Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, by J.K. Rowling, read by Jim Dale

I understand this would have been more appropriate towards the beginning of the summer, but readers, that is when I started this audio version! I had hoped to start and finish it before the movie version came out but circumstances beyond my control kept me from it (dad stole some of the cd’s and then I kept driving with people who refused to listen to its goodness). Sure, call me a nerd, but I love Harry Potter.

After defeating some Death-Eaters and proving Lord Voldemort’s return at the Ministry of Magic in The Order of the Pheonix, Harry, Ron and Hermione return to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The all-around mood in the wizarding world is caution and terror as Death-Eater attacks are increasing and the Daily Prophet shows more and more disappearances on the front page. On top of everything else, after passing their Ordinary Wizarding Level tests, the terrific three must also take increasingly hard classes on their way to becoming aurors (with some budding romances along the way). Harry has an advantage however when he comes across an old potions textbook with glorious amounts of helpful hints in the margins. The previous owner, the Half-Blood Prince, also included some new spells as well. Hermione of course doesn’t trust the book, but Harry lives by it, especially when the helpful hints gain him points in Potions class and helps save Ron’s life. Things turn dark when Harry finds a spell found in the margins labeled “for enemies” and uses it on Malfoy in a duel. The book holds some questions as to who the true Half-Blood Prince is, but the major thread of questioning and discovery in this novel comes in the form of Harry’s private lessons with Dumbledore this year. Dumbledore has decided to inform Harry what he can of Lord Voldemort’s past through a collection of gathered memories from random family members, witnesses and house elves. Harry must try to piece together what he can about Voldemort’s past and some objects called Horcruxes to attempt at gaining an advantage in a destined battle to the death with He-who-must-not-be-named.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a very important installment in the series. There is a lot of important background information on Lord Voldemort (a.k.a. Tom Marvolo Riddle) but also around events that led up to the death of Harry’s parents. This is very crucial and interesting information, but because of this, readers will find less action than previous books until the later chapters. Towards the end there are some amazingly important and breath-taking fights, duels, action sequences, etc, but even with all of the answer giving throughout the entire book, the end still leaves you questioning the future for Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Thankfully, the majority of this book’s final actions can be explained in the next audio book I plan on listening to (after I get it back from my dad) which has a good combination of information and action found in previous books. I like where the characters are in this book, even though some readers think there is too much teenage drama. May I remind readers that they are finally 16 and allowed to have crushes and drama? And what does any of it matter when you have the wonderful voices of Jim Dale filling your ears and taking you away to Hogwarts. I can’t wait for him to take me away in the final novel.

Harry Potter. Enough recommendation said. If you haven’t read it already, get on that loser!

“A good book is the best of friends, the same today and forever.”
- Martin Tupper

Matilda

Matilda, by Roald Dahl

I am in love with this story, but believe it or not, this is the first time I have ever actually read it myself. When I was younger, my mother made it a mission one summer to go to the library and pick out books she would read to my sister and I. Matilda is the only one of those books I remember her reading to us. I have kept that memory alive thanks to Danny DeVito and his movie version of this classic, but reading this again felt amazing.

Matilda was never really treated like the favorite child or even a well-loved child. She was constantly left alone to do things for herself since she was an infant. Her father was a used car salesman, her brother went to school, and her mother went to play Bingo several times during the week. Now alone, Matilda was able to become self-reliant. She taught herself how to do everything, including how to read. This girl could read at the age of 5! After having read everything in the house, Matilda decided to travel to the library where Mrs. Phelps the librarian helped her newfound love of the written work grow. Matilda was never appreciated and therefore decided that whenever her parents did something awful to her, it was only right that she pay them back. From sneaking in a talking parrot and convincing her family it was a ghost to bleaching her father’s hair and even super-gluing his hat to his head. Finally, it was decided that Matilda should go to school at Crunchem Hall. Her teacher Miss Honey was nice enough and found an interest in Matilda and her mind from day one, however the headmistress Miss Trunchbull believed the opposite, that all children are warts. Miss Trunchbull locked children in the Chokey, made them eat huge amounts of cake (you wouldn’t think this was mean, but it was), and even through children out of windows or over fences by their hair. Matilda excelled on her own in class with a little independent guidance from Miss Honey, but it wasn’t until the first time Miss Trunchbull was assigned to take over the class that she realized her full potential. Tipping over Miss Trunchbull’s newt-filled water glass with her eyes was “the first miracle.” Able to reproduce the experience with Miss Honey in private, they both agreed it was best that no one find out. After Miss Honey confesses the story of her childhood, Matilda decides to use her power for good in order to help the one person who has truly cared for her.

Looking back, I am not sure that I fully remember understanding everything during my first encounter with this text. Reading it again, I found an awful lot of British vocabulary that I’m sure must have gone completely over my head as a child. Nevertheless, this is a fantastically amusing story about believing in yourself and reaching your full potential. The illustrations by Quentin Blake are wonderful and bring you so much deeper into the story. I like the reasoning behind how Matilda gains her powers and then loses them, something that is in the novel but not in the movie, so you will have to read this great novel to find out.

This book is a must-read for everyone. Even if you have already seen Mara Wilson work her magic in the movie, nothing can compare to the novel. I don’t know anyone who says, “Matilda, ugh I hate that story.” No one. So if you do not know this novel or if it has just been a while, please read it. Whether it is for the first, second or thirtieth time, reading this book will remind you of your love for reading and the power reading novels can hold and will definitely inspire you to continue reading. (And if you need any suggestions, you are already at the right place!)

I think this following quote is completely perfect for this review that will be dedicated to my mother...
“Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.”
- Emilie Buchwald

And for your enjoyment/a trip down memory lane: