Tuesday, August 21, 2012

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!

9 comments:

  1. I keep seeing stuff about this and am so tempted. I think I'm going to hold out though. I think 2013 is going to be the year of rereading for me since I haven't done much this year. So I'll just share my intro to HP story. :) My mom brought home the first three, which she had borrowed from a coworker. I was a senior in high school and thought she was crazy for wanting me to read kids books. I had never heard of them at that point, it was right before the fourth one came out so HP mania wasn't everywhere. I read them in one weekend and we went out and bought our own copies. I was hooked. Except for the fourth book, I went to midnight premieres for the remaining books and many of movies. I got my boyfriend senior year to read them and he never read anything - and he loved them. When I started dating Ryan (my now husband) in college, I made him read them and got him hooked too. Now we've gone to HP parties together and have dressed as Hermione and Lupin (which is a little creepy, I suppose). Hmph. I might sign up after all. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great post, Allie! I'm so excited that you've joined the read-along. I will probably post soon about how I got started with Potter, and I'm glad you did that. I love hearing about how people found Potter. I'm also going on a family trip to Orlando the day after Thanksgiving, so I'll be able to talk HP World with you once I get back. I pretty much convinced them on Orlando for that reason. No regrets. :P

    ReplyDelete
  3. I wish I had a cool Harry Potter story like you do, Allie! I have been meaning to reread for a while, and I even have them on my Classics Club list, so this readalong is the perfect excuse! I don't know if I'll stick to the time frame though, as once I enter the world of Hogwarts, I don't want to leave, and just keep reading and the last book always comes too quickly.

    The Tales of Beedle the Bard is an amazing book, I envy Ms Rowling's creativity! And the other two - Fantastic Beasts and Quidditch through the Ages are just phenomenal. They all blew my mind, they are just so magical - if Hogwarts and all the Potter stuff were real I would be there all the time.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love these books so much. I reread the whole series last year before the final movie came out and did a big post for each book. It was such a delight to revisit the characters that meant so much to me over the years. I am trying to plan a trip to HP World for some time next year and so I'm going to hold off rereading them until just before we go, but have fun!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I re-read the series almost every year, too (started in the same way, re-reading each before the next one came out - starting with Book 4). I really don't think I'll have the time to join this one, though, even though I do want to very badly.

    The "school books" (Quidditch Through the Ages & Magical Beasts) are good - cute... I loved Tales of Beadle the Bard!

    I did add one or two of the "crit/theory" books that were mentioned on the sign-up post to my wish list, though.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm tempted. Meaning I probably will. I usually reread the series once a year. I just can't help it.

    ReplyDelete
  7. You've actually read the series more than once? Wow :) I really liked the first three, then I switched to the audio books (narrated by Stephen Fry). I'm not sure whether I'll have time to read all them in a row (even though the HP readalong does last until December). It'd be nice to share Harry Potter experiences with fellow bloggers though :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. I haven't read any of the Harry Potter books since the 7th came out, I think. Or maybe I reread the 7th just before the movie? I did recently pick up the audio book for the 2nd from the library and have been enjoying dipping into it here and there that way. It's so much fun to visit Harry's world. Enjoy the reread!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I would so do this if I hadn't just reread all the books this summer...and if i hadn't just shut down my all-purpose blog. I'm trying to get away from talking about books, honestly.

    ReplyDelete