Harry Potter Spells Book Tag

Thank you to Miriam @ Shadowriverdaleharley for tagging me for the Harry Potter Spells Book Tag! I think this is a great tag to highlight different books that I’ve read in the past!

1. Accio – the summoning charm. An upcoming release you cannot wait to get your hands on.

I can’t wait for Karin Slaughter’s new stand alone – August 21st!

2. Alohamora – the unlocking charm. Favourite series starter.

I loved everything about The Hunger Games (the first book in the series) and it still remains my favourite book in the series.

 

 

3. Cheering Charm. A book that gave you all the warm fuzzies.

I re-read The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants this year and there was so many fond memories that reminded me of my oldest and bestest friends.

4. Aguamenti – water-making spell. A book that made you ugly cry.

Such an ugly cry, omg that ending…

5. Expecto Patronum – the patronus charm. A bookish hero or heroine you’d want around to protect you in real life.

Harry Potter!

6. Lumos – creates light. A book you intentionally spoiled for yourself.

I read a Court of Thorns and Roses and then read spoilers for the other 2 books, which I most likely won’t read.

7. Imperio – the imperius curse. A book you wish you could make everyone read because you love it so much.

One of my favourite thrillers and I feel like everyone needs to read it!

8. Engorgio – engorgement charm. A book series you wish never ended.

I could read 20 more Harry Potter books!

9. Wingardium Leviosa – levitation charm. A book with an uplifting mood or message.

Love this book, so many inspiring women!

10. Obliviate – memory charm. A book you wish you could forget you ever read.

I hated this book and every time I think about it, it makes me angry for the time I wasted reading it. Thankfully it was a very short read!

11. Anapneo – clears the target’s airways. An author whose books always get you out of a slump.

Karin Slaughter all the way!

12. Jelly Legs Jinx. A swoon-worthy hero or heroine.

I don’t know if swoon is the right word, but I love Myron Bolitar! And he reminds me of my husband!

13. Arresto Momentum – slows down the target. A book that caused you to drop everything and read it.

Anything Liane Moriarty! I always read her books so quickly since I can never put them down!

14. Crucio – the cruciatus curse. A book that was painful to read.

This series got so painful to read.

15. Rictumsempra – the tickling charm. A book that made you laugh out loud.

Starting from the dedications page, I was laughing the whole time!

16. Expelliarmus – disarming charm. A book that made you want to send it flying.

Hated everything about this book, especially the lack of conclusion.

17. Portus – turns an object into a portkey. Bookish world you wish you could visit.

I would be happy just to visit London to see everything Harry Potter related!

18. Stupefy – stunning spell. A book with a shocking twist or ending.

I loved that I knew it was a crazy ending going in, but I never expected it to be that crazy!

19. Avada Kadavra – the killing curse. A character death that destroyed you.

I still remember one character’s death in this novel that just shocked me. I think it was because it was so out of the blue.

20. Finite Incantatum – terminates all spells in the area. Best series conclusion.

I feel like I can’t go with Harry Potter again, so I’ll go with the Lunar Chronicles ending. I loved how you got to see all of the characters again and see how their stories were concluded.

I nominate the below bloggers and anyone else who wants to take on this book tag!

Berit & Vicci @ Audio Killed the Bookmark

Amalia @ The Opinionated Reader

Sandy @ Sandy’s Book a Day

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Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

I was super excited to read Little Fires Everywhere for my in-person book club! It won the 2017 Goodreads award for best fiction and there are 4 and 5 stars reviews everywhere. Surprisingly everyone in the book club had the same feelings about the book. Everyone gave it either a 3 star or a 4 star rating and felt that it was an enjoyable read, but wouldn’t rush out to recommend it to everyone that they know.

In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is meticulously planned – from the layout of the winding roads, to the colours of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules.

Enter Mia Warren – an enigmatic artist and single mother – who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenage daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than just tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the alluring mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past, and a disregard for the rules that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.

When the Richardsons’ friends attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town and puts Mia and Mrs. Richardson on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Mrs. Richardson becomes determined to uncover the secrets in Mia’s past. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs to her own family – and Mia’s.

It took a while for me to get into Little Fires Everywhere. I was super confused by the beginning of the book when they were talking about a fire and a girl with two names and then all of a sudden time shifted back a couple months. It then took a while to get into the custody battle and even later to reach the fire again. I was wondering for the longest time what the book was even about since it seemed to be about people in their everyday lives.

What I enjoyed most of about the book was how Ng is able to connect you with so many characters in such a brief amount of time. You got to understand the characters and why they were motivated to do the things that they did. Ng also did a great job being neutral. There was the big custody battle and she presented both sides well and you have no idea which side she is on.

