Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Harry Potter #8) by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, Jack Thorne (Spoilers Inside)

There are two things to review here, contact and format.

Format First, No Spoilers In This Section:
This was not written in novel form but is the script from the London Stage Production. In the past I have found scripts can be a little harder to ready style wise. But this didn't feel that way. I was immediately sucked back into the world J.K. Rowling created and that I love so much.
I read this with my son and we did it all in one day sharing the parts. We both thought the non-spoken pieces added to the story and helped us imagine how this would look on the stage. The script format does not in any way make this a difficult or stilted read.



Content, Spoilers Contained In This Section, I Will Warn You When I Start To Say Things Spoilery:
Have you ever wondered what happened after the epilogue? Harry has told his son Albus Severus that he is named for two headmasters of Hogwarts one who was a Slytherin and the train departs and Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione are left on the platform? Well this is that story. The opening is that scene on Platform 9 3/4. This is a story about the painful and messy that often fills parent/child relations. There is also a thread of the danger of messing with time, one which was addressed in Prisoner of Azkaban. But it was the characters we know and love all grown up. It has been a long time since this world has been so front and center and I was glad to have the chance to visit it again. There is action, some mystery (which was well spun I think and made me think how much better this was coming after Rowling having written a mystery series), adventure, and love.




Scroll for spoilers or stop here if you don't want to be spoiled.










Don't read on if you want to avoid specifics.











You have been warned. If you read further and then feel cheated you got spoiled it is on you...Read at your own risk!!!

Spoilers begin here:

You will find out where the Sorting Hat places Albus. It was the first of many gasps and surprised utterances let out during the read.
Ron surprised me here. He still kind of gets overshadowed by Harry and Hermione but he has his moments where he really shines and you can see how he has grown into a fine and wonderful man.
Draco was still Draco but with something more, humanity. I felt for him and even cried for him.
Snape, oh my how wonderful and yet painful to see him again. His true strength of character, the part of him that made Harry name one of his sons for the man, he gets the chance to exhibit it again, even more heroically.
A man I never imagined would ever have a loss of composure does, and it makes him that much more loves, Dumbledore...and it was a moment of pure emotion.
I did find one thing a little bit of an odd choice and I didn't stop thinking that even at the end of the story, the use of Cedric and his death as a catalyst for the action. There were other plot devices that I am sure could have been used that were less odd, like the title, The Cursed Child...the mystery of who it refers to would have done fine, the friendship between Albus and Scorpius was a match lit and would have been a starting point. Just being the offspring of Harry and Draco would have been enough to set them on the path for action and trouble. But Cedric was the chosen device.

But the biggest shocker but not really a shocker was Modly/Voldy-Bellatrix love child...I am not sure I want to know the specifics of them bumping uglies..literally and figuratively...But I always thought she was a little too crushey on him....
There was a nod to the badass that is Neville which was nice!! It was a great acknowledgement to his importance in the stories.
The Godric's Hollow scenes were so powerful and painful. The sacrifice was heartbreaking. Harry has proven once again his bravery and strength is only there when he is surrounded with those he loves and who love him.
Over all I was pleased with my return to the wizarding world and would love the chance to see the stage production.


(Finished July 31, 2016)

The Fiery Cross (Outlander #5) by Diana Gabaldon

My thoughts on
Outlander (Outlander #1)
Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander #2)
Voyager (Outlander #3)
Drums of Autumn (Outlander #4)
A Breath of Snow and Ashes (Outlander #6)
An Echo in the Bone (Outlander, #7)
Written in My Own Heart's Blood (Outlander #8)


Don't think even for a second that becoming settlers in the backcountry of North Carolina not too far from Jamie's wealthy aunt's plantation will mean life becomes boring for Jamie, Claire, Bree, and Roger.

The early days of what leads to the American Revolution are the backdrop for this edition as the Fraser clan settles in North Carolina. As in prior books Jamie and Claire are the sun which the Outlander universe revolves. They are 20+ years older than when we first met them and they are still just as hot for each other. But their love is beyond just sensual, there is a connection between them that sizzles off the page. They are life's breath to each other. Learning from watching them is the young marriage of Roger and Bree.

