Magical Readathon | 2021 — The Novice Path Wrap-Up

My journey along the Novice Path was a success! 😀 But it wasn’t without obstacles. Let’s see how I did on the journey.

Quick Note

The Magical Readathon is a monthlong readathon created by G, a booktuber, that was once inspired by the Harry Potter books. G updated the readathon by creating her own world and lore for it. The Novice Path is the first part of the readathon. For more details, check my first post about the readathon.

G provided a map for the Novice Path that has landmarks along it where characters face decisions that determine which guild at Orilium Academy their character will enter. I’ve included my choices and guild results in the review of my progress along the Novice Path below.

(Quick warning that this is a long post because I got a bit excited about the storytelling part of it).

Novice Path map

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Looking Back on My Novice Path Journey

My journey along the Novice Path got off on a rocky start. I rushed to cobble together my TBR because I didn’t realize the readathon was soon to start and was hoping to read for it books that I was already intending to start in October, which sort of worked for me but kinda didn’t.

Magical Readathon | 2021 — The Novice Path

The Magical Readathon is back everyone!

The readathon was initially inspired by the Harry Potter books, but the creator — G, a booktuber who runs Book Roast — has moved away from them due to comments J.K. Rowling made regarding the trans community. But now the readathon is back and better than ever because G created her own world and magic systems for the readathon.

(Click here for the video where G gives all the details about the readathon and shares the files for it. G created the readathon — the world, lore, magic systems, all that stuff. She commissioned Lisa, who did the art for Orilium Academy below.)

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Some Background

The readathon is now based on a planet called Aeldia that contains 4 continents — Irtheria, Darkmeadow, Kerador, and Daerune — that are populated by humans, elves, earthlings, iltrians, skaimorns, and dwarves, as well as demons and dragons and other creatures. When sorcerers reach a certain age, they are compelled to journey to Orilium Academy to further their studies, a journey called the Novice Path.

For this part of the readathon, we will all follow the Novice Path to Orilium Academy.

(For details on all this, see the Book Roast video linked above.)

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The Novice Path

The readathon begins with the Novice Path, a monthlong readathon where participants must complete at least 2 prompts by midnight on September 30 to succeed. Only one book may be used for each prompt. Next year, we will move on to the next part of the readathon where we begin our studies at Orilium Academy.

Wyrd & Wonder Wrap-Up & Bingo | 2021

Wyrd & Wonder this year was a surprising success for me. I read more than I expected and, although I didn’t post as much as I expected, I did pretty well considering how unprepared I was.

W&W Plans

I hit all my W&W goals:

✓ Read mostly fantasy.

— Apart from a thriller novel I completed early in May, all my reads were intended to be fantasy reads, although there was one that leans more into horror and another that I didn’t realize was religion but I count it anyway since I picked it up intending to read it for W&W.

✓ Publish mostly fantasy-related posts.

— Apart from a review or two that weren’t for fantasy novels, I’ve managed to pull off posting 95% fantasy-related posts.

✓ Do the W&W challenges.

— I’m so happy I found a way to do this that works for me. I sometimes did the challenges on Instagram, but I knew there would be times that I wouldn’t be able to keep up. Wyrd & Wonder Wednesdays helped me to resolve this; I made the challenge into mini tags. 😊

✓ Host a giveaway.

— I managed to do this as well! And I’m so happy so many folks signed up for it. I will reach out to the winner this week. (The winner will have up to 2 days to respond before I choose someone else. I will announce the winner on here on June 7.)

Wyrd & Wonder 2021 | Giveaway Announcement

Hey! Guess what?! It’s time for my Wyrd & Wonder GIVEAWAY!! 😀

What’s Wyrd & Wonder? It’s a monthlong celebration in May of all things fantasy. Participants can express their love of fantasy and celebrate in any way they want. I’m mostly doing so by reading fantasy books and comics.

I’m always excited to participated in W&W; but, of course, I was as unprepared for W&W this year as I didn’t intend to be, so instead of starting this on the first of May, this GIVEAWAY will instead run from May 13–31. Anyone can submit an entry, but since it’s for W&W, those participating in the event will have an edge on entries.

!!!GIVEAWAY!!!

(Details below)

Wyrd & Wonder Is Coming | Here’s My TBR

Wyrd & Wonder is possibly my favorite reading event in the year. I’m SO excited to be participating in it again this year, and hopefully this time I’ll really put a dent in my physical fantasy TBR.

What is Wyrd & Wonder?

It’s a relaxed monthlong celebration in May of all things fantasy that’s hosted by the Wyrd & Wonder crew: Imyril, Lisa, and Jorie.

