Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling-Review

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Making progress in my re-read of Harry Potter!  Just finished book 4.  Here is the goodreads description of the book:

The summer holidays are dragging on and Harry Potter can't wait for the start of the school year. It is his fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and there are spells to be learnt, potions to be brewed and Divination lessons (sigh) to be attended. Harry is expecting these: however, other quite unexpected events are already on the march...

Well I am on my way...almost done with the series. I plan on reading the next three books this week! I am doing the Bout of Books read-a-thon this coming week so it is going to be perfect to finish the series.  Right now in my house we are also doing our annual Harry Potter Marathon!  We have a home theater so it is a lot of fun.  Though we did make some Over Sized Blueberry muffins from the Unoffical Harry Potter Cookbook and they turned out crazy!!  We try to make things that go along with Harry Potter during the marathon and this is what we chose this time.  Here is the recipe .  And here are some pictures:

The muffins tasted ok... but I think there were just way too many blueberries!!!

Anyways... back to book 4 right?  This is my most favorite movie and book.  I just love the new schools and the dance.  I love it all.  I find that this is the last book where the Potter crew are just kids. After this book I feel like their childhood is just gone.  I also really love the house elves in this one too!!

I just also bought the books in paperback AND in ebooks.  My husband and I have always read our hardbacks and they are just falling apart.  The ebooks were actaully quite cheap too!! About $55.. finally an ebook that isn't screwing us over in price!

Here are my reviews on the other books,

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Socerer's Stone


The crystal ball says:

Sun is shinning!!!  Great day to go outside and read this book.

Bout of Books 6.0 Goals and Updates

I am going to participate again in this read-a-thon!  I really need to get caught up on some books and when I saw others participating in it I knew it was perfect for me. I almost missed out on it this time around.  I decided to go ahead and check the bout of books website to see when the next one is and walla!! It starts on the 7th!

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 7th and runs through Sunday, January 13th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 6.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. -From the Bout of Books 6.0 team

Don't forget to use the #boutofbooks hashtag when updating on Twitter and follow boutofbooks.
I will be updating my progress here and on my my twitter page.  

Time Devoted to Reading

I will be reading 4 hours a day/during the week/ not exactly sure how much reading I will get in on the weekend.  On Saturday I will be busy so not really sure about that day.

My Goals:
I would like to read 4 books.  I am in the middle of a Harry Potter re-read and really would like to get it done this week.  I am also reading Beautiful Creatures for my book club. I would like to participate in a twitter chat.  I participated in one last time around and it was a lot of fun and a GREAT place to get advice from other people.   
Just figured out the pages... so these 4 books total 2844 pages.  So I will have to read about 400 pages a day!!

Books to Read

Updates

Monday
Number of books I've read today: 0
Name of book: Beautiful Creatures
Total number of books I've read:0
Number of hours read:3 hours
What else I did: Not much else as far as my blog today.  Just got some good reading!!

Tuesday

Number of books I've read today:0
Total number of books I've read:0
Number of Hours I've read: 2
What else I did:  Dang this book is long!!  I need to put more hours in!


Wednesday

Number of books I've read today:0
Total number of books I've read:0
Books:
Number of Hours I've Read: 2
What else I did:  2 hours seems to be all I can get in each day since at night we are doing a Harry Potter marathon for the movies. 

Thursday

Number of books I've read today:0
Total number of books I've read:0
Books:
Number of Hours I've Read: 2
What else I did:  Man reading 400 pages is a day is impossible!  Totally not as easy as I thought it would be!

Friday

Number of books I've read today:
Total number of books I've read:
Books:
Number of Hours I've Read: 
What else I did:

Saturday

Number of books I've read today:
Total number of books I've read:
Books:
Number of Hours I Read: 
What else I did:

Sunday

Number of books I've read today:
Total number of books I've read:
Books:
Number of hours I read: 
What else I did:

Schedule

Bout of Books 6.0

Challenges/Giveaways

Monday1/7
Scientific Discovery - The Book Barbies

Tuesday 1/8
Guess the Cover - Never Too Fond of Books
Favorite/Funniest Cover - Ms. Buff's Blog

