Book Review: Harry Potter and the Prisioner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

Rating:
5 out of 5 Stars


Synopsis
Harry Potter, along with his friends, Ron and Hermione, is about to start his third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry can't wait to get back to school after the Summer Holidays, who wouldn't if they lived with the horrible Dursleys? But when Harry gets to Hogwarts, the atmosphere is tense. There is an escaped mass murderer on the loose, and the sinister prison guards of Azkaban have been called in to guard the school....

My Review:
Like the previous books, we begin the book with Harry with his horrid family the Dursleys. Because of the views the Dursleys have on magic, Harry to has to hide all things magic and not talk about his fantastic 'other' life. This is highlighted at the beginning of the book when his Uncle Vernon tells him that Aunt Marge is coming to stay and that Uncle Vernon has made this story up to hide the fact that Harry was a wizard. This makes Harry mad and does something that no wizards should do in front of Muggles. Harry tells Uncle Vernon that he has had enough grabs his things and walks out. He thinks that because of what he has done. He is going to be expelled from Hogwarts and will have nowhere to go. Like most of us at some point, Harry comes up with all the ways to live and make money while being on his own. Until all of a sudden a bus pulls up; how very British! This is where the book really begins... On the bus we hear all about Sirius Black. The mass murderer who is the first ever man to escape the Azkaban Prison. In book two we read a little about Azkaban prison and how horrible it is. In book three you read about all the details about Azkaban and why it is such a shock that Black was able to escape...


So did I like it? HELL YES I DID!! Finally I get it. I loved this book so much. It made me think, it made me gasp, it made me sad, and happy and well made my inner child scream for joy! With this book I found it finally made that cross over. This book is primarily a kids book make no mistake, and if you are a book snob then you probably aren't gonna try and read this. But if you are open minded, you will love this book. The language and style of writing is easy to read. But not too simple for adults to enjoy. The book has twists and turns enough to grip the older reader, yet simple enough for younger readers to understand and keep reading  the book. I am starting to love the three kids just like they were my own. I was reading the book and saying out loud "Harry! You really shouldn't do that. You are sooo gonna get caught!" Yet at the same time the more I read of the series the more I seem to find parts of me in each of the characters.


I unfortunately have to have a break from reading Potter right now as I have a pile of books to read and review and because of this I feel kinda sad. I see book four on my book shelf and I just wanna read it! My friends are there, Snape is there, my inner child is there.


Fantastic reads for the whole family during bank holiday weekend.

Book Review: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

Rating:
3.5 out of 5 stars.

Synopsis:
Harry Potter is a wizard. He is in his second year at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Little does he know that this year will be just as eventful as the last...


My Review:
The Book begins where the last book finished. Harry is back with the horrid Dursley's. They still don't like Harry and still see him as an inconvenience. After an incident at the house, Harry is condemned to his room where he is locked in. Down beat and without any letters from his friends, Harry thinks this is the end of his time as a pupil at Hogwarts. But Ron along with his brothers help Harry to escape and once they arrive at Hogwarts a mystery starts to unravel. People have been attacked within the walls of Hogwarts. Rumours are flying, but who or what is causing these attacks.... And why?

The thing with the world of Potter is that there is always someone in your life who is obsessed with it. Two of my best friends are and so is my son. Because of this I have decided to give them a go. After the first one, which didn't quite hit the spot for me, I was hoping that this one would kick start my love for all things Potter and I would soon start to instantly recognise that Hufflepuff was a Hogwart's house name and not some form of Pokemon. Which by the way I now know all the house names!

Other than that I don't know where to start and what to put in this review other than ' I read it'. It was okay. It was readable. It...was pleasant. I am starting to feel that I am not falling in love with Potter the way I should. Is there something wrong with me? Do I need to see a shrink?  There is nothing wrong with Potter. If I were a child I would LOVE these books. Be obsessed with them like I am with Lord of the Rings. But I am just not grabbed. I could easily pick up the book and carry on from where I left off. But with that I could easily put the book down. There are some positives. I really am getting quite fond of the characters. Ron is my favourite, yet I find that I have a lot of the same traits as Hermione. The plot has quite a few twists and turns, some that I did not expect. It was for me the ending that let it down. A couple of odd sub plots that just I felt had no reason to be put in the book, even though I have been informed that some of these 'sub plots' make sense further on in the books. All in all it was average, that's all I can really say.

I will be reading the next one after a little break. I hope that book three will start the love.

I sooo wanna live in this hobbit house!

NY Times article
Found this on twitter. Someone has posted the link of this article from The New York Times. Called 'A cottage just right for Frodo.'

