Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling

Summary: J. K. Rowling continues her phenomenally popular Harry Potter series with yet another tale of magic, mirth, and mayhem. Like its predecessor, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is chock-full of fascinating characters, frightful events, and fun wizardry.p

The Dursleys were so mean and hideous that summer that all Harry Potter wanted was to get back to the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and WIzardry. But just as he's packing his bags, Harry receives a warning from a strange, impish creature named Dobby who says that if Harry Potter returns to Hogwarts, disaster will strike.

And strike it does. For in Harry's second year at Hogwarts, fresh torments and horrors arise, including an outrageously stuck-up new professor, Gilderoy Lockhart, a spirit named Moaning Myrtle who haunts the girl's bathroom, and the unwanted attentions of Ron Weasley's younger sister, Ginny.

But each of these seem minor annoyances when the real trouble begins, and someone - or something - starts turning Hogwarts students to stone. Could it be Draco Malfoy, a more poisonous rival than ever? Could it possibly be Hagrid, whose mysterious past is finally told? Or could it be the one everyone at Hogwarts most suspects... Harry Potter himself?

Review:  Why does everyone always hate on Chamber of Secrets...? It's one of my favorites (of the books, not the movies; the movie is awful). Seriously, though. Creepy voices in the wall talking about blood, slaughtered roosters, people turned into stone, and "her skeleton will lie in the chamber forever"? That's some legitimate scary, there. Not to mention two of my favorite lines: "I expect I was hopeless, was I?" and "Never trust something that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain!" (Words to live by.)

Admitedly, I wasn't into the death-day party, or the Polyjuice potion. And the Quidditch was kind of uninspiring in this one. But I love seeing how things that seem insignificant or sufficiently explained come back to be SUPER important later, and I think Chamber of Secrets does an excellent job of setting the stage for serious stuff to go down later, while also being pretty kick-A in its own right.

Goodreads Shelves:  addictive, bechdel-test, fluffy, funny, is-a-movie, my-kind-of-woman, pretentious

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Illusions by Aprilynne Pike

Summary: Laurel hasn't seen Tamani since she begged him to let her go last year. Though her heart still aches, Laurel is confident that David was the right choice.

But just as life is returning to normal, Laurel discovers that a hidden enemy lies in wait. Once again, Laurel must turn to Tamani to protect and guide her, for the danger that now threatens Avalon is one that no faerie thought would ever be possible. And for the first time, Laurel cannot be sure that her side will prevail.

Review:  I... yes, I did. I did it. I read it.

These books are unusual in that I'm not entirely sure I like them, but I somehow can't put them down once I've started them. It happens every time. I JUST HAVE TO KEEP READING.

It might be because they're very EASY to read. So I start reading, and before I know it I've read fifty pages without noticing it.

I'm not super into Laurel. Not in the way I'm not into Katniss, which is a far more violent way. But I'm just kind of blah about her. I am glad about the David thing, though. And I'm glad about the Tamani thing, too. I mean, she's what, sixteen? Or thereabouts? You don't have to be tied down, kid. Just let it go.

And stuff.

Anyway, if you're into fairies, this one's for you.

Oh also, there seems to be a problem with my copy, wherein it was missing like a chapter at the end. That, or the book was a huge cliffhanger. :(

Goodreads Shelves:  addictive, bechdel-test, fluffy, is-this-a-kissing-book, pretentious

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Outdoing Myself

So my quest to start blogging again came from two sources. First was one of the books I'm reading (review to come), and second was when I got a Goodreads invitation to this challenge over at The Book Vixen. So I guess I'm signing up!

Last year, my official book count was 9. :( Admittedly, I'm pretty sure I read more than 9 books last year. But that was my count according to my Goodreads Reading Challenge, and I'm gonna stand by it. That being said, I'm pretty sure I can beat 9!

