College Students! discussion
Reading Goals/ Challenges
>
Harry Potter Challenge
What a great idea! I keep meaning to re-read all the books, and force my boyfriend into reading them too so I can drag him to the Deathly Hallows advance screenings dressed as Ron to my Harry. (Should I have said that?)
lol, Gina you will have to post pictures!
Mod
Kimberly wrote: "lol, Gina you will have to post pictures!"Haha, I will! It's his own fault, he got me a stuffed snowy owl toy for Christmas (obvs Hedwig) XD
Ohh i'm in, I havnt read them all for a long time, i've been meaning to... I guess this will be a good time to start =]
Ahh HP virgin xD.. you should give them ago, no harm in it... they're not for everyone, but I like them =]
Too bad that I don't have all my HP books here, only brought DH so I will join when you start reading it.
Saad wrote: "can i tag along, HP seems to be on all of my goodreads friends shelves, never read the books personally, yes I know o the shame lol.Never been into fantasy much, although I did start the first ..."
Oooh, first timer! When I started reading HP I devoured the first three in four evenings, so don't worry about being left behind :P
Read whenever you feel like it haha. I just put the dates to give people a sense of how long the challenge will be. I myself wont get the HP books from my house until next weekend, so that's when I'll be starting them. And Gina that sounds awesome xD.
I'm so glad that you posted this thread Richard! After all the talk about rereading the books as a group, I'm glad someone took action! I'm with Tami on this one; I'll probably start rereading in October, just so I don't finish too early (ha... unless I become too tempted by the discussions and start early). I love that we will be able to discuss it on here! I'm super excited for this!
Haha yeah Anika, I was waiting to see what was going on with the re-read, but eventually got impatient and posted the challenge haha.And I'm afraid to wait until October because I don't know how busy I'll be with school work, but I guess I'll see how everything goes.
So how shall we make this work? Should we discuss each book as we go? Or any part of any of the books we want to talk about and then we just put a spoiler warning for those that are reading it for the first time?
I have never actually read the Harry Potter books (I have tried too, never finished) so this would be kind of fun for me. But, I couldn't participate until after September. As with Richard, I will probably have to wait until October.
Hmm good question Kimberly. If you want my opinion, I think the best way to do it would be to just use one thread for the whole series, and use spoiler warnings like you said... maybe we could start posts by announcing what book we are on (which book we will be discussing in each post)...? People reading for the first time would have to be fairly cautious while reading through the posts, though.Jacqui, I think that you and all the other HP newbies should participate for sure! C'mon and give it another try! I think that being able to discuss the book as we read will be a motivation.
I think it's a good idea to put the book you are discussing at the top of the post, that way anyone who isn't done with that book can avert their eyes. But I'd like to have some order so people that are done re-reading should discuss the first book first (not skip to the 7th one). That way those reading for the first time aren't kind of surrounded by spoilers.I think the best way to do this is that I'll post dates for the books. So like the first 2 weeks of September are dedicated to the first HP book, but when were focusing on the 2nd one people can still discuss the 1st one. Confusing, I know. But it might make it more stable. Let me know what y'all think!
EDIT: From my calculations it'd be about 11 days for each book. So after September 12th people can begin discussing up to book 2.
So, is the Harry Potter Challange official or is it still being discussed? Regardless, I will participate. Heh. I can make it work. :)
The fine details are still being discussed. But the challenge to read all the books is official xD.
I'm doing this regardless so I'll be up for discussion at any time!I don't know if anyone knows, but my university are offering a HP module this year which I'm hoping to take ^.^ it made pretty big news over here as it's quite a well respected uni, I don't know if it made it to the US! I'll use the discussion thread as research ^.^
Saad wrote: "Harry potter module? please be joking. I am sorry, it's nothing personal between Harry and I, I just hate the hype and craze that surrounded it so I refused to be caught up in it at the time, just ..."You could say that Romeo and Juliet is just a book, but there are plenty of modules on that. At least HP has original storylines whereas Shakespeare was almost exclusively adapted from older stories, and there is tons of history and mythology that JK Rowling introduces that fascinates. So no, I'm not joking, and I'm quite proud of it to be honest.
