Our family was a bustle of preparing the book release all week long. Most of us re-read the whole series–or at least the sixth book–beforehand. We also made long lists of predications, loose ends that needed to be resolved, etc. We made wild predictions. We came just short of placing bets. 🙂
The kids and my husband dressed up for the party (John made a perfect Snape except for his ever-present smile). When we picked up the book from our favorite children’s bookstore the proprietor (a good friend) handed us a small packet of kleenex. She explained that we might need it–either because the book would have some sad parts or because of our sorrow that the end of the series had finally come. She’s right, that this is a bittersweet ending for us. My son began reading Harry Potter in kindergarten and he’s now a teenager. The stories have been a formative part of my kids’ growing years. It’s truly hard to believe that that will soon (in a few hours when we finish reading) be over!
What about you–are you feverishly reading today? Are you as enamored of this series as we are? If not, are there other series that have sparked your imagination?
Wonderful photos!
But no, Harry Potter never made much headway in our household. My kids (both teenagers now) read the first book, and then in the words of my daughter, “half of the second book and a quarter of the third book.”
I couldn’t get past the first few chapters of the first book. My list of books I really want to read was already too long, and Harry wasn’t able to earn a place at the top.
Maybe I’ll give it another shot someday. I have a few dear brilliant well-read friends who insist I’m missing out. Oh well…
The pics of your fam are fantastic. You are right that John makes an amazing Snape. Fun.
Just checking the blog quickly after five straight hours of reading. I’m on page 304. Back to the hammock . . .
John is a perfect Snape. Did you dress as Dolores Umbrage? Where’s your pic? Gotta go–I’m on page 428. Haven’t cried yet.
I left the store with it in hand at 1 a.m., and finished it at 8. I was going to try to save some for today, but self-discipline clearly failed.
BiV:
I didn’t end up dressing up. Not only did I not come up with a costume, but I just wasn’t sure that I had the guts to hang out with all of our neighbors, friends, and university associates (pretty much everyone ’round here patronizes the same bookstore as we do) all dressed up. So, yah, I’m a big chicken….John had tons of strangers asking for pics with him. He just loved it. The kids had some of that same attention, but somewhat less than in previous years–they were mostly running around with their friends and enjoying the free food at the big party.
But really I enjoyed being behind the camera and chatting with lots of friends so it all worked out just fine with me. 😉
Eve: If I wasn’t having to share a copy of the book with my other family members I’m sure I would already be done, too! I have no self-restraint when it comes to such things, though when my forehead kept hitting the page at 3am this morning I did take a few hours for sleep…
I haven’t read any of the books yet. I’m saving them for when I can read them together with my kids. You guys look great!
Finished it abou an hour ago and handing it off to my roommate … whose pre-ordered, guaranteed delivery on July 21st book, never came!
Other series that I’ve come to love? Well, they’re mostly from my childhood … Anne and Emily series from LM Montgomery and Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books. And, I will unashamedly confess to having all of the Ender and Bean books.
I left the bookstore around 2 a.m., but had to come home and go to sleep for awhile (it was a long week, and my body was on the verge of collapse). I woke up and spent the day reading it. I finished it 4-5 hours ago.
P.S. Great photos!
–Seraphine
Just finished it, too. Whew!! 🙂
I enjoy the books, but I guess I don’t understand the marathon reading concept. I’ll read it eventually; it doesn’t really matter whether it is now or later. I just don’t have time in my life to be sleep-stressed and put the rest of the world on hold.
I also have all the Ender’s Game sequels and shadow books. We like Diane Duane’s young wizard and cat wizard series. I obviously like Lois McMaster’s Bujold’s Miles Vorkosigan stories.
We used to read Tamora Pierce’s books, but my teen girls decided on their own that the morality of Trickster’s Queen was unacceptable, and they won’t read anything by her again.
“I enjoy the books, but I guess I don’t understand the marathon reading concept. I’ll read it eventually; it doesn’t really matter whether it is now or later. I just don’t have time in my life to be sleep-stressed and put the rest of the world on hold.”
Oh, but staggering sleep-deprived through the rest of one’s life that irritatingly refuses to go on hold because you just couldn’t wait to find out what happened to Harry is half of the fun. The sleep deprivation of an all-night readathon is like having proud battle scars. And a reading marathon is like eating ice cream for breakfast–one shouldn’t do it every day, or every week, but once every few months you’ve just got to chuck the broccoli out the window and live a little.
Finished at 1am, and woke up this morning feeling deeply content (and that’s not a spoiler — I also felt deeply content after seeing King Lear).
I love marathon reads — love getting fully lost in another world. I rarely spend more than three days reading any book. Perhaps the total immersion helps the “willing suspension of disbelief.”
I like HP fine, but I don’t buy the books, and I’m happy to wait a while to borrow one. My husband can’t stand them for some reason, and my kids are too young.
My really favorite is Diana Wynne Jones. She’s amazing. And she makes you work. I like Diane Duane pretty well too, and Connie Willis’ time books.
Naismith:
We love Tamora Pierce around here (my daughter has heard her speak and we have several signed copies). May I ask why you wrote this?:
“We used to read Tamora Pierce’s books, but my teen girls decided on their own that the morality of Trickster’s Queen was unacceptable, and they won’t read anything by her again.”
For us, the marathon reading thing is just plain fun–because everyone in the family is involved! We each finished this morning and then listened to the mugglenet podcast (with lots of spoilers) during the drive to church. Fun!!!
I’m all for getting out of the comfort zone and staying up late on occasion (fwiw, the t-shirt I wore at the book release party said “Carpe Noctem” because that’s a bit of my attitude about the whole event! IMO one has to be a bit crazy sometimes to ‘seize the moment’)
“May I ask why you wrote this?:”
Because that is what happened. We had read some of Tamora Pierce’s earlier books (the Circle of Magic series and others) as a family, and thought she was a good writer.
But when my girls read Trickster’s Queen when they were maybe 12 and 14, they decided that it wasn’t consistent with church standards. The unmarried main character has sex in a very casual way, which is presented as very normal and positive.
I hadn’t yet read that book (have since). My girls decided on their own that it was unacceptable and they wouldn’t read any more books in that series, and probably wouldn’t read any more books by that author.
There are just so many other things they could be reading.
Oh, I left off Patricia Wrede’s “Dragon” books from my list…