Notable Quotable: Marie Lu (#96)

"Fear creates the strongest illusions.  Everyone has darkness inside them, however hidden." 
     --The Young Elites

Harry Potter Moment of the Week (#62)

hosted by Uncorked Thoughts and Lunar Rainbows Reviews.

Favorite bit of new information from J.K. Rowling or Pottermore.

There's so much new information that I really enjoyed learning post Harry Potter.  I think my favorite bit of information was about McGonagall past.  She is one of my favorite characters and I've always wondered about her past.  So when Pottermore gave us some of that information I was overjoyed!

I think it's so interesting that she was a hatstall during her sorting.  I love that she was a great Quidditch player and that an accident she had her final year led to a lifelong desire to see Slytherin crushed at the Quidditch cup.

She lived a very real and very intense life, lots of pain, so it's no wonder that she's very private about her personal life. Even though her childhood wasn't peaches and cream, it shaped her and made her the amazing person she amazing person she is!

Trouble is a Friend of Mine

by Stephanie Tromly
published: Kathy Dawson Books, 2015
pages: 336

When Zoe moves into town after her parent's divorce, she hardly expects to make friends.  She certainly doesn't expect to run into a rude and eccentric boy that will tug her down a rabbit hole in moments of high jinks and certain danger.  Zoe learns quickly that being friends with Digby is a full time job, but she doesn't mind, most of the time.  It's only when he gets them into trouble that it becomes a bit of an issue for her.

Digby is a love-at-first-mention kind of character.  He is super strange and definitely the kind of person I would gravitate toward if I met him in real life.  All his secrets and his quirks made me laugh and groan; there were definitely times when I hated him and times when I just wanted to hug him.  The mystery that follows him wherever he goes is definitely one of the selling points of this story.  He gets into all sorts of insane and unlikely trouble.

This book had me giggling and laughing out loud.  So many of the situations were outrageous, and Zoe's commentary was hilarious.  She definitely got funnier as the book went on; it has to do with her character growth.  The more comfortable she became with the people in her life, the more confident she became.  The other characters, Digby and even Henry, Digby's friend, were funny, but Zoe was on point the entire time.  And she isn't afraid to call those guys out when some questionable humor/comment came from them with the excuse that they were teenage boys.

This book is a whirlwind and slightly crazy, but in the best possible way. I couldn't put this book down and when I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it.  It made for a couple of difficult work days. I was completely invested in this book, the plot, the characters, and the ridiculousness had me hook, line, and sinker.  I sure hope there is a sequel because I'm already craving more of these characters.

Stars: 5/5 Stars

Praise:

"In what reads like a combination of Veronica mars and The Breakfast Club, debut author Tromly creates a screwball mystery with powerful crossover appeal."
     --Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Fast-talking, suit-wearing Digby is an exasperating teenage Sherlock- sharply observant, impatient with social niceties, and unafraid of authority figures....Fans of Veronica Mars and Elementary will find much to like here...Zoe's sarcastic first-person narration is fresh and funny...an offbeat and entertaining caper."
     --Kirkus Reviews

"With acerbic banter and a heathy dose of high-school high jinks, screenwriter Tromly weaves together traditional elements of teen stories to create a Breakfast Club for a new century.
     --Booklist

A Full House Reading Challenge 2015 book!
An Alphabet Soup Challenge book!

Fandom Mashup (#10)

Hosted by Micheline at Lunar Rainbows Reviews.

Micheline has come up with a great idea and I can't pass up the opportunity to participate.  Each week Micheline will pose a unique fiction scenario and I will choose 5 characters from 5 different fandoms to help me with the situation.  It's going to be quite fun, I can already tell!

Scenario: You've succumbed to the Dark Side (they have cookies!).  Who do you want as your mentors of evil?

Darth Vader (Star Wars) - He is one of the ultimate villains and definitely one that I want being a mentor.  He'd teach me how to use the force and that would be a great advantage for me.  But also, I'd learn to use the force.

Loki (Marvel) - I just love him.  That's the real reason I'd choose him as a mentor.

Bellatrix (Harry Potter) - She's literally insane and I would be terrified of her, but I also think it would be so interesting to have her as a mentor.  Although, maybe I wouldn't enjoy her mentoring process as much as I think I would.  But hey, we'd get to set things on fire!

