Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Now I am 45% done with the Harry Potter series. I've finished the first four books and the first chapter of the fifth book. (Did anyone else notice how in the fifth book the print gets smaller?) I feel like I've been reading so long and I haven't even reached the midway point of this series. That is absolutely ridiculous but also fantastic because that means that there is still so much more story to go!

Originally, the beginning of this book scared me. The part where Harry gets taken to Sirius' house was particularly stressful for me and I did not want to continue reading. I haven't gotten to that part yet but now that I know what happens I'm sure it will be easier on my nerves. The first time I read this book I read a lot of it in one day because I couldn't wait to find out what happened. I'm guessing (since it's so long) that many things were cut from this book too, just like in Goblet of Fire. Therefore, it won't be a complete repeat of the book. Additionally, the halfway mark of this book occurs later than the halfway point for the series. I'm excited to continue the journey through the world of Harry Potter.

I'm also continuing to keep ahead of schedule, which is nice. Last week I came a little close to falling behind but my 200ish pages last night made up for that. I'm probably feeling a little more optimistic than I should. I feel like I'm nearing the end and that I'm almost finished, but I have not even reached the halfway point. Maybe it's that I'm onto the fifth book out of seven, which means I'm more than halfway through the books but not the pages. It's still going to take a long time but it will turn out OK, I hope.

Yay Harry Potter!!!!!
ps. today I am going to a corn maze and all I can think about is the third task of the Triwizard Tournament and hoping I don't find any creepy things inside!

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

I am now one third done with the entire series of Harry Potter, which puts me about 40% into the fourth book. I tend to like the parts where Harry, Ron, and Hermione are at Hogwarts best, so for me this one had a bit of a slow start too (as in, it took them 160 pages to get onto the Hogwarts Express, but definitely not that long for some action to start). Even though things were happening I wanted the meat of the story to start. That just happened where I left off. I ended just after the Goblet of Fire spits out Harry's name on page two hundred seventy something.

I'm starting to get into some of the events that were cut out of the movie (as so much was in this book because it's so much longer and more complicated than the others). I remember some of the action but not the character development or subtle plot points. There is also a lot of foreshadowing that I've picked up on now going through the books for the second time. (While it is my second time reading this book, and will be my second time for books 5 and 7, it will be my third time through 6 and my umpteenth through books 1-3). I also had read somewhere a long time ago that all the things that Harry and Ron make up when they're doing their Divination homework actually come true, so I'm on the lookout for that as well.

While this project is starting to become more and more daunting even as I get closer to the end, I'm still enjoying it. I think the thing that has changed is the amount of other things I have to do besides read Harry Potter. Therefore, I'm trying to get ahead in case this week decimates me. There are just so many things to do that getting Harry potter finished before the movie comes out is just one more thing that has to get done this fall. Add it to the list. There are like 100 things already on it.

At least I'm determined and interested in finishing this project, unlike my homework.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

I'm now a little more than halfway through the third book in the series. I'm making good time, if I do say so myself. I'm three and a half days ahead of schedule, which means on the schedule I should be finishing up the second book today. Something tells me things are going to slow down in books 4-6. We'll see. Here's the cover.

This book is better than I expected. I remembered not liking it very much when I read it initially. I also remember really liking Chamber of Secrets, which this time I thought was just so-so. Prisoner of Azkaban is more exciting than the other two so far without being too dark. And the fact that there is a movie will definitely understand the ending. Reading it when I was younger, I had no idea what happened in the end and how any of it was possible (the parts where Scabbers turns into Pettigrew, the time travel part, etc) but having seen it I can now picture what happens much better.

I just got out the fourth book from the library. I'm kind of dreading reading it because of how dark the movie is, but somehow I think the books are a little more uplifting, especially since a lot of the comic relief (minus Ron, of course) are cut out of the movies for time's sake. It probably also has to do with the book being almost pea soup green, which makes me not want to read it much, but oh well. Probably will finish book 3 in the next 2-3 days and then begin number 4 this weekend. I've been on this Harry Potter mission for a week. I'm impressed. 918 pages down, 3,182 to go! 22% done with the series.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

I'm now into the second Harry Potter book on page 140, which is currently ahead of schedule. This book actually isn't as exciting so far as the first one, which surprised me. I remember reading it all in one day in seventh grade for a book report because I was so excited about what was going to happen next. Still good, and still part of the series. I'm already 40% done with it and I just started it yesterday.

So not only is this series absolutely wonderful and attention-grabbing, it also reminds me of my younger days in middle and high school. I read the first three books before there were any movies made, so the way I pictured the places in the book were nothing like the movie. It's interesting to see how my mind has changed. Instead of always picturing the movie set, or always picturing my own image, I imagine a sort of hybrid. However, parts the did not make it into the movie ever, for example, Nick's Deathday party, are still the way I imagined them when I was 12. Weird, huh? It's funny how my mental pictures come back just how they were before even though I haven't read the book since then and haven't really thought about these images. The mind is a strange thing...

Anyway, I'm not as far ahead of the schedule as I thought, so I'd better keep ahead before next week puts me behind!