Harry Potter *MOTW* #9

Harry Potter Moment of the Week was created by Leah @ Uncorked Thoughts  and is hosted here @ Lunar Rainbows Reviews. The idea is to share a favorite moment, magical item, character, spell, quote or memory  from the books, films or J.K.Rowling herself!  How to join up & upcoming topics here.

This week’s question is: Favorite moment from the movies?

One of my favorite moments from the movies is in Deathly Hallows Part 2. The moment from the picture below is when everyone starts coming together to defend Hogwarts. I’ve watched all of the movies more times than I can even count, but this scene still makes me emotional and gives me chills.

 

Another favorite moment of mine from the movies is a lighthearted one. When Ron and Harry are trying to make their way to Hogwarts in Chamber of Secrets, they hear the Hogwarts Express train and when they turn around, it’s right behind them. Hedwig’s expression is absolutely priceless and I bust out laughing every time.

 

What are some of your favorite moments from the Harry Potter movies? I’d love to know and discuss them with you!  🙂 

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Birthday Book Tag

Hi everyone! Today is my birthday, so I thought I’d do the Birthday Book Tag. 🙂

I found this tag over on This Is One for the Books blog

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Count your birth day along your bookshelf and then subtract your birth month. What book does it land on?

I landed on The Opportunist by Tarryn Fisher.

 

If You Could Spend Your Birthday With Any Fictional Character Who Would It Be and Why?

I think I would like to spend my birthday with Leo Valdez from the Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan. Throughout the series, Leo grew on me more and more. He is one of my top favorite characters ever. He’s just my little angel baby unicorn. ❤ I love him so much!

 

Find A Book That Takes Place In The Season You Were Born In

I’m going to go with Summer of Sloane by Erin L. Schneider for this one. I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway a while back, but I haven’t read it yet. Judging from the title though and the cover, I’d say it’s pretty likely it takes place during the summer. 😉

Find A Book That Is The Color of Your Birthstone

One of the birthstones for June is the Pearl, so I am going to go with a white cover. He Loves Me…KNOT by RC Boldt is an amazing book and is one of my favorite ones that features a mostly white cover.

 

Is there a series with the same number of books as your age? If so what is it?

I turned 33 today, so…. LOL. I know the Goosebumps series has more than 33 books in it. Does that count? 😉

Pick a Book Set in a Time Period, World or Country You’d Like to Have Been Born In

Easiest answer ever. Hogwarts/Wizarding World, of course! This is probably my favorite world ever, followed closely by Camp Half-Blood in the Percy Jackson series.

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That was a lot of fun! I hope you all enjoyed this tag. 🙂

 

 

 

Monthly Wrap Up – May 2018

Yes, you read that title right. This is my extremely late wrap-up post for the month of May.

May was a crazy month for us. I finished my Spring semester with a 4.0, so I was really happy with that.

Chris had his final band concert of the year. He got to play a different instrument for each song they performed, so that was really neat to watch.

The pastor of my dad’s church had some extra race tickets that he was giving away, so my dad got them for us. I had never been to a race at that track so me and the boys were really excited. We have a race track in the city where we live, but it is a much smaller one and has events for the up and coming drivers who haven’t quite made it to the big leagues yet. This race we got tickets to was down in Charlotte where all the big name drivers are. That was a really neat thing to experience. I’m really glad we got the chance to go. I made my husband drive though. I stand by the fact that people in Charlotte drive like lunatics. I was so stressed out on the way down there and on the way home lol.

I’m taking classes this summer so my fall and spring semester are lighter, so those classes started at the end of May. More on how that is going in my June wrap-up (which I SWEAR is going up on time! hehe).

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

• Anything But Books Tag
• Review – The House of Hades by Rick Riordan
• Top 5 Wednesday – Rewind
• Harry Potter *MOTW* #4
• Cover Reveal – His Mimosa by Jamie Schlosser
• Cover Reveal – Cross by Adriana Locke
• Top 5 Wednesday – Rewind
• Review – Splintered Silence by Susan Furlong
• Harry Potter *MOTW* #5
• Cover Reveal – Blizzard by Cambria Hebert
• Release Blitz + Review – Cross by Adriana Locke
• Review – The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan
• Top 5 Wednesday – Rewind

COMING SOON

• The Birthday Book Tag
• Harry Potter MOTW #9 and #10

BOOKS IN MY MAILBOX

May was another huge haul month for me.

