Renee’s Comments (group member since Feb 03, 2014)

Renee’s comments from the The Reading Challenge Group group.

I'm in the middle of Azkaban, and enjoying small details which I'd forgotten. Like Harry doing his wizard homework on the sly at night and hiding it from the Dursleys. Or the fact that Hermione's beloved cat was a ginger. :)

Finished Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Rolled 6- Yellow: Theme: Good vs Evil
...HP & Prisoner of Azkaban

Yes! I originally read P. Bride before the movie came out, but they did such a great job with the casting that I cant help but think of the movie actors and their voices. PB was definitely the popular bride book this year. ;-)

How about.., The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America
The Color Purple
The Death Cure

I was trying for diversity.

I also love science fiction but somehow ice gotten distracted by the Harry Potter Buddy Read. I did read two more from the Vorkosigan Saga (so glad Allison is enjoying it, too!). And I started 2001: A Space Odyssey, but I couldn't get into it.

Welcome, Sophie! Any ideas for your second book for this challenge?

Great to have you along, Dawn & Beth & Joi.

Congratulations, Everyone! This was a fun and successful readathon. I love that this group is so supportive of each other.

Yes, audio counts as long as the eyeball version has the chunk.

Finished Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

Not sure what I'll read until midnight. I might go ahead and finish The Black Tulip.

+++++ PASSED GO!!!! +++++

July 11- I finished Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for Theme: Friendship and because there's a HP Buddy Read going on. Next up...

Rolled 7 and landed on Pink: Theme: Recommended
I read a romance by Jude Deveraux because my sister has read a ton of her books and recommended them as fun summer reading.

July 13- Rolled 7 and landed on Book Sale!
I'm planning to read Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Sorry to hear the mystery was a disappointment, Cindy. But the fruit salad sounds delicious!

Book One Spoilers Ahead

I'm in the middle of the first book, marveling again at all the delightful invention. How we bond with underdog Harry sleeping under the stairs. Cheer, when Hagrid final reaches him in spite of his selfish, narrow-minded uncle's efforts to keep him down. And again when he refuses Draco's handshake because he "knows the right sort." Diagon Alley. The Sorting Hat. Quidditch! The way Harry, Ron, and Hermione bond over the troll. The Mirror of Erised (My favorite). Wizard Chess. The way WE bond with Harry, Ron, and Hermione as they work together to face the gauntlet to save the Stone. Even the smallest details like the candy and the way characters are named. Even before all the movies. Before all the other books. This was the book that hooked a generation. I never, ever read it without my jaw dropping at the sheer magnitude of Rowling's imagination.

I finished The Summer Before the War (It was quite good.) and now I'm about halfway through The Black Tulip by Alexander Dumas. A surprisingly exciting book given that it's about a guy in the Netherlands who grows tulips.

Great going, Guys! Hopefully, your summer reading has given you a trip to the seaside even if just in your imagination.

The Vor Game! Great stuff!

I finally got a copy of The Summer Before the War from my local library. So far it's terrific.

I finished the novella, The Borders of Infinity (Bujold), after starting and discarding several other things that just weren't right for me this week. Not sure what I'll do next. Might be Cranford, The Hobbit, or back to sea with Jack and Stephen.

Thanks for the suggestions, Allison! I was also thinking I might use something from the Aubrey-Maturin series. Or maybe Harry Potter. Hmmm.

July 7- I finished The Borders of Infinity, a novella in the Vorkosigan series, because I wasn't ready to leave that world after Mirror Dance and there have been enough references to what happened on Dagoola that I NEEDED to know. Also, I had a hard time getting into any of the others I was considering.

Rolled an 8- which puts me on Light Blue: Theme: Friendship.
I have no idea what to do for this one, since I already read Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants.

Thanks for your take. I think I was so ready to be done that I was too ready to find them superfluous. But I like your ideas about seeing them as older adults. So many of their decisions throughout the book seemed to stem from their youth.