But, I think it’s time to break out of this funk. And, what better way to do it than with Harry Potter. For Christmas, I received the UK editions of all seven books and I started rereading the series at once. Unfortunately, I’m only about halfway through Philosopher’s Stone.

However, I thought it’d be fun to post some discussions as I read through the books again. I hope you’ll join me and answer the questions for yourselves in the comments or add to what I have to say. Here are the questions for Philosopher’s Stone (I used some of the discussion questions provided by Scholastic):

How would you feel if you discovered you were a wizard?

I’d be so excited if I discovered I were a witch. Ever since I read Harry Potter for the first time in 2001, I have longed for the world of Hogwarts to be real, even the bad stuff. Of course, I think I’d be stunned because I’d find out that the world was actually real, which to my current knowledge isn’t true.

What do the names of the four Hogwarts houses–Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin–suggest to you? Which one would you be in and why?

It’s kind of funny because I think the names of the houses embody how people feel about them. It could be that the world of Harry Potter is so engrained in me that it’s hard to think any differently. But, Gryffindor sounds brave and grand. Hufflepuff sounds cough*wimpy*cough. Ravenclaw sounds knowledgeable and wise. And, Slytherin sounds a bit sinister.

According to Pottermore, I’d be in Slytherin. And, according to every personality quiz I’ve ever taken that parallels the Hogwarts houses, I’d be in Slytherin. It’s because I yearn for approval and attention. When Harry’s sorted, he asks the Sorting Hat to put him in any house except Slytherin. The hat responds: “… a nice thirst to prove yourself…. Not Slytherin, eh? Are you sure? You could be great, you know, it’s all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that.”

Many novels borrow from the traditional stories of fairy tales, myths, and legends. Fluffy resembles Cerberus, the three-headed dog which guards the underworld of Greek mythology. What other creatures from traditional tales are paralleled in the story? How does each of these creatures play a pivotal role in advancing the plot?

I wish I remembered my Greek mythology as much as I did when I was younger. In the first book, the only characters I can think of are the centaurs and dragons. But, they’re kind of blatant, not like Fluffly, who’s a more subtle representation of a mythological creature.

Besides Harry Potter, who is your favorite character in the book? Or, which character do you find most interesting and why?

Dumbledore is, by far, my favorite. However, before I became a member of Pottermore, I loved Ron second. Now that I’m a member and I’ve had the chance to read the awesome backstory about Professor McGonagall, I have a lot of respect for her and interest in her character. Oh, the fan-fiction that could be written about her! I wish I could explain more, but I don’t want to spoil it for anyone.

What is your favorite quote from this book and why?

It’s no surprise that my favorite quote from this book (and the entire series for that matter) is: “It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live,” said by Dumbledore when he finds Harry returning over and over again to the Mirror of Erised. This quote and this whole situation with the mirror helps me remember that I need to do more than just survive or dream; I need to actually live and do things.

How do you feel the movie did at capturing the magic of the first book?

The movie started it all for me. I had tried to read Harry Potter before the movie came out, but I couldn’t follow the story. (I wasn’t a reader back then.) Then, I saw the movie and I had to know more. I wanted to be a part of the world JK Rowling had created. Because of that, I feel like the first movie did a great job at capturing the magic and overall feeling of the book. And, it amazes me at how well it follows the book, unlike other book-to-movie adaptations.

What about You?

Brodi talked about her road to success by doing her first ever PowerPoint presentation. It was a huge success! The crowd was laughing at her hilarity. (She’s really a very funny person. If she ever gets tired of writing novels, she should be a stand-up comedian or a writer for TV or movies.) She also showed us about a quarter of the rejection letters she received in the querying process for her first novel, Echo. She was “excited” to receive her first personalized rejection rather than just all the form-letter rejections. It was interesting to find out that that rejection was actually from Suzanne Collins’ agent and the agent rejected Brodi’s manuscript because he/she already had The Hunger Games manuscript on her desk getting ready to be published. After her presentation, the crowd was able to ask some questions. Some of the questions were:

