So this week’s theme for TTT is “Settings I’d like to see more of”. I will preface this post by saying that I’m sure that there are some great books in these settings and I would love some recommendations from you guys.
In Space – I love space stories especially if the story is just set there but isn’t about being in space.
Road trip – I love road trip stories and the learning and growing that the characters do along the way. I certainly haven’t read enough of these stories.
Deep in a Forest – There is just something about a forest that I love.
In a small town – I love reading about small towns but I don’t think I could ever live in one.
Circuses and Carnivals – I guess being an aerialist I love circus stories as I can relate a lot.
In spy school – Spy school stories are so much fun.
Magical world – I mean who doesn’t love magical worlds.
Boarding School – Boarding school is such a foreign concept to me so I love reading books set there.
Victorian London – I love this era and want to read more books set in this time.
Libraries – I mean we are book lovers right so I just want books in book places.
So I have said this before but again when I was a child I was not a reader so for me it was very difficult to find even 10 books that I read as a child but here are some that I have particular memories of.
The Faraway Tree Series by Enid Blyton
So I remember having a lot of Enid Blyton books around the house and I used to pretend to read them all the time. I wanted to be a reader really bad but for some reason I didn’t sit down and actually read them until much later.
Tashi by Anna Fienberg, Barbara Fienberg and Illustrated by Kim Gamble
The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black and Terry DiTerlizzi
Such a quick and easy Middle grade series to fly through.
Roald Dahl
Who doesn’t love Roald Dahl stories.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
I have always loved Sherlock Holmes stories and still love finding new adaptation of my favourite stories.
Hans Christian Andersen Fairytales
Everything by Dr Seuss
Who could not love Dr Seuss? With all the tongue-twisting sentences and the completely ridiculous stories I was in love.
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
I have loved Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland ever since I first heard it and wished that I could find a new world to explore. This story sparked many imaginative worlds for me to play in.
Harry Potter
So of course this series is on my list because it is impossible to deny the impact that Harry Potter had on my reading. While it wasn’t the first series that got me into reading it was the first series where the books were over 300 pages.
A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket
I love this series and I owe this series a lot. It was the first series that I read and completely fell in love with and it was the start of my love for reading. Without this series I don’t think I would have believed that I could read a series. And yes I know that these books are short but a series with 13 books in it freaked me the hell out.
Ok so who am I right?????? It has been such a long time since I have posted anything and for that I am so sorry. So before I jump into my most likely wishful thinking TBR list let me just explain what has been going on in my life.
So as you may or may not know my other passion apart from reading is Pole Dancing and everything aerials. Last year I was lucky enough to make it into my first competition for Pole and this year so far I have gotten into 3 Pole comps and 1 Lyra comp so I have been very busy trying to get those routines stage ready. On top of that, I have also started instructing in both Pole and Lyra. This has been amazing although it is taking up a lot of my time lately and I am trying to work on finding the perfect balance of everything I love. So in short time is the reason for my absence. I have just not had the free time to write any posts.
So onto my TBR:
Firstly I would like to admit that this is highly ambitious given how busy I have been and will be for the next month but lets give it a go.
Firstly I would like to read Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson.
This book has been getting a lot of hype at the moment and sounds really good so I can’t wait to start reading it.
Next I want to read Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson
This has been on my TBR pile for quite some time now and the third and final book is coming out at the start of next year so I really want to get into this series.
Next I want to read Caraval by Stephanie Garber
So with this book I wanted to wait until the entire series was released as I have a feeling that I will just binge it all so it may also mean that Legendary and Finale will also be on this list.
And then lastly I’m going to add The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh
Ok that is all I am going to put on my TBR for this month. Again I realise that this is ambitious and I might be setting myself up for failure but these are the books at the top of my list for now.
So once again BookRoast has prepared an amazing readathon for April and I am super excited to participate in the OWLs readathon once again.
So the main difference that BookRoast has done this time around is that there’s more of a focus on completing the OWLs and then the NEWTs in order to participate in a chosen wizarding career. I will link the document here that lists the careers and requirements.
