The Harry Potter Readalong.

YEEESSSSSSS.

I'm so excited to say that I'll be joining the Harry Potter Readalong hosted at the Estella Society. I have reread the Harry Potter series multiple times since they first came out, with my most recent reread in 2013...so...totally time for a reread. :)

The readalong is very loose-read as much or as little Potter as you want. Post about it. And enjoy.

For myself, I'm planning on rereading all 7 titles, as well as the 2 schoolbooks, The Tales of Beedle the Bard, and Harry, A History by Melissa Anelli (which has been sitting on my shelf for a long time). I'm pretty sure I read the 3 small books the last time I #potterbinged, but I'm not positive. In any case, they're great little reads in between the massive books at the end of the series. I'm sure I'll also watch a few of the movies (just my favorites), but I doubt I'll have an HP movie marathon like I did once before (we made themed drinks. It was fabulous).

In any case, I hope you'll consider joining in as well! It's a great event, and who doesn't love Harry Potter?

Reread: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

 “The truth." Dumbledore sighed. "It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution.”

I was feeling pretty awful last weekend and Thomas Hardy just wasn't going to do it for me. Instead, I decided I wanted some comfort. After staring at my shelves for all of five minutes, I grabbed this one and settled in to read.

It was the perfect choice for an achy and exhausted me. The story is so familiar that it really does feel like visiting an old friend rather than reading something new. And you might think, that after reading this so many times, that I'd be sick of it.

Nope.

The book still felt fresh and innovative, even after all this time-and movies, and theme parks, and everything in between. I was taken back to my first read and all the rereads of this title and felt a great deal of comfort from Rowling's story.

I think that sometimes, we just need to feel comforted by what we read. And revisiting books that we cherish from our youth is a big part of that. It makes it even more special when you love the book just as much on each reread (if not more so).

I'm not sure I have anything more to say about this that I haven't already said somewhere else. I did spend a lot of my attention focusing on the development of friendships between the 3 main characters, as well as any scene Snape was in (because he has always been my favorite character). I don't think I learned anything new, but rather acknowledged the craft it took to write this.

In any case, I'm pretty positive that I'm going to be rereading the rest of the series in the new future-probably not one right after the other-in hopes of gaining a little inspiration and getting that comfort when I need it.

“Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself.”

The Harry Potter Schoolbooks.

I am participating in Jenna's readalong of the Harry Potter series through December 15th, and I made some great progress at the very beginning of last month (I flew through the schoolbooks, Beedle the Bard, and the first 5 books in about a week and a half). I figured it was time I actually start writing about those books and my impressions.

First, I should tell you that with the exception of the schoolbooks, I have read the series numerous times. I love Harry Potter and the world Rowling created. I will apologize in advance if my fan-girling gets a little nuts, or I talk about the books in general. I will try not to give away any spoilers to the handful of you who haven't read the books, but I can't promise anything.

Second, I completely forgot how much I LOVE this world once I am in it. It sucked me in and if it hadn't been for that pesky job of mine, I would have finished the series outright. ;)

On to the books!

I decided to start off the readalong by reading the schoolbooks. These are the only books in the Harry Potter world that I hadn't read before. I know that my sister owned them, but I guess I never read them? Actually finding copies of them was difficult. I had to visit three bookstores before I found the box set pictured above. I found that odd, but nevertheless, I have them in their new hardcover glory sitting on my shelf.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander

I began with this title for a couple of reasons...mainly that I wanted to save Quidditch until later. :) I thought this one would be the least interesting of the two.

Fantastic Beasts is essentially an encyclopedia of the creatures found in the Harry Potter world. There are some notable exceptions to what's in here-goblins are not classified as beasts, so they aren't in here while centaurs are (centaurs asked to be labeled as beasts). I found the classification notes interesting, and as I began reading the series, it would pop up in my head.

Each entry has a label of how dangerous the creature might be. Some entries have scribbles from Harry and friends in the margins-I wish there had been more of this. Their little quips and insights were charming and cute, but sometimes pages would go by before another one. I wanted more!

There are some pictures to display some of the creatures-especially the ones that don't appear in the series. Again, I found it quite charming! I enjoyed the little sketches and the little bits of humor Rowling injected into the book.

My one qualm with the book didn't even pop into my head until I was reading book 4...the blast-ended skrewts that are Hagrid's obsession are not in the book! I'm sure this has something to do with when the schoolbook was originally published to when the fourth book came out, but I was a little surprised. That was the only missing beast that popped into my head, but I wonder if there are more?

