Month: May 2019

Posted in Literature

Harry Potter: A Journey

Posted on by The Fireside Chats

Well, it looks like we will be getting some more stories from the world of Harry Potter at the end of June. (I feel that won’t come soon enough though.) They will be selling four e-books called “Harry Potter: A Journey” and they each will focus on different subjects from the wizarding world.

Harry Potter: A Journey Through Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts
Harry Potter: A Journey Through Potions and Herbology
Harry Potter: A Journey Through Divination and Astronomy
Harry Potter: A Journey Through Care of Magical Creatures

The first two are set to be released at the end of June and the other two will follow some time after, according to Pottermore, the official Harry Potter digital site. These e-books sound like something Hermione would enjoy. Anyway, it’s a good thing my hubby got me that Kindle Fire last year since I will want to read these when they come out.

Posted in Literature

Another childhood favorite?

Posted on by The Fireside Chats

This was another favorite of mine when I was a kid. My grandparents purchased this for me once upon a time when I was sick at home. I remember when I did a book report when I was a kid on this book. I dressed up as Fern from this book and even brought along a little stuffed pig with me to serve as “Wilbur”. The teacher I had at the time was offering up bonus points if you dressed up as one of the characters from the book.

Synopsis: Some Pig. Humble. Radiant. These are the words in Charlotte’s Web, high up in Zuckerman’s barn. Charlotte’s spiderweb tells of her feelings for a little pig named Wilbur, who simply wants a friend. They also express the love of a girl named Fern, who saved Wilbur’s life when he was born the runt of his litter.

E. B. White’s Newbery Honor Book is a tender novel of friendship, love, life, and death that will continue to be enjoyed by generations to come. It contains illustrations by Garth Williams, the acclaimed illustrator of E. B. White’s Stuart Little and Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House series, among many other books.

Posted in Fun

The Great American Read

Posted on by The Fireside Chats

Last year, PBS held an eight-part series on tv to discuss the country’s best-loved novel. I did remember making my vote but I didn’t get a chance to watch any of the episodes on tv.

Did you watch the eight-part series? Did you place your vote to help determine which novel/series won? How many of the books on the list have you read? Do you plan on reading all the book on the list? What are your thoughts on the books that made the list?

  1. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee (Best Loved)
  2. Outlander (series) by Diana Gabaldon (Finalist)
  3. Harry Potter (series) by J. K. Rowling (Finalist)
  4. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (Finalist)
  5. The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkein (Finalist)
  6. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
  7. Charlette’s Web by E. B. White
  8. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
  9. The Chronicles of Narnia (series) by C. S. Lewis
  10. Jane Eyre by Charlote Bronte
  11. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
  12. The Grapes of Wraith by John Steinbeck
  13. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
  14. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
  15. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  16. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
  17. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
  18. 1984 by George Orwell
  19. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
  20. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
  21. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
  22. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
  23. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
  24. The Stand by Stephen King
  25. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
  26. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
  27. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
  28. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
  29. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
  30. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
  31. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
  32. The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
  33. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
  34. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
  35. Dune by Frank Herbert
  36. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
  37. The Call of the Wild by Jack London
  38. The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel
  39. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
  40. The Hunger Games (series) by Suzanne Collins
  41. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
  42. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
  43. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
  44. The Giver by Lois Lowry
  45. Memoirs of a Geisha by Author Golden
  46. Moby Dick by Herman Melville
  47. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
  48. Game of Thrones (series) by George R. R. Martin
  49. Foundation (series) by Isaac Asimov
  50. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
  51. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
  52. Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
  53. The Godfather by Mario Puzo
  54. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
  55. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
  56. The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
  57. The Shack by William P. Young
  58. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
  59. The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy
  60. Beloved by Toni Morrison
  61. The Martian by Andy Weir
  62. The Eye of the World (series) by Robert Johnson/Brandon Sanderson
  63. Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
  64. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevesky
  65. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
  66. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
  67. A Separate Peace by John Knowles
  68. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
  69. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
  70. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
  71. Hatchet (series) by Gary Paulson
  72. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
  73. The Twilight Saga (series) by Stephanie Meyer
  74. Tales of the City (series) by Armistead Maupin
  75. Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathon Swift
  76. Ready Player One by Earnest Cline
  77. Left Behind (series) by Tim LaHaye/Jerry B. Jenkins
  78. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
  79. Watchers by Dean Koontz
  80. The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan
  81. Alex Cross Mysteries (series) by James Patterson
  82. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
  83. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
  84. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
  85. Flowers in the Attic by V. C. Andrews
  86. Fifty Shades of Grey (series) by E. L. James
  87. The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut
  88. This Present Darkness by Frank E. Peretti
  89. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
  90. Another Country by James Baldwin
  91. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
  92. Looking for Alaska by John Green
  93. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
  94. Swan Song by Robert R. McCammon
  95. Mind Invadors by Dave Hunt
  96. White Teeth by Zadie Smith
  97. Ghost by Jason Reynolds
  98. The Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah
  99. The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead
  100. Dona Barbara by Romulo Gallegos
Posted in crime fiction, Literature, thriller/suspense

