I must have been living under a rock in April because I somehow completely missed out on the OWLs Readathon that happened, so according to the official OWLs letter by McGonaggal I got a Troll grade by default of not showing up. Well done me! But this time I am ready for my OWLs! In order to pass your OWLs, you must finish reading at least 2 books during July (Acceptable), or you can read 3 books to Exceed Expectations, or to receive an Outstanding mark you have to read at least 5 books! Once you pass the OWLs you can then go on to sit your NEWTs in August – so it will be a very busy 2 months for me (typical).
For this readathon, I decided I wanted to do something different. After seeing Wendy’s vlog where her boyfriend picked her TBR, my partner really wanted to do the same for me (thanks Wendy! :P) and Aurora’s OWLs post where her mum picked her OWLs for her seemed like the perfect inspiration! I selected two books for him to choose from, showed him the covers and also read the descriptions so he could choose the final book for me.
Ancient Runes: Read a book with the symbol on the cover
Tom’s pick: Sabriel by Garth Nix
“Do you really want to spend an entire month suffering from Tris Prior?”
Arithmancy: Number on the Cover
Tom’s pick: Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
“If there’s a classic, always pick the classic”
Astronomy: Science Fiction
Tom’s pick: The Stone Gods by Jeanette Winterson
“Defy the Stars sounds too much like Divergent in space and I don’t want that for you. Also, the other one has constellations on the cover and I like that”
Care of Magical Creatures: Magical Creatures
Tom’s pick: River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey
“Space spiders versus savage hippos… It has to be the hippos because that sounds AMAZING”
Charms: Fantasy
Tom’s pick: Sins of Empire by Brian McClellan
“I know you need to read your ARC of Sky in the Deep… but the enemies to lover trope is NO and Sins of Empire sounds much more intriguing and Game of Thronesy”
Defence Against the Dark Arts – Secret Societies
Tom’s pick: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
“So they both have silly romances?… Hmm… The Night Circus sounds A LOT like Caraval, so read City of Bones. Plus I bought you it and you haven’t read it yet”
Divination – Prophecies
Tom’s pick: Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
“You ARE NOT reading the Iliad in a month. Also this other one literally sounds like Harry Potter… you might as well just re-read Harry Potter. Read Station Eleven instead because that had prophecy things in it!
Herbology – Nature Related Title
Tom’s pick: Blackfish City by Sam J. Miller
“Ummmmmmmm that one has a LADY RIDING AN ORCA WITH A POLAR BEAR COMPANION. OBVIOUSLY THAT ONE.”
History of Magic – Historical Fiction
Tom’s pick: Everfair by Nisi Shawl
“How is that even a question!? Everfair sound amazing!”
Muggle Studies – Non-fiction
Tom’s pick: Alien Ocean by Stefan Helmreich
“Idk if it’s the right time of year for you to read the one about the crematorium so Alien Ocean is probably a safer bet for this month”
Potions – Alchemy
Dropping the subject
Transfiguration – Shapeshifting
Tom’s pick: Idoru by William Gibson
“The Tea Master and the Detective sounds really good but I really want you to read Idoru instead so I’m making you read that instead”.Ā
Having him pick my TBR for me was sooooooo much easier and he made some different choices than I would otherwise have made, including sneaking in one of his own choices. I’m looking forward to reading these for July and am aiming to read about 8 as that’s how many books I tend to read per month, and I’m obviously an overachiever :’)
Red Rocket Panda 
“If there’s a classic, always pick the classic.” Could you please tell your partner that I already adore him for that? Those words should be the tagline of my life.
All the books sound so interesting! Good luck with the readathon! I need to look into it and see if I can join in next time š
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Haha thanks! He feels very pleased with himself
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I like this!! Lol I used to have friends pick my monthly TBR but then I didn’t read those books at all, so I stopped doing it. It’s hard enough to decide by myself what I want to read, someone else picking is too much pressure. Buuuut I love seeing others do posts like this, so there’s that š
HEY. Sky in the Deep was awesome. And Blackfish City sounds great!
I thought you had your picks for Alchemy as well?
Why did you decide to drop Potions?
I wish it was July already, I want to start reading my OWLs T_T
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I dropped Potions just because I felt like it would’ve been way too much to aim for otherwise and I wasn’t sure if the books I chose fit the prompt so just decided it was easier to drop it :’)
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Oh, fair enough š
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I hope you like Fahrenheit 451! I adore it and actually want to reread it soon. I watched the HBO adaptation last week and didn’t love it, unfortunately. But it has Michael B. Jordan in it, so it’s impossible to hate. Also — Tempests and Slaughter is sooo not like Harry Potter, but I can see where your partner would get that, haha.
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This is awesome! Space spiders vs savage hippos, that’s such an accurate description and a very sound decision. Never ever go with the space spiders. Also, choosing books based on what animals are in them is a very underrated method. That’s how Blackfish City ended up on my TBR!
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I had so much fun doing this readaton back in April and I’ve passed with Exceed Expectation, well done me! Good luck with your readathon!!
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Good luck with the readathon! Love the idea of your partner picking your books. I think it would be interesting to see what my hubby would pick for me if I let him choose a TBR for me, haha.
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