All in all, this was an enjoyable little read, and it only took me an hour or so to get through. It was entertaining for me since I had already read the series multiple times and was a great way to get back into the mindset for the universe.

Quidditch Through the Ages by Kennilworthy Wasp

Whereas Fantastic Beasts was a schoolbook belonging to Harry, this title was part of Hogwarts' library. I loved the little touch of seeing the list of team members who checked the book out prior to Harry. That's what makes specialty books like this worth it!

Like Fantastic Beasts, this is just a slim volume that talks about one of the obsessions in the Harry Potter world-that of Quidditch-the wizards' game played on broomsticks. Reading the books, I have always been a fan of the game that Rowling invented for her wizards and witches. And when I was away at college, we had an intramural Quidditch program (sadly played on the ground, but you did have to pretend to be sitting on a broomstick). Quidditch is one of the many touches in the books that makes the whole world feel real, you know?

Anyway, this title talks about how the game was created, some notable teams around the world, and special moves, like the Wronski Feint. I think I enjoyed this one far more than the previous title only because it read straight through and wasn't disjointed in entries (makes sense, right?). I learned some interesting things about the sport so that when I started reading and Harry started playing Quidditch, I picked up a few things!

But really...it just made me want to play. :)


Both books were great little reads and a great reintroduction to Harry Potter and Hogwarts. I would definitely recommend both titles to people who have read the series and loved them, since reading them before would just confuse you. :) I do wish Rowling would write more of the schoolbooks in the future (Hogwarts, A History anyone?), but that's just wishful thinking. I think she has left the world of Harry Potter behind her for now. Let's keep our fingers crossed though!

Onto The Tales of Beedle the Bard!

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!

Weekly Wrap-up for January 9, 2012: HP Marathon, Reading Goals, and an "Unofficial Vacation."

I meant to come to the library yesterday to write posts for this week, but I was feeling a little gross from all the sugar and laziness from Saturday. Instead, I went for a walk in the park with my husband, then came home to watch way too much The Big Bang Theory. It was a splendid Sunday.

But, here I am at the library, stealing their internet. We're still waiting for Matt's student loans to come in for the semester, even though he started last Tuesday, so that we can pay some bills. Yep, our internet and cable were turned off. Such is life, right? It happens.

Anyway, I'm here at the library, apparently annoying this "student" sitting at a table next to me. I should mention I was here first, and I purposefully picked a corral away from the other people because my keyboard keys are a little clacky. This butthead sat down at a table right next to me and it continually giving me dirty looks for typing. So now I am typing extra loud. :) He could have picked somewhere else to sit, right?

I have some posts to write before I go home, but I wanted to give a little update on the first week of 2012.

I have written in my journal a total of TWO times. Woohoo! :) I knew you would all be so proud. It is hard getting in the habit of writing on a daily basis, so I am shooting for a few times a week for now.

I finished three books this week, which is making my 2012 Goodreads Challenge page very happy. I finally got rid of the "You are __ books behind!" that greeted me every time I logged on last year. Gosh that was annoying!

(The "Student" just got up and is headed over to the reference desk. I wonder if he is complaining.)

Saturday was my glorious Harry Potter Marathon with a group of friends. It started out as three of us, but a few more people meandered over throughout the day. We had a great time! We didn't watch every movie. We unanimously agreed to skip the second movie because it was everyone's least favorite...

(Sorry, student came back. He glared at me.).

We also skipped most of the fourth movie and watched the highlights-the lovely scene where Ron and Harry discuss who to take to the Yule Ball and Snape bullies them a bit (Oh Alan Rickman, I love you). We also watched pieces of the Graveyard scene. We then watched 5, 6, and 7 Part 1 taking us to 1 in the morning. Everyone pooped out, so we were done. I ended up watched 7 Part 2 by myself yesterday.

It was a lot of fun, and had we watched all 8 movies, it would have been 20 hours of Harry Potter. o_O A bit much. We snacked on a lot of things and made some lovely adult beverages inspired by the movie. We all agreed the butterbeers were the best:

• 1 shot of Buttershots (butterscotch schnapps)
• 1 shot of Vanilla flavored vodka
• Top off with Cream soda OR root beer (for light or dark butterbeer).

The only issue was the mount of sugar. I don't drink regular pop (soda for you Southerners), so the sugar really tore apart my stomach. Lesson learned!

Moving on..

This week I have some lofty goals. I haven't been chugging through my Shakespeare plays as quickly as I thought I would, so I need to catch up. I am planning on finishing all of the remaining Shakespeare plays on my list this month, so I have 10 to go! They don't take long to read, so I just need to get to it.

I should actually have an easy time of it since I am going on an "unofficial vacation" starting Friday morning. My younger sister, Torrie, is interning at Disney this semester. My mom and I will be driving her down this weekend, then staying in Orlando for a few days. So in addition to a 22 hour car ride going both ways, my mom and I will be spending a lot of time by the pool reading. :) I will have my computer with me, so posts will still be going up, and I will check in every day or two. I should easily get through all of my Shakespeare, plus a couple of smaller things I want to read this month as well.

For those of you participating, I hope you are having a great time reading some Shakespeare! I'm excited by everyone's enthusiasm and when I have more time (probably in Florida), I will make sure to catch up on your posts!

(and student just packed up his stuff and left. He glared at me.).

I hope you all have a wonderful reading week!

Harry Potter Marathoning!

In my quest to talk about some other aspects of my life other than books, I thought I would talk about my plans for tomorrow-and it is book-related. :) I have to start somewhere, you know?

I love Harry Potter. I didn't dive into the books when they first came out. I only started reading them when I ran out of books to read on a family vacation. I'm kind of glad I did!

Anyway, I really wanted to watch the other movies before the final one came out in July. I ran out of time, and my family went on vacation, so I completely failed on that. ;) It happens, right?

One of my good friends, Kyla, came up with the idea to have a huge marathon and watch all 8 movies as soon as the last one was out on DVD. Tomorrow is the big day! We're starting at noon (after a shopping trip to pick up some food items), and we're going to plow through all 8 movies with break only for eating and bathroom breaks. We're also making butterbeers and some other themed food, so it should be a great time.

I am sure we will be glassy eyed and crazy by the time the last movie is over-and I'll probably sob from exhaustion and emotion-but it'll be a great day. I'm sure I'll be tweeting and such during the marathon as well (it has been a long time since watching a few of the movies!).

Tell me, have you ever done a big movie marathon like this? We once had a Lord of the Rings marathon to watch all the extended editions. It took us over 12 hours!

I'll be back *live* on Sunday with my weekly update, and I'll let you know how it went!

Book 19: Shakespeare and Harry.

As I have been flying through The Winter's Tale (I am currently in Act 4, Scene 4), I have been noting the similarities between this play and one of the Harry Potter books. In my post from yesterday, I mentioned how when I read this for my college Shakespeare class we had a long discussion about some similarities. It all came flooding back to me as I started to read.

Now, if you don't want to know the ending of the play, it might be best to stop reading now, because I am certainly going to go there.

You have been warned.

Okay then. The Winter's Tale is essentially about King Leontes of Sicilia. At the beginning of the play, King Polixenes of Bohemia is visiting. Leontes thinks that his wife, Hermione is cheating on him with Polixenes. He creates a scene and accuses her of being a whore, then banishes Polixenes from Sicilia.

Obviously, the name Hermione rings a bell for anyone who has read Harry Potter. The relationship between these three monarchs is a lot like the relationship between Harry, Ron, and Hermione. At times in that relationship, we do see betrayal where one individual is banished or left out. Feelings and miscommunication play a large role in that separation, as it does here.

Moving on in the play, Hermione gives birth to a child, Perdita, who is sent away by Leontes because he thinks it isn't his. Queen Hermione soon "dies" after and Leontes is left grieving for what he did.

While there aren't as many similarities here, there are later in the play.

The fourth and fifth acts resolve the conflict. Sixteen years later (time turner anyone?), Perdita returns with Florizell (Polixenes' son) to Sicilia, as Florizell is banished by his father for wanting to marry a mere shepherd's daughter. No one at the time of this banishment knows that Perdita is actually Leontes' daughter. Once reunited, the group go to pay respects to a lifelike statue of Hermione. Upon seeing it, they are told it is made of stone. Hermione soon comes back to life and everything is solved.

