Harry Potter Read Along Week #8 Answers

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It’s important that if you are re-reading this series that you answer the questions based only on the knowledge that we have so far!

1. Harry uses the Marauder’s Map to get to Hogsmeade. We’ve already discovered we’re a group of rule followers, so my question is what place in Hogsmead would you have gone too?

Honeydukes hands down. It makes me sad that we don’t have any proper candy shops anymore. I’d love to step in and purchase some Bertie’s Botts Every Flavor Beans among other things. I would definitely stop by the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer. I’ve made them at home and they’re pretty good but I’d like to have one straight from the source. I can’t remember the exact recipe but I’ve found a few on Pinterest. It’s been a few years but I plan on trying this recipe in the near future.

2. Is anyone else annoyed with Professor Trelawney? The woman is driving me batty! Do you believe in psychics? If not psychics, do you believe in any thing that would fall into a similar category?

I have to admit that I do. There’s been more than one time that my intuition has been correct about something. Now that’s not to say that I think I’m psychic. Not even close. The thing is if you make enough statements or predictions you’ll be right one of those times. I like to believe that there’s something out there just outside of our perception.

3. Hermione snitched out Harry’s new gift to Professor McGonagall. Do you think she was right?

I do. I know that we end up finding out that there was nothing wrong with the broom, but with so much going on around the school and with Black being in the school without anyone knowing it, it only makes sense that Hermione told someone in a position to help. Imagine if she hadn’t said anything and something seriously wrong did happen to Harry. Hermione would never forgive herself. I completely understand why she did what she did. Frankly I was a little upset with Ron and Harry for acting like such dbags.

4. We finally get Snape’s impressions and feelings about Harry (though really it’s James Potter he hates) and why. Thoughts?

Ready for this one? I totally get where he’s coming from. I do. I’ve known people in the past who have done the exact same thing. Never anything so serious as the other person would die but the same goal and end. Granted this is a Snape vs. Dumbledore thing but I can see a bit of the truth in both stories. I don’t think James is completely innocent in the matter as Dumbledore wants us to believe but at the same time I don’t think James only saved Severus to save his own skin. Nothing is ever that black or white.

5. The strain of Hermione’s course load is starting to show in her behavior. If you had to put a label to yourself, are you on over-achiever (like Hermione), a level-headed achiever, or an under-achiever?

Total over-achiever BUT I rarely accomplish the things I set out to do. For example; I make a list daily of the things I’d like to accomplish that day. I do it at home and at work. I get a great sense of achievement from crossing something or writing DONE beside something on a list. I always put more on the list than can be accomplished because you never know when a task will be much shorter than expected. It keeps me focused on what needs to be done. If I don’t accomplish the entire list what wasn’t accomplished goes on the beginning of the next day’s list.



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Harry Potter Read Along Week #8 Questions

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Here are the questions for Week 8. Answers should be posted on May 20th.

  • 1. Harry uses the Marauder’s Map to get to Hogsmeade. We’ve already discovered we’re a group of rule followers, so my question is what place in Hogsmead would you have gone too?
  • 2. Is anyone else annoyed with Professor Trelawney? The woman is driving me batty! Do you believe in psychics? If not psychics, do you believe in any thing that would fall into a similar category?
  • 3. Hermione snitched out Harry’s new gift to Professor McGonagall. Do you think she was right?
  • 4. We finally get Snape’s impressions and feelings about Harry (though really it’s James Potter he hates) and why. Thoughts?
  • 5. The strain of Hermione’s course load is starting to show in her behavior. If you had to put a label to yourself, are you on over-achiever (like Hermione), a level-headed achiever, or an under-achiever?
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    Tackling My TBR Thursday 5/16/13

    Tackling My TBR Thursday

    Tackling My TBR Thursday is a new weekly feature at Once Upon a Chapter. I’ve used a feature before to highlight books in my TBR pile. The difference with this feature is that once a week I am going to highlight a book from my TBR “pile” (any book listed in my GoodReads profile before 2/7/13; clearly preorders do not count) that is going to be an upcoming read. I have a goal to get my TBR down. Even if it isn’t a drastic amount, down in general would be good. To meet that goal, I’m hoping to read at least one TBR book a week.

