WWW Wednesdays

WWW Wednesdays—July 27, 2011

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WWW WednesdaysTo play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

I am currently reading Susanna Kearsley’s [amazon_link id=”1402241372″ target=”_blank” ]The Winter Sea[/amazon_link]. I am close to half way finished with it. Incidentally, there is a really good deal on the [amazon_link id=”B004DCB32K” target=”_blank” ]Kindle version[/amazon_link] of this book right now. I was glad I happened upon that sale price because I had wanted to read this book for a while, but I wasn’t sure when I’d be able to get it at its full price (either on Kindle or paperback).

I recently finished reading [amazon_link id=”B000BLNPIW” target=”_blank” ]More Than You Know[/amazon_link] by Beth Gutcheon, which was OK, but did not light my fire (review).

I am not sure what I am going to read next. Last week, I said it would be Tracy Chevalier’s [amazon_link id=”0452289076″ target=”_blank” ]Burning Bright[/amazon_link], but that was before the Kindle book deal I snagged on The Winter Sea. I may still go ahead and read it next, or I may read [amazon_link id=”0312304358″ target=”_blank” ]Moloka’i[/amazon_link] by Alan Brennert, [amazon_link id=”0152053107″ target=”_blank” ]A Northern Light[/amazon_link] by Jennifer Donnelly,  [amazon_link id=”0060791586″ target=”_blank” ]The Widow’s War[/amazon_link] by Sally Gunning, or [amazon_link id=”0679781587″ target=”_blank” ]Memoirs of a Geisha[/amazon_link] by Arther Golden, all of which I received in the mail this week via PaperBackSwap. Lots of good books to choose from! But do you know what book I’m dying to read? [amazon_link id=”0312558171″ target=”_blank” ]The Ballad of Tom Dooley[/amazon_link] by Sharyn McCrumb. Alas, it doesn’t come out until around the end of August. She had such a smart idea, creating novels out of those old Appalachian murder ballads. (I love murder ballads, by the way. I made a murder ballad playlist on Spotify, which you can listen to if you have Spotify.)

Related posts:

Top Ten Book Club Books

Reading Update: November 7, 2010

Musing Mondays—August 29, 2011


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Editing

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I tend to scribble a lot

I have been editing my second novel, Quicksand. I originally drafted it during NaNoWriMo 2009, and I set it aside for quite a long time before looking at it. On the one hand, this was helpful because it gave me quite a lot of distance, so I was able to review it with fresh eyes and perhaps more impartiality. Some observations I have about my writing:

  • I really need to work on pacing. I fly through scenes at breakneck speed with no leisurely look around.
  • I’m equally ambiguous as to how much time has passed, and that might be confusing for the reader.
  • I can write dialogue fairly well, but it tends to drive my stories, and perhaps I need to flesh out scenes around dialogue better, cf. first bullet point.

I downloaded a Mac writing program called Scrivener on a trial basis to see if it helps me with some of the weaknesses I need to shore up. I haven’t tried the program yet, but what I really like is that the 30-day trial is a true 30-day trial: if I use it tomorrow and then don’t open it again for a week, those two days count as two days, not seven. That’s pretty awesome of them. Most software trials have a clock running whether you use it each day of the trial or not. I also like the education discount they offer.

On a completely related note, editing is so so so much harder than writing a first draft. I want to tear out my hair and cry when I think about how much work I need to do on this draft. Another related observation: reading as much as I have over the past couple of years is really helping me figure out what I need to do better as a writer. Models are the best teachers.

photo credit: Unhindered by Talent

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Friday Finds

Friday Finds—July 22, 2011

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Friday FindsI wasn’t scouting for books much this week, but I also have to say I didn’t see too many that caught my interest.

No cover available for it yet, but I just found out that Jude Morgan is writing a book about William Shakespeare called [amazon_link id=”0755358236″ target=”_blank” ]The Secret Life of William Shakespeare[/amazon_link]. I just loved his books about the [amazon_link id=”0312343698″ target=”_blank” ]Romantic poets[/amazon_link] and the [amazon_link id=”B004P5OPAW” target=”_blank” ]Brontës[/amazon_link]. I’ll be keeping my eyes open for the release of that one.

