Cast A Harry Potter Spell! (BEST. TAG. EVER.)

Okay. I AM SERIOUSLY FREAKING OUT RIGHT NOW BECAUSE THIS LOOKS SO AWESOME!!!!!!! Okay, I am calming down...
Anyways, even if you haven't read Harry Potter, do read this post.

I found out about this marvelous tag from Feed Me Books Now one of my favorite blogs. Do check it out! Anyways...

Reparo

Fixes damaged objects

A book that needs some serious fixing: The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens. It is true, that this book needs serious fixing. Why, you may ask. IT IS UNFINISHED!!!!!! So yeah, i need an ending...

Lumos

Creates a narrow beam of light

A book that deserves more attention: Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card. This novel was pure brilliance... and then I discovered that no one else had even heard of it -_-

Nox

Counters the effects of Lumos

An overhyped book: Um... I don't know... Ah ha! Eragon by Christopher Paolini. Don't get me long, I really liked the book, and definitely think the sequels deserve the hype... but everyone made this seem like a phenomenal mind-blowing book... and it really wasn't...

Accio

Summons an object from a significant distance

A book you’re anticipating: Visitors by Orson Scott Card. OH MY GREAT GATSBY, I CAN NOT WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!! This is the third book in The Pathfinder Series and... I am so excited, I WILL PRE-ORDER THIS BOOK. And I never pre-order.

Alohomora

Opens unlocked doors, unless bewitched

A book you want to be more open about: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. This looks like  brain-hurting kind of book, and looks like it would be dreadfully dull, but it is a classic...

Expecto Patronum

Conjures an incarnation of positive feelings

A book that made you cry, or at least want to: The Fault In Our Stars by John Green. Bloglings, I am getting teary eyed thinking about this book... It is so emotional and amazing and THE BEST BOOK EVER *cough* Yeah...

Morsmordre

Conjures the Dark Mark

A book you wish to mark as one of your favorites: *cough* TFIOS *cough*
Um, I'd say Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. Because it is genius and heart-breaking and well-written and did I say genius. And the author excepted my friend request on Goodreads! *claps hands*

Petrificus Totalus

Petrifies victim

A book you wish to keep forever: *cough* TFIOS *cough*
Erm... The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Beautiful writing, brilliant story, and ultimately unforgettable.

Riddikulus

Used against a boggart

A book with a deceiving synopsis: The Neverending Story  by Michael Ende. The synopsis makes it sound enchanting and surprising... it wasn't -_-

Lacarnum Inflamarae

Shoots fireballs

A book you wish to burn out of your mind completely: The Golden Acorn by Catherine Cooper. Ew. Ew. Ew. The one book which I have never finished, this was horribly written, filled with cliches, et cetera, et cetera,

Wingardium Leviosa

Levitates objects

A book you wish to reread: Again... The Fault In Our Stars by John Green. This book is Just. So. Amazing. Please. Please. Read. It.

Avada Kedavra

Causes instant death

Worst book EVER: So, um, I'm going to toss out a book out I haven't read so it's kinda mean for me to say this but... Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. Um, yeah... explanation not necessary.

Stupefy

Puts victim in unconscious state

A book with a chapter you couldn’t seem to get over: *cough* TFIOS *cough*  No, but really,...
Allegiant by Veronica Roth. *shudders* *sobs* it hurt...

Confundo

Causes befuddlement or forgetfulness

A book that generally confused you: Ruins by Orson Scott Card. In a good way, though! Everything was just so complex.

Crucio

Inflicts unbearable pain

A book that was a pain to read: Modern Times by Paul Johnson. Oh yes, let's change this cursed thing to is a pain to read.

Episkey

Heals relatively minor injuries

A feel good book that you enjoyed: Um, I don't read feel-good books... unless Harry Potter counts... because HARRY POTTER IS THE BEST!!!!

Impedimenta

Impedes target’s progress

A book that kept you up all night reading: The Boy In The Striped Pajamas by John Boyne... it also kept me up crying.

Silencio

Immediate silencing

A book that left you speechless after you read it: The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken. Other than me softly crying, I was speechless at the awesomeness of this book.

Legilimens

Allows you to delve into someone’s mind

A book with well-developed characters: *hush, I have only copied 2 books from your answers so far* The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. It was so good, and so, so sad :( Manchee *sniff*

Levicorpus

A spell that turns you upside down

A book that changed your mind about a character from its prequel: Harry Potter 2 because, I went from disliking Vernon Dursley to despising Vernon Dursley.

Obliviate

Used to hide memories

A book with a story you can’t remember: The Princess and the Goblin by George Macdonald... something about goblins, an old lady and a dove and Curdie... um yeah, re-read...

