Well, I did it. I set a goal and I achieved it. I re-read the first six books of the Harry Potter series and then finally, for the first time, read the seventh book!! It was so, so good! I stayed up into the wee hours of the morning to finish the last one and I think I cried the whole last 120+ pages of the book. I couldn't even tell you what my favorite part was, though the view into Snape's life through the pensieve was definitely at the top. I realized that Dumbledore dying the in the end of the 6th book affected me more than I thought and I was still pretty ticked by the time the 7th book came out - this was actually part of my aversion to reading the 7th book!
So I finished the books a week before the movie came out and had already watched the first two movies and within the next week and a half I watched the other five movies. Then, last weekend [for our date night], Sean and I saw the final movie. SO GOOD!! Seriously, I leaned over to Sean about half-way through and told him, "I already want to see it again!" It was just so well done! Definitely one of the best, if not the best, of the movies. And I loved that it stayed so close to the book - though there were some changes that made me miss the book version. I laughed, cried, cheered, clapped... It was awesome!
To review...
* 7 books in the Harry Potter series
* 4100 pages total
* 39 days for me to read it all {a lot of people have asked how I read so much without shirking too much on my wife/mother duties, so let me tell you... 1. I watched almost no TV that month. 2. I stayed up at least an extra hour most nights that I read. 3. I read during any little downtime I had. Dinner in the oven and timer set for 20 minutes? I was reading. Ethan playing outside? I was sitting outside and reading. 4. I neglected my blog!}
* Favorite books: #1, #3, #6 and #7
* Favorite movies: #1, #2, #6 and #7.1 and #7.2
* Least favorite book: #4 {Though I liked this one a lot more the 2nd time through, the whole Tri-Wizard tournament plot just wasn't my fave.}
* Least favorite movie: #3 {This is one of my favorite books, so it was so disappointing that the movie did not live up to it.}
* New favorite supporting characters:
- McGongagall!!! {I really loved her character in the last 3 books - especially book 7. And her fighting scene with Snape in the last movie is awesome!!}
- Snape. {Seriously, after learning his secrets through the pensieve how can you not love this man for all he sacrificied?!}
- Neville. {So glad he finds his confidence.}
- Ginny. {She is much more rebel/clever/talented than I remember.}
- Fred & George. {They may be "drop-outs", but they are dang talented and have good hearts. So sad when Fred dies.}
Overall, I am so glad I re-read the first six books before diving into the seventh one. I had forgotten just how much I enjoyed the series and getting to read the books back to back made it that much more enjoyable.
Oh, and Harry's pep talk to his son, Albus Severus... Loved it!!!
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