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

Title: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Author: J.K. Rowling
Pages: 332
Published: 2004 (first published 1997)
Challenges: Harry Potter Re-Read
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Edition: Mass-Market Paperback
Source: Personal

Description: When a letter arrives for unhappy but ordinary Harry Potter, a decade-old secret is revealed to him. His parents were wizards, killed by a Dark Lord's curse when Harry was just a baby, and which he somehow survived. Escaping from his unbearable Muggle guardians to Hogwarts, a wizarding school brimming with ghosts and enchantments, Harry stumbles into a sinister adventure when he finds a three-headed dog guarding a room on the third floor. Then he hears of a missing stone with astonishing powers which could be valuable, dangerous, or both. (via blurb on book)

Thoughts: This was my 3rd time reading the book since I started this blog and just like the first time that I read the book (before I had this blog), I really enjoyed the book.  What I liked about the book was  how the characters were drawn and also how the book was built over the course of the book, especially  how elements of the book were introduced to the reader in the same way that they were introduced to Harry.  I also liked how there were some shades of ambiguity brought into the book and not everything was clearly black and white.  But I did feel that the first book ended a little too tidy for my liking.

Bottom line: It was a really good start to the series and would probably appeal to most readers.  Highly recommended.

Rating: 4.75/5

Pages for 2014: 25,997

A Discovery of Witches - Deborah Harkness

Title: A Discovery of Witches (All Souls Trilogy #1)
Author: Deborah Harkness
Pages (File size): 579 (1.5 MB)
Published: 2011
Challenges: Chunkster, E-books, I Love Libraries
Genre: Paranormal Fantasy
Edition: E-book
Source: Library

Description: Deep in the stacks of Oxford's Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery; so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks. But her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. Diana has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries-and she is the only creature who can break its spell.  (via Goodreads)

Thoughts: Even though there were times that it was difficult for me to concentrate on the book and felt that it was a little slow at times, I liked how the author was able to draw the reader into the story and allow us to root for the two main characters. 

I can see where some readers have had an issue with the book, as the book does seem to drag a bit during the middle portion of the book, but I felt that the middle was probably the strongest part of the book.

Bottom line: It was a pretty good start to the series and I am looking forward to reading the other two books in the series.  If you have enjoyed other paranormal fantasy books, you probably will enjoy this book.  Recommended.

Rating:  3.75/5

Pages for 2014: 25,665

If you have enjoyed this book, what did you think of it?

Lest We Forget

In honour of those who have sacrifice their lives and continue to do so for their country, this will be my only post here today.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (Nov. 10)

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a fun weekly meme that is hosted by Shelia at Book Journey, in which we share what we've read and reviewed and what we plan on reading in the coming week.

Books finished this week:
None

Books reviewed this week:
None

Books I hope to finish this week:

• A Sudden Light

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

• A Discovery of Witches

Books I hope to work on this week:
• Lawrence in Arabia
• The Woman in White
• The Count of Monte Cristo
• Five Days at Memorial
• Anna and the French Kiss
• Delicious!

• The Color Purple

• The Thousand Dollar Tan
• Howard's End

Sunday Salon - Christmas Spirit Read-a-thon, Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge and Thankfully Reading sign-ups

I know that the Sunday Salon is a place to talk about one is reading and other bookish related things, not sign up for reading challenges/read-a-thons,  but it is also a space that I can do with what I like. So I am going to use that for those things for that reason.


Christmas Spirit Read-a-thon

I have done this for at least a couple of years and this will be my third time doing this read-a-thon.  The best part of this read-a-thon is that you only have to read at least one holiday tale during the read-a-thon and since it happens during Jenn's Bookshelves Thankfully Reading Weekend, its a nice way of easing into the holiday season.

Here are a few guidelines that Michelle has give for the Read-a-Thon:

• Read-a-Thon dates: Monday, November 24 at 12:00am CST until Sunday, November 30 at 11:59pm CST (adjust your time zone accordingly)
• You do not have to be signed up for the Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge to participate (but I sure would love for you to join us!)
• I am not requiring that you read only Christmas/holiday books during the read-a-thon, but I hope you will pick up at least one holiday tale, even if it's just to read some children's books with your kids or some holiday short stories
• to check in on Twitter, we'll use hashtag #CSreadathon
• as usual, you do not have to have a blog to participate...feel free to link up and check in from Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge

And in conjunction with the Christmas Spirit Read-a-thon, Michelle is also hosting The Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge.  I think this is my fourth or fifth year participating, but at this point I don't know.

Here are the guidelines for the reading challenge:

• challenge will run from Monday, November 24, 2014 through Tuesday, January 6, 2014 (Twelfth Night or Epiphany).
• cross over with other challenges is totally permitted AND encouraged!
• These must be Christmas novels, books about Christmas lore, a book of Christmas short stories or poems, books about Christmas crafts, and for the first time...a children's Christmas books level!
• Levels:

            --Candy Cane:  read 1 book

            --Mistletoe:  read 2-4 books

            --Christmas Tree:  read 5 or 6 books (this is the fanatic level...LOL!)

