A must read for Muggles and wizards alike, Quidditch Through the Ages has the answer to every question about Quidditch you've ever wanted to know.
64 pages.
Showing posts with label J.K. Rowling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label J.K. Rowling. Show all posts
Thursday, June 28, 2018
Quidditch Through the Ages by Kennilworthy Whisp/J.K. Rowling
A must read for Muggles and wizards alike, Quidditch Through the Ages has the answer to every question about Quidditch you've ever wanted to know.
64 pages.
Sunday, March 18, 2018
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling
Hogwarts has been a home to Harry Potter for so long, but he is no longer safe there. With the protective charm his mother cast over him upon her death breaking on his 17th birthday, the time has come for Harry to finish Lord Voldemort once and for all. Harry treks across the country with Ron and Hermione in tow, following the dangerous path set for them by Albus Dumbledore. In the conclusion of the seven part series from J.K. Rowling, the trio find their friendship, resilience, and sense of right and wrong tested at every turn.
Book 7 in the Harry Potter series. 759 pages.
Sunday, February 11, 2018
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
The war against Lord Voldemort has begun, but as in all wars, life must go on. Harry, Ron, and Hermione have returned to Hogwarts for their sixth year to find their coursework is more rigorous than ever, as are their hormones and those of their classmates. Between their classes, love lives, and Harry's lessons with Albus Dumbledore, the trio have never been so busy. But arguably, it is his lessons with Dumbledore that are the most important of Harry's life because it is Dumbledore's hope that in learning about Lord Voldemort's background and his weaknesses, Harry will have the tools necessary to defeat the Darkest wizard in history once and for all.
Book 6 in the Harry Potter series. 652 pages.
Tuesday, January 23, 2018
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
After being attacked by dementors over the summer holidays, Harry Potter has had it. The Daily Prophet has been using every opportunity to slander and ridicule Harry after his latest encounter with Lord Voldemort. Even Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, has endured his fair share of scrutiny for trying to alert the Wizarding world of Lord Voldemort's return to power. Harry can hardly wait to return for this fifth year at Hogwarts, but things are hardly better there. The Defense Against the Arts post has been filled by the most loathsome teacher Harry, Ron, and Hermione have ever had the misfortune to meet. All the while, Harry's dreams are haunted by a long, dark corridor, whose meaning Harry can't even begin to fathom. With the pressures of Ordinary Wizarding Levels (O.W.L.s) and a devastating change to the Gryffindor Quidditch lineup, Harry finds his resilience tested more than ever before.
Book 5 in the Harry Potter series. 896 pages.
Sunday, January 14, 2018
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. RowlingMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
#BecRereads2018
I forgot how clever and amusing this book is, despite some of the heaviness that accompanies it. Well, forgot may be the wrong word. This book just happens to be squashed between my favorite book and the last book, so I think I may have somewhat overlooked how many interesting and important events occur in this story.
It was a pleasure to reread this, and I think of all the 7 books, this is the book I've read the least number of times, which is kind of a shame, since I really do enjoy it.
Book 16 read in 2018
Pages: 651
Tuesday, January 9, 2018
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter, #5)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. RowlingMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
#BecRereads2018
This is still, and will forever be, my favorite Harry Potter book. It contains the most terrible villain I have ever encountered in literature, disguised in a seemingly harmless pink cardigan. And I love it. Always.
Book 9 read in 2018
Pages: 870
Monday, January 1, 2018
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay by J.K. Rowling
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay by J.K. RowlingMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I enjoyed this, as I do everything from this world. Now, I'm off to watch the movie, as I am curious to see if it is good and how similar it is to the screenplay.
Book 1 read in 2018
Pages: 304
Wednesday, December 20, 2017
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter is delighted when he is whisked away from the Dursleys to attend the Quidditch World Cup with his best friend, Ron Weasley, and Ron's family. But when the Dark Mark, the sign of Lord Voldemort and his supporters, is seen in the sky after the match, chaos ensues. When Harry arrives at Hogwarts for his fourth year, things are hardly less complicated. The Triwizard Tournament is set to take place, and three renowned Wizarding schools will battle for first place. It should be fun for Harry---until his name is spewed out of the Goblet of Fire, and he is forced to compete in a tournament he didn't enter. As Harry grapples with the question of who put his name in the Goblet of Fire and why, he finds he must practice, as Professor Moody proclaims, "Constant vigilance!"
Book 4 in the Harry Potter series. 752 pages.