Mod
Wow Gina, I am so envious! Remind me where you go to school? I wish my university offered that course! And it would even fit in with my degree!Saad- you haven't read the book, so don't judge so quickly. It's not "just" a book.
Hahaha I thought the HP course was crazy too they offer it at Durham University.. but i don't think its as bad as it sounds apparantly its just using it as a way to relate to some social studies, like compairing how the characters interact and deal with bullying etc.. but still.. though I am a fan of HP, I think it's pretty ridiculous xD I wouldn't like to go to an employer saying I have a degree in HP.
It's not a degree course, just a module - not something I'd put on a CV but it can't hurt to have the course credits, and it'll be interesting to see how it's taught!Durham hasn't closed down any maths or engineering departments, and this course was five years in the planning stages so it's wrong to suggest that it's only there for the money. In a hundred years' time, HP could well be as big as anything taught in an Eng Lit degree, so it's too early to judge it harshly. Plenty of things could be done in a student's spare time - media studies, film studies, even Eng Lit - but that's not a good enough reason to stop it being taught at uni.
Haha sorry, I'll get off my soap box ^.^ can you tell I'm quite defensive about HP...
I too was going to re-read the books! I love the idea of a group read, I seem to re-read them every year!
Mod
A university where only core subjects are taught... What a horrid thought. And don't diss professors that teach other subjects, they are just as professional as instructors for core subjects.But I'll shut up now. Anyone else feel hungry when they read the books? All of the descriptions of food... I almost always have a snack when I read for a extended period of time.
Tami- I'm the same way, I always find something I'd missed before.
I find that too, when I'm re-reading! It just enforces for me how amazing JKR is as a writer, all the little secrets that you don't realise are there until you know the ending. Only a really confident writer can do that!Kimberly, I love the foo descriptions too - especially the start of term feast! It always makes me crave chicken legs, though I wouldn't normally!
Hmmm. A HP class? How many credits is it for? I love HP, but I think a class devoted to it seems kind of extreme. Maybe a broader category that covers it along with other books, yes. But....I'm afraid to go against it in fear of instant death, but I just think that it's more of a club than a class. Yes it would be fun, but I couldn't see it being worth more than 1 credit hour... Seeing as everyone that takes it most likely read the books, making it more of a freebie.I don't mean to dis' HP or anything (please don't kill me), but I just think it's kind of strange to make a class for it...
Mod
Good point Tami.Anyone ever read the books backwards? So you start with 7 and end with 1? I found myself noticing more things than I had before.
Sorry I am kind of begind and just read this thread! I am going to try and participate as much as I can!! I have been wanting to re-read them forever and I guess now is the perfect time. Haha.Kimberly- that's a good idea! I've never thought about reading them 7-1. Hmm...I might think about doing that!
Ohhh Kimberly I'll definitely try that in the near yet distant future xD. I always have trouble getting through book 5 though.Tami - I agree that theres a lot to talk about. But just re-reading the books and having a discussion shouldn't make up a college course. I mean I love that they're doing that, but I just think it's a bit extreme for a University.
Mod
I just got the first book from the library so I think I'll do this one too :).
So I've read through the first four books. So I have a question for those of you who have read the entire series. At the end of the fourth book they all get in the horseless carriages to get to the train, Harry still sees them as horseless carriages, and yet at the beginning of the fifth book he can see the creatures that pull them! Mistake?
And another question. At the end of the fourth book, at the train station it says something like "Hermione hugged him, and then did something she'd never done before. And kissed him on the cheek." (Or something like that). What did she do????
