The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton

On a brisk autumn day in 1686, eighteen-year-old Nella Oortman arrives in Amsterdam to begin a new life as the wife of illustrious merchant trader Johannes Brandt. But her new home, while splendorous, is not welcoming. Johannes is kind yet distant, always locked in his study or at his warehouse office-leaving Nella alone with his sister, the sharp-tongued and forbidding Marin.
But Nella's world changes when Johannes presents her with an extraordinary wedding gift: a cabinet-sized replica of their home. To furnish her gift, Nella engages the services of a miniaturist-an elusive and enigmatic artist whose tiny creations mirror their real-life counterparts in eerie and unexpected ways . . .
Johannes' gift helps Nella to pierce the closed world of the Brandt household. But as she uncovers its unusual secrets, she begins to understand-and fear-the escalating dangers that await them all. In this repressively pious society where gold is worshipped second only to God, to be different is a threat to the moral fabric of society, and not even a man as rich as Johannes is safe. Only one person seems to see the fate that awaits them. Is the miniaturist the key to their salvation . . . or the architect of their destruction?
Enchanting, beautiful, and exquisitely suspenseful, The Miniaturist is a magnificent story of love and obsession, betrayal and retribution, appearance and truth. From Goodreads.

When Nella gets married she expects a normal marriage but it is not to be as her husband has a major secret.
Nella is given a dolls-house, a copy of their home and starts to collect stuff for it. She orders some things from a miniaturist but what she gets are exact copies of the people and animals in the house. This is a extremely unhappy story, it is actually quite depressing but though it doesn't end happily either, it does end with a promise of a new beginning.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
I love Library books 2015
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Student Club Roster
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Harry Potter: The Ultimate Series Tour
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Summertime Mountaineering
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: I Like Big Books Bonus Club
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Pick One For Me
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Backpacking Around The Globe 

The Recovery Room by Ann Ormsby

There’s a storm brewing in the quiet town of Litchfield. A whirlwind of media attention, political debate, and anger is about to sweep through and hold the fate of three women captive. In the eye of the storm are sixteen-year-old Clara Mahoney, a lonesome girl living in a family strained by autism; Pia Fernandez, a battered wife who wants only to escape her abusive husband; and, Loren Elliot, a forty-three-year-old who can barely make ends meet with two kids in college and a husband who just lost his job. Though these women are very different, they have a great deal in common. They are each unexpectedly pregnant, scared, and in positions where they cannot devote themselves to a child. And, they all have appointments at the same abortion clinic in Litchfield. But getting there won’t be easy. Anti-choice forces—headed by a vain socialite and a self-indulgent priest—are mounting a demonstration against the clinic. Can these desperate women brave the chaos? Or will they let the public debate dictate their private decisions? An easy read that raises hard questions and then answers them in a compelling way, The Recovery Room is a book every woman should read. From Goodreads

This was interesting and it showed a few different scenarios of pregnant women. I liked that they all had their free will to decide whether to have the abortion or not. I didn't like the ending but I guess it was to show that that kind of manipulative woman / girl also exists.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: June Challenges
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Guess Who?
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: The Pensieve
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: School's Out, Well...Almost
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: I Like Big Books Bonus Club
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Dragon Nursery
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Clue#2
Novel Books & Reading Challenges - Baby Got Book

All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot

Take an unforgettable journey through the English countryside and into the homes of its inhabitants-- four-legged and otherwise-- with the world's best-loved animal doctor.
For over 25 years-- since All Creatures Great and Small was first published-- readers have delighted to the storytelling genius of James Herriot, the Yorkshire veterinarian whose fascinating vignettes brim with the wonder of life, animal and human.
Whether struggling mightily to position a calf for birthing, or comforting a lonely old man whose beloved dog and only companion has died, Herriot's heartwarming and often hilarious stories of his first years as a country vet perfectly depict the wonderful relationship between man and animal-- and they intimately portray a man whose humor, compassion , and love of life are truly inspiring.  From Goodreads.




I have always enjoyed these stories set in the Yorkshire Dales in northern England. I remember seeing the show on TV and it was always funny. 

