Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

I recently decided to re-read the Harry Potter books, because I love them so much! I finished the Sorcerer's Stone a couple of days ago, and it was every bit as wonderful as the first time I read it! By the way, the Harry Potter series was written by J.K. Rowling (:.

The first Harry Potter book begins at Number 4, Privet Drive. Harry is ten, and he lives with his aunt and uncle on his mother's side. They are his only living relatives, as Harry's parents were killed in a car crash when he was only 1 (this is what the Durselys tell him, it's not really true). Harry also has a cousin, named Dudley. The whole family bullies Harry, and treats him as if he's their servant. Harry has a miserable life. One day, when the Durselys and Harry were eating breakfast, a letter came in the mail for Harry. He had never gotten a letter before, but Uncle Vernon steals the letter before Harry can read it. This is because the letter is from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Letters for Harry arrive in greater numbers every day, until when about 50 letter arrive on a Sunday Uncle Vernon decides everyone is leaving. They travel to a very remote island in England, but that morning, Hagrid turns up. It is actually Harry's eleventh birthday, and Hagrid (the gamekeeper at Hogwarts) delivers Harry's letter to him. It is a letter saying he has been accepted at Hogwarts, but Harry has no idea what Hogwarts is. Hagrid tells him that is where his parent's learned everything, but Harry doesn't realize his parents were a witch and a wizard. Hagrid tells Harry he is a wizard, and they leave the Dursleys and go to Hogwarts for the start of the term. Harry also didn't know that his parents were killed by an evil Dark Wizard named Voldemort. When Voldemort tried to kill Harry, Voldemort's powers were gone and he was reduced to being almost dead. Voldemort had scared everyone for many years, so Harry is famous for defeating him, even though he wasn't gone forever.  

When Harry arrives at Hogwarts, he makes friends with Ron Weasly, and shortly thereafter they become friends with Hermonie Granger. Their year is very eventful, but I'm not going to try to explain it all here, it would take too long!! :) In the end though, Harry meets Lord Voldemort again. The ending is fantastic, and I would recommend this book (and the whole series) to anyone! I hope you read Harry Potter if you haven't already; it is fantastic!

The Secret Wife of King George IV

The Secret Wife of King George IV is a great book! It is written by Diane Haeger. The main character in it is named Maria Fitzerbert, and she is the young widow of a Lord. George is not yet king, he is still the Prince of Wales. George and his father don't get along at all, and they don't really talk. George lives in his London home, but doesn't have very much money to pay his staff or anything. He does things just to spite his father, like joining the Whig party because his father is a Tory. George also has had mistresses, because his father is very loyal to his wife. George has had mistresses not because of love, but when he meets Maria, he falls in love with her even when she refuses to become his mistress. George pursues Maria, but she pushes him away time and time again. Maria is a devout Catholic, but is falling in love with the Protestant Prince of Wales. She is very confused, and worried for her reputation (the London society does like to talk, even if it is not true, you know!), so Maria travels to France and spends about 2 years in a French country manor. She doesn't have contact with the prince for about a year, but during the second year of her stay in England, Maria and the Prince exchange letters often. She knows she loves him, and wants to go back to England to see him. So, Maria returns home.  

The Prince of Wales tells Maria he will marry her, even though he technically can't marry anyone without his father's approval, and his wife definitely can't be Catholic. They secretly marry anyway, and now in the book no one in London knows what is going on with Maria and the Prince. Everyone gossips, but all the ladies and friends of Maria avoid her. They don't want to be seen with her, because they fear their reputation will be tarnished.

I can't wait to see how this book ends! I am super excited to see if George' father dies and George makes Maria his queen, or if they are found out before that can happen. I will post another blog when I finish this book; if the ending is good I probably won't give it away, though! From what I've read so far, I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a historical romance! I hope you love it as much as I do!

