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Smiling Shelves

Harry Potter Reading Marathon - Day Four

7/25/2014

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The Goal: To read all seven Harry Potter books straight through without a break (okay, maybe a break here and there)
For the reasoning behind this crazy goal, check out my original post.
Day Four Start Time: 8:35 a.m. (Had to sleep in a little. . .)
Sixth book completed at: 11:31 a.m.
Time it took to read it: 7 hours and 10 minutes
Total time spent reading: 36 hours and 8 minutes
Total number of pages read: 3,341
Thoughts about Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Once again, at the end of this book, I am speechless. How does Rowling do that every time? As I was reading, I had all sorts of thoughts to write here - about the ugh-ness of Horcruxes, the silliness of teenage love. . . But I am left with nothing but tears in my eyes. It's one thing for this ending to hit this hard the first time I read the book. But over and over again, every single time? That is quite the powerful spell that Rowling has created.
Favorite chapter: Dumbledore's visit to the Dursleys in chapter 3
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Seventh book completed at: 11:22 p.m.
Time it took to read it: 8 hours and 54 minutes
Total time spent reading: 45 hours and 2 minutes
Total number of pages read: 4,100
Thoughts about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Does Harry live? Does Harry die? I remember all of the questions that were flying around just before this final book was released. And the answer to those questions was yes. Rowling wrote an ending to this series that could satisfy everyone, though I honestly had to reread the book a couple times before I fully understood everything. It's a happy ending, but a realistic one, too. It was war. People died. And after six books of making Snape seem ever more despicable, his story redeemed him in the end. This certainly isn't my favorite book in the Harry Potter series, but I think it is the one I respect the most. It has a complex plot, characters you've grown to be friends with, and a profound message - in the end, love conquers all.
Best moment: Ron and Hermione's kiss. Took them long enough.
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Whew! I made it to the end of my marathon! What a week it's been! I'm going to let all of my Harry Potter-related thoughts simmer, and have one more post next week about what I've gotten out of this crazy marathon. I hope you share your Harry Potter-related thoughts then, too!
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    My name is Julie, and I own a lot of books. As in, they are stacked on the floor because I've run out of room on the shelves. And those shelves? There are so many books on them that they smile -- not sag; smile. This blog will cover book reviews and all manner of other bookish things.

    You can contact me at julie@smilingshelves.com.

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