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
I love Library books 2015
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: June Challenges
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Student Club Roster
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Guess Who?
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: MARCHing Through Time
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Summertime Mountaineering
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: I Like Big Books Bonus Club
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Meet a Million Members
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: the 50 States Amazing Book Hunt
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Dragon Nursery
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Backpacking Around The Globe
Novel Books & Reading Challenges - Baby Got Book

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

It is Harry Potter's sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As Voldemort's sinister forces amass and a spirit of gloom and fear sweeps the land, it becomes clear to Harry that he will soon have no choice but to confront his destiny. Can Harry succeed in the death-defying tasks ahead? From Goodreads.

I think this is the third time I have read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and I enjoyed it nearly as much as the first time, the only difference being that I of course know what is going to happen. Slughorn is an important character but to me not very likeable, he seems to like only the exceptionally bright students or the ones that have connections. Now I will go watch the film again.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
2015 Witches & Witchcraft Challenge
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: June Challenges
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Summertime Mountaineering
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: I Like Big Books Bonus Club
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Meet a Million Members
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Dragon Nursery
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Backpacking Around The Globe
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Hogwarts Scavenger Hunt
Novel Books & Reading Challenges - Baby Got Book

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

In a secret world of forbidden knowledge, power comes at a terrible price.
Quentin Coldwater's life is changed forever by an apparently chance encounter: when he turns up for his entrance interview to Princeton he finds his interviewer dead - but a strange envelope bearing Quentin's name leads him down a very different path to any he'd ever imagined.
The envelope, and the mysterious manuscript it contains, leads to a secret world of obsession and privilege, a world of freedom and power and, for a while, it's a world that seems to answer all Quentin's desires. But the idyll cannot last - and when it's finally shattered, Quentin is drawn into something darker and far more dangerous than anything he could ever have expected. From Goodreads.






I liked the magic part of this book. That doing magic is a lot of hard work and repetition upon repetition. What I didn't like is that it seemed that drinking excessively and doing drugs is not a huge problem and the main character is more or less unhappy about his life the whole way through. Also it got on my nerves all the mentioning of other books and films. To mention some: Of course Harry Potter but also Karate Kid, Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. I have not quite decided if I will continue this series.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
2015 Witches & Witchcraft Challenge
I love Library books 2015
The Challenge Factory - R6: Team Challenge SSS
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: May Challenges
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: I Solemnly Swear
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: I Like Big Books Bonus Club
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Backpacking Around The Globe
Novel Books & Reading Challenges - Baby Got Book

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

I have two weeks. You'll shoot me at the end no matter what I do.
11th October 1943: A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and passenger are best friends. One of the girls has a shot at survival. The other has lost the game before it's barely begun.
Devastating, shocking, compelling and inspiring - once read, never forgotten. From Goodreads.

This was very good. Maddie and Julie are very different but they are brought together by the war and become best friends. This book does not end well and I was crying my way through the end of it. I am pleased it didn't end well as that was the way things was in the war. The whole way through you are not in doubt about who is going to die but when it happens it is still shocking. I will at some point read the next book but I am not ready for that just now.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
I love Library books 2015
Romance Readers Reading Challenges: Pass The Parcel
Novel Books & Reading Challenges Wheel-A-Thon II
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: May Challenges
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: I Solemnly Swear
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: The Game of Life
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: The Pensieve
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: School's Out, Well...Almost
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: MARCHing Through Time
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: I Like Big Books Bonus Club
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Pick One For Me
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Dragon Nursery
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Backpacking Around The Globe
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: The Amazing Book Race
Novel Books & Reading Challenges - Baby Got Book

The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

In the turbulent and mysterious Barcelona of the 1920s, David Martín, a young novelist obsessed with a forbidden love, receives an offer from an enigmatic publisher to write a book like no other before—a book for which "people will live and die." In return, he is promised a fortune and, perhaps, much more.
Once again, the author of The Shadow of the Wind takes us into the gothic universe of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books and creates a breathtaking adventure of intrigue, romance, and tragedy, and a dizzingly constructed labyrinth of secrets where the magic of books, passion, and friendship blend into a masterful story. From Goodreads.

