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Harry Potter and the Death Day Party (Year 2)

We have been in quarantine for about two weeks now give or take and damn I have never been on Facebook as much as I have been these past few weeks! Even while I'm scrolling through social media on my phone I'm thinking to myself, 'WOW I have really been sitting here on my phone alone for HOURS sharing memes and watching cooking videos when I could be reading'. (I have also surprisingly watched little to no TV since quarantine started.) But I'm not the only one with their face super glued to a screen. We pretty much all are now. So I decided that every time I catch myself on my phone doing literally nothing that I would put the phone down and pick up a book instead.

I finished Salem's Lot just before quarantine started going into effect, and I mean like one or two days before. I had considered going to Half Price the week before the outside world went crazy for toilet paper to both unhaul some books and to hunt down a copy of 'The Shining' so that I could continue to read Stephen Kings books in order from publication date. I ended up being lazy and enjoyed having the house to myself instead. I later came to regret this while in quarantine but not too much. so ill be putting my Stephen King reading list on hold for a bit, and maybe it was just what I needed, so that I can finally read all of the unread books in my collection. Ok ok...lets be real, I have a lot of unread books like many other book lovers, I might not get to them all right away and reading slumps are real. 

I decided it was best to start off with something light after finishing 'Salem's Lot' which had been heavy. So I picked up where I had left off with the 'Harry Potter' series and set myself to re-reading 'the Chamber of Secrets' and even started a 'Harry Potter' movie marathon with my sister that lasted about a week in which we finished the first 'Fantastic Beasts' movie and went all the way down the timeline to 'The Deathly Hallows'. After finishing the marathon I also finished reading 'Chamber of Secrets' so I figured I might as well do what I did last time and go over what happened in the movie that didn't make it into the books. Here we GO!

Quote from the book that feels relevant during Quarantine:

"I'll be in my room making no noise and pretending that I don't exist"

Dobby's eyes in the hedge grow

Much like Draco Malfoy we meet or rather see Dobby in the book earlier then we do in the movie. While harry is sitting in the back yard of the Dursley house singing himself happy birthday he looks up to see two big eyes staring back at him from the hedge, and later meets Dobby in his bedroom upstairs (aftercleaning an doing gardening for a dinner party the Dursley's were having that day = book part) as shown in the movies.

The Vanishing Cabinet

This one is more of a guess of what may be revealed later in the series. That the cabinet that Harry hides in then he comes through the chimney in 'Borgin and Burkes' (via floo powder) the antique shop down Knockturn Alley, when he was hiding from the Malfoy's, may in fact be the vanishing cabinet used in 'Half Blood Prince'.

Garden Gnomes

After Fred, George and Ron Weasley rescue Harry from the Dursley home in their fathers illegal flying car, Mrs. Weasley gets mad at them like any mother would after finding out her underaged sons had stolen the family car and drove in half way across the county and back again and promptly gives them chores to do as punishment. She wasn't forcing Harry to help them but he volunteered to do so. The chore was to clean the garden gnomes out of the garden. Harry soon found out that these were not the cute little statues that looked like mini santas that muggles adorn their flower patches and front yards with, they were a whole other creature altogether. Literally. The Weasley boys then goon to show Harry how to de-gnome a garden. Which starts off by catching a gnome, grabbing it by the head/hair/limb whichever you grabbed first really, making it dizzy by twirling it or shaking it around then throwing it as far away as you can from the garden. Talk about magical creature abuse, which I thought about a lot whenever Dobby made his way back into the story.

QuickSpell

Filch the caretaker of Hogwarts catches Harry walking in the castle after hours and takes him back to his office. while Filch is finding the right papers to write up Harry an explosion or loud bang goes off directly above the office. Filch runs out of the office determined to catch Peeves the ghost who he assumes has done this because apparently he does things like this the Filch a lot. Harry being a good person stays in the office even though he wasn't told to and could have easily gotten away. he gets curious and picks up a letter on Filch's desk. It is from Quickspell. The letter goes on to say how they have helped many a witch and wizard who are having trouble with their magic. Harry putts the letter back on the desk before Filch returns, but upon his return he sees that the letter is out of place. He accuses harry of reading it, which harry denies. Filch continues to freak out and ends up sending Harry on his way without writing him up after all. 

