Tag: Animals

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The Bookish Owl – Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

We’re back in owl territory with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling.

Of course every book is owl territory when I’m involved, but I have to say something in these posts, right?

By the way, this is not the book to be reading after dropping your owl off for surgery. It is not an effective way of distracting yourself. Big spoiler alert, but there’s a lot of owls in this book, y’all.

All kidding aside, I had forgotten how creepy the scenes in the Department of Mysteries were, what with brains floating in water tanks and that horrifying scene with the Death Eater with the baby head. Remember, this is a series of kids’ books. I might have been a messed-up kid (when you got a 5 years older brother, you see a lot of horror movies and kill a lot of hookers in GTA), but it’s still a wonder I didn’t have nightmares about this.

But all that stuff isn’t what people remember about The Order of the Phoenix, is it?

They remember Umbridge.

I was prepared for Umbridge, because she’s so utterly awful that she’s edged into your childhood memory. But really, she’s not as awful as she seemed as a kid. Honestly, she’s just a more extreme version of the type of person you have to deal with in your adult life. We have all had a boss or a manager with a ruthless streak and a near sociopathic way of dealing with people, right? If you haven’t, just turn on the news and watch the political leaders of the world for a bit. That should do it. It’s hard to be amazed by how far the Ministry of Magic is willing to go once you have dealt with today’s political scene for a few years.

This got surprisingly deep, so let’s get back to my usual brand of enthusiastic rambling:

McGonagall.

Professor McGonagall was the MVP of this book and every scene with her is amazing. I would give my left foot to read a series that’s just about her dealing with students and other everyday problems at Hogwarts.

(I had already written this before I realized Artemis no longer has his left foot in the photo below – I swear its unrelated and that he’s not the victim of me making some shady deal with Rowling!)

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
by J. K. Rowling

Dark times have come to Hogwarts. After the Dementors’ attack on his cousin Dudley, Harry Potter knows that Voldemort will stop at nothing to find him. There are many who deny the Dark Lord’s return, but Harry is not alone: a secret order gathers at Grimmauld Place to fight against the Dark forces. Harry must allow Professor Snape to teach him how to protect himself from Voldemort’s savage assaults on his mind. But they are growing stronger by the day and Harry is running out of time.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

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The Bookish Owl – The Mortal Word by Genevieve Cogman

The Mortal Word by Genevieve Cogman

Cower, mortals, before The Mortal Word by Genevieve Cogman!

(I’m running out of ideas for intros…)

I was getting a little tired of this series by the time I reached this book, but it exceeded my expectations and I enjoyed it. This could be because the overall plot was similar to Broken Melody (which I was still writing at the time) and there’s nothing I like better than relaxing with a book and calling it research.

In ‘The Mortal Word’, we got an insidious plot in the middle of a peace treaty negotiation between dragons and Fae, multiple suspects, and everyone having their own agenda. I assure you it will fill your quota for secrets and drama. There could also be werewolves, but it’s possible I’m confusing the books…

The Mortal Word
by Genevieve Cogman

When Irene returns to London after a relatively straightforward book theft in Germany, Bradamant informs her that there is a top secret dragon-Fae peace conference in progress that the Library is mediating, and that the second-in-command dragon has been stabbed to death. Tasked with solving the case, Vale and Irene immediately go to 1890s Paris to start their investigation.

Once they arrive, they find evidence suggesting that the murder victim might have uncovered proof of treachery by one or more Librarians. But to ensure the peace of the conference, some Librarians are being held as hostages in the dragon and Fae courts. To save the captives, including her parents, Irene must get to the bottom of this murder–but was it a dragon, a Fae, or even a Librarian who committed the crime?

The Mortal Word by Genevieve Cogman

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The Bookish Owl – The Woman Who Rides Like a Man by Tamora Pierce

The Woman Who Rides Like a Man by Tamora Pierce

Exactly what it says on the tin: The Woman Who Rides Like a Man by Tamora Pierce.

I didn’t like this one as much as the two previous books in the series, but it was a nice short read and it had its bright spots. Jonathan is being a total asshole in this one, and it’s nice to see that Alanna continues to raise the standard for female YA protagonists and dumps his ass for it. The book could have used a bit more actual plot, but it was still entertaining in its own way.

