I wish I lived in Cold Sassy, GA

THE GREATEST BOOK....EVER.  Yes, I love COLD SASSY TREE by Olive Ann Burns even more than GONE WITH WIND.  Or the HARRY POTTER series.  Even more than the TWILIGHT books.  And, yes, I love COLD SASSY TREE more than THE HUNGER GAMES series.

"Boy, Howdy!"  I don't know why I don't recommend this book more often to my friends, family, students, etc.  It TRULY is INCREDIBLE!!!  I've read it several times.  There's hardly a line in the whole book that isn't marked!!!!

READ COLD SASSY TREE!!!!  NOW  Yesterday!!!!!

We are all two people

Lisa Scottoline's THINK TWICE is one of those novels, like Robert Louis Stevenson's STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE, is a story about how we all have two sides--the duality of the individual.  It is about how even a good person can become a bad person or even evil if the circumstances are right or if he/she finds him/herself in a situation where it becomes necessity for survival.  It's an interesting
twist to the study of the duality of man where identical twin sisters both resort to horrific means to survive, yet neither can kill the other even though each has an almost insane desire to do so.

I am fascinated by the study of the "duality of man" simply because I have seen it happen; I have even had it happen to me, to a degree--not so much that I became and evil person bent on killing someone, mind you.  But I know what it's like to feel as if someone else has taken control of my being--my soul--and I am completely powerless to stop that side of myself from manifesting itself.  Mine came as a direct result of several tragedies in my life and not dealing with them properly.

Thankfully I never did or said anything that is irreparable, but I did feel so much anger at times that I was concerned that I could get to THAT PLACE.  Unlike Bennie, I never resorted to drugs or carried a gun, thankfully.  But I did carry my anger with me like a spray can that would spurt at anyone at any time without any provocation whatsoever.

I am so thankful that I have found my true self again--that I have control of my soul again, like Bennie.  I did not like being that other person, but when we don't take care of our deepest selves, we open the door wide for THAT PERSON--that other side of ourselves--to be released.  And unlike Dr. Jekyll, we don't need serum to become that other person.

My favorite Harry

GOBLET OF FIRE is one of my favorites in the series.  It's the one where, when dealing with plot devices in literature, we have the true turning point the overall series.  The kids aren't kids anymore--they're teenagers who are discovering just who and what they are and what they want to be in life.  (As a side note, it's interesting that even though Moody isn't the real Moody throughout this whole school term, Harry, Ron, and Hermoine all take his advice and choose to become Aurors.  You would think they wouldn't listen to anything Barty Crouch, Jr. says even if what he says is as Alastor Moody.  But, interestingly enough, Harry, in particular, does pursue a career as an Auror, proving that in spite of the fact that Moody wasn't Moody, Harry (and Ron and Hermoine) greatly admire and respect him.)

I love that we get more of an inkling that there might be something between Ron and Hermoine.  There have been hints in the 3 previous books, but this is the first time there's really a serious indication that there's more than meets the eye between these two.  Of course, it can't be TOO obvious or TOO easy for the two of them to get together ("The course of true love never did run smooth" you know!), so throwing in the fact that Ron is totally clueless to the fact that he cares more for Hermoine than as a friend as well as Hermoine getting a little friendly with Viktor Krum add a little spice and sizzle to the whole situation.

Rowling has gone on record stating that she'd originally thought about killing off Ron at some point in the series.  Personally, I wouldn't have wanted her to do that, but I have to say that a powerful, romantic love scene between Ron and Hermoine as he lay dying would have been something else to read.....I wouldn't have been able to keep reading or to sleep for a week from weeping and sobbing so hard!  It would have been genius on Rowling's part....to have Ron die, saving Hermoine's life somehow--and the two of them somehow realizing their true love for one another---only when it's too late.  And maybe even Ron telling her he understands if she finds someone else to love....even if it would be Harry.