Kindle (Bought)

Fortuity – Rochelle Paige
Coming Up Roses – LK Farlow
Leave It to Cleaver – Victoria Hamilton

Kindle (Freebie)

Espresso and Evil – Agatha Frost

Kindle (For Review)

Simmer – Stephanie Rose 
His Mimosa – Jamie Schlosser
Cross – Adriana Locke
Portrait of a Sister – Laura Bradford
*Thank you so much to the authors and publishers for these review copies!

Paperback (Bought)

Daisies for Innocence – Bailey Cattrell 
All Natural Murder – Staci McLaughlin
A Skeleton in the Family – Leigh Perry
Geared for the Grave – Duffy Brown

License to Dill – Mary Ellen Hughes
Assault and Buttery – Kristi Abbott
Assaulted Caramel – Amanda Flower 
Brownies and Broomsticks – Bailey Cates

No Farm, No Foul – Peg Cochran
Sowed to Death – Peg Cochran
Atheists Who Kneel and Pray – Tarryn Fisher (signed)

Paperback (For Review)

Splintered Silence – Susan Furlong
Not Her Daughter – Rea Frey
The Fifth to Die – JD Barker

Cinco de Murder – Rebecca Adler
Bring Me Their Hearts – Sara Wolf
The Girl and the Grove – Eric Smith
*Thank you so much to the authors and publishers for these review copies*

 

What books did you get in May? I’d love to hear!

MONTHLY FUNNY

This is insanely true for me.

Harry Potter *MOTW* #8

Harry Potter Moment of the Week was created by Leah @ Uncorked Thoughts  and is hosted here @ Lunar Rainbows Reviews. The idea is to share a favorite moment, magical item, character, spell, quote or memory  from the books, films or J.K.Rowling herself!  How to join up & upcoming topics here.

This week’s question is: Who was your favorite actor/actress in the movies?

I think my favorite is Evanna Lynch, who paid Luna Lovegood in the movies. I think she brought a real uniqueness to Luna’s character and she did an amazing job portraying Luna.

The Ultimate Book Tag

Hi everyone!  I was tagged to do this (a long time ago – eek! Sorry for the delay) by Megs @ Between the Pages

1. Do you get sick while reading in the car?

Yes. I can’t read or anything while I’m in the car. It makes me really nauseous.

2. Which author’s writing style is completely unique to you and why?

Hmm. This is a hard one. I’m going to go with Colleen Hoover for this one. She has such unique ideas for her stories and she just has a way with words that I haven’t noticed with any other author I’ve read.

3. Harry Potter Series or the Twilight Saga? Give 3 points to defend your answer.

Harry Potter series.
1. There’s just no rival for the Wizarding World. JK Rowling built an amazing thing with this series. ❤
2. I’m not really a big paranormal fan.
3. I feel like I have outgrown Twilight, but I don’t think I will ever feel that way about the Harry Potter series.

4. Do you carry a book bag? If so, what is it in (besides books…)?

I have several book sleeves that I use for my books that I put in whatever purse or tote bag I am carrying with me. Other than books, I also put in a bookmark and sometimes my phone or other random item. One of my bigger book sleeves is used as extra protection for my iPad.

5. Do you smell your books?

Sometimes. 😉

 6. Books with or without little illustrations?

I don’t really care for illustrations in books. I don’t mind if there is a map or something at the front of the book or if there is a small illustration at the beginning of each chapter though.

7. What book did you love while reading but discovered later it wasn’t quality writing?

I can’t think of anything for this one.

8. Do you have any funny stories involving books from your childhood? Please share!

Not that I can think of.

9. What is the thinnest book on your shelf?

Probably the novella I have of Finding Cinderella by Colleen Hoover.

10. What is the thickest book on your shelf?

#Poser by Cambria Hebert is the thickest book on my shelf in my living room. In my bedroom, the thickest book on that shelf is The Fifth to Die by JD Barker.

11. Do you write as well as read? Do you see yourself in the future as being an author?

The only writing I do is for my blog and school work. I don’t see myself as being an author. I’m just fine being a reader. 😉

12. When did you get into reading?

I’ve been a reader since I was really young. I started reading in Kindergarten and just took off from there.

13. What is your favorite classic book?

I don’t like classics, to be honest.

14. In school was your best subject Language Arts/English?

It was one of my best, yes.

