Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix... done!!! Well, that's one benefit to being jobless. Pleeeenty of time to read. Dang, 870 pages!

The book is so much more dark and gloomy than the previous books. In fact, it seems that the books just got progressively darker. If the next two books are darker than this book... well, 'tain't no guessing how kids will react. But they are so much more intelligent than other children's books. I mean, it's not like kids aren't used to death and violence. A lot of other children's books out there are just too hunky-dory. Yet... these books are scarier than the R. L. Stein "Goosebumps" series. Well, alright, those books were rather wimpy scary to begin with (and yes, I have read them, due to my then 12-yr-old cousin) but I do wonder if perhaps kids do need something more cotton candy to escape to. But then, Harry Potter's certainly less scary than fairy tales. :)