A Million More Pages - Hogwarts: To Be A Ravenclaw - Finished

To Be A Ravenclaw hosted by A Million More Pages on Goodreads.

I finished this challenge at the highest level for 6 points but as I didn't want to find specific cover colours I did not get the bonus point.
 
February Challenge - 2 month challenge - February 1-March 31,2015

What it Takes to Be Part of Ravenclaw House

Ravenclaw House prizes learning, wisdom, wit, and intellect in its members. Thus, many Ravenclaws tend to be academically motivated and talented students. Ravenclaws also pride themselves in being original in their ideas, and methods. It's not unusual to find Ravenclaw students practicing especially different types of magic that other houses might shun. Students in Ravenclaw can also be quirky and possess unusual intellectual interests. Ravenclaws generally accept and celebrate these eccentrics.

Choose Your Level:
Level 1: Complete 3 tasks - 2 points
Level 2: Complete 6 tasks - 4 points
Level 3: Complete all 9 tasks - 6 points

When posting your book, please include a link to the book (or book cover if required for task), date book was completed, and your rating of the book. If any additional information is required based on the task, include that as well.

✦ Intelligence - Most people describe Scientists as Intelligent....read a book with Science or Science Fiction as a Main Page Genre
Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

✦ Wit - read a book that has comedy/humor as Main Page genre
Fat Vampire by Johnny B. Truant

✦ Wisdom - read a book that features a teacher/professor as a Main Character (should be obvious from the book's description)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling 

✦ Creativity - read a book that has "the arts" as a theme...music,artist,dancer,etc should be obvious from book description
Cora's Heart by Rachael Herron

✦ Originality - original=first timer...read an author's debut book
Love is a Thief by Claire Garber

✦ Individuality - Read a book that is a standalone...not part of a series
Secrets of the Sea House by Elisabeth Gifford

✦ Acceptance - Read a book that has a genre you don't typically read (specify the genre selected in your post). List at least 2 things about the book that you found you liked in your post.
H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald (non-fiction)
1. I liked the relationship she had with her hawk.
2. The way she portrays her depression, I was just waiting for the meltdown.

✦ The Ravenclaw House Mascot is an eagle - read a book that has a bird on the cover (include cover in post)
Raven's Key: A Novel by Siomonn Pulla (bird on cover)

✦ The Ravenclaw House Ghost is the Grey Lady - read a book that has Paranormal > Ghost as a Genre on the main page or that has GHOST in the book title or series name.
Child of the Ghosts by Jonathan Moeller

BONUS POINT -
✦ The Ravenclaw House colors are blue and bronze - if Level 3 is completed and all covers include something blue or bronze on the cover, an additional point will be earned. Make sure to include all covers in your post and point out the blue/bronze on each cover in order to earn the bonus point.

7 points total for Level 3 + Bonus Point (6 + 1 bonus) 

Secrets of the Sea House by Elisabeth Gifford

Scotland, 1860. Reverend Alexander Ferguson takes up his new parish, an isolated patch on the Hebridean island of Harris. His time there will change his life, but the Sea House, on the edge of the dunes keeps its silence long after Alexander departs. More than a century later, Ruth and Michael buy the grand but dilapidated building for the family they hope to have. But their dreams are marred by a shocking discovery. From Goodreads.

I found this very slow going in the beginning but then it started getting interesting. As there were 3 narrators, one for each MC it made it easy to hear who was MC of each chapter. Set in Scotland and hearing about how the English landlords just moved people around as they thought fit was interesting. It is not a happy read, it is actually quite depressing but it ends fairly happy for the 3 MCs.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
2015 Audiobook challenge
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Spring Fling
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: To Be A Ravenclaw
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Hugh Jackman
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: The Arrival
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Meet a Million Members
Crazy Challenge Connection Monopoly

