Forgot about the Potter

When I wrote my previous entry about the books I've been reading, I forgot to mention that Max and I have been slowly working our way through the Harry Potter series. We started book one a few months ago and have been reading just shy of a chapter each night before Max goes to bed. Yesterday, we finished book three and we'll be starting book four by the end of this week! Its been a lot of fun for Max and I've been enjoying the books as well.

The first book was just okay. Some nice ideas but the ending was weak since Harry was saved at the end by a plot twist that had absolutely no foreshadowing; it just appeared right when it was needed. ("Well, Harry, it looks like its curtains for you... BUT WAIT!") However books two and three were much better in terms of their story construction and character development and while book three, again, ends with the help of a deus ex machina, at least this time it was well integrated into the plotline.

The truly fun part however has been watching Max enjoy these stories. He is having a blast and loves to talk through "what if" scenarios. ("Hey Dad, what do you think would have happened if the basilisk had frozen Harry rather than Hermionie?") I've also been amazed at his ability to absorb the details of each story... he is constantly reminding me of his favorite scenes in each of the books and when the story requires that you remember some small detail from a previous chapter (or even a previous book), Max is right there with me, ready to go!

Oh, and now that we've finished book three, we can rent the associated movie and see the story "come alive". (We had seen the first movie before reading that book... but now we're going to wait and only watch the movie once we've finished the corresponding book.)

I can't wait to see what book four has in store for us!

Ken

P.S. Shadowplay by Tad Williams (see previous post) is fantastic. I'm seven chapters in and loving every page!