This was quite different to what I usually read. There are still immortal characters in it but it is dark and Gothic. There is a love triangle, there is mystery and murder but at a very different level to the light stuff I like. I couldn't read a lot of this but it doesn't mean I didn't like it and I think I will read the first book in The Cemetery of Forgotten Books series.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
I love Library books 2015
Romance Readers Reading Challenges: Yahtzee Challenge
Romance Readers Reading Challenges: Pass The Parcel
Novel Books & Reading Challenges Wheel-A-Thon II
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: May Challenges
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: The Arrival
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Quidditch
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: I Solemnly Swear
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Student Club Roster
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Guess Who?
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Harry Potter: The Ultimate Series Tour
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: The Game of Life
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: School's Out, Well...Almost
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: MARCHing Through Time
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: 2015 Reading Challenge!
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: I Like Big Books Bonus Club
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Meet a Million Members
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: the 50 States Amazing Book Hunt 
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Pick Your Fate Adventure Challenge
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Backpacking Around The Globe
Crazy Challenge Connection Scrabble, anyone?

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter is due to start his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He is desperate to find out why his friends, Ron and Hermione, have been secretive all summer. But before he even gets to school, Harry survives a terrifying encounter with two Dementors, attends a court hearing at the Ministry of Magic and is escorted on a night-time broomstick ride to the secret headquarters of a mysterious group called the Order of the Phoenix. From Goodreads

The books are getting more sinister. Harry is feeling left out as he doesn't know what is happening and even when he gets together with Ron and Hermione it doesn't get better. The really brilliant but very nasty new character in this book is Umbridge who will do anything to keep Fudge as Minister of Magic. She slowly but surely takes over the school.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
2015 Witches & Witchcraft Challenge
Novel Books & Reading Challenges Wheel-A-Thon II
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: May Challenges
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Quidditch
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: I Solemnly Swear
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Student Club Roster
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: MASH with a Hufflepuff
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: The Game of Life
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: 2015 Reading Challenge!
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: I Like Big Books Bonus Club
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Dragon Nursery
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Backpacking Around The Globe
Novel Books & Reading Challenges - Baby Got Book

The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss

In The Wise Man's Fear, Kvothe searches for answers, attempting to uncover the truth about the mysterious Amyr, the Chandrian, and the death of his parents. Along the way, Kvothe is put on trial by the legendary Adem mercenaries, forced to reclaim the honor of his family, and travels into the Fae realm. There he meets Felurian, the faerie woman no man can resist, and who no man has ever survived...until Kvothe.
Now, Kvothe takes his first steps on the path of the hero and learns how difficult life can be when a man becomes a legend in his own time. From Goodreads.

This was long but I didn't feel it was too long. There was so much going on. Kvothe travelled a long way, learned a lot and achieved a lot just not what he wanted. I kept forgetting how young Kvothe was, he was only 15 at the start of this book. To me the end is quite a cliffhanger and I am looking forward to the next book in the series and I really hope there is some kind of twist to that ending.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
2015 Witches & Witchcraft Challenge
I love Library books 2015
Novel Books & Reading Challenges Wheel-A-Thon II
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: April Challenges
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Student Club Roster
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Harry Potter: The Ultimate Series Tour
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: MARCHing Through Time
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: I Like Big Books Bonus Club
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Pick One For Me
Novel Books & Reading Challenges - Baby Got Book
Crazy Challenge Connection Monopoly

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

The summer holidays seem never-ending and Harry Potter can't wait for the start of the school term. It is his fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and there are spells to learn and (unluckily) Potions and Divination lessons to attend. But Harry needs to be on his guard at all times - his worst enemy is preparing a horrifying fate for him. From Goodreads.

Yes, I have read this book several times, but it is still great. I greatly admire J.K. Rowling for the fantasy and imagination she must have. The series is now becoming even darker and there are several killings in this one. Harry is forced to take part in the Triwizard Tournament against students much older than himself and every body including Ron hates him for it. Ron and Harry has a falling out over it but of course they are back to best friends before the end of the book and Hermione is changing from a girl to a young lady.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
2015 Witches & Witchcraft Challenge
Novel Books & Reading Challenges Wheel-A-Thon II
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: April Challenges
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Professor Trelawney
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: The Arrival
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Harry Potter Bingo
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Student Club Roster
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Guess Who?
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Harry Potter: The Ultimate Series Tour
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: I Like Big Books Bonus Club
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Pick Your Fate Adventure Challenge
Novel Books & Reading Challenges - Baby Got Book

Girl's Guide to Witchcraft by Mindy Klasky

Jane Madison has a problem. Or two. Or three. She’s unhappily working as a librarian. She has a crush on her oblivious Imaginary Boyfriend. And she just learned she won’t receive a well-deserved raise; instead, she can live for free in a cottage on the library grounds.
When Jane settles into her new home, she discovers a hidden chamber lined with ancient books about witchcraft. Her first spell awakens a feline familiar. Her second makes her irresistible to men. Those magical workings attract a sexy magical warder, and Jane’s life is quickly turned upside down.
Does Jane have what it takes to become a real witch?  From Goodreads.

