Confessions of a Potterholic

We'll, we've finally done it... we've joined millions of other young types and dived head-first into the Harry Potter books. I just have this to say.....

THESE STORIES ARE SO FREAKIN' AWESOME!!!!!!!

As you can tell, we're really enjoying them. :) I see Mr. Pickles currently has #3 in his lap, underneath his "Data Analysis and Graphics Using R" textbook. I'm guessing he'll pick it up after he finishes reading about regression trees. He says he had a dream the other night that he was helping Harry Potter with his analytic geometry.

Rowling just really knows how to write a good story. If anything, I've got a beef with the way that the students tend to set themselves against the adults. But I guess it's been a while since I was a teenager so I really can't talk. :b It bothered me that the main characters weren't punished for stealing from Prof. Snape in #2 -- I like it better when wrong actions have consequences, no matter how slight. And in #3, Harry stupidly goes out of his way to circumvent the protections placed for his sake, just so he won't feel left out of the fun. Again, maybe that's a generational gap thing. Otherwise I really admire Rowling's treatment of good and evil. Despite the fact that they deal with sorcery, the stories take place in the same moral universe as our own: the main characters, although flawed, are generally good and virtuous and admirable, and the bad characters are despicable and nasty. You know, after having watched The Incredibles, I can't help but notice that all the villains tend to monologue during the climaxes.... Does anyone else find this humorous?

We're just DEVOURING these books. I had to limit myself to only one per week, to make sure that other things got done, like grocery shopping, making dinner, changing diapers... that kind of thing. :) It's so easy to let yourself get totally immersed. I tried limiting myself to only a certain number of pages a day; then I tried to read only during meals and while Miriam was napping. Then I gave up trying to be a good girl and devoured the rest. I feel partly justified in my obsession -- one night I caught Mr. Pickles with the book open on the counter while he was making dinner. :) They really are absorbing. It took me 2 days each to read the first three books -- the fourth book, which is over 700 pages long, 3 days! Alright, I have to admit I DID stay up until 2 or 3 am... (a couple times) -- but I certainly regretted it the day after! (again, the generational gap thing -- can't sleep in until noon on Saturdays anymore, sigh...)