Harry Potter!!!

       So, I finally finished the Harry Potter series! I have to say, I was amazed. There are some books that I thought I loved, but they are nothing compared to the Harry Potter books. I always heard that they were amazing, but I always figured I wouldn't like them because I never really liked fantasy and usually always go for fiction. Still, I thought I should at least try them and make sure I wouldn't like them before I gave up on them. Obviously, I loved them. I really had no idea how good these books were. I don't know if liking these books means I will always like fantasy, but I know these books really surprised me. I have to say that these books are definitely my favorite books ever. It was also great knowing what people were talking about when they referred to something having to do with the Harry Potter books. I really liked how all of the books were about a different thing, which of course was in the title (Like Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows was about the three Deathly Hallows.). Anyways, to sum up, I was very impressed when I read the series and could not put the books down. They were a lot more than just Harry vs. Voldemort, which made them much more interesting to me.

       While reading, I was surprised to realize that the spells used had something to do with what the spells did. This was pretty obvious even in the first book, but I didn't even think about it at first. It must have really taken a lot of thought and research to come up with the spells and have them relate to Latin meanings like they did (For example, the spell/charm used to summon things was accio which, in Latin, translates to something like to call or summon). If I had been writing these books, I probably wouldn't have thought to do this and just made up words (That would be actually possible to pronounce.). But the author of these books really seems to have put some thought into it. Whenever I came across a spell that sounded like what it did, I tried to make a note. One I found was lumos which made light come from the end of a wand, which to me sounded like illuminate (The lum part). After I looked it up, I saw that the Latin word lumen means like a light or a lamp. Of course, it's pretty obvious even in just the first book that the spells actually meant something, but I thought it was interesting to see exactly where they came from and what exactly they meant. I would say that almost, if not all, spells in the Harry Potter series have some meaning that shows that the spell would do.There are way too many examples to list, but I will try to list a few.

Accio

Brought an object to the person who used it

Latin: summon 

Reparo

Fixed things

Latin: Restore, renew, revive

Crucio 

Used as a torture curse

Latin: torture

Nox

Made the light at the tip of wands go out

Latin: Night

Stupefy

Stunning spell

Latin: Stupeo: To be stunned, numbed, astonished

       There are more, but I don't think it would be fun to read or list all of them, so I won't. Plus, I'm sure I don't know all of them. So, I'll leave it there. Another thing I loved about the Harry Potter series was the surprise endings. (Although I think most people who would read this post have probably read the series, I still feel I should say SPOILER ALERT. Because I'll pretty much be saying the endings to the books right now.) Although all of the books were a surprise to me, I think the third and sixth books were the most surprising. In the third book the whole thing was surprising- finding out the dog was Sirius Black, then that Professor Lupin was bad, then that both Sirius and Lupin were good, and then that Scabbers was Peter Pettigrew, who was one who really betrayed Harry's parents and was on Voldemort's side.. Basically, the whole thing added together was a shock. The reason I'm saying this is to point out how this book really made me think to understand what was happening. I always love the part of a book where everything connects or the final piece of information is revealed. Then, in The Half-Blood Prince, I thought for awhile that Voldemort was the Half-Blood Prince, because the textbook was made fifty years ago, which was when Tom Riddle was at Hogwarts and opened the Chamber of Secrets. Also, Voldemort is a half-blood, his mother being a witch/squib and his father being the first Tom Riddle, who was a muggle. Another is that even though Voldemort was evil, he was still a great and amazing wizard, so he would know how to do the potions and spells written in the book. So, I thought that Voldemort might be the Half-Blood Prince. Also, some of the spells in the book were very evil, so it would fit Voldemort, considering he is evil and was probably good at spells. I'm saying this to show how these books can change very suddenly, which is always interesting to me. Now, thinking back, it makes sense that Snape would be the owner of the book, considering he was the potions master for awhile. I was still surprised when Snape said he was the Half-Blood Prince. Another thing in the sixth book that surprised me was, of course, when Dumbledore died. I couldn't believe when Snape killed him; I really thought when Snape showed up that Dumbledore was saved. So, I was completely shocked when Snape killed Dumbledore. I really like surprising endings; I think the reason is that if you could predict the endings to books, then they wouldn't be any fun to read. It would just be boring if you knew how a book ended and I would feel like I was reading for no reason. Still, somehow I always figure that I have an idea how a book will end and then I am always pleasantly surprised to see that really, the book ends in a way I never could have imagined. It makes it interesting to keep reading and see if you're right. Anyways, I really loved the Harry Potter books and I'm really sad I finished the books; It makes me wish I would have read slower! I hate finishing a series that is really good. It always makes me feel sad to see it end. And then I have nothing to do for awhile. Although I was glad to finally know how the whole series ended, I was so sad to not have anything more to read about Harry Potter. Still, I was not at all disappointed with these books and they are definitely the best books I have ever read. Now, I am watching the movies. So far I have finished the first five and am halfway through the sixth one. I always love seeing movies after reading the books and I have loved the movies almost as much as the books. My only complaint is that Peeves is not in the movies! I really like Peeves. I love at the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows when Peeves sings, “We did it, we bashed them, wee Potter's the one, and Voldy's gone moldy, so now lets have fun!” Although it's hard to remember everything Peeves said throughout the series, I'm pretty sure that that quote is my favorite thing he says. I really feel bad for all of the people who have seen the movies and not read the books; There are so many things the books have that the movies don't, not just Peeves. Anyways, all I have to say is that if I could go back to when I was first starting the series, I would!