I was looking around for more books set in France, and I found [amazon_link id=”0767904559″ target=”_blank” ]On Rue Tatin: Living and Cooking in a French Town[/amazon_link] by Susan Herrmann Loomis. Loomis bought a 14th century convent in Normandy and set up shop. The book has 50 recipes!

I also discovered [amazon_link id=”0670018775″ target=”_blank” ]My French Life[/amazon_link] by Vicki Archer. Like Loomis, Archer bought an ancient home—a seventeenth century farmhouse in Provence. I’m not jealous. I’m not jealous. I’m NOT jealous.

Can you imagine being able to pick everything up and move to the French countryside? Ah well, at least we can read about others who can.

I’m still on the lookout for more books like this, preferably fiction. Know of any?

[amazon_image id=”0767904559″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]On Rue Tatin: Living and Cooking in a French Town[/amazon_image] [amazon_image id=”0670018775″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]My French Life[/amazon_image]

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WWW Wednesdays—August 31, 2011

Top Ten Tuesdays—August 30, 2011

Books I Want to Read


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More Than You Know, Beth Gutcheon

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[amazon_image id=”B000BLNPIW” link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” class=”alignleft”]More Than You Know: A Novel[/amazon_image]Beth Gutcheon’s novel [amazon_link id=”B000BLNPIW” target=”_blank” ]More Than You Know[/amazon_link] is the parallel story of Hannah Gray, reflecting on her first love in Dundee, Maine, and Claris Osgood Haskell. Hannah fell in love with wild boy Conary Crocker, but it’s clear something didn’t work out as she begins her narrative sadly reflecting on how she married Ralph, whom describes as “a good man and I loved him, but he wasn’t the great love of my life, and he knew it, thought we never spoke of it” (8). Hannah is reading over a diary she kept as a teenager during the time when she met and fell in love with Conary. As a teenager, Hannah developed an interest in the Haskell family on Beal Island. One day, Danial Haskell was murdered with an ax, and though his daughter Sallie was tried twice for the crime—one ended in mistrial and the other in acquittal—she was never found guilty, and no one was imprisoned for the crime, though some suspicion also fell on the Haskells’ boarder Mercy Chatto.

The Haskells’ story is told in third person, while Hannah herself narrates her own story. The two stories intertwine as both Conary and Hannah see a ghost associated with the Haskells both on the island and in the schoolhouse the Gray family is living in. The schoolhouse originally stood on Beal Island, but was moved over to the town of Dundee. The island is uninhabited when Hannah begins her story.

The Maine setting is beautifully evoked, and the Haskell ax murder was clearly influenced by the Lizzie Borden story—many of the elements of the two stories are similar. I found the characters hard to sympathize with, and I felt more like I was hearing gossip about a local family I barely knew than being let into the lives of people I cared about. I expected the two storylines to mesh more tightly by the end of the novel, but I never felt they did, and Hannah never resolved her curiosity about the murder (though the reader does learn what happened). The one connection I did make was to wonder if Gutcheon showed us the end of the “what-if” story. If Conary and Hannah had been able to marry, would they have been happy together? Or would they have ended up more or less like Claris and Danial Haskell? In the end, it felt incomplete, as though some connection I was supposed to make had been withheld from me as it had been from Hannah. It’s a pity because it started out strong, and I thought I would like it in the end, but I found it left me feeling kind of hollow. But other people clearly liked it, and if you’re thinking about reading it, please read their reviews.

Rating: ★★★½☆

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WWW Wednesdays

WWW Wednesdays—July 20, 2011

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WWW WednesdaysTo play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

I’m currently reading a book my mother passed on to me called [amazon_link id=”B000BLNPIW” target=”_blank” ]More Than You Know[/amazon_link] by Beth Gutcheon. It was published over a decade ago, and I think she found it at a library or paperback book sale. I’m over 1/3 the way in, and it’s really good so far: New England setting (love those), ghosts, and an ax murder that has a familiar Lizzie Borden taint. I hadn’t actually heard of this book or seen it mentioned on book blogs. Let’s bring it back! I’ll save more for my review.