The Fiery Cross also has its fair share of intrigue. Who killed Jocasta's slave and why? Who knocked out Duncan and tied up Jocasta and why? Are there other's like Claire, Bree, and Roger, able to step through the stones and into the past or future? What role if any will they play in the upcoming revolution? After what they went though in Scotland can they manage to stay out of it the coming war?

All in all a good addition to the series, but jeez these books are getting long!! This one was the longest yet coming in at 1443 pages for the mass market paperback edition.

(Finished July 29, 2016)

Drums of Autumn (Outlander #4) by Diana Gabaldon

My thoughts on
Outlander (Outlander #1)
Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander #2)
Voyager (Outlander #3)
The Fiery Cross (Outlander #5)
A Breath of Snow and Ashes (Outlander #6)
An Echo in the Bone (Outlander, #7)
Written in My Own Heart's Blood (Outlander #8)

Be warned if you haven't read the first three books there are what could be considered spoilers in this post.


Drums of Autumn is as much the story of Brianna as it is her parents. As her and Roger have grown closer, Roger is surely in love with her, Brianna has something on her mind and heart. As she has started to have these feelings she has realized something important was missing from the marriage of her mother and Frank Randall (the man she knew as her father before learning about her mother's time travel and about Jamie Fraser). She tells Roger she needs to be sure about them because she plans to only marry once. He thinks she needs time to make sure she loves him, but really what she wants is to meet Jamie and see him and her mother together.

There is only one way to do this, to go through the stones and find her parents. When Roger figures it out he goes through too and goes after her.

Will Bree find her parents and learn what she needs to know? Will Roger find Bree? What will happen when Jamie and Bree meet? These are the storylines of this installment.

Living in the wilds of North Carolina in the late 1760's- early 1770's means encounters with Native Americans, living off the land, slavery, and no modern tools of medicine for Claire to treat people with. And into the mix comes Bree, full of questions and so very much like Jamie that there is no way it will be smooth going.

Drums of Autumn, much like the other books in the series combines romance and relationships in all their messy truths, battles of the heart and mind, struggles with 20th Century knowledge and values clashing with 18th Century life, and kilts! A solid and enjoyable entry, now onto book 5, The Fiery Cross.  Boy these books, they keep getting longer!!! But I love Jamie and Claire so I don't mind.

(Finished July 23, 2016)

Voyager (Outlander #3) by Diana Gabaldon

My thoughts on the other books
Outlander (Outlander #1)
Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander #2)
Drums of Autumn (Outlander #4)
The Fiery Cross (Outlander #5)
A Breath of Snow and Ashes (Outlander #6)
An Echo in the Bone (Outlander, #7)
Written in My Own Heart's Blood (Outlander #8)


Voyager begins with filling in some of what has been happening to Jamie during the time since Claire went back to the future (gigglesnort). We are given Jamie's story, some of it anyway, from the time Claire left as part of the search being done in 1968 by Claire, Bree, and Roger as they try and find out what happened to Jamie following Culloden since he seems to not done as he intended and died.

Claire makes up her mind, with Bree's blessing and a kiss for her father, her birth father, to go back and try and find Jamie. Once reunited, this being them, means that things will not go smoothly. Danger and adventure as much as love and a burning desire, seem to follow them everywhere.

From Scotland, to France, to the West Indies....from taverns to brothels to plantations....there is the awkward reconnection after 20 years apart and lots of intrigue and not a little danger.


I found myself missing Bree and Roger once they were left behind and I hope they make a reappearance in the next book but I find myself really loving Claire and Jamie and wanting to see what they face next and how they handle their intense bond. Ok and their love (sex) is pretty darn steamy at times :D

(Finished July 20, 2016)

Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander #2) by Diana Gabaldon

My thoughts on
Outlander (Outlander #1)
Voyager (Outlander #3)
Drums of Autumn (Outlander #4)
The Fiery Cross (Outlander #5)
A Breath of Snow and Ashes (Outlander #6)
An Echo in the Bone (Outlander, #7)
Written in My Own Heart's Blood (Outlander #8)

If you watch the serialized version on STARZ this book is the basis for season 2.

