A few people have told me that I need to stick with it until book 3 and then I'll be hooked. So after seeing a tweet by my friend Joie the other night where she basically invited anyone to join her in a "Project Reread Harry Potter" I took the bait. Only I answered her that mine would be "Project Read HP for the 1st time because I was lame and missed out the 1st go-round".
I've had the whole series in a nice little boxed set sitting on my bookshelves for a few years now. A few Christmas' ago Marc gave me this awesome little trunk that is very adorable and holds all the hardcovers along with some novelty stickers. I have to admit the only time I've even glanced at it in the past few years is when I dust it when we're doing chores. Up until now it's been a pretty expensive dust collector.
But not anymore! As of today the trunk has been cracked open (and wow, that thing's hefty!) and I have Book 1 sitting on my nightstand as I type. After the boys go to bed tonight I'll try my best to ignore Glee and crack open The Sorcerers Stone. I might have to toothpick my eyelids open as I drudge through the first few chapters of the first book, the only bit of Harry Potterness I've been exposed to before. I vaguely remember something about a creepy streetlight? Or that he doesn't have parents? An evil foster-mother? I could totally be mixing up my YA plot lines here. I've never seen any of the movies either, so I'm basically going into this blind. :)
If you're like me and am completely ignorant to all things Harry Potter but want to give it a go, or if you adore the series and would like to reread it with us - join in! I'll collect participants and make a little list on my sidebar so I can keep track of everyone. I don't have a strict timetable - I'm loosely (very loosely - this is summer after all!) saying a book a week, which would put us ending the week of July 27th (there are 7 books, right?). I'll be doing a post a week every Tuesday on my thoughts on the previous week's book so hopefully we can get some discussion going on!
If you're on twitter use the hashtag #readHP in your tweets about it so we can see them all in one place. Leave me a comment if you decide to join in on the fun! I can't wait to get started tonight. And then I can spend the fall months watching the movies in preparation for the Deathly Hallows Part I movie coming out at Thanksgiving!
Participating in Project (Re)Read Harry Potter in the Summer of 2010:
Erin: blog: Two More Seconds twitter: twomoreseconds
Joie: blog: joie.vox.com twitter: heyjoie {she who started it all! ;) }
Jill: twitter: technicolor
Jen: blog: As Told By Jen twitter: astoldbyjen
Sarah: blog: Craft N Clutter twitter: craftnclutter
Jennie: blog: Sunflower Quilts twitter: sunflowerquilts
Amanda: blog: modernAcorn twitter: mrsmcporkchop
Janie: twitter: javajanie
Leah: blog: Sew to Bed twitter: sewtobed
not sure I can commit (the sewing will be completely non-existent), but I'll be watching the discussion...so sign me up as an official lurker! I took a class in college where we read the first 3 books (well, I re-read), and the discussions were always pretty interesting. One of the most interesting things I remember discussing was the religious affiliations - Christians not liking the witchcraft business (not Christian), which I found ironic because the books had been banned in some Muslim-dominant countries because they were too "Christian"...but definitely one of my more interesting classes!!
ReplyDeleteYay! I'm so glad you're doing this and that I can join in the fun. I've been meaning to reread the series for a while now. I'm also supposed to start Vampire Diaries series with Steph now that the show's over, but I'm one of those people who's always reading 2 or 3 books at the same time, so it'll work. :)
ReplyDeleteWell I don't know who told you you have to stick with it until book 3. The first book was the only one that took me FOREVER to read. After that I was hooked. That was forever ago. I might join since I haven't read the books in a long time. So sign me up, I was reading this other series but I will stop or read both at the same time.
ReplyDeleteAdd me to the list! I've been meaning to re-read them all for a while so this will give me the push to do it
ReplyDeleteI'll join in. I've been meaning to re-read the series for a while now so this will give me the push to do it
ReplyDeleteI'M SO EXCITED! This week is slightly busy for me, so I'm hoping to knock out the first 2 early next week--which shouldn't be such a problem. :D I'm so happy you're doing this! I hope you love them as much as I do!
ReplyDeleteVery fun! I will likely pass since my "to-read" stack is about a mile high and growing.
ReplyDeleteAvoid the impulse to stop after the first one (or the second) -- and think -- bah, kid's book -- JKR does a great job of maturing the story with the characters.
I'll be really curious as to which is your favorite!
I read the first HP book years ago because I had several friends who were RAVING about the series and couldn't understand why I wasn't rushing to read every book. So I read the first book to get them off my back about it. :-) I actually quite enjoyed the first book, and after reading it I could see why the stories were so popular. J.K. Rowling does a fantastic job of blending elements of the real world with the magical in a way that makes the stories seem like they could actually happen, and the writing is excellent.
ReplyDeleteBut after the first book I stopped, because someone told me that if I wanted to like the movies, I should see the movies first and then read the books. Because there is SO MUCH in the books that they have to remove a lot for the movies. At that point I think the third HP movie had come out and I had loved all three. So I stopped reading, figuring I could read the books after all the movies came out. And hey, that way I knew I had a great series of books waiting for me someday when I was ready.
Even though not all the movies have come out, I think I'd like to read the series with you this summer. I don't know about one book a week, though; some of the books are loooooong and might take me more than a week. :-) But I'll read along! Add me to the list, please!
I think you'll really enjoy the series once you get past the exposition. And I'm excited to join in. I read most of the books so quickly the first time to see what happened, so this time, I want to read slowly and really enjoy them. I'm really excited you're doing this and sharing the fun with the rest of us!
ReplyDeletep.s. I cannot for the life of me figure out how to use my Wordpress ID to login and post a comment, so I'm just going to include my blog link here. http://www.tastierspeech.com
I'm so glad! I LOVE HP!!! I initially didn't want to read them - I thought they were for kids, etc. etc., and my mother insisted I read them. Now I listen to them each night on my iPod. I LOVE HP!!! and I know you will too :)
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