Harry Potter and the Sorcerers's Stone (Harry Potter, Book One): J.K. Rowling

"HARRY POTTER has never played a sport while flying on a broomstick. He's never worn a cloak of invisibility, befriended a giant, or helped hatch a dragon. All Harry knows is a miserable life with the Dursley's, his horrible aunt and uncle, and their abominable son, Dudley. Harry's room is a tiny closet at the foot of the stairs, and he hasn't had a birthday party in eleven years.

"But all that is about to change when a mysterious letter arrives by owl messenger: a letter with an invitation to a wonderful place he never dreamed existed. There he finds not only friends, aerial sports, and magic around every corner, but a great destiny that's been waiting for him...if Harry can survive the encounter."

I will admit that I tried reading this book when it first came out more than a decade ago. All of my friends were totally enthralled by it.

I hated it.

I know, I know...what person hates Harry Potter?!? I couldn't get through the first chapter. I don't know if it was the writing or the fact that I was only really reading it because all of my friends loved it, but I absolutely could not get through the first chapter. Now, more than a decade later, I was assigned this book as one of my readings for my Children's Literature class. Needless to say, my reaction was not a very happy one. Luckily this was one of the last ones that I had to read for the semester. I finished all of the other ones way ahead of schedule so I could give myself a few weeks to drag my butt through this book. I was finally forced to pick up this book last week...and I obviously finished it MUCH sooner than I had to.

This time around, I really, really liked it!!!

Just because I didn't read the book doesn't mean I hated the movies. I really enjoyed them (though I was never one of the people buying advanced tickets, dressing up, and going to the midnight show--nothing wrong with people who did this, but it's not my cup of tea for Harry Potter). My aunt and I once spent an entire day watching all of the movies in a row. Back to my review: I think the reason I really liked this book was because I had the movie playing in the back of my mind. If nothing, it really added to my enjoyment of the story. Of course, there were several differences between the book and the movies--which you'll know only when you are able to compare them--but they didn't detract at all from my enjoyment. It was so great to be able to put faces to the names and I can really see how well the movies captured Rowling's work. I enjoyed the characters and the creativity. Now I can really appreciate the author's talent for storytelling.

I actually recommend this book. Even if you didn't like it as a kid; give it another chance because you just might be surprised. Don't be afraid to watch the movies too :) I fully intend on watching the first movie again and reading the other books in conjunction with re-watching the movies. My aunt says I'll become a complete dork because of my newfound enjoyment.

Percy Jackson & the Olympians--The Demigod Files (Percy Jackson & the Olympians, Book Six): Rick Riordan

"YOUNG DEMIGODS, brace yourselves for a peek inside the highly classified Demigod Files! Compiled by Camp Half-Blood's senior scribe, Rick Riordan, these top secret archives include three of Percy Jackson's most perilous adventures, behind-the-scenes interviews with your favorite characters, a map of Camp Half-Blood, and more. Become an authority on Percy's world with this must-have guide to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series."

First of all, this book should be read between book four and the final installment of the Percy Jackson series. Unfortunately, the site I was going off of told me to read this book last. It isn't a really big deal, but it would have added to my appreciation of the last book. In short, read this book before the final one.

Overall, I liked this book. It was short and sweet and it made me remember why I liked the series to begin with. The only problem was that I finished the series a while ago and there were bits and pieces that I had to scour my memory banks to recall. This problem is easily remedied when you read the series like you're supposed to.

The short stories in this book were as much fun as the other books. They were like mini episodes in the life and times of Perseus Jackson. Also, the background information on the characters gave the book it's own appeal.

Her Fearful Symmetry: Audrey Niffenegger

"Audrey Niffenegger's spectacularly compelling second novel opens with a letter that alters the fate of every character. Julia and Valentina Poole are semi-normal American twenty-year-olds with seemingly little interest in college or finding jobs. Their attachment to one another is intense. One morning the mailman delivers a thick envelope to their house in the suburbs of Chicago. From a London solicitor, the enclosed letter informs Valentina and Julia that their English aunt, whom they never knew, has died of cancer and left them her London apartment. There are two conditions to their inheritance: that they live in it for a year before they sell it and that their parents not enter it. Julia and Valentina are twins. So were the estranged Elspeth and Edie, their mother.