          Additional levels:

            --Fa La La La Films:  watch a bunch or a few Christmas movies...it's up to you!

            --Visions of Sugar Plums:  read books with your children this season and share what you read

          *the additional levels are optional, you still must complete one of the main reading levels above

I am going for the Christmas Tree level and will also be doing Fa La La La Films.

Thankfully Reading Weekend

Even though Thanksgiving Weekend is long gone in Canada, I can't give up an excuse to spend a weekend reading.  Here are the details for the reading weekend:

There are no rules to the weekend, we’re simply hoping to devote a good amount of time to reading, and perhaps meeting some of our reading challenges and goals for the year. 

You still have plenty of time to sign up and I hope that you will sign up for one or all of them.

Did not finish anything this past week nor did I post any reviews.  Happy reading.

Classics Spin #8 #ccspin

I haven't done this for some time and thought that with fall finally settled in, I would try this again.

Here are the guidelines:

• Go to your blog.
• Pick twenty books that you’ve got left to read from your Classics Club List.
• Try to challenge yourself: list five you are dreading/hesitant to read, five you can’t WAIT to read, five you are neutral about, and five free choice (favorite author, rereads, ancients — whatever you choose.)
• Post that list, numbered 1-20, on your blog by next Monday.
• Monday morning, we’ll announce a number from 1-20. Go to the list of twenty books you posted, and select the book that corresponds to the number we announce.
• The challenge is to read that book by January 5, even if it’s an icky one you dread reading! (No fair not listing any scary ones!)

Here is my list:

1. Middlemarch
2. Little Women
3. Jane Eyre
4. North and South
5. The Canterbury Tales
6. Tess of the D'Urbervilles
7. Madame Bovary
8. The Count of Monte Cristo
9. The Woman in White
10. War & Peace
11. Lady Susan/ The Watsons/ Sandition
12. Cranford
13. The Age of Innocence
14. Bleak House
15. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
16. Great Expectations
17. Mary Barton
18. Tess of the d'Urbervilles
19. The House of Mirth
20. The Orestia

I am probably hoping for either The Woman in White (No. 9) or The Count of Monte Cristo (No. 8), but am dreading if I get No. 10 (War & Peace) or No. 14 (Bleak House)

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (Nov. 3)

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a fun weekly meme that is hosted by Shelia at Book Journey, in which we share what we've read and reviewed and what we plan on reading in the coming week.

Books finished this week:
None

Books reviewed this week:

• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling 
• The Cuckoo's Calling by Richard Galbraith
• The Word Exchange by Alena Graedon

• Mrs. Hemingway by Naomi Wood 
• The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson

• Under the Wide and Starry Sky by Nancy Horan 
• The Martian by Andy Weir 
• Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty 
• The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman 
• The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd 
• The Story Hour by Thirty Umrigar 
• Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë 
• The Children Act by Ian McEwan 
• All the Lights We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr 
• The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin 
• The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson 
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
• Bridge to Haven by Francine Rivers 
• The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simison 

Books I hope to finish this week:

• A Sudden Light

Books I hope to work on this week:
• Lawrence in Arabia
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
• The Woman in White
• The Count of Monte Cristo
• Five Days at Memorial
• Anna and the French Kiss
• Delicious!

• The Color Purple

• The Thousand Dollar Tan
• A Discovery of Witches
• Howard's End

Sunday Salon - Right Now (11/214)

Time 11:19 am Pacific

Place My living room

Listening to… A History Of: Hannibal and the Punic Wars

Eating...  Nothing at the moment, although I am thinking of making a little more breakfast

Watching... Season 5 DVD of Castle

Reading... A Sudden Light by Garth Stein and A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Making... Nothing

Planning... Nothing for the time being

Feeling... A little groggy; didn't sleep well last night

Loving... That its a new week

Wanting... To not feel so jumpy; anything that is a problem seems to be an issue

Thinking... Trying not to think too much at this point

Looking forward to... Next weekend; long weekend for me and plan to do lots of reading.

I managed to get caught up with my reviews this past week, so no need to say that they will be completed this coming week.

Reviews posted this week:

• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling 
• The Cuckoo's Calling by Richard Galbraith
• The Word Exchange by Alena Graedon

• Mrs. Hemingway by Naomi Wood 
• The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson

• Under the Wide and Starry Sky by Nancy Horan 
• The Martian by Andy Weir 
• Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty 
• The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman 
• The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd 
• The Story Hour by Thirty Umrigar 
• Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë 
• The Children Act by Ian McEwan 
• All the Lights We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr 
• The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin 
• The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson 
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
• Bridge to Haven by Francine Rivers 
• The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simison