The Best Paragraphs Ever Written

(Spoilers for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and The Roar)
Okay, so we just really need to talk about these real fast.
I have these two paragraphs that I read and when I read them I just wanted to be dead because they are so darn beautiful and so well-written. #WritingGoals So here they are:

"Harry realized what Wormtail was about to do a second before it happened-- he closed his eyes as tightly as he could, but he could not block the scream that pierced the night, that went through Harry as though he had been stabbed with the dagger too. He heard something fall to the ground, heard Wormtail's anguished panting, then a sickening splash, as something was dropped into the cauldron. Harry couldn't stand to look... but the potion had turned a burning red; the light of it shone through Harry's closed eyelids...."
--Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling

Is that not perfection?! You know exactly what's happening without being told it directly. You are standing right next to Harry in that graveyard. It's stuff like that that makes Goblet of Fire my second favorite Harry Potter book.

"Awen stayed on the bed and watched Mika get up. Mika pressed his ear against the cupboard door and listened. The noise didn't sound like a Telly Head. It was gentle and purposeful, as if something was being made. Feeling reassured, he carefully opened the door and his lungs filled with air that was so cold and fresh, he felt as if  he had eaten a whole packet of mints in one go. The cupboard was filled, floor to ceiling, with a plant that was growing before his eyes. It reached out, waving soft green tips, leaves unfurling and arching back like moth wings. Awen jumped down from the bed and walked into its midst, and as Mika tried to follow, something amazing happened-- as he took a step forward, his body folded over and suddenly he was walking on his hands as well as his feet, and when he looked down, he saw in the dim light that they had transformed into paws just like Awen's. He had become a dog. Awen's head reappeared among the foliage and he yapped playfully, as if this was a "chase me" game, and then he disappeared again. Laughing, Mika made to follow but woke up instead."
--The Roar, Emma Clayton

You can feel it! You can see it! Can't you just imagine exactly what that's like? She uses familiar things, "moth wings", "a whole packet of mints", so that we can feel and see exactly what Mika sees. That is so excellent! This book got terrible reviews and I have no idea why. It got excellent reviews and is absolutely beautiful and a super fun and creative story. You all should definitely check it out!
Any favorite paragraphs? Feel free to comment!
Love ya, mean it!
--Lizzo

Hourglass Door

Guys, I just finished Heroes of Olympus.
 Do you remember that feeling? You were in about sixth grade? You loved Percy Jackson. And then you found out about this series that everyone was really excited about because it was like a continuation of Percy Jackson. The book was called The Lost Hero. It was one of the popular books of the time, along with Mockingjay and The Red Pyramid. And you were skeptical. Because could he really do this? Was he going to ruin your beautiful series for you? Was he going to continue writing because he was a weak writer who couldn't bear to let go of his characters?
My dear friends, I can assure you that Rick Riordan was not a weak writer who couldn't bear to let go of his characters. He was a genius.
I can't imagine the Percy Jackson universe without our new friends that we met, or the new quest. Heroes of Olympus is such a part of the Percy Jackson universe that it would feel wrong to read just one series. They go so beautifully hand in hand. The Seven are the closest I have ever gotten to characters. Who knew it was possible to hardcore ship so many couples? Leo is definitely my favorite character in the series. (Don't worry, Commander Tool Belt, I am totally on Team Leo. Can I get a t-shirt or something?) This is some of the best modern literature in the world. Well done, Uncle Rick. You did a great job.
(My reviews for The Lost Hero, The Son of Neptune, The Mark of Athena, The House of Hades, and The Blood of Olympus. Feel free to follow me on Goodreads!)
I just started reading a few pages ago (Oh! How great would it be if time were measured in pages?) the Hourglass Door trilogy by Lisa Mangum. The trilogy includes the books The Hourglass Door, The Golden Spiral, and The Forgotten Locket. It's about Abby, who meets the Italian foreign exchange student Dante, who she finds relatively attractive, but whenever he's around weird things start going down, things that involve time.... Based off of what I've read it seems interesting, and I know a lot of other people who liked it. It was ForeWord Reviews' Book of the Year Award winner. This is going to be great!
Love ya, mean it!
--Lizzo
(Haha, oh yeah, that's my name!)

