Review- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay by J.K. Rowling

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay on Goodreads

 BOOK SUMMARY:

J.K. Rowling's screenwriting debut is captured in this exciting hardcover edition of the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them screenplay.

When Magizoologist Newt Scamander arrives in New York, he intends his stay to be just a brief stopover. However, when his magical case is misplaced and some of Newt's fantastic beasts escape, it spells trouble for everyone…

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them marks the screenwriting debut of J.K. Rowling, author of the beloved and internationally bestselling Harry Potter books. Featuring a cast of remarkable characters, this is epic, adventure-packed storytelling at its very best.

Whether an existing fan or new to the wizarding world, this is a perfect addition to any reader's bookshelf.

Release date: November 8th 2016

Published by: Arthur A. Levine Books

Page numbers: 293

REVIEW: 

Any book of the Harry Potter franchise always makes me happy. Always.

When I read J.K. Rowling's library collection, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander a long, long time ago, I was always curious to know more because it developed in me, a greater love for the incredible magical creatures. Then when a movie based on the book came out last year, I had the most magical time revisiting my home and the place that I belong in- the magical world. So when I saw that there was a Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay written by the Queen herself, I had to get a copy and read it. 

Reading the screenplay after months of watching the movie was one the coolest ideas I've ever had because not only did I read and get to experience the written world which Rowling does so bloody brilliantly, but I also got to revisit the movie, which I loved to bits. One of the biggest advantages of reading the screenplay is all the side action that is, albeit in brief, explained meticulously which sometimes doesn't portray so particularly well on screen because it's not explicit. Revisiting the movie and meeting the wonderful Newt again was just so amazing. 

Aside from Newt, however, I loved how close a look I got into the life of this dark but very poor and likeable child, Credence, who is one of the most important characters of the movie. It was also beautiful meeting curious and funny Jacob, sweet and sexy Queenie and lovely and strong Tina again. Not just that, but visiting the American wizarding world again was a fantastic experience. I could imagine everything so perfectly and it felt good to go back.

As always, with any magical world book by Queen Rowling, I find myself incapable of doing her writing and storytelling justice, so I will leave it up to you to buy a copy, read and devour the screenplay of which we have the privilege of reading.

Buy the book: AMAZON

Waiting on Wednesday #261

"Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spines, that spotlights upcoming releases we're eagerly anticipating. 

Devil's Daughter by Lisa Kleypas

Publication Date: February 19th, 2019

Summary-

New York Times bestselling author Lisa Kleypas delivers a scintillating tale of a beautiful, young widow who finds passion with the one man she shouldn't...

Although beautiful young widow Phoebe, Lady Clare, has never met West Ravenel, she knows one thing for certain: he's a mean, rotten bully. Back in boarding school, he made her late husband's life a misery, and she'll never forgive him for it. But when Phoebe attends a family wedding, she encounters a dashing and impossibly charming stranger who sends a fire-and-ice jolt of attraction through her. And then he introduces himself...as none other than West Ravenel.

West is a man with a tarnished past. No apologies, no excuses. However, from the moment he meets Phoebe, West is consumed by irresistible desire...not to mention the bitter awareness that a woman like her is far out of his reach. What West doesn't bargain on is that Phoebe is no straitlaced aristocratic lady. She's the daughter of a strong-willed wallflower who long ago eloped with Sebastian, Lord St. Vincent—the most devilishly wicked rake in England.

Before long, Phoebe sets out to seduce the man who has awakened her fiery nature and shown her unimaginable pleasure. Will their overwhelming passion be enough to overcome the obstacles of the past?

Only the devil's daughter knows...

Top Ten Tuesday #79

Top Ten Tuesday is a bookish meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic is: 

Characters You Would Want As Family Members

1) MRS. WEASLEY 

2) HOLDEN CAULFIELD 

3) SAM

4) JUSTIN DURANTE 

5) A 

Do share your list if you have posted as well! Happy reading! 

