Anticipate the New Harry Potter with me. . . (now with spoilers)

Anyone else excited? Any sites with spoilers?

I R a dork. I know.

I love Harry Potter and His Dark Materials. . .what are some other similar books I may have overlooked but would enjoy?

!!!

Don't get me wrong, as kid lit goes the Harry Potter books are fine, but I think there are tons of kid lit authors who came before JK Rowling that did the magic/fantasy thing much better.

I didn't mean to pour hateration on this thread though, I will probably read the new HP book if I have time this summer.

I know! I infiltrated my Catholic elementary school's underworld element thanks to the argot I picked up from a slighter newer edition of this:
http://hardyboys.bobfinnan.com/bt21e.jpg

Same here. The only part I remember involves the Weasley twins and some very good magic pranks. :) I don't think the plot was that complicated though, I remember thinking the book just didn't have a very strong one and ended up focusing on a lot of pointless details.

Neil Gaiman's Coraline is a pretty good kids book. :) When I read it, I thought it might be too scary for little kids, but all my younger cousins, who I used to babysit occasionally, love it.

I liked Coraline but thought it a bit short.

The Order of the Phoenix left with many of the remaining Death Eaters (like Lucius Malfoy and the LeStranges) being caught and imprisoned. Azkaban is no longer guarded by the dementors though so it's doubtful they'll stay. A prophecy was revealed at the end that had pitched either Harry or Neville Longbottom as the boy who would become Voldemort's enemy. Of course it was Harry and the prophecy also revealed that either this chosen boy or Voldemort would have to die by the other's hand, both could not live. So now Harry has to live with the knowledge that either he shall be murdered or he will murder. Sirius Black also died at the end and Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge witnessed Voldemort in the flesh ending the Ministry's flat out denial of his return.

Apparently a major character is due to die in this next book and the rumor is that it's Dumbledore!

If Coraline's too short, the Harry Potter books are just way too long. I do pity the 10 year olds lugging them around.

My own excitedness. dammit.

I love kids lit. (maybe the reason I don't like fiction as an adult is it all pales in comparison!) One of the things I'm thinking I'll really enjoy about being a parent is reading with my kid, having them turn me on to new books and vice versa. If my kid doesn't like to read I swear I'll beat them.

miss misery have you read any other stuff by pullman? the sally lockhart books are great!

Since I was a month off on my Harry Potter relase looks like I will need to find something new to read.

Order Of The Phoenix = Vichy France

But only one more day, YAY!

I found it kinda strange that it felt like cross between Empire Strikes Back and the ending of Spiderman, maybe JK Rowling has been watching too many films in her time off between writing books. But I liked the way that it broke a little from the formula of the previous books. The Order of The Phoenix was annoying because it felt like that Rowling was just throwing in all the components that you'd expect for the book. In this one, it was nice to spend so much time on character building, and referring to not only the last book, but the ones before as well.

She still can't write romantic storylines though.

From: Mom
To: Me
Date: Jul 16, 2005 01:03 AM
Subject: Harry

Hi!

We just returned from getting our copy of the new Harry Potter. Of course, Dad is in there getting started. I don't know how long he will last. We went to a Krogers in Farragut (in between here and Knoxville) to get the copy. They were allotted 120 copies and about half were gone .


Guess I will go to bed.

LOve you,
Mama

in other news, NewPope ain't down with the H.P.:

LifeSiteNews.com
Monday June 27, 2005

Pope Benedict Opposes Harry Potter Novels

RIMSTING, Germany, June 27, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - As the sixth issue of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - is about to be released, the news that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prior to his elevation to the Pontificate, had denounced the wildly popular series has resurfaced. In 2003, a month after the English press throughout the world falsely proclaimed that Pope John Paul II approved of Harry Potter, the man who was to become his successor sent a letter to a Catholic German critic of Harry Potter outlining his agreement with her opposition to Rowling's offerings.

[...]

...In the letter, then-Cardinal Ratzinger specifically pointed to the fact that the danger in the Potter books is hidden was greatly concerning. "It is good that you shed light and inform us on the Harry Potter matter, for these are subtle seductions that are barely noticeable and precisely because of that deeply affect (children) and corrupt the Christian faith in souls even before it (the Faith) could properly grow," said Cardinal Ratzinger.

how does he feel about the Narnia books? or reading a copy of _Bulfinch's Mythology_?

tho his actual criticisms have nothing do with the specific HP series, but seems to be more about any book so Humanist as to not have their Protagonist continually quoting scripture. Of course, like any politico, when you wanna grab headlines, aim at the big targets.

Thanks,

- Dr. G

Anyway, Maddie read it today and I think she liked it. I haven't read past the second book but I might someday.

My recommendation: Start reading at chapter three and never look back.

Except Harry et al have no idea. And Snape gets incredibly dementedly wound-up when Harry calls him a coward, because in fact he is the bravest most risking-everything soldier of all. And he massively resents the fact that Dumbledore made him kill him, because, Dumbledore is really great, and it is not nice to be the one to kill him.

I may have simultaneously thought about this too much and not enough.

fascinating theory, didn't occur to me. I, too, don't want to believe Snape evil. I was dissapointed there wasn't more of him in this book considering the huge role he played.

What of his unbreakable vow to Narcissa? Was Draco's mission from Voldemort then to kill Dumbledore and snape was fulfilling both vows when he killed him instead?

Horcrux? Dumbledore must have killed someone at some point.

Besides that's posited as some remarkably dark magic and I think it would be too much of a twist at this point to show a dark side to Dumbledore.

Yes.

it could even be that dumbledore had some terrible secret in his past too.

i read an interview with rowling where she said the textbook plot was initially in Chamber of Secrets, but she had to get rid of it from there b/c it gave away too much.

I can see how it could have worked there more, since there might have been more suspicion it was Riddle's. (speaking of which, maybe it suggets a riddle/snape connection back years ago that will be fleshed out in book 7)

(bitch... whine... moan...) Oh, this book could have been Sooooooo much better if only... (sulk... mutter...)

Basically she's curbed the ever-growing size of her books by making #6 fooking enormous, but cutting it in half.

I cried a bit, but only at the Bill/Fleur thing.

i think he is dead though.

and i doubt that rowling would bring him back in any particular corporeal form, if only because dumbledore makes things too easy for harry. he's a man now and must go it alone sort of thing. i think his ghost will loom large though, and of course visits to the headmaster's office to talk to the portrait and whatnot.

snape is most definitely not a bad guy... what with the color of his curse, the way dumbledore flew up, the fact that he didn't kill harry, and that hermione, hagrid and dumbledore all believed in him.

i really miss dumbledore though.... : (

There is.

There's not much more.

Tep was right when he complained about how all the stories would save a great amount of time if they had the yearly Ron/Hermoine argument over & done with in 5 minutes, as opposed to 300 pages.

whatever happened to that "sirius might not be completely dead" thing hinted at the ministry at the end of the 5th book? Like they had their own Lost Well of Souls in there that you could wander thru whenever you needed.

i vote that severus turns face, sacrifices himself to save harry, and harry has to fight it out with some corporal version of V. using the gryffindor sword thing.

Aside from what i thought were too many subplots, the whole "we know you've been right every time you've been worried before, harry, but we'll choose not to believe you for 500 pages" thing bugged me. You'd think that they'd be used to having some big thing happen every year.

also, yeah, we kinda knew who the title referred to in teh first few chapters.

took me forever to realize that "inferni" = "zombies"