Harry Potter re-read

Fun, fun, fun!! Sheila of http://bookjourney.net/ is hosting a Hary Potter re-readalong. The details can be found here: http://bookjourney.net/2014/10/24/looking-for-potter-heads-winter-re-readreadalong/

It’s oddly timely for me because I’ve been re-watching the movies - I still have The Deathly Hallows Part 2 to go - and I was planning on re-reading the books once I was done, so this is actually perfect.

So I’m signing in for the readalong as a seventh-year Slytherin.

Yes, Slytherin. I joined Pottermore and got sorted and everything.

Hogwarts awaits!!

It's Monday, what are you reading?

Your meme is hosted by Sheila here: http://bookjourney.net/

I have to admit, I’ve had a reasonably productive weekend. By which I mean I finally finished two of the books I talked about in my readathon vlog. *Ahem.*

I finished Elephants Can Remember by Agatha Christie on Saturday, and it’s always a pleasure for me to revisit Dame Christie. I love a good mystery.

Yesterday I finished Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson - a re-telling of Peter Pan of sorts. It focuses on the character of Tiger Lily, who was a relatively minor presence in the original novel. It’s narrated by Tinker Bell, and fleshes out Neverland in some very interesting and unexpected ways. I did enjoy it rather a lot and it made me unexpectedly melancholy at the end, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

I’ve had to rather shamefully bail on Trish’s readalong of Drood by Dan Simmons. I started it, and immediately found it incomprehensible. So. Onward.

I am a massive, massive idiot and it took me absolutely forever to realise that I could use my iPad mini as an e-reader. I had an e-reader - a Sony - that I basically never used so I gave it to J. THEN I saw a promo on facebook for like, iBooks where you could get the first of a series for free.

AND LO, I SAW THE LIGHT. AND THAT LIGHT SAID “YOU COULD BUY BOOKS ON IBOOKS AND READ THEM IN THE CAF AT WORK AT LUNCHTIME.”

So that’s what I did. Which is a very roundabout way of saying that one of the books I have on the go is The  Maze Runner. it was cheap on iBooks and so it’s my lunchtime book. It’s not bad but  I’m finding it a little bit … YOU KNOW NOTHING JON SNOW which is irritating.

I’m also reading Fox Forever, book three of the Jenna Fox series. I only started it today, but so far, so good.

What are you reading?

Readathon end of event meme

Once again, fashionably late!

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? Uhm, waiting for it to start, I think, given that it starts at 1am my time - lol.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? I was reading Agatha Christie, which are short, punchy detective novels, so those would be good.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Nope :-)
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? Social media engagement. It's hard to strike that balance, but it's also fun to go hang out on twitter and find like-minded souls.
5. How many books did you read? 2/3 of one book.
6. What were the names of the books you read? Elephants Can Remember which I STILL  haven't finished.
7. Which book did you enjoy most? N/A
8. Which did you enjoy least? N/A
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? Have fun!!! There's always boatloads of readers so don't get bogged down. Follow the excellent spreadsheet, stay positive and have fun! 
10.  How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? Very. What role would you be likely to take next time? Little bit of both, like this year :-)

Lastly, a massive, massive shout out to Andi and Heather who keep the readathon going every year - it's a huge job and it seems to keep growing. You rock your socks, ladies. :-)

Readathon vlog - fourth time lucky!

The Sparrow review

I barged in on the readalong for this which was held by Trish at http://www.lovelaughterinsanity.com/

We're Drood-ing this month, with Drood by Dan Simmons aka the book that is bigger than one of my cats: http://www.lovelaughterinsanity.com/2014/10/drood-readalong-beginning.html I actually ended up buying it on iBooks because holy crap. You could take out an orc with that thing.

Anyway. The Sparrow. 

In 2060, Father Emilio Sandoz has returned from a disastrous mission to the planet of Rakhat.

The planet had been discovered some 40 years before, and the Jesuits had hastily pulled together a disparate group of people - including Father Sandoz - to travel to the planet.

The mission doesn’t go how anyone envisioned it.

Forty years on, Father Sandoz is back as the only survivor of the mission, nearly broken in body, mind and spirit.

The Sparrow goes back and forth in time, from 2060 back to 2019, where it explores the background of Emilio and the other people drawn in for the mission to Rakhat.

It’s clear from the start that the mission ended in tragedy and chaos, and it’s up to Father Sandoz’s Jesuit order to try and piece together exactly what happened.

This is my second reading of The Sparrow and somehow I’d forgotten what an emotional whumpage of a book it is.

I remember loving it, but somehow forgot the bit where it tore my heart out and ate it in front of me.

It tackles some very, very big themes - the nature and existence of God, faith, love, life … all filtered through the eyes of Father Sandoz, the crew who first travel to Rakhat, and the Jesuits charged with Father Sandoz’s care after he’s brought back to earth.

It’s like. This book broke my heart and then stomped on the fragile fragments, grinding them to dust.

Here, read it.