The start of this book takes place in 1968 and finds Claire and her almost 21 year old daughter in Scotland. The Reverend Wakefield who was helping Frank with his research in book 1 has died and Claire is going to pay respects to his adopted son Roger, who was just a wee lad the last time Claire saw him.

The how and why Claire returned to her proper time leaving her heart and soul behind is the story we are told in Dragonfly in Amber as Claire tells her daughter Bree the story of her real father, Jamie Fraser. There is some tension around if Bree will believe her mother's tale of time travel and love found in the 1740's and how she will handle the disruption in her heart and mind as her belief in Frank as her father and her love for him and he for her is questioned. Is her mother insane or a miracle?

Coming in at 947 pages Gabaldon takes us from the Scottish Highlands to Paris and back, from love and hate, from war and peace to the heartbreak of love torn apart.

I admit it, there is some cheese factor, but it is such lovely cheese, it melts in your mouth and makes you sigh with pleasure. I am anxious to start book 3 and am pulling for Jamie and Claire, and now Roger and Bree too.

(Finished July 18, 2016)

Outlander (Outlander #1) by Diana Gabaldon

My thoughts on the rest of the series
Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander #2)
Voyager (Outlander #3)
Drums of Autumn (Outlander #4)
The Fiery Cross (Outlander #5)
A Breath of Snow and Ashes (Outlander #6)
An Echo in the Bone (Outlander, #7)
Written in My Own Heart's Blood (Outlander #8)


Looking for something to watch and after seeing a friend post on Facebook that she was excited for the season 2 finale of the STARZ series Outlander I binge watched. I was so sad to see these characters go until season 3 and being the kind of person who usually likes books better than the movies or tv series based on them I decided to go ahead and start reading.

These are not short books, this one being 850 pages for the mass-market paperback and the next one is almost 1,000 pages. But I will tell you true, I didn't feel like I had just read a long book, it went rather quickly and had the can't put it down feel that I love to find. I thoroughly enjoyed Outlander and am looking forward to starting Dragonfly In Amber.


In 1945 Claire and her husband Frank are on holiday in Scotland trying to reconnect after having spent most of their young marriage apart because of WWII. Frank is researching his family tree while they are there and the information will soon become very important to Claire.

While out exploring on her own in hopes of finding a plant that caught her eye Claire pays a visit to a stone circle she and Frank previously visited. While there she thinks about the stories of fairies and witches the inn keeper has shared with her. She hears some nosies coming from the stones and she touches the largest and falls into the crack in it and lands.....in 1743.

What follows is by genre a historical romance but is different in that Claire is from the future and her love interest is a slightly younger, very easy on the eyes Scot named Jamie.  There is danger, intrigue, sex, violence, and mystery.

The bond that forms between Claire and Jamie is powerful and timeless. Will Claire stay or go back to Frank? Will she use what she knows to change to future? Is it cheating if technically her husband hasn't been born yet? These are some of the trials Claire faces. And while not prefect Gabaldon spins a tale that drew me in and made me want more.

I don't know if I felt so quickly drawn in because I had watched the show and wanted more of these characters or because of the book itself, but if the show started it the book grabbed hold and kept me. Either way it is a credit to the author because on the page or screen these are her characters and her version of the world.

(Finished July 15, 2016)

The Night Gardner by Jonathan Auxier (written by Joshua)

The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier is book in the style of Holly Black. It tells the story of Molly and Kip. They take a job as servants in a mansion. They hear stories about how there is a man who walks around the mansion at night. Even Kip claims to have seen "The Night Man".  It is hard to tell if these stories are true........ Well, at least it was.......


I think it was a spectacular book with a dark undertone in the style of R.L Stine or Edgar Allan Poe.

Believer: My Forty Years in Politics by David Axelrod

I started reading this and then with a few rough semesters of school it got put aside and buried in my pile of books. I picked it back up and finished it and I am really glad I did and I am only sorry it took me so long.

Axelrod makes no bones about his political leaning so if you are a conservative you will probably find yourself in disagreement with him. But that's ok because it is always good to know what people who lean differently than you think but more because this is a fascinating inside look at the political process and the history of Chicago politics as well as the race for the highest office in the country.