The Master - Missy (Doctor Who) - She is clever, calculated and quick-witted; her best friend is the Doctor so I'm bound to run into him once or twice.  I love how complicated and complex her villainy is and the fact that she shows little remorse.  She would be an excellent mentor.

Madam Mim (Sword in the Stone) - She's a shapeshifting witch with a vendetta against Merlin.  She could be an absolutely amazing mentor.  She could teach me how to shape-shift and to cast spells and all sorts of villainy!

Notable Quotable: Emily St. John Mandel (#95)

"First we only want to be seen, but once we're seen, that's not enough anymore. After that, we want to be remembered."  
     --Station Eleven

Harry Potter Moment of the Week (#61)

hosted by Uncorked Thoughts and Lunar Rainbows Reviews.

The Quibler needs a new headline story, what do you come up with?


"First Crumple-Horned Snorkack Located in Rural English Countryside!"

"20 Ways to Determine if You Have Wrackspurts"

"Parseltongue's Sister Language: Squeaking to Communicate with Rodents."

"The Golden Years with the Golden Boy: Harry's Life After Voldemort"

Station Eleven

by Emily St. John Mandel
published: Vintage Books, 2014
pages: 333

The Georgia Flu swept in with little more acknowledgement than the common flu.  Twenty years later, there are few people left that actually remember a time before everything went down, a time of technology and gasoline and electric lights.  Kristen was young when the Georgia Flu struck but she managed to survive.  She travels around from settlement to settlement with a troupe people who perform the great works of Shakespeare and classic music.  Rarely do they run into trouble, they come across a town that will threaten the very existence of the troupe and Kristen's only home.

I don't think I've ever read a post-apocalyptic book where I actually witness the apocalypse.  Usually, I get to deal with the aftermath.  This book gives us everything from beginning to end and it's so so interesting.

The storytelling in the books is amazing.  It is captivating and moving and beautifully written.  It bounces around in the past and the present worlds, the time before the pandemic and the time after.  The stark differences between these two time periods are captured with phrases and illustrations of people interaction and the physical beauty of the world around them.  Every person in this story is connected in some fashion and as the story is unraveled the relationships and connections are revealed.  It really takes the small world aspect of life to its fullest.

I love that the group of people we follow post pandemic is a group of musicians and actors and their role in this life is to provide entertainment to the towns they travel through.  I love that they exclusively run Shakespeare.  It's so telling, what people in this novel choose to perpetuate and honor from the old world.  Shakespeare is one of those things, technology is another.

There's a bit of mystery to this story.  Things aren't always explained when they are first brought up.  Most of the time we get the answers we are looking for, but never in the time or the way we expect to get them.  This book feels so much like life, like I'm living my life with these characters, getting to know them a little bit at a time and not always through the original source.

The last line of this book sums it up beautifully without giving anything away.  "He likes the thought of ships moving over the water, toward another world just out of sight."

Stars: 4/5

Praise:

"It's hard to imagine a novel more perfectly suited, in both form and content, to this literary moment."
     --The New Yorker

"[A] surprisingly beautiful story of human relationships amid...devastation."
     --Washington Post

"Soul-quaking....Mandel displays the impressive skill of evoking both terror and empathy."
     --The Los Angeles Review of Books

A 2015 Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge book!
A 2015 Full House Reading Challenge book!

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Wishes for the Book Genie

hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This was much harder than I anticipated it being.  I don't want to use my wishes for arbitrary things, but I can't seem to think of 10 really good wishes.  So here's what I've decided to wish.

1. I want to meet J.K. Rowling.  That would be probably my first wish, to meet and have tea J.K. Rowling.  Yep.  That's the best.

2. Once a week I'd like to suspend time for a couple hours so I can do some extra reading.  There never seems to be enough hours in the day!

3. An unlimited library of books to read from, including books the have yet to come out.  It will be glorious and have a turret or two and spiral staircases.  Think the Belle's library but grander!

4. I'd like a device that can suggest the perfect book for my mood.  There are just sometimes I can't figure out what I want to read and this would be perfect for those times; something that can anticipate my mood and my book wants.