Oh, wow.  That's powerful.  I'm all choked up just thinking about the possibility of Rowling doing that!  Not that I wanted Ron to die, you understand!  I just would have been a very powerful, moving, and, yes, romantic scene!!!

Anyway, GOBLET OF FIRE is also where we have an actual death IN and DURING the story itself.  Of course, Professor Quirrell dies in Book 1 when he touches Harry and Voldemort leaves his body.  But we all know that death doesn't really count in the overall scheme of things.  The death in this book is of a beloved character--even though Cedric Diggory doesn't really come in to the story until Book 4.  (He IS mentioned very briefly in at least one of the previous books during a scene when several other characters are in a group and are mentioned, but Cedric doesn't actually enter the STORY until Book 4.)  It's a very violent and powerful death, one which Harry feels responsible for simply because he and Cedric agree to take the Goblet together at the same time.  Plus, Harry almost dies--again.

GOBLET OF FIRE is a long book that is a bit of a challenge to get through--there's a lot of information that we have to remember as well as quite a few new characters.  It gets a little complicated trying to remember everything, but it is a testament to the fact that Rowling truly is an incredible storyteller in that we as readers DO remember as much as we do remember throughout this long, great portion of the HARRY POTTER series.....!

I had a thought during the reading of this book.....does anyone know the exact number of times Harry has had to have medical attention throughout the whole series???  And can anyone name each of those times and which book each happens????  I think it'd be fun and interesting if we started a running list that we all share and add to as we remember them!!!!  (It'd be interesting to include the times Ron and Hermoine need medical attention, too.  Hermoine needs more than I remembered from my first couple of readings!)

Another Guilty Pleasure

As you know if you've read my blog for any length of time, Mary Balogh's books are my "guilty pleasure" reading.  I can't help it.  I like her books.  They're predictable.  They're typical romance novels.  They're simple.  And they're fun.  I make no apologies for enjoying her books.  THE ESCAPE was the same.  I can't wait to read her next one!

Just keeps getting better and better

This was probably really about my 5th time read THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER by Stephen Chobsky rather than my 3rd.  I read it last year in May (2013).  Then I read it again over the summer with my English 111 students.  I also listened to it on audio CD.  I have read it on my Nook and I have read the actual book, myself.  And then I read it again this summer to my students.

And it just keeps getting better and better.  I see things each and every time that I never saw before.  For example, it just hit me during this read that Sam has long hair in the book, but in the movie, Emma Watson's hair is very short (and very cute).  While it's not a big deal that the hair is changed so much, it's still something that stands out when reading the book and then watching the movie!  My students and I spend quite a bit of time talking about the differences between the book and the movie, you know.

I relate so much to Charlie.  I haven't been through the same experiences as Charlie, but I understand the "bad place" Charlie goes to.  I get how things get "bad" and difficult to handle.  I have been in counseling and

I also have had to take various medications as a result of the trials I've been through.  I have never taken drugs or drunk alcohol in an attempt to deal with the problems in my life, but I have tried other coping mechanisms that, like Charlie's, Sam's, and Patrick's methods, simply don't work.

I cry every time I read this book and watch the movie.  It is a wonderful, powerful story and those who think it should be banned need to read it and see beyond the language, drinking, drugs, etc. to the point, the themes, the book deals with.  Everyone should read it at least once, but personally, I think that in order to get to the true essence of the book, it needs to be read more than once.

First read:  May 16, 2013 to May 19, 2013
Again:  May 16, 2014 to July 17, 2014

HP's 3rd year

AZKABAN is not really one of my favorites in the HP series, and the movie has a lot to do with it.  What I don't like about the book:

1.  The movie is least like the book.  I kept waiting for Harry to see Peter Pettigrew on the Marauder's Map and to ask Lupin how someone dead could be seen on the map.  Why'd they have to change that so thoroughly between the book and the movie?!  There's no need.  It works that that's how Lupin knew where Harry, Ron, Hermoine, Sirius, and Scabbers (Peter) were.  In the movie, Harry tells Lupin that he's seen Peter Pettigrew on the map, and it's AGES and AGES later before Lupin does something about it.  Lupin knows immediately that the map never lies which means that the whole deal with Sirius killing all those people had to have been a lie--and that Peter was the "bad guy," not Sirius.  Anyway, that just made that part really ridiculous.