Peskipiksi Pesternomi

Useless spell

A boring book that had absolutely no effect on you: The Land of Little Rain by Mary Austin. Boring. And boring. And boring. That's about what I got from the book.

Reducto

Breaks through solid objects

A book that convinced you to reconsider a certain genre: Cinder  by Marissa Meyer. I now love fairy tale retellings!

Rictusempra

Tickling spell

A book that made you laugh: Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer. I am currently reading this one, and I thought it was plain hilarious... I don't really know why.

Sectusempra

Offensive spell that violently wounds the target

A book that may have scarred you for life: The Fault In Our Stars by John Green. EMOTIONALLY TRAUMATIZED.

Tarantallegra

Makes you dance uncontrollably

A series finale that made you feel giddy: Harry Potter 7.  I don't even need an explanation here.

Bombarda Maxima

Causes an explosion that breaks through obstacles

A book that made you explode with the feels: The Fault In Our Stars by John Green. I'm crying again.

Finite Incantatem

Nullifies other spells

A book you thought you’d dislike, but ended up loving: Kon Tiki by Thor Heyerdahl. I don't really like non-fiction but this was one was super interesting :)




PHEW, THAT TOOK FOREVER!!!!
Now let me leave you with some photos I took recently:
Cute little mousie...

 Go Ruth!

 Ah, Pearl

 Nice expression there.

 Walking on the moon! ;)

Talk to you all later! Please do comment!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

~Layla

The Raven Boys Book Review and What Does The Cover Say link-up

Hello, bloglings! Good to see you again. I am back- and it has only been two days! I am currently reading Partials by Dan Wells and absolutely adoring it.
I am here to review The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater.

(I like that cover a lot more than my cover, by the way...)

Decription (from Goodreads)

“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

From Maggie Stiefvater, the bestselling and acclaimed author of the Shiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races, comes a spellbinding new series where the inevitability of death and the nature of love lead us to a place we’ve never been before.
My Review: 

I was extremely excited to pick up this book, having adored another book by the author and hearing great things about it from my blogger/Goodreads friends.   And, let us just adore that description. *adores* It sounds great!

Then, I started reading. The first sentence drew me in. And I absolutely adore Maggie Stiefvater's writing. It is just so poetic and beautiful, how she brilliantly ties everything together.

The Good : 
 The whole book... oh wait...

The Characters: Oh, I love them!
Blue Sargent was the nicest thing on Earth. She just wanted everything and everyone to be okay, but you see, she also needed to understand why and how everything happened, which is just like me. In fact, she is a bit reminiscent of me. *big smiles*
Gansey... I LOVED HIM!!!!!!!!! Um, yes. He was just kinda rude and condescending but he really was nice deep down inside and he felt things.
Ronan annoyed me. To death, you hear? Ew. Hate him. (Sorry all ye Ronan lovers.)
Adam and Noah were perfect. They fit the story well and, well, NOAH *cries* Adam is not my favorite, obviously, Gansey is, but he was still quiet nice.

I have already talked about the astounding writing, so I will pass that one up.

The Plot : 
Psychics. Ghosts. Welsh Mythology. Those equal the best combination in the history of mankind. The plot moved along at a swift pace and I was like "WHATONEARTHISGOINGON" throughout the whole book which is a very good thing.
The psychic stuff was plain awesome. "I am a psychic, mwhahahaha." pretty much sums up Blue's family.  ;)
And welsh Mythology? I hardly even knew that that existed. But it is great. Times 1000000000000000000.

The Bad : 
Um..hmm... the bad...? Oh! I wish that there was not so much swearing. This was the main reason i disliked Ronan- I felt like the only words he knew were curses. But, it wasn't constant or anything, so that as good.

Rating : 5 billion out of 5 stars!
I NEED BOOK 2! 



Part 2 of this post :   I am linking up!!!!!! right here


linkup rules:
1. Pick 5 to 10 book covers and give a funny/sarcastic/ingenious interpretation of what they could be saying. IMPORTANT: don't be mean! 
2. Add the blog button (above) to your post or leave a link to THIS post.
3. Add your direct URL to the linkup below (so we can all enjoy your funniness).
4. Be unconditionally awesome.

Being unconditionally awesome is so easy for me!  This will be fun!

Book #1 (try not to roll your eyes ;) )

                     

"Help, I'm a holey doughnut!!!!"

Book #2 :
                    

   
           "'Could you let go of my hand, freak?' 'No, I really can't!'"           

*oh dear, i am so bad this is embarrassing* 

Book #3 :

                               
               "And people used to think having 6 fingers was weird..."

