The Secret of Secrets released!

Finally, Dan Brown's latest novel, "The Secret of Secrets" has been released! After 8 years of waiting since his last novel, "Origin," I can now slip into his world of mystery, science and religion, and follow Robert Langdon once more, this time around Prague, where the novel begins.

No spoilers here, I'm just 6 chapters in, let me enjoy this novel and I'll post my review once I'm done.

What a beautiful looking novel, great jacket art, lovely black and white photos of Prague on the inside front and back cover, and a lovely front cover with Dan Brown's signature on it. This is the Bantam publishing copy of the novel.

The Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings has finally entered my reading world!

For many years it was Harry Potter. I just didn't feel The Lord of the Rings calling out to me. Then one day I decided to buy the collection online. I started with The Hobbit. It was tough reading for the first 60 pages, but I persevered. Once I got comfortable with the storytelling style, and the small typeset, and with the help of the maps, I was able to absorb into J.R.R. Tolkien's fantastic world.

After The Hobbit, we spent a good 10 hours one free day watching The Lord of the Rings movies. Yes, they were long! But I enjoyed it, and I then started reading the books. And I'm glad I watched the movies first before reading the books. There is so much more detail in the books! Obviously. I'm currently in Part 3 - The Return of the King and I have just loved the ride.

Now, I need to get a move on because I've just bought the second installment of James Patterson and Bill Clinton's collaboration, The President's Daughter, which I'm itching to read. But, first things first...

P.S. I swear Albus Dumbledore is Gandalf! It has to be the same person! Perhaps someone out there can write a piece of fan fiction on how Dumbledore and Gandalf are one and the same?

ENGLISH INTERNET HUNT COMPLETE!!!

You should definitely give yourself a pat on the back for making it to the end of the English Internet Hunt! Not many get this far and do it right. To be prepared for the video call, you should have written down:

- a sentence

- a keyword

- a paragraph

If you don't have any of these things, I'm sorry to say you've done it wrong, and should go back to the start to watch my video in the whatsapp group again.

If you've done it right, I'll see you soon in our weekly Google Meet video call!

Regards,

Mr. Duncan

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

A substantial portion of this book sees Harry Potter being hunted by Death Eaters with pretty much nowhere to go. It did get a bit tedious reading of Harry, Ron and Hermione disapparating from field to field up and down England, oftentimes spending days or weeks doing next to nothing. All the while, Harry is trying to piece together information about the Deathly Hallows which his two friends don't believe in. Their friendship is put under heavy strain and Ron storms off in frustration, only to return later. It's not pleasant reading.

But it does pick up eventually and builds up nicely to the finale where Harry returns to Hogwarts to take on Lord Voldemort.

What was striking was just how different the book is to the movie. Or in other words, how much they had changed the movie adaptation when compared to the original script in the book. As someone who had watched the movie before reading the book, I was confused about how exactly Voldemort had died. It is crystal clear in the book.

Professor Snape's role and intentions are brought into the light at the end after Harry extracts his tears before he dies. We learn that Snape is in fact the true hero who has always been loyal to Dumbledore and who never ever lost his love for Lily Evans, Harry's mum. His love for her was more powerful than ever contemplating siding with Voldemort again..

I had liked Snape from the start without knowing if ultimately he was really with Dumbledore, or Voldemort. So it was highly satisfying and emotional when in his memory he summoned his doe patronus to demonstrate his love for Lily. That moment also clarified that it was Snape who led Harry to the sword of Gryffindor in the lake earlier in the story.

A great finish to the book and what a fascinating journey the Harry Potter series has been.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Another Harry Potter book read and one more to go!

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was another spell-binding read which has left me with an even greater thirst for more.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

From Harry inadvertently using Proffesor Snape's old potions book to Dumbledore's seemingly foolish and wasted death for a fake locket. Learning more about Lord Voldemort through Dumbledore's pensieve was intriguing, as well as getting to the 'crux' of the matter with Voldemort's horcruxes.

The artwork on the book covers continues to impress me. The illustrations were done by a Jonny Duddle, and I was fascinated to learn of how he prepared and undertook the illustrative work. Take a look at this news article about Jonny Duddle and this collection of Harry Potter book cover illustrations as they progressed from original sketches to front cover publications. And here is a video of the illustrator, Jonny Duddle briefly explaining how he produces his artwork.

Hope you enjoy those links. I have started book 7 already and can't get enough of it!