Ex Libris

The Harry Potter series is Christian in theme, focus, and message. With the release of the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, this point is no longer possible to deny. As the book series is also clearly classic Western literature and here to stay, snuggled up next to C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, […]

“Of house-elves and children’s tales, of love, loyalty, and innocence, Voldemort knows and understands nothing. Nothing. That they all have a power beyond his own, a power beyond the reach of any magic, is a truth he has never grasped.” - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
“Though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is […]

I understand those who take no delight in fairy tales or fantasies. I pity you, but in truth, Harry Potter is not for you. Go back to reading stock reports or instruction manuals or whatever you do with your unfantastical mind.
- Orson Scott Card, renown science fiction writer.

Don’t worry, I hate spoilers, so I’m not going to spoil you to anything that happens.
For J.K. Rowling, the release of the seventh Harry Potter book is very much a case of “That’s all, folks.” This is the last and final book in the Harry Potter saga, and what a series finale it is. After […]

Much of today’s so-called “literary” writing -coming out of modern MFA programs, published in literary journals, by literary presses or imprints - is weak on plot. It is assumed that the writing’s being well crafted, line by line, is enough; that if the sentences are pretty enough, plot is incidental. But since there is no […]

These are 10 of my favorite opening sentences from novels, listed in a very specific order that is not at all hierarchical. Just because a particular sentence pops up here does not mean I’m claiming these are the best openers of all time - that would be just silly. I haven’t read nearly enough to […]