• “Is it harder to write under deadline?” She answered yes.
• “Where did you get your idea?” She said that Sam, her husband, challenged her to write a heroine completely different from her first heroine. So, she thought of writing about a heroine who was broken yet strong. And, as she started thinking about that, she started thinking about why she was broken and Everneath was born.
• “Was the title always Everneath?” She said no. At first, it was Broken, then it was Underneath. Then, she and Bree Despain, friend and fellow author, decided to play with the words “forever” and “underneath” and came up with Everneath.
• ***spoiler*** “Did you mean to write a love triangle?” She said she doesn’t think of the book as being a love triangle. Cole is the villain. Nikki knows who she wants and it’s not the villain. ***end of spoiler***

After the questions, Brodi signed books. She started around 7:30 pm. My friends and I were the second to the last in the line and our books were signed around 9:40 pm. Two hours of signing for a debut author! Isn’t that incredible?! The wait was definitely worth it.

I’m so glad I was able to go and show my support for Brodi. I absolutely love her writing style. I’ve had a chance to read both Echo and Everneath and I love them both. I hope that one day Brodi can also publish Echo. But, if not, I’m sure whatever she does publish will continue to be fantastic.

Before the actual event hosted by the library, Utah book bloggers were invited to a meet-n-greet with Marissa Meyer. We got to sit down with her in a more personable setting and chat. We talked about our favorite books from last year, how she came up with the idea of Cinder, and a little about her writing history and routines. She’s been writing since she was 14 when she started to write fan fiction for Sailor Moon. She’s from Tacoma, Washington and just got married in October. Her husband and her publisher accompanied her on tour. It was a lot of fun to sit down before hand and get to know her a little bit in a more intimate setting.

At the actual event, she talked about Cinder and the future sequels. Each of them are based on futuristic retellings of a fairy tale. Cinder is based on Cinderella. Scarlet, the second book in the series, will be based on Little Red Ridinghood. Crest will be based on Rapunzel. And, Winter will be based on Snow White. Each book takes place in a different area of the world in which the stories are set, and Cinder will be the main character in each book, but she’ll encounter Scarlet, Crest, and Winter as she continues through her journey to overpower the Lunars.

Meyer said she pitched Cinder as a series because it was always meant to be four books. Even though a lot of fellow writers told her to just pitch it as one book and let agents and publishers decide, she didn’t want to deceive them by giving them Cinder, with its cliffhanger ending of sorts, and then be all like, “Oh yeah, it’s supposed to be four books.” Luckily, her agent and publisher saw the potential of the story and signed a deal for all four books.

She said she came up with the story as part of a contest. She wanted to participate in NaNoWriMo and noticed a contest with a prize of a walk-on role on Star Trek for the person who wrote the most words during NaNoWriMo. She wrote just over 150,000 words but still came in third place. But, a very early version of Cinder was the fruits of her labor so it wasn’t a total loss.

I’m excited to read Cinder. It sounds like something I’ll enjoy a lot and I look forward to the sequels as well. I really enjoyed meeting Marissa Meyer and getting to know her a little bit. All in all, it was a great evening with her and friends.

1. Best book you read In 2011?
   Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare
2. Most disappointing book/book you wish you loved more than you did?
   I wish I would’ve loved The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney more than I did. I hope that I’ll like the second book more so that I can give the series more of a chance.
3. Most surprising book (in a good way) of 2011?
   The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt. I wasn’t expecting to like it very much, but I really did enjoy it a lot.
   
4. Book you recommended to people most in 2011?
   Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
   
5. Best series you discovered in 2011?
   Heist Society by Ally Carter
   
6. Favorite new authors you discovered in 2011?
   Stephanie Perkins. I absolutely loved Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door.
   Ally Carter. I really enjoyed Heist Society and Uncommon Criminals.
   Kendare Blake. Anna Dressed in Blood was awesome!
7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?
   To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2011?
   Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
9. Book you most anticipated in 2011?
   City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare
   
10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2011?
    
11. Most memorable character in 2011?
    Atticus Finch
    
12. Most beautifully written book read in 2011?
    Crossed by Ally Condie. I love her poetic writing style.
13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2011?
    East of Eden by John Steinbeck
    
14. Book you can’t believe you waited until 2011 to finally read?
    To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
15. Favorite passage/quote from a book you read in 2011?
    This is from East of Eden: “But the Hebrew word, the word timshel–‘Thou mayest’–that gives a choice. It might be the most important word in the world. That says the way is open. That throws it right back on a man. For if ‘Thou mayest’–it is also true that ‘Thou mayest not.”
    