(Finished July 12, 2016)

Before the Fall by Noah Hawley

A small private plane crashes. On board is:
Crew members:
James Melody- the pilot
Charlie Busch- the co-pilot
Emma Lightner- the flight attendant
Passengers:
David Bateman- the head of a 24-Hour News Network not unlike FOX News
Maggie Bateman- his wife
Rachel- their 9 year old daughter
JJ- their 4 year old son
Gil Baruch- their bodyguard
Scott Burroughs- an artist friend of Maggie's
Ben Kipling- a man involved in money laundering and about to be indicted
Sarah Kipling- his wife
The only survivors are Scott and JJ

What follows is a tale that alternates between the aftermath of the crash and the background of the people on board leading up to the cause of the crash.

This is a well spun whodunit as well as a commentary on what people have a right to know, what right do people who go through something like this have to privacy, and how far are people willing to go to get what they want.


(Finished July 7, 2016)

Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll

I am not sure I would use the work "lucky" to describe TifAni who goes by Ani (pronounced Ah-nee not Annie).

This is a rather dark and unpleasant story. It has a slow burn that sort of clings to you and forms a thin film of discomfort that will probably make you want to put the book down for awhile from time to time.

At the age of 14 she started a new school after having spent her time up until 8th grade in an all girls Catholics school. She is a bit more physically developed than the other girls her age, she has rather large boobs that the boys can't help notice. But she isn't as sophisticated as her body might suggest to observers and she quickly gets in over her head.

Until the last few chapters the book which are in the present the story is told in alternating chapters that take place when she was 14 and in the present as she gets ready for her wedding and is involved in the filming of a documentary.

Ani is not at all likable in the present but as her story unfolds you begin to understand why. It doesn't completely change her into a likable character but gives context to her smarminess. She isn't an unreliable narrator or character, she is just not likable. The question you end up with is was what happened what made her what she is or was this always her and it was how she ended up in the situations she found herself in.

(Finished July 6, 2016)

A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy by Sue Klebold

June 30, 2016, I am about to start this book and these were my thoughts as I begin.
Each time there is a mass shooting we ask, the new pundits ask, we all want to know how this could have happened. We ask if there were warning signs, if anyone saw the trouble coming, if the person had mental health issues that were addressed or unaddressed, and if the shooter was a minor, as in the case of the school shooting at Columbine, we demand to know how the parents could not have known there was trouble.

Part of why we want to know is because we hope to see some protection for our loved ones and ourselves. Parents want to know how to spot the boogey man before it gets our child. The other reason we ask is because when the shooter is killed in the incident we want to be able to blame someone. And who better than the parents, those who should have known their child wasn't ok. 

In 1999 the country was shaken by what happened in Loveland CO at Columbine High School. Well now 17 years later the mother of one of the shooters tells her story. I will admit that I was hesitant to read this. If I did and she answered the questions we all wonder about, and she really didn't know in time to stop this horrific event then there goes one of the scapegoats. And if she did everything right, and by right I mean nothing outside the realm of the normal parenting mistakes we all make in some way or another, then it means we could all be her. But my wanting to know and the fact that she is donating all the proceeds from this book to research and charitable organizations that focus on mental health issues convinced me to read it.

July 3, 2016, finished this book.
This was a incredibly moving and important book. Sue never tries to excuse or downplay what her son did, rather she owns it over and over. Instead what she shares is the struggle between mourning her son's death by suicide and the pain his horrendous act has caused. She shares her anxiety and the fear that her family was in for their safety after she tragedy. She shares the process that is still on going of healing.

But there is something much more important going on here. Along the way as she was trying to figure out how this could have happened, how the boy she thought she knew could do something so unimaginable she learned something about brain health and suicide as well as acts of violence done to others. This is important information. She shares what she learned from the many experts she spoke with on her journey to not only understand her son's actions but to try and learn how this kind of event could be prevented in the future.

She writes about removing the stigma attached to mental health issues, the need to stress the word health, to recognize the rising numbers go young people suffering as public health crisis, and she touches on the difficulty but importance of learning to recognize the subtle signs of problems that can often mimic the "normal" angst and moodiness of the teen years. She stresses the need for mental health first aid in schools and primary health practitioners.

As the mother of a child with a diagnosed mental health condition who has suffered from periods of suicidality this was an important read and powerful read, on that has inspired me to write to the author.