How I read the other HP books

[author_by_night]

Sorcerer's Stone (August 1999): I finally decide to please my dad by picking up the stupid book. Wait... am I enjoying it?!

Chamber of Secrets (August 1999): Two hours later, I go downstairs. "Dad, where's the other book?" I get it, go back into my bedroom, wondering how I went from a foe to a fan in a time frame of two hours.

Prisoner of Azkaban (December 1999): My Mom has bought it for me while I am at tutoring. I read it while waiting for my ride home (why she didn't drive me home is beyond my memory - I remember being in the car with my dad afterwards, saying "it's good so far - there's a maniac after Harry!" Sigh, how wrong I was).

Goblet of Fire (July 2000): My Mother has made me wait till we depart for Canada before reading; I spend eight hours devouring the novel, and re-read the next five days.

Order of the Phoenix (June 2003): I wait all morning. No copy. I wait past noon. No copy. Mom and I find copy at grocery store. I devour OoTP, get spoiled because I go online. Later find out the book I ordered had gone to my Dad's office, and no one thought to call. ^^

Half Blood Prince (July 2005): Shall see!

Comments

[livii.livejournal.com]

I read the first one in August 1999 too - awesome! Another total oldbie. ;)

I didn't read the second one right away though, because I was in the UK and simply couldn't afford to buy it, nor could I cart around any more books in my backpack.

[bjtruong.livejournal.com]

Heh, I could outline my Harry Potter reading in a matter of hours. Sara, my then girlfriend at the time, wanted to stay over night in queue to be one of the first to purchase Order of the Phoenix on 21/06/03 @ 00:01. While standing in the queue, I got bored and out of sheer desperation, I started to read the series.

• Philosopher's Stone – (20/06/03 @ 19:00 – 20:00)


• Chamber of Secrets – (20/06/03 @ 20:00 – 21:00)


• Prisoner of Azkaban – (20/06/03 @ 21:00 – 22:00)


• Goblet of Fire – (20/06/03 @ 22:00 – 02:00 (21/06/03)) – it took me an hour to buy all seven books, three hours to read!


• Order of Phoenix – (21/06/03 @ 02:00 – 05:30)


• Quidditch Through the Ages/Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them – (21/06/03 @ 05:30 – 6:00)

I've been hooked ever since – of course I have read them through many times over and in a more timely paced. I tend to read books through quickly on the first run and read them at a saner pace to catch all the nuances of the books.

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

I do that as well - which was a mistake for CoS, I kept wondering why Harry and Ron were in the Slytherin Common Room.

[the-bookdork.livejournal.com]

You have no idea how long I had to wait to read GoF. Everyone else was reading it before I could get my hands on it at my school. And then the three year wait. Oy. I read all four books in 2000-2001 though, so not as long of a wait.

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

Yeah... but you still got the three year summer. ;)

[valerie-valerah.livejournal.com]

Dude, I so totally read Sorcerer's Stone in the same fashion. "EWW!! Harry Potter!! That's for LITTLE kids!!!" *shakes head* Good thing I trusted every little thing my Dad did, because he was the first to read it, and really enjoyed it (not that he read any of the other books *sigh*). I remember his reaction to the Eating Bertie Botts with Ron on the Train scene...he thought it was great. That was in...erm...July? I don't remember the year. I only remember having to wait until Christmas for Chamber of Secrets :P

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't think it helps that at every other bookstore, HP is in the "beginning readers" section. (I hate that! But the one I go to that does that sucks anyway).

[valerie-valerah.livejournal.com]

Argh! I know! Thank God Barnes & Noble moved into where I live, 'cause at this branch,at least, Harry Potter has it's own section. But in the other bookstore, I felt so embarassed to go look at the HP stuff, as I could easily see books like "Arthur" and other things along the lines of "I Can Go Potty!" *cringe*

Speaking of OotP spoilers...

[dreemcy.livejournal.com]

Never EVER read your shiny new HP book at school.
I was sitting there reading, on chapter four maybe, and some girl walks up to me and says, "Oh, hey, I heard that Seeerious guy dies."

...no one understood why I was so angry... this girl wasn't even a fan, and she got the information from some other who opened the book to a random page to reveal the ending. It took all my restraint not to wring their necks.

[abbers44.livejournal.com]

Sorry to hear about your OotP spoiling. :( I know the feeling, if on a slightly lower scale. When I got Goblet of Fire at the midnight release, I was overwhelmed with The Book Love, and I ran my fingers over to page to release that scent only books have. Unfortunately, as I reverently stared at the skipping pages, I saw the words, "Cerdic lay spread-eagle on the ground." I tried to make myself believe it was just a dream, because, you know, a student dies? But the ending just didn't have quite the same effect I think it could have because of my little spoil.

Woe. May the next books remain spoiler-free for the both of us! :)