 Book #4 :
               
                "Why is it that people are always attracted to my nose?"

Book #5:

                   
                     "' Get. Off. My. Dress. Or. You. Are. Dead.'"

Book #6 :

               
               "Your secrets aren't secret anymore *maniacal laugh*" 

And that would be it! I am SO EMBARASSED by my inability to come up with anything and actually considering not doing this!!!!!!!!! But.. I guess... maybe you can get a "that is so stupid" laugh out of it at least!

Please COMMENT! Talk to you later!

Which are your favorite? Least favorite? Have you read The Raven  Boys? Do any of you use BookSneeze?

I Love Controversy... A Very Bookish Post!

Please don't be scared away from the title. This post may be controversial, but not in a bad way :) So I say...
Anyways, I hope you all are doing good! Ian is visiting from  college, so i may be absent for longer than usual! And Christmas... 4 days!!!!!!!!
Soooooo...
         TO THE CONTROVERSY:

I READ HARRY POTTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND... LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!! AND... THINK EVERYONE SHOULD READ IT!!!!!   

So, DO NOT KILL ME. I realize Harry potter is supposed to support "witchcraft." Or "encourage children to practice magic." IT DOESN'T! First things first, i will explain why everyone should read these, then explain how THEY ARE NOT BAD NOR DO THEY SUPPORT WITCHCRAFT.

               THE GREATNESS: 

                            


Oh wait...

                     THE GREATNESS: 

CHARACTERS: 
Harry Potter are some of the best-peopled books i have read- EVER.
They are greatly varied, realistic, three dimensional, well-developed and every other compliment you can think to heap on them.

HARRY POTTER:
eh, is it a crime to say, i am not particularly fond of Harry.  There was nothing about him that stood out to me. He is also very well-developed; though. He definitely went through a change in The Order of the Phoenix, and i wanted to hit him over the head half of the book, but it keeps up these books sense of realistic-ness.

HERMIONE GRANGER:
*does a little happy dance*
Hermione is my absolute favorite. She is very smart, sassy, and, well, i  like her even more since i took a quiz and i was her. i must like myself... ;)
However, in book 4 specifically, i wanted to scream  at her; "OH MY GOODNESS HERMIONE, STAY AWAY FROM VIKTOR KRUM- HE IS RIDICULOUS!!!!!!!!! GO TO RON!!!!!!!!! YOU KNOW, YOUR FRIEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Er, yeah... but Hermione us still the absolute best :) :) :) Just like me : )

RON WEASLEY: Yes, moi like Ron. He has a very, um, humorous sense of humor (don't ask) and is just very awesome. And his rat... I love how he like hates Hermione at first. :) But RON, WHAT THE HECK WERE YOU THINKING!!!!! JUST TRYING TO MAKE HERMIONE ANGRY, WERE YOU???? LAVENDER IS PLAIN STUPID!!!!!!! See, I have serious issues with these characters... but they are still over-all awesome.

MINOR CHARACTERS: i love them all! From Fred and George, to Dumbledore, to Dobby, to Luna (Loony) Lovegood, to ginny, to Mrs. Weasley, to Sirius black... they are all amazing.

THE WRITING: Rowling writes very elegantly. And very accurately. And very awesomely. And it is FUNNY.

THE PLOT: Magic. In a literal and figurative way. How on earth these books could have been plotted out- I don't know... but I love it. There is something special. How Harry and Hermione are friends. They are more free together than Ron and Hermione. How every little plot end is weaved seamlessly into this tapestry. I almost cried in the last book, by the way. There is a reason these books are bestsellers. Not just like *shudders* Twilight, these books will live on. And honestly, though I rarely use this term, they are modern classics.

SOOOOOOO, HOW THESE BOOKS ARE NOT SUPPORTIVE OF WITCHCRAFT, NOR DO THEY DESCRIBE IT:

Just because there is time travel in a book, not scientifically explained, does that make people think that time travel is possible?  I DON'T THINK SO. Harry Potter lives in a world of magic. but the magic is just there. They say a few random words and move their wands. OH NO. BIG DEAL.
MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, a six year old might think it actually works. MAYBE. I doubt it.
These books have less magic than most fantasy books I have read. no joke.
And by the way, the rumor that the author actually practiced witchcraft- is just that, a rumor. Whoever created it probably wanted a reason to tell their kids they couldn't read these books because they didn't think their children were wise enough.
THESE BOOKS DO NOT SUPPORT WITCHCRAFT IN ANY WAY- THEY ARE CLEAN, AND NOT BAD. END OF STORY.


ANY COMMENTS WOULD BE MORE THAN APPRECIATED!