“The Bone Keeper” by Luca Veste

Posted on by The Fireside Chats

I’ve finished another novel and wanted to share it with you. This novel is a stand alone and was a really creepy read. I enjoyed it, don’t get me wrong. I didn’t see the ending coming. I imagined that the killer was a particular person and it wasn’t who I thought it was. Plus, it seems that the author is trying to throw you a few curve balls to throw you off. But if you’re looking for a crime novel that is really creepy, than this book may be right up your alley.

Synopsis: Twenty years ago, four teenagers went exploring in the local woods, trying to find the supposed home of the Bone Keeper. Only three returned.

Now, a woman is found wandering the streets, horrifically injured, claiming to have fled the evil urban myth.

And then a body turns up.

Posted in Answer a question

Rainy day?

Posted on by The Fireside Chats

How many people here like reading on a rainy day? What about when it storms? Do you like to read a good scary book when it storms outside? What about when the power goes out?

I just recently had my power go out a couple of days ago. It usually doesn’t phase me when the power goes out because I can still read when there is no power. My hubby on the other hand prefers to watch tv so it usually ends up being a real bummer for him when there’s no power at home. There are certain things he can do on his phone or on his laptop, sure. But he has to worry about what to do when the battery on those things runs out, especially if the power still hasn’t come back on yet. Reading is something that I can do even if there is no power. During the day time, I can read all I want to. During the night time, I can just pull out my flashlight (I usually have plenty of lights around and plenty of batteries) and keep on reading.

Posted in Literature

Looking forward to…..

Posted on by The Fireside Chats

I have enjoyed several of Stephen King’s works in the past and am in the process of reading some of his literature now. I just found out today that he has a new book coming out on September 10th of this year. This book looks interesting and I hope to have it when it is released. What about you? Do you think you’ll be reading the following book?

Synopsis: In the middle of the night, in a house on a quiet street in suburban Minneapolis, intruders silently murder Luke Ellis’s parents and load him into a black SUV. The operation takes less than two minutes. Luke will wake up at The Institute, in a room that looks uncannily like his own, except there’s no window. And outside his door are other doors, other kids with special talents – telekinesis and telepathy — who got to this place the same way Luke did: Kalisha, Nick, George, Iris, and the ten year old Avery Dixon. They are all in Front Half. Others, Luke learns, graduated to Back Half, “like the roach motel,” Kalisha says. “You check in, but you don’t check out.”

In this most sinister of institutes, the director, Mrs. Sigsby, and her staff are fanatically dedicated to extracting from these children the force of their extranormal gifts. There are no scruples here. If you behave, you get tokens for the vending machines. If you don’t, punishment is brutal. As each new victim disappears to Back Half, Luke becomes more and more desperate to get out and get help. But no one has ever escaped from the Institute.

As psychically terrifying as Firestarter, and with the spectacular kid power of It, The Institute is a gut-wrenchingly dramatic story of good vs. evil– and what it takes for good to win.

Posted in Answer a question

Does this annoy you?

Posted on by The Fireside Chats

When you are trying to read a book, does it annoy you whenever someone tries to strike up a conversation with you or lean over your shoulder to see what you are reading?

