Winter Magical Read-a-thon 2019!

The Winter Magical Readathon is here!

G @BookRoast is an incredibly talented human being, and I’m appalled by the amount of detail and work that went into this read-a-thon. I was so not planning to throw myself into yet another read-a-thon this year, but after watching the Announcement video that went live at the beginning of this week, I couldn’t resist the temptation to Save Ginny and spend the most magical month of the year in Hogwarts! 

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, please watch this Announcement video by BookRoast and join in on the fun!

Since we don’t get prompt in advance to prepare for the read-a-thon, but progress as we go and as the chapters open up each Sunday, I decided to make this little sticky post that I will be updating throughout the month. 

USEFUL INFORMATION:

1. The Readathon begins today, on the 1st of December 2019!
2. It’s not late to join! There are no prompts to prepare in advance as we get them with each Chapter that opens on every Sunday in December.
3. This is a 5 weeks-long Readathon, but you can read at your own pace and open Chapters when YOU want!
4. One of the only rules is that we need to finish the first prompt before opening the 2nd Chapter, and so on.
5. Visit the MagicReadthon website for more information!

CHAPTER 1:

Alohomora!

I honestly forgot just how much I love Harry Potter! The scene with Dobby in Dursley’s house and the thought of NOT going to Hogwarts was heartbreaking. I decided to not make any false promises and tried to reason with Dobby. Who would have thought that he would run downstairs and levitate the cake on the heads of Dursley’s guests?! 

Luckily, the Wesleys didn’t leave me in my new “prison” and came to the rescue on a flying automobile. We are going to the Burrow! I’m going to Hogwarts! No-one can stop me! 

As we arrive at the Burrow, I realize that the Weasley boys took the car without permission and Ron is sent to de-gnome the garden as his punishment. Of course, I can’t leave my friend to this task on his own, and immediately offer to help. 

My first prompt in this Magical Readathon is to read a book that is longer than 500 pages! This is perfect! I just started reading «Life After Life» by Kate Atkinson, and my edition has 610 pages! 

Life After Life follows Ursula Todd as she lives through the turbulent events of the last century again and again. With wit and compassion, Kate Atkinson finds warmth even in life’s bleakest moments, and shows an extraordinary ability to evoke the past. Here she is at her most profound and inventive, in a novel that celebrates the best and worst of ourselves.

★★☆☆☆
READING UPDATE
Dec 1st – Dec 7th

Much to my surprise, I didn’t love this book as much as I thought I would. Which is such a bummer… I mean, look at this cover! It’s gorgeous!
Don’t get me wrong though, it wasn’t bad! In fact, it was ingeniously developed, but the slow plot development and many unnecessary details turned this book into a chore, instead of a pleasure read.

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CHAPTER 2:

After de-gnoming the garden and spending the most lovely evening with the Weasley family at the Burrow, it’s finally time to get to the King’s Cross station! 

Oh, this is such a tough choice. Of course, I want to stick with Ron and the Weasleys, and even though they say they don’t need any help gathering Ginny’s belongings, it still doesn’t feel right to abandon them at this moment. On the other hand, I haven’t seen Hermione for many months and she is right there waving at me! 

I guess I’ll to stay with Ron for now and then we both will find Hermione on the train. 

Everyone finally gathers up and starts going through the barrier, me and Ron are the last to go through. We run at it at full speed… and crash right into the wall! 

Ron suggests for us to get to the car, but I don’t feel very comfortable “stealing” from Mr. & Mrs. Weasley again. After about 15 mins, Ron’s parents finally exit through the barrier and promise to get us to school by the Floo Network. I knew this would be the right choice!

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This is perfect! For the prompt to read a comic book, manga, picture book or a graphic novel  I’ll go with «The Girl Who Saved Christmas» by Matt Haig. I started it last night and currently a little over 50% though it!

If magic has a beginning, can it also have an end?
When Amelia wants a wish to come true she knows just the man to ask – Father Christmas.
But the magic she wants to believe in is starting to fade, and Father Christmas has more than impossible wishes to worry about. Upset elves, reindeers dropping out of the sky, angry trolls and the chance that Christmas might be cancelled.

READING UPDATE
Dec 8th – Dec 15th

This was a fantastic story! Even better than the first one that I read in November. If you are looking for a perfect book to put you in the Christmas spirit that would be it!