Quickspell we learn later helps squibs (people who were born into wizard families who either have no magic or can't control it well) with their magic.

The Headless Hunt

Nearly Headless Nick had ultimately been the one to save Harry from Filch. He convinced peeves to drop the cabinet above Filch's office to try to save Harry from punishment and it worked. Nick had been telling Harry that he was trying to get into 'The Headless Hunt' which from the sound of it is basically a fraternity/club for headless ghosts. His applications kept getting denied by the Hunt because Nicks head is still attached to his body by and inch or so of skin so he wasn't actually headless and would be able to really compete in headless games. Nick asks Harry if he would come to his death day party on Halloween to talk him up to the leader of the Headless Hunt.

The Death Day Party

 Harry had agreed to go to Nearly Headless Nick's death day party instead of the Halloween not only for himself but for Hermione as well. He wanted to back out but they decided to go because they had already told him they would go, and of course Ron tagged along. The party is held in one of the dungeons. The trio are the only humans at the party. They say hello to Nick then kind of just stay out of the way not wanting to accidentally walk through any of the ghosts. They soon realize that there is a food table and run over to it only to realize that all of the food is rotten, old and moldy. Their attempt to talk up Nearly Headless Nick to the Headless hunt didn't work out. After they leave Harry hears the basalisk voice and follows it until the group finds the words written in blood on the wall and Mrs.Norris (Filch's cat) petrified and hanging.

Hufflepuff Beef

After Lockhart and Snake do their dueling lesson with the second years a group of Hufflepuffs begin talking about harry and start confrontations with him because they think he is the heir of Slythrine and that he is going after one of the muggle born Hufflepuffs

Valentines Day Dwarfs

For Valentines Day Professor Lockhart  had dwarfs who would hunt down students and either sing or recited poems to them from their valentines. One caught Harry on the stairs while he was on his way to class. he tried to get away but the dwarf tripped him, then sat on him and recited a poem someone had written for him and it goes like this:

His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad,
His hair is as dark as a blackboard,
I wish he was mine,
he’s really divine,
The hero who conquered the Dark Lord

We find out directly after that is was Ginny who sent him the Valentine, and that is also when Ginny comes to realize that Harry has Tom Riddle's diary

The Teachers Lounge

When Ron and Harry are trying to tell the teachers that they think they know where the entrance to the chamber of secrets is they go directly to the teachers lounge. When they are in there an announcement goes out for all students to return to their dorms. After this all of the teachers enter the lounge and talk about how Ginny has been taken into the chamber and all of the other students will be sent home in the morning. In the movie this happens in the hallways.

The Weasleys being at Hogwarts

After Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Lockhart escape from the chamber they go immediately to the headmasters office. there they find Mr. and Mrs.Weasley as well as Dumbldore and McGonagall 

The Sock that almost didn't free Dobby

In the movie Harry asks Dumbledore if he can keep Tom Riddle's diary. He takes his sock off and puts it inside. After giving the diary to Lucius Malfoy he hands it to Dobby who finds the sock inside and is set free because Malfoy unknowingly handed clothing.

In the book both Harry and Dumbledore outright accuse Malfoy of being responsible for Ginny getting the diary. When he leaves Harry asks Dumbledore if he can return the diary to Mr. Malfoy.

Harry takes off his sock and put the diary into the sock. When he hands the sock to Mr. Malfoy he rips the sock off of the diary and throws it aside. Dobby just happens to catch the sock and be set free.  I can see why this was changed in the movie because it looks more like harry was meant to have set Dobby free rather then he caught the sock by chance

Percy's sub plot

Percy Weasley was showed a little more and was mentioned to be acting strangely nearly every time he was brought up. It isn't said why until the end when Ginny revealed she had accidentally walked in on him and his girlfriend in an empty classroom.

Next up:

I'll be starting Prisoner of Azkaban as pictured to the left.

I'm sure there are other details I have forgotten. But those were the ones that stuck out to me the most.

If there are any more you can think of comment below!

Here is the link for the comparison I did between  the Philosophers Stone book and Movie ---> Harry Potter and Norbert's Great Escape

THE GOD GAME

The God Game can best be described as a mixture of the 2016 movie 'Nerve' and a VR video game complete with Watchers, Players, and quests. Win and all your dreams will come true,  lose and you die.

