THE HARRY POTTER PROJECT: THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS

The one advantage to being sick the past couple days is that I had more time than usual to devote to reading - no going out and enjoying the nice weather for me! It was because of this time that I finished Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in 3 days.

When I read this book the first time around, I felt it was not quite as good as the first book. This time around, I'm not sure why I felt that way. Sure, the pacing of the book doesn't lend itself to finding out what happened in their lives on a daily basis but that can be inferred from what we learned in the first book. This book concerns itself with telling the story and just giving us new concepts along the way, rather than giving us all the concepts and telling the story. If that makes any sense.

We do get some new characters and they are fun ones - Dobby the House Elf, who has to hurt himself whenever he gives out information he shouldn't and does his best to protect Harry, and Gilderoy Lockhart, the vain best-selling author and new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher (completely ineffective, of course). Oh, and we can't forget Moaning Myrtle, the ghost of a forgotten girls bathroom.

We also learn more about Voldemort as a student at Hogwarts, meet a phoenix, watch as our young heroes transform themselves into other students, learn dueling, and so on. It's a fun book, a good book, and makes me just want to read the next in the series...

That shall wait, however. I have the new novels from Michael Chabon and Ian McDonald coming towards me in an Amazon box as we speak and until they arrive, I'll be reading some comics. Oh, and that was book #11 on the year...now if I can read 4 or 5 more in May, I'll really be cooking.