There is no deadline for signing up; however, if you do so and make a post before May 7, you’ll be entered into a giveaway. Participants can participate in any way they choose: read only fantasy books or only fantasy comics, watch fantasy shows, post about fantasy-related stuff, play only fantasy games… whatever you like. However you choose to participate is totally up to you, and you can include links to your post in the master schedule or just check it out to see what others plan to post.

For more details about the event, check out the following links:

Wyrd and Wonder Is Back
(intro. to the event and contains banners, necessary links, and info. on the giveaway)

Wyrd and Wonder Challenge 2021
(contains challenge prompts, which you can post wherever and however you like)

Wyrd and Wonder: Read-along
(info. on the group-read book: The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart)

Wyrd and Wonder
(Twitter profile)

Weekend Reads #118: Kushiel’s Chosen Readalong, Ch. 71 – the end

Here we are at the end of the Kushiel’s Chosen readalong hosted by Imyril of the Wyrd & Wonder crew who blogs over at There’s Always Room for One More. This one was another good read, and I enjoyed it so much that I’ve placed it on my favorites book list. I really enjoyed it.

Each week, a different member participating in the readalong posts questions for the week’s discussion. For this past week, the sixth and final one, Lisa at Dear Geek Place shared the questions for the last chapters.

SPOILERS BELOW!

What did you make of Phèdre’s plan for stopping Melisande’s plot against the Crown, and Marco Stregazza’s power grab? And what did you think of how smoothly (or not) it went?

Weekend Reads #117: Kushiel’s Chosen Readalong, Ch. 56-70

I was so eager to see what happens next that I couldn’t help myself — I finished the book this weekend. But I’ll keep this spoiler-free for the upcoming chapters. SO much happens!

I’m reading Kushiel’s Chosen as part of a readalong hosted by Imyril of the Wyrd & Wonder crew. Each week, someone new pops in to host a discussion on the chapters read. This week’s discussion questions comes from the host, Imyril, who blogs over at There’s Always Room for One More.

Visit the Goodreads group if you’re interested in joining future readalongs.

SPOILERS BELOW!

What did you make of Phèdre’s interventions to save Kazan — first from the kríavbhog and then from the thetalos? Do you think he deserved it?

Weekend Reads #116: Kushiel’s Chosen Readalong, Ch. 45-55

I’m late with it, but here’s my response to week 4’s discussion of Kushiel’s Chosen readalong. The world expands even more in this week’s chapters. We visit a new land and encounter new gods.

I’m reading Kushiel’s Chosen as part of a readalong hosted by Imyril of the Wyrd & Wonder crew. Each week, someone new pops in to host a discussion on the chapters read. This week’s discussion questions come from the Mayri, the Bookforager.

Btw, if you’d like to join in the readalong, you can check out the link above or visit the Goodreads group for the reading schedule or to share your thoughts on the book.

SPOILERS BELOW!

What are your thoughts/feelings on Phèdre’s escape from La Dolorosa? Specifically, how do you feel about her rejection of Melisande’s offer, Tito and Joscelin’s roles in her escape, and the vow she made to Asherat? (Along with anything else you want to add.)

Weekend Reads #115: Kushiel’s Chosen Readalong, Ch. 31-44

Here’s another reading update on Kushiel’s Chosen. I’m reading it for a readalong hosted by Imyril of the Wyrd & Wonder crew. Each week, someone new pops in to host a discussion on the chapters read. Last week’s discussion questions were by… ME! 😀

If you’d like to join in the readalong, you can check out the link above or visit the Goodreads group for the reading schedule or to share your thoughts on the book.

My plan was to post this last week Friday, but I didn’t because I was stuck on zombie movies and TV shows. Then I worked a lot this weekend and got stuck on romance movies because I couldn’t think of a zombie movie or TV show to watch. So here are my very late answers.

SPOILERS BELOW!

Phèdre, her boys, and Joscelin arrive safely in La Serenissima. What was your impression of the city, its culture, and its ruler, the Doge? What did you think of its goddess, Asherat? Do you agree with the Doge that Asherat-of-the-Sea reached out to Phèdre about the Oracle being tampered with?

Weekend Reads #114: Kushiel’s Chosen Readalong, Ch. 18 – 30

Second week of reading Kushiel’s Chosen by Jacqueline Carey and things are getting more and more interesting… of course!

I’m reading Kushiel’s Chosen as part of a readalong hosted by Imyril of the Wyrd & Wonder crew. Each week, someone new pops in to host a discussion on the chapters read. This week’s discussion questions comes from the host, Imyril, who blogs over at There’s Always Room for One More.

Btw, if you’d like to join in the readalong, you can check out the link above or visit the Goodreads group for the reading schedule or to share your thoughts on the book.

SPOILERS BELOW!

Marmion Shahrizai has a sudden fall from grace this week. What’s your take on how he handled Persia’s treason — and on how Ysandre handles him? Do you feel sorry for him? Do you think we’ll see him again?