I didn’t read the ARC I was planning to for this prompt, and as I was running out of time, I decided to pick up this short prequel to the This Mortal Coil series, and was pleasantly surprised by how intriguing these 45 pages were.

Jun Bei, Cole, Anna, Leoben, Ziana. Five children with extraordinary potential.
They don’t get many visitors at the remote laboratory where they live under the eye of legendary geneticist, Lachlan Agatta. The man and woman who arrive are nothing like the others. They’re from Cartaxus and offer the children something rare and unfathomable: escape.

CHAPTER 3:

OMG, I love the beginning of this chapter! The classes at Hogwarts start today and we are all heading down for breakfast. Should I choose warm cinnamon and honey porridge or eggs, sausages and bacon??? I don’t know… this is so difficult! I’m feeling too nervous, so I think the porridge would be the safest choice. 

My first class is Herbology. Hmm… I’m not a big fan of soil and plants tbh. The school has just begun and my social life is already jam-packed! 😀 Should I go to the Duelling Club meeting, Quidditch practice or Nearly Headless Nick Deathday Party? 

Okay… I love Quidditch, but only from the distance. The Deathday Party sounds… erm… gloomy? But Duelling Club meeting is something I could have fun at! 

My first prompt for next week is to read a book with a pink or purple cover! 

And now I have to duel Malfoy… seriously?! He has some sneaky spells up his sleeve, but I don’t feel comfortable casting Rictusempra – the spell I have no knowledge about, so I’ll use my trusty Expelliarmus! 

Oh, oh! This is when the previous choices start to have a direct impact! I’m glad I only got one prompt for next week, this leaves me with more time to finish other books I was planning to.

READING UPDATE
Dec 15th

It’s still Sunday, 15th of December, and I’m officially done with my prompt for the third week of the Winter Magical Readathon! Woooo!

At first I planned to read «Small Spaces» by Katherine Arden (I still want to read it next week). But then I decided to finally finish the last book in the Selection series «The Crown».

Yes, I officially read all of the books in the Selection series, excluding novellas. 😮 Were they worth my time? Probably not. And frankly the last two books weren’t as entertaining as the “original” trilogy, but they were VERY fast reads, and it’s one more book series I can cross out from my list.

When Eadlyn became the first princess of Illéa to hold her own Selection, she didn’t think she would fall in love with any of her thirty-five suitors. She spent the first few weeks of the competition counting down the days until she could send them all home. But as events at the palace force Eadlyn even further into the spotlight, she realizes that she might not be content remaining alone.

CHAPTER 4:

The mysterious writing on the wall is the only thing people are talking about. There are rumors about a Chamber of Secrets, that I need to learn more about, and the subject of the Chamber finally comes up at History of Magic lesson. 

Here is my first prompt for next week! To read a book that starts with S. 

It’s Christmas break at Hogwarts!!! We are all staying at Hogwarts and seeing the castle transform for the holiday season (my dream come true!). Hermione has come up with a plan to infiltrate the Slytherin hall, and I think using the Pollyjuice Potion will be a perfect way to finally find out what Malfoy is hiding. 

The potion requires a few more ingredients, and I volunteer to go and get the missing herbs that are locked at Snape’s office since I’m the only one with the invisibility cloak anyway. My second prompt is to read a book with plants on the cover! (uuh, this is going to be a tricky one). 

Me and Ron are turned into Crabbe and Goyle, and venture outside of the girls’ bathroom to try our luck. Just as we thought that we got lost and would never find the entrance to the Slytherin dorm, we spot Draco! This is probably the first and last time I’m happy to see him… 

At some point in our conversation, I accidentally used too long of a sentence and Draco started to look suspiciously at me… 

Here comes my third prompt! To read a friend’s favorite book or a book recommended by the community! 

It appears that Malfoy isn’t the heir of Slytherin, and we happily run outside as far away from Draco as possible. After we change into our own uniform, I hear that voice again crawling through the walls, and of course, I had to follow it. I was spotted at the “crime scene” and had to follow Filtch into Dumbledore’s office.

Three books next week! Hopefully, I’ll be able to read all three and also the first HP book 🙂

UPDATE: Just a quick update to let you know that I read «Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone» that I count as the book with plants on the cover (it has some trees in the back!) and «Caraval» that can go towards the 3rd prompt – “recommended by the community”.

Will you participate in the Winter Magical Readathon? How is it going for you? What prompts did you get? Let me know in the comments below! 

Happy reading, everyone!

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