As I did last year, this year I am also going to try and aim big so for this readathon and for the NEWTs later this year my aim is to make it as an Alchemist which requires the completion of all 12 OWLs. I do also have some back up careers that do not require completing all 12 and I will break them all down at the end of this post.
But now for the exam requirements for each subject and how I am planning on passing them.
Ancient runes – Read a retelling
Arithmancy – Read a work written by more than one author
Astronomy – Read a book with “star” in the title
Care of Magical Creatures – Read a book with a land animal on the cover
Charms – Age-line: Read an adult book
Defense Against the Dark Arts – Reducto: Read a book that starts with an “R”
Divination – Read a book set in the future
Herbology – Read a book with a plant on the cover
History of Magic – Read a book that was published at least 10 years ago
Muggles Studies – Read a contemporary
Potions – Next Ingredient: Read a sequel
Transfiguration – Read a book with sprayed edges or a red cover
The Grades:
Passing Grades:
Outstanding – Sit (and pass) at least 9 OWLs
Exceeded Expectations – Sit (and pass) at least 6 OWLs
Acceptable – Sit (and pass) at least 2 OWLs
Failing Grades:
Poor – Sit only one OWL
Dreadful – Start but not finish any OWLs
Troll – Don’t show up at your OWLs examinations
So now for the books that I am planning on reading to pass all of my exams
Ancient Runes – A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro
Arithmacy – When It’s Real by Erin Watt
Astronomy – The Sun is also a Star by Nicola Yoon
Care of Magical Creatures – The Case for Jamie by Brittany Cavallaro
Charms – Landline by Rainbow Rowell
Defence Against the Dark Arts – Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins
Divination – The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine
Herbology – The Last of August by Brittany Cavallaro
History of Magic – Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
Muggle Studies – Save the Date by Morgan Matson
Potions – A Question of Holmes by Brittany Cavallaro
Transfiguration – Girls of Paper and Fury by Natasha Ngan
So even though my aim is to be able to pass all 12 in order to study to be an Alchemist here are my back ups and what the subject requirements are:
Mind Medic – Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Charms, Defense, Herbology, Muggle Studies, Potions & Tranfiguration
Hogwarts Professor (Potions Teacher) – Defence, Potions and 5 others of my choice
Auror – Charms, Defence, Herbology, Potions, Tranfiguration
So basically the minimum I want to read is 5 books over the 30 days. I will also be doing weekly updates as both a blog and a vlog to track my progress. I have worked it out and I need to read 144 pages per day to complete all of these books which would be a total of 4,294 pages.
I hope you will all join in for this readathon as it is going to be heaps of fun!
Go Slytherin!
It is that time again for the 24 in 48 readathon and I am really hoping that I can complete this challenge, although I have a hectic weekend planned.
So for anyone that doesn’t the idea of this readathon is that you read for a total of 24 hours in a 48 hour period. Now you can choose to either start in your own time zone (which is what I normally do) or start with the group. For me the group start time is 4pm on Saturday but my only problem is that I have work until 11pm which sucks but hopefully I can get in a few hours once I get home.
The main book I am planning on reading is The Gilded Wolves By Roshani Chokshi but I have also have The Awakening by L. J. Smith which is the first book in the Vampire Diaries series as an audiobook.
Updates
Hour 0: 4pm – at work
Hour 1: 5pm – at work
Hour 2: 6pm – at work
Hour 3: 7pm – at work
Hour 4: 8pm – at work
Hour 5: 9pm – at work
Hour 6: 10pm – at work
Hour 7: 11pm – 32.45 mins of audio book and 30 mins of my book
Hour 8: 12am – yer I crashed
Hour 9: 1am – sleep
Hour 10: 2am – sleep
Hour 11: 3am
Hour 12: 4am
Hour 13: 5am
Hour 14: 6
Hour 15: 7
Hour 16: 8
Hour 17: 9
Hour 18: 10am – watching Harry Potter
Ok i’m just going to wrap this up here as it is embarrassing how badly I failed this. I had so much going on and I was absolutely hating the narrator for the audiobook so instead of listening to that I had Harry Potter marathon.
So in total in the 48 hours I read a grand total for 2.5 hours.
On the plus side, next time that this readathon is on it is difficult to do any worse.
Books By Dano 