false 6294 33 In the land of Ingary, such things as spells, invisible cloaks, and seven-league boots were everyday things. The Witch of the Waste was another matter. After fifty years of quiet, it was rumored that the Witch was about to terrorize the country again. So when a moving black castle, blowing dark smoke from its four thin turrets, appeared on the horizon, everyone thought it was the Witch. The castle, however, belonged to Wizard Howl, who, it was said, liked to suck the souls of young girls. The Hatter sisters--Sophie, Lettie, and Martha--and all the other girls were warned not to venture into the streets alone. But that was only the beginning. In this giant jigsaw puzzle of a fantasy, people and things are never quite what they seem. Destinies are intertwined, identities exchanged, lovers confused. The Witch has placed a spell on Howl. Does the clue to breaking it lie in a famous poem? And what will happen to Sophie Hatter when she enters Howl's castle? Diana Wynne Jones's entrancing fantasy is filled with surprises at every turn, but when the final stormy duel between the Witch and the Wizard is finished, all the pieces fall magically into place. 2001 book 1986 Howl's Moving Castle total:6535|5:3039|4:2342|3:945|2:172|1:37| 6535 27779 9147 913 4 8 false false Thu Feb 26 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 14 04:51:10 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 28 02:37:31 -0800 2009 1 more...]]> 3 4 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Nov 21 08:07:50 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 20 08:41:42 -0800 2009
I'm not sure why I didn't get more "into" this book. Perhaps it was that we read it over the holidays so chapters were squeezed in between busy days and tired nights. This is my first Wynne Jones book and I thought her style was fine, if nothing especially striking--...more...]]> 5 5 false false Sat Jan 10 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Jun 25 19:37:06 -0700 2008 Sat Jan 10 17:23:15 -0800 2009 2 more...]]> 5 4 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Fri May 18 21:22:18 -0700 2007 Wed Feb 13 21:29:01 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 3 false false Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 06 19:29:17 -0800 2009 Mon Apr 06 11:19:17 -0700 2009 To really understand the book you ...more...]]> 5 2 false false Fri Apr 25 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun May 04 22:35:30 -0700 2008 Sun May 04 22:36:58 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 5 false false Fri Feb 09 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Sep 27 13:31:21 -0700 2007 Sun Jul 27 07:16:16 -0700 2008 Howl's moving castle has been wandering for a few weeks. She finds a way...more...]]> 5 2 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1994 Wed Aug 29 13:17:13 -0700 2007 Sat Jul 04 19:56:21 -0700 2009 at least 8
At any...more...]]> 5 3 false false Thu Apr 20 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Wed Jul 23 10:04:43 -0700 2008 Sun Oct 19 05:36:00 -0700 2008 more then 10
Floating castles, talking fires, bouncing scarecrows? They could only be the wonderful creations of DWJ.

I think what the author does best is create very real and very ide...more...]]> 4 2 false false Sat Mar 07 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 11 09:17:56 -0800 2009 Mon Mar 16 14:47:01 -0700 2009 3 1 false false Sat Apr 12 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Mar 28 14:06:03 -0700 2008 Sat Apr 12 14:42:51 -0700 2008 Howl's Moving Castle

by Diana Wynne Jones
212 pages

HMC was first published in 1986 and it is the story of a young woman named Sophie, the eldest of three sisters who is destined for failure due to her birth rank, who gets caught up in a battle of witches and wizards. The ...more...]]> 4 1 false false Fri Apr 11 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Mar 11 23:06:51 -0700 2008 Fri Apr 11 14:30:15 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 1 false false Fri Mar 07 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Mar 08 22:16:52 -0800 2008 Sat Mar 08 22:28:53 -0800 2008 Howl's Moving Castle. I've been looking for fantasy books with a sense of humor, because Terry Pratchett's getting old and has Alzheimer's and I've read almost everything he's written. I've been having trouble finding anything comparable, though: funny, satirical, with great...more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Oct 27 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Mar 05 17:30:30 -0800 2008 Wed Mar 05 17:31:03 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 1 false false Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Jan 24 07:05:10 -0800 2008 Wed Nov 05 14:46:52 -0800 2008
*Update: I liked Howl's Moving Castle, but as stated previously ...more...]]> 5 1 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Fri May 25 15:35:39 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 07 00:02:35 -0700 2008 4 more...]]> 3 1 false false Sat Feb 14 16:27:43 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 14 16:31:54 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 2 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Mon May 12 14:19:38 -0700 2008 Thu Feb 12 06:47:06 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sat Aug 30 08:01:18 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 30 08:07:24 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 1 false false Tue Sep 23 08:40:59 -0700 2008 Fri Oct 31 14:27:58 -0700 2008
Other thoughts start to layer in after being finished, which didn't particularly distract or bother me *while* still reading. E.g. One of the things that annoyed me about the Harry Potter books was the cascade that happened toward the end, where suddenly everything started...more...]]>