Missing my reading time

Wow I knew I would not be able to read as much when I went back to work, I just did not know it would be this bad. I seriously miss sitting in my library reading a book, or kicking back in my favorite reading chair with a book clutched to my chest. It is almost like losing a best friend. I feel completely lost without the comfort of reading. I am hoping that one day that will change and I will once again be able to spend all day with a favorite book or two.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling - 5 stars

This is a reread for me. We are reading the whole series this year in my Good Reads group. Loved this one and how our characters are growing up and developing, it makes me love them more with each book I read. All of them have been super engaging for me. I have enjoyed them more since reading more Middle grade books. It really makes you understand that reading level the more you read of them.

I was really quite engaged to this one, hard to put it down when I do finally get to read. This one has a lot more excitement, adventure and action to it. There are all the same great characters and some new faces in this one. A lot to love and hate. Umbridge is a great bad guy. She makes you seethe with anger when she is around. She is one for readers to love to hate.

The End - Lemony Snicket - 4 stars

Wow this book wrapped up the series pretty well. I have to say though that it had a rather bitter and depressing ending, but I guess it depends on how you look at it. (A clever phrase used throughout this book.) Yet I still thought it came together nicely bringing with it a whole new crew of characters, some of which I really liked, and then some not so much. Even though it did not end any more unfortunate than normal for the orphans, it was just not everything I wanted. Even through all of it, it was still a very engaging read, with a lot of questions answered and then with even more questions to now be asked.

The characters, you know, I fell in love with from the start. The orphans are so much fun to tag a long with throughout this series. Never did I get bored of any of them. They are just amazing kids who have a very rough time at life. And no matter how hard they try to make things a little better something else steps conveniently in the way.

I was thinking that I wished there was a beginning to all of it. Not the beginning to the Orphans, but the beginning to their parents. That would shed a lot of light on this whole series. Maybe in the future our author will feel inclined to write a little something about that.

The Penultimate Peril - Lemony Snicket - 4 stars

Wow this one was a pretty dramatic book as well. The orphans go through some pretty dangerous situations while trying to convince themselves that they are still good and noble. It kind of makes me sad to know that they, being as young as they are, have to even have thoughts like that. Again I was completely engaged with this story, always rooting them on and trying my best to help them find solutions, but if you know this series and you know these orphans, you will also know that they don't need much help as far as solutions go.

I really enjoyed seeing some of the older characters from other books playing a role in this one. It made it a much more fun and exciting read. Not all of those characters are enjoyable but it did add a sort of flair to the story and got it moving along pretty well. I found myself also trying to decipher who is good and who is bad. There are many characters throughout this series that were questionable and it made it hard to decide who was noble and who was not. So it made this book a bit more mysterious trying to figure out who was who.

Looking forward to getting to book 13 appropriately named 'The End', and maybe finally having some kind of closure for the orphans because they really need that, I really need that as well. I am afraid that I will be disappointed, but here's to hoping it will end on a good note. I definitely recommend this series to everyone. Even though the unfortunate events get annoying it is a very enjoyable read.

The Grim Grotto - Lemony Snicket - 4 stars

This is another great installment to A Series of Unfortunate Events. I found this one to much more dramatic than previous books. It moved along very quickly and of course I was hooked right from page one. These books also seem to get much darker with each book and I am not sure they are appropriate for Middle grade readers. I did not enjoy this one as much as the previous one, but still an enjoyable read.

What I love the most about these books are the characters. They are developed so well and even though the stories are pretty far fetched and have so many annoying and unfortunate events, they make the stories seem very real and I love that. From our sweet and innocent Orphans to the villainous villains, they all play such great roles in the story. Plenty to both love and hate.

The Slippery Slope - Lemony Snicket - 5 stars

This is book 10 of A series of Unfortunate Events and I feel like they just get better with each book. I do not find it quite as annoying with all the unfortunate events because I feel like now they are handling these situations better. There are still some pretty silly situations, but also some pretty serious ones as well. I still think that this series is more YA than middle grade. This is probably a favorite for me now. It was a very engaging read for me as always, which makes them go much to quickly.

The characters develop more as we go through the series, you learn each of the Baudelaire's personalities and their differences from one to the other. I really enjoy all of them and can't really choose a favorite between them. I think they are all written very well. The band of evil doers is growing and the orphans are quite outnumbered, but there is a surprising addition to their team in this one that I really enjoyed.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of fire - 5 stars

This is book #4 in the Harry Potter series and Wow it is hard to believe that the first time I only rated this book a 3? What was wrong with me? So far I think this was my favorite of the series. I can't believe how much I have ventured out in the world of books making myself better understand different genres. This book is brilliant really. I love Rowling's writing style a lot. This book was so engaging for me that it was super hard to have to put it down when I had to go adulting with work. I felt as though I crawled inside of the book and lived there. Loved the adventure and excitement.

If people don't like the characters of this series then they are nuts! The characters have such great personality, so great that you feel like they really do exist, outside of the book. Like they could be your friends, family and in some cases your real enemies as well. I think the characters are probably my favorite part of the series because Rowling makes them feel so real, even though we journey into a make believe realm of magic. I can think of no other place I would rather exist among such a wide array of characters, protagonist and antagonists alike.

I can't help but recommend this book and the whole series to other readers. Especially if maybe you read it already and did not really care for it. Pick them back up and start the adventure again, you may discover that you quite enjoy joining in on all the magic again. I know I did!