Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by JK Rowling, John Tiffany and Jack Thorne

November 15, 20168 Comments

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Finished 9-19-16, rating 5/5, play, 327 pages, pub. 2016

Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, a new play by Jack Thorne, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the eighth story in the Harry Potter series and the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage. The play will receive its world premiere in London’s West End on July 30, 2016.

It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children.

While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places. from Goodreads

Oh, how I’d missed my wand wielding friends. I read the Harry Potter series, along with a large percentage of literate world and loved it. Muggles and wizards, yes, but at its heart it is about friendship and loyalty, right and wrong. I was sad to see the series end, but felt it was complete (well, except for the pairings at the end). I hadn’t heard great things about this screenplay, based on the story by JK Rowling, that takes place decades later, but I wanted to know what happened just like everyone else. It was so great to be back in the company of Harry Potter and his pals, even the beloved ones that were gone by the end of the series.

Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Draco are all back, but this time it’s their children that are off to Hogwarts. Albus and Scorpius are outcasts and best friends who decide to make their daddies proud. Silly kids. This was the bromance that made this play sing.

Amazingly, there’s still plenty of juice in the Harry Potter world and anyone who has read the first 7 books needs to get their hands on this one. I did miss the novel form and the great writing, but accept it as it is and enjoy.

Avon’s KissCon came to Cleveland

November 11, 201612 Comments

Last night I attended Avon’s KissCon with this excellent lineup of romance authors – Katharine Ashe, Toni Blake, Shelley Shepard Gray, Linda Howard, Linda Jones, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Jennifer Ryan and Jill Shalvis.

Once I saw that Susan Elizabeth Phillips was going to be there I bought my VIP ticket so I could hang and drink wine with my new BFF.

avon1 Susan is just as sparkly and quick as you might expect if you read her books. I talked to two other authors -neither of which I’ve read, but I brought home books to change that- and both of them flew all the way from California. Jill Shalvis and Jennifer Ryan were both so nice and willing to chat even though I didn’t know anything about them or their books 😉

avon4 Jill Shalvis avon5 Jennifer Ryan

There was a panel so we could hear from them all and that was lots of fun too.

avon2

It was a fun night, but I confess that I felt terrible. I think you can see in those last two pics that I could barely open my eyes because it felt like there was a vise squeezing my head. I’m a little better today but I’m going back to bed for a few hours while Gage is at school.

Watermark by Travis Thrasher

November 9, 20162 Comments

The Watermark. Finished 9-15-16, rating 4/5, inspirational, 256 pages, pub. 2001

“I wanted to tell her the truth. I wanted to finally tell her everything. But the door slammed shut as it rightfully should have before I could be brave enough to do a thing.”

Sheridan Blake believes he has made one mistake that is beyond the reach of God’s forgiveness. Even after seven years of hopelessness, Sheridan still struggles to make something out of his life. When Genevie Dayton interrupts his self-imposed isolation, Sheridan dates to hope for a second chance. from Goodreads

I picked this up at a library sale a few years ago because I thought it was pretty and that I recognized the author’s name (I didn’t). Somehow I missed the big pink sticker on the spine proclaiming this book to be Inspirational, but wasn’t hard to miss once I started reading. I tend to avoid the inspirational fiction. Most of them feel very vanilla to me when I like a little chocolate, but this one was sweet just the way it was and I liked it quite a bit. The Watermark:A Tender Story of Forgiveness and Hope by Travis Thrasher. Yeah, the subtitle should have tipped me off too.

Sheridan returns to college after a seven year hiatus. He still feels shame and guilt about the incident that got him kicked out of college the first time but he is trying to put his life back together. He brings in a roommate and meets a girl and things are looking good. If only he can find forgiveness.

It’s always easier to tell others they need to forgive themselves than it is to forgive yourself. Or to accept that forgiveness from God. Sheridan has a lot of forgiving to do.

I think anyone who likes inspirational stories might like this one. I also think this would make a nice gift for anyone going to or in college. It doesn’t turn a blind eye from the reality of college life and the trouble that kids get in to when on their own for the first time.

Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi

November 6, 20166 Comments

Reading Lolita in Tehran. Finished 9-14-16, rating 3.5/5, memoir, 343 pages. pub. 2003

Every Thursday morning for two years in the Islamic Republic of Iran, a bold and inspired teacher named Azar Nafisi secretly gathered seven of her most committed female students to read forbidden Western classics. As Islamic morality squads staged arbitrary raids in Tehran, fundamentalists seized hold of the universities, and a blind censor stifled artistic expression, the girls in Azar Nafisi’s living room risked removing their veils and immersed themselves in the worlds of Jane Austen, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry James, and Vladimir Nabokov. In this extraordinary memoir, their stories become intertwined with the ones they are reading. Reading Lolita in Tehran is a remarkable exploration of resilience in the face of tyranny and a celebration of the liberating power of literature. from Goodreads

We read this for book club in September. It’s hard to know exactly what the problem was. Some didn’t like the author, some thought she was talking down to them about the books, others were bothered by the jumping around from the past to the present. I think all of us agreed that we wanted to feel more of a connection with the girls in the book club. I liked the book overall, but only because I found the good parts worth the not-so-great ones. And I did a lot of skimming

Azar, a college literature professor in Tehran, Iran at the time of the revolution, chronicles her years living in Iran and how the Islamic takeover of the government changed the lives of the women living there. Eventually she started a secret book group in her home where the women talked about banned Western classics and it’s through these books that she framed the story.

