Book 11 for 2005

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling; © 2003, 870 p., Scholastic.

Yes, I know. I'm a bit behind the times just now getting to Book 5 of the Harry Potter series. Everything you've heard about this one is true. It is a bridge book without a main overarching plot. Each chapter is more like an episode in a serial. There are elements of the story that carry through the book, but it is unlike the other four books in that there is no main mystery that the group is trying to solve. It was definitely darker than the previous books and I wonder at how much darker Book 6 will be (I'll find out soon as I'm reading it next). I don't want to say too much in this little review because I hate to give away the story to anyone else who hasn't read it---although, I may have been the last person on the planet to read it. At any rate, I'll stop for now and leave the rest for those who will want to read the book and discover things on their own.