WHATTA FINALE -- SPOILER ALERT!

I have finally digested this wonderful ending to the most magical series I have ever read, no pun intended at all -- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Once again, I was unable to read it slowly. I finished it the Saturday it was released. I was teary from the beginning. Hell, I cry at Disney movies. Dudley's response to leaving Harry behind started it all for me. It was unexpected and touching, a brief glimpse at what Harry might have done for his cousin if given the chance.

After reading the Half-Blood Prince, I had a lot of ideas about who was going to die and how, including Harry. My theory was he was a Horcrux, and I was right. Thankfully, the other part of my prediction -- that Harry was going to die because of it -- did not come to fruition. Harry was going to die, but I thank JK Rowling that she saw it in her heart to spare him.

On to other deaths. I was very upset with Fred's death, and with Lupin's and Tonks', especially after the birth of Teddy. How like Harry Teddy Lupin became. Thank God he had Harry for a godfather. And the most surprising of all was Snape's, although I knew it was inevitable. The resolution of Snape and Harry was so sad that I cried while describing it to a friend. I felt so stupid that I didn't figure out what truly led to Snape's redemption -- love. How unlike him. And yet it totally made sense. Even now, as I write this, tears well up in my eyes. Of everything that happened in the book, the scenes at the end with Snape and the resolution of his story will stick with me for a long time.

And the epilogue was one of the sweetest things I have ever read. To think that Harry named one of his boys Albus Severus brings tears to my eyes yet again. When Harry referred to Snape as "probably the bravest man I've ever known," I broke down. What a wonderfully heartening way to end such an epic story.

My only gripe was that we didn't learn more about what happened with the rest of the survivors except Percy, Neville, Malfoy, and Teddy Lupin. What happened to everyone else? No fair! However, I did read somewhere that Rowling has mentioned she will work on a Harry Potter encyclopedia of sorts which might detail more information about other characters. I'll keep my fingers crossed!

A TRIUMPHANT RETURN FOR JACK AUBREY

On my old book blog, I chronicled my reading of the Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian. I have recently finished the 13th book, The Thirteen-Gun Salute, after waiting first, for the money to buy it, and second, for the bookstore to have it in stock.
The 12th book ended with Jack and Stephen on the Surprise as a letter of marque, or privateer, Jack having been struck off the list of captains. This book told of his return to the Naval List, which I was dying to happen, and how he and Stephen go to the South China Sea to meet with a sultan and form a treaty.

It was so nice, after a couple of months of a break, to be back with my two new favorite characters! I missed Aubrey and Maturin and O'Brian's writing. What a pleasure it was to travel with the two of them again. It was an interesting voyage. Of course, Aubrey and Maturin are such strong characters, but more dimensions than most other writers. O'Brian has to be my favorite writer right now. I thoroughly enjoy him and all his work I've read.

STEP INTO LITERATURE

It's something all book lover's wish to do, isn't it? Don't we all wish we could be a part of Emma's world, or Harry's? What about Jane Eyre's? For Thursday Next, it's possible. In The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde, 80s England is a world where literature is all the rage, the Crimean War is still being fought, and Winston Churchill's never been heard of. People can stop time, move about in it, and even jump in and out of books.

Next, an operative in a government agency that deals with literary crimes and has a time-hopping father, an inventor uncle named Mycroft, and a one-legged ex-boyfriend with whom she's still in love. It's a great mess, and by the end of the book, everything gets sorted out. Everything.

This book was recommended to me by my friend Shannon, who's literary advice I pretty much trust on blind faith. She was the one, after all, who told me to quit bitching about reading levels and try Harry Potter. Hooray for Shannon and hooray for Thursday Next. Can't wait for payday to got another Next novel.