This week, I finished reading [amazon_link id=”055338483X” target=”_blank” ]Garden Spells[/amazon_link] (review) and [amazon_link id=”0553384848″ target=”_blank” ]The Sugar Queen[/amazon_link] (review) by Sarah Addison Allen since my last WWW Wednesdays update. Both of them were very enjoyable, but I liked Garden Spells better. I will probably read the rest of Allen’s books. It’s fun to find a new author you like.

The next book I read will probably be [amazon_link id=”B001P3OLEM” target=”_blank” ]Burning Bright[/amazon_link] by Tracy Chevalier. She’s another author I enjoy, and this is one of only two books of hers that I haven’t read, the other being [amazon_link id=”B000234N76″ target=”_blank” ]Falling Angels[/amazon_link]. Also, how did I not know that Tracy Chevalier was on Twitter? Followed. If I don’t read Burning Bright next, I’m not sure what I’ll read, but I have a huge TBR pile, and I daresay if you are at all interested, you’ll find out what book I pick next soon enough. 😉

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WWW Wednesdays—May 18, 2011

Reading Update: November 7, 2010

2010: A Reading Year in Review


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Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Books That Should Be Required Reading for Teens

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Top Ten TuesdayYou know, as a former literature teacher—which feels really weird to say and might make me sad if I weren’t positive I’ll come back to it one day—it was frequently my job to select books that teens were required to read. Actually, it’s tough because I feel quite strongly that certain books are taught to students who are not ready to appreciate them, but I was sort of required to teach them nonetheless. Some books I would have liked to have taught, but I never did because administration or parents would have thought them too young or not challenging enough for high school students. But consider this list my own personal dream list. Important note: teens do NOT need to read these books as part of a school curriculum (although it’s a possibility).

  1. [amazon_image id=”0061205699″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” class=”alignright”]To Kill a Mockingbird (slipcased edition)[/amazon_image] [amazon_link id=”0061205699″ target=”_blank” ]To Kill a Mockingbird[/amazon_link], Harper Lee’s classic novel about prejudice in the South is a quintessential favorite on most teachers’ and students’ lists. It’s a gorgeous book that everyone should read, and adolescence is the perfect time for a first read.
  2. [amazon_link id=”0743477111″ target=”_blank” ]Romeo and Juliet[/amazon_link] is not necessarily Shakespeare’s best or most important play, but years of experience teaching it to high school students tells me two things about it: 1) teenagers love it because it’s an obsessive love story about people their age; 2) references to it are everywhere, and there is something to be said for being able to participate in a shared culture.
  3. While I think classics like [amazon_link id=”1463570864″ target=”_blank” ]The Scarlet Letter[/amazon_link] are better appreciated some time during adulthood, [amazon_link id=”B003VYBQPK” target=”_blank” ]The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn[/amazon_link] is appropriate for teens, with a young, appealing protagonist and important lessons regarding prejudice and America’s history with slavery. I think everyone should read it.
  4. [amazon_image id=”0385732554″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” class=”alignright”]The Giver[/amazon_image] [amazon_link id=”0385732554″ target=”_blank” ]The Giver[/amazon_link] by Lois Lowry is a perfect introduction to the body of dystopian literature that includes [amazon_link id=”0345342968″ target=”_blank” ]Fahrenheit 451[/amazon_link], [amazon_link id=”B001IC52I4″ target=”_blank” ]The Handmaid’s Tale[/amazon_link], [amazon_link id=”0452284236″ target=”_blank” ]Nineteen Eighty-Four[/amazon_link], [amazon_link id=”0060850523″ target=”_blank” ]Brave New World[/amazon_link], and so many others. Furthermore, it has a teen protagonist that students can relate to. It’s an excellent read (skip its sequels, though).
  5. [amazon_link id=”0140268863″ target=”_blank” ]The Odyssey[/amazon_link] by Homer is such a wonderful story that 1) introduces the concept of epic poetry and all its literary devices, such as the Invocation to the Muse and the epic simile; 2) introduces students to Greek mythology; and 3) is just a ripping good adventure story. I didn’t actually read it in high school, but I should have. I have always loved teaching it.
  6. I may be biased here, but I truly think teenagers should have experienced the entire [amazon_link id=”0545162076″ target=”_blank” ]Harry Potter series[/amazon_link] before they reach adulthood. It’s a wonderful series with great lessons about love, bravery, friendship—the things that really matter in life—as well as a great introduction to mythology and the hero’s journey (a tale shared across culture and across time).
  7. [amazon_image id=”0142414735″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” class=”alignright”]Speak: 10th Anniversary Edition[/amazon_image]Laurie Halse Anderson’s novel [amazon_link id=”0142414735″ target=”_blank” ]Speak[/amazon_link] is starting to make its way into required reading lists. It’s an important book about an important issue that affects many teens. Melinda is a realistic, believable protagonist. Anderson’s novel [amazon_link id=”014241557X” target=”_blank” ]Wintergirls[/amazon_link] is another important read.
  8. S. E. Hinton’s novel [amazon_link id=”014038572X” target=”_blank” ]The Outsiders[/amazon_link] might be a little dated now, but my students all read it in middle school and report really liking it. Plus, they develop a real affection for Robert Frost in the bargain, so it can’t be bad. I can’t remember when I read the book, but I think I was in high school, and I read it on my own.
  9. [amazon_image id=”0743273567″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” class=”alignright”]The Great Gatsby[/amazon_image] I think [amazon_link id=”0743273567″ target=”_blank” ]The Great Gatsby[/amazon_link] by F. Scott Fitzgerald is perfect for older teens, but I almost didn’t put it on this list, much as I love it. It is an excellent book with brilliant prose. I am not sure it’s the kind of book that will appeal to all teens, but I do think it’s something everyone should read. Adolescence seems like a good time.
  10. One of my favorite anecdotes about William Golding’s [amazon_link id=”0571200532″ target=”_blank” ]Lord of the Flies[/amazon_link] comes from a former student of Golding’s, who says sometimes the professor would assign an essay, and as the students wrote, Golding would also write. Later, the student realized what Golding was working on as his students wrote their essays was Lord of the Flies. It struck Golding’s student that Golding imagined those students, quiet and compliant, writing their essays, might be capable of the kind of brutality shown by these English schoolboys marooned on an island. I think they probably were, too. So aren’t we all. Which is why this book is essential. Plus I love Simon.

What books do you think teens should read?

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Teaser Tuesdays—May 3, 2011


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The Sugar Queen, Sarah Addison Allen

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[amazon_image id=”B00125MK78″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” class=”alignleft”]The Sugar Queen[/amazon_image]Josey Cirrini has an unhappy closet: it’s stuffed with candy, soda, and other sweet treats. Josey sneaks her treats in to hide them from her critical mother. One day, Josey finds Della Lee Baker hiding in her closet. At Della Lee’s request, Josey goes to a sandwich shop near the courthouse to buy Della Lee a sandwich and meets Chloe, who has just broken up with her long-time boyfriend Jake after he admitted to cheating on her. Chloe attracts books—they find her when she needs them and follow her around. Della Lee decides she is going to help Josey when she finds out Josey is in love with her mailman, Adam. Della Lee’s entrance into her life changes Josey in ways she can’t begin to imagine.

[amazon_link id=”B00125MK78″ target=”_blank” ]The Sugar Queen[/amazon_link] started a little more slowly for me than other Sarah Addison Allen books. It’s a quirky book. Josey is essentially childlike—she lives under her strong mother’s thumb, afraid to do what she really wants (which is travel and eat what she likes without scrutiny) because she feels she needs to do penance for her behavior as a child—nearly everyone in town has a story about Josey Cirrini’s poor behavior as a girl. As such, she’s not your typical spunky heroine. I liked her anyway because she was realistic. I also liked Della Lee and Chloe. Allen is good at drawing realistic characters and placing them plausibly in magical realism. I like the actual storylines in [amazon_link id=”0553807226″ target=”_blank” ]The Peach Keeper[/amazon_link] and [amazon_link id=”055338483X” target=”_blank” ]Garden Spells[/amazon_link] better than the story in The Sugar Queen, but it was still an enjoyable summer read.

If you visit Sarah Addison Allen’s website, you can find recipes for Chloe’s sandwiches (which sound really tasty, I have to admit) and a guide to all the candy mentioned in the book. Allen says on her website that she tried all the candy mentioned in the book (for the purposes of research!) and gained 18 pounds while writing it.

Rating: ★★★★☆

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Borders Bookstores to Close Doors

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Borders Book Bankruptcy?

I was saddened to hear Borders is closing all of its stores and laying off its 11,000 employees. I just went to my local Borders, the closest bookstore to my home since indie bookstore Coffee Buy the Book closed several years ago, to buy a copy of [amazon_link id=”0439136369″ target=”_blank” ]Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban[/amazon_link], which Maggie and I are reading together right now. We have had to replace worn Harry Potter titles a few times around our house. Aside from that visit, I can’t remember for sure the last time I made a trip to Borders. I used to go all the time. In fact, some 15 years ago, it was my favorite bookstore, and I used to drive all the way from Winder, where I lived, to a Borders in Gwinnett County near the mall. They had the best selection of any bookstore around, and the addition of music made it worth the trip.

Borders blames their troubles on the market and e-books, and they probably have a point, but they should also blame online purchases of music and movies. While books were their primary product, they also sold DVD’s and CD’s. The market for CD’s has all but vanished. I can’t remember the last CD I bought. I still buy DVD’s because movies take up a lot of real estate on my computer. Surely the dwindling music and DVD sales hurt Borders, too.

Borders closings mean that Barnes and Noble will be the last large chain remaining. I suppose Books-a-Million is still in business, but only in the East and South for the most part, and I have never been fond of them. Of the BAM stores I’ve visited, all have been somewhat untidy and had poor variety of selections. I have to wonder what Barnes and Noble is doing right that is keeping them afloat that Borders failed to do. One possible explanation is that the Nook e-reader seems to have caught on, whereas the Kobo reader didn’t become as popular. Aside from that one (admittedly major) difference, I can’t decide what sets Barnes and Noble apart from Borders: both even have attached coffee houses most of the time. I like the atmosphere in Barnes and Noble a little better I think, but I couldn’t pinpoint why.

Because friends know I have a Kindle and that I keep up with technology, many have asked me about e-readers, and I have always advised them to look at a Kindle or a Nook rather than a Kobo reader. I think that Kobo readers can handle books bought from a variety of places, but Borders’ shaky ground prompted me to feel leery of Kobo’s sustainability. Does anyone know what Borders closings will mean for Kobo readers?

It’s too bad Borders is closing, but I’m glad I didn’t renew my Rewards card now. The writing has really been on the wall for some time. Unfortunately. I truly hope its employees land on their feet and find other work that they love. Somewhat ironic consequence of the closing: I almost have to use online bookstores like Amazon now because all the other local bookstores are too far away for me to visit regularly, just on a whim. We have absolutely no independent bookstores nearby.

Update, July 19:  Macworld has a story about what will happen to Kobo reader owners.

Update, July 21: Slate has some additional thoughts about Borders’ closing, all of which make sense to me.

photo credit: Dave Dugdale

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Musing Mondays

Musing Mondays—July 18, 2011

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Musing MondaysThis week’s musing asks…

What is the last book you struggled to read through to the end, even though you weren’t really enjoying it? What made you keep reading?

