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This time around, Dresden is dealing with ghosts popping up everywhere. Someone is stirring them up, causing trouble, and the barrier to the spiritual world is thinner than usual. Then, there is some kind of nightmare demon that is destroying people in their sleep and coming after Harry with a vengeance. Eventually, Harry has to face off against vampires (three different kinds, one of them an uneasy ally) to figure out who is behind the ghostly disturbances. This book did not seem as well-written or edited as the previous books in the series, but it's still a pretty fun ride. I particularly liked the character of Michael-- he fights alongside Harry against evil, but he's a holy warrior with a sword that's some kind of relic. The part I like best is that Harry, with his wizard's sight, can see the visible aura of power surrounding Michael-- which is his faith.

Harry also has to keep dealing with a fairy godmother every time he goes to the Nevernever. She wants to make him a captive (like one of her trained bloodhounds) and take his power for her own, and she causes trouble for him-- but she also protects him, since she wants him for herself. And the times when she arrives and saves him it seems a little too convenient. Also, the ultimate answer to the mystery seemed a little too obvious (although it was fairly satisfying). When a book like this talks briefly about a case that happened recently, you know that someone or something from that case is going to be relevant to this one.

Title:	Grave Peril
Author:	Jim Butcher
Date published:	2001
Genre:	Contemporary Fantasy
Series:	Dresden Files, book 3
Number of pages:	378
Notes:	borrowed from Garvey

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Written with two presents .. a boy, Johnny, growing up with his best friend, Owen Meany .. and Johnny as a teacher much later in life. The two times easily fade one into another, with events that strongly affected the near present slowly being revealed. Johnny was born to a wealthy family in small town, to a mother who won't reveal the father. She remarries a wonderful man, Dan Needham, who treats Johnny as a real person, and not just a nuisance. Johnny and his friend, Owen, travel through life together.. With Owen spending much time with Johnny and his mother, helping Johnny with his schoolwork, and sharing his strong opinions. They affect each other (as best friends typically do), with Owen helping to shape Johnny's future in a strong way.

Owen is a memorable character. He is short and has a voice that belongs only to him. It's sort of a shout, with no ability to speak quietly. Irving employs an enjoyable device, in that whenever Owen speaks (or writes) it is written in capitol letters, which continually conveys to the reader the power of his words and ideas. Whenever he talks people are forced to listen, and he is given to making pronouncements (which fit with his loud & obnoxious voice). Even though he is small, he has a strong presence, and is respected by many. When he is a young teenage, he has a vision of his tombstone -- and believes that he knows when he will die. Nobody believes him, but he continues to have dreams that make it more and more clear. People (namely Johnny & his cousin, Hester) try to stop him, but it cannot be done. How amazing, to be so sure of what one is called to and do be. Some people would try to run away, to stop it from happening, but Owen runs toward it despite what others want. And prepares those he loves for their futures .. helping them know how they are gifted and what they are called to do.

Title:	A Prayer for Owen Meany
Author:	John Irving
Date published:	1989
Genre:	Historical Fiction
Number of pages:	543

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The second book in the Dresden Files series features werewolves of every kind. There's a brutal murder and Murphy calls in Dresden to take a look; he notes the fact that it was done on the night of a full moon, and this one is a repeat of another about a month ago. At Murphy's request, Dresden does a report on all the different kinds of werewolves, how to recognize them, how to kill them-- werewolves, hexenwolves, lycanthropes, and loup-garou. And, of course, pretty soon Dresden runs into all of the different kinds of werewolves. Some of them are bad guys, some are good guys who are supposed to be bad guys, and the most vicious in wolf form is actually sort of the victim.

Eventually Dresden figures out that someone was trying to frame MacFinn, the last in a family cursed to be the dreaded loup-garou, the most vicious and destructive of the werewolves. They destroyed the mystical cage that MacFinn used to keep himself from wreaking havoc during the full moon, and then committed a few murders-- as wolves. Another piece of the puzzle is some corrupt FBI officials who have taken things into their own hands-- or rather, paws. Someone (a sinister, mysterious someone) gave them belts that allow them to transform into wolves, and they've been using this ability to do the dirty work of taking down known criminals that they can't get by legal means. But, of course, they are corrupted by the power and animality of the experience. In the final showdown, Dresden runs out of options and ends up using a stolen wolf-belt himself to fight off the attackers, and almost succumbs himself-- but, as always, he manages to prevail.

There are some interesting characters and great moments. Particularly interesting is the feral shape-shifter Tera, who loves MacFinn and is trying to rescue him from himself. Dresden determines fairly early on that she's not one of the bad guys, but he doesn't realize until the end that she's yet another kind of werewolf he hadn't included in his list-- a shapeshifter, but one whose natural, original shape is not human.

Title:	Fool Moon
Author:	Jim Butcher
Date published:	2001
Genre:	Contemporary Fantasy
Series:	The Dresden Files
Number of pages:	352
Notes:	borrowed from Mike

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My first novel in Romanian!! Took me a number of months, but the last ten chapters were less than a week .. because I started reading for gist instead of looking up every vocab word that I didn't know. I've read this book before in English a number of times, so was able to catch much of the story (and pick up grammar and vocabulary along the way!). This time, I noticed that when Aslan talks to the coach driver he talks about being familiar. That Frank somehow already knows Aslan, which I had never picked up on before. Already Lewis is starting to put in place the ideas which will become much clearer in the following books.

Uncle Andrew always has seemed quite a peculiar character to me. He is very proud, arrogant, and egocentric. Everything that happens is somehow related to him or connected to him. Which is funny, but also sad, because there are really people like that. The most enjoyable thing that happens to him (for the reader, at least!) is when the newly created, talking animals find him. They aren't sure what he is or how to treat him. Because of his disbelief, they cannot understand each other, and while they are trying to figure out what he is, they decide he must be a tree and therefore must be planted. So they dig a hole and put his legs in (lucky for him they decided this way and not the other!). They they find out that he is alive and try to feed him .. all things that would be wonderful food for themselves, so worms from the birds, honey from the bear, grass from some.. most of which he is not too happy about. I guess the imagery of choosing to live in darkness and thus living in darkness (and not being able to understand these wonderful talking animals at all) is carried out in our own times, in many places and ways.

Title:	Nepotul Magicianului (aka The Magician's Nephew)
Author:	C. S. Lewis
Date published:	1955
Genre:	Children's, Fantasy
Series:	Chronicles of Narnia
Number of pages:	186
Notes:	Repeat reading

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