My Bookshelf, Part 3

I'd like to take a quick detour from Harry Potter and return to My Bookshelf series because, this past weekend we had a slight re-shuffle at home.

That's right, everyone, our IKEA order finally arrived and we spent Sunday doing some DIY.

Weekly Roundup

I'm a bit late with the Weekly Roundup - November has been really gloomy and I've been trying to cheer myself up by meeting up with old friends and new (which has been lovely!), but have not found much time for blogging. This means I'm still behind on my challenge and I'm not sure if I will be able to catch up! Oh well.

What's been happening in the last week?

Return to Quidditch!

I'm so excited about "The Rogue Bludger" because it returns us to Quidditch, which I'm super happy about! As a mad 'hobbies' person, I really love hearing about the extra-curricular stuff that goes on at Hogwarts, and Quidditch is absolutely no exception.

Not to mention that this is one of my favourite chapters because to be quite honest, bad things happen and that's just real life.

Quidditch and Detention

I got all excited, thinking this is the chapter when we meet Moaning Myrtle, but then I realized there is another 'meh' chapter before then.

Let's just get right down to it, shall we...

The Ineptitude of Gilderoy Lockhart

At times like these, when the world just seems like such an cruel and scary place, I like to escape inside a book. I haven't had a chance to do that today, as I had experiments to run during the day, but I'm happy now to flick through Chamber of Secrets and find comfort in the old and familiar.

The Writing on the Wall

Just to follow on slightly from my post yesterday, the events in Paris have been absolutely shocking over the past 24 hours, and my thoughts are with those affected. I was using the hashtag "pray for Paris" on Twitter, and getting some criticism for it, because people have been saying that religion is what has got us into this mess in the first place. I'm not particularly religious myself, and I simply want to say that we could all do with practising a little kindness, tolerance and compassion to everyone - not just Parisians.

On that note, let's move on to something a little more light-hearted - Hogwarts, Harry Potter and the tricks our heroes get up to in this chapter!

Pray for Paris

My post tonight was light-hearted and silly, and I don't feel I can post it in light of what is going on in Paris, my favourite city. I will post it tomorrow - in the meantime, I will be praying for Paris, and hope that tomorrow brings a lighter day.

Click for source

Corrie

The Recklessness of Harry and Ron

Chapter 5 is tricky - reading it as a child I remember really liking it and thinking it was very brave of Harry and Ron to fly all the way to Hogwarts, but as an adult I just think it's super reckless and I disapprove of their behaviour.

As Corrie said when she reviewed this chapter a few days ago, this post will be full of criticisms.

The First Attack

The first attack of Chamber of Secrets is about to happen, and we are catapulted into the intrigue of life with a malicious beastie roaming the castle. Read on, fair Harry Potter fans!

Amazing fan art of Filch and Mrs Norris by Levon Hackensaw (source)

A day of spewing slugs

This chapter has always absolutely horrified and enthralled me. The slugs and stuff...ew.

I saw one of our participants last night and she said she was terrified because she thought we were both waaaay ahead in the series (we all know Lucia is on Order of the Phoenix)! I just wanted to say that I am reviewing the chapters literally as I read them - I have just completed Chapter Eight, and this is Chapter Seven, so don't be intimidated by that!

Weekly Roundup

It has been a busy week on the blog, as you can probably tell with all the activity on our Facebook Group and our Twitter feed. If you would like regular updates on our posts, please do join either of these groups!

The Arrogance of Lucius Malfoy

It is full steam ahead here on Read All the Things these days, as both Corrie and I endeavor to blog every day. I am glad to see we are doing so well - it's only been a week and already we've managed 13 posts!

With that in mind, here are my thoughts on Harry's misadventures in Knockturn and Diagon Alley.

Cornish Pixies? Snort!

I always feel enchanted when I read about the first few weeks of a new year at Hogwarts. I used to love September, and everything it brought with it. New school uniform, a new pencil case and stationery, a new lunchbox (and one year the graduation to buying my lunch every day!), and always a brand new planner to record my homework in. I believe there is something truly magical about an empty planner, notebook or diary. There is so much potential!