Learning about what was happening in Iran in the 1980’s, told from the perspective of an educated woman, was eye opening for me. I learned more about the history of Iran than I thought I would and that was my favorite aspect.

My 30 Day Challenge for November?

November 3, 20166 Comments

A new month, a new 30 day challenge. For those of you who are friends on Facebook or check out My 30 Day Challenges blog regularly, you already know that I’m participating in NaNoWriMo this November. Thirty days, 50,000 words, local events, and the permission to completely suck. At least that’s what I was told at the kick-off event last Saturday 🙂

I’m two days in (after I write this I’ll start writing toward my 1700 word daily goal) and already my story is not going quite as planned. I’ve added a main character who I adore and taken out the love interest in my romance. That’s right. He’s gone. Someone else jumped into that role in chapter 1 and I’m rolling with it. Oh, and as I was writing in Bob Evans the first morning, my waitress got into the novel too (her name anyway).

I’m asking people on the 30 Day blog and on the Facebook page to help me decide things. Right now voting is up for the name of my heroine – please stop by either place to see the finalists and cast your vote.

I’ve found a couple other bloggers who are participating too. If you or someone you know is signed up let me know so we can be buddies.

Care (Care’s Books and Pie)

Michelle (True Book Addict)

It’s going to be a fun month 🙂

The Lovers by Vendela Vida

November 1, 2016November 1, 20166 Comments

The Lovers. Finished 9-12-16, rating 2.5/5. fiction, pub. 2010

Unabridged audio read by Suzanne Toren. 7 hours.

Twenty-eight years ago, Peter and Yvonne honeymooned in the beautiful coastal village of Datça, Turkey. Now Yvonne is a widow, her twin children grown. Hoping to immerse herself in memories of a happier time—as well as sand and sea—Yvonne returns to Datça. But her plans for a restorative week in Turkey are quickly complicated. Instead of comforting her, her memories begin to trouble her. Her vacation rental’s landlord and his bold, intriguing wife—who share a curious marital arrangement—become constant uninvited visitors, in and out of the house.

Overwhelmed by the past and unexpectedly dislocated by the environment, Yvonne clings to a newfound friendship with Ahmet, a local boy who makes his living as a shell collector. With Ahmet as her guide, Yvonne gains new insight into the lives of her own adult children, and she finally begins to enjoy the shimmering sea and relaxed pace of the Turkish coast. But a devastating accident upends her delicate peace and throws her life into chaos—and her sense of self into turmoil. from Goodreads

I listened to the majority of this in the car but followed along in the book. I admit I didn’t felt a twinge of interest until page 68. There were many discussion worthy storylines, but overall it just didn’t speak to me.

Yvonne is a recent widow who decides to go back to the place of her honeymoon, Datca, Turkey. She rents a house and meets a few people who help her heal in different ways. As the days unfold we get the whole story on her marriage and children. I enjoyed learning a little about the Turkish culture.

This might appeal to readers who like introspective international stories.

October’s Movies

October 31, 2016December 27, 20162 Comments

No trips to the theater, but when preparing for Gage’s birthday party I could do lots of things while half watching bad romantic movies 🙂 Please add your 5 words if you’ve seen it!

Another month and another chance to contribute money to charity. Add your 5 words (or less!) to mine in a comment and earn $1 for charity. Once we get to $100 the person with the most reviews will choose the charity. Click here to see the past winners, the charities they chose and the other reviews you can add to. Anyone is welcome to join in at any time.

We’re at $36.

I hope that you will take a few minutes to participate when you can each month. It’s fun for me and for everyone else who reads it. I’m not looking for a critical review, just a few words about how you felt about the movie. This is ongoing so you can leave your 5 words anytime.

Hope Floats, 1998 (Sandra Bullock, Harry Connick Jr., Gena Rowlands, Mae Whitman) Grade B-

Sexy leads carry okay story.

Sweet story of new beginning. (Kathy)

Take Me Home, 2011 (Sam Jaeger, Amber Jaeger, Victor Garber) Grade C+

Taxi road trip with strangers.

Bleachers by John Grisham

October 30, 20165 Comments

Bleachers. Finished 9-11-16, rating 2/5, fiction, pub. 2003

Unabridged audio read by the author.

