Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

Okay I think I might be Confunded.  I’ve always had a very vivid imagination.  I remember one situation years ago where I was describing to my mother this movie that I couldn’t remember the title of and we realized it was a book with no movie version, but I had envisioned it so vividly I couldn’t tell the difference.  Unless I somehow caught up in the 2 months between the publishing of this book and the beginning of this blog I have not read this book.  I’m still not even sure about 6, but then there were times… oh I honestly don’t know, but here we have me reading them all nice and together finally.  I don’t think I’d read it I think I’d pieced together a good picture from people’s comments so it just felt familiar.  Okay so on to things.  J.K. Rowling wins I sobbed during several portions but definitely during the Snape memory sequence.  He still was a prat to Harry, as Dumbledore put it he saw what he wanted to see.  I recently heard people saying they didn’t think Snape loved her… what??????  Onward!  My dad told me yesterday movie part 2 is mostly battle so when I saw where that really got going in the book I was surprised.  I suppose they decided to be cinematic and show the battle from more perspectives.  I know I know I should see for myself, but sometimes I wonder if I should just not go see book movies because they tend to intrude on my own vivid imaginings.  I was soooo glad to finally find out why the Hog’s Head barman was familiar!!!!!  She lays her groundwork she does, though I was a little bothered by the fact apparently they barely fit under the whomping willow but last time they emerged with 3 people tied together, 2 of them grown men?  Once again nitpicking.  I am that person when I’m trying to think as a writer.  I love all the Draco twists.  I sobbed over Dobby.  I chuckled aloud through tears at the image of Kreacher leading a horde of house elves armed with cutlery.  I couldn’t help but grin at Mrs. Weasley taking out Bellatrix.  I actually think Tonks and Lupin got me one of the worst, I suppose because I had heard about Fred, but them and their new baby.  I suppose Teddy was maybe raised by his grandmother.  I’ve always stood by Rowling that to write more Harry would be a bad idea I think she considered writing in the same world but where in time would she go?  Historical?  All and all I’ve had a fun trip I needed something to get my inner nerd remotivated, but time to return to the Muggle world for a bit.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

So first off the confession: I am relatively sure this was my first read through.  I remember the night this book came out.  I went to the midnight event with a friend even though I didn’t have a book reserved.  I remember when she came bursting into our room into the whee hours of the morning sobbing that Dumbledore was dead (honestly if you don’t know it yet it’s not my problem).  I’m relatively sure I watched the movie.  Okay so yes I am still fighting off the last of the sniffles.  I have not watched or read anything about the seventh year I’ve only heard things.  Things like that Snape was good all along and the crazy fan girls were vindicated.  I looked at Ben at one point tonight and said I will never like Snape.  He is like the brutal soldier in movies who hates everything and enjoys the fighting.  He might be fighting for the good guys but the hatred still boils inside you.  If Rowling manages to when me over in number 7, well she has already earned her fame.  Oh I do have another confession!  Even though I knew the story of this book I totally forgot that the Half-Blood Prince was Snape!  I can’t imagine the next book honestly and so I will cut this short and go disappear.

(This is the sixth book of the Harry Potter series.)

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

I like to read lying on my back which just does not work with these.  As I finished the earlier books I would close them and wonder at the things I wa surprised didn’t happen yet.  I think it was because I forgot just how much happens in this volume.  I enjoy the increasingly larger roll that adult characters begin to play.  I don’t know why I always have a special place in my heart for McGonagall.  I think the scene near the end between Dumbledore and Harry is pretty powerful.  When even Dumbledore feels human and fallible you realize how much more dimension the characters have at this point.

(This is the fifth book of the Harry Potter series.)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

I don’t think that it is just Cedric’s death that makes the stakes leap a few levels for me in this book.  It’s not a complaint, just an observation.  I don’t even think it is just the full corporeal return of Voldemort.  It’s a weaving of the more obvious things, but also things like their general age and maturity.  At the end of the book Harry gives the twins the money telling them people are going to need the laughs and in some ways it is telling the reader to hold onto their hat.  Voldemort is building his troops, but Harry is not without allies.  Okay I do always have this issue of why James came out of the wand before Lily, but I do tend to be the kind of nitpicker that always gets itchy because would he really have not heard of Hogsmeade until the permission slip???  Those are the kind of things that a published author has to live with I suppose.  Anyway off to start year 5 before I completely collapse!

(This is the fourth book of the Harry Potter series.)

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

Something I keep thinking about as I reread this series is how much I loathe the Dursleys.  I used to think about skipping until Harry got away from them, but then I realized that is part of how Rowling hooks us so well.  You don’t want to put the book down in the first few chapters because you don’t want to abandon Harry with the terrible Dursleys.  Then there is Snape.  I’m not sure if there is any other character in the world that gets my hackles up as much as Snape.  Though I suppose he has to be particularly terrible in this book to offset how much I love Lupin.  I forgot how scary Sirius really was even when you first meet him.  Oh and Rowling gets major points for the fact that even though I start the book knowing the truth about Scabbers I still think Crookshanks is nutty.  Rowling has a tendency to make me giggle out loud like when Ron presents the tiny owl to Crookshanks for inspection at the end.

(This is the third book of the Harry Potter series.)

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

And another one bites the dust. (It’s kind of ridiculous how often I get that song in my head.)  One death fifty years ago, but this book used to seem so scary.  Such a contrast to some of the things that happen later in the series.  Some people worry when we have books where the protagonists age so much over the course of a series; it’s one thing when the books are being released but its very different when the brand new reader today reads them all in a month or less.  Personally I think it depends on the series (Twilight I will admit I felt like the last book was quite the leap from the rest of them) for example I think a reader can mature a lot as long as the characters are progressively maturing.  Sometimes I would start a book baffled by something, but usually by the end of the book I was caught up with the protagonist.  I always read books about characters older than me (well until I became the adult reading YA) and maybe that is part of why I’ve always had a higher maturity level.  I keep talking about me instead of the books.  Harry does some stupid things, but he usually has pretty good hindsight, which means when he learns his lesson so does the reader.  It’s easy to think of Voldemort as nothing but evil, but I always appreciate the fact that even if it is only a little bit the reader can have sympathy for Riddle. I dunno, the car might be my favorite character in this volume.

(This is the second book of the Harry Potter series.)