My experience

I first read the Harry Potter book series way back in college. Actually, I just borrowed it from a friend (Hi, Lordy). She's also the person who introduced me to this book series. And I as a book lover, it is so hard to stop when I started reading. 'Coz All i want is to finish the book right away. But it took me a week for every book to finish (i need to study also :p)....
At that time, i can't afford to buy this book for myself but once I have the means (money), I will surely buy all the books I loved, and I will start to collect books.
This book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was the first book I bought from my first salary... :-) Then afterward, the book 1-5 of Harry Potter.

Anyway....again, Rowling did a job well done in this Harry Potter series. In her last series which is Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the actions is almost heart stopping but this series of Rowling is truly a heart stopping. Especially the death of Albus Dumbledore.

This book really captured my full attention and it was hard to stop.

This are my favorite parts in the book.

* The Half-Blood Prince book issue...I was really intrigued by the person behind the Half-Blood Prince. It crossed my mind that the owner of the book is a Dark wizard because of the dangerous spells and potions embedded in the book. But it didn't crossed my mind that it was Severus Snape. It's like, ows? the owner of the book is Snape?? and his a half-wizard and half-muggle...

* and wew, Harry used the most dangerous spell to Malfoy..(serves him right in trying to hurt Harry first)

* another one is the journey of Dumbledore and Harry through the Pensieve. Because this journey shows the past of Voldemort..How Voldemort turned into a powerful Dark wizard.

* and also Harry's romance..not toward Cho Chang but towards Ginny Wesley (Ron's sister). yes, at last he sees Ginny as a lady not a little sister. of course there's Ron and Hermione's romance...

* their encounter with third Horcruxes. The sacrifice Dumbledore made, results of him being weak..

* and last, the fight between the Death Eater and Dumledore (Hogwarts). While Harry in his invisibility cloak, Dumbledore face Draco. But because Draco can't kill Dumbledore (he has still conscience, to my surprise) Snape immediately take the responsibility of killing Dumbledore. Yes, in front of Harry, Snape kill Dumbledore.

After that scene, I really can't accept the fact that Dumbledore is dead. Is he really dead? I wish it was a only a joke, a trick. That after that, I will be surprised that Dumbledore is still alive. But I already finished the book without him being alive again.
So, I waited for the seventh or the last book to know my answer. And there in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, all the questions that is hanging in my mind was answered.
So grab the book and start reading..have fun!!!

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

Image by Google.com

As the 6th year of Harry Potter begun in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, an old book of Advance potions was found by Harry that gives a helpful potion tips and spells, and also contains a extremely dangerous spell. The book is property of the so-called Half Blood Prince. Horace Slughorn as their new potion teacher. While Snape (old potion teacher) is now the new Defense Against Dark Arts teacher.

The book helps Harry on all his activity in potion class. Though Hermione disagrees on him of using the book. She thinks that the book is owned by a dark wizard. They even search the name on the library but they can't find anything about the Half Blood Prince. But eventually, they will discover who is the Half Blood Prince. That the Half Blood refers to being a muggle and the Prince part refers to his mother's maiden name.

At the that instance, Harry started to feel something romantic towards Ginny Weasley (Ron's sister). Ron goes out with Lavender Brown, and Hermione gets very jealous. They fight a lot, but only because they like each other.

Dumbledore and Harry explore Voldemort's past through Dumbledore's pensive (a collection of Dumbledore's memory). They also learned about the seven Horcruxes, which is the division of Voldemort's soul. They made him immortal until such time that all of them are distroyed. Two of his soul was destroyed, including the one in Voldemort. They tried to get rid of another one but the aftermath leaves Dumbledore weak.

While Harry learned all of this, his suspicious about Draco Malfoy as Death Eater has been right. Because Draco manages to sneak Death Eaters into Hogwarts using a pair of vanishing cabinets in the room of requirements. It is well planned. And Draco's main job was to kill Dumbledore. Dumbledore being weak after their encounter in one of Voldemort's Horcrux, was easily captured by the Death Eater while Harry is being hidden in the invisible cloak. Snape turns up after Draco cannot kill Dumbledore and afterward kills Dumbledore. Draco, Snape, and the Death Eaters escape afterwards.


