I really enjoy the Harry Potter books. Don’t even try to start with me on that one, because I’ll make you read them all before you argue with me.
I started reading them around the time the third one came out, and I was really surprised at how effectively something written for kids can suck in adults.
As they go on, the writing gets better and the story gets more complex. But because of the complexity of the story and the time between releases, I was getting a bit lost on occasion.
So every time a new one comes out, I reread the series from the beginning. I like it because a) it’s fun and b) I have a horrid memory, and I usually forget at least 2-3 major plot points per book.
But this time, it’s a bit ridiculous. the last two books were almost 900 pages each, plus the approximately 1200 pages of the three books before that.
And while they’re relatively quick reads and I’m a fast reader, it’s getting to the point that it’s going to take me two damn weeks to even GET to the new book, which showed up on my doorstep yesterday.
At least the new one is only(!) 652 pages. With luck, I’ll have it read by sometime in November.
It’s all in the planning ahead – I began my re-reading binge in…June, I think? And finished V a couple weeks ago. I picked up VI with the rest of the “can’t wait” crowd at around midnight, went home, read, slept, finished by 3 p.m. And all I can say is…oh…wow. When is VII due out?