires was supposed to make life simpler, but Ro is finding that love is the ultimate complication. Can she let the past make way for her future? (goodreads.com) This is one of the books on my O.W.L.s TBR for this year and also a book that I thought sounded cute after I found it tucked back in the shelves of the library where I worked. The main reason I thought it sounded cute was the Renaissance Faire because. Though I’ve only ever been to a small local one, I love the Renaissance Faire. Seriously, if you’ve never been to one but you love history, or magic, or dressing up, or watching jousting, or eating food, you need to get yourself to the nearest Ren Faire as quickly as you can… provided we don’t all have to be quarantined for the rest of forever and ever. Anyway, I knew this book was a cheesy teen romance going into it, but I was still annoyed by the amount of smooching going on. And maybe it’s because I’ve never experienced any romance myself, but the amount of time the main character, Ro, spends thinking about boys seems unrealistic. Sure, she did spend a good deal of time thinking about her future career, how much she enjoyed art, and how neat the faire was, but I wish that there had been much less kissy-kissy-smooch-bleh stuff and more oh-my-gosh-it’s-the-Ren-Faire stuff. Or even more art stuff. Or thinking about what she wants to major in when she goes to college. I truly enjoyed those parts of the books—not that the romance wasn’t cute too, but there was just so much of it. To the surprise of no one, I loved the setting of the book. King Geoffrey’s Faire sounds like an exciting and joyful place that is on a much grander scale than the Ren Faire I’m used to. Of course, it would not be hard for such an event to be grander than my local “Renaissance Festival and Gathering o’ Celts”, which I’ve learned is rather small as far as this type of event goes. Anyway… I’d better not start talking about faires in general or we could be here all day. But King Geoffrey’s Faire was a really fun setting and I wish that the book had a map in it so I could get a better visual image of the grounds. Everything sounds so bright, colorful, and full of the unique magic of Ren Faires. Rowena “Ro” Duncan is the main character of this book and she has just split with her boyfriend because he cheated on her. That is the event that sparks her summer of working at King Geoffrey’s as a face painter. I enjoyed Ro’s journey through the summer and the rise of confidence that she has… even if it is totally overshadowed by her romantic adventures. I liked learning about her love of art and how she liked making kids at the faire happy. She was a little bit of a basic character, but still mostly relatable (though I can’t say I relate to accepting drinks from strangers at a mysterious bonfire in the woods). Then we have Suze, who is one of Ro’s good friends at the faire. Suze was supposed to be super likeable and a fun person and I think the author really pulled that off well. Suze, despite how flirty and suggestive she was, seems like a fun person to be friends with. She also helped Ro find her confidence, which was great. Christian is the “super hot” knight who works at the faire and who Ro becomes instantly infatuated with. He’s flirty and a smooth talker and not my favorite, but that’s all I’ll say about him. Will is fun. He’s Ro’s other faire bestie and he’s fun and sweet. Another genuinely likeable character who seemed very human. I’ve noticed that the author of this book did a very good job of fleshing out most of the center characters and making them fairly realistic and it was fun to read about them as if they were people I actually knew and can hang out with. I’m not sure if the reason I enjoyed this book so much was just because it was set in a Renaissance Faire and I wish I could have been in the book, or if it was actually a great book. There were plenty of things I disliked about it, like underage drinking and all these presumably college age dudes flirting with a highschool girl, but the fun happy parts generally outweighed the questionable parts. I don’t recommend this book to anyone who dislikes too much romance in their books, but if you don’t mind that or you enjoy it and you like Renaissance faires and festivals then this might be the story for you. Thanks for reading, I’m off to dust of my adventuring boots and my cloak! Image source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17375024-my-faire-lady If you are familiar with the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, then you might know what the O.W.L.s are. If you don’t know, O.W.L. stands for “Ordinary Wizarding Level” and it is a type of exam. Like magical standardized testing, but without the sheets full of endless bubbles. It’s been a while since I’ve read the books, so I am not the best authority on all things O.W.L. related, but I know the general idea of it and this article is very helpful. Now obviously, in the muggle world we don’t take O.W.L.s because we don’t tend to study things like Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Charms, Care of Magical Creatures, etc. And while this is a shame, we can play a bit of pretend when it comes to Harry Potter. I, for one, love to wear my House colors on a regular basis and I love trying snacks based off of the books (since there are so many wonderful snacks in the wizarding world). But why would anyone want to pretend to take a test? That sounds awful, right? WRONG. Well, at least, in my opinion. I’d love to take a test at Hogwarts! That sounds like so much fun! And pretending to take a test at Hogwarts, while not the real deal, is in some ways even better (like, I don’t have to worry about my future riding on the