You've just finished the Half Blood Prince and can't wait to get your hands on the next and last book in the Harry Potter series. Much like me, you'd wish two years would just breeze through, so won't be left hanging on what happens next to Harry and the gang. (I especially would want to know what happens next to Ron and Hermoine....but hey, that's me). Fan fiction sites are entertaining, but they keep you wanting to know what really happens next. The next movie seems promising, but you already know what happens it.  So here's a guide, a list of books in fact, that can help you fill the void of  your wary anticipation of the next Harry Potter book.

Johnny Dixon books and other works by John Bellairs

Before Harry Potter, the Johnny Dixon, Anthony Monday and Louis Barnavelt books were my favorite childrens books. They were all created by John Bellairs and they all told stories of magic and mystery, wizards, warlocks and the occult. Usually the main character would be a shy young kid (much like Harry potter - Johnny Dixon had glasses too!) who befriends an adult who's belongs to the wise old man/woman archetype (much like Albus Dumbledore). Johnny had Professor Childermass, Anthony had the spunky old librarian Ms. Eells and Louis had his wizard Uncle Jonathan. The books are all set in the 1950s and they usually tell of each characters adventures regarding mystery and magic.

If you're a fan of the Friday the 13th series (not to be confused with the movies), where they track down cursed items that were sold from an antique shop from hell, these books are like a children's book version of the series. If there's such a thing as a Gothic children's book - John Bellairs books would fit that genre - not to mention, most of his books were illustrated by the famed gothic artist Edward Gorey. I would suggest if you can get hold of the books, keep a copy of ones that have covers illustrated by Edward Gorey, because they truly set the mood of the books. Unfortunately some of those are out of print (they were published under the Bantam Skylark) so I guess you may be able to find a copy here at eBay.

Just to sample, I'm listing my favorite book from each series done by John Bellairs:

• The Eyes of the Killer Robot ( A Johnny Dixon Mystery) - though some would say this isn't the best Johnny Dixon book, this was the book that really sent chills down my spine. There was just this one part in that book, and I've never forgotten it. Here, Johnny, his friend Fergie and the Professor, discover a robot built by a crazy wizard/inventor Evaristus Sloane. They dont think too much about it, until Johnny's life becomes endangered from a Killer Robot that wants his eyes.
• The Dark Secret of Weatherend ( An Anthony Monday Mystery) - this one would be my favorite of all the books. Here Anthony and Ms. Eells try to stop an evil eccentric, Anders Borkman from controlling the weather to make the world into an icy place. What's fun about this is, I've never known memorizing the Litany of the Blessed Virgin would be able to help you save the world - pretty cool ;)
• The House with a Clock in Its Walls ( Lewis Barnavelt ) - this is the first book in the Lewis Barnavelt series. Here Lewis stays with his Uncle after the death of his parents, in a mysterious house that was once owned by an evil wizard. The wizard has hidden a clock that will mark down the minutes until doomsday and he and his uncle must find out where it is before it marks the end of the world.

The Murry - O ' Keefe books by Madeline L' Engle

Madeline L' Engle books are more of fantasy books than mystery, though, they do have a bit of science fiction too. I haven't read all of her books in the series on the Murrys and O'Keefe's but I do recommend reading the first three to start with:

• A Wrinkle in Time - This is the first adventure for Meg Murry, her brother Charles Wallace and their neighbor Calvin O' Keefe. Meg and Charles Wallace's dad, a physicist who had been missing for several years. But along come three strangers that can help them find their father. They travel through space and time by way of tesseracts or wrinkles in time (much like a quantum leap) into the unknown universe to help save their dad and the universe from the forces of darkness and evil.
• A Wind in the Door - Here, Charles Wallace suffers from an illness, a case of mitochondritis, where all his mitochondria are dying.  A cherubim, in a form of a creature with many wings and eyes shows up to help Meg and Calvin save Charles Wallace by making them small enough to go into one of Charles Wallace's mitochondria and try to find out what's causing Charles Wallace's illness and help save him from it.
• A Swiftly Tilting Planet - my personal favorite in the series. Here, Meg, Calvin and Charles Wallace are all grown up. Charles Wallace, now a teenager, faces the task of saving the world from the threat of nuclear war. With the help of a unicorn, Gaudior, Charles Wallace travels back in time, through many periods, to search for "Might-Have-Beens" that could help them avert this disaster.

Diana Wynne Jones' books

I've only read two of her books, but I did enjoy both of them and they did kind of remind me of the Harry Potter books as well. A lot of Diana Wynne Jones fans do recommend the Chrestomanci series, books I have yet to read. To the Diana Wynne Jones universe, the Chrestomanci  is employed by the Government to monitor and control the use of magic throughout the related worlds (kinda sounds familiar, like, the Ministry of Magic perhaps?). I've only read Witch Week, one of the books in the series, which a lot would say is nearest Harry Potter since it has the same setting - a boarding house in England with magical pupils. Though this time in Witch Week, it's not Hogwarts, but just an ordinary boarding school and this time, being a witch would mean that you can burn at the stake. The novel starts when a note is discovered stating that someone in the class is a witch. The mystery ensues as students find out who may be the witch as strange happenings occur at the boarding school.

Though, Witch Week was a good read, I found  another one of her works A Tale of Time City, more exciting and enjoyable. In this book, a young english girl from 1939 is whisked away by two boys to a place called Time City - a place that exists outside space and time. The place is more or less is like a futuristic place that I guess, a lot of sci-fi stories share with ( when I was reading it, I was envisioning somewhat of a place in Star Trek). I especially liked the vending machine that gave you treats from any period in time -  the 23rd century butter pie made my mouth water and made me actually crave for one. In this story, the two boys, pluck out Vivian form 1939 London, who was being evacuated from London during the WWII. In the belief the Vivian is the time lady, who will be able to save Time City from falling apart, they actually set up a chain of events that would lead them to a race to save their city and history itself.

The books arent a full two years worth of reading materials, but they sure will distract you from obsessing about the next Harry Potter book. But of course, for the die hard fan, you can always re-read the whole series again from the Philosopher's Stone to the Half Blood Prince. But until then, you can keep busy with these recommended reads. - meeyaw