The last book I had to force myself to finish was Dexter Palmer’s [amazon_link id=”B003A7I2PU” target=”_blank” ]The Dream of Perpetual Motion[/amazon_link] (review). I think the review covers why I didn’t like it, but the reason I slogged through it anyway, even though I wasn’t enjoying it was that I had purchased it on my [amazon_link id=”B002Y27P3M” target=”_blank” ]Kindle[/amazon_link]. I bought it a long time ago, and I am not sure if you can/how to return books you don’t like. The positive side of reading paper books instead of e-books is that if you don’t like them, it’s very easy to unload them. You can donate them, trade them at used bookstores or PaperBackSwap, or give them to someone else who you think might like them. With Kindle books, it’s a little harder to unload them. You can delete them, but there is no way to get any satisfaction, either of feeling like you handed it to someone who might enjoy it or to get books in return.

I read the book because I paid for the book, and I had been telling myself I wanted to read it and would probably like it for a year. I can tell you, I will be less hesitant to take a chance on books on my Kindle in the future. I will probably only buy Kindle books I am reasonably certain I will enjoy, and I certainly won’t try a new genre. This was my first steampunk book, and while I am still willing to give the genre another try, it wasn’t a great introduction to steampunk (at least not for me). I am usually pretty good about putting aside books I am not enjoying, but this time, I slogged through because I didn’t want to feel I had completely wasted my money (one could argue I wasted my money and my time in the end).

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Always

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

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Depending on how long you’ve been reading this blog (or perhaps my other main blog, huffenglish.com), you may not be aware I am a serious Harry Potter geek. I mean really. For instance, I know I’d be in Ravenclaw, and I have it all worked out in my head. I even think Ancient Runes would be my favorite class. I have actually written seriously on the subject of Harry Potter a number of times, but not often here. I used to regularly update a Harry Potter blog. No lie! It lies dormant at the moment, and I can’t think what to do with it aside from perhaps post some of my favorite entries over here and then let it sit. I just don’t know. I can’t foresee updating it again, and it’s a bit of a hassle to keep up with the WordPress upgrades (if you don’t do that, hackers can more easily break in to your site, which is NOT something I’d like to happen). But I’m not sure if I can delete it. Honestly, it would be a good topic for a Tumblr, but I don’t need more stuff to keep up with in my life. I’ll think about it.

Anyway, what I really came here to do is squee about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2, and the following squee has spoilers, but honestly, spoiler alerts should really be expired for [amazon_link id=”0545139708″ target=”_blank” ]Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows[/amazon_link], and if you have been watching the movies instead of reading the books, what on earth are you doing on a book blog? Just wonderin’.

AlwaysImage source: I Go to Seek a Great Perhaps

So, my favorite character in the series is Snape, and you can imagine that after [amazon_link id=”0439785960″ target=”_blank” ]Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince[/amazon_link] came out, things looked very bad for Snape. He had killed Dumbledore, the man who had trusted him and protected him. I actually had a bit of an argument with someone about Snape because she said I was blind for believing Snape would come out all right in the end, and I was positive she just wasn’t reading closely enough. Look again at the language Rowling uses to describe what Harry feels as he is forcing Dumbledore to drink the potion in the cave (which he did on Dumbledore’s orders)—he is filled with loathing for what he is doing, but a casual observer might think the look on his face told another tale: that he felt contempt for Dumbledore. The same kind of language is used to describe the look on Snape’s face as he kills Dumbledore. It clicked. I knew somehow that they had done a deal. I had no idea Snape loved Lily. That surprised me because he had called her “mudblood” when she tried to defend him when James and Sirius were bullying him. I have to hand it to people who figured that one out. I did figure out that Snape had somehow known Petunia, but I couldn’t flesh out my hunch further than that.

So, Snape. Alan Rickman was wonderful in this film. The death scene and Pensieve scene were my favorite part of this film, probably because Snape is my favorite character. Oh, I boo-hooed through that part.

Trust SnapeImage credit: You the doormat, then?

