Weekly Reading Post
Read
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - I've never liked this book as much as many others have. I find the Triwizard Tournament irritating, as well as all the fighting that Ron & Hermione do.
It's lolarious to me that Harry/Hermione shippers could read this book & not see Ron/Hermione coming miles away.
Reading
Twelfth Night - I actually started this some time last week, & read the first act & a half. It's one of my favorite Shakespeare plays. I got sick reading it on the bus (queasy-making sharp turns!), and although it's not the play's fault, I've sort of set it aside.
Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand - Kitty's hanging out in Vegas! I'm interested in this book because
meganbmoore said something happens that turned her off from the series for now, &
littlebutfierce said something happens they were afraid about but it ended up being okay. I WANT TO KNOW WHAT IT IS?! I turn to this when I get Harry Potter'ed out.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - This has always been my favorite Harry Potter book, & I get really defensive when people make fun of it.
idk. I love the idea of Dumbledore's Army - a group of students banding together to teach one another Defense Against the Dark Arts because their teacher is a mole from the government who only teaches them theory, & refuses to allow them to actually perform spells in her classroom.
Risking expulsion, they meet regularly to do it anyway.
I loved learning that Sirius came from a family of dark wizards, and he was an outcast.
I really like Rowling using The Daily Prophet to show how much the media affects people's perceptions of reality, how it can be used to manipulate a populace. I love the Ministry of Magic refusing to accept the reality that Voldemort has returned, and that the Order of the Phoenix exists to counter-act Voldemort - and having to do work against the Ministry while doing so. I LOVE the pompous self-righteousness of Cornelius Fudge and Percy Weasley.
Dolores Umbridge has long been my favorite villain because she's the most realistic.
Much like how the dementors, which appear earlier in the series, are Rowling's representation of depression (they suck out happy feelings & leave you cold), I find the loathed occlumency that Harry has to endure reminiscent of therapy. Being told to empty his mind of emotions/thoughts is like meditation used to fix anxiety, & it feels impossible to him. Having his mind attacked over & over & having him feel like it's doing more harm than good is like talk-therapy, IMO. Reliving his worst moments.
I like the grownups refusing to tell Harry what was going on, and how angry he felt about it. It really captures what it feels like to be 15 & have adults treat you like a child.
It's the first book where Ginny can really speak in front of Harry, & I love the revelations that she's a good witch, that she's sarcastic, that she fights with her mom to be treated like her older brothers when they get to hear info & she doesn't. I love her telling Harry off for sulking because he thought he was being possessed by Voldemort instead of just coming & fucking talking to her.
It's the first book where Ron & Hermione are really with Harry for the end-of-the-book battle, and what's better is that Neville, Luna, & Ginny are there, too. And there's able to contribute because of the spells & confidence Harry gave them during their clandestine DA meetings.
ANYWAY. I'm about 2/3 of the way through this one, & will continue to haul it through my Harry Potter reread before joining 3 of my high school friends to fly down to Harry Potter World next week.
Thanks to everyone who's been reccing me HP fanfiction. I expect that once I'm done with my reread, I'll be loading up my e-reader with a bunch of fic, :) In the meantime, if you have more to rec, or haven't recced yet but would like to, please feel free.
Book-shaped space - via
wrdnrd, There is a zine called Sonorous, which focuses on "feminist perspectives of Harry Potter." Here's their call for contributions for their second issue. I've just ordered a copy of their first issue, ;)
This entry was originally posted on Dreamwidth. You can comment here or there.
There are <
> comments on this post at Dreamwidth.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - I've never liked this book as much as many others have. I find the Triwizard Tournament irritating, as well as all the fighting that Ron & Hermione do.
It's lolarious to me that Harry/Hermione shippers could read this book & not see Ron/Hermione coming miles away.
Reading
Twelfth Night - I actually started this some time last week, & read the first act & a half. It's one of my favorite Shakespeare plays. I got sick reading it on the bus (queasy-making sharp turns!), and although it's not the play's fault, I've sort of set it aside.
Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand - Kitty's hanging out in Vegas! I'm interested in this book because
meganbmoore said something happens that turned her off from the series for now, &
littlebutfierce said something happens they were afraid about but it ended up being okay. I WANT TO KNOW WHAT IT IS?! I turn to this when I get Harry Potter'ed out.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - This has always been my favorite Harry Potter book, & I get really defensive when people make fun of it.
idk. I love the idea of Dumbledore's Army - a group of students banding together to teach one another Defense Against the Dark Arts because their teacher is a mole from the government who only teaches them theory, & refuses to allow them to actually perform spells in her classroom.
Risking expulsion, they meet regularly to do it anyway.
I loved learning that Sirius came from a family of dark wizards, and he was an outcast.
I really like Rowling using The Daily Prophet to show how much the media affects people's perceptions of reality, how it can be used to manipulate a populace. I love the Ministry of Magic refusing to accept the reality that Voldemort has returned, and that the Order of the Phoenix exists to counter-act Voldemort - and having to do work against the Ministry while doing so. I LOVE the pompous self-righteousness of Cornelius Fudge and Percy Weasley.
Dolores Umbridge has long been my favorite villain because she's the most realistic.
Much like how the dementors, which appear earlier in the series, are Rowling's representation of depression (they suck out happy feelings & leave you cold), I find the loathed occlumency that Harry has to endure reminiscent of therapy. Being told to empty his mind of emotions/thoughts is like meditation used to fix anxiety, & it feels impossible to him. Having his mind attacked over & over & having him feel like it's doing more harm than good is like talk-therapy, IMO. Reliving his worst moments.
I like the grownups refusing to tell Harry what was going on, and how angry he felt about it. It really captures what it feels like to be 15 & have adults treat you like a child.
It's the first book where Ginny can really speak in front of Harry, & I love the revelations that she's a good witch, that she's sarcastic, that she fights with her mom to be treated like her older brothers when they get to hear info & she doesn't. I love her telling Harry off for sulking because he thought he was being possessed by Voldemort instead of just coming & fucking talking to her.
It's the first book where Ron & Hermione are really with Harry for the end-of-the-book battle, and what's better is that Neville, Luna, & Ginny are there, too. And there's able to contribute because of the spells & confidence Harry gave them during their clandestine DA meetings.
ANYWAY. I'm about 2/3 of the way through this one, & will continue to haul it through my Harry Potter reread before joining 3 of my high school friends to fly down to Harry Potter World next week.
Thanks to everyone who's been reccing me HP fanfiction. I expect that once I'm done with my reread, I'll be loading up my e-reader with a bunch of fic, :) In the meantime, if you have more to rec, or haven't recced yet but would like to, please feel free.
Book-shaped space - via
wrdnrd, There is a zine called Sonorous, which focuses on "feminist perspectives of Harry Potter." Here's their call for contributions for their second issue. I've just ordered a copy of their first issue, ;)
This entry was originally posted on Dreamwidth. You can comment here or there.
There are <
> comments on this post at Dreamwidth.