"The girls move to Elspeth's flat, which borders the vast and ornate Highgate Cemetery, where Christina Rossetti, George Elliot, Radclyffe Hall, Stella Gibbons, and Karl Marx are buried. Julia and Valentina come to know the living residents of their building. There is Martin, a brilliant and charming crossword-puzzle setter suffering from crippling obsessive compulsive disorder; Marijke, Martin's devoted but trapped wife; and Robert, Elspeth's elusive lover, a scholar of the cemetery. As the girls become embroiled in the fraying lives of their aunt's neighbors, they also discover that much is still alive in Highgate, including--perhaps--their aunt.

"Author of one of the most beloved first novels in recent years, Niffenegger returns with an unnerving, unforgettable and enchanting ghost story, a novel about love and the tenacity of life--even after death."

I really enjoyed Niffenegger's first book and this one was no exception. I finished this book at almost two this morning because I just couldn't put it down.

It started off very heart-wrenching and progressed at a steady pace. Even the parts where the twins were wandering London gave insight into their characters. I loved the settings (partially because I'm from some where around the area where the Chicago portion of the story takes place and I'm dying to go to England to study abroad and see London.) Her descriptions of the places were beautiful. Even Highgate Cemetery had a very hauntingly etherial appeal to it--even for someone like me who has a bit of an..."aversion" to cemeteries. I think I may even go to visit the cemetery when I go to England.

I enjoyed Robert as a character because he was the perfect foil to the "Americanness" of the twins. He was sweet and kind and slightly awkward, which the author manages to make attractive. My heart broke for him when he lost Elspeth. Martin--because he lived in his own OCD world, trapped in his flat without the woman he loves--almost seems like he has his own side-story. This provided a relief from the density of the rest of the book. He was very difficult not to feel for. He was a brilliant man, trapped in his flat because the world has become too difficult to handle. The twins were functionally disfunctional--though this sounds funny, this is the only way to describe it...you'll understand when you read it. Valentina quickly became my favorite twin; I think because I saw a lot of myself in her. (Not in the way when she...well...I can't give anything away, so you'll just have to figure out our relationship to one another.)

Overall, this book was intense and morbid in a Victorian-gothic romance-sense. Quite a bit darker than her other book that I've read, this book was deep and intense and made you think. I look forward to reading more from her because of the brilliant twists and turns and the surprises that keep you salivating for more.

A Conspiracy of Genes: Mark de Castrique

"The conspiracy has begun...

"Gene thought the worst thing that could happen to him, already had. When his mother died from a strange virus, Gene assumed he had seen all that life could throw at him.

"He was wrong.

"Unable to decide whom he can trust, Gene will have to expose a massive conspiracy and figure out how to survive."

"One thing is certain...

"It's about to get much, much worse."

This is a YA book I read for my class. It was really interesting because the author is a graduate of my college and even thanks my professor in the acknowledgements. The whole book takes place in areas I know--even when his dad flies out of town. This made the book totally fascinating to me.

On top of that, the writing was spectacular! It kept me enthralled and I couldn't put the book down. I finished it in a day and--though it's not a very long book--that says a lot because I'm so busy all of the time. The characters were great and the plot kept me on my toes with all of its sudden twists and turns. I was constantly trying to guess what would happen next. When the ending came, I was very surprised. It was very impressive to me that an author could manage to lead you on throughout an entire book; only revealing enough to keep you fascinated, but managing to keep the plot undercover.

I was extremely impressed with this book and can't wait to pass it on to my cousin...even my grandmother has gotten into it!

Now, I'll probably look into more by this author because I've been exposed to the awesomeness of his writing :)

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: L. Frank Baum

This is another book I had to read for my class. This review will be short and sweet because SO many of you have seen the movie (unless, of course, you're my cousins and have been deprived of the Wizard, Mary Poppins, and other classics). I have to say that the thing that kept me from getting bored with this book was the fact that it was different from the movie. I don't want to give too much away, but I think it was the differences that livened up the often worn-out tale and made it new for me. I've seen the movie so many times that I almost didn't read the book for class. Now, I'm glad that I did. I recommend this book for any fan of the movie because it'll give you a neat new look at the story. Granted, I was never a huge fan like some people I know, but the book was okay. What I found really interesting was the life of the author. So, if you get a chance to, I recommend looking into that.