    This week’s highlight:

    "Avast” in pirate speak means what?*

    Answering tricky reference questions like this one provides plenty of excitement for library director Lindsey Norris. But when a shocking murder is committed in her cozy coastal town of Briar Creek, Connecticut, the question of who did it must be answered before an innocent man gets the book thrown at him...
    Lindsey is enjoying her second year in Briar Creek as the library director, meeting with the crafternoon club, and happily dating tour boat captain Mike Sullivan. But when a salvage company arrives in town to dig up treasure buried on Pirate Island over three hundred years ago, the locals are torn between protecting the island and welcoming the publicity. In spite of the squabbling, Charlie Peyton, Lindsey’s downstairs neighbor, takes a job with the salvage company. But when Trudi Hargrave, the local tourism director who hired the company, is found murdered at the excavation site, Charlie becomes the chief suspect. To help him, Lindsey must do some digging of her own before the real killer buries the truth for good….

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    Stephanie Reviews The Twits by Roald Dahl

    The Twits The Twits by
    Published by in 1980
    Format: Paperback
    Pages: 76
    Source:
    AmazonB&NGoodreads
    two-half-stars

    How do you outwit a Twit? Mr. and Mrs. Twit are the smelliest, ugliest people in the world. They hate everything -- except playing mean jokes on each other, catching innocent birds to put in their Bird Pies, and making their caged monkeys, the Muggle-Wumps, stand on their heads all day. But the Muggle-Wumps have had enough. They don't just want out, they want revenge.

    The Twits by Roald Dahl

    The Twits by Roald Dahl was probably my least favorite Dahl book to date. If you’ve been following the blog for awhile, you may remember that I’m trying to work my way through Dahl’s back list.

    The Twits is a short book at 76 pages. The first half of the book is spent showing us how gross and disguisting the main characters are. I know that if I didn’t think badly of them, I wouldn’t have been satisfied with the ending. It just felt grandiose to me.

    The second half of the book is far more entertaining. There are monkeys, birds, and lessons to be had. Justice is served. While I enjoyed the ending, I just didn’t enjoy the journey to that ending as much as I should have.

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    Alexa & Stephanie Review One Dance with a Duke by Tessa Dare

    This book is considered an adult novel and may not be fit for persons under 17. May include cursing, smoking, drinking, drugs, sex or other mature content.
    One Dance with a Duke One Dance with a Duke by
    Series: Stud Club #1
    Published by in May 2010
    Genres:
    Format: eBook
    Pages: 384
    Source:
    AmazonB&NGoodreads

    A handsome and reclusive horse breeder, Spencer Dumarque, the fourth Duke of Morland, is a member of the exclusive Stud Club, an organization so select it has only ten members—yet membership is attainable to anyone with luck. And Spencer has plenty of it, along with an obsession with a prize horse, a dark secret, and, now, a reputation as the dashing “Duke of Midnight.” Each evening he selects one lady for a breathtaking midnight waltz. But none of the women catch his interest, and nobody ever bests the duke—until Lady Amelia d’Orsay tries her luck.

    In a moment of desperation, the unconventional beauty claims the duke’s dance and unwittingly steals his heart. When Amelia demands that Spencer forgive her scapegrace brother’s debts, she never imagines that her game of wits and words will lead to breathless passion and a steamy proposal. Still, Spencer is a man of mystery, perhaps connected to the shocking murder of the Stud Club’s founder. Will Amelia lose her heart in this reckless wager or win everlasting love?

