Yes, I know J.K Rowling is one of the most famous authors in the world and I know the Harry Potter series is probably the most famouBest. Book. Ever.
Yes, I know J.K Rowling is one of the most famous authors in the world and I know the Harry Potter series is probably the most famous series ever to exist…. But I am still in shock at how good this book was. I was looking through the bookshelf in my house, wondering what I should read. Considering all of the time, we have due to quarantine, I thought I would give this a try. I wasn’t sure if it was going to be my cup of tea. The first chapter flew by and I was already in love.
Harry Potter was a young boy, unaware that he was a wizard, living in a muggle world. Harry lived with his Aunt, Uncle, and cousin, who hated him. He was told his parents died in a car crash many years ago, which explained the scar he had on his forehead. Harry slept underneath the staircase in a cupboard filled with spiders. He was always the last to eat and constantly got in trouble just because his cousin didn’t like him. One day he got a letter in the mail that was addressed to him. This was the first letter he had ever received considering nobody really knew who he was nor paid attention to him. Before Harry even got the chance to read it, his uncle grabbed it out of his hands. No one ever spoke of what was in that letter. Every day more and more letters came in the mail that was addressed to Harry. His Uncle had had enough and packed everyone up in the car and drove as far away as he could. Suddenly, the unthinkable happened and a tall, giant-like man named Hagrid knocked on the front door of the small shack they were staying in. He explained almost everything that was being kept from harry and took him away to by him all of the stuff he needed for his new school, Hogwarts. After a long summer, waiting to board the Hogwarts express, Harry finally arrived at Hogwarts and had the craziest, scariest, most amazing year of his life. I don’t want to spoil anything else so you will have to read the book to learn about the amazing adventures Harry and his two best friends, Hermione and Ron, experienced!
What worked? That’s an easy question taking into account that this was the “Best. Book. Ever.” The chapters were the perfect length. Every character was described so vividly I felt as if I was actually meeting them in person. Every time I had the chance to sit down, which was a lot mind you, this book was in my hand. It really was the most amazing book.
The only con to this book, if any, was that it was too short. Trust me, I know there are six other books left in the series (I’ve already ordered books 2 and 3). But I was so in love with it, I just didn’t want it to end. Other than that, I would not change this book for the world! It is surprisingly my favorite book to date!...more
This book was a bit of a struggle for me. Living in quarantine, where the TV is usually on, someone is singing, and or music is blasting and not beingThis book was a bit of a struggle for me. Living in quarantine, where the TV is usually on, someone is singing, and or music is blasting and not being able to focus, it was a struggle for me to understand the old English the book was written in.
Seeing Little Women in the movie theatre, there was an ad for the new movie Emma. I am one for a great period romance, whether it be a movie or a book, so this was of course one I was going to check out. Fortunately, my English teacher had the book and I was able to read it. I assumed it would be similar to a recent book I read, The House at Tyneford, being an English romance. Little did I realize that old English is very different from present-day English and was difficult for me to understand. With all that being said I was able to comprehend most of what was going on even though I may not have gotten every detail.
Emma Woodhouse is a matchmaker. She finds joy in pairing up her friends, but for some reason does not ever want to marry herself. Her friend Harriet is receiving Emma’s help in finding a husband. At first Mr. Elton, and then Mr. Martin, and then who Emma thought was Mr. Churchill but turned out to be Mr. Knightley. Poor Harriet's heart was broken nearly three times. Emma was devastated for her and was embarrassed for herself as every time she would find someone for Harriet, something went wrong. Though Emma says that she will never marry, there is a change of heart when she realizes she has feelings for a certain someone.
Throughout the book there were a couple of quotes that stood out to me. “You must be the judge of your own happiness.” This was said by Emma herself. I find this quote to be so true because a lot of times human nature has many ups and downs. Often times we see success when things go right, we are recognized for it and, in return, we are “happy”. However we should all realize that it is the failures that actually define our success and ultimate happiness, certainly, not what society or what others think. By taking risks and following your own path, you will be able to look back on your life and ultimately in Emma’s words “be the judge of your own happiness.”