H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald

When Helen Macdonald's father died suddenly on a London street, she was devastated. An experienced falconer, Helen had never before been tempted to train one of the most vicious predators, the goshawk, but in her grief, she saw that the goshawk's fierce and feral temperament mirrored her own. Resolving to purchase and raise the deadly creature as a means to cope with her loss, she adopted Mabel, and turned to the guidance of The Once and Future King author T.H. White's chronicle The Goshawk to begin her challenging endeavor. Projecting herself "in the hawk's wild mind to tame her" tested the limits of Macdonald's humanity and changed her life.
Heart-wrenching and humorous, this book is an unflinching account of bereavement and a unique look at the magnetism of an extraordinary beast, with a parallel examination of a legendary writer's eccentric falconry. Obsession, madness, memory, myth, and history combine to achieve a distinctive blend of nature writing and memoir from an outstanding literary innovator. From Goodreads.

I don't usually read non-fiction but I needed it for a challenge. The topic was interesting as I visited Cheshire Falconry a few years ago. It was a very different book to what I expected. Yes. it is about Helen Macdonald training a goshawk but it turned out also to be about her depression after her father's death and a biography of T.H. White. I found a lot of the stuff about T.H. White a bit irrelevant but I can see that it fit her mental state at the time. I liked Mabel, the goshawk, a magnificent predator.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: March Challenges (4/7)
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Spring Fling
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: To Be A Ravenclaw
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: A Trip To Hogwarts
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Professor Trelawney
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Hugh Jackman
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: The Arrival
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Harry Potter Bingo
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: Meet a Million Members
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Who is ... The Death Eater?

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

The Dursleys were so mean and hideous that summer that all Harry Potter wanted was to get back to the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. But just as he's packing his bags, Harry receives a warning from a strange, impish creature named Dobby who says that if Harry Potter returns to Hogwarts, disaster will strike.
And strike it does. For in Harry's second year at Hogwarts, fresh torments and horrors arise, including an outrageously stuck-up new professor, Gilderoy Lockheart, a spirit named Moaning Myrtle who haunts the girls' bathroom, and the unwanted attentions of Ron Weasley's younger sister, Ginny.
But each of these seem minor annoyances when the real trouble begins, and someone--or something--starts turning Hogwarts students to stone. Could it be Draco Malfoy, a more poisonous rival than ever? Could it possibly be Hagrid, whose mysterious past is finally told? Or could it be the one everyone at Hogwarts most suspects...Harry Potter himself.  From Goodreads.

This is one of my favourite series ever. They are so much fun at the same time as there is a lot of action. Dobby and Moaning Myrtle are two very sad but entertaining characters in this book.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
2015 Witches & Witchcraft Challenge
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: February Challenges (1/5)
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Spring Fling
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: To Be A Ravenclaw 
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Who is ... The Death Eater?

Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Starting over sucks.
When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I'd pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring... until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.
And then he opened his mouth.
Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something... unexpected happens.
The hot alien living next door marks me.
You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon's touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I'm getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades. If I don't kill him first, that is. From Goodreads.



Katy, the new girl in town, meets her neighbours, Daemon and Dee who turn out to be aliens. It is not safe for them or humans to be friends but of course it happens and now they have to deal with it. They must fight the evil Arum before they steal their powers and kill them all. I will definitely try to get hold of the next one from the library. 

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
I love Library books 2015
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: February Challenges (2/5)
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Hogwarts Face Off
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Spring Fling
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Butterbeer Recipe
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: To Be A Ravenclaw
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: A Trip To Hogwarts
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: All About the Stars
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: The Zodiac
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: The Hunger Games
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: 2015 Reading Challenge!
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Meet a Million Members
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Who is ... The Death Eater?
Nothing but Reading Challenges - 50 States Challenge

Child of the Ghosts by Jonathan Moeller

When her life is torn apart by sorcery and murder, young Caina Amalas joins the Ghosts, the legendary spies and assassins of the Emperor of Nighmar. She learns the secrets of disguise and stealth, of assassination and infiltration.
But even that might not be enough to save her.
For the evil that destroyed her family seeks to devour the entire world... From Goodreads.

