After six months at home, September was the first time that I was fully back at work. That brought along a getting used to an old new routine. I haven’t managed to read on the commuter rail yet. Also, there have been many other work tasks that didn’t leave as much time for reading. So in September I only fully read seven books. I started a few more though, like “Lord of the Rings”, which I now read to fall asleep.
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As with the prequels, I love the idea of this story – that the U.S. is ruled by a monarch. This fourth part of “The Selection” starts a generation later than the previous three novels, with the princess now looking for a partner. As the story is now told from the Princess Eadlyn’s point of view everything changes. She is the crown princess and only enters the election to distract her country from a crisis. On the other hand, the selection story still feels repetitive because Cass already wrote three books about it and the process can’t be changed that much. All in all a good read though.
Kiera Cass: The Heir – Princess Eadlyn has grown up hearing endless stories about how her mother and father met. Twenty years ago, America Singer entered the Selection and won the heart of Prince Maxon – and they lived happily ever after. Eadlyn has always found their fairy-tale story romantic, but she has no interest in trying to repeat it. If it were up to her, she’d put off marriage for as long as possible.
But a princess’s life is never entirely her own, and Eadlyn can’t escape her very own Selection—no matter how fervently she protests.
Eadlyn doesn’t expect her story to end in romance. But as the competition begins, one entry may just capture Eadlyn’s heart, showing her all the possibilities that lie in front of her . . . and proving that finding her own happily ever after isn’t as impossible as she’s always thought.
I started the “Worst Witch” book series in August and find that the books get better each time. There are more and more descriptions of Mildred Hubble’s magic world, which make the novels even more enjoyable. Her adventures also become more elaborate. In general I like the British children’s book tradition of covering a term or a whole year at school. The “Worst Witch” books are always short and make an excellent fun read.
Jill Murphy: The Worst Witch at Sea – Catch up on Mildred Hubble’s magical adventures at Miss Cackle’s Academy for Witches with these reissued editions featuring energetic new covers. Mildred’s beloved tabby cat has been deemed “unsuitable” for a witch, and is relegated to the kitchens to be a mouser. But when her class flies off on a school trip, Mildred concocts a plan to rescue Tabby — and bring him along in secret!
Jill Murphy: A Bad Spell for the Worst Witch – Mildred gets off to a good start in her second year at Miss Cackle’s Academy, but her sworn enemy, Ethel Hallow, is plotting misfortune, setting Mildred up for a very bad spell, indeed.
I reread the whole Harry Potter series once more – and still absolutely love it. What a great book series! While I don’t read J. K. Rowling’s newer books because I don’t support her anti-trans views, I love Harry Potter and think it is a brilliant works – that funnily enough promotes tolerance much more than its writer. Every time I read the books, I discover more tiny details. It is absolutely worth every reread.
J. K. Rowling: Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire – Harry Potter is midway through his training as a wizard and his coming of age. Harry wants to get away from the pernicious Dursleys and go to the International Quidditch Cup with Hermione, Ron, and the Weasleys. He wants to dream about Cho Chang, his crush (and maybe do more than dream). He wants to find out about the mysterious event that’s supposed to take place at Hogwarts this year, an event involving two other rival schools of magic, and a competition that hasn’t happened for hundreds of years. He wants to be a normal, fourteen-year-old wizard. But unfortunately for Harry Potter, he’s not normal – even by wizarding standards.
And in his case, different can be deadly.
J. K. Rowling: Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix – There is a door at the end of a silent corridor. And it’s haunting Harry Pottter’s dreams. Why else would he be waking in the middle of the night, screaming in terror?
Harry has a lot on his mind for this, his fifth year at Hogwarts: a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher with a personality like poisoned honey; a big surprise on the Gryffindor Quidditch team; and the looming terror of the Ordinary Wizarding Level exams. But all these things pale next to the growing threat of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named – a threat that neither the magical government nor the authorities at Hogwarts can stop.
As the grasp of darkness tightens, Harry must discover the true depth and strength of his friends, the importance of boundless loyalty, and the shocking price of unbearable sacrifice.
His fate depends on them all.
J. K. Rowling: Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince – The war against Voldemort is not going well; even Muggle governments are noticing. Ron scans the obituary pages of the Daily Prophet, looking for familiar names. Dumbledore is absent from Hogwarts for long stretches of time, and the Order of the Phoenix has already suffered losses.
And yet . . . As in all wars, life goes on. The Weasley twins expand their business. Sixth-year students learn to Apparate – and lose a few eyebrows in the process. Teenagers flirt and fight and fall in love. Classes are never straightforward, through Harry receives some extraordinary help from the mysterious Half-Blood Prince.
So it’s the home front that takes center stage in the multilayered sixth installment of the story of Harry Potter. Here at Hogwarts, Harry will search for the full and complete story of the boy who became Lord Voldemort – and thereby find what may be his only vulnerability.
J. K. Rowling: Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows – Harry Potter is leaving Privet Drive for the last time. But as he climbs into the sidecar of Hagrid’s motorbike and they take to the skies, he knows Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters will not be far behind.
The protective charm that has kept him safe until now is broken. But the Dark Lord is breathing fear into everything he loves. And he knows he can’t keep hiding.
To stop Voldemort, Harry knows he must find the remaining Horcruxes and destroy them.
© janavar