The Harry Potter Fandom

(Spoilers for Harry Potter)
Today I want to pay tribute and reminisce in all the glorious memories of a great fandom, the first fandom I was ever in-- the Harry Potter fandom.
What can one say about the Harry Potter fandom? We can say that it began with the novels written by an awesome lady, Joanne Rowling, who was not in a great place when she started writing these books. She wrote these books, and started something amazing for herself, while starting something amazing for the entire world. The books are absolutely beautiful, the most incredibly real fiction I have ever read, with characters that you can get super close to and stories that you can get really involved in. Then films were made, and the stories and fandom expanded, and suddenly we weren't only getting close to the characters but also to the actors and filmmakers and their stories. A theme park was made. The Harry Potter fandom is so big, everyone knows what it is, and there have been so many things created due to the Harry Potter fandom. The Harry Potter fandom is where you can find a family. If you meet someone, and you find out they're a Potterhead, you're suddenly bonded, so easily, effortlessly. The Harry Potter fandom has connected so many people. It has given people friends that they will probably never meet. But we're still united.
I remember when I was seven years old Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the book, was coming out. The night the book was put in stores, a library in my city had this book premiere party, and my friends that were also in the Harry Potter fandom invited me to it. Gosh dang it, let me just tell you it was so dang cool. I was a little seven year old wearing Hogwarts robes running through this banner decorated to look like a brick wall and the music from the films was playing and there were people dressed like the characters walking around and we played a game of Quidditch and had butterbeer and Harry Potter candies and it was an all-night event waiting for the book to come out and wow. That's just such a great memory.
 I did go to another premiere.... This one was at midnight, for the very last Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. These midnight movie premieres, these are big events for fandomeers. I am so glad that while I still had the chance, I got to be a part of one. Me and my sister painted Harry Potter scars on our foreheads. I saw my friend there in Hogwarts robes, and my other friend there with her wand. My sister and her friend took a picture with a guy dressed as Dobby, and we sat by a group of friends covered in branches-- they were the Whomping Willow. Everyone there is celebrating their fandom and it's so great. The entire theater applauded when Bellatrix and Voldemort died-- and cute little eleven-year-old me started the applause for Voldemort. When I walked out of the theater, one of the signs in front of the theaters said:

 

THANK YOU

LOYAL POTTER FANS

ACCIO POPCORN
 

(Which was really terrifying for me, because I had accidentally dumped out a huge bucket of popcorn onto the floor and I was certain they knew.)

Another one of my fondest memories. This fandom has been so much for so many people and is still going strong.
Any favorite memories from the Harry Potter fandom? Feel free to comment!



Books are Diamonds!

Guys, I have a little blog I would like you all to check out! My friend Casi looked at my blog and decided she wanted to make her own, and I just checked it out and think it's really awesome! Check it out and follow it!
http://booksrdiamonds.blogspot.com/
Love ya, mean it!

Book Recommendations: GO!

(At the request of my dear friend and follower!)
You heard me, fandomeers! Comment away your favorite books!
If I could recommend a super sensational and horrendously underrated book series to you, it would definitely be the Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter.
Alright, go!

The Heroes of Olympus

(Spoilers for The Mark of Athena)
So, I just finished A Dog's Purpose. I still get shame from enjoying a dog book so much. But the people, you will love the people. And, let me just say, my gosh, let all the authors of the world be a little bit more like W. Bruce Cameron and tell the readers all about their lives and all the people and things in their lives that ended up in their books or helped shape the way it was written! Shout-out to the writers that just love to write and could write all day about whatever's going on with them or whatever crazy idea they thought of and will just write to the world about all those things. They are the greatest. And to the readers who are willing to just read those things! You're awesome too.
Now... the day has finally come!!! I'm going to read/reread the Heroes of Olympus series!
For those of you who weren't with me awhile ago on the blog, I had started reading Heroes of Olympus. I read The Lost Hero. Then I read The Son of Neptune. But when I got to the end of that... I sadly realized that the third book, The Mark of Athena, hadn't come yet. What?! I have this thing that I call the Booklist, and, I made it so I could keep track of all the books I wanted to read, but I wouldn't be reading one series in the middle of reading another. It made my head feel more organized. So I was totally defeated when I couldn't finish this series. I couldn't just move on to the next series on the list!!! And I certainly couldn't just not read for that amount of time! So instead I had some books I wanted to reread, my two favorite fandoms at the time (Harry Potter and Hunger Games, now Percy Jackson is added to the list), and some new books I had gotten that were part of a never-ending series (Princess Academy and Nancy Drew, for example) and the sequels to not-never-ending seri that I didn't know weren't never-ending seri at the time (For example, A Dog's Purpose). So, I decided, I would start back at the top of the list and do some rereading and reading, until I got back to Heroes of Olympus, and by then I would be able to finish the entire series. Well, school had me pretty busy so for a while I couldn't read at all, and I also learned from Nancy Drew that you don't want to read if the book isn't good, so for quite a few months all of the Heroes of Olympus books have been out. Only now have I finally caught up to the list and I can read them all! I'll be rereading The Lost Hero and The Son of Neptune, then reading for the first time The Mark of Athena, The House of Hades, and The Blood of Olympus.
This is a spin-off series of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, about three kids named Jason (who doesn't remember who he is), Piper (who had a really scary dream), and Leo (who is your comic relief with a  super deep past). And, it's a super bomb series. Of course, you have all probably read them all already so please don't tell me anything!!! (I was so mad at my friend when he told me Annabeth and Percy fell into Tartarus)
Happy reading, love you mean it!

The End of the Chamber of Secrets

(Spoiler alert for Harry Potter)
Do you want to know how much my mind was blown?
At the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry is killed by Voldemort... and doesn't die. What? Dumbledore explains it to Harry... and it's still super confusing.
I saw a question that J.K. Rowling was asked on Twitter. About the end of Deathly Hallows. Voldemort clearly killed Harry. But he didn't die. I guess "After all this time" we still don't get it.
(Ten house points to whoever caught that reference.)
And J.K.R. said, who seemed very tired of answering this question, that if someone tried to kill Harry, he would not die, only the horcrux in him would. So Harry would just become mortal and vulnerable again. The next time someone tried to kill him, he would die.
Okay, okay, I see. So a killing curse, that magical fire stuff (Can someone help me remember what it's called?) or basilisk venom would only kill the horcrux..... WAIT WAIT WAIT stop the train. Basilisk venom? Let's go back to Harry's second year at Hogwarts, when he almost died because he got stabbed with a basilisk fang. That was the closest Harry had ever really come to death. He didn't die because Fawkes used his magical tears to save him.
But wait a minute, now we know that the first time someone tried to kill Harry after he got the horcrux put into him, it would only kill the horcrux. Does that mean that Fawkes's tears actually healed the horcrux? And even more importantly, if Fawkes had not saved Harry Harry still would not have died.
Just think of how different everything would have been! Think of how much sooner everything could have ended! Harry gets stabbed with a basilisk fang... but doesn't die. And nobody can make any sense of that because it is common knowledge that basilisk venom is deadly. Nobody except Dumbledore. Dumbledore knows but Harry is still too young to completely understand. The real question is how long can Dumbledore keep that information from Harry? I think if Dumbledore doesn't tell Harry at the end of his second year then he will have to tell Harry in his third year, because Harry is just the most stubborn child at all time, is willing to do anything to figure something out and has two best friends that are just as willing as him. And when Harry finds out and has to go on the horcrux hunt, he is super undertrained. At that point he would only be thirteen years old! But then again, Voldemort would not have risen to power at that time. Who knows how that story would end.