Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

8/10

Finished reading this with Mallory a few nights ago. We slogged through this one more so than the others. Not sure if it was just because we were busier with school starting back up or if we were just losing a bit of the Harry Potter steam. Either way, this one was a bit more of a drag at first than a lot of the others, but it finished pretty strong.

I did enjoy any time Harry and Dumbledore got together for their Voldemort hunting adventures. Most of the rest of the storyline wasn't as much fun compared to most of the other books. Didn't like all the romantic storylines. I felt like the Snape/Malfoy storyline wasn't played up enough and was a missed opportunity. Also, the Slughorn character seemed out of place and his role didn't have any sort of conclusion which makes me think he will maybe play a bigger role in Book 7. Or he was just there for the Voldemort-Horcrux revelation scene. I still enjoyed the book overall though as my rankings below shall show:

1. HP-4
2. HP-3
3. HP-6
4. HP-5
5. HP-2
6. HP-1

The Freedom Factor by Gerald N. Lund

5/10

I finished reading this a few days ago. It was exactly the type of book I needed after slogging through Madame Bovary - an easy read where I could just lean back and try my darnedest to enjoy the ride. I liked the book fine, but didn't love it. I liked it much more when I decided to try to not be too critical about everything and just enjoy it for what it was - a simple little fantasy tale with a nice little message about the importance of the Constitution.

I must say that the book was not at all what I was expecting. I did not know it was a fantasy book and was surprised when **Spoiler Alert** the Founding Father ghost character showed up. I was probably more surprised about it than the main character was, as he seems to take it pretty well in stride and was more annoyed with the inconvenience of it rather than being scared/shocked and in total disbelief. Then the story goes full It's a Wonderful Life mode where the main character gets sent to a time where life would be like if the Constitution had never been ratified. Things happen and the Constitution is proved to be important and valuable.

It was a fine read as long as you don't take it too seriously. Nothing spectacular, but enjoyable enough overall especially following a not-so-enjoyable book. Also, my first Gerald Lund book (although I remember my Dad reading The Alliance to my brother and I when I was a super youngster; I should revisit that one because I remember thinking it was pretty interesting; so stay tuned for that; maybe).