There are some times when it doesn’t bother me when someone talks to me while I’m in the process of reading. Especially if they are asking me about the book I am reading and ask me to describe it to them. Normally, I’m just reading for the enjoyment of it anyway. If I am getting to a part in the book where it’s really interesting and I don’t want to be disturbed, then I’ll read the book while I’m at home. In the comfort of my own home, I don’t have to worry about anyone bothering me while I’m reading.

If it was something that was required reading for school, then I would have answered yes to that question. I didn’t like to be bothered while I was doing work for school. My parents would often not let anyone bother me while I was doing my school work anyway.

Posted in fantasy, Literature, young adult

“Mockingjay” by Suzanne Collins

Posted on by The Fireside Chats

Please note that there may be spoilers in this article if you’ve not read any of the books yet.

Well, I’ve finally done it. I’ve finished the Hunger Games trilogy. It feels like forever ago since I read “Hunger Games” and “Catching Fire”. After finishing the last book that I read, I decided to go ahead and read “Mockingjay”. I really enjoyed this book, there were a lot of up’s and down’s. Some were happy and seemed almost normal while others were sad and took your breath away. There were a couple of deaths in this book that really made me sad. When Prim dies, that is really heart-breaking. It just worked out where Katniss was right there when her death occurs and you get to see how it really affected Katniss. Especially when Katniss comes across Buttercup later and even the cat misses Prim. The other death that affected me was Finnick. I get why he died but I feel sad because he was reunited with the love of his life and got to marry her before his death occurs. Overall though, I think I’m okay with the way the series ended though. I know that war comes at a price so there are going to be some deaths that will happen.

Also, the books I read had the foil covers instead of the original covers. If that makes a difference to anybody.

Posted in Movie (based on literature)

Avengers: Endgame

Posted on by The Fireside Chats

I’ve managed to see Avengers: Endgame. Lucky for me, I got to watch the movie without finding out any spoilers beforehand. I want to say that I am pretty happy with the way this movie turned out. There were still a couple of deaths in this movie that saddened me but I won’t mention them for those of you that have not watched the movie yet. Overall, I was pretty happy with the way the movie turned out though. There’s not a lot I can say about the movie without revealing spoilers and ruining the movie for those that haven’t watched it yet. But I will say that there is some time traveling going on and you’ll have to make sure to pay attention to keep up with what their doing throughout the movie.

Posted in Literature, mystery, thriller/suspense

“Watching You” by Lisa Jewell

Posted on by The Fireside Chats

I finished reading another novel. I am very glad I picked this book up at my local bookstore. The book starts off with showing you that someone has been murdered. After that, you meet the characters that live in Meville Heights. Everyone is either watching someone or being watched by someone, leaving you with a creepy feeling. The book will leave you guessing who the murderer is till the very end (make sure you read the epilogue provided at the end of the novel and don’t skip over that part, I can’t explain why or it’ll ruin the book). Anyway, if you want a suspenseful “sit on the edge of your seat” thriller then this is the book for you. I think you’ll be surprised. I sure was!

Synopsis: Melville Heights is one of the nicest neighborhoods in Bristol, England; home to doctors and lawyers and old-money academics. It’s not the sort of place where people are brutally murdered in their own kitchens. But it is the sort of place where everyone has a secret. And everyone is watching you.

As the headmaster credited with turning around the local school, Tom Fitzwilliam is beloved by one and all—including Joey Mullen, his new neighbor, who quickly develops an intense infatuation with this thoroughly charming yet unavailable man. Joey thinks her crush is a secret, but Tom’s teenaged son Freddie—a prodigy with aspirations of becoming a spy for MI5—excels in observing people and has witnessed Joey behaving strangely around his father.

One of Tom’s students, Jenna Tripp, also lives on the same street, and she’s not convinced her teacher is as squeaky clean as he seems. For one thing, he has taken a particular liking to her best friend and fellow classmate, and Jenna’s mother—whose mental health has admittedly been deteriorating in recent years—is convinced that Mr. Fitzwilliam is stalking her.

Meanwhile, twenty years earlier, a schoolgirl writes in her diary, charting her doomed obsession with a handsome young English teacher named Mr. Fitzwilliam…