Category: Uncategorized

40a. A book you own but have never read – Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson

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Finished 07/12/18

Now I saw another person doing this challenge separate #40 Your favorite prompt from the 2015, 2016, or 2017 POPSUGAR Reading Challenges into 3 parts for each year. I loved the idea and decided to try it as well. This prompt comes from the 2015 popsugar reading challenge.

Originally I bought this book for a children’s lit class I was taking in college but I never read it. 3 years later I finally got around to reading it and I enjoyed the story. 4/5th grade me would have absolutely loved this book.

O.W.L.s Magical Readathon

After learning about this reading challenge I had to give it a go. I only heard about it in the middle of July so I didn’t finish every prompt but I did read enough to get an O in my exams, yay! lol Below are the prompts and the books I read for them.

Ancient Runes: A book with a symbol on the cover – Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
Arithmacy: Read a book with a number on the cover or in the title – The Phantom Tollbooth
Astronomy: Read a science fiction novel – A Wrinkle in Time
Care of Magical Creature: Read a book that includes magical creatures
Charms: Read a fantasy book – Nightmares!
Defense Against the Dark Arts: Book about/featuring secret societies/clubs – The Assassin’s Game
Divination: Read a book featuring prophecies
Herbology: Read a book with a nature related word in the title
History of Magic: Read a historical fiction – The Carnival at Bray
Muggle Studies: Read a muggle non-fiction book – We Should All Be Feminists
Potions: Read a book about/with alchemy
Transfiguration: Read a book that deals with shapeshifting or similar theme
OR a book with a cat on the cover

Outstanding – sit (and pass) at least 5 OWLs ✔

Magical Readathon: OWLs Exams

36. A book set in the decade you were born – The Carnival at Bray by Jessie Ann Foley

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Finished 07/12/18

About the prompt: I had a hard time with this prompt because not many books were available to me that fit into this category. After many google searches I found this wonderful book. I was born in the 90s and this book takes place during 1993-1995, perfectly fits the prompt.

About the book: After finishing this book and having just read Aristotle & Dante by Saenz, I’ve re-discovered my love of coming-of-age themed stories. I used to devour these kinds of books during my middle school and high school days. This book was everything that I would have wanted to read back then and I’m glad I had the opportunity to read it now. It was a great coming of age story, heartbreaking with an uplifting and hopeful ending. You follow Maggie during her teenage/young adult years, trying to navigate the world as she knows it.

title: The Assassin Game

author: Kirsty McKay

my rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
genre(s): YA, Mystery, Contemporary

my thoughts: under the cut for spoilers.

This isn’t usually something I read, the first time I read the summary I just wasn’t interested in reading about a bunch of rich kids hazing each other. It was chosen in my book club and I’m trying to expand my genres so I thought I’d give it a shot because why not. I’m honestly glad I did, it was so much better than I expected. Okay so they are a bunch of rich kids with high IQs who want to be a part of this secret society but I really had fun and I could not figure out who was trying to kill their fellow students. All the red herrings! Seriously I was like is it this person or this person, well turned out I wasn’t even close. The only thing that was weird was that **SPOILERS** the summary gave the impression that students were dying and being harmed but no one actually ended up dying. **SPOILERS**

Anyway other than that it was a well written whodunnit.

Finish date: 07/11/18

title: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

author: Benjamin Alire Sáenz

my rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
genre(s): YA, Lgbtqa+, Contemporary, Romance, Coming-of-Age

my thoughts: under the cut for spoilers.

A coming of age story about two Mexican boys trying to find their place in this confusing and complicated world. Ari and Dante are definitely teenage characters with their thoughts and speech, not in a negative or annoying way but in a realistic way. At first I wasn’t sure if they were going to end up together but I hoped because they just fit. The only reason this was a 4 and not a 5 for me was that Ari didn’t come to the realization that he was in love with Dante on his own but because his parents brought it to his attention. Other than that it was a great coming of age story and I haven’t read many books in this category with boys as the main characters. If you love coming-of-age stories I definitely recommend this book and the author is working on a sequel.

Finish date: 07/08/18

27. A book set on a different planet – A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

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Finished 07/07/18

I chose this book because I always had an interest in reading it. When I went to the bookstore there was a section dedicated to this book because of the movie coming out and I figure why not and decided to buy it. And this folks, is why I borrow my books from the library and then only buy my favorites. With the money I spent on this book I could have bought a different book that I wanted more. Now that’s not to say this book was horrible but I was not blown away like many reviews suggested. It was okay but mostly weird, like a long winded story that your parent is making up as they go along after you asked for a bedtime story. I’m not sure if I’ll continue on with the series or not.