My official goal for the 2014 Goodreads Reading Challenge is 25, but to give myself a little wiggle room, I'm gonna enter this challenge in the "Out of breath" category, which makes my goal 15-19 books.

Wish me luck!

The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer

Summary: When Sophy goes to stay with her cousins in Berkeley Square, she finds them in a sad tangle of affairs – some romantic and others of a more pecuniary nature. Perhaps the Grand Sophy has arrived just in time to save them.

Review: Yeah... Sophy's pretty awesome. I'm kind of a fan.

This is my first Georgette Heyer book; I wasn't sure what to expect, going in. But I liked it a lot.

The characters were great; I loved how Sophy just took charge of everything around her. Definitely my kind of woman.

Goodreads Shelves: bechdel-test, fluffy, funny, is-or-would-be-a-good-movie, is-this-a-kissing-book, my-kind-of-woman, nook-adult 


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Housekeeping Note

So after I made my decision to resurrect this blog, I came over and looked at it... only to discover three entire posts I'd written but never put up!! WHAT the WHAT?!

So the next few reviews are those. I read them (and wrote the reviews) about two years ago, and I now post them for your enjoyment. Easily identifiable by the label "blast from the past."

Apology, of sorts.

Dear everyone,

I was in fact intending to apologize, and tell you that I'm sorry that I stopped blogging for two years for no apparent reason.

But I have a firm belief that this is my blog, and I don't have to explain myself to people. If I stop posting, you can (and did, I'm sure) easily read other blogs. Blogs that probably review the same books I read/would have read.

So there's that.

That being said, I do in fact feel bad that I stopped posting on my book blog for no apparent reason. So... I'm sorry. :/

One of my New Years resolutions this year is to revive my book blog, though. So here I am. Resuscitating it. Wish me luck?

Love,
J

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Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson

Summary (via Goodreads): "Scarlett Martin has grown up in a most unusual way. Her family owns the Hopewell, a small Art Deco hotel in the heart of New York City. When each of the Martins turns fifteen, they are expected to take over the care of a suite. For Scarlett's fifteenth birthday, she gets both a room called the Empire Suite and a permanent guest named Mrs. Amberson. Scarlett doesn't quite know what to make of this C-list starlet and world traveler.

And when she meets Eric, an astonishingly gorgeous actor who has just moved to the city, her summer takes a second unexpected turn.

Before the summer is over, Scarlett will have to survive a whirlwind of thievery and romantic missteps. But in the city where anything can happen, she just might be able to pull it off."

Review: So my quest to read everything by Maureen Johnson continues.

Suite Scarlett is a SUPER cute book, with an awesome coming-of-age for Scarlett. I like these stories Johnson writes, about someone older and with fewer inhibitions taking someone younger under her wing. Scarlett's adventures at the hands of Mrs. Amberson are fun, enlightening, and make me totally jealous. Why can't I live in a hotel in New York and work on the play my older brother is in??

I also like how none of the characters are stereotypes. Well, Marlene could use a little more depth, I daresay, because right now all I think of her as is a demon-child, but I understand this is a trilogy. So there's time. (Although she does come through at the end. So there's that.) But I LOVE Lola. It would have been so easy to make Lola a total stock character of the Beautiful variety, but instead she's an actual PERSON who makes choices and gets fired and has bad days. And is awesome.

I will now be reading the rest of the trilogy.

Goodreads Shelves: addictive, bechdel-test, fluffy, funny, is-or-would-be-a-good-movie, is-this-a-kissing-book, my-kind-of-woman, thought-provoking