This was a funny book. Jane, not knowing she is a witch and without trying to, awakens her familiar. A cat turned human, Neko is quite a character and he of course loves fish and milk. Jane has some problems after making herself irresistible to men, especially the caretaker of the library is taken with her. I also like her friendship with Melissa.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
2015 Witches & Witchcraft Challenge
Novel Books & Reading Challenges Wheel-A-Thon II
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: April Challenges
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: A Trip To Hogwarts
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Professor Trelawney
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Traveling Hogwarts Style
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Barreling Through
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Student Club Roster
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Finding Ginny
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Guess Who?
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: I Like Big Books Bonus Club
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Meet a Million Members
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Pick One For Me

The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness

After traveling through time in Shadow of Night, the second book in Deborah Harkness’s enchanting series, historian and witch Diana Bishop and vampire scientist Matthew Clairmont return to the present to face new crises and old enemies. At Matthew’s ancestral home at Sept-Tours, they reunite with the cast of characters from A Discovery of Witches--with one significant exception. But the real threat to their future has yet to be revealed, and when it is, the search for Ashmole 782 and its missing pages takes on even more urgency. In the trilogy’s final volume, Harkness deepens her themes of power and passion, family and caring, past deeds and their present consequences. In ancestral homes and university laboratories, using ancient knowledge and modern science, from the hills of the Auvergne to the palaces of Venice and beyond, the couple at last learn what the witches discovered so many centuries ago. From Goodreads



It has been a while since I read the second book in this series but that was not a problem, I was soon back into it.
Diana and Matthew are still looking for the missing pages of Ashmole 782 but at the same time a lot of other trouble that is all connected is mounting around them. Diana is a strong heroine that will fight with her life to ensure the safety of her family and so will Matthew. This is also necessary when an evil son of Matthew's rears his ugly self and threatens not only Diana but also their children in search of power and revenge.
This is the final book in the series but I would not mind if Deborah Harkness decided to write more as there is a lot of potential with not only Diana and Matthew but also the twins or Gallowglass.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
2015 Witches & Witchcraft Challenge
I love Library books 2015
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: February Challenges (1/5)
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Spring Fling
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Butterbeer Recipe
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: A Trip To Hogwarts
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: The Zodiac
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: The Hunger Games
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: I Like Big Books Bonus Club
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Clue round 4
Novel Books & Reading Challenges - Baby Got Book

A Million More Pages - Hogwarts: I Like Big Books Bonus Club

I Like Big Books Bonus Club hosted by A Million More Pages on Goodreads.

I Like Big Books Bonus Club
January 1- December 31, 2015

Lets give those big book readers some extra credit!!

How it works:
-Create a thread to track the books that meet the following criteria: 400 and above page books= 1 points (added in April)
500 and above page books= 2 points
700 and above page books= 3 points
900+ and above books= 5 points

-You will only need one thread for the whole year, just separate books out by month

-At the end of the month, submit your points to your house's homework box!

-For this challenge, you may backdate to the beginning of the month that you begin the challenge and count any books that meet the page number criteria.

-Use the edition you read for page numbers.

-Audiobooks and large print books are allowed but must use the most popular Goodreads page number.

Please post your house name when signing up.  

List of books:

January:

1. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss = 2 points
2. Tiger's Curse by Colleen Houck = 2 points

 February:

1. The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness = 2 points

 March:
No books above 500 pages read.

April:

1. Girl's Guide to Witchcraft by Mindy Klasky (432 pages) = 1 point
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling  (734 pages) = 3 points
3. The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss (994 pages) = 5 points

May:

1. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling (901 pages) = 5 points
2. The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (441 pages) = 1 point
3. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein (452 pages) = 1 point
4. The Magicians by Lev Grossman  (488 pages) = 1 point

June:

1. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling  (652 pages) = 2 point
2. All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot (552 pages) = 2 point
3. The Recovery Room by Ann Ormsby (450 pages) = 1 point
4. The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton (435 pages) = 1 point

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Hogwarts has stopped but I will continue this challenge the rest of the year.
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July: