Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

I didn't "do" the Harry Potter books until quite recently. Within the past two years, to be precise. I tried to read the first one when I was younger but could not get into it. I regret shunning them for as long as I did. And I regret shunning the movies, as well. I know I'm a late fan and do not wish to label myself a "Harry Potter Nerd" because I feel that label belongs only to people who have been around Harry since the beginning (or at least close to it).

I'm a Junior Nerd.

I re-read the series (well all but two) a few months after completing it the first time around in preparation of the sixth movie, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Later that year, for my birthday, my mother bought me the entire series and so I decided to read them again. I'm in no rush currently and tend to just pick them up when I need some light, entertaining reading.

This book was one of the two I didn't re-read my second go through so this was only my second time reading it. The first time, I loved it and flew it so quickly. This time...I was almost bored. I cannot take the whiney-ness that is Harry in this one. I didn't like it the first time around but the story was so captivating that I was able to just put that aside. This second time, though, it was all that I seemed to notice.

While I didn't enjoy it that much the second time around, I do rate this one rather high on my list. Number 3 or 4 out of the 7, most definitely.

Julie and Julia by Julie Powell

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

This is a book that one is led to believe is solely about a project taken on by the author, Julie Powell. But once the novel begins, the reader is taken on a ride a whole lot farther than he or she probably wants to go.

Julie is about to turn 30 and feeling like she hasn't accomplished much -- if anything -- in her life. And so she sets up this project: In one year's time, she is going to complete the 524 recipes written out by Julia Child in her first cookbook, Mastering The Art of French Cooking. What was originally started out as a blog became a book which then became a movie. 

I had no interest in reading the book or viewing this movie until earlier this year. The movie kept coming up in conversations with friends and teachers and when I learned it was to be a future book club read, I went ahead and watched the movie via Netflix when I had nothing better to do.

The movie was better. And the only reason this truly bothers me is because this book had such great potential!

The parts that were strictly Project related were great. I devoured those parts, loving to read about the recipe as Julia has written while also reading about the recipe as Julie perceived and performed it. The mishaps, the challenges, the wins, the losses. All of that was wonderfully interesting.

The other parts, though, those I could have dealt without. The parts about her family, the parts about her job, the parts about her friends: the one deciding whether or not it was okay to have an affair, the one deciding whether or not she wanted a divorce, the friend who took for-effin'-ever to pick up a couch.

Seriously: Did not care for and still do not care for. Maybe these parts helped in being able to know who was who later when friends started to come over to eat closer to the end of the project. This is the only reason I can account for telling us their lives. I felt as if I were peaking in on things I had no part of.

Aside from those parts, I found this book enjoyable. Some days her writing style irked me, and I honestly have no idea if this is related to her actual writing style or my mood for that day. And reading the book really added an aspect to the movie for me and made me like it more.

I want to give this book 2 stars but I give it the extra one for the chapter about the lobster (my favorite chapter, hands down) and the last couple of chapters. They really saved the book in my eyes.

Paper Towns by John Green

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

This is a novel about two teens, Quentin "Q" Jacobsen and Margo Roth Spiegelman. They've known each other since they were children and Q is rather in love with this Margo who he has known for so long, yet knows nothing about. 

Although neighbors and almost lifetime aquaintances, Q and Margo never really hung out. Until one night when Margo appears at Q's window and takes him on a night of adventure full of revenge that Q will never forget. Upon parting each other, Q is left with the hope that they can finally be real friends. But the next day, Margo isn't at school. Or the next. Or the next. Margo disappearing was not anything new -- she was a very adventurous person who has many stories of just leaving. But her disappearance left Q uneasy. Why would she spend that night with him and not tell him she planned on leaving? Although she was adventerous, she didn't just up and leave. She made plans. She always leaves a trail.

This time, she left a trail for Q to follow.

Q enrolls his friends Radar and Ben and together, they try to piece together the clues. Q believes that Margo wanted to be found especially by him. And this thought left him with so much hope. So much hope.

This was my first book by John Green though I've heard good things about his other novel, Looking for Alaska (review soon). I found this to be incredibly interesting and it kept me captivated page after page. It was a very fast read and I'm rather certain I will read it again in the future -- and I'm not usually one to re-read books.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

This is a story about Susie Salmon, a 14 year old girl who one day takes a short cut home only to be lured into a secret place (built by a neighbor), raped and then murdered. This is what we learn in the beginning. The rest of the novel shows us what happens after her death -- in her "life" and those of hers around here.

Susie is stuck in what is coined as the "inbetween", coined justly due to the fact that it is in between earth and heaven. Some of the novel tells us what happens to Susie while in the inbetween. She describes the world in which she now lives, the people she meets, how she is able to get whatever she could ever want. The other part is informing us what happens to her friends and to her family after her passing. She even keeps us updated on the life of her killer.

This was an amazingly touching and moving story. When I first started it, I found myself not wanting to put it down. But (without discussing specific events) I lost interest. I found myself forcing my way through some of the chapters. Some of the things were just too...odd to be believed. Some of the things were just too much to read. 

Overall, though, I found the story to be interesting, just too long. Too much padding almost yet not enough information at the exact same time.

I did go see the movie directed by Peter Jackson. And I must say I did not find it enjoyable. He made quite a few changes -- understandably -- but I found it not making sense. And a lot of the relationships that developed that were such a big deal in the novel were either nonexistent or barely touched upon. And honestly, the parts about the building relationships were what I found so interesting.