Which basically means I have to hunt them down from second hand shops, which is good fun.

I just bought the first one (the philosophers stone) for $8.50 the other day, so I’m off and racing. $61.50 left in the budget.

If you see some, let me know.

Here’s the list of Harry Potter books in order:

1. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

I got onto this book because it was reviewed in the briefing this month. Good review.

This is a fantastic read so far. Very funny. It’s a satire of evangelicals in the mid-west bible belt of America. The author, Douglas Wilson, has previously written and published 30 books but no publisher wanted to take this one because it cut a little close to the bone… So far it’s taken a dig at most pentecostal and independent U.S. mega churches, and seeing as I’m not a member of those churches (or necessarily a fan either) I find it very funny.

But of course when you laugh at these types of satires you always end up laughing at yourself. The chapter on youth ministry (chapter VII “those darn back rubs”) is a classic. That alone is worth a read.

Anyway, because each chapter of the book is posted as a blog, the chapters come up in reverse order, and because I’m not much for reading online I cut and pasted the text into a word doc, pdf-ed it and printed it off to read this long weekend out in Wellington (NSW). [Incidentally, if you want the pdf copy just email me. I figured I shouldn't upload it to the net without asking the author first... I'll flick him an email...]

BTW, I’m writing this on Maccas free WiFi at Wellington. Hazaar!

The novel is 111 years old but it’s a cracker! I bought it on Thursday and finished it on Monday (which is good for me). I read the first page and I was hooked.

The really brilliant thing about this book is that it’s all written from the perspective of personal diary entries, so you’re reading all the different character’s diaries and you’ve got the big picture of what is happening but the characters don’t and it’s really tense. And then halfway through the book, the characters kind of catch up with you, and they read each others diaries and start to put the pieces together, and then it feels like you’re all on the same page and it really makes you part of the story.

The book was only $10.00 and definitely worth the money.

My next move is to head over to cinema Jameso tp watch the movie (by Francis Ford Coppola).

I just finished reading another of his books called Del-Del. It’s a book that won the Children’s book of the year in 1992 but for some reason I had neglected to read it until now (even though I bought my copy of the book in 1993!). It was a fantastic read! It had me up late and gave me some very tired mornings!

I don’t want to give away too much for those who haven’t read it, but all in all it’s a very clever book on how families – and children in particular – deal with grief, death, and loss of someone they love. I don’t know how VK came up with the concept to write a book about this issue in such a unique and creative way. Brilliant!

And for those who’ve read the book before, here is my theory on the name Del-Del which is left open ended at the conclusion of the book: Perhaps the delete key on the keyboard “DEL”? and the parrallels with deleting feelings, erasing memories? Well I like it. It fits well with me.

Victor Kelleher has visited this site at least once before so maybe he can give us his thoughts? Though, I suspect that if he wanted to make it clear he probably would’ve written it…

Worth the read. Buy it. Borrow it. Read it. 

In the MS readathon, my friends had often read 600 books by the end of the month, and I had just realised that I was more captivated by the cover of my books than the words inside… But in 1991 I found a book and an author that I liked, and I began to read… and I liked it. I was 11.

The author was Victor Kelleher. The first of his books I read was “the Red King”.

After that book I went up to buy and read a further 9 of his books. Just last month I discovered my collection of Victor Kelleher books at my parents place, so I took them home and started to read them again.

The Red King was definitely a primary school aged book… not quite as brilliant as I remembered. The plot was quite predictable – which is what you expect I guess reading a children’s book.

However, I read 2 more: Brother Night, and Toronga. These were still as brilliant as ever! And they had me staying up way past my bed time just to read them – that’s the sign of a good book.

I’ve got no idea where Victor is now, whether he’s alive, still living in Sydney, or writing books… but I’d love to tell him that he’s been partly responsible for my appreciation of reading. As an adult, I’m certainly not about to set any book worm records, and I still can’t chew down a book like Pete can, but i really enjoy reading these days, especially when I work in a profession that is all about ‘The Word’ and The Bible (the books). And not just a profession, but my relationship with God is all about his communication to humanity through a book.

Thanks Victor for your contribution.