Holy Hallowed Horcrux Harry! What a ripper...

First hint here that I was actually reading the final installment in the Harry Potter series. Done on purpose, of course; I kept it very quiet that I was reading the book because I was sure, absolutely postive, that if anyone knew I was reading the book they would try to spoil it. And someone did try, and I read the book with that in mind, but I'm happy to say that they were way off the mark.

Before we go into my thoughts - two things. My daughter, Vanessa, who has never read the books, but has seen the movies (and wants to know all the details when I finish a book) was quite amazed that the illustration on the cover jacket did not resemble the actors who play the characters in the movies. I totally understand why the illustrations don't resemble them, but with the popularity of the movies, they probably could have resembled Daniel Radcliff et al a bit more. I also read parts of the book and could very easily picture how they would look on screen - spectacular - I wonder if Ms Rowling wrote the chapters with this in mind.

Warning! There may be spoilers here. If you don't want to know, then close this page immediately (in the vein of Lemony Snickett and the Series of Unfortunate Events).

Ms JK Rowling has again reeled off a wonderful story, taking her readers on a journey of discovery - help your friends no matter what, don't be too cocky in the way you handle things, and that doing what's right, honest and brave in the end will always get you through.

Hogwarts, so much a mystical magical part of the series, sadly does not feature in the book until towards the end, but when it does feature, it does so magnificantly, with Professor McGonnagal, Kingsley, Lupin, Tonks and the DA (Dumbledore's Army for those of you who have forgotten, headed valiantly by Neville Longbottom) and a host of your favourite characters coming into the fray at Hogwarts in an effort to dispel Voldemort forever.

I never thought I would see the word "bitch" published in a Harry Potter book, but hey... go Mrs Weaseley! Lioness protecting her cubs - what a woman!

RIP Severus Snape. Well, we saw in the previous installment, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, that Snape had been up to no good all along... ah, but is this the case? And does that quite nicely thwart Lord Voldemort in the end? Perhaps Snape had not been telling everything to young Harry, about Snape and his friendship with his mother, Lily, and how long they had known each other... But I won't be spoiling this... you have to read it... the enjoyment is too much.

Dumbledore, happily, gets a bit of a magical airing. Also, one of the Malfoys, probably not through concern for Potter but for one of the Malfoy family, finally manages to gain some... well not sympathy, but good feelings definitely, from the readers.

Yes, some people die. But I like the afterword that Rowling puts into the book. The last line is very sort of 1920s writing; sort of an old fashioned, Anne of Green Gables way to finish to the book, but absolutely right in this case.

And I think that the afterword has given the author a way of presenting another series of Potter books if she has it in her; done on purpose I think, and very clever of Ms Rowling.

I hear that Ms Rowling is working on two books at present; one for children and one for adults. I understand that this is the same situation she was in when she decided to channel her energy into the Harry Potter series.

All I can say is, Salute! Ms Rowling. I like people who set themselves a goal (seven books in the series) and see it through until the end. Such a wonderful series of books and I hope that I have not seen the end of you as an author.

The book draws together many threads, and throws in some new ones, and is a quite nice ending for her readers who have spent a good period of their lives (ten years or more) living with Harry Potter.

Decisions, decisions

It's been quite a while since I returned here. The blog was created as a uni requirement, in order to have us students, studying Professional Writing, to have somewhere to write every day and try to become disciplined in our quest for our futures as authors of something... anything.

It seems I was waylayed somewhere. While I did attain my uni degree, somewhere along the line I ended up as an editor for an investment bank, and now, rather than writing, I'm reading what other people are writing and proof it and tidy it up (you know, make it read a bit better and also ensure that it's not subject to litigation!).

So... I have decided that I must try to get back to practising my writing a bit more. I really like it but as everyone knows, there never seems to be enough time in a day to do everything.

I have decided to combine my love of reading and need of writing practise and will turn this blog into a book review site...

... but alas, not tonight.

Favourite books that come to mind for reviews are The Chosen One, by Kathleen McGowan. Actually, if this comes off, you'll probably see a fair bit of Da Vinci Code type book reviews and I am well known in my family for devouring books about Knights Templar. There's also Traci Harding, a great Australian author who writes wonderful sci-fi trilogies (c'mon Traci, we're dying for the third book in the Isis series, and The Masters of Reality series was divine - really miss reading about Tori and her family!)

Also, I don't mind a good biography every now and then. Latest autobio that I read was Jacqueline Pascarl's story about her fight to regain custody of her children from her ex husband, a Malaysian prince. The story evolved from her writing a diary for her children after they were kidnapped so they would have some sense of her life and her quest to regain contact with her children, and the sequel, in the end a happy outcome when her children (through the Internet) were able to contact her. The story is told from the heart - it is not written at all in a way that anyone would think Ms Pascarl was trying to elicit sympathy from the pubic - far from it. One thing that struck me about Ms Pascarl is that the only member of her entire family as a child who was Asian was her father. Apart from that her family was First Fleet, Aussie to the core. But because of her appearance, everyone looked upon her as Asian. Brings to mind something about not judging a book by its cover. Then there is her time with CARE Australia - truly an inspirational read.

One other, is Mao's Last Dancer by Li Cunxin. This was a Christmas present to myself (yes, I always wrap myself several books under the tree!). I was mesmerised by the story of a young Chinese boy chosen to dance for Madam Mao's ballet troupe who turned out to be one of the most talented dancers to come from China and his story of defecting from the country and his new life in the US and Australia. I got through the book in about three days. Towards the end of the book I had the strangest thought - what would I do if I ever met the man in the reception of my workplace - remember, an investment bank. I turned the page to find out that upon his retirement from the Australian Ballet Company he studied financial markets (the same course I am doing) and is now working on the Asian Sales Desk for a bank here in Melbourne. It was astounding. What was more astounding is that he was invited as a speaker to the calisthenics body that I belong to! Such an amazing speaker... and the speaking came about because his wife (a beautiful dancer also with the Australian ballet) decided that after Li telling his story over and over again to friends at dinner tables, that the story needed to be written down for everyone to know - I think Li said that his wife was sick of him telling his life story to anyone who would listen and please just write it down. Thank you Mrs Cunxin! Needless to say I was first in line with my copy of the book to have it signed by him... And at the calisthenics meeting I told him that I worked for an investment bank and that I was doing the same studies he had done... and then he asked me "What are you doing here?". That old love of calisthenics came through to the fore... I have a life but deep down this calisthenics stuff keeps you coming back - but that's another story...

So, let's see what transpires here and whether I actually manaage to post some book reviews.

I have a feeling I will... stay tuned...