The death of Dumbledore resulted in Hogwarts of probably going to be closed. But Harry announces he won't be returning anyway; he will attempt to finish the work he and Dumbledore started, destroying Horcruxes so Voldemort can be destroyed.

Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince will be shown on July 17, 2009.

J. K. Rowling - Harry Potter Book Series (1-7)

About the Author

Joanne Rowling was born in Yate, near Bristol, a few miles south of a town called Dursley ("Harry Potter"'s Muggle-family). Her father Peter Rowling was an engineer for Rolls Royce in Bristol at this time. Her mother, Anne, was half-French and half-Scottish. They met on a train as it left King's Cross Station in London. Her sister Diana is about 2 years younger than Joanne. In 1971, Peter Rowling moved his family to the nearby village of Winterbourne (still in the Bristol vicinity). During the family's residence in Winterbourne, Jo and Di Rowling were friends with neighborhood children, Ian and Vikki Potter. In 1974, the Rowling family moved yet again, this time to Tutshill, near the Welsh border-town of Chepstow in the Forest of Dean and across the Severn River from the greater Bristol area. Rowling admits to having been a bit of a daydreamer as a child and began writing stories at the age of six. After leaving Exeter University, where she read French and Classics, she started work as a teacher but daydreamed about becoming a writer. One day, stuck on a delayed train for four hours between Manchester and London, she dreamed up a boy called "Harry Potter". That was in 1990. It took her six years to write the book. In the meantime, she went to teach in Portugal, married a Portuguese television journalist, had her daughter, Jessica, divorced her husband and returned to Britain when Jessica was just three months old. She went to live in Edinburgh to be near her sister, Di. Her sudden penury made her realize that it was "back-against-the-wall time" and she decided to finish her "Harry Potter" book. She sent the manuscript to two agents and one publisher, looking up likely prospects in the library. One of these agents that she picked at random based on the fact that she liked his name, Christopher Little, was immediately captivated by the manuscript and signed her on as his client within three days. During the 1995-1996 time-frame, while hoping to get the manuscript for "Harry Potter & The Philosopher's Stone" published, Rowling worked as a French teacher in Edinburgh. Several publishers turned down the manuscript before Bloomsbury agreed to purchase it in 1996.

*from imdb.com

Hello, Darkness

Sandra Brown, one of the world's bestselling author of sophisticated suspense, raises the stakes with her startlingly vivid new novel---a supercharged thriller electric with sexual tension.

Since moving to Austin to ease the pain of tragic mistakes, Paris Gibson has led a life of virtual isolation, coming alive only at night when she host her popular radio show. Then one listener -- who identifies him as "Valentino" --tells Paris that the girl he loves jilted him because of Paris's on-air advice. He intends to exact revenge by killing the girl and them coming after Paris. In a race against time, Paris is thrust back into the public eye and allied with the police --including crime psychologist Dean MAlloy, the very man she had mmoved to Austin to avoid. Desperate to stop the sinister Valentino from carrying out his terrible threats, Paris must also confront her own demons....




(from the book itself)

The Tales of Beedle the Bard

The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a Wizarding classic, first came to Muggle readers’ attention in the book known as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Now, thanks to Hermione Granger’s new translation from the ancient runes, we present this stunning edition with an introduction, notes, and illustrations by J. K. Rowling, and extensive commentary by Albus Dumbledore. Never before have Muggles been privy to these richly imaginative tales: “The Wizard and the Hopping Pot,” “The Fountain of Fair Fortune,” “The Warlock’s Hairy Heart,” “Babbitty Rabbitty and Her Cackling Stump,” and of course, “The Tale of the Three Brothers.” But not only are they the equal of fairy tales we now know and love, reading them gives new insight into the world of Harry Potter.

------I am currently reading this book..

*from scholastics.com
**picture from Amazon.com