Harry Potter 7 - Part 2, The Reading

…continued….

Amy and I read a few pages while waiting to be picked up…Chris comes a few minutes later and we head home, all packed into my Jeep.

1:00am – we get home, get the kids in bed, and Amy and I return to the dining room to read the first chapter together. We indulge in some double stuff oreos (the ultimate harry potter snack food, c'mon now) and get to the reading. We have already determined that although we are not promising to read side by side all weekend, we'll need to check in with each other periodically to see where the other one is, and bounce ideas and theories off one another.

1:30am – I head upstairs to bed, leaving Amy in our guest room to finish reading and eventually sleep. I read until about 2:20am, forcing myself to turn out the light, because I know I'll want to be ready to read all day tomorrow. Of course Jo does not help me here because I tell myself "I'll just finish this chapter" (cuz I'm one of those OCD readers that will only stop at the ends of chapters) and she proceeds to leave a big cliffhanger at said chapter, therefore forcing me to read one….more…chapter….I was asleep by 2:45 I'm sure.

SATURDAY
(the book is 36 chapters, approx 100 pages longer than the last one…we anticipate we'll be done by Sunday a.m. sometime. My sister has said we are to call her as soon as we are done, or she'll call us if she finishes first…)

I come downstairs about 830am and see Alex in my living room. I'm holding the book…he asks how far I got. I tell him about 85 pages…and somebody has already died! His eyes widen. He wants to know who and of course I won't tell him. He wonders if it's a main character. I shrug…we talk some more….then I meet Amy over the Dining Room Table to Get Our Acts Together.

We read all day. We stop every few chapters to touch base and see how we like it, try to clear up any fuzzy spots in our brains, and start theorizing on what we think will happen in the end.

I'm liking it a lot, but there is just so much that Jo has to answer, I've already convinced myself that there is just no feasible way for her to satisfy my every craving in this last book. I'm going along for the ride, enjoying every little bit.

Amy and I admit repeatedly that we are having to force ourselves to read slowly. I know I am skipping words (not on purpose) and full sentences even just because I want to devour the book. This is a horrible habit of mine, and I'm trying to counter it by forcing myself to stop and talk to Amy every few chapters. She's having the same problem.

6pm: My sister calls – we hear her leave a message saying she's done and we can call her anytime. Amy and I look at each other in amazement. She's done? We are only on chapter 18! How can she possibly have read it all? We decide we better get crackin….

This entire time I'm fighting a bitch of a sore throat, horrible sinus headaches and overall pure exhaustion. I know that I'm running on pure adrenaline now, but I will not give up! I will persevere. It's not like I'm not already doing the most relaxing thing in the world already….I can always read. Always.

7pm - A friend of mine, who knows what weekend this is and how I'm not answering the phone....leaves me a message that she knows it's HP weekend, but it's really important and she really needs to talk to me. When I call her, all worried that something serious has gone wrong, she admits it was just a test to see if I was the true friend or not. Sheesh.

9pm
Amy and I are tired, but not sleepy-tired. We have 8 chapters to go. We are liking it a lot, but are astounded that JK has introduced something so new and so important this late in the series….We know that at some point soon, we'll have to stop checking in with each other and just wait til we're both done to talk again. We're not quite at that point yet.

We also know that 8 chapters is a lot to read tonight, but we can't possibly go to bed this early. The caveat to that is, if we keep reading, it's almost like a commitment to finish tonight. There's no way we'll leave just 2 or 3 chapters til morning…..We decide to hunker down and try to finish.

My sister calls and is dying to discuss. I tell her we might not make it and turn in, but we'll try to finish tonight. I am exhausted….my sinuses are killing me…but nothing will stop me now…

10pm
Last check….we both finish Chapter 33, easily the most emotional chapter of the book (or was it 32? "The Tale of the Prince") and we are in just "wow" mode – utter amazement. Not shock as much as just pure literary enjoyment. This book is good. Rowling is a genius. We discuss said parts of this chapter and decide this is it – we'll finish tonight and no more interruptions til we're both done. We've been reading in my living room and we continue to sit across from each other, reading….reading….reading….

…Amy's a few pages ahead of me, and every few minutes I hear a gasp, or a chuckle….quickly followed by an 'I'm sorry! Its' just….' – or better yet, a big groan or grrrrrr…..it's awesome. Exactly as I had always pictured us devouring this book. It's complete nirvana.

We finish. She finishes first. We just kinda take deep breaths and say "ok? What did you think?" and we start to discuss. We don't discuss much cuz it's 12:30am and exhaustion is slowly creeping in….it's off to bed – and then it will be DISSECTION TIME tomorrow.

(But, just FYI – I loved it)