Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Pages: 366

Published: July 10th 2004 by Bloomsbury Publishing (1998)

Format: Paperback

Genre: Fantasy/ Y.A

Date Finished: 27^th February 2012

Synopsis:

Harry can't wait for his holidays with the dire Dursleys to end. But a small, self-punishing house-elf warns Harry of mortal danger awaiting him at Hogwarts School. Returning to the castle nevertheless, Harry hears a rumor about a chamber of secrets, holding unknown horrors for wizards of Muggle parentage. Now someone is casting spells that paralyze people, making them seem dead, and a terrible warning is found painted on the wall. The chief suspect - and always in the wrong place - is Harry. But something much darker has yet to be unleashed

Review/ Thoughts:

Flying cars, whopping willows, house elf’s, potions, ghosts, death and a the return of Voldemort what’s not to love about the second novel in the wonderful and famous Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. I remember carrying this book around [not the one I own now] with me everywhere and reading it till the point my mother had to double contact it so the cover wouldn’t fall to pieces. Then I lost it at school and it felt like death to me.

Now re-reading the series I could not wait to pick up one of my favorites, if not my favorite of the whole series. I still laugh and cry every time I read this book, especially during the end and Dobby is one of my favorite characters. Every time I read this book I am amazed at the strength in Rowling’s writing that I was able to maintain that same enjoyment that I experienced during the first book and I expect the following books in this series. If you haven’t already it is a no brainer to go pick it up and give it a try.

★★★★★

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Confessions of a Shopaholic - Sophie Kinsella # 1

· Pages: 450

· Published: August 8th 2005 by Dell

· Genre: Women’s Fiction/ Chick-lit

· Format: Mass Market Paperback

· Date Finished: 17^th February 2012

Synopsis:

MEET BECKY BLOOMWOOD, AN IRRESISTIBLE HEROINE WITH A BIG HEART, BIG DREAMS --- AND JUST ONE LITTLE WEAKNESS ...

Becky Bloomwood has what most twenty-five-year-olds only dream of: a flat in London's trendiest neighborhood, a troupe of glamorous socialite friends, and a closet brimming with the season's must-haves. The only trouble is, she can't actually afford it --- not any of it. Her job writing at Successful Saving magazine not only bores her to tears, it doesn't pay much at all. Still, how can she resist that perfect pair of shoes? Or the divine silk blouse in the window of that ultra-trendy boutique? But lately Becky's been chased by dismal letters from Visa and the Endwich Bank --- letters with large red sums she can't bear to read --- and they're getting ever harder to ignore. She tries cutting back; she even tries making more money. But none of her efforts succeeds. Her only consolation is to buy herself something ... just a little something ...

Finally, a story arises that Becky actually cares about, and her front-page article catalyzes a chain of events that will transform her life --- and the lives of those around her --- forever

Review/ Thoughts:

To kick start our book club over at my collaborative channel with Debra we decided to read the first book in the Shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella. What a rollercoaster ride of emotions it has been for me, reformed kleptomaniac and self- confessed impulse shopper. Reading about Rebecca Bloomwood and her hilarious and outrageous story was like offering me a whole new world of shopping while teaching me some very important lessons as well- the biggest being; Never ever get a credit card.

Finally a character I can identify with to hilarious levels. The way she rationalizes and is impulsive is something I myself have had to deal with when it comes to shopping and this alone I can guarantee would resonate with all of us at some point in our lives. But she is not just wild and outrageous. Becky has a good heart and was for the most part always doing something that would benefit the people around her or at least trying to save them some pain. However there were times when she was downright selfish and I wanted to slap her or shake some sense into her and for this reason I highly enjoyed her character because she had me laughing, and crying and cringing and flipping the pages fast enough to give me paper cuts.

I loved everything about this novel from its characters to the situations Becky put herself into and of course the slow coming romance that draws you in. I was glad that the overall romance aspect of the novel did not saturate the rest of the story and I loved Becky’s journey through realizing that she has a problem till the end where we are not quite sure what is going to happen.

Sophie Kinsella’s writing is so easy to read and yet full of everything I look for in a chick-lit. I will admit there were times when I had to put the book down because it was stressful reading about the hole she was digging for herself and her shopping sprees [I scoured Amazon for a lot of free books while reading this book] However I loved every minute of it and I am eagerly awaiting time to read the next book in the series Shopaholic Abroad.I would certainly recommend this to anyone who loves a good chick-lit with a little more meat to it.

Check out our Collaborative Channel which is all about Women reading Women’s Fiction.

★★★★★

Brewing Tea Bag

A Little Update

Attention all bloggers, readers, authors, publishers and publicists due to situations in my current personal life I may be behind in my reviews for February. I ask that you please understand and I will be back with the reviews in the first week of March.

I would like to extend this by saying thank you to all of the supporters and readers of my blog and for being given the chance to do something I am passionate about and being able to bring that passion to you. I look forward to a fantastic reading month in March.

Many thanks - Blair

Living Dead Girl - Elizabeth Scott

Pages: 170

Published: September 8th 2009 by Simon Pulse

Genre: Realistic Contemporary Fiction/ Y.A

Format: Paperback

Date Finished: 20^th February 2012

Synopsis:

The thing is, you can get used to anything. You think you can't, you want to die, but you don't. You won't. You just are.

This is Alice.
She was taken by Ray five years ago.
She thought she knew how her story would end.
She was wrong.

Review/ Thoughts:

I actually forgot that I had purchased this novel until this weekend when I got an invoice telling me it had nearly arrived. Rekindled with interest, I re-read the synopsis and some recommended reviews by both friends and random reviewers and grew really excited to read Living Dead Girl. I haven’t read a dark contemporary read in such a long time I was worried that the subject matter [that hit close to home] would leave me feeling to tormented to read, but in fact it had the opposite affect and I could not stop reading it. The proof- I finished it in a few hours.

This book was amazing. Just pure sickness and turmoil that had my stomach in knots and tears swelling in my eyes and yet I could feel all of Alice’s pain, being subjected to abuse firsthand myself and as a sideliner. In fact I don’t know one person in my family who was not abused. Alice’s story felt so real and raw and ugly and yet powerful and heart wrenching. It is very rare that I read a book and think – fuck I want to just devour every dark piece of fiction I can. Because the honest truth is it is hard to find fiction now days that cuts deep into the marrow and severs every nerve, leaving you feeling gutted and yet emancipated.

This happens, you hear about kidnapping everyday but you do not get to read about what is like during. There are variants of the same hideous story. Some survive and others don’t. Some watch silently when they know and can hear everything while others cannot see. It saddens me that someone could cause Ray to do these things and I actually did feel some semblance of emotion towards him which scares the fuck out of me. I think it’s because we do see Alice’s side of her truth and her story but looking deeper into the novel you can see where history repeats itself and that adds another level to it.

Thank you Elizabeth, this is stunning fiction at its best. I recommend it to everyone no matter what your preference this is a story that needs to be read. I hate the suffering, it eats me inside but people need to wake up and do something and so many people do nothing and watch, too scared to get involved until some poor child’s life gets stripped apart from the inside until they are nothing but bones and ashes. Only then does it peak some people’s interest. Living Dead Girl is disgusting, disturbing but so wonderfully written. Get your hands on it now and if you own it, read it NOW.

★★★★★