Release Blitz- Dream Walker by Bridgette O'Hare

Title: Dream Walker

Author: Bridgette O’Hare

Genre: YA Paranormal Fantasy

Cover Designer: DARK UNICORN DESIGNS

Editor: Jennifer Green of Plot2Published Editing

Publisher: CLOVERHOUSE PUBLISHING

Publication Date: January 25^th, 2018

Hosted by: Lady Amber’s PR

Blurb:

To realize who you are, you must forget who they taught you to be

.

Darkness flows through Halle Michaels. Darkness suppressed by the expectations of being the ideal daughter, the perfect friend, and the stereotypical girl next door.

Now, her family’s past has caught up to her. When Halle discovers she was meant to follow in her father’s footsteps—footsteps she’s certain led to his untimely death—she must forget every lie she’s been taught about who she is.

Hunted by Hell’s elite and armed only with what she can decipher from her father’s cryptic journal, she turns to Aedan Jeremiah for answers, unsure she can trust him.

Halle wants the truth, but the longer truth is twisted in shadows, the harder it is to recognize in the light.

Can Halle move beyond the deceit, or will she be consumed by the darkness that stole her father from her?

Buy Links:

Lullaby: https://amzn.to/2Ljd0y8 Silent Night: https://amzn.to/2QSx7Z2 Dream Walker: https://amzn.to/2S7LohL

Bridgette O'Hare is a writerly life form surviving on high doses of chocolate, excessive episodes of Supernatural, and copious amounts of snark.

She spends her time in search of sleep, witty co-conspirators, the planet Gallifrey, and ways to unleash treachery upon her characters in interesting ways . . . or you may find her instigating shenanigans on Facebook.

She’s the proud Mum of two highly entertaining humans and she resides on the coast of North Carolina.

Bridgette is recommended by 4 out of 5 people that recommend things. Number 5 was unavailable for comment.

Author Links:

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9834245.Bridgette_O_Hare

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BridgetteOHare

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2EjckXR

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bridgetteohareauthor

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/bridgette-o-hare

Website: http://www.bridgetteohare.com/

Instagram: www.instagram.com/bridgetteohare

Smart Masses Newsletter http://bit.ly/smartmass

Buy Links:

Lullaby: https://amzn.to/2Ljd0y8

Silent Night: https://amzn.to/2QSx7Z2

Dream Walker: https://amzn.to/2S7LohL

Matt had never been one to let a chance to provoke Jenna slip by. “I know what I’m getting you for Christmas,” he chided.

“Does it involve a trip to some tropical island and drinks with those tiny umbrellas in them?” Jenna quipped back.

“What makes you think I’d take you somewhere like that?” he retorted.

A sly smirk slinked up one corner of Jenna’s mouth. “What makes you think I was going to take you with me on my little island excursion? It’s my present.”

Matt shook his head. “A watch, Jenna. I’m getting you a watch. Not that you’d use it.”

He checked his mirrors and backed out of the driveway.

“Alright, children. Let’s play nice,” Halle interrupted before the back and forth really took off.

“That was nice,” Jenna mumbled.

“Yeah, about as nice as when you two ditched me at Levi’s Halloween party. Left me with a house full of masked marauders, and I don’t mean the interesting comic book kind.” Matt glared at Jenna in the rear-view mirror.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Halle bailed on you, too!”

“Hey now!” Halle piped in.

“She was hurt. She gets a pass. You could have found me, or called, or texted, or something.” His words came across with a little something Halle couldn’t help but be concerned about. For the past year, she had watched as Matt and Jenna bantered back and forth, always teetering on the edge of something more than friendship but never slipping over. Halle found herself glancing between the two, wondering if Jenna’s secret was why she had always kept Matt at arm’s length.

Jenna went silent for a moment. The countenance of her face saying more than words could. “I’m sorry, Matt. You’re right. I should have let you know. Forgive me?”

Matt’s eyes darted between the road and the rear view mirror several times before he blew out a heavy breath and his stare rested on the mirror for a long moment. “I forgave you the moment it happened. You know that,” he replied.

