Reading The Half Blood Prince left me on tenterhooks.  The book ended on a precipice that leaves you trying to grapple with some shocking circumstances – Dumbledore’s death, Snape’s debatable betrayal of the Order – and, at the same time, guessing at the events that will take shape with the clues and hints that Rowling has sprinkled throughout the book. (Came across some plausible scenarios, and not too badly written, by fans while nursing a withdrawal after finishing HBP).

For example, the remaining four horcruxes and their hiding places, the fate of Hogwarts, and whether the students will return to Hogwarts, as well as who else will be sacrificed in the battle against darkness. IMO, all the clues point to the inevitability of Harry having to return to Hogwarts even when he has declared that he won’t in the last page. Dumbledore has already hinted on several occasions that Voldemort is trying to either get back or gain something from the school.

Last night’s theme was Jazz, and my absolute fave, Mathilda ‘saved the show’, according to idol judge and prolific singer/ songwriter/ stage actor producer Dick Lee. She’s the only one who understood what the genre means and demands, and gave all she had to deliver her performance perfectly.

Eschewing the usual Ella, Natalie and other lady jazz singers, she picked A New Dawn (Michael Buble’s version) and turned it into her own, with expressive eyes and brows, and her signature three finger taps just above her heart, she conquered the judges. Although two of the judges thought she was a little over dramatic, which I totally disagree. I felt she was just being expressive and expansive in her vocals. At the end of the day, it’s the audience who’ll vote with phone calls and text messages.

I’ve decided to dedicate Wednesdays to web watching, so continuing from where I left off, these are my WebWatching Wednesday (WWW in future) eye catchers.

BookMinx Samantha 

I like the girl in Sam’s blog banner. She’s twirling her hair and reading in what seems to be very comfortable lounge wear that looks perfect for the boudoir. The other thing I like is her very clear rating system – wish I’d thought of that. You can always tell what Sam’s reading from her sidebar, and her varied taste in books make for interesting reading. I also like the way she organises her reviews very neatly with sub-headers — another thing I could learn from her.  I read most of the genres she posts on, except Horror (have no stomach for that), so I try to check her opinions on other non romance books every now and then.

If GOF was enthralling, then the Order of the Phoenix could only be exciting, exhilarating, there was no lengthy building of scenes.  Instead, readers were treated to action right in the first chapter which saw Harry and his cousin being attacked by Dementors.  The action continued in subsequent chapters at the HQ of the Order, and even at Hogwarts.

Matters are much more complex during this their fifth year at Hogwarts, what with the Ministry going all out to discredit Dumbledore and Harry as liars out to create pandemonium and panic with their rumour mongering. We also see an impetuous Harry being taught a lesson of patience and control, even while hints of the dark art began to surface in him.  There’s also plenty of teenage angst and misunderstandings as Harry gets his first taste at boy-girl relationship, while both parties deal with the feelings of guilt.

While I’m trying to figure out how I managed to muck up my GOF post royally, here’s a piece of injustice I picked up mid-week from Ohmynews. In the 3 years that she’s been blogging, PetiteAnglaise has only written about a dozen (about 14) posts relating to work. It calls to mind the  famous blogger who was dooced because of blogging, and for whom the term became a permanent inclusion in a dictionary. Wow!

Which brings me to a topic that’s been swirling in my mind quite a bit: self expression vs job security. Where is the line that defines a breakdown of trust? But before I get too carried away, just out of curiosity … does your employer and collegaues at work know that you keep a blog? 

Do you make it a point not to talk about work on your blog? 

Having seen the movie twice, and the video twice, I was already impatient to start on this book so that I can progress on to the next, and the next. I couldn’t help staying up late to finish this marvelous follow-up to Prisoner of Azkaban – it was worth sacrificing that few hours of sleep.

The book filled in some of the gaps left by the movie and it was a different sort of experience reading this. If POA marks the transition of the series into something more than a YA fiction series, then Goblet of Fire deepens that impression with the blossoming of Harry’s powers as a wizard, especially facing the daunting task of surviving, let alone attempting to win the Triwizard Tournament.

But whereas the movie focused solely on the competition, given the constraints of time, the book delves deeper into Harry’s relationships with the various members of the Weasley family, and the house-elves’ plight. Even as hormones run riot and emotions run high, the author never lost sight of her central plot.