The biggest difference is that the game is not a game at all. It is an artificial intelligence and when it was created religious texts from every religion in the world were downloaded into its consciousness. The AI came to believe that it was, in fact, G.O.D.

Somehow finding its way onto the internet it created a way to interact with humans, creating a virtual world in the real space. In a world like ours where electronics are a big part of our lives and where many of our devices connect to one another as well as the internet, you can imagine just how much control the AI can have in the lives of its players, both rewarding and publishing them at its own will based on its holy texts and the way it has come to see and understand the world.

The Novel follows a group of Highschoolers who have been introduced to G.O.D. by one of their newest members. they are lured in by its video game feel, and how the world of the game can be seen through the cameras of their cell phones or through smart glasses. They soon start looking for a way out as they realize just how much control the game has on their human relationships, their futures and their lives. They soon come to realize the only way out is to kill or be killed.



YAY!! My first book of the Year! I did not reach my reading goal last year, but this year I'm going to do my best to read instead of looking down at my phone scrolling through Facebook looking at memes as much as I do!

Carrie White can "Shine"

***** I feel like I shouldn't have to say this for such an old book but I will anyway. There are spoilers*****

I don't know why it took me so long to get to reading 'Carrie' It has been sitting on my bookshelf for a couple years, and the day I finally picked it up I read clean through half of it before falling off of reading for two whole months then I picked it back up and finished it.

As a lover of the horror movie genre, I can say that I have seen 'Carrie' in its original film adaptation as well as its newer adaptation that came out in 2013. I had expected the movies to be pretty close to the source material and in truth they are. However, like any adaptation there is lacking.

The book doesn't just tell Carrie White's story. It goes back and forth between firsthand accounts, scientific studies into telekinesis based around what Carrie did on prom night (not just in the school gym but in the town as well), news articles, and the story as it happened to Carrie and the other teens surrounding the incident.

What interested me the most was that after the prom and the confrontation with her mother Carrie lets all of her rage and sorrow out on the town and anyone who happens to cross her path. She opens up all of the water hydrants she passes, blows up a gas station, and takes down powerlines. all of these things result in most of the town of Chamberlin being set ablaze and people running in the street being electrocuted. I know it must sound harsh to say that this is the part of the book that I found most interesting, but the death and destruction are not what grabbed my attention in these last chapters.

What grabbed my attention was the fact that Carrie, while unleashing her abilities onto her surroundings had also somehow opened up a backdoor in the minds of every single person within a certain radius of herself. A hive mind if you will. Without having to ask what was going on or who was responsible, a single name came to mind of the citizens of the small town. Carrie White.

Sue Snell uses this connection to sort of track Carrie. The closer she got the more knowledge about what had happened to Carrie that night was able to flood her mind. In the end, Sue is unable to disconnect herself from Carrie's mind and has to experience what it feels like to die.

It is possible that Carrie didn't know about this ability until she and Sue encountered each other in those last moments. This ability is also common in characters who we know for a fact "Shine" In the Stephen King universe. We also know that people who shine can have certain abilities that others who shine do not. So I guess a good question would be, just how much did Carrie shine? And did her actions on prom night draw the attention of anyone else?


Note:
As mentioned in my previous post I have decided to read all of the Stephen King novels and short stories that I can by publication date. However, because certain books are no longer in print I understand that they may have to be skipped over. I'm doing this to try to keep with the continuity. many of King's works are referenced in his other works even if it is just one sentence or one name in a whole novel. I want to be able to catch as many as I can on my own without having to resort to looking up connections online. of course with this line of thinking I started at the beginning with Carrie. This also means that when Carrie was published no one except King knew what "Shining" was and they wouldn't know until three years later when 'The Shining' was published.

TK Queen and the Vampire Scene

After months of not picking up any books I can say that my reading slump is over? Hopefully!
A couple months back I picked up Stephen King's 'Carrie' for the second time. This time I finished It. After reading half of the book in one day then letting my reading schedule fall off this plain of existence for a couple months. But the point is I finished it!
And what do I plan to do next you ask... well I'm going to do what I always intended to do. Which is to first and foremost read all of the Stephen King books in order from original publication date. Now that I have finished 'Carrie' It is time to say goodbye to Chamberlain Maine and wonder into Jerusalem's Lot (AKA Salem's Lot). Though there will likely be a post soon dedicated to our TK Scream Queen

Just for my own record : 'Carrie' read in paperback was 245 pages

I realize that the task ahead of me is going to be a daunting one. This is mostly due to the fact that I do not own every SK book. Currently I'm at 22 which is probably less then a quarter of his whole collection. But I am also trying to hunt the books down in hard cover. which means I mostly pass up the paperbacks unless I find them for super cheap... or I like the edition. I've also realized that once I finish 'Salem's Lot' it is going to be a BITCH to hunt down 'Rage' which Stephen King deliberately took out of publication (hence print) due to real life school shootings. This means I'll be hunting through used book stores and online for it hoping to find anything under $100. I'm serious this book goes for $100's-$1000's on ebay for paperback alone! Its almost as scary as some of his monsters...almost. but we will get there when we get there

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is a lot different from books that I usually read. When the story starts we know as much abut the main character as he knows about himself. Throughout the course of one day lived in the minds and bodies of several different people our main character discovers what his purpose is at Blackheath and makes it his goal while living the same day over again in his different hosts to find Evelyn Hardcastle's murderer. You would think getting to relive the same day over and over again would put Aiden at an advantage on the hunt for Evelyn's killer, but he soon finds out he is not the only one searching. If his rivals find out first everything resets and all memories of the days he has already lived will be lost and if none of them do they all restart. who knows how long Blackheath has been their prison or how many times Aiden has woken up in the body of another limited by the way their bodies and minds work.

I liked this book because of how well it presented the idea of living inside another persons head. As Aiden finds himself in new hosts he discovers how they can both help and restrict him. Some bodies are less capable then others leaving him to rely on others, some minds prove better suited to his detective work. 

The story is also something that you really have to think about. When Aiden moves on to a new host, the day he lived before in the previous is not just suddenly gone. There are several times in fact that he runs into himself, giving him information to keep his past the same so that he can make sure his past self gets the information needed to move on. He checks the time constantly so that he can mentally keep track of where all of his hosts and many of the other guests of Blackheath are at any given time. It becomes like a big elaborate game of chess and it is played out beautifully.

2019 TBR

For 2018 I had decided that I was going to read three books every two months totaling to eight books for the whole year. I also said if I was not on track with my reading That would not allow myself to purchase any new books. That was a lie. I still bought books and have a stack from last year I have yet to read or have read half of and put down. I also didn't make my reading goal. I was short by one title. I honestly could have done it. I had at least three books I had finished half way. The person I was doing the reading challenge of 18 books for the year also did not reach goal, so this year we have decided to try only one book a month. If I end up going over that amount i'll consider upping the stakes depending on how much time in the year is left or what books i'm considering picking up.

Last year I had wanted to read 'IT' but decided against it because I knew I wouldn't be able to, or rather wouldn't want to be juggling multiple books when I was reading it. I know it will probably take me more then a month to finish and it wouldn't have fit into that 3 books in 2 month quota I was trying to reach. I'm hoping this year is the year...

That being said I do have several books lined up for this year as well as comics/manga. Before you ask I do not count a single comic book issue as it's own book when i'm tallying up number of books read. I count them as a book when I have reached up to six to eight issues depending on the comics run, because that is the usual amount of comics per volume.

Without further to do here are a list of some of the books I hope to read this year. Books already read will be crossed out: currently at 2/12

'An Anonymous Girl' by: Greer Hendricks; Sarah Pekkanen

'The Daughters of Salem' by: Thomas Gilbert

'The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle' by: Stuart Turton

'Girl Logic: The Genius and the Absurdity' by: Iliza Shlesinger

'Tales of Japan' illistrated by: Kotaro Chiba

'Kojiki' by: Keith Yatsuhashi

'The Window' by: Glen Rolfe

'An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness' by: Kay Redfield Jamison

'Wicked Saints' by: Emily A. Duncan

'Sunburn' by: R. L. Stine

'Women Talking' by: Miriam Toews

'Little Darlings' by: Melanie Golding