August 13, 2012

Recommend A... Book with a Blue Cover


Recommend A... is a new weekly feature hosted by Chick Loves Lit, where bloggers recommend a book based on a specific prompt. This week's prompt is to recommend a book with a blue cover.

Harry Potter series, #5

It took me about a minute to come up with a recommendation for this prompt. Harry Potter is one of my favorite series ever and, as an aspiring author myself, J.K. Rowling is one of my greatest inspirations.

I trust that everyone has read the book by this point in time (or *cringe* at least seen the movie version), so I won't spend any time discussing the plot. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the fifth book in the Harry Potter series and my second favorite overall (the seventh is naturally my favorite of them all). I think is it at the beginning of this book/end of the fourth book where the series irrevocably changes from children's literature to YA literature. Here Harry begins to finally understand that good and evil aren't so easily categorized, and that sometimes people would rather believe lies simply because the truth is too painful to acknowledge.

In some ways Harry, Ron, and Hermione are dealing with very typical teenage problems: harder classes, raging hormones, stress, and changing relationships, to name a few. But there are so many more issues they must deal with. In this book Harry is presented with an ever-increasing amount of challenges and obstacles as he tries to attend classes, enjoy life with his friends, and proclaim the truth as most of the wizarding world considers him to be a liar. And the loss and pain experienced in this book is so emotional. I love Harry. I spent a lot of this book just wanting to give him a hug and tell him that things will get better eventually. It takes a special person to have been able to deal with all the trauma and tragedy of this book, but of course Harry is such a special person and probably my favorite male protagonist ever.

I just love this book. If for some reason you haven't read it yet, do so ASAP. Otherwise, let me know whether Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix ranks among your favorites in the Harry Potter series.
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Amanda

Amanda loves few things better than sitting down with a cup of tea and a book. She frequently stays up far too late, telling herself she just needs to finish one more page. When she's not wrapped up in the stories of others, Amanda works as a children's librarian in a public library.

2 comments:

  1. I hadn't read HP until last year and still need to read the last book. And I think recommending this one is good for those of us that were adults before HP came out and haven't given them a shot yet. I know it took some urging to get me to pick them up!

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    1. What you're saying makes a lot of sense. But the book purist in me says the books have to be read in order! I think maybe mentioning the fact that the series matures significantly as Harry gets older would be helpful for adults interested in the series but wary to read "children's books." I was lucky enough to start reading the books as a child, but I understand that wasn't possible for everyone. And you need to read the final book! It is so utterly perfect and wraps everything up so well.

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