The novel really picks up around the 150/200 page mark when you learn more about Mia’s backstory and how she got to this point in her life. I enjoyed reading more her and again Ng presented some controversial topics that had readers on either side of the fence for.

Then there was the ending. Ugh, I was not a fan of the ending. I wanted more and I wanted a bit more closure. I felt that it was left too open ended. I also read a lot of mysteries so I expect things not to be as they seem and hope for a jaw dropping of an ending, sadly this did not deliver.

3 calculators out of a potential 5. An enjoyable read, but sadly it could be a book that I quickly forget. I wish there was more time spent on the aftermath of the ending.

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The Royal Nanny by Karen Harper

I didn’t plan it this way, but I picked the perfect week to read The Royal Nanny since there is a new royal baby! I’m not a huge fan of the Royals, but I really enjoy learning about the history since I know very little! Honestly, the furthest back of the Royals that I knew previously was about King George VI and that’s because of the Netflix show, the Crown!

The Royal Nanny is about a young woman, Charlotte, who in 1897 begins looking after Queen Victoria’s great-grandchildren, David and Bertie, who later become King Edward VIII and King George VI. We see the journey that Charlotte (called Lala by David and Bertie) goes on raising the royal children. She later develops a strong bond with the youngest child of King George V and Queen Mary, Prince John who is later known as the Lost Prince. 

I mostly enjoyed The Royal Nanny. Like I mentioned, I don’t know too much about that time period and I found that I learned so much, without it being too difficult or overwhelming. It was interesting to learn how the Royalty interacted and how dependant they are on the nannies to raise their children.

The one part that I couldn’t stand was the love interest of Chad for Charlotte and the reason why I’m giving the novel a lower rating. I didn’t like Chad and I felt like I was getting interrupted by their relationship when I really wanted to read about Lala and the children!

I read in another review on Goodreads that the author just added Chad as a love interest, even though he was never a real historical figure. That annoys me so much. He wasn’t needed in the story. The readers can see what a loving, devoted person Charlotte was with the children and how she dedicated her life for those children, especially Johnnie whom she adored and even fought the King over!

I would recommend this for anyone who is interested in the Royals or even a fan of history!

3 calculators out of a potential 5. I loved the story of Lala and how she raised the royal children. Lower rating is due to the addition of Chad.

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Top Ten Tuesday – Frequently Used Words In Mystery Titles

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Frequently Used Words In [Insert Genre/Age Group] Titles.

I decided to go with “Perfect” in the Mystery genre! I was surprised how many there were! Have you read any of my “perfect” books?

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Bachelor Nation: Inside the World of America’s Favorite Guilty Pleasure by Amy Kaufman

This is the most dramatic Bachelor Tell All Book EVER!!…sadly nope. 

Hi, I’m Amanda and I’m a “fan” of the Bachelor franchise. I use the term fan loosely because I mostly watch because of the drama, not for the romance. Based on everything that happened last season (with what Arie and the producers did to Becca), I’m thinking of taking a break from the series. Anyways, I wanted to know the dirt behind America’s favourite guilty pleasure and I thought that this was going to be the perfect book since Amy was never a contestant so there is no contract to break.

Sadly, it didn’t happen that way and it just felt like a long essay on how producers are behind reality shows. I wanted more dirt and I really wanted to see past contestants and crew members open up on what really happens behind the scenes.

Some things I learned:

1. Contestants aren’t allow to bring books or magazines on their possible 8 week journey on the Bachelor. There is no way I could ever do that. The reason for this is that the producers want contestants to sit around all day, get bored and stir up drama about the other contestants.
2. All those appearing on the Bachelor must sign a contract that states that the producers can use and change any material of you. Most contestants just sign the contract without reading it all.
3. Drinks are not forced upon the contestants, but are strongly encouraged. Even producers will take shots with the contestants in order to get them to open up in their one-on-one confessions.
4. Producers are constantly encouraging contestants to say what the producers want them to say. Some past contestants compared this to an interrogation where after a hour of saying no, they end up saying whatever they need so they can get out of the room.

So in my eyes, the book feel flat. Some chapters were really boring that I ended up just skimming through (the history of the dating game shows and the bios of the creators/producers). I wish there was more past (and more current) contestants that spoke with Amy. The biggest ones were: Nick Viall, Sean and Catherine Lowe, Desiree Siegfried and Ben Flajnik and nothing that they said came as much as a surprise.

2 calculators out of a potential 5. I would only suggest this to fans of the franchise, but go in with very low expectations. This isn’t the tell all, behind the scenes book that it was advertised to be.

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