I finished Audrey Hepburn by Barry Paris the other day. I very much enjoyed this book. It did take a long time to read it however. The information in it was quite dense and detailed; There are nearly 400 pages of the main text of the book, along with reference notes, a filmography, listings of stage and television work, two sets of photographs and an index.
Mr Paris has certainly done his research. His source notes are split by chapter at the end of the book, and there are often more than 100 sources per chapter listed! He clearly loves his subject, and Audrey is treated with love and respect. Having said that, it seems she truly was a unique character, much loved and respected by nearly everyone who met her. I knew very little about Audrey Hepburn before I read this book. I now know her life story, and certainly want to see more of her work. Jan and I watched Breakfast at Tiffany’s over the weekend. We also have My Fair Lady on video, and several more DVD’s. I will try to watch them over the next few weeks.

I finished the book I was reading to day; The Andrew Lloyd Webber Story by Michael Coveney. This was a great book. I learnt a lot about ALW as he is apparently known. It certainly made me want to see some more of his shows. I’ve seen Joseph, Cats, and Phantom the last two twice. I hadn’t realized just how much he has done. Michael Coveny’s writing, whilst a little too fawning at times, did make me want to understand the music a little more. I’m a geek, so I am very interested in the technical aspects of what he does with his music. Recommended.

The book I read before ALW story, was Dogsbody by Diana Wynne Jones. This was an (older) kids book, but one which I really enjoyed. I read several of her books before but this one was quite a departure from my previous experience of her style. Rather than kids and magic, this book is about Sirius, a Luminary who is/inhabits the star of the same name. He is accused and convicted of a terrible crime by his contempories and sentenced to inhabit the body of an earthbound dog (Sirius is known as the dog star) with a normal dog’s lifespan to recover the weapon he is supposed to have used. It is a an unusual tale being written mostly from the dog’s viewpoint. Recommended.

I am now reading Audrey Hepburn by Barry Paris. More when I’ve finished it.

I’ve now finished Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix for the second time. I think it was better the second time around, especially having just re-read the first four books. However, I felt that the weaker parts of the book stood out even more!

I’ve just finished Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire for the fourth time. I’m back on to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix for the second time. It was interesting that Goblet of Fire really didn’t seem to drag at all this time through. I was also delighted to find that lots of the events and plot points from Phoenix were started or stated in Goblet of Fire.

After finishing Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling on Wednesday, I realised I wanted to read the whole series again from the beginning. So I’ve just finished Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone this lunch time and now I’m on Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Wow! Tonight I finished Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling. Not bad going since Sunday night!
I must say I really enjoyed it. I found it much more entertaining and fast paced than Goblet of Fire. The story line is good, without too many twists and turns in the plot. It is not perfect by any measure and some of the book is not up to the standard of the earlier books. Read on for more detail, but only if you don’t mind learning about the plot. You have been warned! Plot spoilers ahead. Edit: Oops! I accidentally mis-spelled phoenix as pheonix in the title this post. Continue reading →

We have our copies now! We spent the night in Borders waiting for the release of the book. We bought two copies though i was tempted to get three! I will be able to contain myself and wait, I hope!
There were at least a couple of hundred people in Borders, a scene apparently repeated throughout the country. THe BBC has this story

We are all quite excited in our house. We are eagerly awaiting the release of the new Harry Potter book. Our local Borders are opening over midnight in order to sell copies of the book at one minute past midnight. They are suppposed to be putting on some entertainemnt.
We will be going down as a special treat for Jamie. I think we will only buy two copies, one each for Jamie and Jan. I have said I am willing to wait until one of them has finished before I read it. I guess with luck that means I will be able to start it on Monday!
Whilst I’m on the subject, we watched a very good interview of author JK Rowling by Jeremy Paxman tonight. It was the best interview I have seen her give. Very informative. The full transcript is available.