Bout of Books - Day 4 Recap

Happy Friday!  I can't believe it's Friday already, but here we are. Anyway - here's my recap for Thursday: Day 4 of Bout of Books!

The books I am currently reading:

The Books I've Finished:

And the count:

Books Started: 3

Books Finished: 1

Pages Read on Thursday: 95

Total Pages Read: 438

Now friends, let's play a game!  It's time for "If you like this, try this!"

If you like Divergent and other YA Dystopian fantasy, try Legend, by Marie Lu.  (Trust me, you will fall in love with Day and June!)

If you like books about magic, try Freeks, by Amanda Hocking.  (It was just released a couple days ago.  I read it as an ARC, and it reminded me of AHS: Freak Show.)  

Book Club Picks - Back to School

Hi y'all!  It's September (and holy crap where on earth did the rest of 2016 go?!)  Kids are back to school, and every parent who doesn't homeschool is heaving a collective sigh of relief right about now!  But, we're not here to talk about kids - we're here to talk about books!  And in the spirit of school and reading, here are some books that relate to school in some way that you all just HAVE to read in your book clubs.  Have fun!

 The Outsiders - S.E. Hinton 

How could one resist this classic of drama, rivalry, and a little schooling between gangs.  Read it (if you haven't already.)  There's so much for any book club to talk about.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - J.K. Rowling

Technically a kids book, but still - who could resist the book that started it all?!  Book clubs with readers of any age are sure to delight in the back to school antics of Harry and Friends.

Stargirl - Jerry Spinelli

This angsty book about a weird girl in a school full of kids who deem themselves normal is the perfect back to school book.  Read it for your book club, then share it with your teens!  Everyone will love it.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky 

This book deals with some pretty heavy shit (including teen suicide) but it's a must read on the school book list.  Don't be fooled by how short this book is - there is more than enough going on to keep your book club talking.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard

Those of you familiar with the world of Harry Potter have undoubtedly heard of and/or read The Tales of Beedle The Bard.  This cute, fun collection of stories is based in the wizarding world. 

There are five stories in this book:
*The Wizard and the Hopping Pot
*The Fountain of Fair Fortune
*The Warlock's Hairy Heart
*Babbity Rabbity and her Cackling Stump
*The Tale of the three Brothers

The stories are read to wizard kids in the hopes of presenting wizards in a good light, since so many muggle stories tend to make witches and wizards look bad.  The stories fit well with the rest of the Harry Potter books, and give the reader some more insight into what the wizarding world is like.

The Wizard and the Hopping Pot is about a wizard whose father has passed away.  The wizard does not want to help people the way his father did.  He learns, however, through soe magical events with his cauldron, that helping others is really the best thing he can do!

The Fountain of Fair Fortune teaches kids about love and perseverance.  It's a wonderful tale for kids of all ages.

The Warlock's Hairy Heart is a tale about greed and hate, and is best read by more mature readers.

Babbity Rabbity and Her Cackling Stump teaches kids about the importance of helping others and teaches that we should not be arrogant about what we can achieve or who we are.

The Tale of the Three Brothers is a story that any Harry Potter fan is familiar with.  It is a great story that teaches that we all pass sometimes and that we should help each other however we can.

These are stories I would recommend to any Harry Potter fan, young or old! 

The {October} 24 Hour Read-A-Thon

Well, folks, it's September.  That means in just a couple weeks (on October 12th, to be exact) I will be doing the 24 hour readathon again!  I can't wait!  Now, I never promise that I'll make it through the entire 24 hours, but I'll sure try.  As long as I get a chance to read as late into the night as I can make it, I'm a happy camper!  I haven't finalized my list yet, but here are some of the books I am going to read during this October's readathon!

 

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone 

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Artemis Fowl

Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident

The Hunger Games

Catching Fire

Mockingjay

Fruits Basket Vol. 1 - 4

Me & My Brothers Vol. 1 - 4

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EDIT

  I have decided to add a few more books to my 24 hour read-a-thon pile!  (I was browsing through the library and found some books that look irresistible).

Planet Ladder - Vol. 1-2

 

 

Platinum Garden - Vol. 1-2

 

Chibi Vampire - Vol. 1-2

 

Wicked Jealous

 

Withering Tights 

And the award for slow reading goes to...

I feel like I am reading very slowly today. So far I have:

*Finished Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
*Finished Volume 1 of Kare Kono.
*Started Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Before the night is through (or before I fall asleep from exhaustion) I would like to:

*Complete Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
*Read Kare Kono Volume #2
*Read Percy Jackson and The Lightening Thief
*Read Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

I feel like I am being very ambitious, however, because I was up late last night scrapbooking with some friends, so I am a titch on the tired side today. I will, however, read as long as I can manage to stay awake. Since I want to read as much as possible, This will be my last blog post for today, but I will be (infrequently) around the twittersphere!

Happy Reading!

It all started with the cupboard under the stairs...

...And ended with the death that would change the wizard world. Yep, I'm talking about Harry Potter. 11 years ago I bought Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I was hooked from page one and promptly went out and purchased The Chamber of Secrets, The Prisoner of Azkaban and The Goblet of Fire. I read them all with complete abandon.

After finishing The Goblet of Fire I waited very impatiently for The Order of the Phoenix, The Half Blood Prince and The Deathly Hallows to come out. I devoured them. I cried at the loss of favorite characters. When they were sad I was sad. When they were happy, I was. I sat in the Great Hall with them. I watched Harry, Ron and Hermione drink polyjuice potion, fight a troll, find the deathly hallows, destroy a prophecy and kill Lord Voldemort.

Last Friday at midnight I joined millions of Harry Potter fans for a final hurrah to Harry as HP and The Deathly Hallows part 2 came out in movie theaters. I watched everything I had read in the book came to life on the big screen. I watched Maggie Smith as Professor McGonagall bringing statues to life. I watched Neville Longbottom running from the snatchers and killed Nagini. I watched as Hermione, Ron and Harry stole into the room of requirement and destroyed Rowena Ravenclaws diadem. I watched as Snape, the death eater turned Potter supporter lost his life. And I watched as Harry fought the battle to end all battles and killed Lord Voldemort.

After 11 long, fantastic, joyful and tear filled years, my parting words are these: Thank you Jo Rowling for providing millions of fans with such an amazing world and bringing its characters to life. Hogwarts will not be forgotten.

Harry Potter

So, after a long night last night babysitting for some friends, I was wondering if I was going to be able to pop out of bed this morning to start the readathon on time. But thanks to my lovely phone blaring The Pretender by the Foo Fighters and my friend coffee, I was up and at em in time. I started reading Love, Stargirl and have read about 20 pages so far, but decided that for a bit, until my head is completely awake, I am going to listen to Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire.

I love all the HP books. They are just fantastic! So far, I am really digging Love, Stargirl as well. I think that I will finish that one quickly but already have a feeling I'll like it. Anyway, hope you are all enjoying the readathon so far!

More updates later :)

Harry Potter - Books to beat all

Okay, so for those who do not know me, I am obsessed with Harry Potter. Yeah, I know it's a childrens series, but these books are freaking amazing! So, these are my sort of must read recommendations for the day. Really they are for upper elementary and junior high kids, but anyone older than that should read them as well, because they are great!!!!! The books in the series are:

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows