Mists of Avalon - a must read!

Two Saturdays ago I finally finished the book Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. It took me about two years to read (with at least 5 other books started and finished during that time), but was well worth it! The characters are very deep, the storyline is very compelling, and the writing is fabulous.

For those who haven't read it, the book is essentially the King Arthur legend told from the perspective of the women. There are multiple perspectives given for any given period of time, and those perspectives are often from opposite sides of the spectrum. It is a great new way to look at the legend, and is very interesting in how the events intertwine with the social forces that are at work today.

I truly believe that everyone should read this book, as it is enlightening in many ways, but I especially believe that all women should read this book. It is very touching, and actually a bit empowering as you are reminded that women really can accomplish great things even when the social norms may not allow it.

Now of course I want to see the movie (The Mists of Avalon), although I doubt it will be as good as the book. How will it deal with the internal musings that encompass most of the writing?? And how will is condense almost 900 pages into a few short hours? Should be interesting.

I've also just discovered that there are two more books whose storylines occur before Mists of Avalon: Lady of Avalon, and The Forest House (Avalon, Book 2). Despite the fact that I have many other books to read, I may have to pick these up at some point as well. There are also a number of books written by a different author that relate to this series of books.

Since it's been over a week since I finished it and I am still gushing about how wonderful it was, I think it is fair to say that this is one of my new favorites!

Twilight is my favorite time...

Actually, Twilight is the title of one of my new favorite books! It's a YA novel by Stephanie Meyer that is being released as a movie this November. A friend of mine (the one I wrote about working on her MFA to write YA literature) has been gushing about this series for years, so this summer I bought the book and this past weekend I finally read it! It's an easy read (the vocabulary is accessible for 13 year olds, after all) and some parts are obviously meant to relate to people in their teen years, but it still drew me in quite easily.

There are two reasons I enjoyed this book so much: the characters, and the world definition. Edward is still on my mind this evening, he is so eloquent, knowledgeable, and fascinating. Bella is very entertaining, and actually a teenager I can somewhat relate to if I draw on the memories of my own teenage years. Both of those characters are incredibly intriguing, as are all of Edward's family. I LOVE the interactions that happen in this book among them all.

The world is one of my favorite types: everything occurs in our own world, but the twist is the definition of vampires and other "monsters" that exist. She redefines what it means to be a vampire, and how they interact with the human population. Of course, the sheer fact that there are vampires in the book immediately appealed to me; it's like a lighter version of Ann Rice, whose books I enjoyed when I actually was a teenager. It also reminds me of the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, that I've recently started watching in my "free time" (I never watched it when it was actually on TV).

I read 40% or so of it Friday night, and the rest Saturday night. Granted, we grad students have tons of work to do, so even though I stayed up really late I didn't sleep in much. But it was very worth it to finally read for fun again. I haven't read for fun in at least a month, and I haven't finished a book I was reading for fun in about a year (unless you count the audio books I listen to each time I have to drive down to VA and back). And of course the last time I finished a book that quickly was the first time I read the last Harry Potter book.

I hope to continue reading for an hour or so in the evenings this semester, not that I really have the time. I started Mists of Avalon so long ago I can't even remember the month or year, and it would be great to be able to give it back to my sister at some point. That's definitely another book I love, for similar reasons (more about that if I ever finish it!).

Then I'll definitely move on to the other 3 books in the Twilight series...

Jane Austen -- finally I understand the hype!

I've been hearing for years how much everyone loves Jane Austen's books, but I had never read them. Now, I have still not read them, but I have finally watched three related movies: Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, and Becoming Jane.

I absolutely loved these movies, although I loved Becoming Jane the least. Since that movie is about a fictional version of her life, I guess it shows that she was better at creating good stories than the writers for her pseudo-biography. For Sense & Sensibility though, I watched it twice in 2 days, which is something I very rarely do with movies. I would have happily done the same with Pride & Prejudice if I had the time when I rented it.

These movies really entertain me because they are not only interesting, but they also create a tangled mess of relationships that is slowly sorted out by the end. Of course I had my suspicions on how everyone would end up, but I could not have guessed the paths that would lead them there. The characters were extremely engaging, most likely due to how different they were from each other (both female and male characters). There were also strong female characters, who always keep me engaged. As far as movies based on love lives of a group of people go, these are much deeper than most newer movies.

If you haven't seen these movies, I definitely recommend that you at least see Pride & Prejudice and Sense & Sensibility. After you have watched them, if you are hungry for the same type of movie, then by all means watch Becoming Jane, but don't expect as intertwined of a plot as exists with the other two.

I love books, but libraries don't love me!

I've loved books since I was a kid. I actually got in trouble often for reading for too long at a time, as my optometrist had said that reading for hours and hours on end was one of the factors causing my bad eyesight. I remember reading with a flashlight in my bed in elementary and middle school since there was always more I wanted to read of the book.

So what does this have to do with my adult life? It would seem to have no correlation, as it's hard to find time to read for fun. I mostly read articles online (news, self-help, short interesting stories) that I can finish in 30 minutes. I also read online comics, which give me the nice fantasy world. But none of this is the same as reading a great book from start to finish (although I did read an entire trilogy last summer, as well as re-reading the entire Harry Potter series!). I've gotten halfway through a fiction book on audiotape (yes, tape) this schoolyear, but I haven't listed to that in 2 months now.

No, what my life has come to now is reading for research and classes. I read technical articles, textbooks, library books. And thus we get to the crux of my problem: library books. I'm like Hermione in the sense that I believe the answers to all of my academic problems lie in library books, only my library is not nearly as reliable as her library! Quite often our online library search does not find a book that does actually exist, a book I need is checked out for the next 5 months, or the book I need is at one of the other area colleges and will take multiple days to get to me. It seems that if you want a library book from a university library, you better check it out at the beginning of the semester, otherwise it will not be there! There are thousands of books in our library system, but yet the ones I really need are always checked out. Probabilistically, this should not happen to me as often as it does. I must conclude that the library does not love me as much as I love it.

I'm not sure what makes me sadder: that I never read for fun, that I now rely on a university library and am happy about it, or that something that should be so useful has failed me so many times and tends to fail at the crucial time period.

Thank you, J.K. Rowling

I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in less than 24 hours, and it was fabulous. It was so much more than I expected, and I expected a lot. I loved how the stories were woven together, and how well the small details from previous books fit into this one. I will definitely be reading it again before the end of the summer, it's a phenomenal story. All of the time spent re-reading the previous books before this one was released was well worth it, and I know I appreciate this book so much more for having those details fresh.

So thank you J.K. Rowling for giving us this fabulous world to delve into, and nicely rounding out the story of the majority of the characters. It was a fulfilling end.

Harry Potter Book #7 Predictions

Ok, so there are lots of things that have been going through my mind about what might happen in Book #7. From re-reading all of the books over the course of a month, it becomes very apparent how much foreshadowing J.K. Rowling does books ahead of time. Therefore, I am racking my brain to figure out what events have been hinted at but have not yet occurred. Sorry for any Harry Potter related mis-spellings, I don't have a book on me to look them up.

Harry: Harry will not die. It doesn't seem like it would make any sense with all of the work she's put into the character. If he dies I will be completely shocked. I bet he will use Dumbledore's pensieve to help him accomplish his task, however. I also bet that his chosen profession will either be auror, professor, or Quidditch player, depending on how vanquishing Voldemort goes.

Ron and Hermione: I also think it unlikely that they will both die. I think there's a chance that one of them will at least be attacked and almost killed...but at most one will die, and I'm betting on neither. But I am also betting on injuries for both. Also, I expect that Hermione will be a lot of the brains behind finding the Horcruxes.

Complete Theory #1 on who will Die: At least 1 Weasley will die. Although Mr. Weasley talks in book #6 about how half of their family owes Harry their lives, which may imply that the other half will in the end as well, I think they are such major characters and so close to Harry that it is unlikely that they will all survive. My first inclination is that it will be Ginny. Also, nothing has happened yet with the fact that Mrs. Weasley's greatest fear is the death of her family members and Harry (see via the Boggart in book #5). I also suspect that Draco may be killed by Voldemort or at least punished for not killing Dumbledore himself. Either Draco or Snape will surely die by the end of the book to satisfy the vengeance everyone feels toward the killers of Dumbledore.

Complete Theory #2 on who will Die: Throughout the series Harry consistently loses the adults that have acted like parents to him: his actual parents, Sirius, and Dumbledore. He even states so himself at the end of book #6. However, in book #6 he erroneously states that he's lost every parent figure he's still had. He does still have Mr. and Mrs. Weasley though, and to some extent he has Hagrid. I therefore suspect that at least one of the Weasley parents will die in book #7. I mostly think it will be Mrs. Weasley who is killed while trying to save someone else, especially since all of her family was killed the last time Voldemort was alive. This all also relates to the fact that nothing has happened yet about Mrs. Weasley's boggart. If only Mrs. Weasley does and not Mr. Weasley, then the 2nd death will probably be a member of the order...probably Lupin because he hasn't been looking well and Fenrir Greyback will know he's in the order now that he fought at Hogwarts in book #6, and he and Tonks are finally together despite him saying it won't work. Poor Lupin, he might even get killed by non-Death eaters who fear he's with Voldemort just because he's a werewolf. :(

Dating: Obviously Ron & Hermione will finally get all of that figured out, and from the end of book #6 it looks like Neville and Luna will be together as well. If Ginny survives until the end, she and Harry will be re-united.