results). So, the astonishingly wonderful, G, from the YouTube channel, Book Roast, came up with this wonder readathon based off of the O.W.L.s exams and it is going on right now in April. This is my first year doing it and I wasn’t planning to, but my awesome coworkers basically told me that I was going to do it and they are rarely wrong about things like this. I have had so much fun planning my reads for it and it’s very nice to feel connected to other readers during this time when you can’t really go out and connect with people. Now, I’m not going to go deep into explanations about how the readathon works, but I will link several resources and videos at the end of this post that will help you out. I’ll be sure to include the original O.W.L.s video from G, which explains how everything works better than I could. You probably wouldn’t want me to explain too much of it anyway because the odds are that I will get something wrong and then I’ll just be spreading misinformation. Basically though, you pick a wizard career (like Auror, Healer, Wandmaker, Hogwarts Professor, Librarian—there’s a whole guidebook full) and you want to work toward that career. There are twelve O.W.L. class “exams”, which are reading prompts. For example, for the class of Ancient Runes we are “studying” heart runes so you have to read a book with a heart on the cover or the word heart in the title. Depending on what career you are working toward you need to make sure you do certain classes so that you can pass your N.E.W.T.s in August (when there will be another readathon), which is, to my understanding, kind of like the ACT or SAT of Hogwarts. And I believe, to “pass” the readathon and get an A (which stands for Acceptable) you only have to read two books. To get an E (Exceeds Expectations) you have to read five. And I guess to get an O (for Outstanding) you have to do… more? Like all of them maybe? I’m not sure. You should watch the video. Anyway, now that you know what the O.W.L.s readathon is, let’s get down to business (to defeat the Huns…). For my very first year doing O.W.L.s I am aiming for the career of Magizoologist. So, yes, like a magical zoologist. It was a hard choice for me between this and Trader of Magical Tomes, since in real life I would like to do something similar to trading tomes. However, I went with Magizoologist because it sounds like fun and I think dragons are the best. So, the real reason I’m writing this post, apart from trying to get you to participate in the O.W.L.s readathon, is because I wanted to share my selected reading materials for my classes. In order to become a Magizoologist you need to pass the O.W.L.s for Care of Magical Creatures, Charms, Herbology, and Potions. Care of Magical Creatures - Hippogriffs: creature with a beak on the cover. For this class I have chose to read Crown of Feathers by Nicki Pau Preto. This book is about a girl who gets to ride phoenixes and it has been on my TBR list since it was published. Also, I love the cover. Charms - Lumos Maxima: a white cover. Until about ten minutes ago I didn’t know what I wanted to read for this class, but then I got to looking at my Goodreads “want to read” shelf and I found a book that I’d love to read, that I get my hands on before the end of the month, and that has a mostly white cover. And that book is The Crown’s Game by Evelyn Skye. I have heard that this book is somewhat like the Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo, which you might recall I loved. Herbology - Mimbulus mimbletonia: title starts with an M. I picked up my read for this class yesterday and just finished it today. The book I went with for this one is My Faire Lady by Laura Wettersten. It is a contemporary romance that takes place in a Renaissance Faire. Normally, I tend to lean away from contemporary romances, but this one was kind of cute. I’ll review it soon. Potions - Shrinking Solution: book under 150 pages. I am going with Stuart Little by E.B. White for this class for two reasons. The first reason is that it fits this prompt and it looks like a cute book. The second and main reason is that it also fits one of the prompts for a reading challenge we are doing at one of my workplaces and that prompt is to read a book by an author who has the same birthday as you. E.B. White (who was born exactly 99 years before me) was the only author I could find who I actually want to read. In addition to my classes I am also taking a “dragon tamer training” course, or I will be if I have time. As one of my friends pointed out when I told her about this course, you can’t actually tame dragons. So… I guess it is a dragon care course really. The prompt for this was basically that you have to do extra research on dragons (read an extra book with dragons). Anyway, the book I am reading for this is actually a manga called Dragon Goes House-Hunting Vol. 2 by Kawo Tanuki, illustrated by Choco Aya. I don’t typically read manga because I am easily confused and trying to read a book backwards is challenging, but it is such a cute concept and I thought the first volume was adorable.
There are other prompts that I would like to read for if I have the time, but those are the main five books I will be trying to read in April. Helpful links for the O.W.L.s readathon: Book Roast O.W.L.s 2020 Announcement Video (which has tons more helpful links in the description so you should totally check that out) Book Roast Original O.W.L.s Announcement Video Magical Readathon Twitter: @MagicalReadthn (which has little events going on all the time where you can win points for your house!) Awesome Hogwarts House themed ambience tracks from Ambient Worlds Good luck and stay healthy! |
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