Friday, June 21, 2013

Harry Potter Readalong: The Retrospective


It’s official, friends. I hereby join the ranks of Those Who Have Read Harry Potter. It’s a big club. But only a select few members have their own wands.

Ebony with Phoenix feather core. For threatening my enemies.

I don’t know if you realize this, but organizing a group of book bloggers who live all over the world to read the same books and then talk about them on the same day every week for 6 months running is a stupendous feat. Like herding cats? Is that the saying? And only our brave and fearless leader, Alice, our collective fondness for GIFs, and the scary-brilliant imagination of Lady JK Rowling herself could have provided the motivation to keep us all onboard. Also peer pressure (not just for making children smoke the cigarettes anymore).

As some of you may know . . . the past 6 months have been maybe the most difficult of my life. My world sort of fell apart right before Christmas, and it’s taken this long just to assemble the scaffolding to BEGIN the rebuilding process. And through all that personal journeying, I was simultaneously making my steady way onward from the cupboard under the stairs at Number 4 Privet Drive. They say you never forget your first time reading the Harry Potter series, and for me that could not be more true.

TOO MANY FEELINGS.

Makes your opponent's pee smell funny for DAYS.

The heat of my passion for Neville Longbottom would have been more than enough to carry me through, but I ALSO had reading partners who made me spit coffee every Friday, right on schedule. And sometimes we also cried. But we cried together. And then we looked at more pictures of post-puberty Matthew Lewis, and all was well again.

So thank you, friends, for making this first read so memorable.

To be followed by a 10-minute group hug.

18 comments:

  1. WE ARE READING ANOTHER WILKIE THIS FALL

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  2. AWWWWWW.



    Dude, I'm so glad HP was there for you. And that you finally got to read it and don't hate it. And that we got to do it with you! This group is the best.

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  3. Behold as I reply to all comments way too late.


    Ummmm break because THIS WAS SIX MONTHS and then probably No-Name by Wilkie Collins since a certain someone (named Laura) already read Armadale and we are being nice to her for some reason.


    I'd be down for some short book taking like two weeks, though.

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  4. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS


    Armadale? Or another one?

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  5. *Meg's face blushes violently*

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  6. Apparently I some how missed your post in the week that was filled of very sad HP conclusion posts. For this I am sorry x20,000

    We need to get a new readalong organised STAT because I need motivation to read right now and over-analysing books is the best book slump cure!

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  7. I think I may have missed some, too! It was just so overwhelming, with all the crying over days of yore.

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  8. The club of HP readers may be HUGE, but the club of HP readalongers/GIF connoisseurs is very elite. I think the only thing we still need is a secret handshake.


    This readalong has been the best, and I may be a little weepy next Friday... I guess we can always read another Wilkie soon.

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  9. Hufflepuff Rave and awk 10 min group hugs indeed.

    this has been so much fun and I'm sorry to see it ending. But I'm sure we can continue to make inappropriate wand jokes at each other.

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  10. Aww, I love this post. Especially seeing Snape threatening Lockheart with asparagus.


    I am SO going to miss all of our fun Friday HP times. What's gonna be next? Alice, you must have a cunning plan.

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  11. WE ARE FRIENDS FOR LIFE NOW. Because Harry Potter is a binding contract.

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  12. Oh, Meg! I'm so glad we all read these together. I love this post and also your face because you are great.

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  13. Poor Alice. She's probably huddled in a corner twitching right now...muttering about readalongs and penis-wands.

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  14. And then some of us made you feel bad for not crying and then MADE YOU CRY ALL DAY (still sorry about that..!)


    I can't even imagine having done this readalong without having read the books before (the INTENSITY, Megs!) so I think you are totally brave for having done that. HUFFLEPUFF RAVE (I don't even know. Let's pretend I said something cool)

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  15. Yes, well...I wasn't gonna bring THAT up, but now that you have. *sniffle*


    It WAS pretty intense reading them straight through, but I can't imagine having to space them years apart. This was a good way to go.

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