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Moneyball by Michael Lewis

Summary (via Goodreads): "Moneyball is a quest for something as elusive as the Holy Grail, something that money apparently can't buy: the secret of success in baseball. The logical places to look would be the front offices of major league teams and the dugouts, perhaps even in the minds of the players themselves. Lewis mines all these possibilities - his intimate and original portraits of big league ballplayers are alone worth the price of admission - but the real jackpot is a cache of numbers - numbers! - collected over the years by a strange brotherhood of amateur baseball enthusiasts: software engineers, statisticians, Wall Street analysts, lawyers, and physics professors." "What these geek numbers show - no, prove - is that the traditional yardsticks of success for players and teams are fatally flawed. Even the box score misleads us by ignoring the crucial importance of the humble base on balls. This information has been around for years, and nobody inside Major League Baseball paid it any mind. And then came Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland Athletics." Billy paid attention to those numbers - with the second-lowest payroll in baseball at his disposal he had to - and this book records his astonishing experiment in finding and fielding a team that nobody else wanted. Moneyball is a roller coaster ride : before the 2002 season opens, Oakland must relinquish its three most prominent (and expensive) players, is written off by just about everyone, and comes roaring back to challenge the American League record for consecutive wins."

Review: FASCINATING stuff. I read this book because my husband asked me to, in honor of the movie's release (today, in fact). I finished it in a week, which is impressive considering that I just started a new job, can't read after 6 or so (when it gets too dark to read - the lighting in my apartment is WAY crappy), and am pretty addicted to Netflix.

The way Billy Beane is portrayed is really interesting - he's not necessarily a genius, he's just frustrated with a system that doesn't seem to be working. At all. So he finds a way, not to overhaul the system, but to take advantage of the problems with it to create a winning baseball team. Which I love. The metaphor keeps getting thrown out that he's counting cards at the blackjack table, and Lewis drives home that metaphor.

Overall, fascinating story. Well told.

Goodreads Shelves: addictive, i-feel-so-smart-now, nook-adult, read, thought-provoking

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Oh, and here's the trailer for the movie. You're welcome.

Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery

Summary: "At sixteen Anne is grown up. . . almost. Her gray eyes shine like evening stars, but her red hair is still as peppery as her temper. In the years since she arrived at Green Gables as a freckle-faced orphan, she has earned the love of the people of Avonlea and a reputation for getting into scrapes. But when Anne begins her job as the new schoolteacher, the real test of her character begins. Along with teaching the three Rs, she is learning how complicated life can be when she meddles in someone else's romance, finds two new orphans at Green Gables, and wonders about the strange behavior of the very handsome Gilbert Blythe. As Anne enters womanhood, her adventures touch the heart and the funny bone."

Review: Cute, y'all. The Anne-girl's antics continue... Anne is growing up in this book, and I find I'm pretty ok with it. She's still cute and spunky, but she's also graceful and adored by children everywhere.

One of my issues, I guess, is that the book is REALLY episodic. Which, admittedly, is how life is. But there weren't really any huge overarching storylines, I thought. Things happened, and then life went back to normal, and then other things happened. And life went back to normal again.

Also, I REALLY wish some of these characters had made it into the movie. Mr. Harrison and the twins, to be specific. Paul Irving I can take or leave, but DAVY! WHERE WAS DAVY.

Goodreads Shelves: my-kind-of-woman, nook-classics, bechdel-test, addictive, fluffy, is-a-movie, is-or-would-be-a-good-movie, is-this-a-kissing-book

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Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

Summary: "Everyone's favorite redhead, the spunky Anne Shirley, begins her adventures at Green Gables, a farm outside Avonlea, Prince Edward Island. When the freckled girl realizes that the elderly Cuthberts wanted to adopt a boy instead, she begins to try to win them and, consequently, the reader, over."

Review: I had forgotten how cute a book this was, and how fast a read. I... like that the movie combines so much of it. Most of the stories from the book are in the movie, but they put them together, so that like three things happen at once. And I'm pretty ok with it.

Anne is spunky and cute, and I really like L.M. Montgomery's writing style. So, that was fun. :)

Goodreads Shelves: is-a-movie, is-or-would-be-a-good-movie, thought-provoking, addictive, my-kind-of-woman, nook-lend-me, nook-classics, bechdel-test

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