Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

The Harry Potter read through continues! I have just finished the last of the books I had not previously read. I will still be re-reading the seventh though as I promised my husband I would read them all and I also enjoy that book.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince surprised me. It has never been my favorite film, as it is so dark. Yet it is my husband's favorite book from the series. So I entered it with an open mind and actually loved it. I don't know if it beats out #3 but I do think I enjoyed it more than #4. Oddly, the book seemed less dark than the film, at least until the end. I don't know. I just loved it! I read this book really fast and stayed up late last night to finish it. And once again I am in awe of the layered writing of J.K. Rowling. She continues to open her world a little more with each book and this one took me to the communication between the Muggle and Magic Ministers. This was not only very neat but also gave me that "oh shit" moment. Voldemort is BACK guys.

Even though I agree that Harry should not have been "cheating" in Slughorn's class, I do love the Half-Blood Prince potions book and all that it allows the reader to learn about the Wizarding world.
I enjoyed seeing a vulnerable side of Malfoy for once. I will always believe he is more a victim of bad parenting than inherent bad traits. The Pensieve is one of my all-time favorite things about the Harry Potter world and so of course I enjoyed all of the lessons with Dumbledore in which the two dive into memories. As these lessons are also what finally reveal Voldemort's story, I enjoyed that as well. I think villains are fascinating and learning their origin stories reveals so much. Plus, horcruxes.


Tonks is one of my favorite characters and I liked seeing more of her in this book. Although not nearly enough. It was because of her that I learned how and why Patronuses can change. (Side note: Her and Lupin are the cutest couple.) Speaking of couples, I do hate how in the midst of all the shit going on everyone in this book starts hooking up. I know that its an age think and Rowling was just trying to remind the reader that these people are still kids, but it just seemed to fill a lot of empty space. And I'll never understand the Ron and Hermione thing. This is the crux of my issue with this series, that it is at its heart, for kids. There are so many neat things and details that could be expanded on, especially if the books were written with the detail of something like The Lord of the Rings, but she doesn't do that. Granted, her writing is so superb that anyone can enjoy the books, but I just crave the rich details of this world!! Maybe that is why everyone is so obsessed with this series though??

Last but not least, Dumbledore. He has been an interesting guy from the beginning and no doubt a great wizard, but, I don't like him. I know this is such an unpopular opinion, don't hate me. I just don't understand why he cares about Harry the way he does and I think he allows Harry to get away with things he shouldn't. Dumbledore also seems more conceited than wise and I feel that in a way he is selfish. I really struggled this book with Dumbledore. And while I know his death is sad for many people and strengthens Voldemort....I don't really care. So before you yell at me I ask that you help me. Explain to me why Dumbledore is so beloved. Do it in a comment. Send me a message. Because I want to understand, I do.

Overall, this was a beautiful book. I enjoyed it immensely and I am diving straight into the seventh book once I finish this post. Definitely a favorite and I cannot believe it took me so long to actually read Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

Bossypants by Tina Fey

I only decided to read Bossypants to fulfill the category of "Book by a Comedian" in the book challenge I am doing with my husband. I have always enjoyed Tina Fey's work, (who doesn't?), and since Bossypants is short I thought it would be the perfect book. I am happy to say that I was right.

This book is part autobiography and part guide to being Tina Fey, sort of. She includes pictures for context from various points in her life and a lot of her tips having to do with being a boss in a world mostly full of men. Tina does not disappoint and gives plenty of laughs throughout. I often laughed out loud and then had to reread passages to my husband because of how funny I found them. I don't know if I can even pick a favorite funny part! She has the talent of not only being funny on a screen, but also on the page. This probably has to do with the fact that first and foremost Tina Fey is a comedy writer, which I was unaware of until reading her book. This style of writing also allows her to be candid in a way that does not feel uncomfortable because she is able to laugh at herself.

Tina intersperses personal chapters with anecdotal or random chapters, which makes the book feel inconsistent but also lends the book its charm. Some of my favorite random chapters are: "The Secrets of Mommy's Beauty" and "I Don't Care if You Like It".
The overall theme of many of these chapters is just to be who you are, unapologetically, because that is what Tina did and now her life is awesome. In "The Secrets of Mommy's Beauty" Tina lists 12 secrets for how to be beautiful. My favorites are #9) When it Comes to Fashion, Find What Works for You and Stick with It, and #12) The Most Important Rule of Beauty, which is, "Who cares?".

Bossypants is not all laughs and glamour though, there is some really serious stuff nestled between its pages. Tina writes a lot about her struggles both in and out of the comedy world with sexism. She begins these struggles as a young woman and tells of the time she knew she was a grown woman when someone yelled something nasty at her, saying that this is the moment most women know they are grown. (I can attest that this is true in some respect. I first had someone yell something gross at me when I was 16. Even though I had felt grown up before then, what 16 year old doesn't, I knew that now the world saw me as one.) Tina recounts a time that a director told her that three girls in a scene was too many and later goes on to talk about a scene she was in with three girls (I know what you are thinking but not in that way). And of course she talks about creating her own television show "30 Rock" and what it meant to be the boss of so many people. There are other moments as well but these in particular really stuck with me. I think a woman like her in comedy is just what we need to start changing the sexism so inherent in that scene. One of the best ways to start making change is just to tell you story, which is exactly what this book is.

Tina touches on other elements of sexism such as competition between girls, photoshop, ageism surrounding older women in comedy (and by older she means 40), motherhood and working, judgemental mothers, and so much more. I don't want to give it all away because then you would not read the book and you should read the book!

A couple more of my favorite moments are her story about her honeymoon in the chapter aptly titled, "My Honeymoon, or A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again Either"; and her story about impersonating Sarah Palin on SNL which is told in the chapter, "Sarah, Oprah, and Captain Hook, or How to Succeed by Sort of Looking Like Someone".

The only complaint I have is that this book is too short! I felt as though the end was just there. It ended in a non-satisfying way and I was left wanting more. But I don't know if that is really a complaint, more of a compliment.

Overall, I highly recommend Bossypants. If you love Tina Fey, you'll love it. If you are a feminist, you'll love it. If you like laughing, you'll love it. Tina Fey is a wonderful writer. I finished the book and started watching "30 Rock" on Netflix. I now want to rewatch "Mean Girls" and seek out any and everything else she has done. She is brilliant and I cannot wait to see what she does next.

Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling

This is one of two Harry Potter books I've never read any part of. (Until recently I had only read small parts of the fourth book and I have no yet read the sixth book at all). You can look at some of my previous Potter posts to learn more of my story with these books, but today I am just going to remind you that I am reading the whole series for my husband who is a Harry Potter fanatic.

It took me a long time to begin this book. I finished the fourth novel back in May and did not start this one until the beginning of July. Then it took me the entire month to finish. I read it in pieces as I finished other books and only just sat to work through the remaining two-hundred pages. I think it took me some time to really dive into this book because it is the beginning of truly dark times in the wizarding world. What with my recent life experiences and struggles with anxiety, dark books can only be read at certain times. Once I was able to sit and dive into this story, I was not impressed. the first two or three hundred pages seemed to drag on and on and on. And through most of this book Harry is just whining and being angsty about life. Yeah, he has had some shit happen to him, but that doesn't give him the right to be rude to everyone around him. Reading that mindset was not fun nor did it make me want to know what happened next, unless whatever happened next was going to get Harry to STFU. Plus I am forever angry that Sirius died. So, I struggled, but I finally finished.

I will say that I enjoyed the continued progression Rowling makes into the wizarding world as this book focused a lot on the Ministry of Magic and St. Mungo's Hospital. She is a fantastic storyteller. I enjoyed the bits about occlumency the very best, as well as the scenes where I learned more about Snape. I loved Firenze becoming a teacher and the way he set up the classroom. Umbridge is and forever will be one of my favorite characters for the sheer fact that she is so ridiculously evil it is entertaining. The scene where Fred and George leave school is legendary.

Overall, Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix was an okay book. Out of the five I have read so far it is tied with The Chamber of Secrets for being my least favorite. (The Chamber of Secrets might even be better just because it is shorter). In context of the series it is an important book, just not the best one. The interesting thing is that many people claim this as their favorite. If you are one of these people, I would love to know why that is so that I can see this book from a new perspective. Until then, it is not one I plan to return to. I am still enjoying the series though! So stay tuned for my reviews on the final two books.