Rereading a 'Classic'

Some may argue, but I think of Harry Potter as a classic. When people ask you what your favorite book is you don't have to say Harry Potter because everyone knows it has to be one of your favorites. Recently, I got a copy of the first book of Harry Potter, so having not read it for at least four years, I decided to reread it. Upon finishing the first, I continued to reread the rest of the series and I must admit, I forgot how great these books are.

So here is my attempt at a quick summary of the first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerors Stone, but with books like these almost everyone knows what they are about...

Harry Potter is just an average eleven year old boy, well almost. He lives with his aunt and uncle and has a lightning shaped scar on his forehead which supposedly came from when his parents died in a car crash. Sometimes Harry can make stuff happen without even trying to though. And on his eleventh birthday he finds out that he is a wizard and that his parents were killed by the most famous dark wizard of all who tried to kill him and failed. Soon after that Harry goes to Hogwarts, a school for witchraft and wizarding, where he is "famous". He is swept into the world of Quidditch, magic, and so much more.

Anyways, these books are great and if anyone has not read these, I highly suggest you do, and trust me, the books are so much better than the movies. Speaking of movies, I am so excited for to see the Deathly Hallows part 2. I am pretty sure it comes out in July 15.

Thankgiving... and Braces

I haven't posted in a while so before I get into a book post I've decided to do a "catch up" post. For Thanksgiving we went to Utah. We had been hoping it was going to snow and... it did! While we were there we went skiing. We got there on Saturday night and on Monday we went to to the Brighton Ski Resort. Maddie, Taylor, Braiden, and I all had never skied before so we all took lessons. In the two hour lesson we all had we all picked it up and got pretty good. On Tuesday we were supposed to have a giant storm, we were told we might be snowed in. We didn't leave the house so we went out to lunch, played in the snow a lot, went sledding and waited. It was really windy but not much snow. On Wednesday we went and saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows the movie with our friends Ben, Carter, and Ann. Thursday was Thanksgiving and we went to my grandparents house, it was a lot of fun. Last but not least we went skiing again at Wolf Mountain on Friday. Unfortunately, we had to leave the next day, we were glad to get back to some warmer weather.

Also last Monday I got braces. For now I only have them on the top teeth and in nine months I'll get the bottom too. I wasn't very excited to get them but my mom was for me. She insisted on taking pictures...unfortunately.

Before

After

Sprouting Wings

A little while ago I read the book "Wings" by Aprilynne Pike. Now although this involves faeries it isn't your typical fairytale. It adds several twists in the plot and is a really exciting book.

Laurel has been home schooled her entire life, but after her and her adopted parents move she finds herself in public school for her sophomore year. But Laurel is different than other kids in a couple ways that lead up to her having a baseball sized bump on her back from which sprouts a long wing-shaped flower petal kind of thing. With help from her friend David, who loves science, she figures out she's a plant, or more specifically a faerie.

As she goes back to her old house, which is in the woods, she meets Tamani, a boy faerie. She soon gets dragged into an ancient battle between faeries and trolls, and everything ends up depending on her.

I really liked this book. It starts out a little slow but once you get into it, it really draws you in. I thought that the story line was good and that the book overall was very well-written. After this book there is also a second book in the series called Spells, which also  is very good.

The Good, the Bad, and the Uglies...

Well actually it was all good...

Imagine a world where everybody is actually divided into groups: those who are ugly, those who are pretty, and those who are special. The uglies spend their days dreaming about their sixteenth birthday and staring at Pretty Town. The pretties are who everybody wants to be, and the specials are only called in on special circumstances. No, I'm not talking about high school; it's a book called Uglies by Scott Westerfeld.

Tally Youngblood is only a couple months away from turning sixteen, and she can't wait. On the day of her birthday she'll get an operation that turns her into a pretty. Then she'll be swept off to Pretty Town where nothing matters but what she's going to wear to the next party.

But in the months before her birthday she becomes friends with Shay, an ugly who, unlike others, does not want to become pretty. Right before her birthday Shay runs away, and Tally has a choice: betray her friend or stay ugly for the rest of her life.

I loved this book! Although the setting was in the future it was easy to understand and keep up with. The book was very well written and it draws you in after the first couple chapters. There are 3 others books in the series that I would also recommend: Pretties, Specials, and Extras.

Talent Show

My school had a talent show last week and usually I would play the piano but this year I sang "You Belong with Me" by Taylor Swift with a couple of friends. If any of you have ever seen the music video you know that there is a dorky girl and a cooler girl. Well in this case we had two dorky girls and one cooler girl. I was one of the dorky girls along with my friend, Kianna, and Valaree was the cooler girl. Out of 27 the acts we were last but we did good. It was really fun and we all had a good time performing.

Bran Hambric and Maximum Ride

I've been reading so much lately that I'm a little behind in posting. First of all a new one by a new author, Bran Hambric and the Farfield Curse by Kaleb Nation. He's a new member in my ward and I really liked his book.

Bran Hambric was found in a bank vault as a six year old. He lives with the Wilomases in Dunce, where magic is forbidden. At a festival though he discovers he's a mage. With the help of a secret society he finds out more about his past. But people are waiting till the moments right to use Bran.

Another very good series I read were the Maximum Ride Series by James Patterson. These books are quick reads but very good.


This series is about 7 kids constantly running for their lives. They were born with wings in a scientist lab called the School. They have escaped but now erasers, half Wolf and half human that are used as guards', are after them. They must run for their lives and along the way they develop new powers, meet accomplices, and learn more about what they are meant to do.



There are are six books that I know of out right now and I love these books. I read most of them in about one day each. They are full of suspense,adventure, and action. I am sure any reader will fall in love with these books.

My dad recommended that I read The Pushcart War by Jean Merrill because it was a book he read as a kid. I didn't expect it to be that good but I read it and I actually liked it.

In New York City the pushcarts are always in the way of the trucks. The trucks are in the way of everyone and they are getting too big for everyone else. So when one of the trucks intentionally runs over Frank the Flower's cart the pushcart's decide to fight back...with pea pins. (A pea with a pin stuck through it)

This book was really good. This book is so well written that I thought it was real, in fact I had to ask my dad if it was. It also was funny. This book is kind of short but I think adults might like it too even though it is more of a kids book.