5.  Okay, everyone can thank me for this later.  An 8th Harry Potter book.  We're going to get one!  Heck, let's make it an entire continuation of the Harry Potter world.  We can get a prequel series with the marauders and a sequel series with their children and then another book of our beloved main characters.  Yep.  Let's just have it all.  A never ending supply of amazing stories set in this world.

Fandom Mashup (#9)

Hosted by Micheline at Lunar Rainbows Reviews.

Micheline has come up with a great idea and I can't pass up the opportunity to participate.  Each week Micheline will pose a unique fiction scenario and I will choose 5 characters from 5 different fandoms to help me with the situation.  It's going to be quite fun, I can already tell!

Scenario: It's your first day at a magical school (WooHoo!)  Who do you instantly hope will be there to be friends with?

Ginny Weasley (Harry Potter) - You can't expect me not to choose someone from Harry Potter, but choosing just one person was extremely difficult.  I kept thinking this person, wait no this person!  I settled on Ginny because she's amazing.  She's hysterical, animated, and ready for adventure.  I feel like we'd get into some trouble.  I would enjoy having her as a friend and she opens all avenues to friends with the others.

Merlin (Merlin) - This guy is so full of honest hard work.  I mean he's made it his mission to protect Arthur, even when he's a prat.  Merlin's got a great sense of humor and he's good at tricking people.  I think practical jokes are in our future.

Digby (Trouble is a Friend of Mine by Stephanie Tromly) - He's one of those guys that I would equal parts be annoyed with and enjoy all the time.  He's got an apt for tracking down mischief and he doesn't have great social skills, but I'd love to be his friend.  He would definitely bring adventure in a magical school. 

The Doctor (Doctor Who) - I'm convinced that a teenage Doctor would have been a riot.  He'd have trouble written all over him.  He's funny and passionate and leveling on the side of brilliant.  I think teenage Doctor would be a fiercely loyal friend and someone that everyone would want to be around.

Elphaba (Wicked) - Elphaba is an amazing person.  She's the kind of person that I would immediately want to be friends with.  She cares about people; she's kind and intelligent.  She's excited to learn and meet new people.  And she knows when not to do things.  She'd be a little bit of the balance in this group of friends.  But she's always up for a little bit of fun.  AND if someone is deceiving people, she's the first person to call them out and to make sure justice is served.

Notable Quotable: Michael Crichton (#94)

"Let's be clear. The planet is not in jeopardy.  We are in jeopardy. We haven't got the power to destroy the planet - or save it.  But we might have the power to save ourselves." 
     --Jurassic Park

Harry Potter Moment of the Week (#60)

hosted by Uncorked Thoughts and Lunar Rainbows Reviews.

Favorite McGonagall Moment?

McGonagall is one of my favorite characters.  I mean, she had to put up with the trio, the Weasley twins, and the marauders all in one teaching career.  She has so many great moments.

I've mentioned it before but I absolutely love the biscuit moment between Harry and McGonagall.

'Is it true that you shouted at Professor Umbridge?''Yes,' said Harry.'You called her a liar?''Yes.''You told her He Who Must Not Be Named is back?''Yes.'Professor McGonagall sat down behind her desk, frowning at Harry.  Then she said, 'Have a biscuit, Potter.''Have -- what?''Have a biscuit,' she repeated impatiently, indicating a tartan tin lying on top of one of the piles of papers on her desk. 'And sit down.'

One of the most touching moments with Professor McGonagall is with Professor Trelawney.  She's not afraid to protect those she respects and calls friends, even if they are a bit weird.  She takes care of her own.

Professor McGonagall had broken away from the spectators, marched straight up to Professor Trelawney and was patting her firmly on the back while withdrawing a large handkerchief from within her robes. 

McGonagall has a way of being blunt both with the good and the bad.  She slyly finds ways to build people up with the truth.  She encourages Neville through all his years at Hogwarts, but this was one of my favorite moments.  Up until now, we hear nothing but complaints from Neville's grandmother, whether it's because his magic showed later than usual or that he was always forgetting things, or that he decided to keep his parents fate from his friends.  This moment between Neville and McGonagall is one of those moments that captures just how much she care for her students, just how much she knows her students and what they struggle with.  She is proud of her kids because they've grown up well.