Wednesday 1/9
Page 48 Challenge - Booking In Heels

Thursday 1/10
Book Spine Poetry - Escape Through the Pages
Vampires in Popular Fiction - The One with Rachel's Book

Friday 1/11
Rewrite the Synopsis - A Daydreamer's Thoughts

Saturday 1/12
Name Your Book Crack - Bookgoonie
Bookish Dress Up - Nyx Book Reviews

Sunday 1/13
The New Year Resolution Challenge - Ex Libris


Twitter Chats
(chats last approximately one hour)
TZC = Time Zone Conversion

Monday: 1pm CST (TZC)
Wednesday: 8pm CST (TZC)
Saturday: 10am CST (TZC)

Bout of Books 6.0

Whoa I am almost missed this... and I need to catch up on reading sooo bad!!  Will post my goals soon!

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 7th and runs through Sunday, January 13th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 6.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. -From the Bout of Books 6.0 team

World Book Night.. are you trying out?

Hello all.... it's the time to register for World Book Night again!  I learned about it last year.  I did register and wasn't chosen.  To be honest, I was a little surprised I wasn't chosen.  Were any of you chosen before?  If you were, why do you think you were chosen?  I don't know if I should sign up again and attempt it again or not?  

Happy 2013!

Hello all!!  I am finally home after helping my dad get better from his motorcycle accident... I should be getting a lot more reading done now so expect to see more book reviews coming!!!

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling-Review

Harry Potter and the Pisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling

On my way through my re-read of Harry Potter!!  Just finished book 3 and loved it.  Here is the goodreads description:

Harry Potter is lucky to reach the age of thirteen, since he has already survived the murderous attacks of the feared Dark Lord on more than one occasion. But his hopes for a quiet term concentrating on Quidditch are dashed when a maniacal mass-murderer escapes from Azkaban, pursued by the soul-sucking Dementors who guard the prison. It's assumed that Hogwarts is the safest place for Harry to be. But is it a coincidence that he can feel eyes watching him in the dark, and should he be taking Professor Trelawney's ghoulish predictions seriously?

Great book... I feel that the movie really covered this book well. This is one of the books where I wish I was reading it for the first time again and didn't know about Sirius or the Time Turner. I had forgotten how much Crookshanks was in this book.  That cat plays a huge part. I can't believe this book came out in 1998!!  I don't think there was much Potter craze yet.

One thing I like about this book is getting to know some of the Order.  Snape... whom Sirius tried to kill, reveals to us why he hates James Potter and his friends.  I can't believe they were going to send him straight to a werewolf.  And sad that nothing was really done to punish them in school for it.  So I would be mad to if I was Snape.

This book is when the books finally start getting long!!  I wish the first two books were long.  I often wonder if Rowling had been published sooner and not turned away so many times from publishers if the first two books would've been longer.

Here are my reviews of the other books in the series:

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

The crystal ball says:

Sun is shinning!!!  Great day to go outside and read this book.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by JK Rowling-Review

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by JK Rowling

Continuing my re-read of the Harry Potter series.  Here is the goodreads description:

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?

I am really loving re-reading these books. I think the last time was like 2005. Now that I am reading the second book I find myself not really looking back to the movie in my mind but creating things with my imagination. A few things bothered me.. for one Hagrid opened the chamber of secrets 50 years ago right? And he was like 13? And now Harry is 12.. so Hagrid would be like 75 or something crazy (I am bad at math). Also the Mandrakes! I mean they seem like they have personalities and even have a party in the greenhouse and then they get chopped up and fed to the people and ghost who have been petrified! Seems morbid. haha! These are just some of the things that I noticed while reading.

I also feel a little bad for Lockhart while reading.  I mean it seems like everyone kinda picks on him.  Yes he deserves it but no one seemed even really concerned at the end of the story when he loses his memory.  Everyone is like ... oh well.  SAD!  I love the deathday party for Nearly Headless Nick.  So fun!  I could just picture myself in the room with everyone.  

I am at the hospital everyday with my dad and these books have been the best for this.  Such comfort... Rowling's writing is spot on.   The stories take me straight out of reality and into a new world.  I just love it.  On to the third book!!

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and teh Sorcerer's Stone


The crystal ball says:

Sun is shinning!!!  Great day to go outside and read this book.