Mr. Michaels (The Owner) charges $245 a night, and paid about $410,000 to build and furnish it. Taken from the article......There are granite counters in the kitchen, elaborate lighting and a Harmony audiovisual system. A gold ring, which figures prominently in hobbit lore, hangs from a rafter. The rustic wooden furniture is custom-made, and the headboards are embedded with the Hobbit House logo, a hobbit door with a red light — and on the headboards, it’s a real red light.

So where is this 'hobbit hotel'? New Zealand? Nope. Deep in an English Countryside? Nope.
 MONTANA USA!

Would you pay $245 a night??

Book Review: The Devil’s Plague by Mark Beynon

 

Rating:
3 out of 5 stars

Synopsis:
It is England, in 1651 – The Battle of Worcester. To help him attain a victory over the Royalists, Oliver Cromwell has made a pact with the Devil. In return for his soul, he has been given a fearsome army of the dead – a blood-thirsty platoon of ancient evil…the Kryfangan! With Charles Stuart, the rightful heir to the English throne seemingly killed in battle and his Scottish army slaughtered by the Kryfangan, Cromwell now has control of Parliament. However, by the time the Kryfangan’s real identity is revealed to Cromwell, it is too late to stop their relentless killing spree. And when the true nature of the great plague is exposed, London soon becomes a city overrun by zombie hordes. The English must put aside their religious, social and political differences as they find themselves caught between two armies of the dead waging war with one another.

My review:
It starts off in 1204 with Genghis Khan who has sold his soul with the Devil and the consequences of that. It then moves on to Cromwell and 1651, whom makes the same mistake as Khan and sells his soul to the devil in return for the demonic army called the Kryfangan. There is however a teeny tiny problem. The people who are killed by the army seem to have this rather annoying trait. They don’t stay dead for long….and they are starting to cause havoc in the fair town called London!!!!! Only a King in exile and a troupe of actors stand any chance of stopping them… But can they? and at what cost?

I got this book from my local library and was instantly drawn to it. I haven’t read any of the other books in the Tomes of the Dead series, so unfortunately I have nothing to compare it too. This isn’t your normal run of the mill ‘Zombies, walk, Braaaaaiiiiins, guns, kill, splatter, gore.’ book though, so if thats what you are looking for then this isn’t going to be the book for you. I loved how the author intertwined the historical facts and content with the zombie storyline. It flowed well and worked together. The characters in the story can be quite one dimensional and I found I forgot a couple of the main troupe of people. My only little issue was that for me, a zombie crazed reader, I wanted more zombie killing, more blood, more brains, more gore. I had been reading for a long time waiting for a zombie scene yet when I got it it only lasted a few pages. I would have loved some epic zombie battle scene and I think this would have made my review a lot better. Overall a great little quick read, perfect for a commute or beside the pool.

DVD Review: I Bought A Vampire Motorcycle

Date of Release: 1990
Genre: Horror/ Comedy

I went round  friends house who is a huge horror and Zombie fan. He had been telling me about this movie for a while and said that one day we would watch it. He is a huge fan and said that he thought it would be right up my street. He mentioned the words.. “Talking Poo” How could I refuse.

A quick summary of the plot without giving too much away.  The film stars with a motorcycle gang killing an occultist. The bike then becomes ‘possessed’ and has a taste for blood instead of petrol.  We then see the motorcycle being bought at a ‘knock down price’ by the main character Noddy played by Neil Morrisey. Not realising that it’s the evil Bike version of Herbie. From then on you are taken on a ride of shocks, gore and just well, plain silliness that only us Brits can do!

This is not for everyone. The name of the film sums it up. It’s not realistic. It is stupid, and only for people who are open-minded and up for a bit of a laugh. a movie made on a shoe string. It has no special affects.  and music that is OTT yet sets the tone of the film. None of the fab actors would expect an award for the acting but thats the point and I felt that it fitted the film perfectly! With some of the funiest killing scenes I’ve watched in a long time. Along with the most surreal storyline ever. This is a film I just LOVED!

If the title, the thought of a talking poo, a bike riding exorcist who happens to carry some pretty leathal weapons, and an inspector with garlic breath doesn’t put you off….. Then Hell go rent this film!!

List of Reviews

BOOKS

B
Beynon, Mark - The Devil's Plague

C
Cordy, Michael - The Colour of Death

R
Rowling, J.K. - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Rowling, J.K. - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban



DVDS

I
I Bought A Vampire Motorcycle

2011 Reading List

May
Mark Beynon - The Devil's Plague
Jeffrey Archer - Kane & Abel

June
John Meaney - Bone Song

July
APA - Great Breaks: Glasgow

August
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
J.R.R. Tolkien - The Hobbit
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

September
Michael Cordy - The Colour of Death

Wish List

These are the books I really want to get my hands on!

