Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Harry is now entering his sixth year at Hogwarts. He received a letter from Dumbledore telling Harry that he himself would arrive to pick up Harry from the Dursley's house. Dumbledore arrives at the house to the shock of the Dursleys. Before Dumbledore takes Harry to the Burrow he first takes Harry to visit an old friend. When they arrive at the house it looks as though the Death Eaters have already been through. Chairs have been upturned, pillows slashed, and what appears to be blood on the walls.

Dumbledore isn't fooled though - and quickly picks out his old friend Horace Slughorn. He finally, with the help of Harry, convinces Horace to come back to Hogwarts and teach. Security has been increased around Harry every since the ministry acknowledges the return of Voldemort. While at the Burrow, Harry runs into an old friend Fluer who, he finds out, is engaged to Bill - much to Mrs. Weasley's displeasure.

When everyone arrives back to Hogwarts, things appear to be the same. During their first night back though, they learn that Snape has finally gotten his dream job - teaching the Defense Against Dark Arts post while Professor Slughorn will be the new potions teacher. Harry, who thought he wouldn't be able to take potions borrows an old potions book that was once owned by a person going by the name of Half-Blood Prince. The book owned by the Half-Blood Prince has markings that help Harry with potions and soon Professor Slughorn believes that Harry is a pro at potions.

Harry though begins to suspect that Draco is a new Death Eater, and that Professor Snape is helping him. No one will listen to his crazy ideas, especially since Dumbledore believes Snape to be on the side of the Order of the Phoenix. Dumbledore has also started to teach Harry on his own about Voldemort's past. But Harry can't let the feeling go that Draco and Snape are not up to any good. Will Harry be able to change Dumbledore's mind?

I think I liked this book even less than the previous five. For one thing, I didn't like how Harry (SPOILER) became quickly infatuated with Ginny - it was literally over night. His every thought was of her or Draco. It got a bit irritating to read "and the monster reared it's head in the delightful news and began to purr with happiness" or whatever feeling it was experiencing. It was like a splash of cold water on the face - abrupt and unpleasant.

Furthermore, what is it with her and (spoiler) killing off the characters? Dumbledore - Really? I'm trying to think about it from her point of view, as a writer trying to make the plot more interesting. It still would have been interesting but oh well. I vaguely remember the 7th book and the part I do remember I did not like. Harry still irritated me a bit in this book, although not as much as the previous book.

Books in this series:

1) Sorcerer's Stone

2) Chamber of Secrets

3) Prisoner of Azkaban

4) Goblet of Fire

5) Order of the Phoenix

6) Half-Blood Prince

7) Deathly Hallows

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling (c) 2005

Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix

Ever since the return of Lord Voldemort, Harry has been avidly listening and watching the muggle news. Surely they would report something. . . anything really. Nothing though, besides the hot weather has been reported. Harry's constant obsession with the news is driving his uncle mad. After getting caught Harry decides to take a stroll, and walk off his anger.

His friends have been completely useless in their correspondence. No matter how many times Harry demands answers, the replies are always vague. On the way home Harry catches up with Dudley and decides to start a fight with him. He pulls out his wand and begins to taunt Dudley when suddenly it gets very cold and very dark. Harry starts to feel his happiness ebb away and can't believe Dementors would be lose in his neck of the woods. Suddenly Dudley starts to run for it, and unfortunately runs into one of the Dementors (well he can't see it being a muggle and all.)

Harry fights off both Dementors and takes Dudley back to the house. When he arrives his uncle and aunt are ready to kick him out. Not only is he now expelled from school, but the ministry is going to come and take away his wand. Just as Harry is about to leave a Howler arrives for Aunt Petunia and reminds her of the pack she made. She then tells Vernon that Harry will have to stay. Eventually Harry finds himself back with his old gang and in a rather gloomy house. The house, which once belonged to Sirius' mother is now the location for an order called: The Order of The Phoenix (which was once active the first time Lord Voldemort came to power).

The kids being "too young" cannot participate in any of the activities so must go about cleaning the house, but that doesn't stop George and Fred from trying to ease drop. As summer draws to a close, Harry finds himself wishing he could stay with Sirius. When Harry returns to school he is surrounded by the whispers of fellow students. For months the newspaper has been slandering both Harry and Dumbledore, telling the public at large that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is not back and that those two are full of it.

