2019 Reading Updates – August Update

It feels incredibly weird to be writing my 2019 reading updates August update, if nothing else, then because this means it’s now starting to near FALL. And we all know that this is basically when I start to thrive. Although, let’s be real – this past month? Definitely thriving as well, thanks to the N.E.W.T.s Magical Readathon!

What I read

1. A Question of Us, Mary Jayne Baker
2. The Wedding Party, Jasmine Guillory
3. Solving for Ex, LeighAnn Kopans
4. Jill Mansell’s A-Z of Happiness, Jill Mansell
5. The Little Café in Copenhagen, Julie Caplin
6. The Flatshare, Beth O’Leary
7. Explorers on the Moon, Hergé
8. The Secret Cove in Croatia, Julie Caplin
9. Fix Her Up, Tessa Bailey
10. Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops, Jen Campbell
11. Een Jihad van Liefde, Mohamed el Bachiri
12. The Mermaid’s Voice Returns in This One, Amanda Lovelace
13. Royally Screwed, Emma Chase
14. Royally Matched, Emma Chase
15. Tine Uitgedaagd, Ann M. Martin
16. Royally Endowed, Emma Chase
17. Falling For You, Jill Mansell
18. Her Royal Highness, Rachel Hawkins
19. The Magician’s Nephew, C.S. Lewis
20. Tell Me How You Really Feel, Aminah Mae Safi
21. Take a Chance on Me, Jill Mansell
22. Head over Heels, Jill Mansell
23. Kapers op de Kust, Jill Mansell
24. The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern
25. The Lion, The WItch and the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis
26. The Horse and His Boy, C.S. Lewis
27. The Little Paris Patisserie, Julie Caplin
28. It’s Not Me, It’s You, Mhairi McFarlane

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Een bericht gedeeld door ? Saar ? (@walkingthroughthepages) op 26 Aug 2019 om 10:47 (PDT)

N.E.W.T.s Magical Readathon

So I read a total of 28 books, this month, 24 of which were just for the N.E.W.T.s Magical Readathon. As I shared in my original TBR, I’m bad at chosing careers. Which means that I made things unnecessarily difficult for myself by trying to get the necessary N.E.W.T.s for two different careers.

Alchemist

Ancient Runes: O

• A: Ehwaz – partnership: read recommended by a friend: The Wedding Party
• E: Book written in past tense: The Little Café in Copenhagen
• O: Book that has been on your TBR for ages: The Mermaid’s Voice Returns in This One

Arithmancy: O

• A: Book that ends on an even page number: A Question of Us
• E: Read a standalone: Jill Mansell’s A to Z
• O: Book that’s longer than 350 pages: Fix Her Up (400p)

Astronomy: E

• A: Moon on the cover or anywhere in the title: Explorers on the Moon
• E: Word “night” in book title or series name: The Night Circus

Herbology: O

• A: Mandrake! Quick, put your headphones on! listen to an audiobook (if not: green cover): The Magician’s Nephew
• E: Read a book between 350-390 pages: Versier Me Dan (352 p)
• O: Read a book with a flower on the cover: The Little Paris Patisserie

Potions: O

• A: Pollyjuice potion: read your friend’s favourite book!: The Flatshare
• E: House ingredient: book with a cover in your Hogwarts colour: Tine Uitgedaagd
• O: Book that starts with a prologue: Royally Endowed

Transfiguration: O

• A: Read a book with LGBTQA+ representation: Her Royal Higness
• E: Read a book that’s not a first in the series: The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe
• O: McGonagall does not mess around! Read a book over 500 pages: It’s Not Me, It’s You

Hogwarts professor

Charms: O

• A: Read a book that you think has a gorgeous cover: The Secret Cove in Croatia
• E: Read a comic/graphic novel/manga (or book under 150 pages): Een Jihad van Liefde (96p)
• O: Spongify (softening charm) – read a paperback book: Kapers op de Kust

DADA: E

• A: Book that’s black under the dust jacket: Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops
• E: Gilderoy’s memory charm – first book you remembered just now from your TBR: Royally Screwed

History of Magic: A

• A: Read a fantasy: The Horse and his Boy

Muggle Studies: A

• A: Cover that includes an actual photo element (person, item, place, etc.): Solving for Ex

I mean, this is not just me, right? This is a lot, kinda?

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Een bericht gedeeld door ? Saar ? (@walkingthroughthepages) op 7 Aug 2019 om 11:42 (PDT)

What I thought

Overwhelming. It’s been a while since I’ve really had to consciously choose to read more, and more, and more. Even when I was doing the O.W.L.s, I had two months off, which allowed me to read a lot quite easily. This time, though, I was traveling for half of the month. The other half? Well, let’s just say I still have a good pile of exams to be corrected sitting next to me. So reading around that? Not as easy as I necessarily would’ve liked it to be.

Apart from that, though? I’m kinda happy with what I read. I’ve managed to get quite a bit of my TBR read, including a couple of books I’ve been meaning to re-read for a while. I think that’s probably my favourite thing about the N.E.W.T.s Readathon: it’s forced me to read beyond what I would usually read.

Did you participate in the N.E.W.T.s readathon? What do you do to make yourself expand your reading horizons? Be sure to let me know below!

-Saar