Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. RowlingMy rating: 4 of 5 stars Harry Potter is a generation thing. Like 80’s music and movies. Or 60’s fashion. Every generation following that eras have a different take on it. Same with Harry Potter. And the last installment, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, is the generation definer. Following all the reviews, I came to the conclusion that there are two main generations here: 1. The kids who grew up with Harry Potter. In other words, when Harry was 12, they were 12.2. The “older” kids. Those of us who were in our late teens to twenties or thirties when Harry first entered Hogwarts. (Not as old as Dumbledore or Professor McGonagall – although I do know a couple of “elders” who also read Harry Potter) Closer to Snipe’s age. The first generation mentioned above, didn’t rate The Cursed child very high and I get the impression that they were rather disappointed with it. Why?? Is it perhaps because they struggle to “picture” Harry as a happily married husband, but an unhappy dad? Or that he doesn’t get to slay dragons every day but actually has to work for a living? […]

Title: Come, Thou Tortoise Author: Jessica Grant Published: March 2009 (Knopf, Canada) Pages: 412 Format: Paperback Read: 19 March – 05 June 2016 (I know,…. But keep in mind – this was a book concerning a tortoise. I call it “empathetic reading”) Rating: Synopsis: When Audrey (a.k.a Oddly)  Flowers learns that her father has been hit on the head by a Christmas tree and is in a coma, she knows what she must do: leave Winnifred her tortoise behind, fly home, make a moving speech at his bedside and wait for him to wake up. When Audrey disarms an Air Marshall on route to St Johns and the Wednesday Pond, we realize there is something a bid odd about her. Things didn’t work out quite the way she planned. Instead, Audrey finds herself embarking on an extraordinary journey: one full of puzzlement and pain – but one that could also light up her life (very similar to a Christmas tree). Come, thou tortoise  unfolds in a world that is not quite our own; a place where you might just live forever if you can avoid the dangers, and where the truth can be hidden in the armrest of your airline seat. Should you be in […]

Audio book: May 20 – May 26, 2016 Librivox recording – recorded by John Nicholson (I still vote for Sean Connery to do this reading) You know what I love about book reviewing and blogging the most? It gives you the freedom to google your favourite books and characters for hours and hours and if someone asks what you are doing you can quite honestly say: RESEARCH. (You might even glare at them over the rim of your glasses. For effect you know. Also make sure to have a pencil at hand. Again – for effect) Afterwards, you might sound extremely clever and give lots and lots of useless information to anyone who would be interested in listening. (I strongly suggest that you keep your glasses down on your nose and have that pencil either in your hand or stuck in your hair). Alan Quartermain was born in 1817  Physically he was small, wiry, unattractive, with a beard and short hair that sticks up. (So very, very unattractive as you can see)    He was married twice, but widowed quickly in both instances. No, let’s not jump to any conclusions. He lived in Durban, Natal, South Africa He was a professional big game hunter […]