Harry's scar begins to hurt again. Surely Voldemort can't be near - they're at Hogwarts which is heavily protected. Why then does his scar hurt? On top of that, he keeps having the same dream over and over: he's running towards a black door trying to reach what's beyond the door. When he tells his friends about the dreams they draw the conclusion that he's inside Voldemort's head and that he must start to practice Occlumency if he has any hope of stopping his scare from hurting.

But it's easier said than done. With all the drama and pressure unfolding around Harry, he can't help but get swept up. Suddenly he dreams that Voldemort is torturing Sirius and Harry has to go and recuse him.

One of my least favorite books. Ever. For one, Harry irritated me on almost every single page. All of the sudden his reduced to a whinny, complaining, little pratt? But in the other 4 books he showed maturity beyond his years?! Secondly(spoiler ahead hi-light to view), WHY DID SHE HAVE TO KILL MY ONLY FAVORITE CHARACTER SIRIUS BLACK?!?!??! Thirdly, Umbridge. Ugh. I would've hated to have had a teacher like her. Although she did add comedic relief sometimes. But Harry was the most irritating thing I had to endure while I read that book. I couldn't stand how he reverted to being 3 years old. He was constantly bitting off Ron and Hermonie's head, being a selfish idiot, and kept playing the world's smallest violin for himself. NOT once did he think about anyone besides himself.

I took solace in the fact that she introduced Tonks and Luna Lovegood.

Books in this series:

1) Sorcerer's Stone

2) Chamber of Secrets

3) Prisoner of Azkaban

4) Goblet of Fire

5) Order of the Phoenix

6) Half-Blood Prince

7) Deathly Hallows

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling (c) 2003

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Before the remaining three books came out, this book by far was the most action packed. Just like the maze at the end of the book, each turn held a surprise.

This summer break will be quite different for our Harry Potter. His friend Ron has invited him to the Quidditch World Cup, something that doesn't happen all the time. The only problem is to get the Dursley's permission. Well, Mr. Weasley doesn't care to have their permission so he arrives one day to pick Harry up, except his means of transportation are not what the Duresley's would've excepted.

When everyone is at the Quidditch World Cup they are blown away by all the wizards showing off. Half the camp site is maroon (for Bulgaria) while the other half is green (for Ireland). After the Irish win the cup everyone goes back to their camp sites to wind-down, but then screams start to pierce the night. Mr. Weasley has everyone run to the safety of the woods while he, with the help of the other wizards, try to subdue the rebels.

Hermonie, Ron, and Harry get separated from Ginny, George, and Fred. While Harry, Ron, and Hermonie are in deep woods a sign is placed in the air that causes more panic - the sign of Lord Voldermort.

The night before the kids leave for Hogwarts they learn that something very special will be taking place that year, but neither Mr. Weasley or anyone else will hint to what it is. While at the Welcoming Feast, Dumbledor tells that students that they will be hosting the Tri Wizard Tournament, which hasn't been hosted for many years. The tournament will begin on October 31st and anyone under the age of 17 will not be allowed to compete. When the day finally arrives the 2 visiting school arrive as well, Drumstrang and Beauxbatons. There is a wonderful feast that night with dishes from each of the visiting schools as well as the normal Hogwarts food. The next day the champions are selected - 1 from each school. When Dumbledor picks the 3 champions everyone is excited for the games to commence - until Harry's name is picked. But Harry couldn't have put is name in the running nor bewitched the cup to select his name, or could he?

Not a bad book as books go, quite better than HP and the Chamber of Secrets - but I did find the beginning of the book rather drawn out (and if I recall correctly I feel the same way for wither book 6 or 7). I do like how we got to learn about from wizards of other places, well I shouldn't say 'learn' because we didn't learn that much, but we did get to see some aspects - like their food or climate (based on how they dressed). I think my favorite part in the whole story would have to been Harry and Ron trying to find dates in time for the Yull Ball and then one acquiring them, not knowing what to do and just being extremely awkward.

Books in this series:

Books in this series:

1) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

2) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

3) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

4) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

5) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

6) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

7) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (c) 2000 US (c) 2000

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

This is my favorite Harry Potter book!!! I absolutely love the story line, and I always instantly fall in love with Sirius and Buckbeak.

Harry's second summer break from Hogwarts is a bit better from the last. He doesn't have a house elf trying to "help" him, his owl has some freedom, and he took some of his school supplies up to his room while the others weren't looking. One day he receives a letter from school which has his supplies for the new school year and a permission slip to be signed by the parent/guardian. The permission slip would allow Harry to visit a wizarding village - and Uncle Vernon won't be of use unless. . .