I had, of course, read that Alan Rickman was brilliant in this film (really, isn’t he always? I mean, he almost made [amazon_link id=”B002VWNID6″ target=”_blank” ]Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves[/amazon_link] watchable, and who could forget “Give me an occupation, Miss Dashwood, or I shall run mad” from [amazon_link id=”0800141660″ target=”_blank” ]Sense & Sensibility[/amazon_link]?):

Colonel Brandon rescues MarianneImage credit: Fanpop

So, yes, I have probably been a fan of Snape’s because of Alan Rickman’s portrayal. Sue me. Anyway, it was perfect and fairly faithful to the book.

Other favorite moments in no particular order:

  • Neville in practically every scene. He is amazing during the battle, particularly when he kills Nagini, but my favorite quote might be when he says he has to find Luna to tell her he’s “hot for her” since they’re going to die by the morning. That was awesome, and frankly, I always thought they belonged together (but he winds up marrying Hannah Abbott, and she marries Rolf Scamander, Newt Scamander’s grandson—ah, well).
  • “NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!” Yeah, that was awesome, and I’m so glad they didn’t try to duck around the word. Bellatrix Lestrange is a bitch. Even if I did name my cat after her. My Bella is much nicer: Bella Huff
  • The way they magnified Voldemort’s voice during the Battle of Hogwarts. It was freaking scary—much scarier than I imagined.
  • The dragon-back escape from Gringotts was pretty epic, and actually seeing the carnage—well, let’s say they improved on my imagination, there. Ditto with the scene in Bellatrix’s vault.
  • Helen Bonham-Carter pretending to be Hermione pretending to be Bellatrix. That was awesome and quite well done.
  • Hermione destroying the horcrux made from Hufflepuff’s cup and Ron and Hermione’s kiss. I cheered a little.
  • The whole scene at King’s Cross was just awesome, and just as I imagined it. Plus, it contains one of my favorite lines from the series: “Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” I actually have had that quote on my classroom wall at school. Guess it will go in my office now.
  • Dan, Emma, Rupert, and Tom Felton’s acting in this one is just brilliant. Really. They have come a long way, particularly Daniel Radcliffe. He can just sit back and enjoy his money if he wants to, but I think he has a fine future ahead of him. And they all seem so nice and even-keeled in interviews.
  • Albus Severus Potter. So cute! So was Hugo Weasley (little Ron clone). By the way, did you know Tom Felton’s girlfriend plays his wife, Astoria Greengrass, in the film? I think that’s cool. Although I wanted a better look at Scorpius’s face. Also, I wanted Harry to say the words “It did for me,” which he came close to saying, but did not actually say.
  • The scene when Harry bravely marches into the woods to let Voldemort kill him.
  • Voldemort pushing Bellatrix over when she tries to help him up after he AK’s Harry in the woods.
  • Ralph Fiennes. He’s absolutely terrifying and brilliant in this. Really. And his death, while not quite as it was described in the book, was awesome and terrible to witness.
  • Goyle (it was Crabbe in the book, but the actor who plays him was busted for marijuana, and I assume that’s why his part was cut) setting the Room of Requirement on fire with fiendfyre and Ron and Harry rescuing Draco and Blaise Zabini. Oh, Goyle. You shouldn’t play with fire.
  • Draco’s hesitation to go over to the Death Eaters, and Voldemort pulling Draco into that gross, awkward hug. Ew.
  • McGonagall dueling Snape. That was awesome.
  • McGonagall saying, “I always wanted to try that spell.” Maggie Smith delivers a punchline, let me tell you.

Some criticisms:

  • Fred’s death was sadder in the books. I felt the movie gave it a bit of a short shrift.
  • Harry not repairing his wand before breaking the Elder Wand and chucking the pieces. In the book, he repairs it and doesn’t destroy the Elder Wand, but keeps it safe (presumably until he dies so that no one can win it from him).
  • Teddy Tonks is mentioned only once. Ooops.

So, my overall verdict is that I LOVED IT!

Mischief managed.

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