In that class, we talked a lot about how Hermione in stone reminded us of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, where Hermione spends a good chunk of the novel petrified from the basilisk. She is essentially frozen in time, and time also plays a large part in the play. The manipulation of time in some of Shakespeare's plays is a big deal, and time takes on the role of a character. The same is true for some of the Harry Potter novels. In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Hermione can control time with her time turner to correct wrongs in a single night. While Shakespeare didn't utilize time in quite the same manner, he came close with time fast-forwarding often through his plays.

One last connection is the mention of the basilisk. Yep, the mythical snake is mentioned in the same play where the character Hermione is "Cast in stone." Here are the direct lines:

"How caught of me?
Make me not sighted like the basilisk.
I have looked on thousands who have sped the better
By my regard, but none killed so," (I.ii. 465-469).

Leontes is actually speaking in this piece to Camillo (a courtier) as well as Polixenes. I find it interesting to draw the comparison here. Shakespeare also explains that the basilisk was known for killing with its sight, but hasn't yet (in this context). If you recall from Chamber of Secrets), the basilisk doesn't kill anyone, but merely petrifies them until they can be revived. In the play, Leontes petrifies his own wife until she is eventually revived by his acknowledgment of wrong doing.

I have to wonder whether this is all merely a coincidence and I am pulling too much from both texts, or if J.K. Rowling really drew inspiration from the play. It would be an interesting question to ask and from all my reading, I haven't found an answer.

I am hoping that all made sense. In any case, I only have a small portion to go before I finish.

Happy Reading!

Book 19: The Winter's Tale.

I figure it is time to get another Shakespeare play off of my list. Since I am not brave enough to venture into reading a play that I haven't already previously read, I decided to go with a lesser known play this time around (the last Shakespeare play I read was Much Ado About Nothing).

The Winter's Tale is another comedy, although it doesn't seem so at first. I have read it once before, during my college Shakespeare class. At the time, I remember thinking that it was alright. It didn't match up to some of the other plays we read in that class, but I still enjoyed it (unlike The Two Gentlemen of Verona which just annoyed me. Thankfully, I am not reading one for this challenge).

Anyway, even though I enjoyed it, I barely remember the plot line. I know some of the characters names; namely, Perdita, Leontes, and Hermione. I also recall that there are some small similarities between the play and Harry Potter. We discussed this in that class, which is why I remember, so as I read I'll try and pull those details out. I like finding inspiration for modern novels within Shakespeare.

Perhaps after giving another old friend a try I'll summon the courage to tackle a new Shakespeare play. I have reservations about it. It is really easy to re-read a play once you are familiar with the storyline because you know essentially what is going to happen and if some language escapes you, it still makes sense. I'm just a little worried about my abilities to decipher something new and unfamiliar on my own.

Off to Shakespeare land!

Book 17: Length in Novels.

I have no problems reading novels that are lengthy. If I had a problem with length, then I never would have made it through the Outlander series in 2009. There are other big works of fiction that I also hold dear to my heart, like the Harry Potter books. Their length helps rather than hinders the story, so I have no problem reading them.

I also love short books. I like being able to sit down and go through an entire story in one sitting lasting an hour or so, as long as the story is told well. Two of the books I have already read for my odyssey have been short novellas-Ethan Frome and The Old Man and the Sea. Both of those novellas were well done; the characters were developed, the plot was detailed enough, and the story left me thinking.

So it really bothers me when the scope of a work does not fit with the length. Simple plots and characters don't need as much time to develop as elaborate schemes. Harry Potter condensed into 7 300 page books would be a completely different story. The world that J.K. Rowling created would not be as deep or detailed.

In reading Sons and Lovers, I am finding that I am annoyed with Lawrence's use of page space and how the story is developing. To be quite honest, the first 50 or so pages have nothing to do with the rest of the story. Yes, the description of his mother and father and their early life does provide nice background, but it could have been given in another way. And while I appreciate that Lawrence is setting up the character of Paul Morel and his relationship to his mother, I find it completely aggravating. There is too much language and too much exposition for my tastes.

(I am not saying that I don't enjoy description, because I do, but I hate when the description is overbearing. On with the story, you know?)

And since my edition of Sons and Lovers is 370 pages long, there is a lot of time that I know will be wasted trucking through Lawrence's description and what he deems to be important to the story. I am hoping that when it is finished I will feel differently, but I don't think I will.

It is incredibly hard to like a book that drags on and on with only little spurts of excitement. Dull and monotonous writing bores the reader and this reader is bored with Lawrence. I really hate to be so negative, especially towards a book that I had high hopes for, but I can't help it.