"It's high time your grandmother learned to be proud of the grandson she's got, rather than the one she thinks she ought to have - particularly after what happened at the Ministry."

The Young Elites

by Marie Lu
published:  G.P. Putnam's Son for Young Readers, 2014
pages: 355

Adelina was a normal girl once, but now she is malfetto.  She may have survived the blood fever when she was younger, but that didn't mean she wasn't effected by it.  Aside from scars, many of the fever's survivors are said to have special powers and call themselves the Young Elites.  Adelina doesn't want the lot she's been handed, but she has only this choice, learn to control it or let it control her.

WHAT THE HECK.

I was sorely tempted to leave that as my full review because holy cow this book threw me for a loop.  I loved that there wasn't any real stability in this story. Everything was constantly in danger of falling apart from numerous different threats-- betrayal, friendship, family, love, secrets, all of these are potential cornerstones in the downfall of our main characters.  There so much to unpack about the characters and where their loyalties lie.

Adelina (beautiful name) is thrown into the world of the Young Elites.  She is just as secretive as the rest of the characters, but in a more desperate way.  Her character growth in this novel is stunning.  Adelina goes from being a terrified and distraught child to a strong-willed and frighteningly powerful Young Elite.  She is definitely our antihero, as are most of the Young Elites.  It's a complicated narrative, where no side is the "right side" and each character has to decide for themselves where they stand.

The powers that some of the characters have are incredible, not your run of the mill flying or invisibility.  There's quite a bit of manipulation of nature and the elements.  It's all very interesting and sometimes scary.  When people compare it to X-men, they are definitely on the right track.  These people with powers are amazing and they have to make a choice on how to use their powers.

Marie Lu knocks it out of the park with this beginning to her knew series.  I cannot wait until the sequel comes out! (Which was YESTERDAY everybody!)  I cannot wait to follow Adelina further into her story and see where high jinks and adventure take her.

Stars: 5/5

Praise:

"By permitting her characters some grand failures, she raises the stakes in the best way possible... There is clearly more to know, and I look forward to it.  This is a world worth revisiting."
     --The New York Times Book Review

"Lu pivots from the 'coming of age via romance' formula to pry apart the many emotions that pass under the rubric of love... There's nothing easy here, for Adelina or readers -- there are no safe places where the pressures of betrayal, death threats, and rejection aren't felt."
     --Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Lu weaves her magic across the page as she unfolds the story of Adelina and the Young Elites.  Nothing is as it is expected."
     --VOYA

A Full House Reading Challenge 2015 book
An Alphabet Soup Challenge book

Fandom Mashup (#8)

Hosted by Micheline at Lunar Rainbows Reviews.

Micheline has come up with a great idea and I can't pass up the opportunity to participate.  Each week Micheline will pose a unique fiction scenario and I will choose 5 characters from 5 different fandoms to help me with the situation.  It's going to be quite fun, I can already tell!

Scenario: Aliens are invading! Who's going to help you protect the world?

Martian Manhunter (DC Comics) - This guy is an alien himself.  As long as they are martians, he may be he can talk to the aliens and figure out some sort of compromise.  If not, then he will be a great ally to have when fighting the aliens. (If they are martians, then all bets are off and we may be in trouble.)

The Doctor (Doctor Who) - Okay so either the 10th or the 11th doctors would work incredibly well here, but I'm choosing Ten because he makes it very clear that he will defend the Earth until he dies.   His first instinct is to figure out how to prevent war and death, which is how I roll too.  Although, I am confident that he would be a terrifying and any aliens would go crawling back to wherever they came from.

Thor (Marvel) - Alright, it kind of seems obvious to me that one of the Avengers should be on my team, seeing as they took care of the world once when aliens tried to invade.  Thor's my pick because he's a god after all.  His command of thunder could be a real advantage when the aliens are coming from the sky!

Nimona (Nimona by Noelle Stevenson) - She's a shape shifter and a total badass.  She could cuddle them to death with her amazing cat shape and if that doesn't work she can just become something giant and deadly.

Percy Jackson (Percy Jackson) - If this kid can take on some gods, goddesses, and titans and survive, I think he can take on some aliens.  Plus, I'd love to hear his commentary during the entire alien battle.