16. Book that you read in 2011 that would be most likely to reread in 2012?
    Everneath by Brodi Ashton. In fact, I plan to reread it first thing in 2012 so I can count it toward the 2012 DAC and because it’s just that awesome! (My review will be posted on January 3.)
17. Book that had a scene in it that had you reeling and dying to talk to somebody about it?
    The ending of City of Fallen Angels and Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare. She has a way of leaving you in high anxiety at the end of her books.
    

Book Blogging/Reading Life in 2011

1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2011?
   Alternate Readality. I love Jenny’s insights and views on things. She gets me thinking all the time.
2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2011?
   I think the most thought out review I posted was either the one for To Kill a Mockingbird or East of Eden. My favorite that I wrote, however, is Everneath and unfortunately, it hasn’t been posted yet. Only a couple more days, though.
3. Best discussion you had on your blog?
   My post about Combating Reading Slumps was by far the most intriguing and well participated in post.
4. Most thought-provoking review or discussion you read on somebody else’s blog?
   “I LOVE Twilight and I am NOT ASHAMED” at Alison Can Read. I really appreciated this discussion because it’s something I needed to read. I started to give into all the negativity surrounding Twilight and it bothered me because I do really love the books. This helped me realize that it’s okay if I love them even if others don’t.
5. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?
   I was very fortunate this year to attend a lot of author signings. My favorite signing was for Markus Zusak. He was just so personable and took time with each and every person at the event. He stayed until 1:00 am signing books.
6. Best bookish discovery (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?
   Did you know that if you have Amazon prime and pre-order books, most books will be delivered to you on release day? I didn’t! I was so excited when I found that out with Lola and the Boy Next Door.
7. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?
   I signed up for one challenge this year. The 2011 DAC. I failed miserably. I only read two books out of the twelve I signed up to read. Hopefully, next year I’ll do better. I also had a goal to read 25 books this year. (I know that’s low, but I’m a slow reader and school takes up a lot of my time.) I didn’t quite reach my goal but I gave it my best shot!
   

Looking Ahead …

1. One book you didn’t get to in 2011 but will be your first priority in 2012?
   The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I started it in 2011, but I didn’t finish it so after I finish my reread of Everneath, I’ll finish The Book Thief.
2. Book you are most anticipating for 2012?
   There’s a tie between Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore, City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare, and Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare.
3. One thing you hope to accomplish or do in your reading/blogging in 2012?
   I like my reviews, but I feel like they could have more sustenance. I intend to do some research on this and see if I can figure out a better way to do it.

My Secret Santa was Steph from Steph the Bookworm. I was so excited when I received my gift. Honestly, I had forgotten about it because I didn’t get an email about who my Santee was and thought that for whatever reason I may not have qualified. When my gift came, I started to panic and tracked down my Santee just in time to get something sent to them.

When I received my package, I didn’t realize it was for the Book Blogger Holiday Swap. So, I went right ahead and opened it. It wasn’t until I read the thoughtful card from Steph that I realized why I had received this anonymous package with awesome books in it. I wish I had realized so I could open it on Christmas. But, I’m still excited even though I opened it early.

My cat Dax decided she wanted to be in the picture with my gifts. I thought I should oblige so she didn’t take it out on my books. As you can see, Steph gave me five books, a cat bookmark, and a lovely card. The three books in the top of the picture were on my wishlist and the two in the bottom were books she added because she saw that I love historical fiction and romance. Really sweet of her, isn’t it? Thank you so much, Steph! I really appreciate the gift and the thought that went into it.

I’m excited to participate in the holiday swap next year. And, I can’t wait to see what my Santee thought of her gift.

Anyway, a song from the official soundtrack for The Hunger Games movie was released. It’s called “Safe and Sound” and it’s sung by Taylor Swift. I think, but I’m not positive, that she wrote it just for the movie. ***spoiler*** I think it will be played during Rue’s death or during the cave when Katniss and Peeta are there together. Either way, I think it fits well with the story. ***end of spoiler***