The Perfect Royal Mistress

The book I recently finished is called The Perfect Royal Mistress.  The main character in it is a teenaged girl named Nell Gwyn.  She is very poor, and living above a pub in London with her mother and sister.  Nell was born around 1657, during the reign of King Charles II.  Nell sells oranges in the pit of the King's Theatre to try to scrape some money together, but she doesn't make hardly anything.  She is very witty, and is very good at using quick comments and remarks to make people laugh.  Because of this, Nell quickly becomes the best orange seller in the pit.  She befriends Richard Bell, an actor, and he realizes that she would be great in the comedy plays the theatre puts on.  The manager and head actor, Charles Hart, doesn't want to give Nell the part, because it was kind of a major part, but he decides to give Nell a chance.  She is absolutely wonderful, and quickly advances to the head comedy actress.  

King Charles loves the theatre, and often goes to watch the plays.  Nell catches his eye, and he falls in love with her.  You have to understand that King Charles has many mistresses, so this was not uncommon for him.  Nell became Charles's mistress, and they fell in love.  The three most important differences between Nell and Charles's other mistresses is 1: she actually loved Charles, and didn't just love his title. 2: Nell understood that he had, and would always have, other mistresses, and made her peace with it.  3: Nell was a commoner, and she didn't come with the problems about rank, money, and position in the court that all Charles's other mistresses have.  Charles loved Nell, and gave her houses, clothes, and jewels.  Nell had two sons in the 11 years Nell and Charles were together, named Charles and James.  When Charles died in 1685, Nell never married. 

This book is absolutely wonderful, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a great history novel.  By the way, The Perfect Royal Mistress was written by Diane Haeger.  I hope you enjoy this book! 

The Last Boleyn

The book I just finished is called The Last Boleyn, by Karen Harper. It is a novel about the oldest Boleyn girl, named Mary. She is the older sister of Anne, who became the second wife of King Henry VIII of England. Mary, however, was the person that triggered her family into becoming popular with the king, and, other than her sister-in-law Jane, she was the only Boleyn to escape the tragic events of the Boleyns falling from favor with the king. As you might know, this culminated with the killing of Anne, who was Queen of England.  Mary was sent to France when she was eight to serve in the court of King Louis XII, where King Henry's sister had just been made queen.  She became a favorite of Queen Mary, but when Louis died and Mary was sent back to England, Mary Boleyn had to stay (on her father's orders) and serve the next queen and king of France: King Francois I and Queen Claude.  Francois took a shining to Mary, and when she was about 15 he made her his mistress.  It was not her choice, and she hated it, but she couldn't get out of it.  About a year later, when the King of England and the King of France gathered for important diplomatic negotiations, and King Henry decided he liked the look of blonde, blue-eyed Mary.  He brought her home to England, married her to a noble at his court, and decided that Mary was going to be his mistress.  The ending of this book, and what happens to Mary, Anne, and George (their brother) was very suspenseful even when I knew the basics of what happened to them.  I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a great historical read.  It is a fantastic book- but why don't you see for yourself!  

The Secret Bride

I just had the pleasure of reading an absolutely wonderful book written by Diane Haeger, who has written many books about England between about 1500-1600.  I am very interested in this time period, which is when the Tudors were the monarchs in England, so this book was especially interesting to me.  

The title of this book is The Secret Bride.  It is about Mary Tudor, the sister of King Henry VIII (the eighth).  She grew up in the palace of Eltham, and didn't join the court until three years before her father died; she was 11.  (Mary's father was King Henry VII).  Mary was very close with her brother Henry, because their brother Arthur died when Mary was 10, and her sister Margaret was made to marry the King of Scotland when Mary was 8.  At 14, Mary was just realizing her massive power among the young men at her brother's new court (Henry becoming king at 18).  Mary became a beauty over the years, but a marriage was being negotiated for her with the Prince of Castile, who was 5 years younger than her.  While all this was happening, Mary fell in love.  