Kelley Armstrong - Dime Store Magic
Becca Fitzpatrick - Hush Hush
Katryn Fox - Blood Born
Alyson Noel - Evermore
Celia Rees - Sorceress
L.J. Smith - The Strange Power
J. R. Ward - Dark Lover
Kit Whitfield - Bareback

To Be Read Pile

This is the pile of books I'm hoping to get around to soon!

*Robert Anwood - The World According to the Man Down the Pub.
*Ed Baine - Cop Hater (87th Precinct series book #1)
*Linwood Barclay - Too Close To Home
*Ralph 'Sonny' Barger - Hell's Angels; The life and times of an Hell's Angel
*Bill Bass & Jon Jefferson - Death's Acre; Inside the legendary Body Farm
*Stephen Bates - God's own Country; Religion & Politics in the US.
*James Becker - The First Apostle (Chris Bronson Series Book #1)
*James Becker - The Moses Stone (Chris Bronson Series Book #2)
*Daniel Benjamin - The Next Attack
*Jonathan Black - The Secret History of the World
*Sam Bourne - The Righteous Men
*Sam Bourne - The Last Testament
*James Bradley - The Resurrectionist
*Dan Brown - The Lost symbol
*Dan Burstein - Secrets of the Code.
*Jon Butler & Bruno Vincent - Do Bats Have Bollocks?
*Michael Byrnes - The Sacred Blood
*Trudi Canavan - The Magician's Guild (The Black Magician Series Book #1)
*Trudi Canavan - The Novice (The Black Magician Series Book #2)
*Trudi Canavan - The high Lord (The Black Magician Series Book #3)
*John Case - The Genisis Code
*Richard A. Clarke - Against All Enemies (Inside America's War on Terror
*Vernon Coleman - Rogue Nation
*Max Allan Collins - BONES; buried Deep (Based on the TV show)
*Stephen Cook - The Real Cracker
*Patricia Cornwell - Body of Evidence (Scarpetta series Book# 2)
*Patricia Cornwell - Cruel and Unusual (Scarpetta Series Book #4)
*Patricia Cornwell - The Body Farm (Scarpetta Series Book # 5)
*Patricia Cornwell - From Potter's Field (Scarpetta Series Book #6)
*Patricia Cornwell - Unnatural Exposure (Scarpetta Series Book # 8)
*Patricia Cornwell - Point of Origin (Scarpetta Series Book # 9)
*Patricia Cornwell - The last Precinct (Scarpetta Series Book #11)
*Patricia Cornwell - Trace (Scarpetta series book # 13)
*Patricia Cornwell - Predator (Scarpetta series Book #14)
*Patricia Cornwell - Book of The dead (Scarpetta Series Book # 15)
*Donn Cortez - CSI Miami: Riptide
*MaryJanice Davidson - Undead and Unwed.
*Jeffery Deaver - The Bone Collector ( Lincoln Rhyme Series book #1)
*Jeffery Deaver - The Coffin Dancer (Lincoln Rhyme series book #2)
*Jeffery Deaver -The Stone Monkey (Lincoln Rhyme Series book #4)
*Jeffery Deaver - The Broken Window (Lincoln Rhymes series book #8)
*Joesph Delaney - The Spooks Apprentice
*Christiane Desroches- Noblecort - Tutankhamen
*Stephen Dobyns - The Church of Dead Girls
*Barbara Ewing - The Mesmerist
*Larry Flynt - Sex, Lies and Politics
*Al Franken - Lies & the Liars who tell them; A look at the right
*Timothy Freke & Pete Gandy - Jesus & the Goddess
*Reg Gdney - Mother, Son and Holy Ghost (Allan Rosslyn book #2)
*Philip Gardiner - Secret societies
*Sir J Gardner Wilkinson - The Ancient Egyptians; Their Life & Customs
*Arthur Golden - Memoirs of a Geisha
*Tess Gerritsen - The Surgeon (Rizzoli Series book #1)
*Tess Gerritsen - The Apprentice (Rizzoli Series book #2)
*Tess Gerritsen - The sinner (Rizzoli Series Book #3)
*Tess Gerritsen - Body Double (Rizzoli Series Book #4)
*Tess Gerritsen - Vanish ( Rizzoli Series Book #5)
*Tess Gerritsen - The Mephisto Club (Rizzoli series Book #6)
*Tess Gerritsen - Harvest
*David Gibbins - Atlantis (Jack Howard Series Book #1)
*David Gibbins - The Last Gospel (Jack Howard Series Book #3)
*Sue Grafton - P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone Series Book #16)
*Jill Gregory & Karen Tintori - The Book of Names
*Andrew Gross -The Dark Tide
*Graham Hancock - The Sign and the Seal (Quest for the Ark of Covenant)
*Lori Handeland - Hunter's Moon (Night Creature Series Book #2)
*Fey Von Hassel - A Mother's War
*Mo Hayder - Birdman (Jack caffery series book #1)
