SMILE - I Am Who I Am!

My thanks goes to Pinterest. As soon as I saw this, I knew I had to pin it to my SMILE board. If you're on Pinterest, you can either just follow the SMILE board or you can follow ALL MY BOARDS!!!

#re3 - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

MY FIRST #RE3 OF THE YEAR! And, with all my possible planning, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets wasn't my first #re3 read of the year. I was actually thinking of rereading either Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi or Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi.

But here we are so let's get cracking, shall we? 

WHY DID YOU REREAD HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS?As I have previously stated, this wasn't my first choice for a reread. I wanted to reread either Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi or Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi. But stuff happened (which I might tell you about in a future post but not yet. Let me enjoy this newness! [It's not a bad thing, by the way so NO WORRYING!]) and I wanted something comforting. And, for a reason I don't really understand, Chamber of Secrets was the book that called to me. 

WHAT WAS YOUR HONEST OPINION OF THIS BOOK WHEN YOU FIRST READ IT?

When I first read this (I was either 12 or 13 at the time), I really enjoyed this book, but I felt that it was very dark compared to Philosopher's Stone (oh, the irony!). And for a very long time, I disliked this book with quite a bit of passion till a few years ago when, on impulse, I decided to reread this and I actually enjoyed the book and I felt like I "got" it... 

WHAT IS YOUR HONEST OPINION NOW THAT YOU HAVE REREAD THIS BOOK?
Ok, this isn't going to be my fave Harry Potter book. I've accepted this fact a few years ago, but rereading Chamber of Secrets this time round, I suddenly remembered why I had a strong dislike for this book - Gilderoy Lockhart. I forgot how much I LOATHE the man. I mean, HOW CAN NO ONE SEE THAT HE'S A FRAUD?! HOW CAN NO ONE SEE IT?! 

IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT TO US?
Two things, real quick. 

The first is chapter five - The Whomping Willow - when, on page 54 of the UK edition, the Weasley family had "...almost reached the motorway when Ginny shrieked that she'd left her diary." This is Tom Riddle's diary. If she didn't realise that she had forgotten it till she was at Hogwarts, then maybe all the craziness wouldn't have happened! As she wouldn't have it on her and all... 

And second is Hermione. My homegirl. I adore Hermione. But is it just me or is it out of all the books, this is the book she acts the most out of character? She breaks goodness knows how many rules to make Polyjuice Potion (Harry and Ron never suggested this, she did) and then, before she was Petrified, she went to the library and then she tore a page out of a very old library book and wrote the words pipes on it. HERMIONE, THE BOOK LOVER AND THE ONE WHO ADORED THE LIBRARY, DEFACED A BOOK! And no one goes "What the heck?" Why didn't she take the book out of the library and bookmarked the page? Surely Dumbledore or McGonagall would have looked - we know Harry and Ron are quite unobservant - but I can't imagine Dumbledore not looking at why Hermione was carrying a book beyond her educational years... 

BECAUSE OF THIS BOOK, WILL YOU REREAD ANY BOOKS WITHIN THIS SERIES?

I have always said that I want to reread Goblet of Fire and I have every intention to. It is a beast of a book and I think that I am going to reread this book, I want time to read and enjoy the book. There was times while reading Chamber of Secrets (and this is completely my fault) that I was skimming it and not reading it. But yes, Goblet of Fire is the one I would most like to reread before the year is out! 

SMILE - You Got Me Flowers

Random Google search gave me this so THANK YOU BORED EVENING!!!

GoodRead - The Boy In The Smoke

It was World Book Day a few weeks back (6th March. I had to check this so I missed it! Oops!) and, due to stress and illness, I have discovered that I can't read when I am either one or both of these things. So, due to this, I decided to try and read something small to get back into my reading swing. Hopefully, this will get me ready to attack my big reads!

The Boy In The Smoke is a prequel to the Shades of London series where we meet Stephen Dene has a teenager. Something awful has happened to him in his life and just when Stephen thinks he's recovering, something is said which leads him into doing a desperate act. But will someone stop him when he realises that he's making a terrible mistake?

If you have read the series, or even the first book in the series, The Name of the Star (review for that is here as I haven't read the second book in the series, The Madness Underneath) but we know Stephen enough or have enough information about Stephen's past to make an educated guess, but here it is and it was good.

I was gripped in reading this for over an hour and it made me long to find my proof of The Madness Underneath and start reading that (but I might save that for nearer the The Shadow Cabinet release as there's someone in there, I think, who will appear in that book...)

And Peter. I want to know more about Peter! I love Peter! Another novella about him and how he came to be, please, Maureen...

But this is a must for fans of the series. Not as scary and unnerving as The Name of the Star but give real insight into one of the series's main characters and will tie everyone over till Shadow Cabinet...

SMILE - Let Her Go!

My thanks goes to the tumblr of Ashley Clements. Thank you!

GoodRead - Squishy McFluffy

Another day, another review... well, it's for younger children who are learning to read by themselves so this is perfect.

When Ava discovers an invisible cat in her vegetable plot, little does she or her family realise that this little cat can cause a lot of trouble and naughtiness.

Of course, I was going to read this. Of course I was. IT HAS AN INVISIBLE CAT!

And I really liked this. Written in rhyming verse by Pip Jones and with pretty illustrations by Ella Okstad, young children who will have this being read to them will laugh out loud at Squishy's adventures but when they read it to themselves, they will feel smart.

Either way, they will be excited to read what Ava and Squishy do next in the second book in the series, Supermarket Sweep. And so will I.

GoodRead - Hog In The Fog

It's rare for me to review picture books. I know that's a weird thing to say but it is VERY rare. But when at the Faber Bloggers Event earlier in the year, Faber revealed their picture books throughout the year (only four), everyone in the room went nuts over them. So, when the lovely Hannah from Faber asked if I wanted to review them, I jumped at the chance! 

This will be a mini-review, so I hope everyone doesn't mind this isn't a full blown review!

This is the story of Candy Stripe Lil, and her friend, Harry the Hog, who lives over the hill. One foggy day, Lil is expecting Harry over for tea but when he doesn't arrive, Lil goes in search for him... 

There is something about this story that reminds me of The Gruffalo. I can't put my finger of what it is, but there is something that instantly made me smile as the story kept going. And the illustrations are wonderful! I love how Eunyoung Seo drew the fog and the creatures. 

I think little ones will love this. If it's not the illustrations enthralled your little ones, the rhyming will! 

SMILE - Don't Scratch The Couch

My thanks to CassJayTuck tumblr. THANK YOU!!!