“Of course you did,” Jenna chimed. “You can’t stay mad at me. I won’t let you.” She stuck her tongue out at him.

Halle laughed at the exchange. “You two are something else.”

“Don’t know what you’re laughing at,” Matt remarked as he turned the Jeep into the school parking lot. “You’re friends with both of us. What does that say about you?”

“That I’m crazier than I thought,” Halle muttered. “But hey, at least y’all are entertaining.”

She adjusted her sunglasses and reached for her bag in the floorboard. “I’ll see you guys at lunch. I need to bolt. Have to try to get to Senior Mozingo’s class before homeroom to ask about some work I missed.”

“You sure you’re not just trying to avoid him?” Jenna asked as she nodded her head at the guy standing on the sidewalk straight ahead of the Jeep.

“Crap,” Halle mumbled.

“Want me to run him over?” Matt smiled. “I can say the gear slipped.”

Halle rolled her eyes, though her sunglasses hid the gesture. “No. I don’t want you to run him over. Geesh. But . . . you could run interference for me.”

“And you don’t think hitting him with a car would do that?” Matt grinned.

“Nevermind. I don’t want to deal with the police interrogation afterward. I’ll just do the best I can.” Halle made a face at Matt, slipped out of the Jeep, and eased toward the back of the car parked beside them.

Book Beginnings on Friday #21

Please join Rose City Reader every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author’s name.

One 

London, 1830 

She had to escape. The rumble of sophisticated chatter, the blaze of chandeliers that splashed hot wax onto the dancers below and the profusion of smells that heralded the lavish supper to come, all overwhelmed Lady Holly Taylor.

- Where Dreams Begin by Lisa Kleypas

Summary-

"We're strangers in the darkness," he whispered. "We'll never be together like this again."

Zachary Bronson has built an empire of wealth and power, but all London knows he is not a gentleman. He needs a wife to secure his position in society—and warm his bed in private. But one alluring, unexpected kiss from Lady Holly Taylor awakens a powerful need within him beyond respectability.

An exceptional beauty whose fierce passions match Zachary's own, Holly always intended to play by society's rules, even when they clashed with her bolder instincts. But now a dashing stranger has made her a scandalous offer that does not include matrimony. Should she ignore the sensuous promise of a forbidden kiss...or risk everything to follow her heart to a place where dreams begin?

Waiting on Wednesday #260

"Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spines, that spotlights upcoming releases we're eagerly anticipating. 

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

Publication Date: January 29th, 2019

Summary-

Nikolai Lantsov has always had a gift for the impossible. No one knows what he endured in his country’s bloody civil war—and he intends to keep it that way. Now, as enemies gather at his weakened borders, the young king must find a way to refill Ravka’s coffers, forge new alliances, and stop a rising threat to the once-great Grisha Army.

Yet with every day a dark magic within him grows stronger, threatening to destroy all he has built. With the help of a young monk and a legendary Grisha Squaller, Nikolai will journey to the places in Ravka where the deepest magic survives to vanquish the terrible legacy inside him. He will risk everything to save his country and himself. But some secrets aren’t meant to stay buried—and some wounds aren’t meant to heal.

Top Ten Tuesday #78

Top Ten Tuesday is a bookish meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic is: 

Characters (and Literary Figures) That I'd Name My Children After

1) DRACO 

2) MEURSAULT 

3) ISAIAH 

4) RYAN 

5) CHANCE 

6) HERMIONE AND/ OR HEDWIG

7) KAROU AND/ OR KISHMISH

8) KATNISS

Do share your list if you have posted as well! Happy reading! 

Book Beginnings on Friday #20

Please join Rose City Reader every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author’s name.

Introduction

Introductions, as I interpret them, should start at the beginning. The beginning of the story, the beginning of the journey, the beginning of the tall tale that explains how you came to be where you ended up.

- Chasers of the Light: Poems from the Typewriter Series

Summary-

The epic made simple. The miracle in the mundane.

