Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azcaban – J. K. Rowling

Synopsis – When Harry and his best friends go back for their third year at Hogwarts, the atmosphere is tense. There’s an escaped mass-murderer on the loose and the sinister prison guards of Azkaban have been called in to guard the school. Lessons, however, must go on and there are lots of new subjects in third year – Care of Magical Creatures and Divination among others – to take Harry’s mind off things!

 

My Thoughts – I am slowly dipping in and out of The Harry Potter Series and after a couple of months i have finished Harry Potter and the Prisoner Of Azcaban. I have re-read this book probably about 50 or so times, because this is my favourite book of the series. I do understand how others say that this book doesnt fit in with all the others. It is the only book not to feature Voldemort directly, he is only mentioned, but i feel that the series would not make any sense without this book. It is kind of the stepping stone between the very child like and slim first couple of books and the very much larger and more dark next four books.

 

I enjoy the story of this book, while there is a mass murderer on the loose there is still the magic of the world of Harry Potter. Hogwarts is still there, with the dementors guarding it now, and the village of Hogsmead is introduced too. One of my favourite chapters is also introduced in this book Professor Lupin, I love him and his wise words and the mystery surrounding his illness in this book.

 

I find it very difficult to write my thoughts on the Harry Potter series, as i enjoy them so much. Basically if you havent read them, do. If you have read them, read them again.

 

I am excited that J. K. Rowling is writing a new book, i knew in my heart of hearts that it wouldnt be another book in this series, but there will always be a little part of me that wishes that there will be.

 

Rating – 5/5

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WWW Wednesdays (29th Feb)

WWW Wednesdays is a weekly bookish meme held over on Should Be Reading. To play along just answer the following questions.

What are you currently reading?

In book form I’m currently reading the very beautiful Emotional Geology by Linda Gillard. This book is so beautifully written and i keep getting lost in the poetic language of the book. I love the twists and turns of this book, i cant wait to get lost in it again tonight.

In kindle form I’m reading I Want it Know! by Julie Dawn Cole. This book is a memoir set on the set of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, it is the character of Veruca Salt that is used in this book. This is a brilliant insight into life on a film set, with lots of illustrations.

What did you recently finish reading?

In book form i finished Mistress Mashams Repose by T.H. White. I really enjoyed this book, its been a little while since i read a children’s story and it was a welcome return. It has also made me want to read Gulliver’s Travels, of which this book is loosely set.

In kindle form i finished Out of Time by Deborah Truscott. I really did enjoy this book too a perfect mix of romance, fantasy and historical fiction. Even better was i picked this up as a kindle freebie and im so glad that i did.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Next up is the choice for the March reading circle, Pied Piper by Neville Shute. I really should have started this sooner, but oh well!

Out of Time – Deborah Truscott

Started – 12/2/12

Finished – 25/2/12

Format – Kindle e-book

 

Synopsis – Kathleen Findlay is married to a cad, her mother is driving her crazy and her life is falling apart. Then her uncle dies, leaving her the family’s Revolutionary-era home and, she believes, an escape from her chaotic marriage. But one afternoon, while searching for a rake, she discovers a man in her garden shed — and a free fall through the centuries.

As her life spins wildly out of control, Kathleen finds her heart and in the process, her own place in time.

 

My Thoughts – This was on offer in the kindle store so i decided to download this and give it a go. This book is basically three books in one. It is fantasy, romance and historical fiction. To start with i almost gave up on this book, but i am so glad that i didnt, although it had quite a slow start it went on to be a really good book.

 

Basically Kathleen (or Kathy) finds a man in a garden shed (Robert) who has fallen through time. Then there is all sorts of issues, how did he get there, why is he there and what happens now that he is? I thought that this was delt with really well and it really hooked me in. There is also a huge element of mystery within the book, who is making the mystery calls? why was the door left open? who is the man in the car? These questions really kept me reading.

 

I am not sure if the historical facts are acurate, i never studied that era in American history, but it sounds pretty acurate and the detail that the author went into about this time period was fascinating.

 

The ending was brilliant, i never saw that part of the story coming and thought it was the perfect ending for this book. Unfortunatly, the author hasnt written anything else, as far as my searches will allow, which is a shame because this book is good.

 

Rating – 4/5

I’m back!

Yesterday was the first day that i was able to get back on my laptop. I have been feeling very ill for the last 10 days or so, i had a horrible cold (one that i still cant seem to shake off) and a horrible bug that just made me feel sick the whole time. I just couldnt face sitting on a computer at all and reading was out of the question too, i couldnt pick a book up until friday night.