*Mo Hayder - The treatment (Jack caffery series book #2)
*Daniel Hecht - Puppets
*Noreena Hertz - The Silent Takeover
*Anthony Horowitz - Evil Star (The Power of Five Series Book #2)
*Robert Hutchinson - Weapons of Mass distruction
*Terri Irwin - My Steve
*Mike James - Murder One; They went to the Death Chamber
*Captain Charles Johnson - A Genral History of Pirates
*Stuart. M . Kaminsky - CSI:NY - Blood on the Sun
*Jonathan kellerman - A Cold Heart (Alex Delaware series Book #17)
*J.A.Kerley - Little Girls Lost (Carson Ryder series Book #6)
*Natsuo Kirino - Out
*Naomi Klein - No Logo
*Tom Knox - The Genisis Secret
*Charlotte Lamb - Walking in Darkness
*Ian Lawton & Chris Ogilivie-Herald - Giza The Truth
*Jon. E. Lewis - The Mammoth book of Cover-ups.
*Stuart MacBride - Dying Light (Logan McRae Series Book #2)
*Stuart MacBride - Broken Skin (Logan McRae Series Book #3
*Michael Marshall - The Straw Men (The Straw Men Series #1)
*Michael Marshall - Blood of Angels (The straw Men series #3)
*Stephanie Mayer - Breaking Dawn (Twilight book #4)
*Val Mc Dermid - Final Edition (Lindsey Gordon Series book #3)
*Val McDermid - The Torment of Others (Tony Hill Series #4)
*Val McDermid - A place of Execution
*George Monbiot - Captive State
*Richard Montanari - Deviant Ways (Jack Paris series book #1)
*Richard Montanari - The Rosary Girls (Balzano & Byrne series Book #1)
*Richard Montanari - Broken Angels (Balzano & Byrne series Book #3)
*Richard Montanari - Play Dead (Balzano & Byrne Series book #4)
*Michael Moore - Fahrenhiet 9/11 reader
*Michael Moore - Tv Nation
*Frank Moorhouse - Cult killers
*Chris Moyles - The Gospel according to Chris Moyles
Carol O connell - Mallory's Oracle (Mallory Series Book #1)
*Lewis Page - Lions, Donkeys and Dinosaurs
*Bill Napier Shattered Icon
*Jonathan Nasaw - 27 Bones
*Julia Navarro - The Brotherhood of the Holy Shroud.
*Tom Neale - Copper Kiss
*Carla Neggers - The Harbour
*Jefferson Parker - Black Water (Merci Rayborn Series Book # 3)
*P.J. Parrish - A thousand Bones (A louis Kincaid Series Book #8)
*James Patterson - 5th Horseman (Woman's Murder club #5)
*James Patterson - Double Crosss (Alex Cross book # 13)
*James Patterson - Cross Country (alex Cross book # 14)
*Mark Perryman - Hooligan Wars (causes & Effects of Football Violence)
*Lloyd Pettiford & David Harding - Terrorism, the New World War
*Phillip Pullman - Northern Lights (Dark Materials book #1)
*Ian Rankin - Black & Blue (Rebus Series book #8)
*Ian Rankin - Flesh Market Close (Rebus Series book #15)
*Kathy Reichs - Death Du Jour (Temperance Brannan Series book #2)
*Kathy Reichs - Grave Secrets (Tempe Brannan Series book #5)
*Kathy Reichs - Cross Bones (Temperance Brannan Series Book #8)
*Kathy Reichs - Devil Bones (Tempe Brannan Series Book #11)
*Matthew Reilly - The six Sacred Stones
*James Rollins - The Last Oracle (Sigma Force Series Book #5)
*James Rollins - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
*M.J.Rose - The Delilah Complex (Butterfield Insitute Series Book #2)
*J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Philospher's Stone. (Potter Book #1)
*J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Potter Book #2)
*J. K. Rowling -Harry Potter and the Prisioner of Azkaban (Potter book #3)
*J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Goblet of fire (Potter Book #4)
*Manda Scott - The Crystal Skull
*Pah Seymour - The Bith of Christ; Exploding the Myth
*Rich Smith - You can get arrested for that!
*Scott Smith - The Ruins
*Taylor Smith - Random Acts
*Erica Spindler - Dead Run
*Starr - Clinton; The Starr Report
*Alison. G. Taylor - Simeon's Bride
*P.J.Tracy - Live Bait (Monkeewrench Series Book #2)
*Lavinia Warner & John Sandilands - Women Beyond The Wire
*Lee Weeks - The Trophy Taker (Detective Johnny Mann Series Book #1)
*Robert K. Wilcox - Shroud
*J.N Williamson - Dead to the world.
*Colin & Damon & Rowan Wilson - Weird News Stories