2.  The way both Remus and Sirius are described when they change in the book is that they're both very large--huge, in fact.  The wimpy, walking on two-legs werewolf that is Lupin in the movie version is just so very ridiculous-looking that it ruined Lupin as a werewolf for me.  I mean, here's this GREAT guy who turns into this huge, scary creature and all I want to do when I see the movie version of him is to punch the guy who created the werewolf.  And Sirius is just the size of a large wolf, not even close to the gigantic size he's described as in the book.  So very disappointing.

3.  In the book, as long as they're at Hogwarts, especially, everyone always his/her school robes.  In the movie, only the teachers wear their robes, and sometimes even that's not true.  Snape is the only one in the movie who always seems to wear his robes--which is great for the bat-like effect he has.  But I like the idea of the school robes.  Americanizing the story or "Muggl-izing" the story by having the wizard kids (and adults in most cases) wear regular Muggle clothing is just ridiculous.  It completely takes away for the whole wizarding world for me.  That's part of what's so great about this series:  we're taken to a whole new world (kind of going over the rainbow, you know, or being in Middle Earth), but the director of the movie felt that we didn't need to be experience that world so he put everyone in Muggle clothing?!  Stupid director.

4.  Harry, Ron, and Hermoine, for more than half (close to two-thirds, maybe) of the book are fighting and not even talking to each other.  Harry and Ron do a lot without Hermoine and it just isn't right.  I get that young people fight/argue all the time, but best friends don't go MONTHS without making up.  That's just not right.  I guess that, ultimately, it solidifies their friendship even more, but for them to go as long as they did without making up just because of a few ridiculous things--Crookshanks looking like he's eaten Scabbers (good grief---it's a STUPID rat!  It just isn't feasible that even Ron would choose a dumb rat over one of his best friends) and then Hermoine getting Harry's Firebolt taken away (she was just worried about him---it shows she really cares---Harry and Ron should have seen that--how could they be so blinded by their desire to keep the Firebolt not to see that Hermoine did what she did because she truly cares about Harry?  So ridiculous!!!)

5.  And don't forget that neither Neville nor Ginny appears in this book very much at all!  I want more of

those two!!!!

What I love about the book:

1.  Hermoine punches Malfoy right in the face!!!!  Now, granted, I honestly like Malfoy.  I know he's a bully, but he's really a kid who just needs some attention and to know that he's special, too.  He's obviously very jealous of Harry and would like people to notice him, too.

2.  Harry is able to produce a full Patronus.  That's really awesome.  And he's only 13 in this one, so to be able to do that already shows that he's not such a weak wizard after all.  It's why, ultimately, he becomes the teacher for Dumbledore's Army.

3.  For just a few minutes, Harry has someone else he could live with instead of the Dursley's.  I, too, would have liked for Harry to be able to live with someone who truly cares about him and will do things with him and treat him as a son.  Of course, Sirius is just insane enough after being in Azkaban all those years, that he sees Harry as James a bit too much.  Not so much in this particular book, but we do see it more and more and the series goes until Sirius' death---and it's just plain creepy.

**Read:  June 2, 2012 to June 9, 2012
***Read again:  Sunday, February 10, 2013 to....Tuesday, February 19, 2013
****And again:  Tuesday, July 8, 2014 to Monday, July 14, 2014

I do love the HP series

I love this series.  I honestly can't believe it took me so long to read it.  How did she do it?  How did she create a WHOLE series, 7 whole books, and weave in all the details so seamlessly and, seemingly, effortlessly.  So many details that are briefly mentioned, just thrown in with other information that they seem unimportant, insignificant, but then later, those very same unimportant, insignificant details come back into the story and reveal how very important they are.