Thankfully now I’m feeling better and catching up with the world of blogging and books, i just feel like i have missed out on so much. I have a couple of book reviews to post over the next couple of days too, hope everyone is well 😀

Its Monday! What are you Reading? (27th Feb)

I’m back! This is my first post in over 10 days, I’ve been really poorly and have hardly had any reading time or netbook time. Only over the weekend have i picked my books and kindle back up and started to read again.

Books Read

I finished Mistress Mashams Repose by T.H. White in book form. It seems like such a long time ago that i read this, but in fact its only a couple of weeks. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it alot.

Also in book form i finished Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azcaban by J. K. Rowling. This is my favourite book of the whole series and i just find that i love to re-read the whole series

On my kindle i finished Out of Time by Deborah Truscott. I did really enjoy this book, it had a lot of twists and turns but there were several parts that could hae been cut out.

Currently Reading

In book form i am reading Emotional Geology by Linda Gillard. I’m not all that far into it, but its written very poetically.

In kindle form I’m reading I Want it Now! by Julie Dawn Cole. Its a memoir set on the set of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Its very good.

Reading Next

Next up is the March choice for the reading circle Pied Piper by Neville Shute. I havent heard of this book before so it will be new if nothing else.

 

Sorry for the rushed post with no images, but am trying to catch up on everything 😦

Booking Through Thursday – Fan Fiction

A while ago, I interviewed my readers for a change, and my final question was, “What question have I NOT asked at BTT that you’d love me to ask?” I got some great responses and will be picking out some of the questions from time to time to ask the rest of you. Like now.

 

Pepca asks

Have you every written any fan-fiction? If yes, why and for which book(s)? If no, would you like to and for which books(s)?

 

For that matter, do you ever READ fan-fiction??

 

Now, i was thinking about this the other day. I’d love to write some sort of fan fiction properly, having had to do it once for a school project. We studied the book Holes by Louis Sachar, but this was way before the movie was released and became so famous. We had to write a short story about what happens to the children once they had left Camp Green Lake. Now, I read this back a couple of years ago and it was nothing short of terrible. But, in my defence, I was only about 11 or 12 at the time.

I’d like to write something, but i think it would have to be done very carefully because i wouldn’t want to disrespect the original book in any way. I’m not sure what sort of book i would like to use, but it wouldn’t be anything really popular like the Harry Potter series or Twilight, just because they are so popular and people are so  familiar with them.

I read a little bit on a couple of blogs sometimes, but its not something that i do religiously.

 

Mistress Masham’s Repose – T. H. White

Started – 10/2/12

Finished – 15/2/12

Format – Paperback

 

Challenges – BCF February Reading Circle

1001 children’s Books You Must Read

 

Synopsis – Ten-year-old orphan Maria lives in her ancestors’ crumbling mansion, with warm-hearted Cook and the eccentric Professor as her only friends. Exploring the grounds one day, Maria discovers a wild, half-forgotten island in the middle of a neglected lake – and an extraordinary secret. For the island is home to a community of tiny people – the Lilliputians that Gulliver first met on his famous travels.

 

But as Maria grows closer to her new friends, her own life is in grave danger. Her wicked governess and the cruel vicar are plotting to steal her rightful inheritance – and they will stop at nothing. How can Maria keep the Lilliputians safe, while protecting herself?

 

My Thoughts – I picked this book up because it was the book of choice for the reading circle for February. I thought that it sounded lile a really good book and would that would really hook me in. This book is based on Gulliver’s Travels, a book that i have not yet read, but do have on my TBR pile. I did enjoy this book, however the writing of it was a little bit strange. I know that it was written in 1947, but it wasnt that the language was old, more a little weird. I liked how the little peoples world was described, i would love to visit that world and see how different it is to our world.

 

I liked, than disliked, then liked again the main character of Maria. I thought to start with she came across as a poor little orphan, something that does seem quite prominent in books that i am reading at the minute. Once she started to boss the little people about i really disliked her, she was being a horrible little jealous child. However, once she had snapped out of the phase she became likeable again.

 

You had your typical good guys and bad guys in this book. The good, The Professor and the Cook, and the bad, The Vicar and The Governess. This was quite a good part to the story and how the bad guys wanted to steal the little people.

 

Of course, what with it being a children’s story it has the everyone lives happily ever after ending, which was a good part to this story and i dont think that any other ending would have worked with this book.

 

I enjoyed this book, it was a nice children’s story and i really liked the little people in this story. The only downside was the strange writing, which at times i found difficult to get into.

 

Rating –  3.5/5