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In September, Book Roast hosted her reimagined version of the Magical Readathon and it was so much fun! She used to do a readathon that was based on Harry Potter but this year she switched things up with a completely original story and prompts to introduce participants to the new and improved Magical Readathon.
You can check out her intro video here to get a more detailed background which will help if you decide to participate. It did run for the month of September but you can do the readathon any time between now and April 2022 when the results of this one will be used to determine what will happen to your character for the next stage.
Make sense? No? Okay, here’s a little bit more info before I get into my reading.
Essentially, this readathon is all about creating a character for this new world and taking them on a journey to a magical school that you will attend later (April 2022). Each aspect of your character and each part of your journey have a prompt which will guide you in choosing a book. Read the books that you chose to fulfill each prompt and make your way to the gates of Orilium (magic school).
Got it? Good! Follow my journey below.
There were a number of prompts to help me in selecting my character’s background and I decided that I am a human wilding from the province of Kerador. To make my character, I had to read 3 books to attach to the 3 prompts for those details.
Human - Read a contemporary/non-fiction book
For this one, I decided to read The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood. This was a recent release that I had been putting off because of all of the hype so I am glad I used this prompt to get my butt in gear and just read it!
Wilding - Read a book largely set outside/in a forest
What better choice for this one than The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle? Yes, it is a re-read for me but it had been so long since I read it last and forgot more than I had expected. Still thoroughly enjoyable because I love Robin Hood.
Kerador - Read a book from an ongoing series
I decided to start a new-to-me ongoing historical romance called The Footman and I by Valerie Bowman. This was a quick read that I wasn’t a huge fan of but it was cute at times and entertaining so I can’t be mad at it. Except the spicy scenes. Seriously, they came out of nowhere and not written overly well either.
Now that my character was created, I had to make the journey from the entrance to the Novice Path to the Orilium Arc. This path included 7 prompts and you only needed to complete 2 of them to technically reach the arc. I wanted to do all 7 because I can be an overachiever sometimes. So here we go!
The Novice Path - Read a book with a map
This one was fairly easy because most fantasy books have a map in them and I had recently picked up the third and final book of the A Tiger at Midnight trilogy by Swati Teerdhala, The Chariot at Dusk. The perfect opportunity to complete a series AND begin my characters quest.
Ashtorn Tree - A book that keeps tempting you (top of your TBR)
This was an easy one because The Rose Code by Kate Quinn had been taunting me pretty much all year so I decided to dive on in. I knew that this book was going to be a 5-star read as soon as I had read the synopsis so this was an amazing read for the prompt.
The Mist of Solitude - Read a standalone
Not a difficult one for me since I have a ton of historical fiction which tend to be standalones more often than not. I decided on A Lady in Attendance by Rachel Fordham and it took me by surprise in a great way. It was not what I expected but I didn’t find myself disappointed by that at all.
Run of the Skye - Read a book featuring ghosts/haunted house or other supernatural elements
I had the PERFECT book for this but sadly I cannot count this prompt as complete because I DNF’d the book. It was Things in Jars by Jess Kidd which I had picked up on recommendation. It did sound like a book I would enjoy but the writing style and the way the story was told overall did not mesh well with me. But there were ghosts AND supernatural elements if you wanted to give it a try.
Obsidian Falls - Read a thriller or a mystery book
Had this been 2 years ago, I would not have had a book for this prompt. Thankfully I have discovered my love of a niche mystery subgenre of historical mysteries with smart male and female leads who just can’t help but be drawn together. I’m truly obsessed. I ended up going with the first book in a new-to-me series that meets with my exacting standards (haha) which was Murder on Black Swan Lane by Andrea Penrose. Just, so good! I have since read books 2 and 3 and plan on picking up book 4 soon.
Tower of Rumination - Read a 5-star prediction
This was actually hard for me because I rarely predict books to be 5-stars just based on their synopsis/author (The Rose Code aside). I ended up choosing book 4 in the Outlander series, Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon. This was decidedly not a 5-star read (my least favourite from the series so far) but it still counts!
Orilium Academy Arc - Book with a school setting
I was really worried that I wouldn’t have a book for this one. I had originally thought one of my fantasy books would work but found out it wouldn’t (I have since read it and there is certainly no school elements). It was by sheer luck and no foresight whatsoever that I had ordered the sequel of a duology that I started in 2018 which was literally the only book that could be considered to have a school setting. It was an academy in space, but still… school. I ended up reading Supernova by Kass Morgan (book 2 in the Light Years duology).
So, there we have it!
I read a bunch of books in September (with a few spilling into October), created my character (who still does not have a name) and survived the journey to Orilium!
Another aspect that Book Roast included is, once you had completed these first prompts, she had a series of questions and your answers would determine what guild you would belong to while attending the Orilium Academy. After reading the scenarios and making my decisions, it found out that I am part of the…
House of the Arcane!
The details that accompany this guild, and what it will mean going into April, totally work for me and I am so excited to see how everything comes into play next year.
So there you have it. My journey through the Magical Readathon!
I highly encourage you to check it out. It was so much fun and there was so much time and effort and creativity put into it that it truly boggles my mind. She has a Google doc full of information and details and world-building and it’s just so great.
Let me know if you participate and what house you will be in next year! Are we going to be guild-mates??
Until next time, keep reading!