Harry Potter Readalong. I'm In!

I was introduced to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by my Aunt Sherry on our annual vacation at my grandparents' cabin. Every year, my family would go up for a couple of weeks to stay in the cabin, while my Aunt Sherry, Uncle Mel, and their kids would stay across the lake at the State Park (technically they aren't related to us. My Uncle Mel went to college with my Dad). Every year I would pack as big a bag of books as I could get away with into the car in hopes they would last me while we were up there.

One year I packed too light and ran out of reading material. For me, this was a travesty. I was 14 or 15 at the time and going through some lovely teenage moods...and all I wanted was a book to read. My Aunt Sherry offered to give me my cousin's Harry Potter books. He wasn't at all interested in them, so I could keep them. I took them, a bit reluctantly, and started reading. I was fortunate that he had the first three (at that time, the fourth had just come out in stores), so I flew through them, then begged my dad to drive into town to buy me the fourth one.

I was hooked. Since then, I have made it a yearly tradition to reread the series. At first it was a refresher as the 5th, 6th, and 7th books all came out. But then it became a way to escape back into a world that I fell in love with.

I haven't reread the series since before I started blogging. In fact, the Harry Potter series were some of the last books I read before I began blogging in September 2009. At the time, I was ONLY going to read books from my list, so I crammed in some last minute favorites to "tide me over." I have sorely missed my time with Harry and the gang, and since having a marathon of all the movies last winter, I really just want to read the books.

So Jenna's readalong over at Lost Generation Reader has come at a perfect time. I have been craving some comfort in the last few months, and I can think of nothing better than disappearing into Harry Potter's world this fall. I generally slow way down in reading in the fall, so I think this is a great way to keep me reading through the inevitable slump that comes with the fall season (and the beginning of my new teaching position). And while I know this won't help me make any progress on any of my lists...well, to quote Rhett Butler from Gone with the Wind, "I don't give a damn." :)

For this project, I am planning on rereading all seven books, as well as The Tales of Beedle the Bard, and Harry's two school books (which I don't own-so a good excuse to get them!). I'll post thoughts and chatterings on the books as I go, and I might even discuss my experience at Harry Potter World in Florida (I went last summer).

If you want to join, visit the sign-up page!