Hogwarts! (source)

Harry Potter and the Incredibly Poor Decision

Now that I've got my little exploration of Ottery St Catchpole out of the way, it's time to tackle the meat of "The Whomping Willow" - and the incredibly poor decision that Harry and Ron make. I have a lot to say about this, and not all of it pleasant - you may want to grab yourself a sweet beverage to neutralise the sourness of my thoughts!

My Bookshelf, Part 2

The original plan for this weekend was for the lovely boyfriend and I to go on an IKEA adventure to buy new bookcases. However, the weather yesterday was truly crap and the general logistics of carrying two bookcases across London escaped us, so we decided to make use of modern technology and simply order the furniture online and have it delivered to us. No pain, but much gain.

The Kindness of the Weasleys

Looks like Corrie and I are neck-and-neck in our review of Chamber of Secrets, but I am sure that we will pick up on different things and discuss different topics - which is what makes this whole challenge so great!

Ottery St Catchpole

This whole chapter, "The Whomping Willow" is one of the main reasons I really don't like this book - the Ford Anglia is something that just really gets my goat, for some reason. I can't explain it, nor am I going to try to! We forge onwards, and that post will come tomorrow now as I got rather carried away on my exploration of the Burrow and the charming little village it is located in.

Gilderoy Lockhart and some handy foreshadowing

Does anybody else find Gilderoy Lockhart incredibly annoying? I know he is meant to be, but oh my goodness gracious me, what a pain in the ass that man is. Anyway, let's take a trip to Knockturn Alley.

My dream home - The Burrow

I'm travelling between London and my parents home in Devon a lot and oh my gosh this nomadic lifestyle is exhausting! I have had draft posts on here for a month, but Lucia has made me feel ashamed that she's putting so much effort and I've been rubbish, so here I am again! Let's see how long my resolution lasts this time.

I'd just like to agree with Lucia in saying that CoS is not my favourite book. We met up for a coffee last night to chat about it, and I think we agreed that we both found Dobby very annoying, and it was irritating that there's SO MUCH recap in the book, which makes reading them back-to-back a bit tough.

My Bookshelf, Part 1

It is a testament, I think, to how little I care for Chamber of Secrets that I can't go two consecutive days writing about it. Reading back over my previous blog post, I think my frustration with the book is pretty clear.

For that reason, and in keeping with my promise of writing about books, I have opted to start a multi-part segment about the contents of my bookshelf.

The Cruelty of the Dursleys

Right, enough about audiobooks, it's time to go back to the original challenge - reviewing the Harry Potter series.

And so, without further ado, let's see what J.K. Rowling had to say about Harry's summer holiday.

I have subscribed to Audible

So far, it's been an unbelievably lazy day for me. I was up until 3am writing my blog post about Jane Eyre (which came in at a whopping 1265 words!), in an attempt to stay on track with the challenge and not fall behind as soon as I start.

A late night turned into a late morning and I didn't make it into the office until very late (like, so late I won't even tell you the time). Since then I have been sending emails, sorting out some home things and thinking hard and long about my newest hobby - audiobooks.

Audiobook Adventures, Part 1

A very good friend of mine swears by audiobooks and has been recommending them to me for years. 

While I am no stranger to the idea of audiobooks, the only ones I have listened to and enjoyed have, unsurprisingly, been the Harry Potter books as narrated by Stephen Fry. Having thoroughly enjoyed reading A Short History of Nearly Everything and At Home I have, in the past, tried listening to Bill Bryson's Made in America but gave up after only half an hour as I wasn't enjoying the subject matter. After finishing A Game of Thrones, and because I like the HBO adaptation, I also tried listening to A Clash of Kings but found the narrator's voice highly annoying and so stopped that as well after only a few chapters.

But, following a late-night conversation over an excellent (if I do say so myself) glass of vodka martini during which I was yet again urged to subscribe to Audible, I acquiesced and downloaded a book I have been wanting to read for a while.

Weekly Roundup

To be honest, I'm not sure which week we're on in the challenge but one thing is for sure - the blog has been quiet of late. Turns out maintaining a blog is not as easy as I thought it would be - I honestly don't know how Corrie manages it!

In any case, the challenge continues and in an effort to get the blog back on track, I have devised a plan - as ambitious as ever.