One day, while browsing an antique store in Helena, Montana, photographer Tyler Knott Gregson stumbled upon a vintage Remington typewriter for sale. Standing up and using a page from a broken book he was buying for $2, he typed a poem without thinking, without planning, and without the ability to revise anything.

He fell in love.

Three years and almost one thousand poems later, Tyler is now known as the creator of the Typewriter Series: a striking collection of poems typed onto found scraps of paper or created via blackout method. Chasers of the Light features some of his most insightful and beautifully worded pieces of work—poems that illuminate grand gestures and small glimpses, poems that celebrate the beauty of a life spent chasing the light. 

Review- And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

And the Mountains Echoed on Goodreads

 BOOK SUMMARY:

An unforgettable novel about finding a lost piece of yourself in someone else.

Khaled Hosseini, the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, has written a new novel about how we love, how we take care of one another, and how the choices we make resonate through generations. 

In this tale revolving around not just parents and children but brothers and sisters, cousins and caretakers, Hosseini explores the many ways in which families nurture, wound, betray, honor, and sacrifice for one another; and how often we are surprised by the actions of those closest to us, at the times that matter most. 

Following its characters and the ramifications of their lives and choices and loves around the globe—from Kabul to Paris to San Francisco to the Greek island of Tinos—the story expands gradually outward, becoming more emotionally complex and powerful with each turning page.

Release date: May 21st 2013

Published by: Bloomsbury Publishing 

Page numbers: 416

REVIEW: 

I've been reading books for 10 odd years now, and what I've realised is that words make me happy. They're my happy place. They're not an escape from reality for me; they are my reality. I've learned to believe that words speak louder than actions. They've managed to bring a smile to my face. But this time around, with And the Mountains Echoed, somehow these same words that I thought made my day, brought tears to my eyes in a way no words ever have before.

I don't consider myself worthy of reviewing a masterpiece, a work of art that is And the Mountains Echoed. I honestly thought that The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns were the most incredible, raw, real and heart touching books I've ever read, but of course, trust Khaled Hosseini to prove me wrong. What he has done with this book, it's unreal, it's so incredibly magical and heartbreaking, devastating and tragic that I don't even know what to feel or how to feel. I just don't know.

All I know is that this is a book that's going to bring more tears to my eyes every time I remember it and seeing as I'm never going to forget it, I'm going to be needing many, many tissues. I swear no book has brought tears to my eyes the way And the Mountains Echoed did and no words moved me the way Khaled Hosseini's words did. A master storyteller, he blesses the word with literary gems every time he writes.

Buy the book: AMAZON

Waiting on Wednesday #259

"Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spines, that spotlights upcoming releases we're eagerly anticipating. 

Tangled Like Us by Krista and Becca Ritchie

Publication Date: January 17th, 2019

Summary-

How to protect your heart:
Let your bodyguard have it.

Jane Cobalt is an American princess. The loyal and painfully curious twenty-three-year-old has inherited immense pressure to preserve the Cobalt legacy. But for Jane — sex, love, and life have been a series of royal failures. 

After a friends-with-benefits ended in disaster, she's sworn to a “no sex” hiatus for, well, eternity — and she has no intention of letting anyone in her bed and definitely not her heart. 

Twenty-eight-year-old Thatcher Moretti is painfully professional. As the stern 24/7 bodyguard to Jane, thinking about unbridled sex with his sweet client is a sin. One that he keeps committing. 

But the real act is a hard line he’d never cross. 

When a family member betrays Jane's trust, the media becomes obsessed with matchmaking the perpetually “single” Jane Cobalt and unwanted attention suddenly compromises her safety. 

Thatcher would do anything to protect her, and one solution may level the threats: 

Become the fake boyfriend to an American princess. 

Entwined together with boiling chemistry, new “professional” parameters, and an oath, unsaid feelings threaten to rise and change everything. 

Top Ten Tuesday #77

Top Ten Tuesday is a bookish meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic is: 

Ten Books That I Read That Were Outside Of My Comfort Zone

 

 

Do share your list if you have posted as well! Happy reading!