Notable Quotable: Noelle Stevenson (#89)

"Halt you villains!  Unhand that science!" 
     --Nimona

Harry Potter Moment of the Week (#55)

hosted by Uncorked Thoughts and Lunar Rainbows Reviews.

Which magical creature would you like living in your house?

I think I'd enjoy having a house elf, but a house elf like Dobby.  I'd want them to want to be there.  I don't want an indentured servant or a slave.  I think Dobby was an incredible character and he was strong willed and brilliant.  I love that he was freed and got paid to work.  I love that he loved Harry.  I'd want a house elf that was more like a friend and an employee.  I don't want to offend any house elf, so it would have to be one that was okay with wearing clothes and getting paid.

Top Ten Tuesday: Series I have YET to FINISH

hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

These first couple are series that I can't finish yet because all the books aren't out.

1. The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer - SOON AND VERY SOON! I cannot wait until November.

2. The Miss Peregrine Series by Ransom Riggs - I've read the first and own the second, but I haven't read Hollow City yet.  It's on my list, it's on my list!  The third one is coming out this month so I really should get on this series.  Although, I'll probably have to reread the first book before continuing on.

3. The Young Elites by Marie Lu - I've just begun the journey with this series and the second book comes out in October, so it will definitely be a while before I finish this series but I LOVED the first book and I'm excited to get my hands on the rest of them.

4. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas - The beginning is only available right now, so obviously I haven't finished it.  BUT I would love to devour it all right now, if only it were all written!

5. Becoming Jinn by Lori Goldstein - This one also only has one book out.  I'm definitely excited to read more of this when the rest of the series comes out.  Please give me more soon!

6. The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare - So I finished the first three books in this series and it ended quite nicely.  I'm not actually sure I need to continue reading the rest of them.  Maybe one day, but I have so many books to read that this series has been put on the back burner.

7. Shades of London by Maureen Johnson - I have all of the ones that are out and I've read the first two, I just never got around to reading the third one, even though the second ended with quite a big cliffhanger.  Actually, now that I'm writing about it again, I kind of really want to finish this one.

8. A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray - I almost forgot about this trilogy! I really enjoyed the first one, but it's been a while since I've read it.  I never continued on with the series and I'm not sure why.  I'd definitely like to finish this at some point.

9. The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater - I liked The Raven Boys so much but I haven't read any of the other books and I really want to.  I've taken to avoid most of Maggie Stiefvater's posts on Tumblr and Twitter so that I don't become spoiled because that would be awful.  I think it might be time to just pick them up and read them.

10. The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss -  If I'm going to be honest, which I try and be all the time, I almost forgot about this series.  I stopped keeping tabs on it, so I'm not even sure the third book is out yet.  I've read the first and liked it quite a bit and I have the second.  It's just a matter of reading it.

Fandom Mashup (#4)

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:
There's been a murder *gasp* and the police are calling it an accident but you know they're wrong.  Who do you call up to investigate with you?

Pete Lattimer (Warehouse 13) - He's got a vibe thing going on and he would be the first to let the team know if there something weird going on.  He's fun and goofy, but he knows how to get a job done and he's no stranger to random things happening.

Sherlock Holmes - He's got a great track record and would definitely be the sleuth to call when a mystery is afoot.  His keen sense of observation would get us far in the investigation, as long as he is willing to be a team player.

Dean Winchester (Supernatural) - He would be a supernatural expert.  Dean could tell us if anything funny was going on, if we needed to take a supernatural approach rather than the good old man hunting detective work.

Temperance Brennan (Bones) - She would be able to look at the body for any clues that we might need.  Her talents and knowledge would be incredibly beneficial for this kind of operation.

Monk (Monk) - He might have some OCD tendencies but he's a great detective.  He'll find something that we all miss.  Plus, he's a great guy so he'd be a great addition to our team.

Notable Quotable: Matthew Dicks (#88)

"You have to be the bravest person in the world to go out every day, being yourself when no one likes who you are." 
     --Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend

Harry Potter Moment of the Week (#54)

hosted by Uncorked Thoughts and Lunar Rainbows Reviews.

Which place do you wish we'd explored in the series but didn't?

I would have loved to see some of the other wizarding schools, especially Beauxbatons and Durmstrang.  It would have been so cool to see what the other schools were like.  How they looked, what they appeared to be to muggles, the ins and outs of the school.  What subjects were encouraged there, where the secret passages were.  I love all the information we get about Hogwarts in the series.  It makes me think that all the wizarding schools have to have their own secrets.  I mean their modes of transportation are amazing, I can't imagine what their schools would be like! It would be excellent.
And I'm super excited that Fantastic Beasts will show us a bit of the American wizarding schools!

Jurassic Park

by Michael Crichton
published: Ballentine Books, 2012 (originally 1990)
pages: 448

John Hammond had a vision and he made his vision a reality.  Now he needs Dr. Alan Grant along with Ellie Sattler to make sure everything on his special island is functioning correctly.  The mysterious vision in question, live dinosaurs.  Mr. Hammond has found a way to recreate the extinct.  His Jurassic Park is meant to be an exhilarating experience for families, but when his own grandchildren come to test it out, a couple little mishaps occur.  It's up to the people on the island to take back control and prevent the worst case scenario: dinosaur takeover.

This book is crazy.  I mean, I can't imagine reading this when it first came out.  We know a lot about dinosaurs now, but in 1990 dinosaur knowledge wasn't so common.  In fact, I can't decide if knowing about dinosaurs makes this book more or less frightening.  The storytelling was quite good.  I liked that there was a understandable technical side to the story.  The chaos theory thrown into the plot and explained by a character throughout the book, makes this story more plausible and destructive.

I usually devote my review time to characters I loved in the book, but it needs to be said.  Mr. Hammond is a deplorable character.  Everything about him is greedy and self-serving and he puts his park before everyone, including his grandchildren.  One would think that he would be protective of his own flesh and blood, but when it comes down to it Dr. Grant does most of the protecting.  And thank God for that because those kids would have been dead a hundred times over otherwise.

Aside from the time I spent being incredibly angry at Mr. Hammond, I spent quite a bit of time tense and scared for the characters.  There are some intense scenes with those dinosaurs.  I mean, they're dinosaurs so it's going to be scary, but I always forget how powerful words can be on a page.  I've seen the movie a dozen times and this book is right on par when fear is involved.  I put the book down a couple of times because I didn't want to know what came next.

Michael Crichton created a complex world in which the morals of humans were questioned and personified through terrifying dinosaurs that were as dangerous as they were beautiful.  I can safely say that I would never visit an island of dinosaurs, but I would definitely marvel from afar.

Stars: 4/5

Praise:

"Frighteningly real...compelling...It'll keep you riveted."
     --The Detroit News

"Crichton is a master at explaining complex concepts in simple terms."
     --Library Journal

"one of the great storytellers of our age...The best Michael Crichton novels are...edifying reads, whose gripping plots contain real ideas."
     --Newsday

An Alphabet Soup Challenge book.