Tuesday, November 28, 2017
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
The escape of Sirius Black, an infamous mass murderer imprisoned in the fortress of Azkaban, has put a damper on Harry Potter's third year at Hogwarts. Black is supposedly after Harry, and now the grounds of Hogwarts are patrolled by dementors, vile creatures who fill those nearby with feelings of hopelessness and despair. But still, life goes on. Harry continues to dominate on the Quidditch field and a cute fourth year has caught his eye. All the while, he never doubts Ron and Hermione, his best friends, have his back. Despite all this, Black's threatening presence continues to loom over Hogwarts and Harry. But if Hogwarts has taught Harry anything, it's that things are not always as they seem.
Book 3 in the Harry Potter series. 435 pages.
Friday, November 17, 2017
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
All Harry wanted to do was get back to Hogwarts. But just as he's happily preparing to leave his aunt and uncle's house, he receives a warning from a strange creature named Dobby, who tells Harry he must not return to school. Soon after his arrival, it becomes clear Harry should have heeded Dobby's warning, as disaster seems to be in the air. There are the usual minor annoyances: the unwanted attention of Ron's younger sister, Ginny; the obnoxiously arrogant new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Gilderoy Lockhart; and a morose ghost named Moaning Myrtle, who hides out in the girls' lavatory. All of these pale in comparison to the sudden attacks that leave many of Hogwarts' Muggle-born population petrified. Who could possibly be behind the vicious attacks? Is it the kind but monster-obsessed Hagrid? What about Draco Malfoy, whose family could easily be related to Salazar Slytherin? Or is it the very person most students suspect---Harry Potter himself?
Book 2 in the Harry Potter series. 341 pages.
Monday, November 13, 2017
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
When Harry Potter, an 11-year-old orphan, discovers he is a
wizard and is whisked away to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he is
elated to escape his neglectful aunt and uncle. Even within the Wizarding
community, Harry is famous, albeit for something he cannot recall: As a baby,
he mysteriously managed to defeat Lord Voldemort, the Darkest wizard ever to
haunt the Wizarding world. Not everything is perfect, however. The walls of
Hogwarts contain secrets of their own, including an object known as the
Sorcerer's Stone. But Harry is determined the Stone will not fall into the
wrong hands, and in his desire to protect the Stone and those he loves, Harry
comes face to face with terrifying forces beyond his wildest dreams.
Book 1 in the Harry Potter series. 320 pages.
Friday, September 22, 2017
SHORT STORIES
On Wednesday, I did the math and realized that I was going to have to read 97 books in 102 days to catch up on my Goodreads 2017 Reading Challenge. That's the problem with setting a huge goal. If you accidentally go through a 2 month reading slump, you fall behind fast. The good side to setting a big goal is that you typically read far more books than you would have without it.
Anyway, long story short, someone posted a link for me on Twitter to short reads: https://ebookfriendly.com/best-short-books/. Then I followed up by digging around at my 4 libraries (online), to see what else I could unearth.
Here are the end results, with varying degrees of success and satisfaction:
The Snows of Kilimanjaro by Ernest Hemingway
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
Well, I think the 1 star rating makes it clear that I hate this. Some people call this Hemingway's best work. I think it's a pretentious piece of crap that lacks emotion, a storyline, and decent characters.
It is poorly edited and extremely sexist (in the most boring sort of way), and yes, I understand this was a popular failure of men from this time period. It basically hates on women, remarking on their stupidity and worthlessness about every third paragraph. Every second paragraph is endless rambling about writing and being a writer that even I, as someone who writes, couldn't care about.
The whole short story is full of nonsense that I feel pretty sure he wrote while drunk (Hopefully. If not, then I'm actually embarrassed for him). Then I suspect he fell so in love with his own rambling sentences that he didn't bother to edit decently once sober.
It's basically a telling montage with one irritating run on sentence after another, and it's not even interesting or insightful. There are no surprises here, except how much I hate this short story and wish I hadn't wasted my time finishing it. Don't expect to feel any emotion while reading it, other than general irritation and boredom. This is tedious. Thank goodness it was short, so the suffering was limited.
Also, I'm actually feeling sad that people from this time period apparently didn't have anything better to read than this, if it's considered a classic and some of his best work. I wish I could make a quantum leap back through time to carry the people something insightful, forwarding thinking, emotionally resonant, and unique. Instead, all they got was this boring montage built around a dislike of women, a fear of death, and condescending ideas about art and creation.
Pages: 25
The Case of the Caretaker: A Short Story by Agatha Christie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is a charming little formulaic mystery. It took a minute to capture my attention.
It also used a word I had never seen or heard before, which almost never happens. The word was acidulated. I had to look it up, which amused me.
Pages: 40
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
It's a relief that I don't hate this, as I have many other classic short stories that I've been reading lately. There is some actually storytelling here, even though is is a bit convoluted at times and often does more telling than showing. The concept is excellent, and the start is good. The middle lags, and the end is all telling. Overall, though, it's not a bad read. I obviously knew the general story going in, so that may have taken away some of the intrigue and surprise.
Pages: 144
Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is one instance where I watched the movie years before reading the book. I love the movie, in the kind of way you love something that cracks open your chest, rips out your heart, throws it on the ground, and the stomps it into nothing.
So needless to say, it's a favorite movie that I watch when I want to cry my eyes out and feel sullen for the rest of the night.
The book is good, and it reminds me a lot of the movie. I actually think this is one instance where the movie might portray the story better, because the book is so short that there isn't time to create the same level of emotion. Surprisingly, a lot of the dialogue is the same, and they stayed really true to the story.
I guess I'm going to have to throw away my "The book is always better" shirt. . . My hypothesis has been disproven.
Pages: 55
Further Adventures of Carlotta Carlyle: Three Mystery Stories by Linda Barnes
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is a decent collection of novellas, but there are too many typos. If it had less typos, I would give it a 4th star.
I love this author and series. My mother got me hooked on reading them years ago. However, I like the full length novels far better than this collection of short stories. They're not exactly necessary to the storyline or series, so only read them if you love the MC.
Pages: 37
Very Good Lives: The Fringe Benefits of Failure and the Importance of Imagination by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I confess that I don't even remember who spoke at my commencement. This is far more likely to stick with me, and if I were wise, I'd read it again, upon occasion, to remind myself to appreciate both my imagination and failures.
Pages: 74
The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
At times, this is interesting and intelligent, and it made me think. Despite that, I didn’t really enjoy it, because there are other times when it’s tedious and flaky. It lost me at the lengthy section on motherhood. I was fading a bit before that, but I came back around for the part that talks about writing letters.
Part of the problem may be that I didn’t realize it was a memoir, and that’s a genre I’m not necessarily drawn to. There are some memoirs that I have read with rapt fascination, but there are others that are just messy and narcissistic in a way that makes me want to roll my eyes. This falls somewhere in between for me.
She’s too busy gliding across the surface, portraying a sense of chaos that is life, that she never digs deep enough on the things that interest me most. She just flits away again. Then she digs deep on other things that are boring and just her spilling out her inner-monologue which isn’t nearly as interesting as her thoughtful arguments and suggestions. But I can tell she thinks it is interesting which is a bit off-putting.
It’s very hard to describe this story, and I think it’s clear that I’m struggling to review it. I don’t hate it, but I also don’t like it. I find it fascinating but also annoying. There’s some insights here to make you think but other sections that make you feel like your brain has rotted and will fall out of your head.
Overall, I think I was both bored and impatient with this story. I don’t exactly recommend it, because that would be like recommending a myriad of things that may actually have some benefit for me but that I don’t exactly enjoy, such as visiting the dentist for a filling or yoga (kmn).
Pages: 143
The bad news is that I didn't love some of these. The good news is that now I only need to read 90 books in the next 100 days. I'm not sure that's more manageable, but I'm going to try to manage it by reading what I want, going forward, instead of worrying about catching up.
Anyway, long story short, someone posted a link for me on Twitter to short reads: https://ebookfriendly.com/best-short-books/. Then I followed up by digging around at my 4 libraries (online), to see what else I could unearth.
Here are the end results, with varying degrees of success and satisfaction:
The Snows of Kilimanjaro by Ernest HemingwayMy rating: 1 of 5 stars
Well, I think the 1 star rating makes it clear that I hate this. Some people call this Hemingway's best work. I think it's a pretentious piece of crap that lacks emotion, a storyline, and decent characters.
It is poorly edited and extremely sexist (in the most boring sort of way), and yes, I understand this was a popular failure of men from this time period. It basically hates on women, remarking on their stupidity and worthlessness about every third paragraph. Every second paragraph is endless rambling about writing and being a writer that even I, as someone who writes, couldn't care about.
The whole short story is full of nonsense that I feel pretty sure he wrote while drunk (Hopefully. If not, then I'm actually embarrassed for him). Then I suspect he fell so in love with his own rambling sentences that he didn't bother to edit decently once sober.
It's basically a telling montage with one irritating run on sentence after another, and it's not even interesting or insightful. There are no surprises here, except how much I hate this short story and wish I hadn't wasted my time finishing it. Don't expect to feel any emotion while reading it, other than general irritation and boredom. This is tedious. Thank goodness it was short, so the suffering was limited.
