Grab a butterbeer and enjoy!

At the risk of sounding like a geek, this week’s column is about my current reading material, the newest Harry Potter book. I’ve actually found time to do quite of bit of leisure reading this summer. I started with The Da Vinci Code, then moved on to Nicholas Sparks book, The Wedding, the sequel to The Notebook. I then dove into a crime/mystery novel I bought for a quarter at the Colby Cheese Days book sale. I rushed to finish it in time for Saturday.

No, I didn’t dress as one of the characters and stand in line for 12 hours. I didn’t push my way into the store at midnight and pay a rather large chunk of money for the new literary treasure. Instead, I stayed home, watched all the diehards on the news and patiently waited for the mail to arrive. I pre-ordered mine online several weeks ago, at half price and guaranteed to arrive Saturday or it was free. Although I opened the red and white box as soon as the guys brought it inside, I held off from opening the book until I had the proper time to give to it. That didn’t happen until the evening when Jacob went to bed.

My high school creative writing teacher introduced me to Harry Potter when I was a senior. She was reading one in class and told us how wonderful she thought they were. My whole family read the first three in paperback, but the rest were hardcover. We couldn’t wait for the cheaper version to come out. I believe I took the fifth book to California with me when I did a college internship. The sixth I read while pregnant with Jacob two years ago. When I came across a news article about the record number of pre-orders for the seventh book I had to join in.

Over the seven books, J.K. Rowling’s style has changed. They’ve become darker and more adult. Although I prefer the youthful fun of the first few books, I understand the need to change. The characters are growing up and facing adult issues. The style needs to grow up along with them. I’ve still got a ways to go in this book, but I should have it finished by the end of the week. Then I can mourn the end of Harry’s story with the rest of his fans.
_____________________________________________


(The boys watching the demo derby at the Lincoln County Fair last weekend.)

As scary as this is to think about, Jacob turns two next week. It’s his golden birthday, which is really just symbolic. Still, I can remember mine feeling a little more special. Although he won’t remember it, we’re hoping to make it special for him. Nate and I have talked about taking him to a wildlife park to see all the animals. If that falls through because of rain, we’ve have to come up with a back-up plan. Either way, one thing is for sure. He’s growing up too fast.