Harry Potter checkpoint:
I have now finished the first 3 books!
WooHoo!
I know everyone was telling me that they were "quick reads," but I'm such a slow reader that I thought it'd take me longer. Imagine my surprise when I finished off the The Prisoner of Azkaban and I realized that it had only been a week since I began the first book!
Anyway, so far I've noticed a lot of continuity in the first 3 books. They all follow this rough outline:
1) Harry starts out at his aunt and uncle's, and he does something that make them even more mad at him then they normally are.
2) Harry goes to Hogwarts
3) There's some type of mystery and/or danger afoot that Harry, Ron, and Hermione know a bit more of the truth about than the rest of the students - and of course, they're trying to figure it out and/or solve it.
4) Harry and Ron manage to get into trouble (this can happen any time during this sequence, not necessarily in this place).
5) Draco is being a bully, delighting in making fun of Harry and/or Ron.
6) There's a quidditch match - something drastic usually happens to Harry during these, but not always.
7) Harry, Ron, and even Hermione break some more rules in an effort to solve the mystery at hand (or in the case of Azkaban, in an effort to help Hagrid or visit Hogsmeade).
8) Harry, Ron, and Hermione think they have solved the mystery and set out to rid Hogwarts of the danger at hand (or in the case of Azkaban, the "danger" grabs Ron and drags him away - of course Harry and Hermione must follow).
9) There's an interesting twist(s) that the trio did not expect whilst facing the danger.
10) Harry nearly dies.
11) Harry wakes up and talks to Dumbledore.
12) Gryffindor manages to win the house cup.
13) Harry meets uncle Vernon at the train station.
I've also noticed that the culprit behind the mystery is never the one you'd expect (like Snape in Sorcerer's Stone or the cat - as I suspected it was - in Azkaban). No, the villain usually turns out to be the weak, sniveling one (Prof. Quirrell and the sickly Scabbers/Peter).
Some things I really like about these books -
The kids act like normal kids - they make mistakes, they get in trouble, they argue, and Harry and Ron - a couple of preteen boys - have problems controlling their anger at times.
The mystery in them - the fact that there's always some type of puzzle to solve or a truth to uncover. My two favorite fantasy series (Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia) are excellent reads, but they don't have much mystery in them (ps - not saying that's a downfall of those books, just a difference).
Anyway, that's all for now! It's going to be a few days or so before I get the rest of the books, so that will slow down my reading some :P
And true to my word, I have not eaten any sugar this week ... with one exception ... we went to brunch yesterday for Mother's Day and I had a caramel cinnamon roll - sorry, wasn't going to pass up that opportunity :O)
Much Love to All!
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