Notable Quotable: Matthew Dicks (#93)

"He has a lot going on inside of him all the time so he doesn't worry so much about what is going on outside him.  That's what people don't understand." 
     --Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend

Harry Potter Moment of the Week (#59)

hosted by Uncorked Thoughts and Lunar Rainbows Reviews.

Rename the books from Draco's point of view.

Draco Malfoy and What's the Big Deal?
Draco Malfoy and Why Can't I Be The Heir of Slytherin?
Draco Malfoy and My Father Will Hear About This!
Draco Malfoy and the Ferret Nightmares
Draco Malfoy and the Impossible Task
Draco Malfoy and Wow, this Death Eater Thing Isn't Working Out

Catering To Nobody

by Diane Mott Davidson
published: Bantam, 2002 (Originally 1990)
pages: 301

Goldy's catering company is how she makes ends meet since her divorce.  She just didn't expect to be catering a funeral reception.  When her ex father-in-law is poisoned, Goldy's catering company is put in to question and shut down until the culprit is found.  She takes it upon herself to help the police along because holiday season's coming up and there no way she and her son can live without it.  Things get a little messy when she starts in piece together a story that may reveal a deeper conspiracy.

My favorite thing about this book is that Goldy gives us some of the recipes she uses during her catering in the novel.  The readers get the opportunity to experience the food in the novel and have another sensory option.  They looked really good, in fact, I'm going to try some of them soon.

I was fifty-fifty on the characters.  Some I really liked and some I wanted to smack around.  Goldy's son was almost unbearable.  I get that he's grieving and finding ways to channel his emotions, but it doesn't seem like he respects Goldy at all.  It's infuriating.  I know that I wouldn't let a kid speak to me the way he does, and I know that if I ever spoke to my parents that way, I would have been dead.  It's obvious that they love each other but that family dynamic is just irritating.

Tom Schultz is probably my favorite character in the entire book.  He's the police officer on the case; his concern and interest in Goldy is sweet.  However, it doesn't take away from his job, which is to figure out who caused the poisoning.  He's got a great sense of humor and knows how to play a crowd.

The pacing of this book was a little bit off.  It took me quite a bit to get through this book.  My interest in the story wavered, there were times when I was completely engrossed in the characters and the plot and there were other times when I was figuratively banging my head against the wall.  It became a task to finish this book.  The ending was very good; none of my guess work panned out but I was pleasantly surprised by the big reveal.

Stars: 3/5

Praise:

"Hearty fare for those who like their murder with a bit of nosh on the side."
     --Publishers Weekly

"A medley of murder, mayhem, and melted chocolate."
     --New York Post

"Diane Mott Davidson's culinary mysteries can be hazardous to your waistline.
     --People

An Eclectic Reader 2015 Challenge book! 

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Things I Want to Quit

hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Very few bookish things have ever made me want to quit them.  I am here to try and count them for you, to keep myself accountable.  Once they're online, I can never go back! (This week is like a support group. Thanks for listening!)

1. I want to quit feeling like I need to finish a book.  If it doesn't capture my attention then it's probably not worth my time.  It might be a great book, but guess what people are different and they might have different tastes.  I'm going to try quitting this so I can free myself to read more books that I want to finish.

2. I want to quit feeling obligated to read books.  There are some books out there that I feel like I should have read ages ago and quite a few of them are classics.  I majored in English and I feel like people hear that and expect me to be well versed in classics and to love them.  That is not quite the case.  Yes, there are some that I love and some that I still want to read, but I should not feel guilty or obligated to read Atlas Shrugged or Don Quixote and The Picture of Dorian Grey if I don't have a desire to read them.

3. I want to quit feeling guilt about the amount of books I have on my shelf that I have not read.  I want to be able to go into a book store and feel at ease, knowing that I can buy a book or two and everything will be alright.  I like have so many books, but I don't like feeling like a failure for not having read all the books I own.

4. I want to quit feeling like the only person who hasn't read the Throne of Glass series.  This is a vow to the reader and to myself that I will read at least one book in the Throne of Glass series in 2015!  It sounds so good, guys.  So good!

5. I want to quit not finishing series.  I recently did two TTTs (here and here) about this because there were so many series.  It was kind of overwhelming.  That being said, I'm going to finish some of them.  There's no reason why I can't do it!  Reading away!  Maybe I'll make that a challenge for 2016.

