Book Haven

I don�t think I need to say I absolutely loved book 5 of Harry Potter (and the Order of the Phoenix). I have to admit I didn�t like it as much as I did the fourth book (Goblet of Fire), which is still my favorite of all the books in HP series. I just finished reading it last week (whoo� that�s one long book). Like all the others, JK Rowling has managed to insert revelations without them looking out of place, I admire the �continuity� and her ability to look at the whole picture. During the first few chapters, I felt the story kind of dragged. I couldn�t really understand why the chapter felt the need to expound on Harry�s stay with the Dursleys. Another thing I found kind of hard to swallow was how Hogwarts was suddenly under �martial law�. There were a lot of decrees made overnight by the Ministry of Magic, and it was hard to believe Umbridge (Dolores Umbridge was undersecretary to the Minister of Magic and was assigned to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts without letting the students practice the spells!) got away with a lot of things which couldn�t have happened in the real world. It�s like she�s acting like god and there�s nothing anybody can do (even the professors). So it was really frustrating. The book is really sad, although there are still a lot of amusing parts in there. The last objection I can find in the book is the great tragedy in the end. I couldn�t believe JK Rowling did that, and though she may have her reasons I still don�t like what happened. But over-all I also liked book 5. There were a lot (and I mean a lot) of new things happening, secrets revealed, more fascinating objects, spells, everything. Before I go on and on, here is a little summary. Book 5 is about the Order of the Phoenix, founded by Dumbledore, and exists primarily to fight Voldemort. There were a lot of new characters introduced at this point (who were part of the Order. Among them are Lupin, Mad-Eye, Sirius, and Mr and Mrs. Weasley), and I can�t recall most of them so you�ve to read it for yourself. Since the Ministry of Magic didn�t acknowledge what Dumbledore said about he-who-must-not be named as the truth (in fact they were in vehement denial), they did everything in their power to discredit Dumbledore. So now Dumbledore has to go against the law to fight for good. At this point, Harry is a typical teen-ager who suffers from teen-age angst; he was too irritable and temperamental. Sometimes, I didn�t really like how he�s acting, but in a way I also understand. Sirius is of course frustrated since he couldn�t do anything useful to help (remember he�s still a fugitive). Hermione and Ron are much the same except they were turned into prefects. Oh, and OWLs are coming up so expect a lot of stress. Snape is being his usual evil self to Harry. This book is definitely starting to get serious� and some parts were poignant, can�t wait for the next one (hope it doesn�t take 4 years to be released)

This is the last book I've read and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Wasn't expecting much of it because break-up novels are usually sad right? (hello! break-up nga e). Anyways, I was surprised to find that it was quite good. It's a contemporary feel good novel (you know the feeling when you see light movies, and it makes you feel good?). Basically about Monica, a 23-year old barista who was dumped by her boyfriend (Itos) of 1 year. She was then hired on as a intern at a magazine publishing company after being "at the right place and at the right time". Filipino writers who write English contemporary novels are really sparse, so I think this is a move in the right direction. Especially since most authors we have write tagalog pocketbooks (with lost of wrong grammar in the few english words they inserted) or write really serious books.

In a book by John Grisham about lawyers, the last thing I expected to find was God. As this is the first time I read J. Grisham�s work, I didn�t really know what to expect. Also, I�ve wanted to expand my horizons for some time now, so to speak, and go beyond the usual romantic novels I read. For a short summary, an embittered old man left his fortune (estimated at 11 Billion dollars) not to any of his six recognized heirs, but to an unknown illegitimate daughter named Rachel Lane. Rachel was a missionary living deep within Brazil. Assigned to find her is Nate O�Riley, a lawyer fresh out of rehab. Right from the start, the novel comes alive beneath your eyes. Everything was described realistically, from the bastard billionaire who sampled everything life has to offer, from women to highly expensive �toys� (yacht, jet, you name it), and yet whose family was less than exemplary and was in �discord� to put it mildly. Moving on, Nate seemed a likeable enough guys, but I was really disgusted at what a loser he was. Basically he was a cocaine addict and an alcoholic to boot. He�s been to rehab four times, and crashed every time he goes out. Even when he was on his way to find the controversial heiress, he got roaring drunk. But as the story progressed, I came to understand if only a little how hard life was for him. And as I said during the first part, Nate�s return to his faith was very poignant. Again, God is someone who has always been there and only waits for us to ask Him and He will come. The way he regained his faith was not corny or something totally fairy-taleish. Instead, you�ll come to appreciate how a once broken man slowly turned his life around and made it into something meaningful. Also, the adventures to be had in this book are simply astounding. Feels like civilization was left behind in the states, and you returned to the stone age. Even electricity did not exist. Indian tribes were abound, all sticking by their tradition without any regret (after all you won�t miss what you don�t have). Anyway, the way of life was something entirely different, and it gave me a bit of an eye-opener. As I am always wondering how it would be like to go to other countries, be somewhere you�ve never been before, I found this book highly interesting. There are places described that sounded savage, or dangerous, but still there is beauty that can be found (think of rainforests with alligators and all sorts of species you can imagine, but without the tour guide and a whole lot of storms to rock your boat). I love this one, and I hope to read more of John Grisham�s works.