Kimberly! How dare you say JKR makes mistakes! Ha, just kidding :) But seriously, I believe that JKR has addressed the question about the thestrals in an interview or something. She explained that one has to fully comprehend death before one can see the creatures. Harry was present when his parents died, but was too young to comprehend what had happened. Over the summer, Cedric's death was something Harry constantly contemplated and was eventually something that he fully understood. This is why he couldn't see the thestrals until he came back to school.Maybe try googling it or something... I'm almost positive that I heard this or read this in an interview. As to your second question... no idea. I'd have to pull out my book and look.
Thank you Anika! That explanation makes a lot of sense. And I know, I almost felt guilty suggesting it was a mistake! lol
I think you're overthinking it ;) : she kissed him on the cheek. That's what she'd never done before. I checked it in my book and that's the only that it could have been.
Mod
Do any of you through your rereads notice things jump out that are important in future books? I can't believe the level of detail and forshadowing JK Rowling put into these books.
Tami, I have noticed that. I have also noticed all the important things in the books that I just read over. Being all excited to read the books when they first came out and not reading them in a while I forgot a lot of the things that happened. I watch the movies a lot when I am doing things around the house. Does anyone else find that you get angry when you read the books of who says what and does what in the movies compaired to the books? I love watching the movies if I just want a quick summary of the books without reading them. But when I watch the movies I dont say hey he didn't say that so and so did, but when I read the books I do.
Melissa- yes I do the same thing. It's the reason my parent's won't watch movies with me that are based on books. lol. It drives me crazy.Book 5 Spoiler Warning!
I FINALLY understood something that I should have understood before. I never realized that Voldemort had been planting those dreams in Harry's mind almost from the beginning. I thought his vision of Sirius was the first one that he did on purpose. It's only taken me about 5 rereads to understand that. lol.
Okay, so I don't know why but I never read these books before, but when I saw this thread I decided to go ahead and just do it already! I've seen all the movies so far, but besides bits and pieces, I don't remember toooo much. (except the first few, which I've seen a couple of times)
I'm finished with book 1 & 2 and I just started 3. So far so good! :)
Yay! I'm so excited to hear what you have to say about the series!
Mod
I have a friend that I am more acquaintances with then friends, but he used to work for Disney and is a HUGE critic with all movies. I hate going to shows with him due to that, especially if it has been adapted from a book he has read.
Going to start book 5 today. I may just get through them by the new movie release. Yay!
I finished book 5 yesterday and then watched the movie. **Spoiler**
I still cry every time I read or watch Sirius' death!
Mod
Kimberly, we are all so different, the only death that still gets to me is the Shell Cottage one. My brothers boyfriend hasn't read the books, and that is what really bothered him about the movie too! I haven't gotten that far in the book yet, but we will see if it bothers me as bad as it has before.
Like Tami, I wasn't able to finish before the movie came out; I only got through book 3. I'm now aiming to finish before Part 2 comes out. That shouldn't be hard since I read book 4 and 5 last week.*spoiler*
No movie deaths have affected me yet, but I am positive that I am going to bawl in the theater when Fred dies in part 2. I won't be able to stand it.
Tami, it's so true. A friend of mine was talking about how she really didn't care when **Spoiler** Dumbledore died, she said she had never really liked him, and he had always been one of my favorite characters. Kelly, I totally agree. I cried when I read it, I can only imagine how emotional it's going to be in the movie. Especially since all of the actors that play the Weasley's are really talented, I think it's going to be heart wrenching.
It would be September 1st to November 19th. I wanted to make sure that everyone would have plenty of time to read all the books, so I figured this way would allow everyone to participate. But just post when you've read one of the books, so that we can share our thoughts on it.
An idea I just thought of would be that we could designate each book to a time period. Like since it'd be over the course of about 10 weeks, maybe each book lasts a little over a week, so that way we can have a set reading schedule so people don't wait until the last minute. Any thoughts are appreciated, and I hope this will be a fun challenge!