The man she fell in love with was 5 years older than her, and was her brother's best friend.  His name was Charles Brandon, and he is the son of a mere baron and his wife.  Charles is orphaned at about 11, and is sent to be the companion of young Henry.  The become the best of friends, and when Henry becomes king he awards Charles the title of the Duke of Suffolk.  Mary and Charles are madly in love, and when Mary's betrothal with the Prince of Castile falls through, they hope they can wed, because even though Mary is a royal princess of Tudor blood, Charles is now the Duke of Suffolk (dukedom, by the way, is the highest position below the king), and they hope it will be enough for Henry to let Charles and Mary get married.  All of a sudden, Henry arranges a marriage with the 75 year old (& ill) King of France, Louis XII (the twelfth).  Mary is devastated, for now she can't marry Charles.  

Mary does her duty to England and marries Louis, but when Louis dies from his illnesses a mere 4 months later, will Mary obey her brother yet again, and marry another foreign royal?  Or will she assert herself and do what she wants with her future?  You will have to read The Secret Bride to find out!  It has a great ending, and I don't want to wreck it!  I would recommend this book to anyone who has the least bit of interest in England; it is a great novel!  Enjoy, everyone!!          

Squire: The Protector of the Small Series

I recently finished a book by Tamora Pierce called Squire.  It is the third book in the series The Protector of the Small.  The Protector of the Small series tells us about Keladry of Mindelan (called Kel)'s journey as the first female page, squire, and knight in the realm of Tortall.  (Alanna (see below) was the first female to try for knighthood, but she was pretending to be a boy.  Kel is the first known female to try for knighthood).  In this book, Kel is now a squire.  She has passed the Final Exams at the end of her four years as a page, and if she can make it through the next four years as a squire, and pass the rigorous knighthood test, she will be a female knight.  As squires, knights choose the boys to be their squire, and the squires are kind of like an apprentice and helper to their knight.  Lord Raoul of Goldenlake is a knight (also a close friend of King Jonathan and Alanna) who is the commander of the King's Own, an elite group of armed men who hunt bandits, build barriers for floods, fight against countries who try to sneak across the borders, and attend banquets at the palace.  The King's Own is hard to get into, because they do so much for the people of Tortall and the king.  As Raoul's squire, Kel gets to hunt bandits herself, and she also experiences a life of parties and banquets.  (The king, queen, and the whole court is on progress, to see all of Tortall--the king makes the King's Own travel with them, but they leave to rescue people often) :).  On the Grand Progress, Kel also gets a chance to joust against other squires and knights.  Lord Raoul has been training Kel to joust, and she is very good for a young squire.  Lord Raoul is the best jouster in the whole kingdom, and hasn't lost a joust in 10 years.  Kel thinks she can't ever win a joust in the beginning, but then she realizes the only person she's ever jousted against is Lord Raoul-- the best jouster in the realm.  Kel wins at least 2 out of 3 jousts, and gets a very fine reputation as a jouster.  I won't tell you the adventures she has next, because that would ruin the end of the book, but I will tell you it is very exciting and suspenseful!  I would recommend this book, and any book of Tamora Pierce's (I have read most of them :)). She is an excellent author!  Enjoy!!       

In the Hand of the Goddess

This book is the second in the series Song of the Lioness (the first book is Alanna). In this book, Alanna is a squire, which is alevel up from a page. She is a squire for four years, and this bookcovers all of them. Alanna is still masquerading as a boy (Alan),and was chosen as the Crown Prince Jonathan's squire. Jon knowsAlanna's secret from their adventure in the last book (I won't giveit away) :) Alanna spends her time between lessons (like warfare history of Tortall (the kingdom they live in), mathematics, reading and writing, and deportment (court manners)) and practicing knight- skills like jousting, sword and staff fighting, and riding and fighting from a horse. Alanna also has duties as a squire, like doing Jon's errands, serving at important banquets and parties,and many other things. Alanna also distrusts Duke Roger, the king'snephew and the Gifted (a magical gift some people have) squires andpages magic teacher. In the end, Alanna and Duke Roger's "battle"comes to a head... I won't say any more because I don't want to wreckthe ending of the book! :) I would recommend this book to anyone!

It is fantastic, and one of my all time favorites. (I had to buy it,

it was so good!!):D Enjoy!!