High school All-American Neely Crenshaw was probably the best quarterback ever to play for the legendary Messina Spartans. Fifteen years have gone by since those glory days, and Neely has come home to Messina to bury Coach Eddie Rake, the man who molded the Spartans into an unbeatable football dynasty.

As Coach Rake’s ‘boys’ sit in the bleachers waiting for the dimming field lights to signal his passing, they replay the old glories, and try to decide once and for all whether they love Eddie Rake – or hate him. For Neely Crenshaw, still struggling to come to terms with his explosive relationship with the Coach, his dreams of a great career in the NFL, and the choices he made as a young man, the stakes could not be higher. from Goodreads

Last month I started listening to this audio for my 30 books in 30 days challenge. After a slow-moving cd or two I went to Goodreads to mark it as currently reading…and found out that I read it in 2003! Honestly, I thought it sounded familiar but I thought that maybe I just hadn’t finished it. Well, when you are reading a book a day and are halfway through a book already it’s easy to make the decision to soldier on. And, to be honest, it did feel a little like I was sacrificing myself for the sake of the challenge. I really didn’t like this one. I’d have to check but I have to think it was one of my least favorites for the month.

Neely, a has been high school football player, comes back to his small football crazed town when he hears his legendary coach is dying. He meets up with other football alumni doing the same thing. I couldn’t find one character to care about or plot point to keep me interested.

Extreme Prey by John Sandford

October 28, 20165 Comments

Extreme Prey. Finished 9-30-16, 4/5 stars, thriller, 406 pages, pub. 2016

Lucas Davenport series #26 (1- Rules of Prey, 2- Shadow Prey, 3- Eyes of Prey, 4- Silent Prey, 5- Winter Prey, 6- Night Prey, 7- Mind Prey, 8- Sudden Prey, 9- Secret Prey, 10- Certain Prey, 11-Easy Prey, 12- Chosen Prey, 13- Mortal Prey, 14- Naken Prey, 15- Hidden Prey, 16- Broken Prey, 17- Invisible Prey, 18- Phantom Prey, 19- Wicked Prey, 20– Storm Prey, 21- Buried Prey, 22-Stolen Prey, 23-Silken Prey, 24-Field of Prey, 25-Gathering Prey)

After the events in Gathering Prey, Lucas Davenport finds himself in a very unusual situation—no longer employed by the Minnesota BCA. His friend the governor is just cranking up a presidential campaign, though, and he invites Lucas to come along as part of his campaign staff. “Should be fun!” he says, and it kind of is—until they find they have a shadow: an armed man intent on killing the governor . . . and anyone who gets in the way. from Goodreads

So, either you’ve read, are reading, or have no intention of reading this series. I don’t think my thoughts on this one is going to sway your choice. I love Lucas and the progression of his life. Although he has changed official jobs throughout the series he always remains a bad ass detective and this time around he has no job at all. So, he’s working on the side for a wanna be governor and can call in old friends like Kidd, who don’t do things by the legal book.

An interesting take on the fringes of the voting electorate, a timely story. I look forward to seeing what the future holds for Lucas.

D s For Deadbeat by Sue Grafton

October 27, 201612 Comments

D is For Deadbeat. Finished 9-10-16, rating 4.5/5, mystery, 307 pages, pub. 1987

Book 4 of the Kinsey Millhone series (1-A is for Alibi, 2-B is for Burglar, 3- C is for Corpse)

When Alvin Limardo walks into P.I. Kinsey Millhone’s office, she smells bad news. He wants Kinsey to deliver $25,000. The recipient: A fifteen-year-old boy. It’s a simple matter. So simple that Kinsey wonders why he doesn’t deliver the money himself. She’s almost certain something is off. But with rent due, Kinsey accepts Limardo’s retainer against her better judgment…

When Limardo’s check bounces, Kinsey discovers she’s been had big time. Alvin Limardo is really John Daggett—an ex-con with a drinking problem, two wives to boot, and a slew of people who would like to see him dead. Now Kinsey is out four hundred dollars and in hot pursuit of Daggett.

When Daggett’s corpse shows up floating in the Santa Teresa surf, the cops rule the death an accident. Kinsey thinks it’s murder. But seeking justice for a man who everyone seemed to despise is going to be a lot tougher than she bargained for—and what awaits her at the end of the road is much more disturbing than she could’ve ever imagined…

from Goodreads

This fourth of the series was longer than the others and therefore able to provide more plot and suspects, two things I enjoyed. I love Kinsey. She’s independent, tough and flawed (I might even call her a nasty woman). The only thing about reading this beloved series from the beginning is that they can sometimes feel a little dated. This was published in 1987 so no cell phones, Google or 24 hour news.

I really like this series and while I missed a few of the usual folks I did like the extra-large edition.

Stacy's Books

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