Till now there’s been no magic for Harry Potter. He lives with the miserable Dursleys and their abominable son, Dudley. Harry’s room is a tiny closet beneath the stairs, and he hasn’t had a birthday party in eleven years.
But then a mysterious letter arrives by owl messenger: a letter with an invitation to an incredible place called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And there he finds not only friends, flying sports and broomsticks, and magic in everything from classes to meals, but a great destiny that’s been waiting for him…if Harry can survive the encounter.
Do I really even need to include a synopsis of this book?
I have been curious about the Harry Potter books for a long time but when they were first released – seventeen years ago! – I decided that I would wait to read them until I had children of my own so we could read them together for the first time. (I’m a planner.) This summer both my nine and seven year old sons decided to start the series so I did too.
My plan is not working exactly how I wanted it to though. The boys have way more free time than me and are tearing through this series. Cash, my nine-year old, finished the last book in the series this week and West, my seven-year old, is on book four. And I’ve still only read the first one! (I have read other books in the meantime though.) We are watching the movies together as they finish the books that correspond with each one. I don’t mind the books being spoiled for me by watching the movies. And I sincerely hope that the books are better because I have not been impressed by the movies so far. More on that in later posts.
So…Harry Potter. Long-time readers know that I don’t read much fantasy and when I do, I usually don’t like it. I’ll cut to the chase and tell you that I did like this book but I’m not a raving fan girl about it. Not yet anyway. Part of that may be that it’s really hard for a book to live up to over fifteen years of major hype. I was expecting it to be the Holy Grail of middle grade fiction.
It WAS a great story, with fun characters. Even the “evil” aunt and uncle were pretty bumbling and funny, which was good because if they were darker, it would have freaked West and other sensitive children out. I think I felt more sorry for poor Harry and the treatment he got, with having to sleep in the cupboard and not getting good food, than my boys did.
The thing that bothers me about fantasy is that at times it seems too easy to advance the plot with magic. There are usually no basic rules that must be followed like in science fiction world-building. That happens a little bit in this book but not as much as in other fantasy books I’ve read. In one instance, Harry needs something and it magically appears in his pocket. Why? How? That kind of thing bothers me. I think my favorite magic article in this book was the mirror. I liked what it did and how it affected Harry when he looked into it.
The bottom line is that my boys and millions of other kids LOVE this book. Kids who were reluctant readers read this book and were reluctant no more. For whatever reason, this book touches kids and sparks their interest in reading. And that is the most important thing.
Every Thursday I host Throwback Thursdays. If you you’d like to share a post from the past week about a book from “back in the day”, feel free to grab the button for your post and and link up below. Be sure and link directly to your post, not your blog’s home page. Thanks!
I owned I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings as a child and I assumed that I had read it. However, when I started “re-reading” it after Maya Angelou’s death, I realized that I hadn’t read it before. I would have remembered reading this powerful book. I feel a little unworthy to review this book because it’s obviously fantastic but you all want to know what I personally thought of it, right? Great!
***This review assumes that you know the basic details of Maya Angelou’s life and may have spoilers if you don’t.***
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is Dr. Angelou’s account of her life from three or four years old through seventeen years old. It’s different from most autobiographies in that it’s not strictly chronologically. It’s more of a series of vignettes from her life that have common themes.
It starts off when her parents shipped her and brother off to Stamps, Arkansas to live with their grandmother, who they called Momma. And they were literally shipped – put on the train by themselves with a tag pinned to them with where they were going written on it. Living in Stamps, Maya experiences blatant racism from most all of the white people she encounters. This book presents outstanding, horrible examples of white privilege. If you know anyone who doesn’t understand the concept, recommend this book to them.
One particular incident that haunted me is when Maya is eight years old, she and her brother are sent to live with her mother, who her brother calls Mother Dear, for a time. While there, Maya is sexually assaulted and raped by her mother’s boyfriend. Her description of the emotions she experienced during these events is so brutally honest. I was impressed with the courage that must have taken. The rape and the subsequent murder of the perpetrator are what let to Maya’s muteness for the next five years.
Dr. Angelou is, of course, a fabulous writer. She crafts wonderful metaphors and descriptions. She also has wit. The story about her thinking she might be a lesbian (which she thinks is a hermaphrodite) is particularly humorous.
You’ve probably read this book already. I think it’s on every “books to read before you die” list that there is. If you haven’t read it, do so as soon as you can.
This is the inaugural Throwback Thursdays post! Every Thursday I host Throwback Thursdays. If you you’d like to share a post from the past week about a book from “back in the day”, feel free to grab the button for your post and and link up below. Be sure and link directly to your post, not your blog’s home page. Thanks!
***This review assumes you have read the book A Fault in Our Stars and may have spoilers if you haven’t.***
The Fault in Our Stars was one of the best books I read last year so I had high hopes that the movie would do the book justice. I was not disappointed.
When I heard that Shailene Woodley was cast as Hazel, I was concerned. I know her mostly from the TV show The Secret Life of the American Teenager and I never thought she was very good in that. Granted, that may have been because of the material she was given to work with. However, her acting was great in this movie. She conveyed complex emotions through subtle facial expressions. I was impressed. Her haircut and wardrobe made her sufficiently dowdy like I pictured Hazel would be.
Ansel Elgort was a good choice for Gus, both in looks and attitude. I was also happy with the rest of the cast. I’m a fan of Mike Birbiglia and was surprised that he was in this movie. He turned out to be great as the cheesy support group leader Mike. And TrueBlood fans – Sam (Sam Trammell) plays Hazel’s dad!
The movie condensed the book in just the right way. Augustus still has some of his angsty, mature dialogue but not as much as in the book. I know some people thought the way he talked in the book was unrealistic. They will probably think the movie version is more believable. The one thing that bothered me is the stupid cigarette that Gus has dangling out of his mouth most of the time. I don’t remember it being as prominent in the book. Maybe I just didn’t visualize it when reading. Either way, I didn’t care for it. It’s supposed to be a metaphor but it seems like he depends on it as a comfort item, even though he never lights it of course. I remember the storyline with Hazel’s favorite author (played by the awesome Willem Dafoe) being kind of zany in the book and it was too much for me. It’s toned down nicely in the movie.
Even if you haven’t read the book, this is a fantastic movie. It’s a love story about two people who happen to have cancer. It’s not overly sentimental or trite. I give it two thumbs way up!
Michael Cunningham’s luminous novel begins with a vision. It’s November 2004. Barrett Meeks, having lost love yet again, is walking through Central Park when he is inspired to look up at the sky; there he sees a pale, translucent light that seems to regard him in a distinctly godlike way. Barrett doesn’t believe in visions—or in God—but he can’t deny what he’s seen.
At the same time, in the not-quite-gentrified Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn, Tyler, Barrett’s older brother, a struggling musician, is trying—and failing—to write a wedding song for Beth, his wife-to-be, who is seriously ill. Tyler is determined to write a song that will be not merely a sentimental ballad but an enduring expression of love.
Barrett, haunted by the light, turns unexpectedly to religion. Tyler grows increasingly convinced that only drugs can release his creative powers. Beth tries to face mortality with as much courage as she can summon.
Cunningham follows the Meeks brothers as each travels down a different path in his search for transcendence. In subtle, lucid prose, he demonstrates a profound empathy for his conflicted characters and a singular understanding of what lies at the core of the human soul.
The Snow Queen is a slice of life that follows brothers Tyler and Barrett and their friends for a few years in the mid-2000s. There isn’t that much of a plot. Yes, Barrett sees the light and turns to religion but that all that entails is going to church a few times. Tyler’s struggle to write Beth the perfect song is a more developed plotline but not the focus of the story either. One thing I really appreciated is that it was a non-issue that Barrett is gay. He wasn’t a stereotype – he was just another character in the book that happened to be gay.
What makes this a great book is Cunningham’s astounding prose. He can craft a beautiful metaphor or description for even the most mundane object or smallest gesture. It was actually a bit over the top at times. But most of the time, I loved it. I think listening to it aloud made the writing sound even more poetic than if I had read the print copy.
I also liked how the story would skip ahead in time at points and the reader learned what had happened in the intervening time though the characters recollections. This kept the book from getting too bogged down in details and was a great device to summarize portions of the story.
Claire Danes is the perfect narrator for this book. A lesser narrator might have sounded droning reading the lengthy, meandering metaphors. Danes is obviously a phenomenal actress and read the entire book with subtle emotion that served to make the language even more beautiful. It was almost hypnotic to listen to.
After listening to this book, I’d love to read Cunningham’s backlist. He is definitely a talented, original writer.
I’d like t0 introduce a new feature here at Chaos Is a Friend of Mine – Throwback Thursdays! On the first Thursday of the month, I’ll be posting a review of a book from “back in the day.” Then you can link up your reviews of books from back in the day too. They don’t have to be reviews actually posted on a Thursday – anytime during the week is great! And it doesn’t matter how far back the book was published – a couple of years ago or a couple hundred years ago. It’ll be fun for us all to read everyone’s reviews of their Throwback Thursday books. It’ll either bring back fond memories or remind us of something we meant to read but never got around to.
If you have a review from a book published “back in the day”, grab my Throwback Thursdays button and link your review up using the Mr. Linky that I’ll provide. We’ll officially kick-off next Thursday so be sure and come back to reminisce and link up!
The Son by Jo Nesbø
Translated from Norwegian by Charlotte Barslund
Publisher: Knopf
Release Date: May 13, 2014
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
Sonny Lofthus is a strangely charismatic and complacent young man. Sonny’s been in prison for a dozen years, nearly half his life. The inmates who seek out his uncanny abilities to soothe leave his cell feeling absolved. They don’t know or care that Sonny has a serious heroin habit—or where or how he gets his uninterrupted supply of the drug. Or that he’s serving time for other peoples’ crimes.
Sonny took the first steps toward addiction when his father took his own life rather than face exposure as a corrupt cop. Now Sonny is the seemingly malleable center of a whole infrastructure of corruption: prison staff, police, lawyers, a desperate priest—all of them focused on keeping him high and in jail. And all of them under the thumb of the Twin, Oslo’s crime overlord. As long as Sonny gets his dope, he’s happy to play the criminal and the prison’s in-house savior.
But when he learns a stunning, long-hidden secret concerning his father, he makes a brilliantly executed escape from prison—and from the person he’d let himself become—and begins hunting down those responsible for the crimes against him . . . The darkly looming question is: Who will get to him first—the criminals or the cops?
Jo NesbØ is a Norwegian author best known for his Harry Hole crime novels. However, The Son is a stand-alone novel and the first of his I’ve read. I became aware of NesbØ because one of my friends has been a huge fan of his for a long time. After reading this book, I can see why.
The Son is different from a typical mystery or crime novel in that the killer is known from the beginning and his motives are as well. That doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of suspense. As Sonny takes revenge on those who have wronged him, a greater mystery having to do with a mole in the police department unravels with plenty of twists and turns.
Another thing that made this different from the crime novels I’ve read is that Sonny, ostensibly the villain, is such a likeable guy. I was actually rooting for him most of the time. His personality was so unique. All of the characters in The Son are well-drawn. I also really liked the relationship between Simon Kefas, the detective pursuing Sonny, and Simon’s wife, Else.
Now that I’ve had a taste of NesbØ , I want to read the Harry Hole novels as well. I highly recommend this book to not just fans of Nordic crime novels but fans of any type of crime novel.
(I received this book courtesy of the Amazon Vine program.)
This book is the perfect summer read. And by that, I don’t mean that it’s fluffy or mindless. I mean that it’s so utterly absorbing that you won’t be able to put it down. You’ll finish it off in an afternoon by the pool easily and be basking in the afterglow on the way home. Is that too gushy? This book deserves it!
The Vacationers could have easily been a standard “family forced to go on vacation together” beach read – either the kind with zany, madcap humor or the kind with so.much.drama. However, Emma Straub’s novel is neither. In the beginning, the characters seem like stock characters, both to the reader and even to each other – the petulant teenager, the controlling mother with high hopes for family bonding on the trip, the clueless dad, the gay best friends, etc. As the story progresses, more and more layers are revealed for each character. Even the oldest son’s girlfriend, who could have easily been a throw away character used simply to show what an ass the oldest son is, is richly developed.
I loved the way the events that happened before the vacation were revealed in little bits and pieces, intertwined with the narrative of was actually happening on the vacation. I wouldn’t call this book a comedy but there was dry wit was in abundance. Franny and Sylvia’s inner thoughts were especially funny. Remarkably, I liked every character, even though some had some major flaws. And the ending was perfection – I don’t know if I’ve ever been more satisfied at the end of a novel.
Even though summer has just started, I know that The Vacationers will be THE book I recommend to people who ask me for summer reading suggestions.
A couple of weeks ago, I took my boys to see Dav Pilkey, author/illustrator of the Captain Underpants series, and Dan Santat, author/illustrator of several children’s books and creator of the Disney animated series, The Replacements. The event was sponsored by local children’s book store, Reading Reptile, and The Kansas City Public Library. They were promoting the reissue of Pilkey’s Ricky Ricotta’s Mighty Robot series with all new illustrations done by Santat.
Santat spoke first and talked about how he became a great artist by practicing, practicing, practicing. He showed pictures he drew from his childhood and adolescence, showing how he started out copying the other’s work, including an amazing drawing of Garfield he did when he was seven. It looked like the real thing! Then he moved into having his own ideas and creating his own work. He went through the evolution of his interpretation of the robot in the Ricky Ricotta books. It was interesting to see how much the final image changed from what he started with.
Then it was Pilkey’s turn. He spoke about how he had ADHD and anxiety in elementary school and was always getting into trouble. His teacher was mean to him because she didn’t understand how to deal with him. He wrote and illustrated his first bookin elementary school using characters he still draws today and his teacher THREW IT AWAY! Can you imagine what that would be worth today?? Ugh. His message was that even if you don’t do well in school, that doesn’t mean that you can’t grow up to be a successful person.
At the end, they played a fun game where they each drew a picture blindfolded. The kids in the audience were rolling with laughter watching them. Both pictures actually turned out really good. After that they took questions from the audience. West, my seven year-old, asked Santat if he could draw a gear. (Why? Who knows?) First he drew a gear shift, teasing West because he knew he wanted the other kind of gear. West loved it. A lady sitting next to me suggest that I ask Santat if we could keep the drawing.
When were in line waiting to get our books signed, West told the woman herding people (who I think was either the editor or the publicist) that he was going to ask if he could keep the drawing. This lady was aghast. No, no, no – there was no way he could keep the drawing. He could get his picture taken with it and that was it. That was fine with me; I figured it was a long shot anyway. When we got up to the table, West asked went ahead and asked if he could keep the drawing. Santat couldn’t resist his sweet face (I’m assuming) and said of course he could keep the drawing. Then Pilkeysaid that if we were taking it, Santat should sign it. So he did! West was one happy little boy!
The boys and I both had so much fun at this event. Both authors had great messages for the kids, which they imparted in a funny way that the kids could understand without feeling like they were listening to a lecture. They also included a few jokes for the parents that probably went over most kids heads. If you ever have the chance to see either one of these authors, I suggest you jump at it!
You may have noticed it’s been quiet here at Chaos Is a Friend of Mine lately. That’s because I’ve been sucked into the Game of Thrones series and holy moly, the books are long! I’m almost done with the first one and I feel like I’ve been reading it half my life. I love it though. Another factor cutting into my reading is that I’ve started running in the mornings again, which means an earlier bedtime. Reading before bed is when I do most of my reading. I’m going to have to figure out how to read more during the day. Those pesky kids are always after me for food, clean laundry and whatnot.
Don’t worry, I’ll be taking breaks while I’m reading this series to read and review other books. Time just got away from me this week!
And I’m still posting on my Facebook page pretty regularly about various bookish things. Click on the button to the right and follow me!
The Confabulist is the story of Martin Strauss and Harry Houdini. In the first pages of the book, Martin reveals that he killed Harry Houdini, not once but twice. The rest of the book follows the separate lives of Martin and Houdini until the mystery of how their lives intersect is revealed. Martin is a purely fictional character and while basic outline Houdini’s life is accurate, much of it is made up, which author Steven Galloway, freely admits in his Author’s Note. He also states that he makes no claim of veracity for his descriptions of the methods behind magic.
Galloway’s made up story of Houdini’s life is intriguing and compelling. Even though it’s not true, it’s definitely realistic.
Strauss suffers from a medical condition in which he conjures false memories and thinks they are true. Thus, he is an unreliable narrator. Just how unreliable isn’t revealed until the end in a surprise twist ending.
I enjoyed this book for just for being a great book. Even if there was no real-life Houdini and Galloway had invented the character all together, this is a fantastic mystery full of suspense. After I finished the book, I felt like I was in as much of a fog as Martin is in his old age, not sure of what’s real and what’s not. Usually, I prefer a straight forward, everything wrapped up in a nice little package with a bow type of ending but Galloway managed to satisfy me with the ending he wrote. That’s high praise from me. Both mystery and historical fiction fans will enjoy this book.The Confabulist comes out today!
(I received a copy of this book courtesy of the publisher.)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
Every Thursday I host Throwback Thursdays. If you you’d like to share a post from the past week about a book from “back in the day”, feel free to grab the button for your post and and link up below. Be sure and link directly to your post, not your blog’s home page. Thanks!