As I said, the old English language was a bit of an obstacle for me. There were many points in the middle of the story where I was getting completely lost and felt like I was just reading words and not retaining anything. I hope to read this book a second time, maybe being able to comprehend everything that is going on, having been familiar with it. ...more
After reading The House at Tyneford by Natasha Soloman, I have fallen in love with historical fiction. I love being able to imagine what life was likeAfter reading The House at Tyneford by Natasha Soloman, I have fallen in love with historical fiction. I love being able to imagine what life was like then and the vintage clothing and accessories that were in style. Even though We are Witnesses by Jacob Boas is not historical fiction, I was still interested in the fact that it was all about teenager’s experiences during a crucial time in history. It is important that we are aware of our world history so that we do not make the same mistakes that we have made in the past. The book takes place during the Holocaust. Five teenagers, David, Yitzhak, Moshe, Eva and Anne recorded their experiences during the sorrow filled years of World War II. Each excerpt that is presented of their diaries is not only sad, but is disturbing to think how a man could do these awful things to children. Children who had dreams. Children who were innocent. Children who were fighting to their death, hoping to see freedom after the war. What all of these kids had in common was more than just their diaries or ages, but it was the determination they had to survive those awful times. No one deserves to be treated like how they were treated and their “Voices we must never forget”. Unlike most of the books I have read in the past, this book was divided into five sections. Five different sections for five different teenagers. I felt this helped keep the book organized and was effective in an emotional way. I also felt that it was very informative. I’ve learned so much about the Holocaust and World War II. Although I enjoyed this book and everything it has to offer, there were some things that didn’t work. The cover of the book had me expecting five different parts of diaries that were written by five different teenagers during the Holocaust. Yes, this book is about five different diaries, and yes, there were five different teenagers, but I felt there was not enough from the actual diaries. The book mostly consisted of background information and there was a lot of explaining of what was going on. If there were more excerpts from the diaries, the book would have had a very different impact on the reader. It would have left us thinking about the teenagers and their personal experiences rather than feeling like we just learned about how the world affected these kids in general. ...more
This book was something special. It was a mix between another Cinderella story and an English period Romance. For my December read, I wanted to find sThis book was something special. It was a mix between another Cinderella story and an English period Romance. For my December read, I wanted to find something that was challenging for me and pushed me outside of my comfort zone, but was enjoyable and not too long. I am SO happy I came across this book. To be honest, when I first started reading The House at Tyneford, it was totally different from what I was used to. I thought to myself that it was going to be difficult and boring. Turns out that every time I had a minute to sit down and read, I had this book in my hand and was invested in every page. I feel I made a connection with every character and it was like I was there with them in the spring of 1938. Elise Landau had just moved from Vienna and was becoming a house maid in Tyneford. It was very hard for her to leave her parents, who remained in Austria, and her sister who was moving to the United States. She was extremely homesick and hated every minute being a maid, until one day she was down by the Worbarrow bay. She was shouting at the sea after the long day she’d had and was taken off guard by a young man who was approaching her. The young man, Kit, happened to be the son of the head of the house she was working for. After a few days of making awkward eye contact across the courtyard, they caught feelings. Now in this time, it was very unusual for a wealthy young man to fall in love with the new maid of the house. Can you see the Cinderella story? Mr. Rivers, Kit’s father, did not approve at first but it was up to Kit to make some decisions. I would love to continue summarizing the rest of the book but I feel there are too many spoilers! Every few pages, or even paragraphs, there are pauses separating scenes, days, and or years. I found these very helpful as they helped keep the flow and moved the book along. I also appreciated that the chapters were fairly equal and were not overwhelmingly long.There were many chapters that ended with a mic drop. For example, chapter twenty-one ends with “Now, my name is Alice.” Personally, I found this very effective and made the story that much more compelling. Although, there are some parts that I feel could have been done better. The beginning of the story did not really grab me. I wasn’t one hundred percent sure of what was exactly going on and I didn’t really find it interesting. It wasn’t until chapters three and four where I started to become interested in the story. Another part was the end of the book. As much as we want an unpredictable, dramatic ending, this was kind of the opposite. It felt a little rushed and was all over the place. I wish the author could have gone more in depth into what was happening at the end of the story instead of switching from year to year without a lot of context. Aside from those few things I would have changed, I really enjoyed this book and would consider reading it again! It is the perfect book for a rainy, spring day in England....more
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! From start to finish I was in love with the characters, the setting, and the plot. When I first opened the book I was I thoroughly enjoyed this book! From start to finish I was in love with the characters, the setting, and the plot. When I first opened the book I was not expecting that each short story, by authors Lauren Myracle, John Green and Maureen Johnson, would intertwine with each other and foreshadow future events throughout the stories. It was lovely how well it flowed between the first and second story and the second and third story. The very first day my English teacher brought this book into school I had my eye hooked. I thought this would be the perfect holiday book for the holiday season. It is such an easy read and let me tell you, once you pick it up it is extremely hard to put it down! What is nice is that it is very up to date with the current language of teens these days. Some may say this book is too Hallmark for them, but to be honest a little Hallmark can be just what we need sometimes! There are some books that I could definitely not read before going to bed, leaving you with conflicting thoughts and questions. This book on the other hand is actually perfect to read right before going to sleep. It is calming in a way and leaves you with a sense of joy. Although I could go on for hours about how much I love this book, there are somethings that I would rather be different. For example, there is a character named Keon. He is not a main character but he is pretty iconic. In the first two stories he was very present and was very interactive with the other characters. You really got to know his personality and could almost feel his energy through the book. I was expecting so much more to happen with him in the last short story, but it kind of disappointed me that he wasn’t really included. In addition, I felt as though the last story was very separate from the other two. It had a different feel to the way the characters were developed and had a very contrasting plot compared to the others. The Jubilee Express by Maureen Johnson was about a young girl (Jubilee) who’s parents are arrested on Christmas Eve after being apart of the “Flobie Five”. She gets on a train to go to her grandparents' house. Because the storm was continuously getting worse, the train stopped and was unable to proceed. Jubilee ends up walking to the local waffle house just across the tracks and meets this sweet guy named Stuart. From that point on it was magic! A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle by John Green is the story about the 14 cheerleaders that were also on the train last night. After being stopped on the train, they ended up all following Jubilee to the waffle house where they partied and played twister all night. Keon, who works at the waffle house, immediately called his three friends JP, Tobin, and The Duke (Angie) Their adventures through the treacherous snow were pretty intense and are definitely worth reading! Last but not least The Patron Saint of Pigs by Lauren Myracle is about the devastating breakup between Jeb (who was also on the train that night) and Addie (the “self absorbed” cheater)! There was a whole bunch of chaos and pigs and angels and a sweet christmas miracle that finished off the book! I have to say this book is so much fun to read and I 10/10 recommend! Enjoy!...more
Personally I do not feel comfortable criticizing somebody else's work, but to be honest, it was hard for me to fall in love with reading this book. ItPersonally I do not feel comfortable criticizing somebody else's work, but to be honest, it was hard for me to fall in love with reading this book. It kept my interest for the first few chapters, as for the concept seemed interesting it, but eventually page after page got increasingly boring. I originally chose this book because it looked like a good mystery/thriller read. At first I was thrown off by the cover of the book, “... a graph of an apple with skin peeled part way off…” from Joan Bauer’s “Peeled”. I thought to myself, how can such a lovely looking cover be a dark and gloomy mystery book. Never judge a book by its cover, right? I felt the book went in and out of many different plots. It was difficult for me to stay on track with the story and understand each chapter to the fullest. From what I recall, the book is about a highschool student at Banesville High, Hildy Biddle. Her family owns an apple orchard and herself along with her friends are writers for their schools newspaper The Core. When there is a sudden scare in the town over a shocking sign that was put up in front of a house in the neighborhood, Hildy is determined to get the facts straight. Although there is a constant battle between The Core and the towns local newspaper The Bee, the team continues to work hard and discover what is really going on. What worked? I have to say, although it did not hold my interest for the entire book, I didn’t completely give up after the first three chapters. I enjoyed that the chapters were not too long and were overall equal. For others, this book might have been really good and was super interesting, but I guess it just wasn't my type. I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a creepy mystery/thriller, but for someone who enjoys a more realistic story with a few twists and turns might love it. There is never a limit to how many books you read, so why not!...more
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