Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

In a garden surrounded by a tall fence, tucked away behind a small, quiet house in an even smaller town, is an apple tree that is rumored to bear a very special sort of fruit. In this luminous debut novel, Sarah Addison Allen tells the story of that enchanted tree, and the extraordinary people who tend it.…
The Waverleys have always been a curious family, endowed with peculiar gifts that make them outsiders even in their hometown of Bascom, North Carolina. Even their garden has a reputation, famous for its feisty apple tree that bears prophetic fruit, and its edible flowers, imbued with special powers. Generations of Waverleys tended this garden. Their history was in the soil. But so were their futures.
A successful caterer, Claire Waverley prepares dishes made with her mystical plants—from the nasturtiums that aid in keeping secrets and the pansies that make children thoughtful, to the snapdragons intended to discourage the attentions of her amorous neighbor. Meanwhile, her elderly cousin, Evanelle, is known for distributing unexpected gifts whose uses become uncannily clear. They are the last of the Waverleys—except for Claire’s rebellious sister, Sydney, who fled Bascom the moment she could, abandoning Claire, as their own mother had years before.
When Sydney suddenly returns home with a young daughter of her own, Claire’s quiet life is turned upside down—along with the protective boundary she has so carefully constructed around her heart. Together again in the house they grew up in, Sydney takes stock of all she left behind, as Claire struggles to heal the wounds of the past. And soon the sisters realize they must deal with their common legacy—if they are ever to feel at home in Bascom—or with each other.
Enchanting and heartfelt, this captivating novel is sure to cast a spell with a style all its own…. From Goodreads.

I really liked this. All the Waverleys have different gifts but they are subtle. Claire and her sister Sydney are so different but when they finally talk about their childhood they understand each other and what has made them act the way they did. Bay, Sydney's daughter is cute, but my favourite side character is Evanelle. This elderly lady who just has to give people things even though she doesn't know why, that is her gift. If you get something from Evanelle keep it with you as you are sure to need it at some point in the future. She is really sweet.
I have ordered the next book from the library.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
2015 Witches & Witchcraft Challenge
I love Library books 2015
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: May Challenges
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: Backpacking Around The Globe
Crazy Challenge Connection Monopoly

The Synchronicity War Part 1 by Dietmar Wehr

After almost a century of peaceful exploration and colonization of space, the United Earth Space Force stumbles across a shockingly xenophobic alien race that has more and better armed ships and refuses all attempts at contact. As the outgunned Space Force is driven back in battle after battle in what appears to be a war of extermination, one officer experiences precognitive visions that help him blunt the enemy onslaught but he can't control or predict when they occur.
With the Senior Brass convinced that he's a tactical genius, he's given more and more responsibility and is terrified by the belief that Humanity's Fate rests on his shoulders. Can he solve the mystery of his precognitive visions before the Human Race plunges into the abyss of total extermination? This is Volume 1 of a military SF series about desperate space battles and the men, women and Artificial Intelligences, who fight and die in them. From Goodreads.




This was good but a bit too technical. I like the main guy Shiloh who gets these visions that help him in battle and also his relationship with the Artificial Intelligences. It kind of ends on a cliffhanger which I wasn't quite ready for and that was a pity.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
The Challenge Factory - R6: Team Challenge SSS
Novel Books & Reading Challenges Wheel-A-Thon II
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: May Challenges
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Holding out a Hero
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Student Club Roster
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Finding Ginny
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: MASH with a Hufflepuff
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: The Pensieve
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List
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

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

Weingarten by J. Davis Bly

At thirty-five years old, Jimmy Russo never believed in ghosts, until the moment he awoke next to his old dead body. Forced to explore this in-between world, he watches as elderly people die natural deaths and receive their arcs of light immediately. He encounters others like himself, ghosts who painfully struggle to find any escape from this realm. Along his journey, Jimmy forms an improbable friendship with one such ghost, a man named Giovanni, whose unexpected death over fifty years ago interrupted a once-in-a-lifetime love affair. With every passing moment, Jimmy believes the key to escaping this in-between world will rest in solving his own murder and the mysterious deaths of others like him. From Goodreads.






I enjoyed this. The main character in this book is a ghost. He needs to figure out why he was killed and hope that he will be able to go into the light after this. But it just doesn't happen. He meets other ghosts and finds out he can communicate with the living.
This was an interesting new take on being a ghost and I will keep an eye out for the continuation.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
The Challenge Factory - R6: Team Challenge SSS
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: Student Club Roster
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: MASH with a Hufflepuff
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: The Pensieve
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List

Raw Deal by Mark Henwick

Prequel to the best-selling Bite Back series.
“I’d lost my entire team, and nearly lost my life. In a way, I had lost my life, and was left with this—a tightrope walk between hunting down creatures people didn’t believe existed, and being locked up as one.”
After a career-ending incident on a covert military operation, Amber Farrell is surprised to find herself back in her home town of Denver working as a rookie policewoman. But what happened in the army casts a shadow across her life from which she will never be free.
The prequel to the Bite Back series introduces Amber Farrell, a kick ass lady with a secret problem—she’s been bitten by a vampire. She’s working hard to start a new life, hold down a job and meet all the expectations put on her. When people start to die suspiciously in Denver, Amber has to decide between duty and instinct, between what she should do and what she must do. From Goodreads



This was good. Amber is a strong character. I like that this is not a typical vampire story. Amber was bitten by a vampire, was supposed to be dead, but is still alive. Nobody knows if or when she is going to turn but the military still lets her get out to hunt vampires, though they are keeping a close eye on her. I have added this series to my ever growing TBR pile of books.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
The Challenge Factory - R6: Team Challenge SSS
Novel Books & Reading Challenges Wheel-A-Thon II
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: May Challenges
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: Diagon Alley Supply List
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Meet a Million Members

Malicious Mischief by Lora Young

Delia Eastman returns home from teachers’ college with two goals: find a teaching position and sidestep her mother’s insistence on finding her a husband. But employers don’t care for women who are smarter than they. Neither do suitors. As she struggles to find her place, she discovers her sleepy Missouri River town has turned into a powder-keg of rivalry between the steamships and the railroads.
Increasingly violent vandalism on the railroad brings her face-to-face with Endy Webster, a handsome trainmaster whose investigation into the crimes leads him to the door of a prominent steamship owner—Delia’s father.
As Delia tries to clear her father’s name, she keeps tangling with Endy. He’s intelligent. He’s charming. And he’s guarding secrets. Thinking he might know more than he’s telling, Delia reluctantly agrees to partner with him to solve the mystery. With the vandalism becoming deadly, they’ll need every scrap of intelligence and logic to stay alive. Working together may not be their first choice, but it might be their last.  From Goodreads.

This is a Christian, historical mystery.  Neither Christian nor historical fiction are genres I read a lot but I liked this one. Yes, there is a lot of mention of going to church and reproach of people using bad language but it was not done in a pushy way and did not get in the way of the story.
I like Delia, the MC of this story. She is quite intelligent and strong and she has her own opinions of things. This gives her problems as she is suppose to be a meek and obedient girl who should only think of getting married. The mystery was good as it was not as it seemed.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
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: Holding out a Hero
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: Diagon Alley Supply List
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
Nothing but Reading Challenges - 50 States Challenge
Crazy Challenge Connection Scrabble, anyone?

A Million More Pages - Hogwarts: The Pensieve

The Pensieve hosted by A Million More Pages on Goodreads.

Harry Potter: "What is it?"
Albus Dumbledore: "This? It is called a Pensieve. I sometimes find, and I am sure you know the feeling, that I simply have too many thoughts and memories crammed into my mind."
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 30, The Pensieve

May 1-July 31
With each memory, pick one option to complete the challenge. Please describe or show how the book fits into each.

Memory One: Bob Ogden's Memory
Read a book with a ring or locket on the cover or has the word "ring" or "locket" in the title.
Read a book by an author with initials "S.S." or "M.G." or a main character with those initials.
Read a book with a primarily green or black cover.
Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

Memory Two: Dumbledore's first meeting with Tom Riddle
Read a book where a character can't control powers they have.
The Synchronicity War Part 1 by Dietmar Wehr
Read a book where a character is an orphan.
Read a book with a character's or author's initials as "T.R."

Memory Three: Morfin Gaunt's Memory
Read a book where the main character tries to find out about their family history or discovers their family history.
Weingarten by J. Davis Bly 
Read a book where the main character speaks a different language.
Read a book with a snake on the cover or the word "snake" in the title.

Memory Four: Horace Slughorn's (Fake) Memory
Read a book where the main character is lied to and must learn the truth.
Read a book with "riddle," "memory" or "tasked" somewhere in the title or text (include page # and sentence it is used in).
Raw Deal by Mark Henwick (loc: 964) Her memory wasn't clear anyway.
Read a book where someone learns that someone they trust should not have been trusted.

Memory Five: Hokey's Memory
Read a book where a character or the author has the initials of "H.H."
Read a book where the cover is primarily yellow or black.
The Recovery Room by Ann Ormsby 
Read a book with a cup or goblet on the cover.

Memory Six: Dumbledore's Memory
Read a book where a character wants to become a teacher or is a teacher.
Malicious Mischief by Lora Young
Read a book about magic.
Read a book about love.

Memory Seven: Slughorn's (Real) Memory
Read a book where a character loses a good friend.
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
Read a book where the main character gets lucky (interpret that as you will).
Read a book where a character reveals something he/she shouldn't have.

POINTS:
Read a book from each memory (7 books) to finish the challenge. To receive ANY points, you must complete at least 3 memories.
Points are as follows:
3 memories: 2 points
5 memories: 4 points
7 memories: 6 points
Bonus points for additional books read (after the first 7): .25 points per book (Valid through May 31st only)

If you finish the entire challenge by May 31, you can receive bonus points for additional books. After May 31, the most points you can attain is 6.

RULES:

✪ Minimum Page Length: 125 (140 for YA)
✪ Are Rereads Allowed? Yes
✪ Can I start a book before Challenge Start Date? Yes
✪ Children Allowed with restrictions: Yes
☛ Restrictions: must also have YA as Main Page Genre
✪ Posting Requirements when complete:
☛Book title/cover, author, date read
✪ Are Audiobooks Allowed? Yes
✪ Manga,Comics, Graphic Novels Allowed? No
✪ Can I Ignore A/An/The in Titles? Yes
✪ Can a book be used more than once in this challenge?: No
✪ Can the Tasks be done in any order: Yes
✪ Can Series titles be used for meeting requirements? No
✪ Verification Required For Points: No