Mind, this is not as bad as when I had to force myself through Great Expectations, but this is still pretty bad.

I know I cannot force myself to like a book and I know there will be other books on this list that I will also dislike for various reasons. Obviously not everything will appeal to me and I have been lucky so far that I have enjoyed pretty much everything I've read, but let me ask you this; Why are all the books I dislike the longest ones? It sure seems like they are!

So here are some questions for you, dear readers:

1. What length of book do you prefer and why?
2. Are there books you have avoided because of their length? If so, what titles?

Thanks, and happy reading!

Book 5: Reading Shakespearian Plays.

Reading a 300 page romance novel is not the same as reading a 300 page document on the history of the Phillips screwdriver; just as reading a 700 page novel by Charles Dickens is not the same as reading a 700 page Harry Potter novel. Just because a book is longer does not mean it is automatically more difficult to read. Instead, it’s about the content and the time period of the piece that determines the difficulty of the reading.

For a more personal example, I stayed up all night and read the last Harry Potter book in one sitting the night it came out. It took me roughly 7 ½ hours to get through it. And I know for a FACT that it would take at least twice that to read through a novel by Dostoevsky simply because of difficulty. Since many of the books on this classics list are written in a completely different time period, they require much more concentration than if I were to pick up the latest Nora Roberts book (which my mom surely has). I am sure that you can all relate to an experience in high school where a certain book or piece just took forever to get through because of the complexities of language.

This brings me to Shakespeare and plays in general. Obviously, reading a play is far different that reading a novel. In a novel, the author gives the read cues as to emotion, etc. In a play, all you really have to go by is dialogue and the few stage directions.

Here is an example:

“Why are you always leaving me?” she cried, stomping her feet like the immature teenager she is whilst tears streamed down her cheeks, “Am I not enough for you? Just tell me now so I don’t have to pretend anymore.”

In this first example, you, the reader, have some clear clues to go by. First, you know that the speaker is a she and she is undoubtedly crying. She also seems to be speaking to a partner of some sort who is “leaving her.” You can also tell that she feels inadequate and insecure by how and what she is saying to the unknown speaker. These feelings might be an indication of her age, which is that of a teenager. These are clear clues that paint a picture in your head of the scene taking place.

Now, here is another example:

“I will live in thy heart, die in thy lap, and be buried
in thy eyes—and, moreover, I will go with thee to thy uncle’s,” (v.ii. 87-88).

First, the language is completely different (this is from “Much Ado About Nothing”) and that has to be first deciphered like this:

“I will live in your heart, die in your lap, and be buried in your eyes—and, moreover, I will go back with you to your uncle’s.”

Well, that seems a little better now that I got rid of the “thy” and “thees.” But from these lines, who is speaking? Just looking at the dialogue you can’t tell if it’s a man or a woman, how old they are, or to whom they are speaking. It’s slightly trickier than the scene above. The playwright is counting on the performance to deliver these words in the manner they deserve. On a simple read through, it is hard for the read to find the passion in the words alone. They reader, or viewer, is meant to see and feel the passion through a performance.

I say and explain all this in hopes of making a few points.

First, that a play is meant to be performed rather than read.

Second, that Shakespeare’s plays are truly difficult to understand and read because of the language.

Third, anyone who can read a Shakespeare play straight through and understand all the nuances and emotions of the characters and tells you so, is most likely lying (and you can tell them I said so).

Luckily for people who want to read Shakespeare (not so much for other plays), many publishing companies are finding ways to help the reader. I own a complete set of his plays, which are all just straight versions of the dialogue, but there are editions that have the play on one page in its original text and “modern speech” on the opposite side to decipher the meaning. I own an edition that has footnotes to explain puns and out of date slang so that I can fully understand what is being said.

I’m not going to lie, reading Shakespeare is hard. Not only are you forced with the basic challenges of trying to ascertain emotion and passion from only dialogue, you are also contending with a different kind of English than what you speak today.

I think that is the main reason why people find Shakespeare difficult. When I taught “Romeo and Juliet” to ninth graders, I had to explain everything because of the language gap. To many, it just seems like another language entirely and even words like “you” seem to complex to comprehend.

So, if you are looking to broaden your horizons and read some Shakespeare, try one of the new versions of the play of your choice that has a breakdown of outdated words and modern translations. While some “book snobs” might tell you that’s cheating, its not. It simply makes a very difficult text more attainable.

Have at it!