Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

Type of Read:
Fantasy

Plot Summary:
In a world where magic is real, Sophie, the oldest of three daughters, does not have much hope of making a name for herself. When she is cursed by the Witch of the Wastes and turned into an old woman, Sophie must venture out on her own and seek help from the horrible wizard Howl and his moving castle. Mishaps and adventures follow them as they try to solve a mystery and put a stop to curses and evil plots.

Strengths:
This book has nothing but strengths. I found myself giggling at the ridiculous characters and the events they find themselves in. I loved how spunky Sophie is and how bratty Howl acats. I loved the way the end brought everything together. Part of me wishes I read this book a long time ago (not sure what was stopping me!) but at the same time, I'm glad I waited. I had fun reading it, that I wish I could go back in time and experience it for the first time all over again!

Weaknesses:
The only weakness I found had nothing to do with the book. It was me. (It's not you, it's me!!) Seriously though, this is not a long book, and it shouldn't have taken me more then two days to read. But somehow it stretched out to four days! I think it had to do with just life in general cutting in to my reading time (don't people know to leave me alone when I have a book in my hand? I try to tell my library patrons this but they never listen...) After everything is said and done, I'm glad I took my time with this book. I relished the ending (which I stayed up late to finish) and I fell in love with Sophie, Michael, Howl, and all the other characters.

Opinion and Recommendation:
I LOVED this book! It was a surprise to many of my friends that I had never read it until now, but I'm so glad I finally did. When I first started it, I thought to myself "Eh, it's okay." I didn't really understand why people made such a big deal about this story and I was nervous that this would be another book that was inadvertently ruined for me because of all the hype it had received over the years. Let me tell you, this book has been praised since before I was born for good reason. It was magical, funny, surprising, and romantic (but not too much). It was such a joy to read that I can't wait to read it to my children. So yes, I will be buying it, and YES you should go out and get a copy for yourself! Really, go now...like right now...