A Long Walk to Water and Fever 1793

          So this week I had time to read two very, very good books. The first book I read was Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson. I read this book because I know many people who have read it and everyone says it's a good book. I also read A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park. I thought they were both amazing. Even though Fever 1793 was kind of predictable at some parts, I still couldn't put it down. A Long Walk to Water was not very predictable. I finished them very quickly because they were so good.
         
           So starting with Fever 1793. In case you haven't read it (spoiler alert), Fever was about a girl named Mattie. Her family owned a coffeehouse. (Her mother, grandfather, and her). Then fever struck the city where they lived. Then Mattie's mom gets the fever. So she sends Mattie's grandfather to take her to a farm so she doesn't get sick. But on the way there, these police stop the carriage that another family is driving and checks to make sure no one has fever. They think Mattie's grandfather does so the family driving throws Mattie and her grandfather off the carriage and Mattie has to take care of her sick grandfather. Then Mattie gets yellow fever. But it turns out that the grandfather had just had a cold so he carried Mattie back to town to be taken care of. Mattie gets well but then her grandfather dies. So she has to learn to survive on her own. She finds their old cook who worked for the coffeehouse (a freed black woman named Eliza) and she lets Mattie live with her. Then the cook and Mattie decide to own the coffeehouse together. It turns out that Mattie's mother had gone to the farm when she was well enough and then descovered once she got there that Mattie hadn't made it. Then she finally makes it home to see Mattie and Eliza taking care of the coffeehouse and keeping it in business and then the fever is gone thanks to the frost.

      I loved this book! Usually I don't like books about history, but I thought I would give this book a try and I loved it. Some parts were predictable, but many others were not. Like when the grandfather got sick, I was very surprised it turned about to be something other than yellow fever. I was also surprised when Mattie decided to take in Nell, the little orphaned girl that Mattie finds. From what I had seen of Mattie, I was not expecting her to go in the house and ask a little girl if the broken doll Mattie found was hers since Mattie doesn't really like work. Also, when Nell got well after the fever, I was very happy. I had expected her not to since she was so little, but I guess the frost helped. I also would have guessed that Mattie's grandfather would have caught the yellow fever since he was older and weaker. So basically, I thought this book was very entertaining, predictable (in some parts), and unpredictable all at the same time.
         So onto A Long Walk to Water. I absolutely loved this book. At first it kind of confused me, but once I got used to reading two different stories set in two different times, it wasn't very hard to keep up. Anyways, A Long Walk to Water was about these two kids who lived in Sudan(Warning, another spoiler). Salva lived there as a kid in 1985. He had to run from home because of the war and lived in refugee camps. Then one refugee camp he went to were picking some people there to go to America. He got chosen. There at America, he learned English. Then he had an idea to help Sudan. You don't find out his idea until the very end of the book. Then there's Nya. She lives in Southern Sudan in 2008. Twice a day everyday she has to walk to a pond that is very very far away to get water. Then a group of people come to her home. They start to build a well for Nya's village. Now Nya won't have to spend her days walking to the pond to get water and can go to the school that they are building. Nya's village is the Nuer village. They are enemies with the Dinkas. So when Nya's brother tells her the leader of the group of the group of people building the well is Dinka, she feels like she has to say thank you. I guess I should have guessed the ending, but I was still surprised when the leader had introduced himself as Salva to Nya. So it turns out that this would be his project for Sudan.

        There were so many sad parts in both of these books! Although you probably heard about more people dying in Fever, I think that A Long Walk to Water was probably sadder because of the fact that you knew the people better. Like when Marial dies in A Long Walk to Water, I think it's sadder than two people dying in the other book because you knew more about Marial. It would be like if a stranger died and then someone you know dying. I was also very sad when the robbers on horses came and killed Salva's uncle on their way to a refugee camp. So they were both very sad, but also very, very good. I am very glad that I was able to read them. The only bad thing about reading a very good book is the fact that I usually lose track of time while I am reading in bed and when I look at the time it is very late. And then I sleep until very late. But it is always worth it. And wow. This is a very long post.

The Hunger Games

          Last week, we went to Florida, which was very fun! I had plenty of time to read, the only problem was that I had no wi-fi. I was expecting our hotel to have some but they didn't so I couldn't get a new book... So I decided to reread The Hunger Games. My mom said she hates rereading books but I kind of wanted to reread this book because after I saw the movie, I couldn't really remember what the book was like and I like to compare books with their movies, so I decided to read it again. I'm glad I did.
          Of course there were plenty of opportunities to read while we were in Florida like while I was sitting in the chairs on the beach, at the pool, late at night in the hotel room, and of course on the way to Florida and back. So I did finish it. I guess other people had the same idea as me because I saw one person reading Mocking Jay at the hotel's pool. The only bad thing about reading on a Nook is when you're in the sunlight, you can't really see the screen. So it was a good thing our chairs on the beach had an umbrella set up. So it wasn't too hard.

          The reason I'm glad I reread The Hunger Games is because it made me notice a lot of things I never noticed before. Also it made me think about parts of the movie and finally realize somethings that I hadn't noticed before. So it kind of helped me understand the book and the movie better. I think whenever you reread any book it helps you understand it better. I remember I read the Maximum Ride series along time ago when my sister Shelby told me to and I couldn't really understand it. But then when I got to be in fourth or fifth grade, I reread the books and completely understood them. So I like rereading books.

          So I guess maybe it was good that our hotel didn't have any wi-fi because if it would have, I wouldn't have reread The Hunger Games. Because like I said, I'm glad I reread it. That's what I like about Nooks and readers like that... you can carry all of your books with you but it's all in the one thing. So it's easy to reread any book you want. But sometimes it is good to have a book in your hands that you can flip the pages in. Everything has its ups and downs haha.

          I think that before the Catching Fire movie comes out, I'll probably reread the book so that I can remember more about it. I love when you can read a book and then see the movie about it. Anyways, I love being able to go on vacation and read a really good book, just like I did this time. But now that I'm back home and I can get a new book, I guess that's what I'll do. So more books ahead!

Beastly by Alex Flinn

      While I was in Ohio, I had time to read another one of my challenge books (I had a lot of free time at the horse show...). So I read Beastly by Alex Flinn. I loved how it was like another version of the Disney movie of Beauty and The Beast (I know there are a lot of different versions, but that's the only one I know of), but there are still a lot of differences. For example, this version was set in New York and most other versions happen in the past while this one doesn't. Anyways, I thought this book was very good!

      This book was about a boy named Kyle who was very popular at school. Almost everyone liked him. But he was also very mean to some kids. One of these people happened to be a witch. So, she turned him into a beast. Kyle was very good looking, which is one of the reasons he was popular at school (and because his dad was very rich). So being turned into an ugly beast was terrible for him. Kendra (the witch) wanted to show him how ugly he was on the inside by turning him just as ugly on the outside. The only way he could return to normal was to find someone who would love him because of who he was and not because of his looks. But if he hadn't gotten a kiss from somebody who really loved him and who he really loved back by the end of two years, he would be stuck that way forever.

      Then one night (His dad didn't want to worry about someone like him so he got Kyle his own house where he lived with his blind tutor and maid) Kyle heard someone breaking in. It turns out it was a drug addict who offered to let Kyle keep his daughter there as long as Kyle didn't turn him into the police. Kyle agreed because he was lonely and thought that maybe the daughter could love each him. So they lived together in the house (which had plenty of rooms since it had five floors) and waited to see how things would turn out.

      Like I said in my last blog, I don't want to give anything away for people who haven't read the book. And if they haven't read it, then they better do that soon because it was very good! During the summer I also read the other books in the series, which were also very good. They weren't like most sequels, which are usually about the same characters. Like one book of the series had nobody from Beastly but was about the same kind of things... like witches and spells put on people. So I thought the book was very good! I am very glad I chose that book to read for my challenge book!

Still Reading :)

      It's been forever since I've posted a blog! I would have posted one earlier, but I kept forgetting. Anyways, as you've probably guessed, we got back from Ohio a looong time ago. Or at least it seems like that. So, I've already finished the book I was reading, which was Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief. I thought it was very good!
     
       I really loved reading my book. I couldn't put it down. The bad thing about that is that it made me read it the whole way up in the car to Georgetown. That would have been fine if it wouldn't have made me feel sick once we got there since I read so much in the car. But I still read at the hotel and finished my book.I was even able to finish my second challenge book (but I don't want to talk about that book in this blog... I'll stick to Percy Jackson for this post).

      So Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief was about a boy (Percy Jackson) who discovers he is a half blood, which is when one parent is a god and one parent is a mortal. He doesn't know who his father is until his father claims him. The bad thing is that his father is Poseidon, one of the gods who agreed to never have a child because the child would be too powerful. Then Zeus' master bolt gets stolen. Since Zeus and Poseidon were argueing a while before, Zeus blames Poseidon. But since gods cannot steal another god's symbol of power, Zeus thinks that Poseidon had Percy, his son, do it. So Zeus says that the master bolt must be returned by Percy by the summer solstice or war will break out with the gods. So Percy goes on a quest with Annabeth (daughter of Athena) and Grover (a satyr) to go search for the master bolt and return it to Zeus before the summer solstice.

      I don't want to ruin the book for anyone who might read it, but I do have to say that it was very exciting. I also loved how there were many people and monsters from Greek mythology. Some of them I recognized (such as Medusa). But there were some that I had never heard of. I couldn't put the book down! Even when we were eating pizza at the hotel in Ohio, I was reading while eating. I can't wait to read the rest of the series!

Reading on Vacation

          It seems like it has been a very long time since I've posted a blog! I guess that's because it has been a really long time. I haven't had much time to read lately. First I was in Alabama so I couldn't get a book since there was no wi-fi that I could use. And anyways, I was finishing the book I had started in school but it wasn't a challenge book so I didn't want to use it for my blog. So, I finally just started my challenge book.


          So in two days I will be going to Gerorgetown, Ohio. My sister Shelby shows horses and there is a horse show there that we will be going to where she'll show. So, I will be able to read on the way there! And I don't find horse shows very interesting unless someone I know is showing, so a lot of times I will be staying at the hotel when they go to the show (We stay from Thursday to Sunday and there is a day show and a night show). I might be sitting beside the pool reading while my brother swims (We both like to stay at the hotel when we don't know anyone showing). So, there will be plenty of times where I can be reading! Hopefully I'll be able to finish my book!

          The book that I have started reading is Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. I haven't gotten very far but so far it is very good! I saw the movie a long time ago and I've been wanting to read the book. Although I don't remember much from the movie, I can still see differences from the book and the movie. I know I'll be reading this book a lot during our trip!!