Donate to a Foodbank

My work recently started a monthly morning tea & with a little help from yours truly, I asked that the last Thursday of every month be a ‘Jeans Day’. Each person who wears jeans is asked to donate a non-perishable item. Work provides the morning tea in my office which is super generous.

Tip: If budget is tight, you could start a Bake-off, where someone or a team of people bring something different each time (savoury, sweet, cupcake etc).

It’s such a great initiative that I encourage you to approach your office to do the same.

We only have 9 people in our office, of which only 3 are full time so it can be hard finding the right day to do these sort of things.

You can make it happen.

Oh, goodreads

I joined the wonderful world of goodreads.com in January 2012, just over 4 months ago. I have managed to read almost 20 books in that time. That alone is a big feat for me. What’s even bigger? My to-be-read (TBR) list now sits at 200! How the heck am I gonna get this list down to a manageable number?

Give me another 4 months, I could read another 20 or so books, that brings me down to 180, but with my track record I could’ve added another 100 books to my TBR.

I don’t want to stop adding books, I don’t want to forget a suggestion or miss out on something because my TBR is too long.

There has to be some good reason to having heaps of books to read?

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

You can find these questions & other links at The Reading Fever. Feel free to join in or leave your comments below.

1. What is your favorite line?
   “I’m not going to be murdered,” Harry said out loud. 
   “That’s the spirit, dear,” said his mirror sleepily.”
    A talking mirror shouldn’t surprise me in a world or wizardry, but it did.
2. If the Knight Bus hadn’t been summoned when it was, what might have happened? Would Harry have believed Sirius if he had introduced himself?
   Later in the book, Sirius apologizes for scaring Harry at this moment. I would hope that Sirius would transform back to human and explain his actions to Harry but I don’t think Harry would stick around long enough to hear it. He can be a bit stubborn sometimes.
3. In this book, Voldemort doesn’t play a major part. What do you think the purpose of this was? Do you think it was for the better, or worse?
   This is what makes this book great. Voldemort isn’t the only thing in Harry’s life.
4. Why do you think Professor McGonagall gave Hermione the time-turner? Was it to allow her to learn a lesson, or do you believe she thought Hermione could handle taking so many classes?
   I take Dumbledore to be the “let them learn on their own” type, allowing Harry to find stuff out on his own. I always think of McGonagall to be the “let people do it if you know they can”. Hermione was excelling for most part. Of course, strain of all the classes got to her & she dropped Divinity, but she could handle it. I wish I had her determination.
5. What do you think Hermione learned from trying to do too many things at once? What did YOU learn about her character after learning about all the classes she was taking?
   I expected Hermione to take a full load of classes but not over & above the usual. The time turner was almost expected by the time it was revealed. She was disappearing & reappearing oddly that even Ron & Harry noticed her behavior. I learned that Hermione is human like the rest of us.
6. What is one emotion you felt strongly, while reading this book?
   Love.  Harry has learned more of his past, his parents & his godfather. He has Sirius, who will care for him like he was his own son. Harry hasn’t had relatives that accept him for the wizard he has grown to be.
7. Is there something that bothered you about this book? Why?
   It bothered me that Harry was so accepting of Sirius, after what seems like an hour after meeting him. Sirius was convicted of mass-murder, escaped from Azkaban prison which is guarded by Dementors. I guess it always bugs me that Dumbledore always trusts Harry.
8. What important relationships did Harry form in this book, and why are they important?
   Harry meets Sirius & Lupin, who had been close friends with his parents. They continue to help Harry until the end. 
9. Just for fun: What part of the book made you laugh the most? If you’ve read it before, does it still make you laugh?
   Hermione punching Malfoy in the face. Makes me smile every time. Girl Power!