The Woman Who Rides Like a Man
by Tamora Pierce

Newly knighted, Alanna of Trebond seeks adventure in the vast desert of Tortall. Captured by fierce desert dwellers, she is forced to prove herself in a duel to the death—either she will be killed or she will be inducted into the tribe. Although she triumphs, dire challenges lie ahead. As her mysterious fate would have it, Alanna soon becomes the tribe’s first female shaman—despite the desert dwellers’ grave fear of the foreign woman warrior. Alanna must fight to change the ancient tribal customs of the desert tribes—for their sake and for the sake of all Tortall.

The Woman Who Rides Like a Man by Tamora Pierce

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The Bookish Owl – The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter by Theodora Goss

The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter by Theodora Goss

In case you can’t read the super long headline that my SEO software is complaining about, this book post is about The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter by Theodora Goss.

I picked this up in a desperate attempt to pad my rapidly dwindling pile of unread books, but it turned out to be quite good.

As a child, I read everything I could get my hands on and my mom had entire bookshelves in the basement filled with abridged Classics aimed at teens. So I read Sherlock Holmes, Dracula, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and so many other books likely not suited for a 10-year old kid, and ‘The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter’ pays homage to all of them. The book follows the daughters of the main characters from various old horror Classics while they try to solve the mystery of a secret society with the help of Sherlock Holmes himself. The writing style is very unusual, because it’s written as if one of the characters is the author, with the rest of the characters injecting comments into the text at random times. It took a little while to get used to, and I still haven’t decided whether I actually like the style, but I didn’t feel like it ruined anything either.

I’m definitely getting the rest of the books in the series.

Below you will see my owl Artemis posing next to the book, showing that he’s doing perfectly fine after the vet removed one of his legs. He has decided that if he’s going to be a flamingo, he’s just going to be the grumpiest flamingo ever…

The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter
by Theodora Goss

Mary Jekyll, alone and penniless following her parents’ death, is curious about the secrets of her father’s mysterious past. One clue in particular hints that Edward Hyde, her father’s former friend and a murderer, may be nearby, and there is a reward for information leading to his capture…a reward that would solve all of her immediate financial woes.

But her hunt leads her to Hyde’s daughter, Diana, a feral child left to be raised by nuns. With the assistance of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, Mary continues her search for the elusive Hyde, and soon befriends more women, all of whom have been created through terrifying experimentation: Beatrice Rappaccini, Catherin Moreau, and Justine Frankenstein.

When their investigations lead them to the discovery of a secret society of immoral and power-crazed scientists, the horrors of their past return. Now it is up to the monsters to finally triumph over the monstrous.

The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter by Theodora Goss

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The Bookish Owl – Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett

Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett

We live in interesting times, so I believe the timing is right for Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett.

This is the first Bookish Owl photo taken after Artemis’s operation, but I think he’s shy, because he won’t be showing off his new flamingo stance until the next one. But I can inform you that being one-legged absolutely didn’t stop him from knocking books over and making a run for it while we were taking pictures.

This is yet another Discworld reread, but it will be the last for a while… mostly because I’m running out of books to reread and might soon have to start on a round of re-rereading.

The very best thing about ‘Interesting Times’ is not Rincewind and his shenanigans, but Cohen the Barbarian and his ‘Silver Horde’. Reading about a group of old men wreaking havoc and creating terror wherever they go, all the while complaining about joint pains, gives me hope for my own retirement.

Can you guys recommend me any other fantasy books with badass old people? I feel like that’s what I need more of in my life right now.

Interesting Times
by Terry Pratchett

‘A foot on the neck is nine points of the law’

There are many who say that the art of diplomacy is an intricate and complex dance. There are others who maintain that it’s merely a matter of who carries the biggest stick. The oldest and most inscrutable (not to mention heavily fortified) empire on the Discworld is in turmoil, brought about by the revolutionary treatise What I did on My Holidays. Workers are uniting, with nothing to lose but their water buffaloes; warlords are struggling for power – and what the nation wants, to avoid terrible doom for everyone, is a wizard. Rincewind is not the Disc’s premier wizard – in fact, he can’t even spell ‘wizard’ – but no-one specified whether competence was an issue. And they do have a very big stick…

Mighty Battles! Revolution! Death! War! (And his sons Terror and Panic and daughter Clancy).

Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett