Always the tone of surprise CC #1 - Page 105

https://www.latestly.com/entertainment/hollywood/harry-potter-5-voldemorttom-riddle-fanfictions-that-we-have-bookmarked-on-our-browser-3217716.html

Wishing all of the Potterheads here a very happy new year 2022.

I returned from tour just yesterday, and now as I am back, I am so excited to watch the HP reunion episode. Read really good stuffs about it on IG, so I am excited! Else as I am not much a lover of the movies (yeah I do love the cast but not the movies ever as Yates butchered most of the characters in movies), I am a bit scared to watch it but yeah as the reviews and the trailers are very good, I must watch it & I'll share my reviews with you all soon. You all please share your reviews too.

Those who don't have Amazon Prime subscription right now, they can download the Reunion episode here to watch it:

https://www.fireload.com/838d3665209b627f/HP20SKMHD_

Originally posted by: 23Diya

51 is a new and major feat for me as well. Normally, i only finish around 20 books a year, and last year I started out with a goal of reading 10 books. I don't think I'll be reading that many books this year though.

Reading few books is fine as long as you got some good reads. Did you read anything that you think will stay with you for long?

It is a wonderful feat, Diya! 👏 I would love to know how you managed to accomplish it. In my case, I finish a book faster if I am listening to an audiobook, as it is convenient to experience the story even while doing mundane tasks.

Among what I read last year, Harry Potter is definitely going to stay with me for long. Also, I felt, the way I perceived the story as a child (through the movies), and now as an adult (through books), my way of looking at the story and the characters has completely changed; I was looking at the larger picture now as opposed to only what Harry experienced. I feel this stands true regardless of the fact that movies and books are different medium.

Apart from HP, I loved reading A Room of one's own, Cat's Cradle, White Spaces, Man eaters of Kumaon, The Pianist. Rest I was exploring new writers randomly to see what I liked.

What were your best reads out of the 51 books you read? :)

Originally posted by: Interstellarr

I returned from tour just yesterday, and now as I am back, I am so excited to watch the HP reunion episode. Read really good stuffs about it on IG, so I am excited! Else as I am not much a lover of the movies (yeah I do love the cast but not the movies ever as Yates butchered most of the characters in movies), I am a bit scared to watch it but yeah as the reviews and the trailers are very good, I must watch it & I'll share my reviews with you all soon. You all please share your reviews too.

Good to see you back, Simi di 🤗

I don't wanna spoil for ppl who haven't watched. 😆 I watched it on Sunday. All I would say is, no matter if you liked the books more, you will surely appreciate the nostalgia and sentiments expressed in the reunion. I will share my detailed review later.

Originally posted by: tournesol

It is a wonderful feat, Diya! 👏 I would love to know how you managed to accomplish it. In my case, I finish a book faster if I am listening to an audiobook, as it is convenient to experience the story even while doing mundane tasks.

Among what I read last year, Harry Potter is definitely going to stay with me for long. Also, I felt, the way I perceived the story as a child (through the movies), and now as an adult (through books), my way of looking at the story and the characters has completely changed; I was looking at the larger picture now as opposed to only what Harry experienced. I feel this stands true regardless of the fact that movies and books are different medium.

Apart from HP, I loved reading A Room of one's own, Cat's Cradle, White Spaces, Man eaters of Kumaon, The Pianist. Rest I was exploring new writers randomly to see what I liked.

What were your best reads out of the 51 books you read? :)

I hear about audiobooks from everyone but it just doesn't work for me. If I'm doing something, I'm bound to put all my concentration on that work and lose track of what's happening in the book. Amd if I'm only listening to the audiobook, then I keep reading ahead because audios always go slower than your reading speed, and I'm too impatient to wait for the reader to go on in that speed😆

51 includes a few short stories and one or two rereads. Lockdown helped I guess. I had nothing better to do😛

I totally agree with you on your point about perceiving the story differently as a child. In fact, the first time I read it, I was 20+ but still, every time I read it, there seem to be something new that I hadn't noticed before, or a new way a certain dialogue or scene can be perceived.

Wow, I hadn't heard of any of these books before now. Maybe about The Pianist but I don't know anything about it.

Originally posted by: tournesol

What were your best reads out of the 51 books you read? :)

Among my last year's reads, the most impactful were:

1. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

2. Circe by Madeline Miller

3. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

4. The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

5. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass

Some others that I loved:

1. The Guest List by Lucy Foley

2. The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino

3. Finlay Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano

4. The Lost Man by Jane Harper

5. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

6. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

7. Malice by Keigo Higashino

8. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

9. Patient Zero by Tananarive Due

So, a really long list😆

Originally posted by: 23Diya

I hear about audiobooks from everyone but it just doesn't work for me. If I'm doing something, I'm bound to put all my concentration on that work and lose track of what's happening in the book. Amd if I'm only listening to the audiobook, then I keep reading ahead because audios always go slower than your reading speed, and I'm too impatient to wait for the reader to go on in that speed😆

51 includes a few short stories and one or two rereads. Lockdown helped I guess. I had nothing better to do😛

I totally agree with you on your point about perceiving the story differently as a child. In fact, the first time I read it, I was 20+ but still, every time I read it, there seem to be something new that I hadn't noticed before, or a new way a certain dialogue or scene can be perceived.

Wow, I hadn't heard of any of these books before now. Maybe about The Pianist but I don't know anything about it.

That's great, the best way to read a book is directly from the page. Unfortunately, my patience starts to waver after sitting at a system for like 7-8 hours, 😆 so when I want to get some reading done, I put on an audiobook while doing a mundane task that won't require much attention. Otherwise, when I can, I prefer to read a story than listen.

Haha, that was the best way to spend the lockdown😆

Okay, didn't know you also read the HP books as an adult. The series seems to charm kids and adults alike.:)

I know. It's like, it was always written right there, but suddenly you notice it in a different angle, and it casts a totally different depth in the story. This has happened numerous times with me while reading books or watching movies. With HP, however, the change of perspective has been quite drastic; maybe because of the difference between childhood and adulthood.

Right 😅 But you might have heard about some of the authors. 'A Room of one's own' is (kind of) a feminist story by Virginia Woolf, 'Cat's Cradle' by Kurt Vonnegut is a dark humor/satire on end of the world, 'White Space' by Ilsa J. Bick is a horror thriller, 'Man eaters of Kumaon' is a memoir by Jim Corbett on maneater tigers he encounted in Kumaon, India, and 'The Pianist' is a memoir by a Polish pianist who lived in Warsaw during WW2. You might have heard of The Pianist movie, which was made from this book.

I read only 10 books last year (outside HP), and the rest of the five were regular fun books, meaning, less serious/intense. 😆

Originally posted by: 23Diya

Among my last year's reads, the most impactful were:

1. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

2. Circe by Madeline Miller

3. The Song of Achilles by Madeline M.iller

4. The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

5. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass

Some others that I loved:

1. The Guest List by Lucy Foley

2. The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino

3. Finlay Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano

4. The Lost Man by Jane Harper

5. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

6. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

7. Malice by Keigo Higashino

8. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

9. Patient Zero by Tananarive Due

So, a really long list😆

Wow, Rebecca is one of my all time favorite. 😍 Apart from that, I have read Circe and Gone Girl.

Great list, Diya 👌😀

Originally posted by: tournesol

Right 😅 But you might have heard about some of the authors. 'A Room of one's own' is (kind of) a feminist story by Virginia Woolf, 'Cat's Cradle' by Kurt Vonnegut is a dark humor/satire on end of the world, 'White Space' by Ilsa J. Bick is a horror thriller, 'Man eaters of Kumaon' is a memoir by Jim Corbett on maneater tigers he encounted in Kumaon, India, and 'The Pianist' is a memoir by a Polish pianist who lived in Warsaw during WW2. You might have heard of The Pianist movie, which was made from this book.

I read only 10 books last year (outside HP), and the rest of the five were regular fun books, meaning, less serious/intense. 😆

I've only heard of Virginia Woolf (whose book I've been wanting to read for a long time but never got to it) and Jim Corbett, not as an author but because the man has an entire nation park named after him!

That already takes your count to 20+😛