6. I want to quit procrastinating on my own novels.  This one is totally on me.  I've written a book or two but I haven't gone back an edited any of them.  It's a scary process seeing as all my novels are products of NaNoWriMo, where it's quantity not quality that matter.  BUT this is totally within my power and I've got to jump on it now or I never will.

So there's six of my quits.

Fandom Mashup (#7)

Hosted by Micheline at Lunar Rainbows Reviews.

Micheline has come up with a great idea and I can't pass up the opportunity to participate.  Each week Micheline will pose a unique fiction scenario and I will choose 5 characters from 5 different fandoms to help me with the situation.  It's going to be quite fun, I can already tell!

Scenario: You discover an injured animal but to help it, you have to be able to communicate with it.  Who do you ask for help?


Princess Gieselle (Enchanted) - In her world, she can talk to animals all the time.  Her best friend and sidekick is a chipmunk after all.  And if she can't fix anything she can at least sing and make everyone feel a little bit better.

Sirius Black (Harry Potter) - I'm not sure if he can actually communicate with animals while he's in animagus form, but he sure does understand them.  I mean he hung out with werewolf!Lupin and Crookshanks, so my guess is he could provide a valuable service to this task.  That is, if isn't going to screw around.  :)

Grover Underwood (Percy Jackson) - He's a satyr, that makes him (almost) completely in-tune to the natural world.  He would have a connection to the wounded animal at the very least.  He could play his lute and calm the animal while someone else helped it.

Beorn (The Hobbit) - He's probably one of my favorite characters and he's a shapeshifter.  He might not be the best in this situation but he can communicate with animals, so that's something.  (Also, I would love to have a conversation with him.)

Dr. Doolittle (Dr. Doolittle) - Okay, so he's possibly the best person to ask to come along.  He can talk to animals and he's a freaking vet!  So that's really a no brainer.

September Wrap Up

October TBR: THIS IS HALLOWEEN!

I LOVE Halloween, probably more than I should, but I DO!! I love all things monsters and costumes and mysteries and things that creep in the night.  I'm so so excited about this month's theme.  That's right, I'm going to be ready spooky stories; stories about monsters and graveyards and ghosts and the end of the world.  It's about to get Halloween all over my TBR!

Currently Reading

• Mechanica by Betsy Cornwell

Possible Candidates

• Nightmares! by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller
• Monstrous by MarcyKate Connley 
• The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness (Rec.) (Full)
• Trouble is a Friend of Mine by Stephanie Tromly
• Hollow City by Ransom Riggs (Full)
• The Shadow Cabinet by Maureen Johnson (Full)
• War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells (TBR)

Book Club

• Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (TBR) (Rec.) 

New Releases

• The Rose Society by Marie Lu (Oct 13) 
• Ice Like Fire by Sara Raasch (Oct 13)
• Illuminae by Amie Kaufman (Oct 20)

Key:
(Ecl.) = Eclectic Reader Challenge
(New) = Newbery Reading Challenge
(Full) = Full House Reading Challenge
(TBR) = 2015 TBR Pile Challenge
(ABC) = Alphabet Soup Challenge
(Ult.) = Teenreads Ultimate Reading
(Rec.) = Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge 

Notable Quotable: Amy Poehler (#92)

"That is the motto that women should constantly repeat over and over again. Good for her!  Not for me." 
     --Yes Please

Harry Potter Moment of the Week (#58)

hosted by Uncorked Thoughts and Lunar Rainbows Reviews.

Favorite quotes from Sorcerer's Stone.

OH there are so many!!

"It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends." 
     --Dumbledore

"There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them." 

"'Ah, music,' he said wiping his eyes. 'A magic far beyond all we do here!'" 
     --Dumbledore

"You're a wizard, Harry." 
     --Hagrid

"I believe your friends Misters Fred and George Weasley were responsible for trying to send you a toilet seat. No doubt they thought it would amuse you." 
     --Dumbledore

"'Wonder what it's like to have a peaceful life,' Ron sighed, as evening after evening they struggled through all the extra homework they were getting." 
     --Ron

"Books! And cleverness! There are more important things -- friendship and bravery!" 
     --Hermione

"The narrow path had opened up suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake.  Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers."