Hogwarts Reading Challenge 2011

I know I swore I was not going to join any more challenges but this one was so awesome I could not pass it up. The simple details of it are you are sorted into one of the 4 Hogwarts houses and then from there you read books for the different courses that are taught at Hogwarts. Wanna join me in trying to win house cup? Hogwarts Reading Challenge 2011

Reading one of the 7 Harry Potter books earns you 25 house points. 
#6 Harry Potter and The Sorcerers Stone- 1/27.2011
#13 Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets- 2/28/2011
#24 Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban 6/17/2011
#25 Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire 6/17/2011
# 28 Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix 6/17/2011 (all three books read but review pending)
#29 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince  6/17/2011
#30 Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows  6/17/2011
=175 points


 15 points for any other Harry Potter related book 
    #2 Quidditch Through the Ages- 1.12/2011
  #3 Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them-1/12/2011
= 30 points

Prefect Challenge-10 points each book 25 for completing
#7 Night of the Solstice-2/8/2011
#8 Across the Universe- 2/13/2011
#9 Perfectly Matched- 2/13/2011
=55 points

Book In the Day Mini Challenge- 10 points each book 25 for completing 15 for each additional book
#11 The Vampire Diaries- The Awakening- 2/22/2011
#12 Old Mans Bag-2/28/2011
#13 Flowers in the Attic-2/28/2011
#14 Beyond the Highland Mist- 3/7/2011
= 70 points


Hide and Seek Mini Challenge- 10 points each book 25 for completing 15 for each additional book 
#17 Moon Called- Patricia Briggs 3/23/2011
#18 Nancy Drew The Secret of the Old Clock- Carolyn Keene 4/13/2011
#19 The Body Finder- Kimberly Derting 4/13/2011
= 55 points
Fight or Flight Mini Challenge
#20 Blood Bound- Patricia Briggs 5/31/2011
#21 Life as We Knew It- Susan Beth Pfeffer 6/8/2011
#22 Maiden Flight- Bianca D'Arc 6/13/2011
#23 Wonderous Strange- Lesley Livingston 6/13/2011
#26 Iron Kissed- Patricia Briggs 6/17/2011
#27 Lure- Stephanie Jenkins 6/20/2011
#31 Bone Crossed- Patricia Briggs 6/30/2011
#32 Ice- Sarah Beth Durst 6/30/2011
=130 points
The Classes




Transfiguration - read any book that has trans or figure in its title, is about shape shifting, has a shape shifter in it, or is about anything having to do with changing one thing into another
Defence Against the Dark Arts - read any book that has defence(defense), dark and/or art(s) in its title, read any book that is about self defense, war, history of war/marital arts, murder mysteries

Charms - read any book that has charm in its title, any book that deals with gives something or someone a new aspect (for example the nerdy guy become a handsome doctor)

Potions - read any book that has potion in its title, cookbooks count but you must cook at least one recipe out of the book

Astronomy - read any book that has astronomy in its title, books about planets, stars, etc, sci-fi

History of Magic - read any book that has history or magic in its title, books about magic, witches, etc
#1 Whisper of a Witch by Suza Kates-1/9/2011 -Main character is a Witch

Herbology - read any book that has herb in its title, again cookbooks count and again you must cook at least one recipe out of the book
#33 Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl 6/30/2011

Arithmancy - read any book that has arithmancy in its title, any book with a number in its title, any book that deal with numbers or math

Ancient Runes - read any book that has ancient or runes in its title, books about historical places like the pyramids, Stonehenge, great wall of china, or any book about symbols


Divination- read any book that has divine in its title, any book about psychics or psychic abilities, tarot reading etc
#4 Never Tempt Danger-Denise Robbins-1/13/2011 -main character has psychic abilities

Care of Magical Creatures - read any book that has magical or creatures in its title, about supernatural beings

Muggle Studies - nearly any book works here, what better why to understand Muggle than to read what they read

#5 Dead Man's Eye- Shaun Jeffrey 1/26/2011
#10 Walk of the Spirits- Richie Tankersley Cusik 2/17/2011
#15 The Candidates- Inara Scott 3/11/2011
#16 Matched- Ally Conde 3/22/2011
= 7 points




Total Points To Date- 522 points

1001 Books to Read Before You Die

Ok I swear this is the last reading challenge I join. I'm joining http://caitieflum.wordpress.com in quest to make a dent in the list of 1001 books to read before you die. You can find the list of books all over the web. I'm going to have to sit down at some point and figure out how many of them I've already read. here are the levels of participation I'm hoping to reach Bachelor's this year.

Levels:

High Schoo Diplomal: 5 books from the list
Bachelor’s Degree: 6-10 books from the list
Master’s Degree: 11-15 books from the list:
PHd: 16+

Monday Blog Hop

I hope everyone had a great weekend. If you are stopping by from blog hop please leave a comment. I will always follow back :)

Invaders From Home #1 Comic Book Review

Years ago, long before I ever met my husband he worked at a comic book store. Well, needless to say we have a number of comic books lying around the house. As you may recall in my effort to stem out  in other areas of literature I've decided to try out some comics and graphic novels. Before anyone argues yes comics are literature. They are also a great form of pop art/pop culture! Back in 1990 Piranha Press Publication put out a 6 book comic series called Invaders From Home by John Blair Moore. I read #1 yesterday. It was absolutely hilarious!

The comic is about Bobby Boomer who is nearly 40 years old when his wife lets him know that she is pregnant. This sets causes him to have a hysterical state of mind. He even has a nightmare that aliens impregnated his wife by sticking a banana in her ear. It is beyond funny and a great read for anyone who has children or anyone who is an outside observer to people with children. The drawings are just so wonderful. I especially love all of the expressions that Bobby has.  You know Moore has a wonderful sense of humor just from reading his biography at the beginning of the comic where he states he was raised in Tibet "by a family of itinerant Yak herders".

I look forward to reading the rest of the series. I recommend it for anyone who is a parent, has a sense of humor, or has spent a lot of time with children. I give it my first 5 out of 5 rating!

Last Day To Win Literati @ http://kindredspiritmommy.com

kindredspiritmommy.com is hosting a Literati giveaway that ends tonight at midnight. I want an ereader so badly I'm ready to cry. I currently cannot afford to buy myself one so I've been desperate to win one. www.literatireader.com to check out the details on the literati. You have access to 150 free books from Kobo, a night reading mode, and built in wi-fi. All in all I really would love to own one. I work at Bed Bath and Beyond and know that you can get one for $60! It is on sale right now for $100 with a $20 mail in rebate making it $80. But if you bring in a 20% off coupon you can get it for just $60 after mail in rebate! How awesome is that? How sad is it that I can't afford that? LOL anyway if you  want your chance to win one head on over to http://kindredspiritmommy.com/literati-wireless-ereader Good luck!

Review- Whisper of a Witch

I rather enjoyed this book which is the first in the Savannah Coven Series. I had won this book in a giveaway and when I received the book I wasn't much impressed with the cover. It looks like a bad cut and paste on someones computer. But setting that aside it was actually a fairly enjoyable read. Right away you are introduced to the 9 women who form the coven. They all feel a calling to meet in one place. They are a nice variety and mix and each one is unique enough to keep track of who is who. Each woman has a unique special ability such as talking to animals, seeing the dead, super fast speed etc. When they finally all meet together they learn that each of them will be  individually tested by an evil witch/sorceress and must succeed in passing their trial in order to basically save the world.

This first book focused on Shauni. There was a love story between her and a man named Michael. This was a rather refreshing love story because I didn't have to sit through page after page of flexing muscles or details of how sexy someones lips are etc. Their love story is a bit rushed but feel genuine and again while they have sexual chemistry I don't have to hear about  on every other page. There is a lot of great humor in the book that I enjoyed.

I did feel at times there was too much a push of sisterhood and it was a bit hokey. They were too sisterly way to fast for a group of women who just met. Also I didn't care very much for the resolution to Shauni's trial. But all in all I really enjoyed the book and look forward to and do plan on reading the next book. I would give the book 3 and half out of 5 stars.


Challenges this book fulfills
Kickass Heroine
Hogwarts Reading Challenge 2011

Shaun of The Dead Graphic Novel- Review

So after reading the first issue of walking dead it dawned on me that a few years ago I had bought my husband the graphic novel Shaun of the Dead based on the movie. First let me say that Shaun of the Dead is my all time favorite zombie movie and in my top 5 favorite comedy movies. It really can't be beat! So I pulled off the dusty shelf the book and sat down to read it. It remains faithful to the movie with the same lines and jokes. It is wonderfully drawn though the drawings don't exactly match the actors but that does not detract from it. Though I thought that Liz's body was drawn a bit too manly. I especially enjoyed the last few pages which showed an image gallery. I would give it 3 out of 5 stars. It is beautiful to look at but pales compared to the movie it comes from. If you are a fan of the movie and collector I could see you wanting it but beyond that no real reason to pick it up.

From the movie