Into the Forest discussion

Leah wrote: "The intent in sharing my thoughts is not to force my opinion on anyone else nor discount another's reading experience. I simply want to encourage a closer look at this particular ending."

One of the many reasons I joined goodreads was to have thoughtful conversations about books. And you are making me rethink the ending, especially the article recap. I wish I'd read it more recently!

I feel really out of the loup! I have not read anything by Oyeyemi! Now I am very curious since I prefer settings in our world with a little mythology and fairy tales and magical realism woven in.

Jalilah wrote: "I feel really out of the loup! I have not read anything by Oyeyemi! Now I am very curious since I prefer settings in our world with a little mythology and fairy tales and magical realism woven in."

Me either!

Margaret wrote: "Leah wrote: "(view spoiler)"

Hmm, and I took at as one experience that didn't stand in for any other experiences. I'll spoiler my thoughts Since the novel was a lot about identity, and perception..."

Yeah I hope that is what's going on... I think that gender (and sexuality) *can* be a "choice"? (though not the same kind of choice as choosing the orange socks over the green? - I don't think we have the language to talk about this easily, it requires the kind of mind-bending concept-queering done in postmodern theory and lit?) , we just really need born-this-way narratives to get help and acceptance (though in some ways they come to bite us in the ass later)

That being said, I see your view, especially since there are so many negative stereotypes of transgender, especially where it concerns rape.

Yesterday I was an extra on a TV show so I spent most of the day sitting around waiting to be called to the set with a bunch of people whose company I had no hand in choosing. I became so frustrated with a conversation about transgender people that instead of helpfully joining in I ended up making an upset outburst. Several of the people became defensive and an older man said 'I think like this because I was raped when I was ten, when I was that age homosexuality was illegal'. It's horrible that people associate diversity with abuse!

Leah wrote: "Like I mentioned before, I'm choosing to believe it was ignorance or artistic failure versus true prejudice. Which is why I'm willing to give her other books a chance. .."

Oyeyemi does have these moments where I wonder what she's thinking. For instance, in White is for Witching a tiny part of the plot has to do with refugees from Kosovo and their refugee camp. Most of the times the refugees were portrayed, it had to do with fighting or riots. There was one girl that was shown more often, but she was one of the fighters in the initial refugee scene... but just when I was wondering whether or not she was racist against the Kosovar, she'd say something rather pro-immigration.

I choose to think that it's just artistic licence rather than ignorance/prejudice... Hopefully the transgender thing is something along the same lines?

I'm sure I'll read Boy, Snow, Bird eventually, and I'll let you know what I think then!

I'm on page 62 of Don't Bet on the Prince and hoping to finish it tonight. (In the middle of building a website which, since it pays the bills, takes priority over reading, darn it.) Of the 20 books I currently have checked out from the library, the following are out of renewals so they're up next:

Radiance by Catherynne M. Valente
Dragon's Blood by Jane Yolen
Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch

Then after those three I'll start The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco

I'm reading Radiance right now! I'm very much enjoying it, and wish I had more time to read it. I do think it's a novel best read in a shorter amount of time. I've been reading it very slowly due to being busy, and I got to the middle and had an "Ah ha" moment, and had to go back a reread to grasp everything that was going on.

I just finished Once Upon a Time: A Short History of Fairy Tale, and it was good. I especially liked the last half. She doesn't stop at the Grimms and the Victorian age, but keeps going to psychoanalysis, the 70's feminism movement, children's books, and film.

Margaret wrote: "I'm reading Radiance right now! I'm very much enjoying it, and wish I had more time to read it. I do think it's a novel best read in a shorter amount of time. I've been reading it v..."

I always try to read Valente's books quickly. With the exception of her Fairyland books, she's just so dense I find her easier to understand in big chunks than in small dribbles.

I started Mermaid: A Twist on the Classic Tale yesterday. It's actually very much in the spirit of the original so far. Religious musings, souls, sea foam, and all! Not sure if it'll continue on in the same vein but so far, it's probably the most true to HCA's Christian themes as I've ever seen a retelling of any of his stories be without actually being Christian fiction.

Inspired by our Asian-themed group read, I re-read (for the first time since middle school) Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr. That re-read lead me to seek out its non-fiction counterpart One Thousand Paper Cranes: The Story of Sadako and the Children's Peace Statue by Takayuki Ishii which I hadn't known about until this year. If you didn't read about Sadako Sasaki in middle school and/or still haven't in the years since, I highly recommend both books. For twenty-five years I had wondered about Sadako's true story and I'm so glad I read it -- and was able to see photos of her in real life.

I'm reading The Age of Innocence after a quick read of Annie John. I definitely want to read more Jamaica Kincaid but though I'm enjoying it this may be my last Edith Wharton

It's been a while since I've posted what I read:
Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree about the last remaining Muslims in Granada Spain after the Christians took over. It was Interesting as a way to learn about that time period, but there is another book I read earlier this year Granada about the same subject matter which I liked much more.
I was very disappointed with The Railway, which was described as a magical realist novel from Uzbekistan. I did not like it much.
And then.....The Girl from the Well..,I still don't even know how many stars to give it!
After these books I just had to read something really good: Isabel Allende is an author who never disappoints ( except her children's books) so I got The Japanese Lover. It is excellent like all her books. This one takes places in San Fransisco. I still like her books that take place in Latin America slightly more but it's still good.
Then The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly. I loved it!
I am currently reading When the Elephants Dance and really liking it.

I just finished Lagoon, a science fiction novel by Nnedi Okorafor. It contains some bits of Nigerian folklore that I enjoyed.

Shomeret wrote: "I just finished Lagoon, a science fiction novel by Nnedi Okorafor. It contains some bits of Nigerian folklore that I enjoyed."

Glad you liked it! I tried the audio version of this last year and just couldn't understand enough of the pidgin/dialects in the dialog.

Now that it's out in print (finally) I'm going to give it another try.

I am now readingThe Butterfly Mosque: A Young American Woman's Journey to Love and Islam by G. Willow Wilson author of Alif the Unseen.

Shomeret wrote: "I am now readingThe Butterfly Mosque: A Young American Woman's Journey to Love and Islam by G. Willow Wilson author of Alif the Unseen."

Please let us know his you like it! Several of my goodreads friends have read it. I still have not read Alif the Unseen and thought I would start with it first.

I'm in a sprint to read six books I'd selected at the beginning of the year for this group's 2015 reading challenge. So right now I'm about 150 pages into American Gods. Unfortunately I'm having to read slower than usual because the copy I received from the library is a mass paperback, which is hard for me to hold (carpal tunnel) for extended periods of time. But I'm really liking the story so far. After I'm done with American Gods I'll be reading The House of the Spirits.

Leah wrote: "I'm in a sprint to read six books I'd selected at the beginning of the year for this group's 2015 reading challenge. So right now I'm about 150 pages into American Gods. Unfortunately I..."

Yikes! And that's a really long book, too, if you're having trouble holding it!

But I really enjoyed both of those books.


I just finished The Awakening, which kind of reminded me of "The Little Mermaid" though I really don't want to bring that up in the Classics group discussion...

Just the whole idea of seeing a man, changing yourself for him, (view spoiler)[ not getting him and dying because of it (hide spoiler)]. Lots more things that don't parallel, of course. But maybe the fact that so much of it took place near the sea had something to do with my associating the two.

Now that I'm done with that, time to get back to The Girl from the Well

Melanti wrote: "Yikes! And that's a really long book, too, if you're having trouble holding it!

But I really enjoyed both of those books."

Yeah, that's why I do my best to borrow the trade paperback or hardcovers because I can sit those in my lap to read. Anything in mass paperback and over 300 pages really strains my hands and wrists. But reading is worth the pain :)

Melanti wrote: "I just finished The Awakening, which kind of reminded me of "The Little Mermaid"

I never looked at the story that way. Now I'm going to have to re-read it. When I first read it, probably four years ago now, I remember being both impressed and a little sad at how relevant it still is.

Melanti wrote: "Now that I'm done with that, time to get back to The Girl from the Well "

I know general consensus hasn't been that great for this one. However, I did some reading and saw that the sequel's reviews did note improvements over the first. Not sure I'm willing to give the sequel a try, though.

Melanti wrote: "I just finished The Awakening, which kind of reminded me of "The Little Mermaid" though I really don't want to bring that up in the Classics group discussion... "

It reminds me of selkie stories, for similar reasons.

Leah wrote: "I'm in a sprint to read six books I'd selected at the beginning of the year for this group's 2015 reading challenge. So right now I'm about 150 pages into American Gods. Unfortunately I..."

I am cramming my last couple books for the challenge, too! Last month I read Call Me Ixchel: Mayan Goddess of the Moon for a retelling from a country I hadn't read from before, and currently I am reading Here All Dwell Free: Stories to Heal the Wounded Feminine, which is an in-depth analysis of the fairy tales "Briar Rose" and "The Handless Maiden" for the "scholarly work" entry in the challenge. Once I'm done with this I will have made all 12!

I am also reading Orson Scott Card's Enchantment, which is actually an interesting counterpoint to the analysis of Briar Rose in "Here All Dwell Free." It also is based off the Russian version of the fairy tale, which I didn't realize, so I could have used it for my "other country" one. Oh well. :) I'm enjoying it even though I sometimes feel guilty for enjoying OSC's storytelling when his views about GLBTQ issues are so appalling (although he's quieted down quite a bit in the last few years.) It has me thinking of the conversation we had here several months back about Marion Zimmer Bradley.

I'm also reading We Are Water by Wally Lamb and More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera.

Leah, which challenge # are you using American Gods for? That is definitely my favorite of everything I've read by Neil Gaiman -- I found Anansi Boys to be a big let-down, though. :/

I still need 1 more challenge book--the one about a retelling of one of my favorites. I plan to read The Fox Woman, but I've unintentionally started reading several books at the same time! I recently finished The Traitor Baru Cormorant, which was very dark and left me feeling quite depressed (a combination of reading it and recent events in the news). So I decided to pick up something lighter and started Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett. Then, I picked up The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood, and the same day I started it my husband finished The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury and wanted my opinion on the first story. But I finished the story so fast I just kept reading, so now I'm about a fourth of the way through 3 books. Oh well! I should still have time to read The Fox Woman, though, by the end of the year. All 3 of these books seem like fast reads.

Lacey wrote: "Leah, which challenge # are you using American Gods for? That is definitely my favorite of everything I've read by Neil Gaiman -- I found Anansi Boys to be a big let-down, though. :/ "

You can see a complete rundown in my post for 2015 Challenge Progress here. There are checkmarks beside the ones I've completed. I'm reading American Gods for "5. A novel or collection by one of your favorite authors that you have not read yet."

Glad I'm not the only one still working on the challenge :)

Margaret wrote: "It reminds me of selkie stories, for similar reasons. ..."
Glad to know that I'm not entirely off base!

Lacey wrote: "I'm enjoying it even though I sometimes feel guilty for enjoying OSC's storytelling when his views about GLBTQ issues are so appalling (although he's quieted down quite a bit in the last few years.)..."

I bought a copy of that before I heard about OSC... I was doing fine until he made a couple of veiled references to Mormonism and then after that I couldn't enjoy it anymore. I think if he'd left his religion out of it, I would have been okay, but once he mentioned his religion, I couldn't help but think of what his religion leads him to believe and say.

Leah wrote: "Glad I'm not the only one still working on the challenge :) ..."

Hm. I wonder how much of that challenge I have left? I've pretty much given up on challenges this year!

Let's see... I haven't read any of the book length Endicott adult retellings, but I did read one of the Datlow/Windling anthologies. It's listed on the same page on the Endicott site and it's a book of adult oriented fairy tale retellings. I could pretend it counted, I suppose.

No legendary monsters/creatures yet - though I do have a book for that category which should be a quick read.

And a book/tale/story that inspired a favorite movie/play/etc. Still don't even have a clue what to read for this - though I did just finish A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court which is at least has a similar subject to the Monte Python King Arthur movie. Not really an inspiration, though, as far as I know.

So... Yeah, no hope of finishing the challenge unless I take shortcuts.

Melanti wrote: I bought a copy of that before I heard about OSC... I was doing fine until he made a couple of veiled references to Mormonism and then after that I couldn't enjoy it anymore. I think if he'd left his religion out of it, I would have been okay, but once he mentioned his religion, I couldn't help but think of what his religion leads him to believe and say.

I am only about a quarter of the way through, and I haven't noticed any references to Mormonism yet -- although I did wonder whether his homophobia was manifesting in the cultural abhorrence of men wearing women's clothes in Taina, even though the protagonist (Ivan) thinks the taboo is silly.

I personally don't fault Momonism for OSC's homophobia so I don't think references to his religion would necessarily bother me. I think prejudiced people often find justification in their religion for their biases, rather than learn those biases from religion. OSC is a critical thinker and an intelligent man -- if he's a homophobe, it's because he wants to be, and pinning it on his religion's teachings is just a shield. A lot of other Christians in denominations that "officially" decry homosexuality reject those teachings, and he could, too. And, I wish he WOULD.

Same here. It is a conflict for many readers.

Lacey wrote: "I personally don't fault Momonism for OSC's homophobia ..."

That sounds worse than I meant it... I really only meant "fundamentalist religion" and not Mormonism specifically. There's plenty of open minded Mormons out there, just like there's plenty of open minded people of nearly any branch of any religion. (As you've pointed out.)

And his Alvin Maker series has enough religious overtones for me to peg him as a fundamentalist.

When you're deeply enough into a religion to write an entire series of allegories about the founding of the religion, I assume you're more apt than the average worshiper to buy into the nastier aspects of the religion - whatever those might be.

At least - I've been told the Alvin Maker series is to Mormonism as the Narnia books are to Christianity. I didn't know as much about Mormonism when I read them though, so I can't vouch for that myself. But I can say they had heavy religious overtones.

Lacey wrote: "I think prejudiced people often find justification in their religion for their biases, rather than learn those biases from religion. ..."

I kind of disagree on this. If you grow up in certain types of really religious households, some biases are taught from the start as part of the religion so you learn the biases as part of religious doctrine.

Now, granted, any reasonable, intelligent person should be able to get out into the world and learn better by interacting with people - but not everyone manages to do this.

Melanti wrote: "If you grow up in certain types of really religious households, some biases are taught from the start as part of the religion so you learn the biases as part of religious doctrine."

I 100% agree, having lived it firsthand with Christianity and Jehovah's Witnesses.

Melanti wrote: "...but not everyone manages to do this."

Right. Sadly, even some smart people can be so cowed by the fear of losing their family and community (not to mention the fear of losing their God) that they never voice their questions.

Lacey wrote: "...and currently I am reading Here All Dwell Free: Stories to Heal the Wounded Feminine, which is an in-depth analysis of the fairy tales "Briar Rose" and "The Handless Maiden" for the "scholarly work" entry in the challenge."

Lacey, I just finished Briar Rose, and Here All Dwell Free is listed in the back under Recommended Non-Fiction. I see you gave it three stars, would you care to elaborate on your rating? Trying to decide whether to put it on my "to buy" list for 2016.

Leah, you asked Lacey not me, but Briar Rose is one of my favorites books ever. Buy it, borrow it from the library, but please read it.

Julia wrote: "Leah, you asked Lacey not me, but Briar Rose is one of my favorites books ever. Buy it, borrow it from the library, but please read it."

Hi Julia, I do own Briar Rose and just finished reading it about 45 minutes ago. :) I'm kinda speechless but hoping to have my review posted in a couple hours.

I was asking Lacey about Here All Dwell Free: Stories to Heal the Wounded Feminine.

Leah wrote: Lacey, I just finished Briar Rose, and Here All Dwell Free is listed in the back under Recommended Non-Fiction. I see you gave it three stars, would you care to elaborate on your rating? Trying to decide whether to put it on my "to buy" list for 2016.

I thought the book was OK -- she delves REALLY deeply into analyzing just two stories -- the first half of the book is devoted to "The Handless Maiden" and the second half is centered around "Briar Rose." Her approach is feminist but in the camp of reawakening an appreciation for feminine values rather than deconstructing patriarchal messages in fairy tales. In some places I thought she went off on tangents, but she does provide a good template for "reading into" other fairy tales. Hopefully I'll get around to writing a review later this week.

I didn't think it was good enough to warrant purchasing, though. I'd actually be happy to send you my copy if you want it -- I usually don't keep books after I've read them. It's currently listed on Paperbackswap, but I could send it to you directly if you want to PM me with your address.

Jalilah I loved Alif the Unseen

Lacey wrote: "I didn't think it was good enough to warrant purchasing, though. I'd actually be happy to send you my copy if you want it -- I usually don't keep books after I've read them. It's currently listed on Paperbackswap, but I could send it to you directly if you want to PM me with your address."

What a generous offer! I'd love that. I'll PM you.

I just got back from yet another camping trip where I finished off a couple of books.

I finished Mongolian Folktales for the group read.
The 101 Dalmatians for the group's 2015 challenge.
The Helmet of Horror: The Myth of Theseus and the Minotaur - also for the group's 2015 challenge.

I'm half done with Red as Blood, or Tales from the Sisters Grimmer - which will officially complete the group's 2015 challenge, as far as I know...

I also only have about an hour left on METAtropolis: Green Space - which really isn't fairy tale related but did manage to throw in a few references to the historical Greek bull cult in Minos which made me snort a bit cause of the Minotaur connection in the other book too.

The 101 Dalmatians is really cute. The book isn't much deeper than the movie, but it is quite a bit more complex. I don't remember Perdita & Prince, for instance, so that entire storyline was cut. But simplifying plots is par for the course for Disney. Wasn't the Disney owner's job a song writer? I think the book owner's job in business (performed this simple task of eliminating the national debt... twice.) explained their income a lot better.

The Helmet of Horror: The Myth of Theseus and the Minotaur is one of those experimental books that's trying to be too clever for its own good. It's supposedly taking place in a chat room where all these captives are mysteriously chatting with each other to compare their experiences in captivity... But the format (chat log) was really annoying and the author didn't really do anything interesting with it. No emoting. No multiple threads going at the same time. No private messages. Nothing.

I can sometimes get behind experimental fiction and strange book formats, but IMO, you have to do something interesting with it. And this just doesn't.

There's no real reason the conversations and philosophy etc, couldn't have been presented a different way. And, IMO, if I can't point out a reason that a book is formatted strangely, it hasn't earned the right to be strangely formatted.

When the Elephants Dance was really good! It was quite different that I expected it to be, with the magical tales being less dominant and the real war story more. However it is really really powerful! Then Mongolian Folktales which I found a little disappointing honestly. I was planning to read Three Day Road, but did not feel like immediately reading another war story. I'm more in the mood to read something light, but because I've had it for awhile now, I decided on In the Time of the Butterflies, which is I know is going to be sad.

I started reading Fair Peril a couple of days ago. It's a retelling of "The Frog Prince" - sort of...

A divorced woman runs across a frog prince and instead of kissing him, decides to keep him in an aquarium in her living room.

I think it's meant to be cute and funny, but all I can think of is poor, poor frog. It's fine that she doesn't want a prince in her life (recovering from a nasty divorce so she's rather man-hating) but that's no reason to keep him imprisoned and force him to tell stories to her.

It's all a bit over-the-top silly for me and I don't think I'm the target audience. It might appeal more to those who've read & liked books like The Godmother or The Eyre Affair or even The Fairy Godmother.

I'm really, really hoping it'll settle down soon and get better.

(This is a book off the Endicott Adult Fairy tale list, by the way.)

As I knew it would be In the Time of the Butterflies was indeed sad, nevertheless a very well written powerful book. I went on to read , Three Day Road. It follows the lives of two young Cree-Ojebwe men fighting with the Canadian forces during World War 1. As could be imaged, it's not only sad, but the descriptions of war are horrific. However I am glad I read it and would highly recommend it. It also works in a little bit of Ojebwe mythology, the theme of Windigos, humans flesh eating monsters.
But now after these books as well as When the Elephants Dance I really need to read something light!

I just finished The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black, and I think everyone here would like it. Here's my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Jalilah wrote: "But now after these books as well as When the Elephants Dance I really need to read something light!"

I still have my copy of When the Elephants Dance from the library and plan to read it next week. So I definitely plan to follow it up with something on the silly side.

Margaret wrote: "I just finished The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black, and I think everyone here would like it. Here's my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show......"

I think I'll read it for the challenge.

Jalilah wrote: "I think I'll read it for the challenge. "

:)

ValiantPevensie4 wrote: "I'm currently about halfway through the sixth Harry Potter book. I haven't really been talking about it much to anyone but my family because I feel like I'm intruding in a way. So many people talk ..."

No shame. I was an adult when I read them, and I love them! People read things in their own time, and it doesn't make it any more or less meaningful. I have a HP display at my house :)

I teach 18 yr. olds, and it's disconcerting to hear them talk about the HP series as their favorite books growing up, because they weren't published while I was growing up!

It's sad there are no surprises left for you though. I remember staying up all night and reading HP and the Half Blood Prince, and being a mess at the end!

ValiantPevensie4 wrote: "I'm currently about halfway through the sixth Harry Potter book. I haven't really been talking about it much to anyone but my family because I feel like I'm intruding in a way. So many people talk ..."

Well I have to admit I haven't even read the entire series!
I read the first 3 with my son when he was little, always waiting to see the movie only after we finished the book. Then we lost all displine! After reading the third book and seeing the movie, we went on to watch all the movies. After that my son didn't want to read the series anymore now that he knew the outcome. I want to but frankly was also less curious and because there's so much to read, finishing the Harry Potter series was no longer high priority.

