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?

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!

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

The fifth installment in the series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the longest of the seven books, at 800 pages of absorbing reading.

You can notice from the picture that the title of the book has completely disappeared from months of reading!

It's not easy writing a long story (and reading one too!). There are a number of challenges involved which I picked up on while reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix:

* keeping each character unique to him/herself

* not allowing individual characters with specific traits and personalities to become too similar to each other

* maintaining a page-turning power to the story

* not giving chance for the reader to become bored mid-way through

* having a big enough story line with sufficient sub-plots

* connecting sub-plots to the main plot but not allowing sub-plots to become too lengthy and consuming the main plot

* knowing which significant circumstances/events/details to include and which irrelevant ones to omit

* getting the right balance between prose and dialogue

* everything must lead to the grand finale

* being able to transition neatly through time and smoothly switch to later time throughout the story

For all of these reasons, I thoroughly enjoyed Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. For the first time, we read about real friction between Harry and Dumbledore which simmered through the novel and boiled over at the end. We also see Professor Dumbledore duel with Lord Voldemort, and cringe at the awfully irritating character of Dolores Umbridge in her brief and ignominious stint as High Inquisitor and Headmistress of Hogwarts. Harry also learns for the first time of his destiny as related to Voldemort. One of them must kill the other. 

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix represents a highly emotional and difficult time for Harry as he loses his only remaining living family member, Sirius Black, who was killed by Bellatrix Lestrange, in addition to coming to terms with the prophecy of his destiny. We are left with the impression that it can't really get any worse for Harry.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

I have finished reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the 4th in the series of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter collection.

As a side note, I do absolutely love the artwork of the covers on these Bloomsbury Harry Potter books!

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was another highly enjoyable read. It was definitely another page turner as the story kept developing nicely. In particular, this book heralded the re-birth of Lord Voldemort, detailing how he managed to come back to a body and power.

Of course, it was the final few chapters where the story was pieced together like a jigsaw, making previous chapters and their contents fall into clear perspective. The death of Cedric Diggory was a shock to all, as well as Harry dueling with Voldemort and managing to escape with the help of apparitions of his dead parents.

As intriguing as the Triwizard Tournament was, the Goblet of Fire marks the return to power of Lord Voldemort and worrying times ahead for Harry and all at Hogwarts. Despite the sombre mood it creates, and the tendency to cover up harsh truths as Cornelius Fudge seemed so determined, Professor Dumbledore reminds, 

"Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery." and,

"It is my belief, however, that the truth is generally preferable to lies." and,

"I say to you all again - in the light of Lord Voldemort's return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Lord Voldemort's gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open." and,

"Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right, and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory."

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is the third installment of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. It is a page turner as Rowling keeps the story going tirelessly. 

Harry learns how to create a 'patronus' from Professor Lupin which combats the frightening dementors who love nothing more than to suck out every last ounce of a person's soul and happiness. When in trouble, Harry conjures a powerful patronus to scatter a host of dementors.

Quidditch is the sport of choice at Hogwarts and Harry helps the Gryffindor team to victory. He also learns more about his family history, discovering who are enemies and who are friends to him.

Dumbledore sets the rules of Hogwarts and also relaxes them when the breaking of the rules (almost always by Harry, Ron and Hermione) are put into context by the Professor's sagacity. As always, Dumbledore steals the show at the end with his words of wisdom:

"You think the dead we have loved ever truly leave us? You think that we don't recall them more clearly than ever in times of great trouble? Your father is alive in you, Harry, and shows himself most plainly when you have need of him. How else could you produce that particular Patronus? . . . So you did see your father last night, Harry . . . you found him inside yourself."

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

The second of J. K. Rowling's fantastic works, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is just as good a read as the first. She picks up from the first novel and continues the story, building on Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, Gryffindor and Slytherin, and all of the other fascinating aspects of Hogwarts.

Though but little is written about Albus Dumbledore, the Principal of Hogwarts, he seems to be the calming influence of the story, a thoughtful character whose wise words inspire those who hear them despite the drama that unfolds around the school.

Near the end of this book, Dumbledore remarks, "It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

I have watched all the movies but amazingly, as yet, haven't read any of the books. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is the first in the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling.

It is great reading from cover to cover as we follow young Harry Potter discovering he's a wizard and immersing himself in his new school, Hogwarts, for wizards and witches.

I found Professor Snape to be the most fascinating of all the characters, and I look forward to see how he develops in the books as opposed to the movies.

For Teaser Tuesday, which is hosted by MizB, I have selected this paragraph near the end. Ok, it's more than two sentences, but it was the standout part of the book for me. I stopped reading to share it on facebook!

"Your mother died to save you. If there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand, it is love. He didn't realise that love as powerful as your mother's for you leaves its own mark. Not a scar, no visible sign ... to have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever. It is in your very skin. Quirrell, full of hatred, greed and ambition, sharing his soul with Voldemort, could not touch you for this reason. It was agony to touch a person marked by something so good."