Harry Potter is Phobulous

Waiting for his food to arrive at Absolutely Phobulous (the pho restaurant downstairs and next door to my office). Manuel (whose accent, by the way, sent me away!) sits at one of the tables outside under the shade of the giant umbrellas. He passes the time with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the 7th and final book in the Harry Potter series. Manuel has read every single one of the Harry Potter books twice! This is his second go at this last book and he thinks this is the best out of all of them! It's because things get better and there are many twists and turns that make the plot more complicated and interesting. "The bad guys turn good, the ending is great, the wizards, witches and warlocks dynamics are wonderful, and it's like all the stops were pulled for this fairy tale!" Manuel loves finding new things in the storylines during his second read throughs. He noted that he doesn't re-read the books right away. Once he had finished the others he waited until he had another go at them.




Favourite book of all time has to be One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. He's read the book in both English and in Spanish however he, like many others, feels the Spanish version is more beautiful. "The language is lovlier and alot of the beauty is lost in the translation. I recommend that people read the book in Spanish if they can so that they don't miss out in essence of it all." This book is the only Marquez book he's read and he has made a note to pick up Marquez's other works.

He sometimes recommends this book to friends but he feels his recommendations to friends vary depending on who they are, what type of person they are like, and what interests them. He, on the other hand, welcomes any and all book recommendations from friends. A great recommendation was for To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a book recommended by one of his customers. (Manuel works at Hugo Boss at the Beverly Center, right down the street). Another customer recommendation was The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd which he also really enjoyed. This book is actually one that I own but have yet to get around to reading. I had seen it for sale at a nearby thrift store for 50 cents so I couldn't turn that bargain down!

On the go he loves to carry around books like those in the Harry Potter series. "They are fun and entertaining, a great way to pass the time when I am waiting around and have some spare time to take in a few pages." I asked him about audiobooks, whether or not he's ever considered listening to them in place of reading books while he is en route and what not. He confesses that he has purchased an audiobook but has yet to listen to it. He's had and neglected it for so long that he can't even recall what book it is! He's made a mental note to listen to it in the near future.

If Manuel could write a book of his own it would be about immigration. Specifically it would focus on the misconceptions and misunderstandings of immigration/immigrants. He would also love to explore the difficulties immigrant women endure when crossing the Mexican border. "They go through so much abuse, are sold, are forced into prostitution, and, more often than not, are viciously beaten. Sometimes they are murdered." Manuel has read a few books on similar topics however could not recall the book titles.


Have you read any interesting books (fiction or non-fiction) that are about immigration or touch upon the subject matter? What book was it?