Jalilah wrote: " After reading the third book and seeing the movie, we went on to watch all the movies. After that my son didn't want to read the series anymore now that he knew the outcome. I want to but frankly was also less curious and because there's so much to read, finishing the Harry Potter series was no longer high priority. "

But, but, there's SO much that's left out in the movies. Especially with house elves and Snape and other important stuff I can't think of right now because I've been up for about 20 hours straight working lol. My nieces and nephew did the same thing except they watched all the movies first. My oldest niece just finished reading the whole series a couple days ago and remarked multiple times during her complete readthrough how much MORE was in the books. Just sayin' ;)

I'm reading a fantastic collection of Irish folktales that I only discovered after the group read polls were up. It's only published in October 15 and it's the best collection of well-told and spooky Irish folktales that I've read. Each with the flavour of a story-teller or a personal retelling. Totally gripping with explanatory notes. Loving it. Irish Tales From The Otherworld: Ghosts, Fairies And Evil Spirits by Bob Curran. Highly recommended.

Margaret wrote: "ValiantPevensie4 wrote: "I'm currently about halfway through the sixth Harry Potter book. I haven't really been talking about it much to anyone but my family because I feel like I'm intruding in a ..."

I feel like, sometimes, those wildly popular series create an experience that goes beyond the books themselves. Going to the bookstore at midnight to pick up your copy. Running straight home and reading it straight through without stopping. Speculating endlessly for the year it takes for the next book to come out about what's going to happen next. There can be a huge sense of community about it that you miss out on when you read them years later.

It doesn't mean that you can't still enjoy them, or what not... but you are going to miss out on some of that experience that made Harry Potter what it was and unfortunately, short of getting your hands on a time turner, there's not much you can do about it.

I was one of those speculating and picking up books at midnight, and what not - but even so... Yes, they are just books in the long run. Maybe they came out when I was too old for them to mean as much to me as they do to others that are still obsessed with the series.

Leah wrote: "But, but, there's SO much that's left out in the movies. ..."

I agree! I even stopped watching the movies after the 3rd one, since they left out so much that (IMO) was important to develop Harry's (and his parents and their friends) backstory, I didn't see how the rest of the movies would be any good...

I have copies of the DVDs, but I haven't bothered watching them yet.


I can't believe it hasn't even been 10 years since the last book came out. It feels like so very, very long ago!

I'm currently reading Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words which is really frustrating since it's all diagrams sized for a hard back book, and to see anything on the Kindle Fire you have to zoom in and pan around. Really, really frustrating. A paper version would definitely be preferred, in this case.

I'm also pecking away at Word Puppets - which I got from Netgalley but can't figure out how to transfer to my Kindle, and The Doll: The Lost Short Stories and The Heart of the Matter.

Nothing fairy tale related at the moment, I'm afraid!

Melanti wrote: "I agree! I even stopped watching the movies after the 3rd one, since they left out so much that (IMO) was important to develop Harry's (and his parents and their friends) backstory, I didn't see how the rest of the movies would be any good...."

The books are so much better than the movies.

Even though I was an adult when I started reading them, only the first 3 had been published, so I still bought the rest of the series the day they came out, and would read them through the night. So I still participated in that HP mania. But it's never too late to join. There's still constant buzz about the books, especially with the play coming out and the Fantastic Beasts movies.

I was an adult when the first HP novels came out. I read book #1 and didn't see the point in continuing. I was already reading fantasy, I felt like there were other better books about the training of wizards. I thought good for kids, but not for me. This was not an opinion I shared often, because I was teaching then and kids who didn't read were reading these books, so YAY!

Then a teacher friend suggested I push through. She was right! My boss was Dolores Umbridge! My husband loves them and rereads them often.

I'm currently reading The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk by Randy Shilts and rereading with my RL book clubSomeplace to Be Flying by Charles de Lint.

Julia wrote: "I was an adult when the first HP novels came out. I read book #1 and didn't see the point in continuing. I was already reading fantasy, I felt like there were other better books about the training ..."

I got sucked into the HP series right when the hype about book 4 was going on... If there hadn't already been several books out, I probably wouldn't have continued. Cause, though I did like them, the first couple of books were a bit too childish for my tastes. Rowling did a good job at writing to progressively older audiences.