    One Dance with a Duke by Tessa Dare

    Opening Thoughts:

    Stephanie:
    One Dance with a Duke by Tessa Dare has been sitting in my TBR pile roughly since it was published…in 2010. When Alexa mentioned wanting to read it since she had a copy too and she suggested we read it together, I said why not? Now I have a friend to squee with if it’s fantastic or to rage with if it’s horrible. Plus I get to knock out a TBR book. It’s a win/win. :) Except that it ended up being a win/win/win because, you guys, this book if fan-freaking-tastic. I laughed, I cried (but only a little), and was reminded why I love the historical romance genre.

    Alexa:
    Lately I have been trying to find the time for more historical romances. I use to love this genre and for some reason in recent years I have stopped reading it. I’m so happy that Stephanie sent me a copy of this book several months ago and that we decided to read it together so we could support each other through the outcome of the book. I have to agree with Stephanie that this is a great novel!

    What We Liked:

    Stephanie:
    Oh my goodness! What wasn’t there to like. I really do love this book. Amelia was a wonderful choice for a heroine. I think that I probably love her so much because we both share similar personality traits. She is not as skinny as society deems she should be, she enjoys a quiet life, she likes to read and stitch. Amelia is dedicated to her family and would make her own life uncomfortable to see her family safe and secure. Even if they don’t acknowledge or appreciate it. I will stop her to say that I’m not nearly as self sacrificing as Amelia. I love my family and would gladly help them out but this girl takes it to the extreme.

    Spencer, oh Spencer. He falls in love when he doesn’t intend to. He’s what I describe as an accidental asshole. He can be such a jerk and he doesn’t even intend to be. It’s almost sad really. He tries so hard to love the people he cares about and messes it up royally. He’s horrible at conveying his feelings but as the reader you get to experience his thought process. I think that’s what won me over for him. Spencer and Amelia together are just too much to hope for. Amelia sets boundaries and Spencer respects them. Their marriage is a marriage of convenience but Amelia doesn’t let that be the sole purpose of their marriage. She wants love between them and until she can wholeheartedly trust him she doesn’t go to bed with him. Dare builds up the suspense until you just about can’t take it. She can also write herself a love scene. Not only will the sex scenes melt you but she writes them in a way that will melt your heart.

    Alexa:
    I have to say that at the beginning of the story I was not in love with the book. For the first hundred pages I was interested but I wasn’t really loving anything about the story. It took time for me to really love Amelia and Spencer but once I started to like them I really started to love them really quickly. There were so many scenes in the beginning of their marriage that just broke my heart and made me love where the author was going with the story. I feel that I connected with Amelia for the reason that she just wanted her husband’s attention, she wanted to be treated as well as he treated his prized horses. I felt bad for her and loved her because I know what it is like to be with a guy and want him to want you so badly but it just didn’t work out. I’m glad that for Amelia she was able to win Spencer over with time. As for Spencer he really is an ass at the beginning of the book but I feel like he just didn’t know how to express himself and what he wanted. As time went on I was able to better understand that he wasn’t an ass that he was a great gentleman who deserved to find love in his marriage.

    I have to agree with Stephanie that Tessa Dare knows how to write some great scenes. I enjoyed watching the romance develop as well as the mystery behind the story and all of the little pieces along the way that added to the book overall. Although a girl can’t complain when there are great love scenes.

    Closing:

    Stephanie:
    I’m so glad that I finally picked up this book One Dance with a Duke by Tessa Dare! It brought me back to a fantastic genre, was a fantastic story, had characters that I can’t wait to explore in the next two books, and in general was a fantastic book! If you love a good romance, set in the time of the Ton in England, with a little suspense do yourself a favor and pick up this book! You won’t regret it.

    Alexa:
    I’m also glad that I picked up this series and I can’t wait to see what Tessa Dare has in store for me with the rest of this series as well as her other books. I’m thinking I might just become a huge fan of this author once I read a few more of her books!

    in Read in 2013, Review

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