Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling (Book Review)

Title: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Author: J.K. Rowling
Publisher: Random House Listening Library
Narrated by: Jim Dale
Genre: YA/Fantasy
I listened to this book for fun!

First sentence: It was nearing midnight and the Prime Minister was sitting alone in his office, reading a long memo that was slipping through his brain without leaving the slightest trace of meaning behind.

Year six finds Harry, Ron and Hermione headed back to Hogwarts after passing their O.W.L.s. There is also a new Prime Minister of Magic after Fudge was fired over his handling of Voldemort's return. Ron and Harry are disappointed as they had not scored high enough on their Potions test to continue on in this class - but this is soon rectified by Dumbledore. Since they hadn't purchased Potions books, they must use some old ones from the classroom until theirs arrive. Harry is lucky and gets one filled with detailed notes and spells. Notes left by the Half-Blood Prince. But who is the Half-Blood Prince?

Dumbledore believes Harry (since he is the Chosen One) is ready to start learning more about his enemy Voldemort. Through a series of memories viewed through the pensieve, Harry sees Voldemort as Tom Riddle and watches his transformation into the Dark Lord. He is also able to discover what a horcrux is and how Voldemort has used them to gain his advantage.


Along the way we have Harry's adventures in Quidditch, learning to apparate and see him developing feelings for Jenny, Ron's sister.

I continue to enjoy this series, having read the first four and now listened to 5 and 6. I was happy to have finished this one before the movie comes out! I have decided though, that I enjoy listening to them more than reading them - probably because I can clearly see the characters (because of the movies) and very much enjoy listening to Jim Dale read them. If you have not read the Harry Potter series, I think you definitely should - regardless of your age. I guess I can admit now that I tried to read the first one when it came out and couldn't get past the first chapter. All the muggles and mudbloods and Quidditch! I am not sure what has changed.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (Book Review)

Title: The Lovely Bones

Author: Alice Sebold

Genre: fiction

First sentence: My name is Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973.

This was the most original book that I have read in quite awhile. The narrator of the story, Susie, is the murder victim. We see her family, her friends, and even her murderer, Mr. Harvey, in the days and years after her death through her eyes.

She leads us down that road as her friends and her 'crush' Ray try to understand and come to terms with her murder. As her family disintegrates, she begins to see them as individuals - even as those around them on Earth only see them as shadows of Susie.

Her father is convinced he knows who committed the crime and one night he follows a light into a neighbor's cornfield, only to be clobbered with his own baseball bat by some innocent high school kids. This is the last straw for Susie's mother. Her mother's loneliness is only amplified with Susie's death and she seeks comfort away from her husband. This eventually leads her to the other side of the country where she tries to forget.

Grandma Lynn moves in with her dad, brother Buckley and sister Lyndsey to try to help them cope with Susie's loss and their abandonment by their mother. The police have pretty much told the family that they have no leads and they are closing the investigation so Lyndsey decides to go looking for evidence herself. She watches Mr. Harvey's house, and one afternoon when he leaves, she breaks in and actually finds some evidence. She barely gets out of the house in time, but Mr. Harvey has seen her so knows that he needs to leave.

Come and read this book and follow her family as they move from her murder and their isolation as they come together year's later and are finally able to say out loud 'Susie is not coming home again.'

This novel was wonderfully written and gives us a picture of one little girl's heaven, which, while not always joyous, is stable and safe. Susie's heaven allows her to mature and move on in much the same way that her family does.

Whitcoulls Challenge - Take 2

I have decided to do this challenge, as upon looking over the list for 2008, found that many of these books were already on my TBR list. To sign up for this challenge please go here.

The rules are that you just need to read a minimum of 4 books (all must be new reads) from the same year's list, between Nov 15, 2008 and Nov 15, 2009. You can find lists for 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2008.


My TBR list includes:

Twilight - Stephenie Meyer
My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult
The Lovely Bones - A Novel - Alice Sebold
The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho
Eragon - Christopher Paolini
H.P. and the Half-Blood Prince - JK Rowling
H.P. and the Deathly Hallows- JK Rowling