The Book Worm says:

Two books I've recently finished:

The Other Boleyn Girl

by Philippa Gregory

This being a story revolving around the English court, you'd think: Surely interesting.

I'm telling you, calling it interesting would be undermining it...

It tells about the little known sister of Anne Boleyn, Mary, with the story itself revolving around the annulment of the royal marriage between King Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon... Although, as a side note, it is after all fiction and has been criticised to be hugely historically inaccurate.

Scandals, affairs, gossip, plotting, ambition... this book has it all..

I couldn't put the book down the whole time I was reading it.. and all I wanted to do right up till the end was to turn to the next page and the next page and the next page...

Feeling like life could use a little bit of spicing up? Try this book... ;)

I think it may just leave you wanting more..

I surely do... however,financial constraints have been what's holding me back from getting the other 5 sequels written by Gregory herself...

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

Die hard classic literature fans would definitely kill me if I said I love this book.

But the fact is, I do.

Seth Grahame-Smith did a fantastic job of taking one of Jane Austen's most popular works, and turning it into something much more... Readable for the normal human.

Don't get me wrong, I did fine going through Pride and Prejudice (Sense and Sensibility stretched me to my limit though), but reading through this book was just absolutely fun.

Imagine, Elizabeth the zombie slayer with her Shaolin training and love for Japanese katars?

Just awesome.

Coupled with Grahame-Smith's ability to turn the most dull of passages in the book into something amusing... Simply awesome.

If you've read through Pride and Prejudice and could barely stand it, AND if you have a love for zombies that you need to re-discover... My advice: Go get your hands on this book, and I guarantee you it will be a fun ride! ;)

Harry Potter

*WARNING - This post may contain unintended spoilers. Do not read on if you think that you may not be able to take on any disappointments.*

At last, the Harry Potter saga has come to an end for me.

(I know it's kinda late for me to actually say this, but I have to admit that it took me quite a long time to actually get my hands on an authentic copy of the book.)

Yet, finishing the last book didn't quite give me the excitement I was once overcome with when I first started on this series. As I progressed on from one book to the next, that exhilarating feeling and a certain rush of adrenalin that I used to experience while reading the earlier books of Harry Potter seemed to disappear and fade away. It began with the 5th book I think, (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) where the magical charm of Harry Potter seemed to loosen its grip on me.

My teenage years were somewhat spent growing up with Harry, like how I grew up with Enid Blyton's books during my childhood. Somehow I realised as I grew older, the Potter series did not seem as appealing to me as it once did, and who, I'm thinking, should I actually put the blame on, if any at all?

Would I say it's because of J.K. Rowling then, whom I think did in fact suffer a drop in excellence after writing the 4th book. But somehow this seems to be happening to all other writers I know whose stories seem to stretch longer than 4 books. Should it be called the Fatal Fifth Curse then?

Or maybe it's just me. I guess it can be said that I've grown up considerably since I first put my little nose into the 1st book (I was but 13 years old back then). Taking a full 6 years to finish just a 7 book series is the first and longest time I've ever done, and which I also think would be the last too.

I was hoping to be able to finish the final book with huge burst of contempt and satisfaction, but I guess J.K. Rowling just couldn't live up to my expectations any more, it is after all, a children's book. When I closed the book at 11pm last night, what I felt inside me was instead, a 'Okay. The end. That's it' feeling. I'm willing to confess that I did, in fact, feel a small tinge of regret for not enjoying the book more, but I know no matter how much I try again and again to enjoy the book by re-reading it, I would never find that spark of pleasure I once enjoyed from reading the earlier books.

But it wouldn't be fair for me to put it this way either, would it? Harry has, after all, grown up, and as Rowling should be given due credit, I guess that the whole story had somewhat matured alongside Harry as well.

Lastly, I'd like to say that I do think the Harry Potter series is a classic and will always be one of the best written ones. Although it does come with its flaws and disappointments, Harry did not in fact, let us down in the end. And as Rowling and Potter would put it, "All is well."






I'd like to apologise to any true Potter/Rowling fans if I've offended them in any way. It is, after all, my freedom to give my opinion on the book. But I'd also like all of you to know, that I love Harry Potter, and he will always live on in my heart, taking his rightful place as my favourite children's storybook hero. I'm now contempt to live out my remaining teenage years in peace, sparing the remaining Potter films from my insults, knowing that finally, all is well.