
Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests Read-a-thon ’18-19
In August of this year I did my OWLs, and it has taken me this long to recover! However, I’ve been saying for a while now that I would like to do my NEWTs in January, so here we are.
Now, if you have zero idea what the hell I’m talk about, please, let me inform you. Gintare over at the Book Roast created an amazing read-a-thon based on the exams in the Harry Potter novels. OWLs are your year 5 exams, or Ordinary Wizarding Levels. NEWTs are your year 7 exams, or Nearly Exhausting Wizarding Tests. In order to pass your NEWTs you must first take your OWLs, and the same with the read-a-thon. In order to know what book prompts to read for the NEWTs, you must first read as many book prompts for the OWLs as you can. If you want to listen to G explain it all much better than me though, you should make with the clickies over HERE for the vlog on OWLs, and over HERE for the vlog on NEWTs.
Now, as I passed my OWLs for all the subjects, with the exceptions of Muggle Studies and History of Magic (Professor Binns put me to sleep and I just … couldn’t … do it!), then I have the option to read THIRTY books to gain O’s (outstanding) in the remaining ten subjects, because unlike the OWLs, this isn’t one book per subject. Oh no my friends, this one is MUCH harder. In order to gain an O in a subject, you must first gain an A (acceptable), and then an E (excellent) in that order. In order to pass each subject I must read the minimum A prompt. Therefore, if I read the O book and not the A and the E, then I fail that subject.
Because this is so crazy, and I don’t own a lot of graphic novels (which is how a lot of people managed to not die when this was run earlier in 2018), I’m giving myself an extra 10 days. Yep, you heard me, I’m starting this in line with my holidays from today, 22 December 2018 and going through until 31 January 2019. That’s 41 days to get through as many of the below 30 prompts as I can, and you’re not allowed to double up.
I’ve started a table on what I think I’ll read that matches prompts, but I’ve also left quite a few blank ones. These blanks can basically be filled by just about anything, and I’m counting on my giant pile of contemporary fictions that I’m packing for my holidays to get me through on some of these. The others I’ll have to figure out as I go or smash through a lot of books when I get home (oh, and I’ll be looking after my niece for a week as well when I get back)!
Subject |
Grade |
Prompt |
Book I think I’ll read |
Ancient Runes |
A |
Book set in the past | Jane Eyre – Chralotte Brontë |
E |
One of the most ancient books on your shelves that you haven’t yet read | The Night Circus – Erin Morgensten | |
O |
Book translated from another language | Reckless – Cornelia Funke | |
Arithmancy |
A |
Book of at least 300 pages | |
E |
Book that ends on an even numbered page | ||
O |
A book that’s not a first in a series | ||
Astronomy |
A |
Stars on the cover | Navigating the Stars – Maria V Snyder |
E |
Book that has a word ‘sky’ in the title | Sky in the Deep – Adrienne Young | |
O |
Story that’s set on a different planet/world | Unearthed – Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner | |
Care of Magical Creatures |
A |
Animal on the cover | Rat Queens – Kurtis J Wiebe |
E |
Book under 160 pages | ||
O |
Includes dragons in any way | ||
Charms |
A |
Read a book with magic in it | |
E |
A book with a cover that charmed you (would buy without knowing more about it) | Shadow of the Fox – Julie Kagawa | |
O |
A book that you think will leave a mark | Autoboyography – Christina Lauren | |
Defence Against the Dark Arts |
A |
Read a last book in a series | War Storm – Victoria Aveyard |
E |
Read a foiled book | Hunted – Meagan Spooner | |
O |
Book with a word ‘dark’ in the title or series name | Lady Midnight – Cassandra Clare | |
Divination |
A |
Set in the future | Undying – Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner |
E |
Book under 200 pages | ||
O |
Read a mythology book | ||
Herbology |
A |
Book with a green cover | Wyrd Sisters – Terry Pratchett |
E |
Book with illustrations | ||
O |
Read a book with either one of these words in the title: light/air/sun/water | Queen of Air and Darkness – Cassandra Clare | |
Potions |
A |
Has a name of a colour in the title | Red Rising – Pierce Brown |
E |
Read a book with a male lead character | ||
O |
Book over 350 pages long | ||
Transfiguration |
A |
Book with a grey cover | Mirage – Somaiya Daud |
E |
Read a book from an author you haven’t read anything of before | Geekerella – Ashley Poston | |
O |
Read a book that’s set in a kingdom / has royals | The Wicked King – Holly Black |
Thankfully I can use books from this challenge against the other challenges I’m doing this year like Beat the Backlist and the A-Z Reading Challenge as well! Right, wish me luck!
Until next time, happy reading! ??
Also – woot!! New header!! I am kicking goals this week!!


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