Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

I'm about half-way through reading it for the second time. I'm going to give some thoughts without (hopefully) revealing any of the plotlines.

I loved this paragraph from the book:

A young woman was standing in the doorway, a woman of such breathtaking beauty that the room seemed to have become strangely airless. She was tall and willowy with long blonde hair and appeared to emanate a faint, silvery glow. To complete this vision of perfection, she was carrying a heavily laden breakfast tray.

I'm sorry but the paragraph made me think about the old joke about watching a Celtics / Lakers game with Cindy Crawford, making mad passionate love to her at half-time and then she turns into a pizza. That was the old vision of perfection.

The book was excellent but be warned the last lines should have been "to be continued". This book stands on its own but it clearly is meant to set up what happens next in the Harry Potter saga. This is a trend that started with the third book but in this book it really stands out (probably because of the emotional tone of this ending in contrast to the other books).

I was completely wrong in my guess about who the Half Blood Prince was and you have to hand it to Rowling - she's very unpredictable.

Having said that - I'm pretty sure I know who R.A.B is and I think I have a good guess about what one of the remaining horcruxes is. I'd be happy to discuss my guesses in the comments section.