Book 15- "Quidditch Through the Ages" by Kennilworthy Whisp

This is another silly Harry Potter book, that is referenced quite a bit through the series. It has absolutely no purpose besides explaining the history of the game Quidditch. But still amusing, and worth the 100 pages.

Book 1- "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" by Newt Scamander

I feel a little bad even counting this, but it is a book. Even if it is 60 pages. I was able to read it while trying to put Cora down for her first nap post-California trip (unsuccessfully).

This is totally something that only Harry Potter fanatics would find interesting. It is a guide to the magical creatures that are in the Harry Potter books, listed alphabetically. They also discuss how dangerous the creature is, and a brief description of it.

I am AMAZED at the imagination that some people have. While I had my own level of imagination (ask my mom, who found my 4th grade journal to only be descriptions of me in the Pokemon world), but I have never been able to imagine up my own original world. And while many of these things are based in mythology, there is still so much imagination.

I want her to publish more of the textbooks from Harry Potter! I'm also curious as to how this will be made into a movie (coming out later in 2016!)
This also fulfills one book of the Modern Mr. Darcy 2016 Reading Challenge- "a book you can read in a day".

Book 31 of 2015- "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling

Ah, my heart. 

Don't worry, Cora wasn't neglected while I powered through this book in a day and a half. Brandon was home, and thanks to a great napping schedule and starting to go to bed earlier (almost a decent baby time!!!), I have had time to myself and to hang out with Brandon.

So, this book is really dense. There is a LOT that happens in it, along with a lot of sadness. Harry just can't catch a break, everyone close to him seems to die. There was a rumor that Ron was supposed to die, which fortunately J.K. Rowling didn't go through with if that was her original intention. However, she did kill off Fred which was terrible. And why Lupin?! Ugh. He was such a good guy, despite his weakness in this book.

But I digress. The thing that was so interesting reading it this time around was seeing just how simple Harry's saving grace is. It was love. That's it. His mom loved him enough to sacrifice herself for him, and that is what protected him against the most evil wizard in the world. 

When you read that Harry is supposed to die and that Dumbledore basically raised him "like a lamb to the slaughter", as Snape said, you think Dumbledore's a big jerk. He was such a kind mentor, and he knew all along that Harry had to die? But, as you read further (after Harry does die and is in limbo talking to Dumbledore), you find out that Dumbledore had a feeling that even when Harry died he would be able to come back. Since Harry gave himself up to be killed, and wasn't hunted down or killed in a battle like what could have happened, he in turn gave that gift to everyone who he was sacrificing himself for. After he died, his friends couldn't be hurt. (Hint: He's not actually dead.)

That last scene in the book is much more amazing than in the movie. I remember thinking it was anticlimactic the first time that I saw it, but I couldn't remember why.

The other thing that gets me, is how Snape seems so awful through the last 2 books. You always kind of hate him, but I had forgotten just how MUCH I hated him. But then you get the memories from him before he dies, and you see that while he never particularly cared for Harry, he did everything he could to save him in order to help keep Lily's son alive. He loved Lily for his whole life.

It's such a great series. It was a huge part of my childhood, reading those books. I want to wait a few years to read them again, so it can be like it's brand new again like it was this time.

My big question is, what happened to Harry's grandparents?? You find out in this book that the Potters were only 21 when they died (way to represent on young parents though, Rowling!). So their parents were late 40's, early 50's. And yet there is no mention of a death. From the beginning it says that the Durleys were Harry's only relatives. So where did they go??
My other big question is why were the Horcruxes all in Britain? I mean, it isn't THAT big of a country. Was Voldemort that arrogant that he believed he could hide them in plain sight and people wouldn't be able to outsmart him? If Voldemort had spread them throughout the world, then they may not have been able to defeat him.

The end. I love this series so much. The movies don't do it justice.

Book 30 of 2015- "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling

Yep, another one.

So, I don't like this book for one obvious reason: Dumbledore dies. In fact, I don't think I had read it more than the first time, because I was so mad. But I read it again, and I actually liked it a lot more. In this book, they learn a lot more about Voldemort's life, and what happens to make him who he is. It's obvious that he has always been a person with evil tendencies, but it was interesting to see how he started down that path.

Having read the 6 books in a row so far, I really don't like the way Dumbledore treats Harry. Initially it looks like he is just a kind mentor to Harry, but now it just looks like he doesn't trust Harry with the truth. He is constantly hiding the facts from him, and there is so much that he refuses to reveal. But Harry seems to believe in him still. I just wish they could have had one real open and honest conversation that would have cleared the air before he died.

I am 60% of the way to my reading goal for this year woohoo!

Book 29 of 2015- "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" by J.K. Rowling

I was able to power through this one, thanks to Cora finally getting at least one solid nap in a day! Thank goodness for schedules regulating!

I haven't decided if I like this book the least (it's between this one and the second). While there are a lot of parts that I really enjoy, such as Fred and George making Professor Umbridge's life miserable, or the final conversation Harry has with Dumbledore after they come back from the Department of Mysteries, it is still so filled with Harry's teenage angst that it sometimes gets hard to read. He spends much of the book either yelling at people for leaving him out of things (which makes him sound like kind of a martyr) or he is freaking out about how he likes a girl.

Plus, I hate that my favorite character, Sirius Black, dies in this book. It was totally unnecessary. And so irritating, because it's all Harry's fault.
I am excited to read the last 2 books, because I don't remember much of either of them and want to read them as soon as possible.

Book 28 of 2015- "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" by J.K. Rowling

This is my favorite book of the series. It is a pivotal moment in the series, where Voldemort ceases to be a frightening thing of the past and is now a frightening thing of the future. This is also the first book where a person actively is killed in the plot, which happens with increasing frequency through the next 3 books.

I am so mad about all the things that the movie left out. For example, the whole character of Ludo Bagman. He is one of the 100 most mentioned characters in Harry Potter (trust me, I took a quiz on it), and he isn't mentioned once. In addition, Dobby the house elf makes an appearance, and Hermione starts a coalition to get better wages for house elves, and there's another one named Winky, and they find out where the kitchen is... all gone. I would have loved to have seen that. There are also plenty of one-liners that the characters have that would have been pretty funny in the movie.
But anyway, the action in the book is enough to keep me interested through 700+ pages. It is the first time I really started to dislike Ron because he was jealous of Harry being selected as a Triwizard Tournament champion (like Harry wanted to be in it). He is such a baby about these things sometimes.

Book 26 of 2015- "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" by J.K. Rowling

This (or the 4th book) has to be my favorite of the series. It is still entertaining and keeps you reading, but Voldemort doesn't make an appearance in this book. Plus, *SPOILER ALERT* it's the last book before main characters start dying off.

Although Sirius is only in a few of the books, he is probably my favorite character of the series. There is just something so likable about him, when it comes out that he isn't a mass murderer and still cares for Harry a great deal. As he is Harry's godfather, he becomes like the parent that Harry always wanted.

As a side note: We just watched this a few weeks ago. The new director of the movies (who changed between the second and third books) really left out a lot. The books are good enough without changing. And why is there such a lack of emphasis on Quidditch? That was one of my favorite parts of the books!

Book 25 of 2015- "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by J.K. Rowling

I got the first book from the library finally, hopefully I can read them in order from now on.

I remember reading this book in 3rd grade, and I can't remember how many times I've read it since. It has been a long time though.

I remember how scary the scene in the Forbidden Forest was, and how scary it is when they are trying to get to the Sorcerer's Stone. But something about that- how hard could the enchantments have been, if 3 first year students could beat them?? And how DOES Harry get away with breaking the rules all the time? I mean, really. He is doing the most ridiculous things and they keep saying, "Well, since you had good reasons and something good came out of it, you won't get in trouble."

But the thing that I do like about this book is that he seems like a normal boy for part of the story, at least. Through the seven books he goes through a lot in the quest to beat Voldemort, so it's nice to see him acting like a normal 11 year old for once.

And I'm halfway through my reading goal for the year! I only read 2 books in 2 months back in April/May, so I have a lot of work to catch up.

Book 24 of 2015- "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" by J.K. Rowling

I've been on a serious HP kick lately. We've watched 5 of the movies over the last few weeks, and I haven't read the books in years so I'm going to read all 7. They're coming to me from the library out of order, so I read the second book first. The books came out at the rate where the characters were about my age, so I felt like I had a special connection to them.

It sure brought back a lot of memories! Chris Columbus directed the first 2 movies, and he followed the book very closely. (One of the movies we have watched is this one, so I had a reference point of how the movie went when I read the book.) It just amazes me how creative J.K. Rowling is, creating this world for not 1, but 7 books. That equals thousands of pages. I don't know if I could have created something like that, and made it coherent and not like you are losing brain cells. (I mean you, E.L. James.)
I remember how scary this book was when it came out. The basilisk is a terrifying creature, especially for one who can be hatched so easily (chicken egg under a toad). And the fact that it was Ginny the whole time... that was such a plot twist. It made me anxious reading that she had been taken into the Chamber of Secrets again.
I just love these! I'm reading the first one next, since I just picked it up today.