Anna

The Laramie Project (the play) :)

I went to The Laramie Project on Thursday.  It was opening night of this play; the fall play at CPHS.  It was about Matthew Sheppard, a boy who lived in Laramie and was beaten to death because he was gay.  I thought the play was kind of like a documentary, done live in a play.  I also thought that the cast did a wonderful job portraying the feelings of the characters.  I liked the way that the each cast member was many different characters; I thought it added a really cool feeling to the whole production.  I thought this play was interesting, but I don't think I would go see it again.  

Anna

Alanna: The First Adventure

I just finished Alanna, by Tamora Pierce, and it is an amazing book!  It is basically about a girl who pretends to be a boy so she can go to court and learn to be a knight in stead of being a lady.  Her twin brother wants to be a sorcerer instead of a knight, so they trade places (the ladies at the convent always train the young sorcerers in the beginning of their education).  This book is all about Alan's (Alanna's) time at the castle as a page (ages 11 to 14). There are four books in this series, and I am about to start Under the Hand of the Goddess, the next book in the series.  I will let you know if I liked that one when I'm done!!

A Countess Below Stairs II

Oh my gosh! This book was amazing! I absolutely loved the ending! I'm not going to tell you what happened, because I don't want to wreck the ending for anyone wanting to read the book, but I will tell you that I cried! It was amazing. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a good book! Enjoy!
Anna

A Countess Below Stairs I

On Sunday, I started a fantastic book.  It is called A Countess Below Stairs, by Eva Ibbotson.  Right now I am on page 207. (It is Tuesday evening.)  I am loving this book, because I love stories about royalty and high-class families of the past, and the main character in this book is a young Russian countess.  Also, I enjoy love stories, and this is a love story.  

The main character in this book is named Anna Grazinsky.  During the Russian Revolution, her extremely wealthy family looses all of their riches-which they entrusted to Anna and her brother Petya's nursemaid-are gone, because when they were escaping Russia, the nursemaid never showed up at their meeting point.  Now Anna; her devoted governess, Miss Pinfold (whom Anna and Petya call Pinny); Anna's mother, Countess Grazinsky; and Petya are poor and in England.  Petya got a scholarship to a good boarding school, and Anna decided to take a job as a temporary housemaid at Mersham, an earl's estate in the country.  Pinny doesn't want to let her go, but they reach a compromise to let Anna go, but not to tell anyone that she is a countess.  

The staff at Mersham are preparing for the new earl, Rupert, Seventh Earl of Westerholme, who is coming home from fighting in the war.  He is bringing home a fiancee; when he was injured and in the hospital, a nurse named Muriel took care of him and they became engaged.  

We learn that Muriel is a great believer in eugenics, which is the belief that people should be "bred" like horses; only "good" people should have children, to get rid of the physical and mental hereditary illnesses, and everyone should strive to have the "Ideal Body".  From the beginning, we are led to believe that Muriel is only marrying Rupert for his title and lands, and she hates anyone who is not "perfect".  This is solidified into fact when Muriel is cold to the Rabinovitch's at a welcome dinner for herself, just because they are Jewish (Muriel thinks anyone who is not Christian is not "good".)  Also, Muriel asks for a junior bridesmaid to be selected by Rupert, and the obvious choice is Ollie Byrne, daughter of the Viscount of a neighboring estate.  She is very sweet and pretty, and loved by all, but she was born early and got sick.  She survived, but has a limp.  When Muriel sees her for the first time at the fitting of the dresses, Ollie is in her bridesmaid dress and is simply overjoyed at the dress and at being asked to be a bridesmaid.  Muriel is silent while Ollie walks to her, but when Ollie stops in front of her, and gazes adoringly up at Muriel, Muriel hisses, "Why did no one tell me she is crippled?" just as Ollie's protective older brother walks into the room.  Ollie is devastated at the comment, but the rest of the day turns out good.  

Also, Anna is attracted to Rupert the moment she is introduced to him, and I think he is falling in love with her as well.  I can't wait to see what happens to them as we get closer to the wedding!