Horcruxes: The locket that RAB (Regulus Black) stole from the cave is at Grimold Place. I assume that Harry will not realize this until at least halfway through the book, unless he forces Kreacher to tell him of anything like it in the house. Another Horcux may be hidden at Hogwarts, which could have been a reason for Voldemort to visit Dumbledore to request a teaching position. He only needed to enter the building to hide it, maybe in the Room of Requirement?

House Elves: They will be put to use somehow by Harry, and Hermione will somehow secure freedom for at least one of them in the end. Harry will probably grudgingly need to use Kreacher at least once, and Kreacher will probably betray him at some point.

Magical Creatures: Throughout the books, every creature discussed in Defense Against the Dark Arts and Care of Magical Creatures has come up again. It's a great way to explain to the reader what a creature is early on, and then just reference it at an exciting point in the book. I haven't had time to note if any creatures haven't been seen that were mentioned...but I bet that most things that they meet they will have heard about at school already, even in passing. I also bet the pixies will somehow be utilized (or at least I hope they will be).

Wormtail: He still owes Harry for saving his life, and this may be the only reason Harry is able to kill Lord Voldemort. That silver hand he was given at the end of book #4 is going to have to be special in some way; Voldemort says he hopes he will be a better wizard, so perhaps it increases his magic abilities or decreases his clumsiness. If so, it will give him the power to help kill Lord Voldemort because he was never really loyal to him anyway.

Other Ideas:
I have an inkling that Voldemort or Death Eaters may show up wherever Harry is the second he comes of age, as Dumbledore's enchantment will wear off at that point (assuming it is still in effect now that he is dead, which I am unsure of).

I hope that Harry will use his ability to speak Parseltongue in some way that allows him to gain advantage on his enemies, or even to eavesdrop. I also hope that Harry will become better at occlumency because it drives me crazy that he still hasn't bothered.

Harry Potter: Order of the Phoenix

Some co-workers and I attended the opening night of Harry Potter on July 10, despite a 9AM meeting the next morning. It was an interesting experience...but I'm glad I did it no matter how I feel about the movie. I've had a week now to think about how I feel on the movie, and I'm still disgruntled.

OK, so the book dragged on a bit, I understand that. I also understand that things get cut for movies. But that's no excuse to try to re-write the entire story when making the movie. I have no problem with changes that enhance the story or adapt it to the movie format, as many things that happen in books are ill-suited to film. But why was every scene very different? Why were characters changed? Why was there such a focus on Umbridge to the point that Ron and Hermione don't even seem like main characters? Why were all of my favorite scenes ruined?

And the biggest question of all: why did someone decide that the movie didn't need to flow, and that cutting from scene to scene with no explanation was a good idea?

I have 2 main issues that stem from these questions. The first issue is that many changes from the book were less creative and interesting than how Rowling did it. The second issue is that much of the movie would have been impossible to understand or follow if I hadn't read the book, which I can say because people with me who had not read the book were lost by the end.

On the positive side, I think the acting was superb, the shooting was excellent, and the scenes were well laid out. It's just a shame they couldn't find a way to make those scenes flow better. Although I think there were many excellent shots, it did feel a bit like one giant montage.

Harry Potter Oddities

While re-reading all of the Harry Potter books over the last month, I've noticed little things here and there that don't quite mesh up. Some of them are not listed here because J.K. Rowling explains them away on her website. Although I did not do a thorough search there for the ones below, I don't think they've been addressed:

Book 2: Percy docks points from Griffindor when Ron and Harry exit a girls bathroom (Moaning Myrtle's)
Book 5: Hermione points out to Malfoy that prefects can't take points away from houses

Book ?(multiple): Harry references when he first met Draco on the Hogwarts train
Book 1: Harry first meets Draco at the robe store

Book 6: The library fails Hermione for "the first time" when looking for Horcruxes
Book 4: The library actually fails Hermione for the first time when trying to figure out how Harry can breathe under water

I'm not quite done re-reading Book 6, so I will edit this post (with a note) if I realize any more oddities.