This was an interesting and quite dark fantasy. Caina's mother renders the whole house useless with poor sorcery and hands over her daughter to an outlaw sorcerer in her quest for power. Caina survives the ordeal but joins The Ghosts in a quest both for revenge and in a effort to save the world.
I like that this book does not end on a cliffhanger, this story finishes. I will read more in this series at some point

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
2015 Witches & Witchcraft Challenge
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: February Challenges (4/5)
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Spring Fling
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: To Be A Ravenclaw
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: A Trip To Hogwarts
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List 

Love is a Thief by Claire Garber

What did you miss out on because you fell in love?
I might just be ‘that’ girl. You know the one. The girl who, for no particular reason, doesn’t get the guy, doesn’t have children, doesn’t get the romantic happy ever after. So I needed to come up with a plan.
What did I like doing? What didn’t I get to do because I fell in love? What would I be happy spending the rest of my life doing if love never showed up again?
Kate Winters is going on a journey to do all the things that love has snatched from her and her friends, to reclaim her dreams and theirs in the hope of finding her future. But there’s a chance that new dreams are better than the old… From Goodreads.







This was okay. Kate does a lot to help her friends and readers recapture dreams from before they married, though she is not as good at helping herself. Worth a read.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: February Challenges (3/5)
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Hogwarts Face Off
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Spring Fling
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: To Be A Ravenclaw
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Hearts, Romance, Spring Greetings
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: A Trip To Hogwarts

Fat Vampire by Johnny B. Truant

When overweight treadmill salesman Reginald Baskin finally meets a co-worker who doesn't make fun of him, it's just his own bad luck that tech guy Maurice turns out to be a thousand-year-old vampire.
And when Maurice turns Reginald to save his life, it's just Reginald's own further bad luck that he wakes up to discover he's become the slowest, weakest, most out-of-shape vampire ever born, doomed to "heal" to his corpulent self for all of eternity.
As Reginald struggles with the downsides of being a fat vampire -- too slow to catch people to feed on, mocked by those he tries to glamour, assaulted by his intended prey and left for undead -- he discovers in himself rare powers that few vampires have… and just in time too, because the Vampire Council might just want his head for being an inferior representative of their race.
Fat Vampire is the story of an unlikely hero who, after having an imperfect eternity shoved into his grease-stained hands, must learn to turn the afterlife's lemons into tasty lemon danishes. From Goodreads.

This was quite funny with a different take on vampires. In most other vampire books, vampires basically become beautiful when they are turned but not in this one. Reginald has to use his other hidden powers to survive. 

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
Novel Books & Reading Challenges Tower Teams III
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: February Challenges (4/5)
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Spring Fling
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: To Be A Ravenclaw
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: 2015 Reading Challenge!
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Who is ... The Death Eater?

Cora's Heart by Rachael Herron

From bestselling author, Rachael Herron, comes another funny and sexy romcom set in the sleepy Californian coastal town of Cypress Hollow.
Cora has been hurt too many times, and by one man in particular . . . Abandoned by her mother and widowed in her mid-twenties, Cora Sylvan has learned the hard way that you should take nothing in life for granted. So everything is planned out to the last degree – from how to run her farm on a shoestring to how to survive a major earthquake.
Unfortunately, there's nothing in those notes to cover the return of the infuriatingly handsome Mac Wildwood, her husband's cousin, the man she loved and lost. And Mac, it seems, has a secret plan of his own up his sleeve. Cora Sylvan safeguarded everything – but she didn't protect her heart . . .
Fans of Debbie Macomber and Penny Reid will love this trip into Cypress Hollow, and into love. From Goodreads.


This was a sweet, light romance. Cora is struggling after her stock of crafts has burned but then Mac, her husband returns home. She used to love Mac but she married Logan. The end is predictable but the book still had a few surprises which was nice.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
Novel Books & Reading Challenges Tower Teams III
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: February Challenges (5/5)
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Spring Fling
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: To Be A Ravenclaw
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Hearts, Romance, Spring Greetings
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: The Zodiac
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Harry Potter: The Ultimate Series Tour
A Winter's Respite Read-a-Thon 2015

Raven's Key: A Novel by Siomonn Pulla

Siomonn Pulla's first e-novel is a fast-paced new age adventure with a most unlikely cast of characters. This book is quirky and probably unlike anything you've ever read before. An ancient Sumerian King has hired a shape shifting Raven to steal sacred objects from museum's around the world. A Museum curator and her assistant, a young anthropology graduate student, discover that they are running out of time in this quest to restore the ancient balance of light and dark forces. Together with members from the ancient Council of Light, they must track down the shape shifting Raven, locate the stolen objects and return them to the council. Nearly out of time, they must journey to discover the key to unlocking humanity's shift into the new consciousness of 2012. From Goodreads.






This was quite interesting. Basically we have two different races of aliens. One good and one bad, but as there often is, there is a lot of grey in-between. There are also several different species of immortals and a few humans that got mixed into the mess. This is as far as I can figure out a standalone but I wouldn't mind reading more about some of the characters. Especially Raven who is not quite as he seems.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
Novel Books & Reading Challenges Tower Teams III
Romance Readers Reading Challenges: Yahtzee Challenge
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: February Challenges (2/5)
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Handling the Horcruxes
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Spring Fling
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: To Be A Ravenclaw
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Hearts, Romance, Spring Greetings
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: A Trip To Hogwarts
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Clue round 4
A Winter's Respite Read-a-Thon 2015

A Million More Pages - Hogwarts: To Be A Ravenclaw

To Be A Ravenclaw hosted by A Million More Pages on Goodreads.

A challenge based on the characteristics of a Ravenclaw student. I will not try to get the extra bonus point.
 
February Challenge - 2 month challenge - February 1-March 31,2015

What it Takes to Be Part of Ravenclaw House

Ravenclaw House prizes learning, wisdom, wit, and intellect in its members. Thus, many Ravenclaws tend to be academically motivated and talented students. Ravenclaws also pride themselves in being original in their ideas, and methods. It's not unusual to find Ravenclaw students practicing especially different types of magic that other houses might shun. Students in Ravenclaw can also be quirky and possess unusual intellectual interests. Ravenclaws generally accept and celebrate these eccentrics.

Choose Your Level:
Level 1: Complete 3 tasks - 2 points
Level 2: Complete 6 tasks - 4 points
Level 3: Complete all 9 tasks - 6 points

When posting your book, please include a link to the book (or book cover if required for task), date book was completed, and your rating of the book. If any additional information is required based on the task, include that as well.

✦ Intelligence - Most people describe Scientists as Intelligent....read a book with Science or Science Fiction as a Main Page Genre
Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

✦ Wit - read a book that has comedy/humor as Main Page genre
Fat Vampire by Johnny B. Truant

✦ Wisdom - read a book that features a teacher/professor as a Main Character (should be obvious from the book's description)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling 

✦ Creativity - read a book that has "the arts" as a theme...music,artist,dancer,etc should be obvious from book description
Cora's Heart by Rachael Herron

✦ Originality - original=first timer...read an author's debut book
Love is a Thief by Claire Garber

✦ Individuality - Read a book that is a standalone...not part of a series
Secrets of the Sea House by Elisabeth Gifford

✦ Acceptance - Read a book that has a genre you don't typically read (specify the genre selected in your post). List at least 2 things about the book that you found you liked in your post.
H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald (non-fiction)
1. I liked the relationship she had with her hawk.
2. The way she portrays her depression, I was just waiting for the meltdown.

✦ The Ravenclaw House Mascot is an eagle - read a book that has a bird on the cover (include cover in post)
Raven's Key: A Novel by Siomonn Pulla (bird on cover)

✦ The Ravenclaw House Ghost is the Grey Lady - read a book that has Paranormal > Ghost as a Genre on the main page or that has GHOST in the book title or series name.
Child of the Ghosts by Jonathan Moeller

BONUS POINT -
✦ The Ravenclaw House colors are blue and bronze - if Level 3 is completed and all covers include something blue or bronze on the cover, an additional point will be earned. Make sure to include all covers in your post and point out the blue/bronze on each cover in order to earn the bonus point.

7 points total for Level 3 + Bonus Point (6 + 1 bonus)