15. If you were given a book as a present that you had read before and hated…what would you do?

I would thank the person anyway – it’s the thought that counts. I would see if I could find someone to gift the book to that might enjoy it more than I did.

16. What is a lesser known series that you know of that is similar to Harry Potter or the Hunger Games?

I’m not really sure that I know of anything close to those series. I’ve heard that Divergent is similar to the Hunger Games though, but I’ve never read that series.

17. What is a bad habit you always do (besides rambling) while filming?

I don’t really film other than the occasional Instagram story. I’m bad at getting tongue tied though or being nervous and messing up. I end up re-doing the story until I get it right.

18. What is your favorite word?

I don’t really have a favorite word.

19. Are you a nerd, dork, or dweeb? Or all of the above?

A nerd. Sometimes a dork. 😛

20. Vampires or Fairies? Why?

Hmm. I guess vampires. Because Edward Cullen. 😉

21. Shapeshifters or Angels? Why?

Can I say neither? Again, not really a big fan.

22. Spirits or Werewolves? Why?

Neither.

23. Zombies or Vampires?

I never thought this would come out of my mouth since I’m such a scaredy cat, but… zombies. Because Walking Dead!  😀

 24. Love Triangle or Forbidden Love?

Forbidden love!

25. AND FINALLY: Full on romance books or action-packed with a few love scenes mixed in?

Either one is fine with me. I enjoy them both.

That was a lot of fun!

This tag is probably so old now I doubt there is anyone who hasn’t done it, but just in case…

I tag whoever would like to do this! ❤

Review – The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan

Synopsis:
How do you punish an immortal?

By making him human.

After angering his father Zeus, the god Apollo is cast down from Olympus. Weak and disorientated, he lands in New York City as a regular teenage boy. Now, without his godly powers, the four-thousand-year-old deity must learn to survive in the modern world until he can somehow find a way to regain Zeus’s favour.

But Apollo has many enemies—gods, monsters and mortals who would love to see the former Olympian permanently destroyed. Apollo needs help, and he can think of only one place to go… an enclave of modern demigods known as Camp Half-Blood.

My Review:
5 out of 5 stars

I wasn’t sure what to think when going into this book. My son has read up to the current book in this series, but my husband got halfway through this one and couldn’t read it anymore (Apollo annoyed him that much). When I started the book, I could tell what my husband meant. Apollo grated on my nerves constantly. The story sucked me in though and I had to keep going to see how everything would go down. As much as Apollo annoyed me in the beginning, his love and protection for his children was really heartwarming and won me over. He was going to do whatever it took to save his children and his friend. He grew a lot from the person he was at the beginning of this story. I’m glad I decided to stick with this book. I was super excited to see appearances from some of the Heroes of Olympus characters. One in particular had me squealing. It was nice to get a little bit of an update on all of our favorite characters. I was never into mythology before reading the Percy Jackson series so I have been learning about it as I’ve gone along reading these books. When the villain for this book was revealed, I had no idea who that was so I had to do a little research. Yeah…not good. Apollo has got his work cut out for him, that’s for sure. I’m looking forward to seeing who else this villain is working with. There was some betrayal in this book that shocked me. I wasn’t expecting that at all. I’m interested in seeing how that is going to play out in future books as well. I can’t wait to jump into the next book!

Review – The Crowns of Croswald by DE Night

Synopsis:
In Croswald, the only thing more powerful than dark magic is one secret…

For sixteen years Ivy Lovely has been hidden behind an enchanted boundary that separates the mundane from the magical. When Ivy crosses the border, her powers awaken. Curiosity leads her crashing through a series of adventures at the Halls of Ivy, a school where students learn to master their magical blood and the power of Croswald’s mysterious gems. When Ivy’s magic––and her life––is threatened by the Dark Queen, she scrambles to unearth her history and save Croswald before the truth is swept away forever.

 

My Review:
4 out of 5 stars

The Crowns of Croswald is a good start to a new fantasy series.

I was really intrigued by the magic system in this book and enjoyed learning more about it. The Scrivenists were fun to read about. What cool powers to have, right?

Ivy is an enjoyable character and I liked reading about her life at the Halls of Ivy. The setting and world building in this book was great. I liked learning about the Halls of Ivy, the different classes offered, the magical creatures in this world, and Ivy’s friends. The pacing caught me off guard at times, but this was still a great book and I am looking forward to the next one when it comes out.