This is definitely NOT a series anyone can read just once.  It's better than potato chips.  Not only can we, as

readers, read just one book in the series, but we also can't read the whole series just once!  I see some any incredible new details and parts of the story that I realize I missed the first time through.

I would love to meet Rowling.  At the same time, I'd be scared out of my mind to do so.  What would I say to her that wouldn't be gushing and the same thing she's heard a gajillion times?  What questions would I ask her that are unique, that she hasn't been asked a zillion times already?  It would still be awesome to meet her.

I think CHAMBER OF SECRETS is one of my favorites simply Ginny Weasley plays such an important role to the story as a whole.  My only problem is that we don't actually see her as often as I'd like throughout the book.  Even though she's central to the whole story, she's only mentioned briefly a few times--just to make sure we haven't forgotten about her and as VERY subtle hints that she's the one......oops.  Gonna give away important information....probably already have said too much!  But my point is that I love Ginny; I wish she was the series as a whole a lot more than she is.  I want to read more about her.  I want to see more of her on the screen in the movie versions.....

(I want to read a LOT more about Neville, too. I LOVE Neville!)

Did you know that the actress who played Ginny Weasley in the movie versions is marrying (or has already married) they guy who plays Anthony in SWEENEY TODD.  He's also in one or two of the TWILIGHT movies as one of the Volturie.  I think that's wonderful.....I love both of them as actors/actresses.

I can't wait to read THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN!!!! (May 27 to June 1, 2012)

Read again:  Friday, February 1, 2013 to Sunday, February 10, 2013*
Read again:  Friday, July 4, 2014 to Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Still GREAT

Now I've read it at least 5 times and it just gets better and better.  I LOVE the HARRY POTTER series!  My question for you is this.....Why couldn't Neville be part of the "inner circle" with Harry, Ron, and Hermoine?  Just as the original 3 are bonded by their fighting and defeating of the troll, aren't they bonded with Neville, too, first when he gets in trouble with Harry and Hermoine and have to have detention with them????  And secondly when he stands up to them and ends up being in a body bind curse???  And he's rewarded for standing up to them and trying to keep them out of trouble!  Doesn't that warrant Neville as an official friend of the original group????  I think it does and I, for one, wish that Rowling had included Neville in ALL of Harry, Ron, and Hermoine's adventures!!!!!

This series, especially the first book, will go down among the great classics and will continue to be read as long as literature classes are taught.  It really does deserve that.  Rowling did a superb job with each individual story as well as with the series overall.  Wow.  Seven books overall and it appears that she didn't make any huge plot errors!  That's HUGE!  Especially considering that she wrote each book as they were being published....so she was writing the next one (if not already 2 ahead) when the previous one was finally released to the public.  Yet she pulled the whole thing off and we, her audience, love it to the point of fanaticism.

I didn't read the books for years....not because I didn't want to, but because James kept throwing away the copies I'd been given.  I'd had 3 different people GIVE me copies of the books and James threw away each and every copy.  Then, finally, my British Lit class a few years ago (2009, I think it was--or was it 2010?) chose to read the book for class.  That time, when I brought home a copy of the book, James couldn't throw it away because it was reading for school!  Needless to say, I flew through all 7 books quickly and turned right around and read all 7 books a 2nd time!  And now, I'm reading the WHOLE series for a 3rd time!  And I love it just as much this time as I did the first time.

One disappointing thing about reading the series is the knowledge that even if I ever write and publish something, it'll NEVER be as GREAT, AWESOME, STUPENDOUS as the HARRY POTTER series.  I guess if I'm shooting for that level of fame, I shouldn't be writing anyway.  The object is to write because I HAVE to write--for myself.  And I do feel that way, but nudging me in the back of my mind is still the thought that I, nor anyone else for that matter, will ever hope to achieve even 1/4 of the incredible world that is HARRY POTTER........


Started May 22, 2012 & Finished May 27, 2012
Read again January 31, 2013
Again:  Begin on Friday, June 28, 2014 & finished on Friday, July 4, 2014