Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

The last Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is by far my favorite of the seven. I finished Book 6 — which I did end up liking much better than I had the first time, by the way — late Saturday night, and immediately started reading Book 7. By the same time Sunday night, I had finished Deathly Hallows — I just couldn't put it down! I figure I read the entire thing — all seven-hundred-some pages — in about nine hours, tops.

There are a lot of things I could say about Book 7...but knowing that a lot of people probably still haven't read it, I don't want to give too much away. Suffice it to say that it was a perfect ending for the series. J.K. Rowling tied up all the loose ends quite nicely. I especially like Snape's role in the book...though what that is, I won't tell you.

It's hard to put into words how I feel now that Harry Potter has ended. However, this cartoon by Debbie Ridpath Ohi says it better than words ever could.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

When I posted last (about Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix), I stated that I had been less impressed with the sixth Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, when I read it shortly after it came out. This time around, however, I'm liking it quite a lot.

...So much, in fact, that I'm already about halfway through the book. I expect I'll finish in another couple of days, after which I'll start book 7 at last!!!!

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

I'm back to reading J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books, in the hopes of someday making it to Book 7. I'm sure most people just picked book 7 up and read it cold, without refreshing their memories on the first six. However, it had been six or seven years since I read the first four, and I don't remember 5 or 6 very well either.

In any case, I'm glad I decided to read the entire series before reading the newest (and final) book. I had forgotten how much I loved Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I read this book shortly after it came out, finishing it in about a day and a half, as I remember. Of course, it was summer then, and I was still in college, which meant that I had a couple of days to devote primarily to reading.

I haven't seen the corresponding movie yet — we haven't seen many movies in the theater this year, and we had others (Bourne, Transformers, The Brave One) that were a bit higher on our list of must-sees. However, now that I'm almost finished with Order of the Phoenix, I'm really wanting to see the movie.

Next — and hopefully without any further interruption — I'll be reading Book 6. I seem to remember not being quite as impressed with it as I was with Book 5, so we'll see how they compare when they are read back-to-back.

The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman

Michael finally finished The Amber Spyglass, so I was able to finish reading Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy. And I have to say, the third book lived up to -- and perhaps even surpassed -- The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife.

One of the things I like best about this trilogy is how original it is. It's not just a Lord of the Rings or Narnia knock-off. It is completely original fantasy at its finest.

I'm not going to say any more than that, because I don't want to spoil the third book for anyone. All I'm going to say is that I highly recommend reading this book. It is one of the best fantasy trilogies I have ever read, right up there with all-time favorites such as the Tolkien and Lewis's books.

Of course, I dare the Religious Right to find a way to spin this trilogy as a Christian analogy... Hahaha!

The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman

I just finished reading The Subtle Knife, the second book in Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy. I only recently finished the first book, The Golden Compass, but the second book was shorter and a faster read.

Unfortunately, The Subtle Knife had a cliffhanger ending. The story is obviously waiting until the third book to come to any sort of resolution. I would normally be starting the fourth book right away, but Michael is only about halfway done with it right now.

I guess I'll have to find something else to read in the meantime.

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

As you may already know, Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass has been made into a movie, due out this December. Michael loves fantasy and is excited for the movie, so he decided to read the books, as well. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he also managed to rope me into reading them, too.

I used to read Philip Pullman as a teenager, so I'm interested to see if his writing is as good as I remember it to be. (So far it is.) I'm a third or half of the way through The Golden Compass, and so far I'm enjoying it immensely. The book is entirely different from the type of fantasy found in the Harry Potter books (which I've also been reading lately), so it is a nice change.

Essentially, the book is about a little girl, Lyra, who has discovered to be involved in a huge -- and most likely sinister -- mystery. Pullman does an excellent job of giving you only a few details at a time, keeping you wondering what is going on, so unfortunately there is little I can tell you about the premise of the novel.

However, I can tell you that The Golden Compass takes place in a fantasy world, but one that is similar to ours in many ways; that children are disappearing; and that Lyra has something to do with all of this (though she doesn't know what yet). Lyra is a delightful heroine, spunky and defiant and rather wild.

While I read The Golden Compass, Michael is reading The Subtle Knife, which is the second book in the "His Dark Materials" trilogy. We'll be picking up the third one -- The Amber Spyglass -- soon, as Michael is almost done with The Subtle Knife.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

Moving right along in my quest to read the entire 7 books of Harry Potter! I am now on the third book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

It's hard to know what to say when I've read all these before, except to comment about the things that are different about the movie. One thing I definitely have noticed, however, is that J.K. Rowling does an excellent job of dropping clues about what is going on -- except you don't notice it when you're reading the books for the first time.

*** Warning: I'm about to reveal something that may spoil the book (or movie) for you if you haven't read (or seen) it! ***

For instance, in the third book Hermione has enrolled in more classes than she could take in a normal 24-hour day, so she is using a time-travel device to attend them all -- but you don't find that out until the end. However, odd little things are constantly happening, like Hermione suddenly being in class when Ron and Harry didn't see her walk in, or Hermione carrying books for classes she doesn't have that day. If you already know what is going on, you really pick up on these things -- but if you don't know, some of them slip by you.

In other words, J.K. Rowling is a MASTER of subtlety!

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

I actually forgot to blog about Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets over the weekend, so I am almost done with it now. In fact, I would have finished it last night if I hadn't've been so tired.

Anyway, like with the first Harry Potter book, I am rereading this one to refresh my memory before I read #7. Once again, I am noticing differences between the book and the movie; they usually surprise me, because I have seen the movie several times but have only read the book once, and that was six years ago!

I'm struck again by what an amazing writer J.K. Rowling is. I've heard people criticize her for using ploys such as cliffhanger endings on paragraphs -- but hey, this is popular fiction, not the Dead White Male literary canon. (And if it were, it certainly would not be encouraging kids to read more.)

My reasons for thinking J.K. Rowling is a good writer include:

1) Strong characterization
2) Complicated plots
3) Believable dialogue (so many writers struggle with this!)
4) Great description
5) A great sense of humor, and an amazing ability to weave it into her writing so that it catches you off guard
6) An understanding of what makes kids tick (and read)

She may not be Shakespeare, but I think J.K. Rowling is just as important in our times as Shakespeare was in his. It might be an ambitious statement, but realistically, I don't think importance is judged by the moralizing content of your work -- after all, Shakespeare's plays were intended to entertain the people then as Harry Potter is now.

Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone by J.K. Rowling

With the newest (and last) Harry Potter book now out, I decided to re-read the first 6 before I start #7. With some of them, such as Sorceror's Stone, it has been as long as 6 years since I last read them.

I am amazed at how in many cases I remember the movie better than the book. In fact, several times I've noticed places where the action or the dialogue in the book differs significantly from the movie. For instance, when Harry is picking out his wand in the book, the wrong ones don't blow anything up as they do in the movie -- they just don't do anything at all.

Michael is reading the 7th Harry Potter right now, but the way I'm cruising through #1, he'd better hurry up. We got the new one out from the library -- I had put a hold on it more than a year ago, so I was one of the few who was able to get a copy right away -- so I have 3 weeks to read all 7.

Ysabel, by Guy Gavriel Kay

The second book I started on the road trip -- and the one I'm reading right now -- is Ysabel, by Guy Gavriel Kay. When I first picked it up, it was mainly because Michael saw it at the bookstore and asked me to check it out from the library. I was expecting another Da Vinci Code knockoff, but that's not the case at all! Ysabel combines Celtic fantasy with reality, and likeable characters with an intriguing story. Every advancement in the plot has been almost totally unexpected, and I'm loving every minute of it!