Aunt Marge (Vernon's sister) is coming to visit them. Harry makes a deal with Uncle Vernon - he'll behave if Vernon signs the slip. Everything was going well until the last night when Aunt Marge over stepped the line by calling Harry's parents "good for nothings". Harry gets so infuriated that he unwittingly starts to blow Aunt Marge up. In a split second decision he grabs all his school supplies and leaves the house. He's running away, and doesn't care if he gets expelled from Hogwarts - anything was better than being stuck in that house.

Harry is picked up by the Knight Bus and asked to be taken to Diagon Alley. When Harry arrives at Diagon Alley he runs into Fudge, who is the last person he wants to see. But instead of being expelled from school Harry is shocked when Fudge tells Harry to rent a room and wait till the school year begins. Harry later catches up with his friends and they enjoy the last days of summer.

The school year begins and Harry is glad to be back, well not entirely. Siruis Black has escaped from prison and everyone thinks he's after Harry. This means that the teachers follow Harry's every move, and soul sucking dementors. As the school year progresses sightings of Siruis Black don't occur until one day when their painting has been torn to shred and the painting says it was Siruis. Harry wants to find Siruis and get revenge for the death of his parents.

I loved this book. I liked how it wasn't like the other two - in which Harry once again become the hero. In this story Harry wasn't the bright start doing what we expected - him to save the day. The one thing I keeping asking myself is why was Voldermort so hot to get them? It said in the third book that Voldermort was always 1 step behind them but what was the Potter family to him? I always hated how J.K. killed Siruis off.

Books in this series:

1) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

2) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

3) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

4) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

5) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

6) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

7) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (c) 1999 US (c) 1999

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry's summer has passed rather slowly and dully. He hasn't gotten any letter's from his best friends Ron or Hermonie - so what gives? What makes matters worse is ever since he came home his Uncle Vernon locked all his school materials underneath the stairs and locked his owl in her cage.

His summer gets worse the night that his uncle has a very important dinner party. A house elf named Dobby, with only the best intentions, ties to warn Harry not to go back to school - the only problem is Dobby goes about it the wrong way. When the Dursley's learn that Harry can't use magic outside of school they lock him up in his bedroom.

Finally his best friend Ron comes to his aide - and help Harry escape the evil clutch of the Dursley's. When it's time for everyone to go back to school the arrive at the train station - everyone makes it pass the barrier but Ron and Harry. They miss the train and they've started to draw the attention of the muggles - so they decided to take Ron's father's magic car to Hogwarts (bad idea boys.)

The adventure is fun until the car dies and they crash land into a walloping tree. To make matters worse they get caught by Snape - who hates them - and are told they are skating on thin ice and if 1 more toe get out of line then they will be expelled. The days pass on a little better until the 3 of them are caught standing near the "dead" body of Mrs. Norris. They were just at the wrong spot at the wrong time. On the wall someone wrote "The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the Heir beware" and when everyone sees it - chaos ensues. Attacks keep happening and with no solution insight. Whispers around school begin to grow as everyone suspects that Harry is the Heir causing all the attacks - but he's not and is going to prove it - even if it means expulsion.

I have to say, this is my least favorite book out of the whole series. It took me awhile to get into it. I just didn't like it - and I'm trying to think of why, because their are obviously reasons and I'm not a 3yr saying "because". Dobby irritated me, and I think it was the whole plot of this book - but I can see how it's leading up to the last book. Although Glidory Lockheart was funny, everyone hated him but he was too thick to see it!

Books in this series:

1) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

2) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

3) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

4) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

5) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

6) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

7) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (c) 1999 US (c) 1999

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

HOLLY SMOKES BATMAN! When I googeled the title of this book google mostly brought up pictures from the movie, and Daniel Radcliff was like 5! Ok, not that young but still. Man I remember when the 1st movie game out, and my dad pulled my sister and I out of school so we could see it. That was a magical day for me - not because of HP but because I got to spend time with my dad and he made it so magical.

Back to the review of this book.

Harry Potter doesn't know what's so special about him. In fact all he knows is that his life is miserable. His Aunt Petunia is nosey and loud, his Uncle Vernon is fat and vicious, and his cousin Dudley is spoiled rotten and vicious like his father. He has no friends at school because everyone fears Dudley and as far as comfy beds go Harry has a lumpy one under the stairs. He doesn't know what happened to his parents, except for they died in a car crash.

