After Harry

I finished reading "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" and immediately had to re read "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". I think this last one is my favorite book of the whole series and the "movie" in my head was full of excitement and action from the very first page. JK Rowling is amazing in the detail she has woven together from the past with current twists and turns in this last epic. It encompasses many emotions; fear, shock, sadness and, of course, elation. Everyone over Grade 4 should read it and re read it.

So now I can get back to the new "stuff" I still have sitting on my coffee table. The pile does not seem to be getting much smaller! However I am enjoying every book I pick up to read. First one "after Harry" I read is titled "Eleven" by Patricia Reilly Giff. The plot is not intricate at all but it does build in a little suspense and demonstrates the value of true friendship. When Sam is on the hunt for his birthday presents he discovers a newspaper clipping about a missing boy - him. He becomes worried that his grandfather is not his real family and he will be taken away from the only home he has known. He makes a new friend who helps him try to figure out what happened in his past. A good read for middle readers.

"The Castle Corona" by Sharon Creech is a very sweet and beautifully written fairy tale type book about a royal family, rich and spoiled and two peasant children, plucky and proud, and how their lives come together. There is a thief or maybe not, there is a pouch full of wonderful contents, there is a hermit who is wise and knowing. A lovely story that I thoroughly enjoyed reading.

What are you reading?