Also, I'm actually feeling sad that people from this time period apparently didn't have anything better to read than this, if it's considered a classic and some of his best work. I wish I could make a quantum leap back through time to carry the people something insightful, forwarding thinking, emotionally resonant, and unique. Instead, all they got was this boring montage built around a dislike of women, a fear of death, and condescending ideas about art and creation.
Pages: 25
The Case of the Caretaker: A Short Story by Agatha ChristieMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is a charming little formulaic mystery. It took a minute to capture my attention.
It also used a word I had never seen or heard before, which almost never happens. The word was acidulated. I had to look it up, which amused me.
Pages: 40
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis StevensonMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
It's a relief that I don't hate this, as I have many other classic short stories that I've been reading lately. There is some actually storytelling here, even though is is a bit convoluted at times and often does more telling than showing. The concept is excellent, and the start is good. The middle lags, and the end is all telling. Overall, though, it's not a bad read. I obviously knew the general story going in, so that may have taken away some of the intrigue and surprise.
Pages: 144
Brokeback Mountain by Annie ProulxMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is one instance where I watched the movie years before reading the book. I love the movie, in the kind of way you love something that cracks open your chest, rips out your heart, throws it on the ground, and the stomps it into nothing.
So needless to say, it's a favorite movie that I watch when I want to cry my eyes out and feel sullen for the rest of the night.
The book is good, and it reminds me a lot of the movie. I actually think this is one instance where the movie might portray the story better, because the book is so short that there isn't time to create the same level of emotion. Surprisingly, a lot of the dialogue is the same, and they stayed really true to the story.
I guess I'm going to have to throw away my "The book is always better" shirt. . . My hypothesis has been disproven.
Pages: 55
Further Adventures of Carlotta Carlyle: Three Mystery Stories by Linda BarnesMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is a decent collection of novellas, but there are too many typos. If it had less typos, I would give it a 4th star.
I love this author and series. My mother got me hooked on reading them years ago. However, I like the full length novels far better than this collection of short stories. They're not exactly necessary to the storyline or series, so only read them if you love the MC.
Pages: 37
Very Good Lives: The Fringe Benefits of Failure and the Importance of Imagination by J.K. RowlingMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I confess that I don't even remember who spoke at my commencement. This is far more likely to stick with me, and if I were wise, I'd read it again, upon occasion, to remind myself to appreciate both my imagination and failures.
Pages: 74
The Argonauts by Maggie NelsonMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
At times, this is interesting and intelligent, and it made me think. Despite that, I didn’t really enjoy it, because there are other times when it’s tedious and flaky. It lost me at the lengthy section on motherhood. I was fading a bit before that, but I came back around for the part that talks about writing letters.
Part of the problem may be that I didn’t realize it was a memoir, and that’s a genre I’m not necessarily drawn to. There are some memoirs that I have read with rapt fascination, but there are others that are just messy and narcissistic in a way that makes me want to roll my eyes. This falls somewhere in between for me.
She’s too busy gliding across the surface, portraying a sense of chaos that is life, that she never digs deep enough on the things that interest me most. She just flits away again. Then she digs deep on other things that are boring and just her spilling out her inner-monologue which isn’t nearly as interesting as her thoughtful arguments and suggestions. But I can tell she thinks it is interesting which is a bit off-putting.
It’s very hard to describe this story, and I think it’s clear that I’m struggling to review it. I don’t hate it, but I also don’t like it. I find it fascinating but also annoying. There’s some insights here to make you think but other sections that make you feel like your brain has rotted and will fall out of your head.
Overall, I think I was both bored and impatient with this story. I don’t exactly recommend it, because that would be like recommending a myriad of things that may actually have some benefit for me but that I don’t exactly enjoy, such as visiting the dentist for a filling or yoga (kmn).
Pages: 143
The bad news is that I didn't love some of these. The good news is that now I only need to read 90 books in the next 100 days. I'm not sure that's more manageable, but I'm going to try to manage it by reading what I want, going forward, instead of worrying about catching up.
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling
The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. RowlingMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is an amusing set of short stories for the true HP fan, with commentary on the stories from Dumbledore. They're the HP version of fairytales. Ridiculously fun.
Pages: 128
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts One and Two by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts One and Two by J.K. RowlingMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
So it's a script and not a book. I say get over it. If JK wants to write a Harry Potter magazine or brochure, I would read that too. I enjoy every little taste of this world, and these characters, that I get.
Pages: 320
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