Odd things keep happening to Harry, he doesn't know why, and when they do his aunt and uncle become furious at him. The months following up to his 11th birthday begin to act strange - to say the least. People walk around in funny costumes, and owls are everywhere during daylight hours! Letters addressed to Harry start to arrive at the Dursley's house - and Uncle Vernon tries to stop Harry from reading them. Eventually Harry receives his letter and learns he is a wizard.

The wizarding world is strange for Harry but he adjusts quickly even making new friends and enemies. His school year begins to get adventurous when he believes on of the school's own professors is after a mysterious package that Albus Dumbledore does not want found. It's up to Harry, Ron, and Hermoine to stop the professor from getting that package!

Reading this book brought be back to the 6th grade when I first started reading the books. I can't believe how long it's been! I remember fighting with my sister over who would get to read the newest book first and waiting with strained patience when I didn't win and had to wait for her to finish. My only complaint for the WHOLE series was how it ended. It felt like a cop out! She should've at least done 1 more book this time being the gangs time in college and fighting a rouge group of Voldermort supporters or something. Eh. All in all though it was a great book :)

Books in this series:

1) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

2) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

3) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

4) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

5) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

6) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

7) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. (c) 1997 US (c) 1998

FANTASTIC!!!!

This is such a wonderful book!! I remember the first time I ever heard about this book: 6th grade. At first I had no idea who "Harry Potter" was or what "Quiditch" is. I did not start reading the series until the 8th grade, and even then I didn't let myself quite enjoy them, for fear I'd be mocked as a nerd or geek. She puts the scope of the whole "Harry Potter Phenomenon" into a wonderful picture. I did not even begin to think that Harry Potter has such an impact on the world. I knew it was a quite popular book but not that popular.

The very first page of the very fist chapter hooks you in. Suddenly your eye are racing across the page in a rapid furry trying to keep up with the sudden feeling of urgency you feel. You know of course (if you've read the HP series) what she is hinting too, but still you can't help but feel as if your back in time, waiting for the final release of the HP book. You meet her, and her friends as the hold their breaths in excitement. As the book continues you meet her at the beginning: her first time ever hearing the series and just like HP you learn about her rise to fame too as "award-winning webmistress of the Leaky Cauldron".

Each chapter doesn't just lightly touch upon HP and his ties to the world: she goes into a depth I would never have been able to comprehend. For instance the internet. What could the internet ever have to do with a book especially in the 90's? Well everything. It not only helped millions of HP fans make web-sites to honor and adore him, but allowed an outlet for fanfic - writing about the characters outside of the book, and not written by JKR herself. And did you know about Harry and the Potter? I certainly did not before this book, I didn't even know that people had created bands from having read the series.

But in one part of the book, I finally had proof to why the Classandra Clare series "Cit of __" hit me so hard with HP tones. It's because she herself was a fanfic author! She became well known for her "Draco Malfoy" trilogy......and Jace from her "City of ___" is just like Malfoy only this time he isn't overshadowed by HP, and we get to know him from the start as a troubled boy much like HP and there we are allowed to fall in love with him.

I was so happy that she got to meet JKR herself! How cool would that be?! She wrote this book marvelously and I am highly recommending it to my friends, I hope you will enjoy it too!

This book is also reviewed by 5-Squared . They said " I highly recommend this book for any and all Harry Potter fans."





Harry, A History. By Melissa Anelli. Pocket Books, NY (c) 2008

Beautiful Let Down (song title from Switchfoot)

I feel like the title for this next review fits my feelings for the second book quite well. In-fact I was thinking today about what I should write about it. I am still very much frustrated with the author. I learned not to long ago that she was (or is) a fan fiction writer for Harry Potter. That makes sense to me, not having read any of her Harry Potter books or reading about her. As it is, I found that it interfered with the story so much so it almost became distracting to me. It kept popping up and making me think of the series (its plots and characters) that I would often find myself getting off track and having to re-read what I last read. It will amuse you soon, because I just checked out a book from the library dealing with Harry Potter and all his "fans". Anyway I don't want to completely bash the book. It was good for all it was worth. Although I have a nagging feeling about Jace and Clary's relationship. I keep hoping it wont be true, that maybe someone was lying....Igomen hinted at it. I was about to jump out of my seat and yell "I KNEW IT!" but sadly it didn't happen as such.

The problem I'm finding is that I can't remember the beginning of the book, and that is not good. I can tell you the beginning of other books just fine, and I haven't read those in a year or two. I sit here scrambling in my brain, pushing aside the thoughts of today's activities so I can think of the beginning but I can't. Ha! I just remember :)

Ok, so this is how it begings....
Lord Voldermort, oh wait I'm sorry...Valentine got some foolish warlock to open a portal and summon the most fear causing demon Aragom. Sadly for the warlock the demon's power deals with finding the person's fear and making it come true....so for the warlock that meant the demon coming through his (warlock's wards) and killing him. Valentine becomes happy when the demon has killed the warlock and is now under his control. Hmph, I lost the plot again. The book was good, but if I'm having problems remembering the plot, then it might not have been that good.

To sum it up and not give away any twists it was basically:
1) more feelings between Simon and Clary (almost to the point that it was like "ugh this part again"
2)More feelings between Clary and Jace (which i hope the story behind them is NOT true)
3) more feelings b/w Alec and Magnus (which i admire the author for writing about)
4) SLOW MOVING PLOT WITH SOME FAST ACTION TO MIX IT UP, this made it SO HARD for me to read the book at times. I must've put the book down at least 3840384389 times saying "UGH this book needs to move faster, its too slow.." or "am i there yet?!?!"

I will say this, I am interested in the 3rd book. I read on Books and Other Thoughts that it is due out soon, good. I must say though, that as far as winding character connections and motives this book does quite well. I just wish it was so "Harry Potter" cluttered sometimes.

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing 2008

City of OMG!

Clary Fray is a "normal" girl of fifteen who loves to go to clubs and bring her unwilling friend Simon. One of her favorite clubs is Pandemonium. The story begins with her and Simon in line for Pandemonium, where a blue haired cute guy catches the eye of Clary. Little does she know that he is actually a demon from the Downworld. As her and Simon are dancing on the dance floor, she sees the blue haired guy sneak into a dark room with a tall, slim, black haired beauty. But then something else catches her eye, two black shadows going to the same room and one has a knife. She yells at Simon to get a bouncer and then follows the two dark shadows in to the dark room.
What she sees startles here: 3 warrior people with strange markings and 1 defenseless "person". Just as one of the boys is about to make the killing blow, Clary shouts for him to stop After the demon is killed the 3 turn to Clary. Clary asks them why they killed the helpless boy? When she goes to look at the spot of the dead boy, there is no body. She is told that he was no person, but a demon who is from the Downworld. Downworlders are warlocks, demons, and witches. They tell her that they are Shadowhunters, people who protect the vampiers, werewolces, and "mundies" or mundane people, people who do not do magic or see Downworlders.

The next day she is yelled at by her mother, for staying out too late. When Simon asks her to go to a poetry reading with her she agrees, and ignores her mother's plea for her to stay home. While at the poetry reading she notices one of the boys from the other night is right behind her. They go outside to speak and just then her mother calls. When she picks up her mother tells her to never come home and then she hears a loud crash and then the phone goes dead.
She runs back to her mother's house to see if she can help her mom. As she walks back in to her house she finds the house in shambles. When she reaches her room she is greeted by a monster. She fights with the monster and barely makes it alive. When she awakens the next day, she finds her old way of life lost to her. She begins a mission to find her mother and the person responsible.

I found it to be a mix of some books. At times it felt like I was reading a Harry Potter book: Lord Valentine reminded me of Lord Voldermort, Jace reminded me of Harry Potter: both parents lost, a lost soul, trying to find a place to belong. And at other times it felt like I was reading a Laurel K. Hamilton book: werewolves and demons, and vampires all about. But this is a wonderful book, and the plot was superb! I loved how there were many twists and my heart raced along Clary's as she was running. My only complaint would be that at times it did seem to be a little to long, and I know this sounds like a contradiction from what I just wrote. At some points is seemed slow: a too long discription. Other factor that some what bothered me was that the POV (point of view) would change subelt and throw me off. It would switch from first to omnicent. Towards the end of the book the aurthor throws a curve ball that blows Harry Potter's stories out of the water, and I dont really believe that Jace is really the son of.....well you'll have to read the book. But I highly recomend it. In fact I'm already into the second book!


This is book 1 in her The Mortal Instruments Series.

1) City of Bones
2)City of Ashes

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. Simon Pusle, NY 2007